Suchergebnisse

Issue 50.6 of the Review for Religious, November/December 1991. ; Volume 50 Number 6 November/December 1991 Ardent Lover as Pastoral Minister Song of the Groom The Erosion of Faith The Prayer of Stupidity R~vtEw FOR Rt~l.~C~OUs (ISSN 0034-639X) is published bi-monthly at St. Louis University by the Missouri Province Educational Institute of the Society of Jesus; Editorial Office: 3601 Lindcll Boulevard, Room 428: St. Louis, MO 63108-3393. Telephone: 314-535-3048. Second-class postage paid at St. Louis MO and additional offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to REVIEW ~'Oa RELIGIOUS; P.O. BOX 6070; Duluth, MN 55806. Subscription rates: Single copy $3.50 plus mailing costs. One-year subscription $15.00 plus mailing costs; two-year subscription $28.00 plus mailing costs. See inside back cover for subscription informa-tion and mailing costs. © 1991 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS. David L. Fleming, S.J. Philip C. Fischer, S.J. Michael G. Harter, S.J. Elizabeth McDonough, O.P. Jean Read Mary Ann Foppe Editor Associate Editors Canonical Counsel Editor Assistant Editors David J. Hassel, S.J. Iris Ann Ledden, S.S.N.D. Wendy Wright, Ph.D. Advisory Board Mary Margaret Johanning, S.S.N.D. Sean Sammon, F.M.S. Suzanne Zuercher, O.S.B. November/December 1991 Volume 50 Number 6 Manuscripts, books for review, and correspondence with the editor should be sent to REvtEw FOR RELtGtO~JS; 3601 Lindell Boulevard; St. Louis, MO 63108-3393. Correspondence about the department "Canonical Counsel" should be addressed to Elizabeth McDonough, O.P.; 5001 Eastern Avenue; P.O. Box 29260; Washington, D.C. 20017. Back issues should be ordered from REVIEW ~'oa REL~GIOOS; 3601 Lindell Boulevard; St. Louis, MO 63108-3393 . "Out of Print" issues are available from University Microfilms International; 300 N. Zeeb Road; Ann Arbor, MI 48106. A major portion of each issue is available on cassette recordings as a service for the visually impaired. Write to: Xavier Society for the Blind; 154 East 23rd Street; New York, NY 10010. Are you reading someone else's copy? If you are, it is time to order a subscription for yourself or your community. Review for Religious is a valuable resource at a reasonable price. Each 160-page issue is filled with articles on Practical approaches to community living Traditional and contemporary methods of prayer Reviews and notices about current spiritual literature Mail in the coupon on the back of this page today and don't miss a single issue. Yes! SendMe a Subscription. ONE SUBSCRIPTION PRICE FOR ALL COUNTRIES US $15 for one-year subscription US $28 for two-year subscription plus mailing costs listed below riiii i iii i Iiii iiiI !ii i i_ MAILING COSTS TO BE ADDED TO ALL SUBSCRIPTIONS FOR THE UNITED STATF_.S AND ITS TERRITORIES Add US$3 for one year Total: US$18 Add US$ 6 for two years Total: US$34 FOR ALL OTHER COUNTRIES (SURFACE MAIL) Add US$ 9 for one year Total: US$24 Add US$18 for two years Total: US$46 FOR ALL OTHER COUNTRIES (AIRMAIL/BOOKRATE) Add US$28 for one year Total: US$43 Add US$56 for two years Total: US$84~ " Please enter a subscription to REVIEW FOR RELIGIO : NAME ADDRES~ CITY ~ATE/PROV|NCE POSTALCODE COUNTRY 1-year subscription US$15 + Pgstage __ = Amount Enclosed __ 2-year subscription US$ 28 + Postage ____ = Amount Enclosed Please note that all subscribers must add postage. Payment in US funds must be included with all orders. Prices are good through 1991. This order is for [] a new subscription [] a renewal [] a restart of a lapsed subscription MAIL TO: REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS o 3601 LINDELL BOULEVARD ".ST.LOUIS, MO 63108 1.91 PRISMS . For those who take their Christian calendar for granted, the celebration of Christmas day seems more an ordinary part of the secular year than the extraordinary event it is. in the case of the business retailer the days leading up to Christmas become the watershed for a profitable sales year. For those in school the Christmas season marks ihe end of a semester, perhaps a gradu-ation, or at least a holiday time. There are large parts of Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, and Hindu worlds where Christmas remains a Western cultural "playtime" invention. And what is Christmas really for us? Christmas celebrates an almost unbelievable reality: God being born as a human being, as a rather ordinary helpless baby. As usual with the arrival of a baby, Christmas represents jby, and with the magical ingredients of angels singing, shepherds watching, and Magi adoring we seem to hold Life with a gentle and light touch. Yet we cannot ignore the dark side of Christmas and the various struggles present within its story, such as the massacre of the innocent babies and the refugee reality of this young family in Egypt. One continuing struggle we all enter into as Christians is in believing that God loves this tangled human world so much. Another cont(mpo~:ary area of con-flict for us lies in the chosen limitations which God takes on in being human, for example, in being male, not female, in being Jewish, not Irish, Polish, or Japanese, in being an uneducated, itinerant preacher, not a priest, a lawyer, or a successful financier. Certain things will be remembered about Jesus-- this God-man--ways of speaking, the kinds of stories he told, his program for what it means to be blessed. All of this sets up the potential for more conflict and misunderstanding from this Middle Eastern way of approaching life so different from our own. Perhaps in our time we need to enter into Christmas more from God's point of view of our human world rather than fixating on our own conflictual struggles. Today it seems that causes and movements, allegiances and preju-dices, tend to make us small, mean, and even vindictive. Christmas take on new importance for Us Christians when the reality we celebrate allows us to identify with God in smallness and in the mean things of this world. We enter a little more lightly and gently into the conflict of limitations which God so eagerly took on in Jesus--the one we call our Vindicator. God desires to minister to a world out of love even though some forms and 801 [109 / Review for Religious, November-December1991 expressions of love always seem to be the source of so much misunderstand-ing and conflict. As a tribute to John of the Cross as we close the four hun-dredth anniversary celebration, Kevin Culligan focuses upon John's : m~mstry--like God's-~coming from an ardent lover. Always the energy of love which seeks union and draws forth imitation enhances at the same time the differentiation of the ones in love. Teilhard de Chardin's evolution axiom, "union differentiates," restates more secularly the Pauline concept of the glory of differences in hands and feet and eye within the Body of Christ--all united in the love of Christ in God. Our contemporary struggle with our own human sexuality in relating to our Christian God needs to find softer focus within the light of Christmas. Maybe there is a kind of divine humor in speaking and relating to God in masculine and feminine imagery. After all, if sexuality makes no sense in referring to our trinitarian God's life, at least the origins of our own human sexuality--limiting as it is in its male and female forms--stem from our cre-ator God of love. And so in accentuating our masculine and feminine reali-ties we reflect back some kind of reality within God's life. Jesus only makes concrete in his very person the struggle of our human love of God--both towards himself and to the God he calls abba, Father. The paradoxes involved in language about God and in responding to a God so intimately involved with us human beings--"male and female God created them"-~are touched upon by two authors in this issue, Robert Annechino and Nancy Cross, as they consider the experience of our loving God and God's loving us. Hennessy's expansion of the Marian mysteries in the public ministry of Jesus adds balance and fullness to our entering into salvation events. Limits in our loving in the form of narcissism is touched upon by Markham and Sofield. O'Hea looks to its roots in the erosion of faith. Darkness even in our loving response in prayer is considered by Dent and Ostini. Ottensmeyer, with a certain lightness of touch, has us take hold of what we might call our perversity principles. The poem, "Monastic Ruminations," by Auer and the article "Messiaenic Epiphany: '. amidst animals, Love is born'" by Schloesser are intended as two special, and different, love-gifts to our readers. May the God enfleshed for us, celebrated anew this Christmas season, help us touch issues and challenges of our times lightly, gently, and with grace. David L. Fleming, S.J. Ardent Lover as Pastoral Minister: John of the Cross's Lived Example Kevin Culligan, O.C.D. This article is an edited version of a talk Father Kevin gave in December 1990 at the beginning of the fourth-centenary commemoration of St. John of the Cross's death in 1591. Father Kevin was his province's provincial and is now its director of continu-ing education and ongoing formation. His address is Discalced Carmelites; P.O. Box 429; Hinton, West Virginia 25951-0429. A number of years ago, at a seminar on St. John of the Cross and Spiritual Direction for directors of formation in religious communities, one of the par-ticipants told the group that he had come to our seminar in secret: "If my community knew I was participating in a seminar on St. John of the Cross, they would think I had gone off the deep end and would probably remove me from office to protect our novices." For me that remark sadly illustrates the poor image St. John of the Cross has for many clergy, religious, and laity in the United States. In 1926 Pius XI proclaimed him a doctor of the Church precisely because his writings were judged, after three and half centuries of thorough examination, to have universal value for the spiritual formation of Christians. Yet, for most American Catholics today, John is little known and his writings are a closed book. Many think of him primarily a's a mystic and poet, and so have difficulty identifying with him or believing that his teachings have much value for ordinary practical Christian living. Others, like the great American psycholo-gist and philosopher William James, have read his writings but consider him a negative ascetic, admirable in his personal austerities, perhaps, but whose teaching--"to come to possess all, desire the possession of nothing" (Ascent 1.13.11)--is psychologically dangerous. Even the images of John in reli-gious art, where he is usually portrayed embracing a cross, scare people. In Carmel we think of St. John of the Cross differently. He is our spiritu- 803 ~104 / Review for Religious, November-December 1991 al father. We have experienced that his teaching, while challenging, is filled with practical wisdom. We regret that he is so little known and so negatively perceived in the United States because we believe he offers adult Christians a "spirituality with substance," as John Welch, O.Carm., states in his recent book, When Gods Die: An Introduction to John of the Cross. Thus, during the celebration of the fourth centenary of his holy death on December 14, 1591, we challenge ourselves to make his life and writings more accessible to our brothers and sisters in the United States. We hope many will discover him and find in this sixteenth-century Spanish friar a sure guide for our com-mon journey toward union with God. This article, then, considers John less as poet and mystic than as pastoral minister. As an ordained priest he made ministry to others the primary activi-ty and absorbing concern of his adult life. Even as a youngster he cared for others. Years later, his greatest writings on the spiritual life emerged from his ministry of spiritual direction. He wrote his famous diptych, The Ascent of Mount Carmel and The Dark Night, for other Carmelites, both friars and nuns, "since they were the ones who asked me to write this work" (Ascent, prologue, 9). His other two masterpieces in spirituality, The Spiritual Canticle and The Living Flame of Love, were written for two women he served as spiritual director, one a Carmelite nun, the other a widow. By looking at John as priest, as pastoral minister, we may get insights that further the most exciting development in the post-Vatican II Church, the opening of pastoral ministry to all. People have been newly reminded that pastoral ministry is not solely an obligation assumed at ordination or religious profession, but a responsibility that flows from our baptism and confirmation. Specifically, John contributes a fresh way of conceiving a pastoral min-ister, not only a "wounded healer" as Henri Nouwen has suggested,I or a "skilled helper" in the phrase of Gerard Egan,2 but also as an "ardent lover," a phrase which I believe aptly captures John's practice of pastoral ministry. John's Preparation for Ministry In 1567 Juan de Yepes--known then in the Carmelite order as Juan de Santo Matfa or John of St. Matthias--was ordained to the priesthood in the university city of Salamanca. Shortly after, in his home town of Medina del Campo, he met for the first time Teresa of Avila, who persuaded him to forgo his plans to join the stricter Carthusian order in order to assist her in reforming their own Carmelites. John had already been involved in ministry before 1567. From 1556 to 1562, as an adolescent between the ages of fourteen and twenty, he lived in a hospital, where he served the sick as an orderly and begged alms for them in Ardent Lover as Pastoral Minister / 805 the streets. He would continue to serve the sick faithfully throughout his life. But the two major events of 1567--his priestly ordination and his first meet-ing with Teresa~determined the character of his pastoral ministry until his death twenty-four years later, in 1591 at the age of forty-nine. Everything that took place in his life before 1567 was but a preparation for the variety of pastoral services he would perform as a priest and a close associate of Teresa of Jesus. John's remote preparation for ministry began early. He was raised in a single-parent home. His father, Gonzalo de Yepes, died from the effects of poverty and famine shortly after John's birth in 1542 in the small Castilian farming village of Fontiveros, twenty-five miles northwest of Avila. John's father had belonged to a noble Toledo family with a prosperous silk business. He left a promising career in the family business to marry John's mother, Catalina Alvarez, a "poor but beautiful" weaving girl originally from Toledo whom Gonzalo had met on one of his business trips. Because his family dis-owned him for marrying beneath his position in life, Gonzalo joined his wife as a weaver in order to make a living. Into these poor circumstances he and Catalina brought three sons in twelve years, John being the youngest. Undoubtedly, in the years following the death of her husband and also her second son, Luis, who died of malnutrition not long after his father, Catalina repeated again and again the lesson and example of her husband's life to her two surviving sons: "Love," she probably said to them, "demands giving everything, just as your father gave up everything for me." Because of their poverty, Catalina turned to the Church for help in rais-ing her youngest son. She placed John in a residential school for orphans and children of the poor.in Medina del Campo, where she moved her little family in 1551. There John would be fed, clothed, and taught the fundamentals of his religion, and would learn a trade. At fourteen he was placed in a hospital, where he came under the formative influence of its chaplain and administra-tor, Don Alonso Alvarez de Toledo. Don Alonso carefully guided the young John and made it possible for him to study the humanities in the Jesuit col-lege in Medina, where he graduated at the age of twenty-one. Shortly afterwards John entered the Carmelites in Medina. Although formed by the role modeling of a diocesan priest and formally educated by the Jesuits, John apparently chose to enter the Carmelites, a Marian and con-templative order, because of his devotion to the Virgin and to prayer. The University of Salamanca After his year's novitiate, the Carmelites sent him to the University of Salamanca for a four-year course in the arts and theology. In the mid-six- 1~06 / Review for Religious, November-December 1991 teenth century, Salamanca was a leading center of ecclesiastical learning and at the height of a neo-Scholastic revival. Its faculty included great scholars such as Fray Luis de Le6n, the Augustinian poet and translator of Sacred Scripture, and learned Dominican commentators on the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas. There John became proficient in Sacred Scripture, theolo-gy, and Thomistic psychology, three fields of study that would be essential for the years of ministry ahead of him. These three disciplines, together with his own personal experience, pro-vided the solid bases for the treatises on mystical theology he would later write. Almost every page of these writings contains quotations from the Bible. "Taking Scripture as our guide," he writes in the opening of The Ascent of Mount Carmel, "we do not err, since the Holy Spirit speaks to us through it" (Ascent, prologue, 2). His theology training reveals itself in his continual reminders that God is both transcendent and immanent, demanding that our relationship with God be based on faith and unceasing prayer. And in Thomistic psychology he found a conceptual tool to explain God's work in the human soul. For example, he used the Thomistic concept of active and passive intel-lect to explain this mysterious paradox: although we are limited in our intel-lectual ability to actively form adequate ideas of God, we are virtually unlimited in our capacity to passively receive God's own loving knowledge. Therefore, John taught that one of the major challenges of the spiritual jour-ney to union with God is to not allow our finite understanding of God to become an obstacle to receiving God's own infinite loving knowledge which he communicates to us in contemplation. John considered the knowledge of psychology to be of crucial impor-tance for the ministry of spiritual direction. Writing some twenty years later in his Living Flame of Love, he severely criticizes incompetent spiritual directors, not because their knowledge of theology and Scripture is inade-quate, but for their deficient knowledge of the human person. Because they fail to understand the full depths of the human "spirit" and its laws of opera-tion, incompetent spiritual directors hold persons in the stage of beginners in the spiritual life and never permit them to pass into the interior depths of the soul where God is leading them so that he may communicate with them and unite them totally with himself (Flame, 3.30ff, esp. 44 and 54). Preaching Following John's ordination to the priesthood and his commitment, approved by his religious superiors, to assist Teresa in her reform of Carmel, he was assigned by his provincial to the first reformed community of friars. Ardent Lover as Pastoral Minister it was located at Duruelo, a small crossroads in the Castilian plains west of Avila. There the friars lived an austere community life, joined with the min-istries of hearing confessions, preaching, and celebrating liturgies in neigh-boring villages. John was not kriown as a great preacher, although we may assume he preached regularly throughout his years of priestly ministry. None of his ser-mons has come down to us, but he does share his theological reflection on this ministry in The Ascent of Mount Carmel, written some fifteen years later. He says: The preacher., should., keep in mind that preaching is more a spiri-tual practice than a vocal one. For although it is practiced through exteri-or words, it has no force or efficacy save from the interior spirit. No matter how lofty the doctrine preached, or polished the rhetoric, or sub-lime the style in which the preaching is clothed, the profit does not ordi-narily increase because of these means in themselves; it comes from the spirit of the preacher. The profit is usually commensurate with the [preacher's] interior preparedness. It is commonly said that as the master, so usually is the disciple . We frequently see, insofar as it is possible to judge here below, that the better the life of the preacher the more abundant the fruit, no matter how lowly his style, poor his rhetoric, and plain the doctrine. For the living spirit enkindles fire. But when this spirit is wanting, the gain is small, however sublime the style and doctrine. Although it is true that good style, gestures, sublime doctrine, and well-chosen words are more moving and productive of effect when accompanied by this good spirit, yet, with-out it, even though delightful and pleasing to the senses and the intellect, the sermon imparts little or no devotion to the will (Ascent 3.45.1-4). Confessor and Spiritual Guide At Duruelo he also began what was eventually to become his primary ministry, forming souls as their confessor and spiritual guide, a ministry he carried on almost uninterruptedly for the next twenty-four years. He was appointed master of novices for the men who joined the reform. In the years that followed, he was successively master of Carmelite students at Alcal~i de Henares, spiritual director of St.Teresa for five years, regular weekly con-fessor to her 130 nuns in the monastery of the Incarnation in Avila, master of students at the Carmelite college in Baeza in Andalusia, and regular confes-sor to the Carmelite nuns in the convents at Beas, Granada, and Segovia. In addition to these assigned positions within the Carmelite order, he carried on an extensive ministry of spiritual direction with persons outside it. He served large numbers of men and women from every phase of the Christian life, from its earliest stage of conversion to the heights of mysti-cism. These persons included: young people seeking guidance and support in I~0~1 / Review for Religious, November-December 1991 determining their vocation in life; men and women troubled by scrupulosity, excessive guilt, psychosomatic anxiety; profoundly disturbed hysterical and paranoid personalities manifesting bizarre forms of religious behavior; and those with the normal problems in the spiritual life such as temptations against God,s law, difficulties in prayer, and feelings of dryness, desolation, and emptiness. The biographical data indicate that John rendered his spiritual service "without distinction of persons." He welcomed all who came to him for help; both inside and outside the confessional--religious, clergy, laity, young and old, rich and poor. His ministry extended to the entire Christian commu-nity, not simply to an elite few who held positions of privilege in society or who enjoyed a reputation for exalted spirituality. From these historical records, I estimate that during one eighteen-month period in 1587-1588 in Andalusia his ministry as spiritual guide and confessor included nearly a thousand .persons in and outside the Carmelite order. With all he fostered the same goals: union with God; imitation of Jesus Christ; deeper faith, hope, and love; continu~il prayer and mortification 6f every desire not ordered to the love and service of God; transformation of the personality through contemplation. Administration As Teresa's reform progressed, her friars eventually became, in 1580, a separate province within the friars of the Ancient Observance a, nd, in 1588, a separate congregation with their own vicar-general. As these developments occurred, John's fellow friars called upon him to fulfill various administra-tive offices within the reform. In 1578 he was appointed local superior of the community at El Calvario in the Sierra de Cazorla mountains in Andalusia. The following year he o~ened the Carmelite seminary in the Andalusian city of Baeza and served as rector there until i582. In 1582 he began six years as prior of the friars' community in Granada, the last two years of which he also served as vicar-provincial for Andalusia. In 1588 he was appointed to a threeryear term on the order's general council, during which time he was also local superior of the friars' community in Segovia. For fourteen straight years he was deeply involved in the administration of a new and growing order, establishing new communities, building new monasteries, providing for the formation and education of new members, and making canonical visitations of communities of both friars and nuns. His most intense period of administrative activity was the two years from 1585 to 1587, when he was prior of the monastery in Granada and Ardent Lover as Pastoral Minister vicar-provincial of Andalusia. He was thus responsible, not only for his own local community in Granada, but also for seven other monasteries of friars and five convents of nuns scattered over thirty thousand Andalusian square miles, from Caravaca in the east to Seville in the west, and from C6rdoba in the north to M~ilaga in the south. To visit each community at least once a year as his office required meant almost continual travel, by foot or by donkey, frequently under a blazing sun, over dusty, rugged, winding, and at times mountainous roads, spending nights sleeping in open fields or in boisterous roadside inns. Five years later, in June 1591, at the friars' general chapter in Madrid, the burdens of office--both of formation and administration--were lifted from John's shoulders for the first time in thirteen years. He was to prepare for the Mexican missions, a directive that was later rescinded. In September 1591, his leg became seriously infected, leading to the illness which brought his death on December 14, 1591. During the last five months of his life, he had the physica! solitude he craved since his ordination to the priesthood twenty-four years earlier. These few months were the first time since he was ordained, save for nearly a year when he was imprisoned in Toledo on a charge of disobedience to his Carmelite superiors, that~he was without active pastoral care of souls. He wrote to Sister Anne of Jesus Jimena in July 1591: "Being freed and relieved from the care of souls, I can, if I want, and with God's help, enjoy peace, solitude, and the delightful fruit of forgetfulness of self and of all things. It is also good for others that ! be separated from them, for thus they will be freed of the faults they would have committed on account of my misery." Writing John was now no longer in direct service to others, but indirectly he con-tinued his ministry through writing. Living in a small hermitage in the Sierra Morena mountains in Andalusia, he continued to provide spiritual direction through personal letters and worked on revisions of his two spiritual master-pieces, The Spiritual Canticle and The Living Flame of Love. Both of these treatises were written for his directees, the former for the Carmelite nun Anne of Jesus Lobera and the latter for the lay woman Dofia Ana Pefialosa. Writing became for John, not a hobby, but an essential part of his pas-toral ministry. When a Carmelite nun once asked him if his poetic inspira-tions were from God, he replied, "Sometimes they came to me from God and at other times I sought them." John undoubtedly wrote during his early years in college and as a Carmelite. However, the writings we have today begin with his period of 810 / Review for Religious, November-December 1991 imprisonment in Toledo and continue through the last thirteen years of his life, when he was between the ages of thirty-six and forty-nine. The nine-month imprisonment was the tragic result of conflicting jur!sdictions direct-ing the early days of Teresa's reform. This placed John in the. awkward position where fidelity to Teresa's reform, supported by the Holy See through the king of Spain, Philip II, appeared as di'sobedience to his Carmelite superiors, punishable by confinement in the monastery prison. In his prison cell in the Carmelite monastery at Toledo, John began his poem The Spiritual Canticle. Its opening lines sugges.t that poetry provided him a way of coping with the feelings of abandonment by God and spiritual desolation brought on by his imprisonment. He writes: Where have you hidden, Beloved, and left me moaning? You fled like the stag After wounding me; I went out calling You, and You were gone. However, in the years following his dramatic escape from Toledo, John continued to write poetry to express the deepest longings of his heart for God and to capture as best he could in human language his ineffable experi-ences of divine union. More than merely self-expression, John's poetry became pan of his ministry. His pedagogy involved sharing his poems with his Carmelite brothers and sisters and his directees to teach them about the human person's union with God. They, in turn, requested a fuller explanation of these teachings in prose. He responded with three major treatises in spiri-tuality- the prose commentaries on his poems The Dark Night, The Spiritual Canticle, and The Living Flame of Love. Had John not been involved in the ministry of spiritual direction, it is likely that we would still have his poetry, but not the prose commentaries which today, four centuries later, continue to provide reliable spiritual guidance to millions of readers of all faiths for the journey to union with God. A Man on the Move This overview of John of the Cross's ministry hardly leaves us with the image most have of him--a mystic on the mountaintop, with abundant soli-tude to explore his relationship with God and the leisure to write lyric poet-ry. Rather, we see a man on the move--preaching, hearing, confessions, providing spiritual guidance, studying the architectural plans and financial figures of new monasteries, at his desk writing for others; in short, a man deeply committed to pastoral ministry. Ardent Lover as Pastoral Minister / I~'1"1 True, by nature he was deeply introverted. His heart's desire was for solitude. He longed to be a solitary Carthusian before he met Teresa of Jesus, and when finally, after twenty-four years of pastoral ministry, he was free to be in a mountain hermitage, he wrote to Dofia Ana Pefialosa: "I am indeed very happy in this holy solitude." Nonetheless, his first commitment was to God, who called him out of himself to share his many gifts with others in pastoral ministry; in responding to this call, he discovered for himself the power and beauty of his own gifts. And these same gifts continue to be an enrichment for us all today. Jesus Christ, the Motive for John's Ministry John's ministry was not an outlet for an active temperament or a restless personality. It was, rather, his loving response to Jesus Christ, who was his Everything--"a brother, companion, master, ransom, and reward" (Ascent 2.22.5). John's ministry was his response to Jesus' love for him. In ministry he attempted to awaken others to Jesus' love for them. "Now we are telling you," John writes in his commentary on The Spiritual Canticle, "that you yourself are His dwelling and His secret chamber and hiding place . Since you know now that your desired Beloved lives hidden within your heart, strive to be really hidden with Him, and you will embrace Him within you and experience Him with loving affection" (Canticle 1.7 and 10). Jesus, too, was John's exemplar for ministry, especially in his kenosis, his self-emptying on the cross. From this John concluded that effective min-istry arises, not from a multiplicity of activity, but from union with Jesus' life-giving death. When he joined Teresa's reform, this insight prompted him to change his name from John of St. Matthias to John of the Cross. Later it led him to remind "true spiritual persons". "that their union with God and the greatness of the work they accomplish will be measured by their annihi-lation for God in the sensory and spiritual parts of their soul. [For] the jour-ney [to union with God] does not consist in recreations, experiences, and spiritual feelings, but in the living, sensory and spiritual, exterior and interi-or, death of the cross (Ascent 2.7.11). Mary, Model of Transformation John's experience of God's love in Jesus also determined his goal in ministry: to help persons let go of their inordinate attachments to creatures so that they might be free to receive the Creator's love into their lives, the divine love which both heals the effects of original sin and transforms human life into God's life. In this transformation, persons are united with the ~112 / Review for Religious, November-December 1991 mind and heart of God. They respond to events in their lives with the mind and heart of Jesus. They are moved in everything by the Holy Spirit. In John's mind, the person who best embodies this transformation is the Blessed Virgin Mary. She is the "true daughter of God" in the passage quot-ed above. Furthermore, in The Ascent of Mount Carmel, describing the trans-formed Christian, John writes: "Such was the prayer and work of our Lady, the most glorious Virgin. Raised from the very beginning to this high state [of divine union and transformation in God], she never had the form of any creature impressed in her soul, nor was she moved by any, for she was always moved by the Holy Spirit" (Ascent 3.2.10). John's image of transformation was Mary, the Mother of Jesus. In his pastoral ministry he invited persons to imitate her simple faith in God so that they too might be transformed by the Holy Spirit. With this in mind he com-posed the following lyric that summarizes his entire spiritual doctrine: Del Verbo divino The Virgin, pregnant La Virgen prefiada With the Word of God, Viene de camino: Comes down the road: Si le dais posada. If only you'll shelter her. When we, like Mary, let go of everything that prevents us from being totally open to God's word, the Holy Spirit transforms us into her Son, the Word, Jesus. Two Difficulties Modem readers often have difficulty with John of the Cross's emphasis on purification through suffering. "Too negative," they say when they read a passage like this one from his Sayings of Light and Love: "God values in you an inclination to aridity and suffering for love of Him more than all possible consolations, spiritual visions, and meditations" (SLL 14). Yet anyone who has experienced the healing that comes from intense psychotherapy will, I think, appreciate the wisdom of this recommendation. For John, contempla-tion is, literally, psychotherapy--healing the soul. He is not teaching us how to arrive at ecstatic altered states of consciousness; rather, he is telling us how to heal the effects of original sin in our life. Effective psychotherapy demands a willingness to endure the pain that comes from an expanding awareness of our own ego-defense mechanisms and the consequent change of behavior necessary to break the compulsive repetition of self-defeating behavior. Similarly, John of the Cross explains that contemplation requires a readiness to accept the interior pain that accompanies a clearer insight into the disorder of our soul and our natural distance from the incomprehensible goodness of God. Ardent Lover as Pastoral Minister The healing of our souls begins when we open our lives to receive God's loving knowledge. We experience loving knowledge as a light, at times painful, which allows us to observe clearly the disorder that continues to operate in our daily lives. At the same time, this light lets us see as never before God's inexhaustible love for us. In this light we quite naturally let go of disordered attachments to our own self-interest (a letting go that brings the temporary pain of 1 oss and sadness) and become more attached to God's will, which ultimately brings peace to our inner lives, even as we deal with each day's problems. But even granting John's hypothesis that purification is a prerequisite for healing and transformation, many today still believe that his spiritual doctrine is too individualistic and exclusive, meant only for the few who choose an avowedly contemplative way of life. They see little relationship between his spirituality and the pressing social issues of our day, such as those addressed by the American bishops in their recent pastoral letters on peace and economic justice. Obviously, the issues John addressed four hundred years ago are not the same issues we face today, although sixteenth-century Spain was not without its wars and economic injustice. Nonetheless, Richard Hardy, one of John's modem biographers, has suggested new ways of interpreting his counsels on personal mortification that bring out their social significance. Addressing the Institute of Carmelite Studies in Boston a few years ago, Hardy pointed out this country's inordinate appetite for national security and an improved stan-dard of living, even while millions of our people live in poverty. In the face of this poverty, he suggested that John's counsels on the mortification of the emotions in order to dispose one's sensory life for union with God are also a prophetic social challenge to the American Church. Thus, St. John writes in The Ascent of Mount Carmel: Endeavor to be inclined always: not to the easiest, but to the most difficult; not to the most delightful, but to the harshest; not to the most gratifying, but to the less pleasant; not to what means rest for you, but to hard work;' not to the consoling, but to the unconsoling; not to the most, but to the least; not to the highest and most precious, but to the lowest and most despised; not to wanting something, but to wanting nothing; do not go about looking for the best of temporal things, but for the worst, and desire to enter into complete nudity, emptiness, and poverty in everything in the world (Ascent 1.13.6). 1~14 / Review for Religious, November-December 1991 These shocking words, directed to Carmelite religious in the sixteenth century committed by public vows to live in poverty, admittedly demand interpretation for Christians in twentieth-century America. Nevertheless, they challenge us, an affluent Christian community in a world where mil-lions are dying of starvation, to seek, not always the best and the most, but only the necessary, so that others in our world may also participate in their just share of the earth's goods, which God intends for all his children. Moreover, John teaches that when persons are deeply touched by God's love, their entire outlook on life is radically changed. Seeing now with God's eyes and feeling with Jesus' heart, they can no longer maintain racial preju-dices, exaggerated nationalism, or hearts closed to the world's suffering. The fruits of contemplation which John describes in his writings are precisely those which our bishops identify in their peace pastoral when they write: "The practice of contemplative prayer is especially valuable for advancing harmony and peace in the world. For this prayer rises, by divine grace, where there is total disarmament of the heart and unfolds in an experience of love which is the moving force of peace. Contemplation fosters a vision of the human family as united and interdependent in the mystery of God's love for all people" (The Challenge of Peace, no. 294). Conclusions What conclusions might we draw for pastoral ministry today from this review of John of the Cross's life and work? I suggest the following: 1. Preparation for ministry begins early in life, hopefully with baptism. Ministers for the Church will come forward from Christian families, parish-es, and schools where there is deep love, where serving others is a communi-cated value, and where role models and positive mentoring for ministry are present. 2. More immediate preparation for specialized ministries in the Church requires a solid grounding not only in Sacred Scripture and theology but especially in Christian anthropology, that is, a constant study, aided by human sciences, of the mystery of the human person in contemporary soci-ety. 3. Effective pastoral ministry, lay and ordained, depends first upon acquiring the skills necessary for a particular ministry and, second but more important, living daily Jesus' Paschal Mystery, the main source of effective ministry. 4. Christian ministers need clear images of Christian transformation to guide their activity, such as Mary, Mother of God and of the Church, Spouse of the Holy Spirit, Faithful Disciple of Jesus, and Queen of Apostles. Ardent Lover as Pastoral Minister 5. The spirituality that empowers Christian ministry realistically appre-ciates both the effects of original sin in our lives and the presence of God's never failing love to heal us. This spirituality seeks to overcome artificial dichotomies that undermine ministry, such as opposing social action and contemplative prayer, pastoral activity and artistic creativity. It encourages persons to bring forward under the guidance of the Holy Spirit their unique gifts for the building of Christ's Body, confident that such sharing of gifts leads to the discovery and realization of one's total person. Pastoral Minister as Ardent Lover Earlier I suggested that John inspires an image of the pastoral minister as an ardent lover. The Holy Spirit set him on fire with love for God, other persons, and all creation. Fire was John's most comprehensive symbol, as Professor Keith Egan demonstrated in his address to Carmel 200, the sym-posium in Baltimore in August 1990 honoring two hundred years of Carmelites in the United States.3 As a metaphor, fire suggests the purifica-tion of soul symbolized by "the dark night"; it also captures the mutual pas-sionate love of God and the human person conveyed through the erotic images of spiritual betrothal and marriage in the Spiritual Canticle. As a consuming fire slowly transforms a log into itself, so the Holy Spirit, the Living Flame of Love (Flame 1.3), transforms us into God, leaving us on fire with divine love for his people. The Church always needs pastoral ministers on fire with the love of the Holy Spirit, but never more than today in the United States. Archbishop Rembert Weakland of Milwaukee recently underscored the enervating polar-ization in the American Catholic community which hardens us into opposing ecclesiologies, unwilling to dialogue with one another, unable to tolerate dif-ferences, afraid to compromise in order to find a common way together.4 Pastoral ministry obviously must try to resolve our present polarities, not reinforce them. We are not likely to do this without the fire of God's love burning in our hearts, a love that results from a contemplative openness to God. In the Carmel 200 celebration mentioned above, Father Joseph Chinnici, O.EM., historian of American spirituality and currently provincial of the California Franciscans, offered the opinion that the failure since 1700 to cul-tivate the contemplative dimension of Christian life accounts in large mea-sure, not only for "our contemporary groping for a stable spiritual center," but also "for the stridency in today's Catholic community.''5 For years Thomas Merton alerted us to the dangers of this neglect, but only now are we seeing clearly our spiritual impoverishment as a Church and our need I~16 / Review for Religious, November-December 1991 each day for God's wisdom and love, which, as St. John of the Cross teach-es, is contemplation's gift. In 1591, following the general chapter of the Teresian friars at Madrid, a Carmelite nunin Segovia, Maria of the Incarnation, wrote to John deploring the shabby treatment he received from his brothers in the reform who deprived him of all offic~ and planned to mission him to Mexico in return for his outspoken opposition to the policies of Father Nicholas Doria, the vicar-general, regarding Jerome Graci~in and the government of the Carmelite nuns. John wrote back on July 6, 1591: ". do not let what is happening to me, daughter, cause you any g.rief, for it does not cause me any. ¯. Men do not do these things, but God, who knows what is suitable for us and arranges things for our good. Think nothing else but that God ordains all, and where there is no love, put love, and you will draw out love . " Considering the circumstances in which they were written, these words bespeak the effects of contemplation in John of the Cross--a transformed consciousness and a nonviolent heart. They, perhaps more than anything else he wrote, cha.llenge the Catholic Church in the United States today. NOTES I Henri J.M. Nouwen, The Wounded Healer: Ministry in Contemporary Society (Garden City, N.Y.: Imag~ Books, 1979). 2 Gerard Egan, The Skilled Helper: Models, Skills, and Methods for Effective Helping, 2nd edition (Monterey, Calif.: Brooks/Cole Publishing Co., 1982). 3 Keith Egan, "The Fire of Love: John of the Cross' Central Symbol of Contemplative Identity." Lecture given at Carmel 200: Contemp.lation and the Rediscovery of the American Soul, sponsored by the Carmelite nuns of Baltimore, held at Loyola College, Baltimore, August 12-18, 1990. 4 Rembert G. Weakland, O.S.B., "From Dream to Reality to Vision." Address given to the Future of the American Church conference, sponsored by Time Consultants, Washington D.C., Sept. 28, 1990. Printed in Origins 20, no. 18 (October 11, 1990): 289-293 5 Joseph P. Chinnici, O.EM., "The Politics of Mysticism: Church, State, and the Carmelite Tradition." Lecture at Carmel 200, Baltimore, August 12-18, 1990~ Messiaenic Epiphany: . amidst animals, Love is born Stephen Schloesser, S.J. Mr. Schloesser is a transitional deacon studying theology at Weston Co!lege. He resides at 15 Avon Street; Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138. The nineteenth and twentieth centuries, in their most profound manifestations, are centuries which have tried to live without tran-scendence. How to live without grace--that is the question that dominates the nineteenth century. The question of the twentieth cen-tury., has gradually been specified: how to live without grace and without justice? --Albert Camus, The Rebel (1951) I would like to stress the need for the Church today to be aware of its duty to bring to the world a sense of the sacred and the transcendent., i. In this way we can show to the world that we are a sign of something which is more meaning,ful and more complete than just the daily tragedies that all of us must face. --Rembert Weakland, "25 Years after the Council" (1990) A friend stopped me after class the other day and said, "You like twentieth-century organ music, don't you?" Grateful at last that life had sent a soul partner to accompany me on my solitary journey, I eagerly replied, "Yes! Do you? . No," she answered, "but a friend gave me a CD of Christmas music for the organ. I can't stand it. If you want it you can l~ave it." I took the disc gratefully and set out again on my journey, solitary still, but with a mission-ary's fervor. Twentieth-century music in general tends to distend: for lush romantic strings it seemingly substitutes barbed wire; for pastoral horns the intermit-tent siren. It attempts to speak in language too deep for words those feelings we prefer left unsaid: confusion in the face of chaos; despair over life's daily 817 I~1t~ / Review for Religious, November-December 1991 deaths; horror in the face of human atrocity. Twentieth-century music in gen-eral tends to express our culture's deepest pulses: a world seemingly devoid of grace and justice. And what about twentieth-century church music? The church music composer-historian Erik Routley once wrote that all authentically twentieth-century church music contains within its score a certain measure of "skepti-cism." I think he is right here, but in this Christmastide I suggest a more seasonal term: a certain measure of "scandal"; the "stumbling block" of the manger. For what faced the European church musicians after the Great War was nothing less than the scandal of Christianity: incarnation, cross, grace-- the works. How do church musicians remain faithful both to their experience of violence--this race, this culture, this epoch--and, at the same time, to their vision of confidence in Love's promise to triumph? Many--perhaps most--solve this dilemma (as so many of us do) by simply choosing one or the other, confidence or despair. We--players and listeners alike--are numbed by the banality or bludgeoned by the bombast. Yet, as Archbishop Rembert Weakland said once in an Advent homily, Christian liturgy (and the vision it ritualizes) insists that we always keep in mind both terms of the dialectic. At Christmas, we remember the price in Gethsemane of becoming human; on Good Friday, we remember the promise proclaimed at Easter. When our liturgy expresses joy unbridled by the mem-ory of death-~or grief unbalanced by the hope of resurrection--we have for-gotten the paradox: ¯. amidst animals, Love is born. Whereas the French composer Claude Debussy had painted impression-istic passage.s, conveying the evanescence of time lost with large lush ensembles, the young Parisian Olivier Messiaen turned his attention to the other pole: he attempted time out of time. Messiaen discovered the genius unique to the organ: it can convey the illusion of eternity. The bang of a drum punctuates; the vibration of a piano wire inevitably dies; the singer must come up for air. But the organ, as Igor Stravinsky complained, is "the monster that does not breathe." In the organ, Messiaen and many after him found a new way of inviting the listener to experience the transcendent. On the other hand, these musicians were twentieth-century citizens, very much situated in history. The organ lost a genius when the young Jehan Alain was killed in the defense of France. The German Paul Hindemith fled to the United States under Nazi persecution while choral composer Hugo Distler took his own life under the same. Olivier Messiaen wrote and pre-miered his "Quartet for the End of Time"--beginning with "the harmonious silence of heaven"---while imprisoned in a German POW camp. They knew Messiaenic Epiphany / 8~9 firsthand the human potential for savagery, a fragile culture's collapse, the seeming triumph of death. Thus, they also employed the musical language of our time: barbed wire, screaming sirens, carefully constructed cacophony. Writing church music, they attempted to convey in their medium the experience of Christmas: that, in the midst of life's bleak midwinter, there lives "the dearest freshness deep down things." Their fusion of the languages of transcendence and of skepticism resulted in a radically new musical lan-guage, a nearly hypostatic union. In the midst of scandal (which their music never sidesteps), they stood apart from the aleatoric vogue, firm in hopeful trust, rooted in their vision of the immanent transcendent: ¯. amidst animals, Love is born. I am glad for the gift of the CD, and I plan on listening to it this season. Not, of course, over Christmas dinner or while opening gifts under the tree or while rocking my niece to sleep in front of the crackling fire. For that I will listen to "The Messiah" or to the kids from King's College, or my moth-er will put on Nat King Cole or my father Johnny Cash . And not, of course, when the snow silently piles outside my Cambridge window, weigh-ing down the boughs as books weigh down me, streetlights highlighting Victorian crannies on neighboring homes. For that kind of delicious melan-choly only George Winston's "December" will do. I mean rather when I turn off the lights and light a candle, wrap a blan-ket round and stare into nothing: that is when I will play my new CD. Time and timelessness, scandal and hopeful trust, death and Love. I will think about them--Nazis and world war and concentration camps; and I will think about us---death squads and desert storms and Mount Pinatubo; and I will think about home--grandfather's Alzheimer's and grandmother's grief, a cousin's suicide, a friend's AIDS: "the daily tragedies that all of us must face." And then, I hope, as for magi on a journey to a manger, scanning the midwinter sky, it will light up the night, the sudden onslaught of insight-- the Epiphany--those artists attempted to convey: ¯. amidst animals, Love is born. 820 Monastic Ruminations I. Spring." The Russian Olive Tree in Meditation Park "The affection of love is a delicate plant. " --Gilbert of Hoyland Silver smells whiff past me, into me, Byzantine incense, perfume from a bazaar, a solitary pearled tree in the park odors the mind with deja vued dusty dreams shelved from disuse. Sable Lent fades into resurrected dappled blooms, the Russian Olive shimmers in newborn light, morning dew kisses its hoary-haired branches, while it speaks in hushed tones of hidden presence. II. Summer: Locust Trees along the Academy Entrance "Unity consists in singleness of love." --Bernard of Clairvaux Standing at attention, locust trees reach skyward, stretching limbs into lowlying clouds, each arm delicate, broken by storms, battered by winter's ice, survivors sentineled. Breezes sway the foliage to an unheard melody, rhythmically touching the tips of treed tendons, digits gnarled by seasonal change, each tree soloed, a monk reaching for God, separate, yet partnered, facing each day together yet aloned. 821 IlI. Autumn: The Monastic Cemetery "The treasure of our love is hidden in the field of our heart and lies buried in its very depth." --John of Ford The colors are deep across the valley-- red, burnt orange, yellow. Each vibrant tree grasping my throat and choking my breath away, death is viewed, keeping itself daily before our eyes. Fallen leafs encircle my feet, drawing my eyes to the stones neatly rowed, each with a face, a person I knew, a laugh recalling the past, now silent, earthbound, yet rejoicing beyond the eye. IV. Winter: Leafs Trapped in Collins Court "Love is solid. It may be fretted by annoyance, but it simply cannot be worn away." --John of Ford Leafs trapped within the courtyard beat bird-like against the mirrored windows, trying to escape the battering wind, fluttering desperately, vortexing, rising and falling, yet free. Columns rise, Stonehenge revisited, standing guard over the spectacle, silent seers, mutely observing the abused leafs, hostaged too, but immobile, the stationary monoliths envy the leafs bound nowhere yet unfettered. Benedict Auer, O.S.B. Saint Martin's College Lacey, Washington 98503 Song of the Groom: Spiritual Marriage and Masculinity Robert Annechino Robert Annechino has completed the graduate program in spiritual direction at the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation, Washington, D.C. This article is taken from a paper written for the program. He is married and the father of three children, and is writing a book on masculine romantic spirituality. Correspondence would be wel-come at P.O. Box 14039; Rochester, New York 14614. All Christians have heard God addressed as "Father." Today we sometimes also hear God called upon as "Mother." In our mystical literature there is a long tradition that speaks of God or Christ as the "Bridegroom" of the soul. This article considers something we have heard next to nothing about: a Christian mystical experience that celebrates God as "Bride." Admittedly, such an idea seems peculiar at first, but perhaps its very anomaly is even more peculiar. Why has not Christianity admitted such a tradition when, as we shall see, many world religions have? How might an appreciation of the Divine Bride expand our understanding of God, of religious experience, and of ourselves as spiritual, social, and sexual beings, male and female? The awareness of God as Mother has been a gift and challenge of femi-nist spirituality. This alternate feminine image of God as the Divine Bride derives from the quest for an authentic contemporary masculine spirituality. Reflection by men on our experience as men will free us from the myopic assumption that male experience is normative of all human experience, and will bring the unique features of masculinity into sharp focus. To understand and revitalize the spiritual life of contemporary men, it is important to con-sider how we customarily recognize both maleness and holiness and how these conceptions connect and conflict. Richard Rohr, James Nelson, and John Carmody are some of the teachers who have explored male experiences of Christian faith and values. 822 Song of the Groom / 823 As evident in the work of Robert Bly and Robert Moore, an essential element of the men's movement is the recovery of the archetypes or models of male experience, which typify distinctive themes of male identity. Through the exploration of such heroic figures as the Wild Man, the King, the Warrior, the Trickster, the Lover, the Grief Man, and the Quester (which Robert Bly has aptly called the "Great Joys of Men"), contemporary men are gaining new understanding of their maleness and of the social expectations and personal conflicts which shape them. In Toward a Male Spirituality, John Carmody encourages men to come to God in and through the kinds of relationships that reflect the best of male experience, finding God as buddy, father, brother. He also seeks to open men to the possib!lity of finding God the Holy Spirit as the divine lover, in a spirituality of romancing,l But here, in the attempt to engage male romantic love as a spiritual symbol, we run into a barrier that challenges traditional Christian notions. This barrier has also been noted by Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette in their book on the four major male archetypes, King, Warrior, Magician, Lover. Of these, they feel that the Lover has been the most repressed within Western religion. They describe the giftedness of the Lover so: For the man accessing the Lover, all things are bound to each other in mysterious ways. He sees, as we say, "the world in a grain of sand." This is the consciousness that knew long before the invention of holography that we live, in fact, in a "holographic" universe---one in which every pa~t, reflects every other in immediate and sympathetic union. It isn't just that the Lover energy sees the world in a grain of sand. He feels that this is so.2 The mature energy of the Lover is not exclusively nor even primarily expressed through sexual activity, but as a royal dignity which suffuses the entire person with gladness of heart and warm richness of being. While the Lover has never been articulated well for Christian women or men, I believe that histor!cally there has been a particular reluctanc~ to incorporate male erotic energy into religious expression, and this history needs to be under-stood and redressed. In a recent book on the feminist rhetoric of St. Teresa of Avila, Alison Weber maintains that medieval spirituality systematized two major images of the mystical journey.3 The first was .the sponsa Christi, the bride of Chris.t, an image drawn from the conventional feminine experience of romantic love and marriage. The second image was the miles Christi, the soldier of Christ, derived from the conventional male experience of war. In the sponsa Christi or bridal mysticism, we find that from the time of Origen the Song of Songs was lavishly allegorized as the mystical union of the soul, personified by the 1~24 / Review for Religious, November-December 1991 Shulammite damsel, with the Lord as the shepherd/king. This imagery evolved into the classical descriptions of spiritual betrothals and spiritual marriage. It is certainly true that throughout the history of Christian spiritu-ality such imagery has been evoked by men as well as by women. In fact, most of its known expositors were male (since literature was a male domain). Yet today, when feminist theologians have tightly insisted that we consider the limitations levied by exclusive masculine language in relation to God, we might also ponder what diminishment lurks in the imagery of bridal mysticism. Why have men relied upon the erotic imagery of women to describe their love for God? Why is there no "bridegroom mysticism" call-ing up.on the natural erotic imagery of men? What would it take, and what would it mean, for Christian men to become free to pursue God as their Divine Bride? Bridegroom Mysticism: The Male Mysteries of God and Men At this point it is important to ask: Does it really matter whether we con-ceive of God as Father, Mother, Bridegroom, Bride, or in any of the person-al, transpersonal, or nonpersonal figures that have dawned in human consciousness as we encounter the great Mystery? If we give too much attention to the name, will God cease to be Mystery? I believe that the name only enhances the Mystery. If God is God, then the God of the naming is not different from the God of experiencing. Feminist theologians have wisely recognized that naming God is an act of self-revelation as well as God's rev-elation to us. With this in mind, let us consider what it means for men to name God as Father, Mother, and Bridegroom and then consider the alterna-tives of knowing God as the Divine Bride. Mary and Leon J. Podles, in an interesting article denouncing the "emas-culation of God," protest that the male image of God cannot be dispensed with arbitrarily. God the Father, they say, is a God of transcendence, stand-ing distinct from his creation, having created it in a male act of separation from himself: Why is God the Father a Father and not a mother? Maleness is a symbol of transcendence because the fundamental male experience, thal~ of fatherhood, of reproduction through ejaculation, is one of separation, while the fundamental female experience is one of prolonged and inti-mate union with the offspring through the long months of gestation and nursing. The male experience of the world is one of "either/or," "this, and not that," one of separation.4 The male image of God engages essential aspects of the male identity, which cannot be denied without denying the life quest of men. As many Song of the Groom / 895 writers have pointed out, male identity is usually first discovered in an act of distinction and separation.5 The little girl experiences continuity with her mother, their femininity uniting them (with both positive and toxic bonds). But the little boy becomes aware of his masculinity as being a difference between him and the close nurturing mother, and thus begins the male quest of distinction and separation. With this comes the need for the boy to affirm his maleness by connecting with his father. From here ensues the whole dynamic of dependence, independence, and eventual interdependence that are typical of healthy male development experiences that perhaps figure in the religious motifs of exile and redemption. And yet, while the maleness of God does engage these crucial aspects of men's experience, there is a subtle but clear possibility that it can also limit a man's sense of masculinity before God. The Podles' article, for example, refers to the Father God as "the Creator, before whom all else is female.''6 The inevitable presumption is that, if God is considered male, then all cre-ation, including humanity, is essentially feminine. Ironically, this might leave men castrated before God, their maleness exiling them from the "femi-nine" creation. As James Nelson has said: When God became male, males were divinized, and patriarchy had cos-mic blessing. At the same time we have resisted that one-sided masculin-ized deity, for a male God suggests to men their feminization. Language referring to the Church has long been feminized: "She is his new creation by water and the word." All of us, men as well as women, are "she's" when it comes to being the Church. That feels uncomfortable. Furthermore, a male God penetrates us. But to be penetrated by anyone or anything, even God, amounts to being womanized. It seems tanta-mount to a man's degradation, literally a loss of grade or status.7 Notions of "female submission" toward God have pervaded all of Christian spirituality, from pious popular devotions to the most rarefied con-templation. Even if he has not been exposed to the literature of bridal mysti-cism, consider what it has meant for ~i man; standing amid generations of male Christian mystics, to sense himself in a feminine role in relation to God. What does this imply about his maleness? The lavish descriptions of bridal mysticism, in which the feminine soul is wooed by the celestial Bridegroom, violate his natural desire as a man. Jungians may discern here the emergence of the inner anima, the feminine side of the male. But even if this were the case, what other problems are invoked in such an approach? Arthur Green has asked some important questions along this line: Is it really only women alone who are in need of feminine imagery? Do images of the divine feminine belong only to women? Might they not 826 / Review for Religious, November-December1991 belong to, and respond to the needs of, men as well as women? Or, as a friend posed the question a long time ago, with reference to Catholic spiritual literature, does Teresa of Avila need to be the bride of God more than John of the Cross? Does John need God the Father more than God the Mother? Indeed, is it Mother whom the passionat~ Teresa seeks so boldly? Might one not argue that men need the feminine, as women need the masculine, if religious life involves something like what the depth psychologists call a search for.polarities? In the course of our intense longing for the divine Other, a longing long depicted as having a strong erotic component, might it not be opposite rather than like that needs first to be sought out?8 And, while feminist theologians have contributed an important under-standing of the Divine Mother, the uncritical acceptance of God as Mother still may not fully open the feminiriity Of God to adult men. Robert Bly affirms that a man's encounter with the holy feminine, the "meeting with the gbd-woman in the garden," is a step beyond the parental drama: W~ can't stop the story here, because the feminine has not yet appeared. His mother, as the maternal form of the feminine, he has of course expe-rienced, but that is all. And now he is about to meet the feminine in a nonmatemal form~ in its powerful, blossoming, savvy, wild, instigating, erotic, playful form.9 In God the Bride, we find a fully femii~ine expression of divinity, one who preserves for men the essential Otherness that is so integral to their psy-che. As Bride, God is even more "Other" than Father, yet it is an otherness which is fantastically attractive, and invites the man to participation and union. The Divine Bride welcomes a mal6 spiritual identity that is fully adult and ~ully masculine. Bridegroom Spirituality and the "Way of the Warrior" Now let us turn briefly to Alison Weber's second image of classical Christian mysticism, the image of the miles Christi, the soldii~r of Christ, a mas~tiline image that has found wide expression historically, from the ladder mysticism of John Climacus, through the service mysticism of Ignatius LoyolL Today one might well ask if this militant motif, in an age of nuclear and chemical weapons, terrorism, and environmental desecration, is at all appropriate. But here the expositors of what has been called "the way of the warrior" must challenge, nuance, and explain such imagery. The passionate denial of ~he flesh in an intent focus upon. a goal is a real and necessary aspect of human life, and it is fitting that it find expression in the mystical "way of the warrior." Many men and women relate vitally to God on this path, at least for a good part of their lives. The "call of the King" in Ignatius Song of the Groom / 827 Loyola's Spiritual Exercises presents a spirituality that springs from this rich sense of participation and mission. Some expositors of male spirituality seem to equate it exclusively with the way of the warrior, but the male "way of the lover" (bridegroom mysti-cism) is both a complement and an alternative to the way of the warrior. While it may be important to question the limitations of the miles Christi, it is emphatically not the role of bridegroom mysticism to neutralize or domes-ticate the way of the warrior, but to enhance, inflame, and fulfill it. The way of the warrior celebrates a clearly focused intent to uphold righteousness regardless of personal cost. This fervent passion unites the way of the war-rior with the way of love. But the miles Christi can become morbid if it arbi-trarily divorces itself from love, in any of its forms, including the erotic. Such denial inflicts a cramped, neurotic quest for control, a pseudospirituali-ty that is myopically fixated and incapable of the panoramic awareness exer-cised by the true warrior. Sadly, such diminishment has all too often been the conventional model of holiness, reflected in a celibacy that is sterile rather than full, in the collapsed mentality described by Alan Watts: The opposition of spirit to both nature and sexuality is the opposition of the conscious will, of the ego, to that which it cannot control. If sexual abstinence is, as in so many spiritual traditions, the condition of enhanced consciousness, it is because consciousness as we know it is an act of restraint . This is clearly the reaction of one for whom the soul, the will, the spiritual part of man, identified with that form of conscious-ness which we have seen to be a partial and exclusive mode of attention. It is the mode of attention which grasps and orders the world by seeing it as one-at-a-time things, excluding and ignoring the rest . Obviously, '~he sexual function is one of the most powerfu| biological manifes'ta'tions of biological spontaneity, and thus more especially difficult for the will to control . But this mode of control is a peculiar example of the proverb that nothing fails like success. For the more consciousness is individualized by the success of the will, the more everything outside the individual seems to be a threat--including not only the external world but also the "external" and uncontrolled spontaneity of one's own body. ¯. Hence there arises the desire to protect the ego from an alien spontane-ity by withdrawal from the natural world into a realm of pure conscious-ness or spirit.~° The Divine Bride brings men the gift of seeing the totality within the par-ticular, and the particular within the totality. She wards off all brittle reduc-tionism. Nor does She allow the will to sink into a quietist slumber. Rather She preserves full intentionality of the will, but in a mode that Gerald May aptly describes as open "willingness" rather than compulsive "willfulness.''11 While the impulse to relate to God as Bride has not been entirely absent t~91~ Review for Religious, November-December 1991 in Christian mysticism, it is certainly not in the mainstream of our tradition. For historical models we must turn to its expressions in other religious tradi-tions, and explore some out-of-the-way territories in our own history. But the love-quest for God the Bride is worthy of our attention. The Divine Bride in Non-Christian Traditions In the Jewish writings we meet the evocative figure of Wisdom, as expressed in the book of Proverbs and throughout the Scriptures. Wisdom emerges not as an abstract attribute of God, but as a mysterious and primor-dial Woman. In Proverbs, she boasts her own preeminence in her dalliance with Yahweh: "When He laid down the foundations of the earth, I was by His side, a master craftsman, delighting Him day after day, ever at play in His presence, at play everywhere in His world, delighting to be with the sons of men" (Pr 8:29-31). In the Wisdom literature we read how those who love the Lord also take Wisdom as their own: "She [Wisdom] it was I loved and searched for from my youth; I resolved to have her as my bride, I fell in love with her beauty" (Ws 8:2). In Western Christian exegesis, Wisdom was identified with the Logos, or as a personification of an attribute of God. But within the Jewish tradition the figure of Wisdom evolved into Shekhinah, the Presence or Dwelling of divinity. Among the Kabbalistic Jews in the thirteenth century, She was esteemed as no less than a divine hypostasis, the feminine consort of the . Lord. The eminent Kabbalistic scholar Gershom Scholem regards this as one of the most powerful and far-reaching insights of Jewish mysticism.12 The recognition of Shekhinah was not only an intellectual triumph, but also ennobled human sexual love as an emanation of and participation in the divine love between the Lord and His consort Shekhinah. The Christian father Clement would idealize the forty days of Moses on Sinai as time of continent chastity and use this example to justify detailed restrictions on sex-ual expression within marriage.13 But, in the Kabbalistic literature, Moses was said to have joined with Shekhinah, the very consort of God, on Sinai. According to Kabbalistic teaching, in the course of creation the Lord became mysteriously and redemptively alienated from Shekhinah, but sexual inter-course within marriage helps to reestablish God's unity, as men and women participate in the divine harmonic interplay of male and female. The Jewish wife and husband were invited to enjoy their Sabbath lovemaking as a con-templative act, their delight ever expanding to embrace them, their progeny, and their ancestors and continuing as blessing to all the Jewish people, to all of humanity throughout creation, ultimately bringing healing into the very Song of the Groom / 829 heart of a wounded, yearning God. Speaking of the Sabbath celebration, a celebration that was climaxed by sexual intercourse between husband and wife, Scholem has said, "A strange twilight atmosphere made possible an almost complete identification of the Shekhinah, not only with the Queen of Sabbath, but also with every Jewish housewife who celebrates the Sabbath.'q4 In the spirituality of Islam, the beauty of Allah has been identified with the charm of women. The Islamic mystics, or Sufis, could be quite ascetic, and sometimes shared with other Muslims a marked suspicion towards women (although at least one contemporary scholar of Islam, Annemarie Schimmel, has stated that such notions never reached the pitch of medieval Christian misogyny~5). But this did not deter the Sufis from also recognizing femininity as a revelation of God. A notable example is the illustrious Sufi master Ibn ai-'Arabi (1165-1240), perhaps the greatest mystical expositor of Islam. As a youth he had two women saints among his teachers. On his pil-grimage to Mecca at the age of thirty-six, he became enamored of an intelli-gent and beautiful Persian maiden. Recognizing the love of God suffused within the thralls of his human passion, he composed The Interpretation of Desire (Tarjuman aI-Ashwaq), an ode addressed to Allah as his beloved Lady. A few lines of one of his love songs to God display this eloquently: O, her beauty--the tender maid! Its brilliance gives light like lamps to one traveling in the dark. She is a pearl hidden in a shell of hair as black as jet, A pearl for which Thought dives and remains unceasingly in the deeps of that ocean. He who looks upon her deems her to be a gazelle of the sand-hills, because of her shapely neck and the loveliness of her gestures.~6 In a later work, The Bezels of Wisdom, Ibn al'Arabi taught that a man sees the divine most perfectly by contemplating the feminine. The man who enters sexual embrace in this knowledge finds much more than the satisfac-tion of a fleeting lust, but enters the play of divine pleasure. "If he knew the truth," Ibn al-'Arabi wrote, "he would know Whom it is he is enjoying and Who it is Who is the enjoyer; then he would be perfected.''17 Notice that here, as in the Kabbalah, erotic experience has been evoked both as a simile of divine love and as a sacrament divinizing the love experienced between a man and a woman. The Tantric schools of Hinduism and Buddhism view the world as a liv-ing matrix of divine energy. "Tantra" literally means continuity or inter-weaving, and the Tantric teachings skillfully reveal the existential and mystical consistencies that pervade the seamless but diverse fabric of life. 8~0 / Review for Religious, November-December1991 Even our neurotic bewilderments and obsessions contain seeds of transform-ing energy.18 Tantric contemplation enrolls all facets of human experience as skillful means to spiritual freedom, and the sexual faculty is not excluded. In the higher Tantras the Buddhas are imaged in intimate sexual embrace with their Prajna or Wisdom consorts, the female Buddha embodying authentic multidimensional vision and the male Buddha incarnating compassionate action. For those with the right preparation, initiation, and guidance of a qualified guru, the energy of sexual union is evoked in an explosive revela-tion of divine creative potential. 19 Those who enter this path encounter the divine feminine principle as the Dakini (Sanskrit--or, in Tibetan, khandro--literally "sky-dancer"). The Dakini is lovely, enticing, and challenging and sometimes comes in a horrif-ic guise, exercising a startling energy that cuts through behavioral obses-sions. The Dakini, who may become manifest as an archetypal figure or an actual woman of wisdom, avails Her fully realized femininity to move the contemplative beyond his exclusionary mode of consciousness toward one that is panoramic and involved in the full potentiality of life. To disengage him from habitual values, She may sabotage the yogi's self-righteousness. In several tales, an abstemious, scholarly monk enters the higher Tantric path when the Dakini approached with wine, meat, or the offer of sexual rela-tions, all of which are of course forbidden in the lesser path of renuncia-tion-- a fascinating rendition of the "female temptress" motif in that the male is tempted toward fuller life. To obtain the blessing of the Dakini, the con-templative needs to revere, court, and withstand Her, in short, to fully romance Her. As a contemporary Tibetan teacher said: The playful maiden is all-present. She loves you. She hates you. Without her your life would be continual boredom. But she continually plays tricks on you. When you want to get rid of her she clings. To get rid of her is to get rid of your own body--she is that close. In Tantric literature she is referred to as the dakini principle. The dakini is playful. She gam-bles with your life.2° In Taoism, also, the universe is seen to function according to the inter-play of male and female energies, the yang and the yin. A loving relationship between a man and woman serves to integrate the body-mind continuum of each with the universal dynamic of life. The Taoist texts give men explicit and detailed instruction on the encounter with the feminine, and a yogic approach to sexual experience that engages these profound energies. Christian Expressions of Bridegroom Spirituality In the gospels Jesus is proclaimed as Bridegroom, and one would hope Song of the Groom / 831 that the apostolic Church would have cultivated a view of marriage as a way of the Spirit, with an appropriate bridegroom spirituality. But a search here is somewhat disappointing. In The Body and Society, Peter Brown surveys the place accorded to marriage in early Christian thought, in context with the developing ideal of virginity.21 Rejecting the Jewish and Roman ideals of marriage, some of the more far-flung Christian bodies in apostolic times expected that all sexual activity, even within marriage, would cease upon baptism. Even the authentic Pauline writings, particularly 1 Corinthians, favor the ideal of celibacy, allowing marriage as a concession to the weak. Perhaps in reaction to the havoc created within families by the more ascetic model, the later Pauline corpus, particularly the pastoral letters, domesticat-ed this view, giving a conventional nod to the probity of marriage. Surpassing all of these is the notable passage in Ephesians 5:25-33, which is remarkable for its strong affirmation of male marital love: in the love of his wife, a man conforms himself to Christ as the Bridegroom of the Church. The marital eml~race is depicted as not only pure but purifying, a self-giving that ennobles both partners. Here was a wonderful foundation for the growth of a future bridegroom mysticism. However, the patristic era did not see the unfolding of marriage as a way of the spirit, but preferred celibacy as the ideal for a perfected life. By the close of the patristic period, the celibate ideal was firmly settled, and an allegorical bridal mysticism began to bloom. Doubtlessly, the sterling figure of Mary often came to stand in for the feminine aspect of the Divine. Her perpetual virginity was a rapt model of chastity, yet occasionally her devotees have found stirrings of a tender, more sensual love toward her. Bernard of Clairvaux, for example, was an eloquent and profound expositor of bridal mysticism, yet he also reported that the Virgin would come and embrace him warmly, as words of love would pour forth to her: "My Love! My Love! Let me ever love thee from the depths of my heart!''22 Later, in the time of Henry Suso (1295-1366), it was the custom of the young men in his native German town to serenade their sweethearts at the New Year. Henry reportedly followed suit by singing stirring love songs to the figure of the Madonna in the town square.23 One thinks, too, of Francis of Assisi in his romance of Lady Poverty. In fact, by adopting the mission of "troubadour of the Lord," Francis drew upon a movement that fostered bridegroom spirituality at a time when the Church would not recognize it: the emergence of courtly love and romance. In Love in the Western World, Denis de Rougemont traced the close development between the emergence of romance and the heterodox spiritual movement known as Albigen-sianism. 24 The troubadours were evangelists of the movement, and through 1~2 / Review for Religious, November-December1991 their odes of love and honor, human and divine love were integrated, so that spiritual love was given a human face and human love was elevated to a divine dimension. The Provenqal troubadours courted God as the divine fem-inine, dazzled by Her beauty and charm. The movement found expression in chivalry, literature, and the arts, making amorous love a respectable topic for prayer. One thinks, for example, of the tale of Tristan and Iseult and of the ~vorshipful manner~ 6f courtly love. It is curious that during this time, too, interest arose in spiritual friendships between men and women, such .as the chaste love of Francis and Clare or the more ~ultry and tragic affair of Abelard and Hrlolse. In his love of Beatrice, Dante fotind a revelation of divine mystery. Later the heritage would still be alive in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet: the young lovers meet at the masqu.e and express their love in an extended metaphor of worship, pilgrimage, and liturgy. It was during the medieval period, too, that the art of alchemy was intro-duced from northern Africa and taken up by Christian scholars. As Carl Jung's colleague Marie-Louise von Franz has exhaustively discussed,25 Western alchemy did not emerge as a primitive attempt at chemistry, but as a comprehensive map of inner transformation. Alchemy preserved psychologi-cal symboli.sm that was excluded from mainstream Christian mysticism, ificluding a sophisticated contrasexual integration. By the time of the Renaissance, interest in the Kabbalah was also respectable in learned Christian circles and doubtlessly coritributed its own sexual spirituality.26 For all of this, there was still no contemplative imagery in the mainstream of Christian spirituality that would represent male sexual longing as a paradigm for the love of God until the unique voice of Jacob Boehme broke the silence. Jacob Boehme (1575-1624), the German Lutheran lay mystic and teach-er, was doubtles.sly the boldest expositor of bridegroom imagery to emerge in the history of Christendom. Largely self-educated, Boehme worked as a shoemaker, and lived as a faithful husband and father of six, involved in the affairs of his guild and community. From an early age he had a remarkable series of revelations concerning the nature of God, creation, and the inter-play of good and evil. Iia his time alchemical and Kabbalistic ideas had per-colated well into learned spirituality, alongside the more official theologies of the churches. The Wisdom tradition, which had continued in Eastern Christian thought,27 had long lain dormant within Western Christian spiritu-ality, but in an intricate trinitarian theo.logy Boehme spontaneously and inde-pendently recovered it. Briefly and loosely stated, in Boehme's theogony Wisdom (or Sophia) was regarded as the consciousness of God. Wisdom was spoken of as the body of the Trinity and the bride of Christ. She infused all Song of the Groom the persoias of the Trinity in their knowledge of one another, and thus could draw human corisciousness into God. Accordingly, in the devotional works of Boehme, spiritual marriage was not between the bridal soul (the anima) and the bridegroom Christ, but between the animus and the Lady Wisdom. In The Way to Christ Boehme exhorts the reader to court the noble Virgin Sophia to become Her bridegroom just as Christ is Her bridegroom, and gives a stirring dialog between Sopfiia and the bridegroom soul.28 The Promise of Bridegroom Spirituality Let us return to the questions raised at the beginning of this article: What is th~ importance of male erotic mysticism? What does it contribute to our understanding of God? Does it open any new ways of thinking about who we are, in relation to God and in relation to one another, as men and women? The following common themes certainly are not exclusi~ie to bride-groom mysticism, but suggest themselves with enough ~orce to call for par-ticular notice: The Healing of Male Grief. Robert Bly has said that the male mode of feeling springs from a primal "grief," a grief related to the male experience of sacrifice and self-denial.29 In their conventional roles as providers and protectors, men have experienced a crushing burden of responsibility and "have-to's," wearily measuring up to others' expectations, just as they con-tinually size up other men. From the tenderest age, male ideritity is won in an act of separation and distinctioh from the mother, urilike the female identity that is secured through inclusion and similarity to her. Even the sexual act involves for the male a separation, a sundering and yielding of his very essence. Bridegi'oom mysticism exposes his deep grief to the healing work of the Woman. She, who is desirable pureiy by nature rather than by merit, brings forth what is best in a man. When a man first feels the stirrings of love toward the Divine Bride, the experienc6 is overwhelming, reminiscent of the first time he became attracted to ~ girl. Many men remember their initial sex-ual attractions as fresh and frightening and raw, but at the same time oddly pure. Later on, the sexual lives of men often become just another conquest or achievement, but the love of the Divine Bride never seems to lose its surprise and purity, giving the sacrifice of the man a worthy end and resting place. The Healing of Female Pain. Robert Bly calls the female mode of feel-ing an experience of "pain," the pain of being devalued. If nothing else, an awareness of God as Bride, at this juncture of our history, indicates mutuali-ty between men's and women's spirituality in contemporary faith, an acknowledgment by men that the divine feminine is as important to them as it is to women. One of the precepts of Tantric Buddhism states that "to dis- 834 / Review for Religious, November-December1991 parage women is a mortal offense, for woman is the source of Wisdom." Bridegroom spirituality accords the deepest respect to woman, in an act of affirmation that woman cannot give to herself, any more than man can heal his own grief without the love of the Woman. The Healing of God. In the wholeness of God as Woman, we worship Her as the matrix of mystery, comprehen.ding all within her, evil as well as good. In the year 1600 Jacob Boehme first had i.nsight into the activity of Divine Wisdom, and in this same revelation he said, "I saw, too, the essential nature of evil and good and how the pregnant Mother--the eternal gen-etrix brought them forth.''3° Bridegroom spirituality has much to offer our Understanding of what has been called the redemption of God.31 Warrior spirituality rouses to the Lord's clarion to wage battle against evil, but the human heart also seeks the why and wherefore of suffering, an intimacy in which the pain of God can be disclosed and, if possible~ healed. In Kabbalistic Judaism, humanity's separation from God also entails the sepa-ration of masculine and feminine principles within Godhead, and erotic spir-ituality participates in ttieir reunion. As Gershom Scholem writes: The reunion of God and His Shekhinah constitutes the meaning of redemption. In this staie, again seen in purely mythical terms, the mascu-line and feminine are carried back to their original unity, and in this unin-terrupted union of the two the powers of generation .will once again flow uhinterrupted through the worlds. The Kabbalists held that every reli-gioias act should be accompanied by the formula: this is done "for the sake of the reunion of God and His Shekhinah.''32 The Healing of Creation. This is the necessary and obvious corollary of the healing of God. Bridegroom spirituality implies human participation and co-responsibility for God's creative purpose. We relate to God the Father/Mother as children, but the relationship with God as Bride is an adult relationship, enrolling the man fully into God's ongoing creative actions. Wisdom. Quite consistently--in the Hebrew Scriiatures, in Buddhist Tantra, and in the teaching of Jacob Boehme--the divine feminine is named "Wisdom." Wisdom is the fulfillment of the defiriing male consciousness, not in an ever-escalating acquisition of knowledge, but in "knowingness," with its distinctly feminine quality. It is akin to the Hebrew yada, which is "to know" as well as "to make love to." Robert Bly says that ~i father must impart two gifts to his children: his temperament and his teachings. In con-temporary society, Bly says, childreh may ~till have a brief opportuhity to be exposed to their father's temperament, but they have been almost completely deprived of his teaching, of acquiring practical prowess from him. And (it seems to me) just as children need to receive the father's teaching, s6 the Song of the Groom male psyche needs to give teaching, for its own health. "Even mean men," Bly says, "are often sweet when they're teaching." The Buddhist scriptures describe the interplay of female Wisdom, or Prajna, with the male principle, which is alternately called Compassion (Karuna) or Skillful Means (Upaya), the ability to utilize any situation appropriately for the welfare of others. The implication is that the male capacity for action, know-how, and mastery must be thoroughly suffused with wisdom if it is to find fulfillment. Think of the master workman, mechanic, or cabinetmaker, who after years with his craft does not have to shout or trumpet his ability. His mastery is unarguably evi-dent in his work. He can be patient, gentle, and sure. He has seen it all before. In the same way, for the man to exercise Skillful Means, he must deeply see the potentials for good and evil in each situation. It is only Wisdom which brings this seeing. The Centrality oflntent. When the male spirit encounters God the Bride, She calls forth a unique pledge of fidelity, a resolve that endures beyond all appearances. When words fail, when understanding crumbles, when all our religious ego projects are shown for the games they are, only the kernel of bare intent remains. In such a contemplative vision, we pray not to "get somewhere," but enter prayer as itself an expression of desire or intent, in the faith that just in "being there" we give and receive everything. In the power of this intent we pray not to get close to God, but because we are close, and beloved, to Her. For the man who finds inklings of his own experience here, are they ways to enter more deeply? As masculine spirituality emerges, men will find ways to celebrate God the Bride if they are willing to do so. But here are some preliminary ideas for Christian men: ¯ Simply open the Song of Songs, and pray the words of the groom to God as your Bride. Notice what happens. ¯ Try the same thing with Jacob Boehme's dialog with Sophia, or with Ibn al-'Arabi's poem. ¯ In male gatherings of worship, sing Her praises, just as Jewish men would gather at the edge of town at sunset on Friday, to welcome their Bride as Queen of Shabbat. ¯ We learn about the divine feminine by honoring the femininity of women around us. In Tilden Edwards's book Practicing the Presence, there is a simple, prayerful exercise that a man and woman can enter together.33 The book The Shared Heart by Joyce and Barry Vissell also has some sug-gestions, for committed couples. ¯ Christian celibates who want to bring sexual energy into prayer might wish to consult The Radiant Heart by Linda Sabbath. This does not deal [136 / Review for Religious, November-December 1991 specifically with male sexuality, but perhaps the exercises could be adapted toward this direction. In the Song of Songs, the awaiting bride leaps to the door at the approach of her groom, only to find that he has vanished. The bride is ready for love, but it is the groom who is timid and unsure. Is humanity only to be the hearer of the song of the groom? Might not that song also be meant to pour forth from the hearts of men? Might not the Bride be yearning to hear it? NOTES ~ John Carmody, Toward a Male Spirituality (Mystic, Conn.: Twenty-Third Publications, n.d.), pp. 31-32. 2 Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette, King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine (HarperSanFrancisco, 1990), p. 121. 3 Alison Weber, Teresa of Avila and the Rhetoric of Femininity (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1990), pp. 109-122. 4 Mary and Leon J. Podl6s, "The Emasculation of God," America, 25 November 1989, p. 373. 5 See, for example, James B. Nelson, The Intimate Connection: Male Sexuality, Male Spirituality (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1988), p. 31. 6 Podles, p. 374. For a thorough treatment of the fatherhood of God, see also John W. Miller, Biblical Faith and Fathering: Why We Call God "Father" (New York: Paulist Press, 1989). 7 Carmody, p. 45. 8 Arthur Green, "Bride, Spouse, Daughter," in Susannah Heschel, ed., On Being a Jewish Feminist (New York: Schocken Books, 1983), pp. 248-249. 9 Robert Bly, Iron John: A Book about Men (Reading, Mass: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., 1990), p. 123. l0 Alan W. Watts, Nature, Man and Woman (New York: Pantheon Books, 1958), pp. 143-145. ~ Gerald May, Will and Spirit: A Contemplative Psychology (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1982), pp. 5, 6. ~2 Gershom G. Scholem, Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism (New York: Schocken Books, 1965). ~3 Referenced in Peter Brown, The Body and Society: Men, Women, and Sexual Renunciation in Early Christianity (New York: Columbia University Press, 1988), pp. 122-138. ~4 Gershom G. Scholem, On the Kabbalah and Its Symbolism (New York: Schocken Books, 1969), pp. 140-141. ~5 Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions oflslam (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1975), p. 429. Song of the Groom 16 In Reynold A. Nicholson, The Mystics oflslam (New York: Schocken Books, 1975), p. 102. 17 Ibn al-'Arabi, Bezels of Wisdom, trans. R.W.J. Austin (New York: Paulist Press, 1980), p. 276. 18 Daniel Cozort, Highest Yoga Tantra: An Introduction to the Esoteric Buddhism of Tibet (Ithaca, N.Y.: Snow Lion Publications, 1986). 19 See the works of Herbert Guenther: Yuganaddha: The Tantric View of Life (Varanasi: Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series, second edition, 1964) and The Life and Teaching of Naropa (Boston: Shambala, 1986). 20 Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, as quoted in Tsultrim Allione's remarkable work Women of Wisdom (Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1984), p. 38. 21 Brown, The Body and Society. 22 B.Z. Goldberg, The Sacred Fire: The Story of Sex in Religion (New York: University Books, 1958), p. 199. 23 Ibid. 24 Denis de Rougemont, Love in the Western Worm (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1983). This revised edition has valuable appendices. 25 Marie-Louise von Franz, Alchemy: An Introduction to the Symbolism and Psychology (Toronto: Inner City Books, 1980). 26 loan P. Culianu, Eros and Magic in the Renaissance (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987). Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross are also believed to have been influenced b~, the Kabbalah. See C. Swietlicki, Spanish Christian Cabala: The Works of Luis de Le6n, Santa Teresa de Jesfis, and San Juan de la Cruz (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1986). 27 See Sergius Bulgakov's interesting and controversial works, particularly The Wisdom of God: A Brief Summary of Sophiology (New York: Paisley Press, 1937), in which he presents an Eastern Orthodox sophiology quite consistent with Boehme's theogony. 28 Jacob Boehme, The Way to Christ (New York: Paulist Press, 1978), pp. 59-62. 29 These comments from Robert Bly are from a televised interview with Bill Moyers, A Gathering of Men. A videotape and transcript are available from Mystic Fire Videos. 30 Ann Liem, Jacob Boehme: Insights into the Challenge of Evil (Wallingford, Pa.: Pendle Hill Publications, 1977), p. 8. 31 See, in particular, I. Carter Heyward, The Redemption of God: A Theology of Mutual Relation (Washington, D.C.: University Press of America, 1982). 32 Scholem, On the Kabbalah and Its Symbolism, p. 108. 33 Tilden Edwards, Living in the Presence: Disciplines for the Spiritual Heart (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1987), p. 74. 1~38 / Review for Religious, November-December1991 ADDITIONAL WORKS Bolen, Jean Shinoda. Gods in Everyman: A New Psychology of Men's Lives and Loves. New York: Harper & Row, 1989. Davis, Charles. Body as Spirit: The Nature of Religious Feeling. New York: Seabury, 1976. Donnelly, Dody H. Radical Love: An Approach to Sexual Spirituality. Minneapolis: Winston Press, 1984. Eliade, Mircea. "Masculine Sacrality" (vol. 8, pp. 252-258) and "Feminine Sacrality" (vol. 5, pp. 302-312). In The Encyclopedia of Religion. New York: Macmillan, 1987. Ibn al-'Arabi. Tarjuman al-Ashwaq. Translation and commentary by Reynold A. Nicholson. London, 1911. Johnson, Robert A. He: Understanding Masculine Psychology. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1977, 1986. Sabbath, Linda. The Radiant Heart. Dimension Books, 1977. Stoudt, John J. Jacob Boehme: His Life and Thought. New York: Seabury Press, 1968. Vissell, Joyce, and Vissell, Barry. The Shared Heart: Relationship, Initiations and Celebrations. Aptos, Calif.: Ramira Publishing, 1984. Incense What sense this incense, Questions common sense? This burning, this waste, Like fragrant perfume, Aromatic nard on the Lord? Like love freely given-- For sheer delight! A gift--this incense-- Sweet savor of benevolence. Walter Bunofsky, S.V.D. 1446 E. Warne Avenue St. Louis, Missouri 63107 The Bible's Use of Sexual Language Nancy M. Cross Mrs. Cross's article on Blessed Edith Stein's feminism appeared in our issue of January/February 1989. The mother of twelve and now the grandmother of twenty-five, she entered the Catholic Church twenty years ago along with her Protestant-minister husband and their entire family. A wideiy published writer, she cofitinues to have this address: Box 55; Tayiors Falls, Minnesota 55084. [~lore and more Christian publications are saying what Arthur Shaw said in the National Catholic Register: that addressing God as male or female is "not only sowing confusion, but teaching heresy.''l Inasmuch as God is pu~e spirit and has no physical body that is male br female, the statement is, of course true. Yet a reply to this assertion about gender language used for God is demanded if some critical truth is not to be totally obscured, because the assertion is simply not clear enough. Addressing God with gender language exclusively of one sex is neither confusing nor heretical, but correct and true, and is first to be found in the Bible. Genesis 1 describes God's creation of man and woman in tiis image: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness . So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them" (Gn 1:27). About tliis passage Pope John Paul II, in the encyclical Dominum et Vivificantem, asks, ."Can one hold that the plural which the Creator uses here in speaking of himself already in some way sug-gests the Trinitarian mystery, the presence of the Trinity in the work of the creation of man?''2 His logic, which in every particular fits the unfolding story of man and woman in the Bible, brings us to some clarifying insights about the meaning of sexuality. In his pastoral letter "Do This in Memory of Me," Cardinal Carter of Toronto presents the deep covenantal the61ogy based on the Trinity from which we understand relationships on all levels of being: God and 839 840 / Review for Religious, November-December 1991 humankind, man and woman, priest and laity. The cardinal archbishop's teaching ranges from deductions based on the nature of the Trinity and the incarnation of Christ to anthropological considerations drawn from the nature of human sexuality. He begins with an analysis of the Trinity, a com-munity of diverse persons which implies neither lordship nor subjugation of one Person to another, yet with distinct roles, irreducibly different in what concerns their being as distinct Persons.3 Triune Relationship Within the relationship of the triune Persons stand revealed an initiator, the Father, and a dependent responder, the Son; unifying these two polar Persons (initiation and response are ob-positioned) is the Holy Spirit, who is, as St. Bernard said, "the kiss between the Father and the Son." Each has all the attributes of the one nature, but some are more to be said of one than the others-~"neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the substance," as the Athanasian Creed puts it. From the union of Father and Son in the Spirit come creativity and ecstasy. In creating man and woman, God shares that creativity and ecstasy of his own being by enfleshing, materializing these awesome principles of personhood in a male who initiates and a female who is dependent and responds. Cardinal Carter writes: "This qualitative sexual differentiation is rooted not in physiology but in the created human imaging of the Trinity, and is indissociable from the revelation of the Trinity in Christ, as his Incarnation bears witness.''4 In the perfection of the original plan, these two (humankind) are made in this image: two polar persons sharing one nature-~one the initiator, one the responder, both united by a third, the Holy Spirit, who condescends to share himself and unify these opposites with divine love. Therefore, the sexuality that appeared in physical form expresses in a creaturely way something utterly spiritual at the very heart of things. The Trinity Imaged God is saying something about his very self in the creation of man and woman; he is sharing the dynamics of the personhood in the Trinity with the creature he makes in his image. Therefore maleness, though not found in the Trinity, of course, speaks nevertheless of what we would intrepidly say is the masculine principle among the Persons of the Trinity. How do we come to the idea of "masculine"? By observing the action of the male. But the male is picturing for us something far beyond himself. Although it may be anthro-pocentric to describe the First Person as Father, nevertheless, because the The Bible's Use of Sexual Language / 1~41 male generates (in a secondary way) new life and because God has revealed himself as generator of everything that is, it is clear that the very idea has come from God down, not from man up. God has spoken about himself in real terms by creating male and female bodies. Therefore, what has visible form as male imperfectly incarnates a masculine principle in the Trinity. We call the principle "masculine" because of our human experience with male-ness- but it precedes maleness and lies at the heart of things. What has visi-ble form as female imperfectly incarnates a feminine principle in the Trinity. We call the principle "feminine" because of our human experience with femaleness--but it precedes femaleness and lies at the heart of things. Accordingly, the second person in both the Holy Trinity and in humankind is the responder. This role for both the Son and the woman is in response to the First/first person. Do the Son and the woman have the attribute of initiation? Do the Father and the man have the attribute of response? Of course they do, because the polar persons share all attributes of each other; but certain attributes are more to be said of one than the other-- which makes the persons' positions polar and nonexchangeable. As Cardinal Carter says, "the absolute unity of God is not monadic but trinitarian. This eliminates the necessity o.f placing antagonisms between unity and multiplic-ity, because the Triune God, who is Unity itself, is also three Persons, quali-tatively differentiated and irreducible to each other, yet without antagonism." 5 Equality In perfection the Second/second person is completely equal in worth to the First/first person. It is a result of the Fall, the takeover of the scene by an enemy's values, that "response" and "dependent" have become despised concepts. In the perfect plan, re.ceiving and responding are values equal to governance and generating. The Second Person is coequal and coeternal to the First. Man and woman, created to image that relationship in human flesh, \ were created with the same polar roles inherent in their flesh and psyche, yet they stand eye to eye as total equals. As in the Trinity, initiation (or authori-ty) and response (or obedience), indicative of man and woman, are not prin-ciples unequal in their value and worth. They are the stances of wholly equal beings, who enjoy an equality like Father and Son. The very idea of the inequality of the role of response came from an alien consciousness, one who had already envied the role of authority and spread that envy to the perfect creation. When the woman accepted his defi-nition, eventually believing his lies, his value system was established, which is the Fall, a value system that still is modus operandi. It took this alien con- 1~49 / Review for ReligiouJ, November-December 1991 sciousness to cast doubt on that equality and to substitute a value system which contaminates everything since the Fall. The antiword (Pope John Paul's term) corrupts the world with the lie that to initiate and order is power and power is "where it's at." As a corollary, the same antiword insists that to heed and serve, to receive and. respond, is for lackeys and nitwits. Jesus restored the value system of perfection. In bridging this abyss he restored the values of the original plan: to be obedient is not the least important role, to be authority is not the most important role. But almost no one believes it to this day--least of all the one who most purely is created to model obedience and service, the woman. Archbishop John Roach, speaking to the National Council of Catholic W~omen, recently cast light on this as it refers to laity and clergy: The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are one, but very different. The Father does not do what the Son does, the Son does not do what the Father does and neither does what ~he Spirit does. Jesus spoke often of doing the Father's will. He was not obsequious; that was his role and he recognized the Father's role. The Father did things unique to the Father. He initiates, governs, presides, creates in a very distinctive way. The Son's role is to respond, to be the word for the Father, to reflect the Father, to be the splendor and glory of the Father. The Spirit is the bond of love animating the Father and the Son. He is the comforter and consoler and paraclete and inspiration. That may seem to be a kind of lofty ideal for us, but I think it is what we have to aim at. Our roles are different, but that ought to be a source of rejoicing, not resentment. There are things that you do as laity that I should not do. There are things that I do as bishop and priest that you should not do . There is no inferiority or super-superiority in the Trinity. There cannot be any among us. I must exercise a kind of leader-ship and a kind of authority for the good ofth~ Church which is not your responsibility. To do that, however, I must recognize not only th~ dignity of you as persons and children of God, but as people in whom the Spirit speaks . In a collegial gathering all bring gifts. The leader becomes ser-vant and the last rises to full dignity . 6 Revaluing Roles in Tr!nitarian Light In .order for this vision to catch on, it takes the woman first (beginning with the Blessed Virgin Mary, but with us women too) to revalue her role and meaning in light of the Second Person of the Trinity. This is because woman first accepted Satan's false definition and evaluation of her role, that is, as less worthy than the role of authority her husband held in their rela- .tionship by divine command. Edith Stein says, "The nature of the temptation was in itself of more significance to her."7 The woman must begin the unraveling of the knot by not choosi.ng again the values of Satan, not accept- The Bible's Use of Sexual Language ing again the lie that ordering/authority/governance has a higher prestige, is more worthy than service, and is, therefore, an object of envy. She must claim her role and love it; and if she must fight, it is to have that role of obe-dience recognized as fully equal to the opposite role of authority. She is nei-ther a lackey nor a nitwit. Authority will not talk down to her if she talks straight with it, respectfully, but eye to eye. In order for the value system of perfection to be restored, woman must accept obedience as fully worthy, fully equal to the opposite role. The Virgin Mary has done it. Women have rarely done it, and the very idea is being washed away in our day. Not only has obedience (submission) been deval-ued as the feminine role, but authority has been falsely elevated (Satan's val-ues are intact). Therefore, the man considers his role as prestigious and powerful; and this worldly, not to say carnal, evaluation is widely endorsed by women. Authority, which is another word for ultimate initiation and governance, must take its cue from the First Person of the Trinity--that is, it exists to put all at the service of those who are receivers/responders. Pope John Paul's insistence that Ephesians 5 speaks of "mutual submission" of wife to hus-band and husband to wife underlines this.8 But the submission of both, the total giving of self9 that both experience, is done differently. The woman submits to the husband's governance and ordering (the role of headship) of their life together, making one will of two; and the husband submits to the woman's need for protection and provision, and this whether he feels like it or not. In the Christian community, males have authority, and women model obedience. But both live lives of self-giving service in mutual submission. The laity (feminine though consisting of males and females) submits to the clergy's (masculine) governance, the clergy submits to the laity's need for headship, spiritual and material, whether convenient or inconvenient. Further, the Christian community forms the people of God (the bride) whose relationship to God is as feminine to masculine. The model? Again, man and woman in marriage;t just as man and woman in marriage are the image of the Holy Trinity. This imaging of the meaning of sexuality is not deviated from throughout the Bible despite the different pressures of time and culture in the two thousand years of its formation. We see the model for both roles within the Holy Trinity. There is no pres-tige in the role of authority, and no servility in the role of obedience--such is the peculiar Christian ~,ision of relationship. Says Jesus who was sent: "I do nothing but what I see the Father doing"; "I have not come of my own accord"; and so forth. Such statements are the core of the gospel of John. l0 844 / Review for Religious, November-December 1991 Anthropomorphic, yet True What does this mean? That maleness and femaleness and the roles inherent in the bodily form speak of ultimate truth about relationship origi-nating in the Holy Trinity. God knows that this creature will develop a lan-guage according to information received through the senses. That language will necessarily be anthropomorphic, but because the sexual body, male and female, is created to image the truth, the words developed can be used to express that truth truly. C.S. Lewis masterfully investigates the meaning of sexuality in his space-fiction trilogy Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength. In the latter he writes: "Yes," said the Director. "There is no escape. If it were a virginal rejec-tion of the male, He would allow it. Such souls can bypass the male and go on to meet something far more masculine, higher up, to which they must make a yet deeper surrender. But your trouble has been what old poets called Daungier, we call it Pride . The masculine none of us can escape. What is above and beyond all things is so masculine that we are all feminine in relation to it . ,, I I The inspired writers of Holy Scripture, where Lewis gained his insights, speak truly when they reveal God as forever masculine, and humankind in relation to God as forever feminine. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they never deviate from this form of expression, not once! Examine careful-ly those Scriptures used to present God as mother and you will not find them asserting God's motherhood. The importance of God in his triune Persons always being considered masculine to us human beings is so overwhelming that in every case in Scripture the truth of this is rigorously guarded. For this reason, also, the Second Person of the Trinity came as male--all Persons of the Trinity are to us as masculine to feminine whether we are male or female humans. Isaiah and Hosea Isaiah 66:12-13 is the favorite of the misquoted Scriptures and is always used in this way: "As nurslings, you shall be carried in her arms, and fondled in her lap; as a mother comforts her son, so will I comfort you." This, how-ever, is the fuller text, more closely translated: "Behold, I will extend pros-perity to her like a fiver, and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you shall suck, you shall be carried upon her hip, and dandled upon her knees. As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem?' Obviously God does not present himself as the mother in this passage. The Bible's Use of Sexual Language The distinction he places between himself and Jerusalem is very clear. The same holds true for Isaiah 49:15, another favorite to substantiate God's motherhood. "Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you." The speaker is Yahweh, the LORD, who in the entire text of Isaiah presents him-self as enduringly masculine though with a depth of compassion that sur-passes all earthly love, even the love of a mother. Mothers may forget, it is possible, but the Lord will not forget. This Lord continues, "Then all flesh shall know that I am the Lord your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob" (Is 49:26). Chapter fifty continues the theme, with God iden-tifying himself as husband and father. Isaiah 46:3-4 is also a standby text for the Mother-God argument, yet there is nothing necessarily maternal in the picture of God carrying the heavy burden which Israel has become. In fact it is explicitly stated in this passage that the one who carries is masculine: "Hearken to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from your birth, carried from the womb; even to your old age I am He, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save." Next to Isaiah, Hosea is most often called on to bolster the femininity-of- God argument. Such a twist of Hosea's intent cannot be supported by the text, in which God speaks throughout as a betrayed husband and deserted father. There is no plausibility for assuming that the speaker in Hosea 11 is maternal. The Father is expressing the warmth and concern we expect from either parent, mother or father. Nothing maternal is stated here. The actual text, with irrelevant passages deleted, reads: When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. The more I called them, the more they went from me . Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, I took them up in my arms; but they did not know that I healed them . How can I give you up, O Ephraim!. My heart recoils within me, my compassion grows warm and tender. I will not execute my fierce anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come to destroy. Can this be considered to be the Mother-God talking? The context is quite the contrary. Neither does Sirach 4:10, "[God] will love you more than your mother did," say anything tb conclude the femininity of the One who loves more than human mothers. The full wording is: "You will then be like a son of the Most High, and he will love you more than does your mother." The Holy~Trinity, of course, has within itself all the positive expressions 846 / Review for Religious, November-December 1991 of relationship that there are. This means that mother-love has its origin in the Holy Trinity. What from humankind's point of view would be called fem-inine love is present within (intra) the Trinity; it has been enfleshed by the Creator in the woman--the Son is the Person imaged by the woman. Yet, despite the obvious full measure of what we humans call "femininity" inher-ent in the Trinity, God never approaches his people as mother or as feminine. To humankind (ad extra) God is consistently husband, father, lover, and not wife, mother, or beloved, because Godhead is to humankind the initiator, the author, eliciting humankind's response and obedience, and the roles cannot be reversed. Children, Church, Bride His people are polar to himself, and though they are intended to be, in a certain sense, his equals ("bride without spot or wrinkle," Ep 5:27), they can never be God despite Satan's words to the contrary. Yet they are meant to be joined in union with him; the Holy Spirit will condescend to his mysterious work, but only after Jesus has come to forgive otherwise indelible sin. His people cannot initiate anything with God; he is the initiator. They cannot work their way back to union with him; they are wholly dependent on his action. In relationship to him they can only receive and respond, as they were created to do: to think God's thoughts after him and to obey his Holy Will, or if they prefer to exercise their freedom the opposite way, they may think Satan's thoughts after him and do his will. If God can be presented as mother or as feminine, that is, as receiver and accepter in the God/humankind relationship, where does that place his polar people? They are his children, of course, but they are growing into his bride, not his groom. A feminine God would make them the masculine pole-- exactly what Satan tempted them to think in the beginning--that they should envy and seize the authority side of the equation and "be like gods." Already the value of the role of willing obedience has been totally disparaged. In its place is the Satanic concept that Godhead is merely dominating authoritari-anism lording it over lackeys and nitwits. Thus, the significance of masculine and feminine runs very deep indeed. There is no mother in heaven other than the Blessed Mother, and she is given to us as all the mother we need. There is another heavenly mother, the Church, in that mystical dimension of her that is holy. It is her overflowing breasts that feed us (Is 66) and her warm lap that holds us. The only consort of the God who presents himself as masculine to us is ourselves. Another aspect of the gender-of-God question that appears more and more frequently in periodicals is the matter of history--the assumption The Bible's Use of Sexual Language grows that the Hebrews somehow messed up things and imposed upon the world their perverse patriarchy which they expressed in their sacred writ-ings. Their patriarchal prejudices, declare this reasoning, overpowered the more gentle goddess-religions.~2 We need to look again at that claim in light of the above and also in. light of the goddesses themselves, who were not gentle and approachable at all. Tanit, Astarte, or Astaroth demanded child sacrifices; a very bloodthirsty goddess she was, depicted with a lioness's head! The others do not stand any kind of scrutiny either. They are projec-tions from the fallen psyche of humankind and cannot stand comparison with the Holy One of Israel, I AM HE. Language and Reality It is legitimate, therefore, to object to much current writing against tradi-tional God and gender language: 1. It twists Scripture, theology, and history, even when done innocently. 2. Scripture is not just a human book--it is far too profound for that, often speaking more than the human author knew or intended. Dei Verbum says, "Since, therefore, all that the inspired authors, or sacred writers, affirm should be regarded as affirmed by the Holy Sp!rit, we must acknowledge that the books of Scripture, firmly, faithfully, and without error, teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the sacred Scriptures" (DV, no. 11). Often those who adhere to this definition are pejoratively called fundamentalists, a word many who are unwilling to take Scripture wholly and seriously use much too freely in order to quiet their questioners. It is necessary to heed literary forms, the times addressed, the exact meaning of words in their contexts, and ways of perception of the times. But none of this negates the truth of the quotation above (which tran-scends all of the human aspects of Scripture), namely, that God has seen to it that this book speaks what he wants us to know: "sacred Scripture must be read and interpreted with its divine authorship in mind" (DV, no. 12). 3. In the matter of sexuality in Scripture, we are not working with mere metaphor; we are working with an analogy. An analogy points up a relation-ship between two things--a real parailelism of character or attributes. Therefore, to say that man and woman and their relationship are an analogy of God's relationship to humankind is to say that there is a real parallel in the comparison that rests in verity--in this case, because God has created the one (humankind) to be a sign of the other (God). A metaphor, on the other hand, merely suggests a likeness in some particular about two very unlike things, for instance, "That dog walks like a turtle." Feminine references to Godhead in Scripture can be seen with little effort to be sheer metaphors. ~i4~1 / Review for Religious, November-December1991 When Jesus said that he was like a hen wanting to gather his chicks, he was speaking !n metaphor he did not resemble a chicken in any regard other than this one particular. But when he said he and the Father are One, he was not speaking metaphor at all--either about Father, which I have explained above, or about their oneness. In this matter of gender language for God and of the meaning of male and female, many people are being swept along by something that they do not understand, and are taking up the mistaken values of feminism about authority/submission. Thus they .are constantly tempted to envy the mascu-line side and thereby cast aside the beauty and wholeness of Jesus' way of abject obedience, saying it does not behoove women to be obedient or to have anything to do with submission. All of this is a serious concern to the Church as we enter the third millennium, for it lies at the center of what it means to be a Catholic Christian. It is sifting those who have the heart for it from those who do not, and will eventually be seen to vindicate the Church's assertion that the Holy Spirit "leads her to perfect union with her Spouse.''~3 NOTES l Arthur Shaw, "Gender Language for God," National Catholic Register, November 12, 1989, p. 4. 2 John Pau! II, Encyclical Dominum et Vivificantem (pentecost 1986), no. 12. Italics mine. 3 Cardinal Gerald Emmett (~arter, "Do This in Memory of Me," 8 December 1983. 4 .Ibid, p. 24. 5 Ibid, p. 11. 6 Archbishop John Roach, Archbishop of Minneapolis/St. Paul, Eucharistic Celebration, November 9, 1987, National Council of Catholic Women. 7 Edith Stein, The Collected Works of Edith Stein, Volume Two, Essays on Woman (Washington, D.C.: ICS Publications, 1987), p. 62. 8 John Paul II, Pastoral Letter Mulieris Dignatatem (1989), pp. 91, 92, 98. 9 Ibid, pp. 67, 78, 84. ~0 See, among many other verses, 5:19, 26, 30, 37, 43; 6:44; 8:28. ~ C.S. Lewis, That Hideous Strength (Macmillan, 1946), p. 315. 12 See Virginia Ann Froehle, R.S.M., "Feminine Images of God Can Enhance Your Prayer and Change Your Life," St. Anthony Messenger, May 1989. This article blatantl

Issue 60.1 of the Review for Religious, 2001. ; Renewal Vocation Spiritual Legacy Empowerment JANUARY FEBRUARY 2001 VOLUME 60 NUMBER 1 Review for Religious'helps people respond and be faithful to God's universal call to holiness' ' ° by making available to them the spiritual legacies tbat flow-from the cbarisms of Catbolic consecrated life. Review for Religious (ISSN 0034-639X) is published bimonthly at Saint Louis University by the Jesuits of the Missouri Province. Editorial Office: 3601 Lindell Boulevard ¯ St. Louis, Missouri 63108-3393 Telephone: 314-977-7363 ° Fax: 314-977-7362 E-Mail: review@slu.edu ° V~reb site: www.reviewforreligious.org Manuscripts, books for review, and correspondence with the editor: Review for Religious ¯ 3601 Lindell Boulevard ¯ St. Louis, MO 63108-3393 Correspondence about the Canonical Counsel department: Elizabeth McDonough OP Mount St. Mary's Seminary; Emmitsburg, Maryland 21727 POSTMASTER Send address changes to Review for Religious ¯ P.O. Box 6070 ¯ Duluth, MN 55806. Periodical postage paid at St. Louis, Missouri, and additional mailing offices. See inside back cover for information on subscription rates. ©2001 Review for Religious Permission is herewith granted to copy any material (articles, poems, reviews) contained in this issue of Review for Religious for personal or internal use, or for the personal or internal use of specific library, clients within the limits outlined in Sections 107 and/or 108 of the United States Copyright Law. MI copies made under this permission must bear notice of the source, date, and copyright owner on the first page. This permission is NOT extended to copying for commercial distribu-tion, advertising, institutional promotion, or for the creation of new collective works or anthologies. Such permission will only be considered on written application to the Editor, Review for Religious. view for religious LIVING OUR CATHOLIC LEGACIES Editor Associate Editors Canonical Counsel Editor Editorial Staff Advisory Board David L. Fleming sJ Clare Boehmer ASC Philip C. Fischer SJ Elizfibeth McDonough OP Mary Ann Foppe Tracy Gramm James and Joan Felling Adriafi Gaudin SC Sr. Raymond Marie Gerard FSP Joel Rippinger OSB Bish6p Carlos A. Sevilla SJ Patricia Wittberg SC JANUARY FEBRUARY 2001 VOLUME 60 NUMBER 1 contents 6 renewal Beyond Jubilee and Jubilees A. Paul Dominic SJ relates the biblical notion of jubilee to the teaching of Jesus and the practice of the early church in order to point to ways that we might live the spirit of jubilee in our Christian life today. 20 A Continuing Pentecost: Appreciating "Ecclesia in Asia'~ James H. Kroeger MM shares the optimism and gratitude that pervade the apostolic exhortation Ecclesia in Asia as he summarizes and evaluates its various chapters. 30 40 vocation Who Is a Brother? Philip Armstrong CSC traces the church reality of brothers through history to the present-day challenges. Vocational Being Donald Macdonald SMM stresses that, if we Christians need to adore the gift of God in Christ from the core of our being, then Scripture provides the practical means to make our own this perspective of faith. 2j Review for Religious 48 spiritual legacy Spirituality for Mission: Marguerite Bourgeoys and the Ignatian Tradition Mary Ann Foley CND traces the originality of the missionary spirituality of Marguerite Bourgeoys, drawing upon a varity of sources including the Ignatian tradition. 62 The 350th Anniversary of the Sisters of St. Joseph Joan L. Roccasalvo CSJ gives evidence that Ignatius Loyola's Spiritual Exercises are the inspiration and source of Jean-Pierre Mddaille's Maxims of Perfection, which contain the entire spirit of the foundational documents of the Sisters of St. Joseph. 76 empowerment Till the End of My Days Agnes Cunningham SSCM identifies five factors that have proved helpful in her actively pursuing retirement. 80 Power Made Perfect in Weakness: Ministering to the Dying and Bereaved Laurel M. O'Neal offers a correction to our common misconceptions of death, its relation to sin, and especially the relation of God to death. departments 4 Prisms 99 Canonical Counsel: Conclusion of the Novitiate 105 Book Reviews January-February 2001 prisms Review for Religious cele-brates its sixtieth year of publication. Sixty years is not the milestone of the younger fifty or the more dra-matic one hundred. Of course, it is not in the same league as a millennium. But a sixty-year anniversary does present the occasion for a pause--a time for assess-ment, for evaluation, for celebration, for gratitude. We have so many of these "pauses" built into our ordinary life that we can forget how important their place is for the healthy living of life, including the spir-itual. The changing seasons of the year, with their cycles of growth and dormancy, present one rhythmic pattern observed in religious practices of people through the centuries. As we quantify the rhythm of a day into our minutes and hours and then measure fur-ther into days of a week and weeks of a month and months of a year, we are struck at how we humanly have built in so many pauses into ordinary living. As a matter of fact, we humans are not meant to be "energ-erizer bunnies" (as in a famous TV ad about a brand of battery) that just keep going and going, always doing more of the same. No, we are people who have waking and sleeping patterns, who enjoy times of work and of recreation, who seek out periods of solitude and of social interaction, who are marked by successes and failures and those many "gray-area" projects whose value remains unclear. We are meant to pause, to be a Review for Religious reflective people, because we are formed by the Bible--that very reflectively written account of God's dealings with his people. We have just been celebrating the biblical jubilee year as a divinely inspired pause. We Christians are a people who appre-ciate the flow of a liturgical year, with its celebratory pauses that bring home in ever new ways the key moments of our faith-life with God. Though there are these many natural and ecclesial pauses in our life, we seem to be unwilling to choose such a rhythm in our personal daily living. Both in our personal life and in our parish or community projects, we often do not take time to set and identify some intermediate goals. We rush on, instead of reflecting on what we have done up to this point, on what changes might be desirable, on how much gratitude we should have and express for all the cooperation we have received, and perhaps on what mistakes we have made and whose feelings we may have bruised. We Christians need to make time to reflect, to assess and celebrate and apologize, as our way of working with God. We need to choose to build this kind of pause into our day (like the Ignatian daily awareness examen) and into the works and projects we are busy on in concert with others. In commu-nity we need to choose to build in these pauses so that commu-nity life and community projects can make wise choices and avoid sad crises. If we choose to make "anniversary-like pauses" ordinary and so build them into our daily life, we will discover a power source that makes for a physically, psychologically, and spiritually healthy life. We have had our new year's celebration, pausing to ring out the millennium year of 2000 and to welcome the year of 2001. As we enter into this new year, perhaps we all need to look for timely occasions when we .can pause--to celebrate, to assess, to correct, to revitalize for the continuing effort. By such choices, we grow into being the reflective Christians God's word calls us to be. We meet God, in his gift of time to us, by pausing to appreciate it and use it well. David L. Fleming SJ Janualsv-February 2001 renewa A. PAUL DOMINIC Beyond Jubilee and Jubilees The celebration of any jubilee is necessarily public. It cannot be thought of except in social terms. Even in per-sonal jubilees, which are different from institutional jubilees, individual jubilarians do not make their jubilee a private affair; they invite their relations and friends to a celebration. In so doing almost all follow the unwrit-ten bourgeois rule of making their celebration an exclu-sive affair of their particular class and so upholding the social scale. When such segregated festivities are arranged by the rich (and not the poor, who anyway have nothing to celebrate because they have nothing to cele-brate with), they hurt even the rich, not just some other people, because they bring the burden of keeping up with the Joneses. The same thing happens, mutatis mutandis, in institutions and nations, with subtle but real harm to humanity. This is not a modern phenomenon but an old, unfortunate human one. Jesus saw it rampant among his people and ~ought to save them from bringing harm in this way to themselves and others. And so he did not think it unbecoming to tell his host during the meal to imagine another pattern of invitations, one that would break the tradition of inviting select persons or rich ones A. Paul Dominic SJ writes again from Satyodayam; 12-5-33 S. Lallaguda; Secunderabad 500 017; India. Review for Religious or relatives and instead invite particularly the poor and the hand-icapped (Lk 14:12-14). When he was thus breaking new ground in the matter of celebration, was he not inspired by the good news of jubilee that he had learned as a Jew from the Hebrew Scriptures in the bosom of his Hebrew family? Going Back to the Source of Jubilee The very word jubilee is biblical, with a specific religious con-notation of joy. Though it has come into secular parlance, all those who celebrate "jubilees," personal or institutional, would do well to be aware of the term's centuries-old wealth of meaning. The joy that is now associated with jubilees in the secular or religious worlds looks back on achievements of excellence, but the jubilee joy in biblical times looked forward to achievements still to come; also, it involved the whole of Hebrew society, without excluding any class. While all celebrated the jubilee, both the haves and the have-nots, they participated in it differently. The former were behind the whole celebration, promoting it, while the latter benefited from it. The promoters were concerned with building a promising future, not so much for themselves as for others, who unlike them had had a harrowing past of financial reverses. Who on earth could have had this joyful interest in others rather than themselves except God and God's faithful people? Hearing the cry of people who, perhaps even through their own fault, had lost their ancestral holdings and consequently their own rights of freedom and dignity, God would have the losers gain back their lost land and their very persons. As all land and all peo-ple belonged primarily to God, God would ordain a time of grace once every fifty years, when good, law-abiding persons would come forward and voluntarily restore to the unfortunates whatever the latter had lost to them even by way of fair deals. The very idea of people responding to God's call to selfless joy on behalf of the deprived will be effective only to the extent that it is appreciated for its inspire~t and sensible holiness. People will be most joyful in their jubilee only when they thoroughly accept that it is a holy thing for them and declare so (Lv 25:10 and 12). The biblical jubilee is all joy only when it is all holy. It is first and foremost holy and, as such, it cannot but be joyful. It is the holi-ness of the God of joy that makes for the joy of all his people, who are to be holy like him. January-February 2001 Dominic ¯ Beyond yubilee and Jublilees This causal link of holiness to joy in the celebration of jubilees cannot be emphasized too much. The joyous celebra-tion of jubilee enjoined in Leviticus 25:8-17 and 23-55 forms part of the Law of Holiness in Leviticus 17-27. The dynamics of jubilee should be understood in the light of the most important piece in the Law of Holiness: "You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy" (Lv 19:2b). How is this orthodoxy of holiness to become, the orthopraxis of joy? This is a highly practical question even though there remains the theoretical question of how it is possible that our human nature can share in the nature of God, namely, holiness. Leviticus and the rest of the Bible have no use for such questions, but hand down in God's name ways of living that are pleasing to the very God of holiness and joy. With the stunning command to human beings to be holy, there came from God clear directions about how they were to deal with one another. He wanted his people to associate with each other in ways that included practi-cal concern for the poor and the weak and the handicapped so that they would not feel left out: When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest. You shall not strip your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the alien: I am the Lord your God. (Lv 19:9-10, emphasis added) This was a practical minimum test of the maximum law he enjoined on them of cultivating a loving disposition towards one another, abjuring grudges and hate (Lv 19:18-19). If people had lived in this original spirit of divinely ordained love, shown in personal dealings and shaped in concrete societal action, there would have been no urgency for such an institution as the jubilee. From the beginning, people did not abide by, but slid from, this ideal. To stem this slide and to set a minimum for the people to reach, God brought about the program of the sabbatical year (Lv 25:2-7). Its enactment, going back to the wake of the Exodus reads thus: For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield; but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, so that the poor of your people may eat . (Ex 23:10-11, emphasis added) . Though no definite information is found in the Bible's his- Review for Religious torical books about how and how long the sabbatical law was observed,~ there is no denying that it was (see Ne 10:32 and 1 M 6:49-53), though not always (see 2 Ch 36:21). And that is why one may dare say--in this field there are as many opinions as scholars-- that the law was further developed to include remission of debts in favor of the poor and, what is more, to be generous to them. Aiming at abolishing poverty, the new law unambiguously said: If there is among you anyone in need . . do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward your needy neighbor. You should rather open your hand, willingly lending enough to meet the need, whatever it may be. Be careful that you do not entertain a mean thought, thinking, "The seventh year, the year of remission, is near," and therefore view your needy neighbor with hostility and give nothing . Give liberally and be ungrudging when you do so. (Dt 15:7-10, emphasis added) Who could better this law? For all its beauty (if law can be said to be beautiful), who would want this kind of beauty for them-selves? Who would observe this beautiful law? Indeed, there may be people now who would question its very place in a legal corpus. Though this was presumably not the case then, still, given human nature, it would not be surprising if it was practiced in its violation rather than observance. For this reason, and with a view to getting people to observe the high ideal of the law, it was drastically changed with regard to the time of its enforcement. The new law, unlike the old, would come into force not every seven years as before, but every fifty years, heralding what came to be known as the jubilee year, called so after the instrument used for the announcement, namely, yobe! (Hebrew for trumpet). Though the sabbatical law was thus made less burdensome (one would not have had to observe it more than once in one's lifetime, given the biblical lifespan of eighty even for the. strong), still the jubilee law retained the essential burden of the previous laws, namely, reversing the trend of the rich becoming richer and the poor poorer. Its complete formulation specified four things. (1) People must allow all land to lie fallow, must live on what it pro-duces by itself and has been stored, and must share with others. (2) In selling and buying, the rich should not cheat and oppress the poor, taking advantage of their plight. (3) Those who have grown richer by buying other~' properties should freely restore them to their former owners. (4) Those who own Israelites as slaves January-February 2001 Dominic ¯ Beyond g~ubilee and j~ublilees (because in their poverty they sold themselves) have to honorably release them and their families. Was the mitigated law observed? While some scholars say that it does not seem it was ever observed,z others opine cautiously that the possibility of its having been observed in the beginning of the settlement in the Holy Land cannot be ruled OUt.3 Relying on the two applications of the jubilee law to specific situations (Lv 27:16-25 and Nm 36:1-12), we may presume that there indeed was a time when the law was in force and not a dead letter. Also, ¯ from the fact that the Greek Alexander and the Roman Julius Caesar exempted their Jewish domain of Judaea from the annual tribute during the sabbatical year,4 may we not infer that the jubilee directives were at that time not out of vogue in the life of the peo-ple? It would be interesting, then, to know how they could have been carried out generation after generation. But unfortunately no historical observance of the jubilee was recorded in either the Old Testament or the New. Anyway, from the kind of juridical Judaism found in the New Testament, we have no compelling rea-son to believe that the jubilee still prevailed in practice, leaving us to wonder what ever happened to Judaism that God founded as a contrast communitys with its liberative laws, such as jubilee. Retrieving the Jubilee after Jesus Where does this le~d us? An answer may spring up from sens-ing how Jesus responded to the moribund custom of jubilee in his time. Though the word jubilee does not occur in the Gospels, the way he looked at some issues may point to his thinking on jubilee. He was surely positive in his attitude to the Law, and so we hear the puzzling logion: "Do not think that I have come to abol-ish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to ful-fill" (Mt 5:17). In so taking his stand, he was calling for right obedience to the Law: hearing the voice of God in the word of the Law, understanding God's genuine purpose, and acting on it. If he often invited attacks by those who were on the side of reli-gion, it was to challenge them to read the L~w aright according to the mind of the Lawgiver. He pointed out, too, that in the course of history the Law was sometimes mitigated or even distorted, as in the case of divorce, because of human hardness of heart. In order to accomplish the Law, he would advocate first and fore-most a return to its origin in the heart of God and a discernment Revie~v for Religious of its true relevance for the day, guided by the signs of the times, the ongoing surprise revelations of God's ways. Inspired by such a vision of the Law, Jesus would have insisted that jubilees were not occasions to be observed merely twice in a century, whether by omission or halfheartedly or even whole-heartedly. In this spirit he would have spoken searchingly: "If it was said of old that in the jubilee year you should return to the owner the land he had sold to you in his penury, I ask you, 'Why buy at all in the first place from a needy person?' Again, if it was said of old that you should not, during the jubilee, claim your money lent to the poor, I ask you, 'Why lend at all to the poor with a view to getting it back? Rather, give to anyone who asks you and, if anyone wants to borrow, do not turn away.' Again, if it was said of old that in the jubilee year you should free your slaves, I ask you, 'How dare you .ever buy out your brothers or sisters and enslave them even if they sold themselves to you in their dire need? For you are all slaves of God, and among yourselves you are brothers and sisters.'" Further, he would have told any challengers to search the Scriptures and realize how God had freed their forebears from slavery and settled them in a new land, a land that was not theirs but his, so that they might know the holy joy of living together in rich fellowship and surrounded by the blessings of Providence. Finally, in Ezekiel's fashion (Ezk 20:4-24), he would even have made them face their Roman subjugation and answer whether it was not due to their forsaking the jubilee of God and ceasing to be truly subject to the God of jubilee. It would have been with such silent thoughts that he went beyond the old jubilee and initiated a new era, calling it the year of the Lord's favor (Lk 4:19) and heralding the longed-for liberty, fulfilling Ezekiel's prophecy6 and climaxing John's preaching.7 God's own aspiration was ever to create a people witnessing to his blessing. Going Forth in the Spirit of Jubilee In picking up such possible thoughts of Jesus, what is our own jubilee aspiration and how are we to realize it? We do so by becom-ing the community of God's people and striving to do away with poverty. God's own aspi.ration was ever to create a people wit- January-February 2001 Dominic ¯ Beyond Jubilee and Jublilees nessing to his blessing. When Jesus came on the scene, he pro-claimed that constant purpose of God. When he announced God's kingdom emerging in the world, he heralded equivalendy the com-munity of God's people. Further, in imitation of his Father, he was re-creating it visibly out of the remnant that was left of the old community.8 The new community, though very much in the world, was not of it. It was fashioned to be an alternative society in the spirit of jubilee. It had its own charter, promising and promoting the fulfillment of individuals and groups in society and thus the whole society (Mt 5:3-10). Its foremost beneficiaries were the poor of all sorts, that is, those who had been all along without name, voice, or standing, like children and women, the ritually and socially outcast, and, of course, the economically awkward. Though made up of different classes, the new community would not have the distinction and segregation of the high and the low; rather, the so-called high would serve the so-called low. If such terms as highest and lowest were to be used at all, then the highest in the community would be those who, bending over for the sake of others, made themsel+es little and served them-- even washing their feet. Their insignia would not be the tradi-tional one of selfish power, privilege, and possession, but the downward mobility of service and healthy promotion of others, avoiding all competition. Their royal rule would be: "In every-thing do to others as you would have thdm do to you" (Mt 7:12). Perhaps the one incident in which almost all the above distinctive qualities of the new community came into play was Jesus' feeding the multitude and satisfying them all with the little supply of bread and fish made available by a little boy. Living in this spirit of permanent jubilee, apart from which there is no jubilee worth talking about, we dare dream of becom-ing a contrast .community of Christians, renovating the structures of the age-old world in many details and so creating places where individual and social well-being can exist. Jubilee Praxis at the Start of the First Millennium How on earth can this become part of the realm of reality? Though we may find ourselves overwhelmed by forces against true community, did Jesus not envisage such a community of the future right at the start of his ministry when he declared that the era of universal liberation was beginning there and then with him- Review for Religious self (Lk 4:21)? Did he not confirm it as he went about forming one flock On 10:16)? And, at the very end, was he not intent on drawing all to himself and forming one community (Jn 12:32)? Did he fail in all that? The pristine community of the church witnessed that he certainly did not. Indeed, it acquired early an identity of its own, distinguishing it from the surrounding com-munity and marking its way of living together. Their identity was not so much their theoretical acceptance of the gospel, but prac-tical allegiance to it with consequences in social behavior. Luke named it koinonia, meaning fellowship or communion, which "con-notes the bond of responsibility to one another enjoined on believ-ers by their assent to the gospel."9 His firsthand report of this unique phenomenon reads thus: All who believed were together and had all things in com-mon; they would sell their possessions and goods and dis-tribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of the people. (Ac 2:44-47) Perhaps to emphasize the veracity of his report, he drew another such picture: Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common . There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apos-tles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. (Ac 4:32-35, emphasis added) The kernel of koinonia was thus communism in its best sense, namely, the community of goods which expressed, proved, and strengthened the community of spirit.1° The trial of koinonia even brought about the institution of diaconia or service (Ac 6:1-6) to oversee the practicalities of koinonia. Nothing like it had happened before in the Mosaic period, but it did not come out of the blue. It had its clear precedents as the law~ of the sabbatical and jubilee year show. The sharing of the rich with the poor envisaged by such laws did not merely look to the temporary or intermittent allevia-tion of the hardship of the.poor. Rather, it aimed at the divine ideal of annihilating poverty altogether according to the hopeful com-mand: "There shall be no poor among you" (Dt 15:4).~ January-February 2001 Dominic ¯ Beyond j-~ubilee and 3~ublilees Inspired by Jesus, the early church learned well, translating the above command into action and initiating jubilee living. The later church, as far as the 3rd century or so, followed suit in such a striking manner that the historian Pliny thought of Christians as tertia gens, a third group of people besides Romans and barbarians. Still the ideal had to be nurtured from the beginning against natural human hesitations, weaknesses, and failures. So Paul bade the Corinthians regarding help for the famine-stricken commu-nity in Jerusalem: Strive for equality; at present give from your abundance what they are short of, and some day they will repay in abundance what you lack. Then you will be equal and what Scripture says shall come true: "To him who had much, nothing was in excess; to him who had little, nothing was lacking." (2 Co 8:13-15, Christian Community Bible) The equality of everyone in the community, whether rich or poor, will remain no more than an illusion as long as .economic inequality remains. That is a warning implicitly given by James, when he confronted Christian assemblies with their old unequal dealings with the rich and poor: For, if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say "Have a seat here, please" while to the one who is poor you say "Stand there" or "Sit at my feet," have you not made distinctions among yourselves? (Jm 2:2-4) On the contrary, where the rich willingly forgo some of their riches in order to raise the condition of the poor, there is equal joy for both; and so James could say, "Let the believer who is lowly boast in being raised up, and the rich in being brought low" (Jm 1:9-10). Jubilee Praxis as the Third Millennium Starts With such precedents, are we going to achieve community of equals? Yes, if we enter upon unambiguous, if taxing, praxis. The first practice would seem to be self-awareness of our "chronic" failure in shaping human communities. If even now we let the societal laws considered above provoke not offense (pace Paul, Rm 3:20) but repentance, convicting us of our share of humanity's sin in this matter, we would be on the right track. Review for Religious Part of this initial practice is to realize how we, like the rest of humanity, have cultivated the pleasing or even cozy practice of good intention rather than a.ction, of fine words rather than deeds. James had reason to ask bluntly: If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food and one of you says to them "Go in peace, keep warm and eat your fill," and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? (]m 2:15-16) Is this challenge any less relevant now for the church community, and in particular the talking (even if not pontificating) theological fraternity, despite two millennia of Christianity? This is, however, no time for despair, but a time for immediate, earnest, and con-sistent praxis based on the twin nature of human beings as spiri-tual and economic. The second practice could well be conscientization for both the rich and the poor. The former may not even realize what being poor actually means. I, for one, was surprised to hear a city dweller say not very long ago that he missed Sunday Mass because he had no clean clothes to wear. Situations like this must be brought to the notice 6f the well-dressed community at Sunday Mass, among whom might be found some, like a Chicago priest I heard about, for whom a shirt worn once is too soiled to be worn again on the same day. In a school run by a group of sisters, a poor child went to class in slippers instead of shoes; for punishment her teacher, a former nun, made her wear them round her neck with her belt. Such unbe-lievable things occur and need to be made known, through chan-nels such as pastoral councils, to the rest of the community. For their part, the poor must be transformed by becoming conscious of what they deserve but are denied by society, includ-ing the church. St. Vincent de Paul Societies may serve this crit-ical cause, first learning themselves and then teaching poor people their rights enshrined in Canon Law. What a revelation to hear: There are canons that can be said to promote the ~velfare of the poor and speak fibout the defense of their rights. There are canons that promote the participation of the poor in church life, facilitate their access to the sacraments, uphold the right to receive help from the temporal goods of the church, require norms on legal aid for the poor, and so forth?~ If such conscientization is to become reality, much depends on a third practice, ecclesial leadership, which at least in India rests Dominic ¯ Beyond Jubilee and Jublilees largely with the bishops and then the clergy. Who is to tell them what their praxis should or could be? That, though, is what the Servant Leadership school in Washington, D.C., has dared, train-ing leaders in community living that is intimately associated with the life of the poor.13 It is heartening to hear of a bold Indian bishop who would not oblige his priests' clamor for his support of projects for the poor unless they committed themselves to conscientiously spend-ing for the target group all the money received. Not many, how-ever, are like him, intent on being levelers, mindful of benefiting the poor wholly and so bringing all people to a level of equality. So we hear stories of bishop~ who are not loath to receive a purse on the occasion of their jubilees celebrations, in clear violation of the spirit of the biblical jubilee. Vv'hat are we to think when a bishop, to please his family, tries to dissuade a young man from becoming a brother to serve the poor and even offers to make him a priest in his diocese? Does he have a ghost of an idea, let alone a chance, to build a true community where the poor will find their due, equal place of honor and feel blessed? Would that the unworthy bishops acted on the proposal, made by themselves or their confreres at the Synod of Bishops on Justice, to "under-take an examination of the modes of acting and of the posses-sions and lifestyle found within the church itself'U4--even though they seem not to take seriously the anticlerical strictures of Christ himself. Whatever the praxis of the leadership may be, the rest of the community may aid it indirectly by their own related praxis. And this may express itself in at least three ways. The first one is com-ing to know the likes of the locally famous Indian Jesuit Bishop Saupin (who, reportedly, would, in the style of the populace, travel in a rickshaw, clad in kurta and pajamas and smoking his beedi) or the globally famous Archbishop Romero. The second is pray-ing conscientiously and hopefully, while mentioning the ordinary's name at Mass, for the metanoia and metamorphosis of bishops so that they may know the importance of serving their community ¯ (which itself exists for serving one another in charity) by witness-ing to the incompatibility of chronic poverty with the visible king-dom of God. And the third (which is difficult but must be done) is humbly calling ecclesiastical high-ups to account, even against their resistance, in forums such as the parish and diocesan coun-cils enjoined by Vatican Council II. Review for Religious The fourth practice concerns the religious who have their own sphere of leadership for good and bad. While those in the limelight engage righdy or wrongly in discussion on the religious life of the future, there are a small number, like the Little Sisters and Brothers of Jesus, whose life itself is mostly.their practice of naturally and not optionally'5 accompanying the poor by their.presence among them in their living place, by their solidarity with them in the workplace, by their adoption of the lifestyle of their poor peers, and by their hospitality to the poor and rich which makes both groups feel equal and at ease. In the economy of communion practiced b~" Focolare members, they economize for the purpose of sharing and, of course, socializing with those expe-riencing poverty, misery, and humiliation. Their way has attracted the attention even of gov-ernments. A year ago, for example, a Brazilian parlia-mentary commission made an official visit to their cen-ter in order to learn prac-tices that could help solve poverty problems in their country. Hearing the expe-riences of the Focolare entrepreneurs, they marveled at the con-crete achievements of the economy of communion, achievements that seemed impossible in the current economic context. One of them said: "The economy of communion is an already proven and revolu-tionary alternative. It is a new concept of economy, a new con-cept of wealth."16 The two groups mentioned above do not have any "apostolate" whatever as other congrggations understand the term. While other groups may benefit from the innovative experience of the these two groups, still, to develop their own praxis of involving them-selves in the lives of the poor, there would be no better way than going back to their original sources.~7 For, as a~le, religious con-gregation have always been founded with real bonds with the poor. Another thing that may help various religious congregations is the zealous search for ways to adapt present missions "for the ben- In the economy of communion practiced by Focolare members, they economize for the purpose of sha~ing and, of course, socializing with those experiencing poverty,, misery, and humiliation. January-February 2001 Dominic * " Beyond J'ubilee and Jublilees efit of the poor and for a more just and fraternal world."~s A sure test of this will be making sure that, whatever work they begin, it benefits the poor most, as was surprisingly advocated by Gandhi to the members of his congress party striving for India's freedom. Another thing that may promote right praxis among them is to go back, in the spirit of what Paul and James advocate (1 Co 2:26 and Jm 2:5), to their own personal origins and find how poor indeed they were. For one may wager that most of us hail from families that are middle class, but commonly are lower than mid-dle class or indeed poor, even very poor, not unlike the apostles. There is no better way of concluding all this than what Jesus said to his disciples so poignandy at the Last Supper: "If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them!" (Jn 13:17). Notes t See Rui de Menezes, "The Biblical Jubilee Year," Vidyajyoti Journal 61 (1997): 653. [See also Robert G. North, Biblical Jubilee, after Fifty Years (Rome: Editrice Pontificio Biblico, 2000), a revised edition of his Sociology of the Biblical Jubilee, 1954.--ED.] 2 See The New Jerusalem Bible (NyB) (New York: Doubleday, 1985), note Lv 25a, p. 167. 3 See The New Jerome Biblical Commentary (N'JBC), ed. R.E. Brown et al. (Bangalore: Theological Publications in India, 1991), n. 4:53, p. 78. 4 See Rui de Menezes, "Biblical Jubilee," p. 667, for the reference in Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible. s See T. Malipurathu, "Contrast Community: Its Meaning and Relevance for our Times," Vidyajyoti Journal 62 (1.998): 606-623, esp. 610-613. 6 It is striking that Ezk 46:7 uses the expression the Year of Liberty to refer to the Year of Jubilee. 7 See the relevant notes on Lk 3:3-14 in Christian Community Bible (Quezon City: Claretian Publications, 1990), p. 123. s See the note Mt 16g in NJB, p.1637, and the note on Ac 2:46 in NyBC, n. 44:28, pp. 734-735. 9 NyBC, n. 44:28, p. 734. ,0 See note Ac 2ffin NyB, p. 1803. n For the translation in the style of the Decalogue, see Rui de Menezes, "Biblical Jubilee," p. 654. 12 Jeyaseelan, "The Poor and the Priest in the Code of Canon Law, I," Vidyajyoti Journal 63 (1999): 924. ~3 See Henri J.M. Nouwen, In the Name of Jesus (London: Darton, Longman, and Todd, 1989), p. xii. Review for Religious 14 AS in Jeyaseelan, "The Poor and the Priest," p. 930. t5 Fausto Gomez suggests that the preferential option for the poor is not simply optional but obligatory. See Jeyaseelan, "The Poor and the Priest," p. 927. 16 Mariapolis (Focolare newsletter), December 1999, p. 14. ~7 See, for example, Decrees of the Thirty-Fourth General Congregation of the Society of Jesus (Anand: Gujarat Sahitya Prakash, 1995, and St. Louis: Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1995), §288. ,s Decrees, §289. The Sun The sun rose At 7:02 a.m.', standard time, the paper told me. The changing silhouettes of peaked boxes transformed into houses sided in pale pink and grays and browns proved it. But no explosion of color ¯ announced the moment, no silent fireworks to wake the sky. Only the quiet finger of God'~ tracing day-gold across the horizon. Suzanne Mayer IHM January-Februaly 2001 JAMES H. KROEGER A Continuing Pentecost: Appreciating "Ecclesia in Asia" "T he church in Asia sings the praises of the 'God of salvation' (Ps 68:20).-" These opening words set the tone of Ecclesia in Asia (hereafter EA), the postsynodal apostolic exhortation promulgated in November 1999: Clearly, themes of gratitude, celebration, and optimism characterize this document. The church sings God's praises for "choosing to initiate his saving plan on Asian soil," for sending "his only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ the Savior, who took flesh as an Asian!" The church sees the "marvel of God's plan in Asia" and exults "in the goodness of the continent's peoples, cultures, and religious vitality" (§1). Pope John Paul II signed the document during his Asian pastoral visit to India (5-8.November 1999). The issuance of EA was the concluding moment of the special assembly for Asia of the Synod of Bishops, popularly known as the Asian Synod. This four-year project of church reflection and renewal began with the publicafon of the Lineamenta (1996), continued with discussion on the Instrumentum Laboris (1998), reached its apex with the month-long synod sessions in Rome (19 April-14 May 1998), and culminated with the proclamation of the postsynodal Ecclesia in Asia James H. Kroeger MM, a Maryknoll Missioner who has served in Asia since 1970 (Philippines and Bangladesh), is currently professor of systematic theology, missiology, and Islamics at Loyola School of Theology in Manila. His article was first published in Landas 13, no. 3 (journal of Loyola School of Theology). His address is Marvknoll; P.O. Box 285, Greenhills Post Office; Metro Manila, Philippine~ 1502. Review for Religqous (6 November 1999). Yes, "Asia-Church" rejoices and unceasingly proclaims God's enduring love! The Asian Synod was a multifaceted event on many levels. As EA notes, "it was indeed a moment of special grace" (§3). It was also "a celebratory remembering of the Asian roots of Christianity" (§4). The synod event became "an ardent affirmation of faith in Jesus Christ the Savior" (§4), and, as the local churches of Asia gathered in Rome, "the synod fathers sought to discern the principal areas of mission for the church in Asia as she crosses the threshold of the new millennium" (§ 18). The synod's theme was much debated and carefully chosen: "Jesus Christ the Savior and his mission of love and service in A~ia: 'That they may have Life and have it abundantly' On 10:10)." AS the pope writes, this particular formulation of the theme was to "illustrate and explain more fully that Christ is the one mediator between God and man and the sole redeemer of the world, to be clearly distinguished from the founders of other great religions" (§2). The theme manifests the chu[ch's faith in Jesus and his mission; he is Savior who serves and bestows abundant life; he is to be.joyfi4.11y proclaimed in Asia. Ecclesia in Asia, a rich, lengthy document, now becomes an important signpost of evangelization for the local churches in Asia in the new millennium. An analysis of EA reveals three major sections or underlying thematics: (I) Asian realities relevant to the church and her mission of evangelization (§§5-9); (2) theological-doctrinal aspects of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit (§§10-23); (3) The church's mission of love and service in Asia (§§24-49). The main body of EA is framed by an introduction which captures the highlights of the synod process (§§1-4) and a conclusion that expyesse~, the pope's gratitude and encouragement along with a final prayer to Mary, "Mother of Asia" (§§50-51).The entire document is focused on "seeking to discern the Spirit's word to the churches in Asia" (§51). Asian Context Ecclesia in Asia devotes its chapter 1 to the concrete situation of .contemporary ~sia--her r.eligious, cultural, economic, social, political, and historical realities (§§5-9). This inductive approach, characteristic ~)f current Asian theological reflection, mirrors the method and experience of the Federation of Asian Bishops' January-February 2001 Kroeger . A Continuing Pentecost Conferences (FABC). The Asian church accepts that "a critical awareness of the diverse and complex realities of Asia is essential if the people of God on the continent are to respond to God's will for them in the new evangelization" (§5). As EA notes, "Asia is the earth's largest continent and is home to nearly two-thirds of the world's population"; its various peoples are "heirs to ancient cultures, religions, and traditions." One is amazed "at the sheer size of Asia's population and at the intricate mosaic of its many cultures, languages, beliefs, and traditions." Asia is "the cradle of the world's major religions" and "the birthplace of many other spiritual traditions" (§6). Economically, socially, and politically, "situations on the Asian continent are very diverse, defying any simple classification" (§7). EA highlights various concrete pastoral concerns: rapid change, migration, nuclear power, tourism, population growth, poverty, women, and a host of additional challenges. In this complex situation the church's one ambition is to continue Christ's mission of service and love (see §50). Her approach is that of mutual exchange and enrichment; thus, EA confirms "the importance of dialogue as a characteristic mode of the church's life in Asia" (§3). Mother Teresa of Calcutta is proposed as "an icon of the service to life which the church is offering in Asia" because of "her loving and selfless care of the poorest of the poor" (§7). This "chosen" continent of Asia, with all its immensity, diversity, and complexity, holds special meaning for the church. God's only-begotten Son "took flesh as an Asian" (§I); "Behold, the Savior of the world is born to us, born in Asia" (§2). Yes, Asia is unique as "the birthplace of Jesus and of the church" (§5). This church thanks God "for choosing Asia as the earthly dwelling place of his incarnate Son" (§50; see §§2, 9, 20). This unique gift implies a task; the church commits her energies to making Jesus, his gospel of life, and his community the church truly "at home" (inculturated) in Asia and her peoples (§§9, 20). Theological Foundations Three chapters of.EA, focusing on Jesus and the Spirit, describe a type of doctrinal orientation to the church's Asian mission. Yet the manner of presentation is decidedly pastoral; it blends theologies "from below" and "from above." It reads easily, the flow is smooth, and inclusive language is partially employed. Some insights even Review for Religious " enjoy poetic expression: "Contemplating Jesus in his human nature, the peoples of Asia find their deepest questions answered, their hopes fulfilled, their dignity uplifted, and their despair conquered" (§14). The thematic of girl is frequently found in these "theological" chapters. Jesus the Savior is a gift to Asia; this faith-gift is to be both appropriated and proclaimed. "The church's faith in Jesus is a gift received and a gift to be shared; it is the greatest gift which the church can offer to Asia" (§10). "Only if the people of God recognize the gift that is theirs ~n Christ will they be able to communicate that gift to others through proclamation and dialogue" (§31; see §20). The church in Asia must ask itself a probing question: How do we "share with our Asian brothers and sisters what we treasure as the gift containing all gifts, namely, the Good News of Jesus Christ" (§19)? Proclaiming the Christian faith-gift meets unique challenges, particularly in the "multiethnic, multireligious and multicultural situation of Asia" (§21). Asia has its indigenous religions, soteriologies, and savior figures (see §§14, 19, 20). This reality demands a humble, dialogical stance on the part of the church; "proclamation is prompted not by sectarian impulse nor the spirit of proselytism nor any sense of superiority" (§20; see §§4, 31, 46). And yet this genuine respect and reverence for the church's dialogue partners "does not eliminate the need for the explicit proclamation of the gospel in its fullness" (§20; see §31). By her very identity the church is "a community aflame with missionary zeal to make Jesus known, loved, and followed" (§ 19). Affirming the relevance of Jesus for Asia (§§1, 9, 10, 18, 50) demands a particular approach to proclamation. The church "needs to follow a pedagogy which will introduce people step by step to the full appreciation of the mystery." She should employ "narrative methods akin to Asian cultural forms" and follow "an evocative pedagogy, using stories, parables, and symbols so characteristic of Asian methodology in teaching." In a word, the church must "evangelize in a way that appeals to the sensibilities of Asian peoples" (§20). Engaging Asian peoples, their cultures, and their religions (FABC's triple dialogue) demands genuine commitment to inculturation (§§20-23) and interreligious dialogue (§§29-31). Asia is unique as "the birthplace of Jesus and of the church." January-February 2001 Kroeger * ,4 Continuing Pentecost EA asserts that Christology is necessarily integrated with pneumatology as well as Trinitarian faith. It is the "uniqueness of Christ which gives him an absolute and universal significance" (§14); one cannot "separate the activity of the Holy Spirit from that of Jesus the Savior" (§.16). The Holy Spirit, "the prime agent of evangelization" (§17), is "an absolutely vital part of the mystery of Jesus and the salvation which he brings" (§15). Jesus and his Spirit are only adequately comprehended within,the "Trinity's plan of salvation" (§15); there are no two parallel economies of salvation. There are real, complex missiological questions, and the Asian Synod and Ecclesia in Asia attempted to face them. A Missionary Community The longest section of F~ (§§24-49) focuses on the church and her mission in the vast Asian continent. Four discernible themes emerge: church as communion for mission (§§24-28), dialogue (§§29-31), human promotion (§§32-41), and agents of evangelization (§§42-49). EA presents a vision as well as concrete approaches for mission; these emerge from a particular faith stance: "The question is not whether the church has something essential to say to the men and women of our time, but how she can say it clearly and convincingly" (§29). EA recognizes "the pressing need of the local churches in Asia to present the mystery of Christ to their peoples according to their cultural patterns and ways of thinking" (§20). "Communion ecclesiology" finds strong expression in EA. The church is a "privileged place of encounter" between God and people; her first purpose is "to be the sacrament of the inner union of the human person with God." She is also "the sacrament of the unity of the human race." This means that "communion and mission are inseparably connected [and] they interpenetrate and mutually imply each other." Communion is "both the source and fruit of mission." In short, "communion give~ rise to mission and mission is accomplished in communion" (§24). The church in Asia promotes internal communion and participation on many levels: with the successor of Peter, among various sister local churches, dioceses, basic ecclesial communities ("a positive feature Of the church's evangelizing.activity"), renewal movements, the Catholic Eastern churches,, and other. Christian churches (see §§25~2:7). Internal communion emanates outward Review for Religious ¯ toward other groups throughout Asia: the variety of peoples, cultures, and religions with whom the church shares life (§25), churches and peoples in mainland China, North Korea, and the ex- Soviet territories of Asia (§28). Regional and continental associations of bishops that foster communion (for example, FABC) are recognized and praised (§26), but their profound insights are never directly quoted. ¯ .An inherent demand of "communion ecclesiology" is dialogue. This "desire for dialogue . . . is not simply a strategy for peaceful coexistence among peoples; it is an essential part of the church's mission, ¯ . . a veritable vocation for the church" (§29). A particularly helpful section is devoted to interreligious dialogue (§31), seen as % part of the church's evangelizing mission, an expression of the mission adgentes." The advent of the new millennium offers the church "a great opportunity for interreligious dialogue and for meetings with the leaders of the great world religions." Following the lead of Nostra aerate, "the Magna Carta of interreligious dialogue for our times," the church in Asia is called to a double fidelity: to affirm her "belief that the fullness of salvation comes from Christ alone" and to gladly acknowledge "whatever is true and holy in the religious traditions of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam as a reflection of that Truth which enlightens all people." Interreligious dialogu~ seeks "mutual advancement [and] the elimination of prejudice, intolerance, and misunderstandings" (§31). Dialogue demands will only increase with passing years. Persons must be formed to have "a mature and convinced Christian faith" that qualifies them "to engage in genuine interreligious dialogue." They need to be "deeply immersed in the mystery of Christ [and] happy in their faith community." The call to dialogue requires the church in Asia "to provide suitable models of interreligious dialogue." In the dialogue endeavor it is imperative "to revitalize prayer and contemplation" and to give witness to "the great Christian traditions of asceticism and mysticism" (§31). The advent of the new millennium offers the church "a great opportunity for interreligious dialogue and for meetings with the leaders of the great world religions." January-Febr~ary 2001 Kroeger ¯ A Continuing Pentecost Chapter 6 treats human promotion and church social teaching. S~iving to build a "civilization of love," the church views all human development not only as a "technical or economic question; it is fundamentally a human and moral question" (§32). An integral, holistic approach to evangelization is employed, encompassing the areas of human dignity (§33), preferential love for the poor (§34), healthcare (§36), education (§37), peacemaking (§38), globalization (§39), foreign debt (§40), and the environment (§41). In these diverse fields the church resists "the culture of death" in accord with her vision of"the gospel of life" (§35). Agents of Evangelization Chapter 7, titled "Witnesses to the Gospel," focuses on the church's missionary identity in Asia. The church strives to be a credible witness because "people today put more trust in witnesses than in teachers, in experience than in teaching, and in life and action than in theories"; in the Asian context "people are more persuaded by holiness of life than by intellectual argument" (§42). EA asserts that it is "a genuinely religious person [who] readily wins respect and a following in Asia" (§23). Gospel witness in Asia needs holy men and women who themselves are "on fire with the love of Christ and burning with zeal to make him known more widely, loved more deeply, and followed more closely." Why? "A fire can only be lit by something that is itself on fire"; Christian witnessing demands "a true missionary spirituality of prayer and contemplation" (§23). Asian peoples, especially the youth, manifest this "deep thirst for spiritual values" (§6). In a word, living Christian mission in Asia incorporates and, in fact, demands "contemplative action and active contemplation" (§23). EA addresses a v.ariety of gospel witnesses: pastors (§43), religious and missionaries (§44), theologians (§22), laypers6ns (§45), families (§46), young people (§47), and those whose apostolate is social communications, "the areopagus of the modern age" (§48). Striking insights are often presented: "People in Asia need to see the clergy not just as charity workers and institutional administrators, but as men whose minds and hearts are set on the deep things of the Spirit" (§43). "The synod fathers were most concerned that the church should be a participatory church in which no one feels excluded, and they judged the wider Review for Religious participation of women in the life and mission of the church in Asia to be an especially pressing need" (§45). The pope encourages and thanks missionaries (§§20, 42, 44, 50), urging "the church in Asia to send forth missionaries, even though she herself needs laborers in the vineyard" (§44). Mission is to be central to each local church; local "missionary societies of apostolic life, characterized by their special commitment to the mission ad genres, ad exteros, and ad vitam" are strongly encouraged (§44). EA calls upon "the great host of Asian martyrs, old and new,. ¯. to teach the church in Asia what it means to bear witness." (§49). Additional Emphases The Asian Synod surfaced crucial questions facing local churches in Asia; EA reflects several of these pastoral and missionary concerns. The question of Jesus' Asianness surfaces in various discussions¯ "Jesus is often perceived as foreign to Asia. It is paradoxical that most Asians tend to regard Jesus--born on Asian soil--as a Western rather than an Asian figure" (§20). "It is indeed a mystery why the Savior of the world, born in Asia, has until now remained largely unknown to the people of the continent" (§2). To address and overcome this reality, the church must open herself to "new and surprising ways in which the face of Jesus might be presented in Asia" (§20). How can Jesus be effectively proclaimed-- bearing an "Asian face"? The subject of religious freedom arises because in various places in Asia "Christians are not allowed to practice their faith freely" (§8); "explicit proclamation is forbidden, and religious freedom is denied or systematically restricted" (§23). Christians are forced "to live their faith in the midst of restrictions or even the total denial of freedom" (§28). Governments are enjoined to "guarantee religious freedom for all their citizens" (§28), assure "immunity from coercion" (§23) in religious matters, and recognize "the right to freedom of conscience and religion and the other basic human rights" (§34). Analysis and comparison between the content of EA and the decades of pastoral reflection by Asian bishops (FABC) reveals many similarities. 'Since 1974, in its document "Evangelization in Modern-Day Asia," the FABC has promoted the local church's triple dialogue with Asia's peoples, cultures, and religions; this vision is January-Februat.~ 2001 Kroeger * A Continuing Pentecost Inculturation received much attention during the synod. repeatedly found in F~ (see §§1, 15, 18,.20, 21, 24). Again, the FABC pastoral priorities enunciated over the years, particularly the focus on the family, women and the girl-child, youth, ecology, and the displaced (see FABC VI:lS) are also highlighted by ~ (§~34, 37, 41, 46, 47). FABC itself is mentioned (§§2, 3, 26, 31), though none of its fine work is directly quoted or even noted in the copious endnotes. The theme of inculturation received much attention during the synod, and certain particular areas were identified as requiring concentrated focus: "theological reflection, liturgy, the formation of priests and religious, eatechesis, and spirituality" (§21). Central to inculturating the faith is the biblical word, the message of salvation, the sacred text; Sacred Scripture is proposed as ."the basis for all missionary proclamation, catechesis, preaching, and styles of spirituality" (§22). One may inquire about criteria for authentic inculturation; ,EA notes: "The test of true inculturation is whether people become more committed to their Christian faith because they perceive it more clearly with the eyes of their own culture" (§22). The Christian virtue of compassion repeatedly surfaces in Ed (for example, §§11, 12, 14, 20, 45, 51). The apostolic exhortation is correct in expressing the church's mission.in terms of this appealing focus. Presenting Jesus as "the compassionate friend of the poor" (§20) will find a resonance and reception among Asians. In the ' church's mission of love and service, women evangelizers contribute greatly "to bringing the compassionate Jesus, the healer and reconciler, to Asian people, especially the poor and marginalized" (§45). Jesus, the God-man, was "close to the poor, the forgotten, and the lowly"; "he wept for a dead friend [and] welcomed children"; "divine compassion had never been so immediately accessible" (§11). As the church in Asia enters the new millennium, she faces some demanding challenges. EA highlights some importfint apostolates: women (§§7, 34, 45), you.th (§§6, 47.), nuclear power (§§7, 38), peace~naking and reconciliation (§38), globalization (§39), foreign debt (§40), and the environment (§41). The authenticity of the church's "mission of service and love" (§50) will indeed be Review for Religious tested; will it produce "a great harvest of faith . in this vast and vital continent" (§1) of Asia? Gratitude and Optimism Ecclesia in Asia concludes as it began on a clear note of optimism and gratitude. "Blessed be God for the peoples of Asia, so rich in their diversity yet one in their yearning for peace and fullness of life" (§50). With committed faith, "the church in Asia joyfully makes her pilgrim way into the third millennium" (§50). "Mary, model of all disciples and I~right star of evangelization, . . . look tenderly upon the church of your Son planted on Asian soil. ¯ O Mary, mother of the New Creation and mother of Asia, pray for us, your children, now and always!" (§51). In this m6od of gratitude and optimism, the local churches of Asia accept the Holy Father's gift: Ecclesia in ~sia. Its contents are a mixture of the old and the new (see Mt 13:52), a summation of Asian.reflection and insights in the Vatican II era, a presentation of the missionoagenda for Asia's faith communities, a program for evangelization iri the new millennium. All in all, EA is a much-appreciated gift. Its treasures need opening in the coming years and decades; its dream for the church--God's holy people--beckons implementation; its theme--abundant life in Jesus the Savior-- requires contemplative action. Yes, Jesus' Asian disciples affirm that the Holy 'Spirit, who moved upon Asia in times past, "moves now among Asian Christians, strengthening the witness of their faith among the peoples, cultures, and religions of the continent" (§ 18). Contemplating God's salvific deeds and wonders during the Easter Vigil liturgy, the universal chh~ch proclaims in the Exsultet: "Rejoice, O Mother Church!" In similar fashion, th~ local churches in Asia' acclaim 'God's marvels in theirmidst; they joyfully affirm the Asian Synod event as a "celebratory remembering of the Asian roots of Christianity" (§4). They pray that the proclarriation and subsequent internalization of Ecclesia in Asia will confirm the church in her servant mission to bring Christ's love and abundant life On 10:10) to Asia and her peoples. Rejoice, O Asia-Church! .~anua~y-February 2001 vocation PHILIP ARMSTRONG Who Is a Brother? I am not sure the title should ask who. Maybe it should ask: What is a brother? People have been trying to frame an unambiguous answer for ages, and in the meantime new applications of the word brother have compounded the issue. My interest is to define, as best I can, that rare creature in the Roman Catholic Church known as a religious brother. What does the ordinary word brother usually mean today? Looking at that may help us comprehend ,similarities and differences of the term as applied to men who, by the vows of poverty, celibacy, and obedience, commit themselves to what is commonly called religious life. What Is a Brother? Male siblings of the same parents are called brothers. People's close friends who are male are' sometimes compared to a brother: "He's like a brother to me." Sometimes males call one another brother when they do not know the other's name but feel some affinity toward him. The Great Depression is characterized by one of its slogans, "Brother, can you spare a dime?" In some seminary programs a man is addressed as Philip Armstrong CSC, of the Brothers of Holy Cross, wrote on mission and the vows for our September 2000 issue. His address remains P.O. Box 460; Notre Dame, Indiana 46556. Review for Religious Brother, or its Latin form Frater, when he has achieved a certain level of preparation for the ordained priesthood. This use of the term creates confusion over lay/clerical identity. Volunteer organizations may use the term brother in identifying a mentoring relationship between a man and a boy, as in "Big Brothers." African Americans use the term brother to identify males of their race, using the word to indicate the relationship existing by reason of their common African origin and the consequent bonds that solidify them in matters of importance: "One of the brothers sold his house and moved." Some small religious denominations, particularly the more evangelical or those built on sociocultural ties, refer to any male fellow believer as Brother. "Next Sunday Brother Anderson will pass the plate at our service." In the Bible, Jesus uses brother to signify equality among people: "If you are bringing a gift to the altar and remember that your brother has anything against you . " Peter asks, "How often must I forgive my brother?" The terms brother and sister are used generically by church-related personnel in addressing members of the congregation: "My brothers and sisters in Christ." The common thread through all these uses may help us understand, too, why some dedicated men within the Catholic Church are called brothers. There is interpersonal relationship and open trust not based on kinship. The others have the same values, have similar goals, and use the same general methods to achieve their goals. This intangible affinity among brothers (or sisters) does not rely on blood ties yet depends on that relationship to provide a name for this closeness. The substance of such a relationship is: "That man accepts me, confronts me, counsels me, helps me as if I were his own brother." The image of the Good Samaritan comes to mind. Jesus' way of relating with men and women, whether they were righteous or sinful, offers many examples of what it means to be a brother to someone. Simply put, a brother is a man who at all times acts ds a blood brother would act. The Brother in the Church How did the term brother for a vowed religious in the Roman Catholic Church originally surface? Quite likely it arose from relationships in blood families: father, mother, brother, sister. The picture.would include the fact that few were educated as we define education, with those who possessed some "book knowledge" being Janltary-Februaly 2001 Armstron~ ¯ Who Is a Brother? considered natural counselors and mediators. Those representing the people before God and using their knowledge to help them understand and practice their faith could reasonably be called Father, because providing for his family and counseling them are importan~ tasks of the father of a family. Those exercising positions of leadership in communities of vowed women could be called Mother. Those who followed the lead of these fathers or mothers, who assisted; who undertook to fulfill the tasks related to the group's ministries, were called sisters or brothers. Over the years men religious who did not feel called to priesthood, but who assisted clerics in their ministry of preaching, teaching, or sacramental service, were called brothers--like male siblings helping their father do the work of a family farm or business. Help.ers somewhat behind the scenes, they were generally less-educated men doing the more hidden or more mundane and practical tasks connected with the priests' mission of sacred mediation and of education. In time brothers became in people's minds the "hewers of wood and the drawers of water" whose silent and nearly invisible presence was invaluable, essential, though largely taken for granted by the clergy and laity alike. By rule these men remained politically sequestered within their congregations, ha~ing no voice in choosing their leaders and not eligible to become leaders themselves. They prayed much, often apart from their clerical confreres, who in cloister or corridor would pass them by like supportive, exemplary specters. After the social and cultural disruption of the French Revolution, many groups of nonordained but vowed men religious sprang up through the initiative of bishops and parish priests who were in a position to support the development: These apostolic religious were to educate the untutored youth being lost to the church. In contrast to earlier brothers, these men were at least minimally educated and were dedicated to a professional life similar to that of the ordained. For more than a century such groups were formed, and their members went wherever there was a cry for Catholic education, even beyond the borders of their native lands. These became more known to stciety" at large, if not muct~ more visible, by their focus on schools . A concurrent reality that did no favors to many groups of brothers was their unwitting and unplanned gravitation toward ~an identity more clerical than lay. Many brothers, whether as members of laycongregations or as an arm of a clerical community, dressed Review for Religious like clerics and carried out ministries supportive of clerical min-istries. These brothers, nearly indistinguishable from priests, were extended the rights and privileges that a Christian society accorded the priesthood. As a result, a mindset developed among the brothers out of which they identified themselves more with their clerical associate~ than with the laity. It was the laity, though, from a strictly ecclesial perspective, (o whom brothers in fact related more closely. True, they were indeed set apart from the laity by their vowed commitment within a particular congregation approved by Rome. But their external, visible ministries did nothing to project a specific image of brother as distinct from the clerical, patriarchal image they had lived With for so long. "The Terrible Twos" of a Century After World War II and Vatican Council II, both productive of cultural and social upheaval (in a way, the century's "terrible twos"), all vowed religious were challenged to reassess how faithfully their founding purpose and their ministries responded to the newly emerging needs of both church and society and to renew and adapt accordingly. As communities they were to open themselves to the "signs of the times" that hinted at potentially diverging directions in life and mission for vowed religious. Congregations of brothers and mixed congregations (clerics and significant numbers of brothers) found themselves affected by the momentous challenges put before them by the church. Many members departed, fewer young men joined the community, and those who remained grew older, began retiring, and soon were dying unreplaced. These realities were running parallel to the clear and urgent call issued by the Vatican Council to the laity to exert by right a more prominent and active role in the church. Education was one of the first areas affected. As the numbers of brothers declined at a pace impossible to retard, lay people began to fill their places in schools. Along with their declining numbers and increasing age, brothers were suddenly challenged on the level of their profession as teachers and administrators even while they and others were waking to the fact they are not clerics. For brothers the question of the day became: Well, then, who are we, and what is our proper role now in the church and the world? Answers have not come quickly or easily, and some would argue they have not yet come at all. [---3~3-~- January-Februa~. 2001 Armstrong * WlTo Is a Brother? Immense energy has been expended reflecting on, discussing, and determining the identity of the brother for the church today. Some of that energy may have seeped over into trying to determine the brother's role in church and society. In neither case, however, does there appear to be widespread satisfaction with the results, and many retain a confused and hazy notion of the brotherhood as a way of life in the church. It does not help that some of the least informed and articulate on the matter are found among bishops and priests. Worse yet, many brothers cannot adequately define their own identity. The foundations have crumbled on which some based their sense of self-definition. What will it take to pour new and indestructible footings? A Beginning Perhaps a judicious mix of the old and the new is the best place to begin forming a relevant and appropriate definition of a brother in today's church and world. Retaining acknowledged and presumably nonnegotiable hallmarks of the brother's state of life, but blending and refining them in the crucible of postmodern experience, intuition, and prayerful discernment, one might descriptively define a brother somethii~g like this: A brother is a lay religious ¯ committed to living a common life ¯ and consecrated, by public profession of the vows of religion, ¯ to witnessing to the presence of God in his life and in the world. ¯ He reveals his identity more by example than explanation, ¯ more by doing than defining. ¯ In short, he relates and acts like a brother, ¯ to the exclusion of no one.¯ As an equal, ¯ and as supported by like-minded associates in community, ¯ he is free to respond in a variety of practical ways, ¯ living and working fraternally with others ¯ in promoting and preserving human dignity and justice ¯ through his prophetic stance ¯ and professional expertise. The nonnegotiables of this definition consist in identification more with the laity than w~th the clergy;living in community; publicly professing the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience; standing as prophetic witnesses to gospel vaiues; and reaching out in service to others. The postmodern experiential components are: more emphasis on a bold and perceptible expression of what being a brother means from the inside; a clear sense of reaching out to others in need as "brothering" them as a blood brother would; serving others out of a conviction of universal human equality under God; openness to the Review for Religious many forms of ministry to which brothers are free to respond by reason of being unrestrained by the ecclesiastical and cultural expectations imposed on ordained ministers; and, within community parameters, rightly seeking and achieving professional expertise in fields of interest and competence. Postmodern? Experiential? Is this more verbal gimmickry, or do these concepts add something substantial to the recipe for today's brother in the church and the world? I believe that both terms are appropriate and relevant. Postmodern is a term used by historians, sociologists, and anthropologists to refer generally to the period following the lengthy modern era that began in the 1500s and ended in the 1960s with the cultural revolution we in the United States tend to associate with events such as the Vietnam war and anti-establishment protests and also with Vatican II and its aftermath. There is no question that the events and the changed moods and understandings of the final four decades of the 20th century have had an immense impact on religious life, some of it distressingly disruptive, some creatively challenging. Experiential surely applies by reason of the mandate of Vatican II's document Perfectae caritatis and the Norms addressed to religious communities asking them to adapt and update their constitutions and rules as necessary, almost literally "refounding" their congregations. Experimentation through changing or discarding certain anomalous or anachronistic disciplinary elements in religious life was to be permitted for a reasonable time, normally eight to twelve years. The religious garb fell under this category, as did the daily schedule, areas and modes of accountability, the exercise of authority, forms and styles of prayer, and so forth. This experimentation was meant to contribute to a newly framed definition of each congregation's giftedness for today's church. Brothers who persevered in the religious life during these years had to respond creatively to the challenges of the day just to remain faithful to themselves as persons, let alone as religious in community. They were challenged to become more observant of evolving needs in the church and society and to search for w. ays to place their congregation's talents and resoui'ces at the disposal of Many brothers cannot adequately define their own identity. January-February 2001 Armstrong * Who Is a Brother? the church. And they, some for the first time, had to go about this discernment out of a conscious acknowledgment that they were definitely not clerics. Still, if the brothers were not clerics, then who were they? Somewhat as the Christian adolescent needs at some point to confront the faith infused through infant baptism, the postmodern religious brother has had to deal with whatever motivated his entering religious life years ago. It has been a true moment of conversion for him, a fresh confirmation of the validity of his choice of a way of life. Without this process a new sense of identity leading to broader availability would have been impossible for him. Most religious have found this exercise challenging and regenerating, reminding them that they had in fact committed themselves first and foremost not to a structure, not to a profession, not to any particular members within the organization, but to God. Whatever permutations were introduced into the externals over the years, the substantial reality has remained immutably in place, and that is enough. But simply defining one's identity is not enough. Unless conviction and a comfortable acceptance of what it means to be a brother are internalized, there is little hope of either acquiring or cultivating the openness necessary for finding new and challenging directions in mission and ministry, for living community, or for attracting others to embrace the same way of life. What Will It Take? Let me personalize this conversion experience even further, because for each individual brother identity is a matter of deep concern. Unless I can perceive myself as a valid, needed, and effective player of a unique role among many roles in the church, I cannot muster and sustain the conviction that will provide the energy I require both to pursue my way of life and to face the exigencies it inevitably entails. As essential as this perception is, it alone cannot support my efforts. Unless the church, both in its hierarchy and in its wider membership, can be convinced that the brothers' way of life is important for the church and the world, I by myself will be able to do little except go about my daily ministry and life in community in the vague hope that the witness I give to the world is somehow being diffused like a healthy mist settling on persons, places, and Review for Religious events near or far. I could not do this alone. I need help from within the church. Yet, if appropriate authority at even the highest levels is struggling to understand the identity and role of the brother in the church today, from what source will the definition come? Who is the "credible authority" that will provide it? The answer is simple: the brother himself. Why not? We brothers may for the most part not be trained theologians or men steeped in the history and development of the church, the sacraments, and ecclesiastical discipline, but we have a lifetime of experience being brothers that should count for something. We have evolved together with our vocational call, responding to challenges along the way that have forced us to question our identity, or purpose, and our reason for remaining brothers. Our prayer life, presumably "alive and active over the years, has kept us in touch with the One to whose call we have responded daily, and the resulting relationship has, we would hope, matured to the point where we can be at ease with our interpretation not only of who we are as brothers, but of how each of us is personally a witness to the reign of God. why should we not define our own identity and offer it to the institutional church as a valid and authentic interpretation, indeed as a gift? We should--and until we do we will continue to mill about, lost, confused, an.d impotent, within vague definitions of prophetic witness and ministerial service in the church. Until we are perceived by others as relevant and competent and are accepted as equal players on the field of evangelization, we will constitute a "loose cannon" threat to the ecclesiastical bureaucracy and receive little support or affirmation, nor will young men be encouraged who may be considering the lay religious life as a desirable option for their own futures. Why should we not define our own identity and offer it to the institutional church as a valid and authentic interpretation, indeed as a gift ? A Corporate Effort Beyond the effort each brother must exert to clari~ for himself what it means today to be a brother and to fashion a revived sense of January-February 2001 Armstrong * Who Is a Brother? mission based on renewed identity, there remains, I suggest, a need for a corporate endeavor among all brothers to invite, support, and help implement a new era, a "second coming," for men in the lay religious life. Even then it is not brothers alone who must feel responsible for resurrecting both awareness of and interest in the brotherhood. In the Vatican, in the hierarchy of bishops, priests, and deacons, and in the lay membership of the church, a fresh attempt must be made to bring about a renewed understanding of the vital role brothers play in the church as an institution and as the community known as the people of God. Because the truly authentic essence of brotherhood in religious life has to be articulated by brothers, it is they who must be the primary educators, as historically they have been in their numbers since the foundation of their congregations. Ready teachers, of course, must encounter willing students or the lesson will go unlearned and unappreciated, leaving the church and the world the poorer for it. And so brothers must seek and gain the confidence of church authority through their expertise in theologizing about and articulating the experiential essence of the lay religious life. This aim can be achieved through two practical steps. First, the theological reflection, even if informally undertaken, must unfold in a deliberate and orderly manner. Second, a path must be opened, a clear and smooth thoroughfare of effective communication between brothers and the rest of the church. To accomplish .this, good public relations will be required, for brothers have such a history of invisibility and silence that any change, if it attracts attention at all, will tend to create or exacerbate confusion in people, if not suspicion. Brothers must learn how to harness modern communication technologies and get assistance from the media, because the teachers will be implementing the most important lesson plan they have ever devised. Meanwhile. Meanwhile, brothers must continue preparing for their vocational parousia through personal effort at educating themselves to the point of absolute confidence and conviction. Nothing less will succeed in reeducating the church, let alone the world, as to the gift the lay religious life for men is now and can be to the whole of humankind. Out of what definition ought brothers to operate in the Review for Religion, s meantime? I suggest, once again, that the italic passage above on page 34 constitutes a solid working definition, one that incorporates both nonnegotiable expectations of male lay religious and elements that seem essential in a postmodern world. O~r own experience as brothers has confirmed the validity of the definition. Let us at the very least seize its substance and begin the task of refining and developing it. The task is immense and will require every bit of our faith and hope--and our perseverance. Were it not for the One who is author of our faith and our hope and who inspires us to persevere, we would find ourselves in the nearly untenable position of expecting to increase understanding of and enthusiasm for a kind of religious witness and ministry that relates directly to neither the clergy nor the laity. Happily, the God who created the world itself and made life increase and multiply can create new little worlds within it that can grow in understanding and age and grace. It is that possibility in which we place our greatest hope, and it is that God to whom we look for its realization. Postseason Christmas is dismantled again, syncopated lights from shaggy tree transported to basement. It's time to mine the darkness of these shrunken days for fire-feeding coal , and to scan the night skies, each quadrant strung with twinkling lights stretching Christmas hope across the long winter coming. Patricia Schaapp ~M .~anuary-February 2001 DONALD MACDONALD Vocational Being d note about the cleaning and restoration of Sandro Botticelli's Virgin Adoring the Sleeping Christ Child gives an account of the artist, his painting, and its restoration. "[Now we can see] Botticelli's purity of form and color ideally suited to its subject. It is this perfect union of means and meaning that makes the painting so powerful."' To speak of "this perfect union of means and meaning" is superlative praise. In most human endeavor there is a gap between means and. meaning. Achievement hardly ever matches the intention. Brush strokes on canvas, notes from a cello, lines on a page, the lie of a golf ball--rarely do means and meaning synchronize to a person's satisfacfon. Environment and Faith From the perspective of art appreciation, Botticelli is said to have done justice to his subject and himself to an incomparable degree. The power of his painting confirms this, If the union of means and meaning reached such perfection from the artist's view-point, what might be said of his achievement from the perspec-tive of a viewer's faith? What if I, the viewer, adore Christ now in our Lady's company, aware that to paint Christ and the kneeling Virgin does not just capture an abstract ideal, but real people, liv-ing still, to whom I can relate? With dynamic faith I the viewer can be drawn into (not just to) the scene as an integral part of a present Donald Macdonald SMM continues writing about aspects of the reli-gious vocation. His address is Montfort House; Darnley Road; Barrhead, Glasgow; G78 1TA Scodand, U.IC Revie~ for Religious reality. By faith I am at one with the meaning in a way I could never hope to be with just the painter's means. "The purity of form and color ideally suited to its subject" invites and challenges my faith to express itself in reflective ado-ration. The painting directs me to consider what is within me from the viewpoint of faith. The gap between means and meaning is then evident, but so is the inspiration to adore from the center of my being. The beauty of the picture has aesthetic appeal and more, showing what might be if I were fully alert to the wonder of an incarnational faith. I, too, can do what Mary does now, for I am one with her in Christ through baptism. A growing symmetry between means and meaning results in an integrated life. "The beauty of wonder caught in Botticelli's Adoration of the Virgin, reflects what is really there. It may have spectacular appeal to the imagination, but it is not imaginary. Glimpsing this wonder and trying to answer its challenge may suggest consecrated reli-gious life. Do I need to give myself radically, as did Mary, before its wonder compels adoration? Before I adore I must first see and be taken out of myself. This means that I should take note of the environment and any clutter which inhibits insight. Only then can I see what means I have at hand by which I can pursue meaning expressed in adoration. It is neither negative nor defeatist to see in the environment much that is harmful to a life of disciplined faith. The concern for God and neighbor through which authentic faith finds mean-ing lags behind other priorities. Where the current media do not ridicule or dismiss faith, they may actively oppose it whenever they feel threatened by a lived and living faith. There are then no Marquis of Queensberry Rules to govern the fight, and writers, editors, and producers know it. In its many forms--radio, film, TV, internet, print--the media cross continents. Cherished, prac-tical values are often trivialized, and the absence of reticence often coarsens what should be held in great respect. Skillful contempo-rary presentations and inveterate noise may deaden an individual's capacity to respond in wonder to the worldview seen in the Gospels and in Botticelli. Many media movers and shakers "dirty the flower with muddy hands" whenever spiritual or religious values appear on their horizons. A contemporary illustration of this is in a national newspaper correspondent's account of the presentation in London of the Sony Gold Awards for radio broadcasting. "IX] won the music presen- January-February 2001 Macdonald ¯ Vocational Being tation award . By the time he had finished his acceptance speech, he had made half the Great Room of the Grosvenor House long, if not for the grave, then at least for the cool embrace of silence. It wasn't just that he swore. Many people who stepped up that night to receive their awards displayed scan( knowledge of any noun or verb longer than four letters. The effing and blinding was ferocious, the badinage it embellished was desperate . I have sel-dom sat so long and celebrated so little."2 This is not from some drinking den after hours or some adolescent playground, but from a prestigious hotel in a capital city, sponsored by an international company. These are the winners, not the losers, evidendy cocooned in their pei'sonal world, free to pursue their own agendas regard-less of others' feelings. Obviously they succeed, with prizes to prove it. Such behavior coarsens whatever it gets near. The name Jesus Christ in that company is invariably an expletive or a joke. Many feed on that diet and develop a taste for it, and so lack the nour-ishment to grow in Christ. This is a major reason for lack of reli-gious practice generally and for the small number of persons willing to commit themselves to a life of religious consecration. Also, it is something I need to consider if I am to find the means to give myself in adoration through the perspective of faith. How much of this has a claim on me? The evidence of hearing, if I am blessed with it, is that contemporary care to be "politically correct" in speech goes hand in hand with a massive rise in offensive lan-guage, not least among the educated. The coarsening of sensibil-ity by elements of the media makes it harder to find and faithfully use the means to achieve mature meaning as the gospel would have us do. Where no one seems to care, it is no surprise to find that many are careless. I am not made.of stone--how much have I succumbed to this environment? Necessary Means Living in such an environment, I need something practical that can help me maintain a Christian perspective, both encour-aging me and challenging me. IfI have that "something," I have a means for pursuing meaning, the fullness of which, for religious liv-ing, is adoration that engages my whole being. Several practical suggestions could be made, but assimilating Scripture is one that can help, both in judging society and guiding Review for Religious me through it. Scripture, after all, is the accumulated experience of people trying to relate their society to God. More particularly, it was largely the original inspiration behind monastic and reli-gious life. Monastic life began as a statement about contemporary society and the primacy of God. It has been said that God is either 6f sole concern or of no concern. After hearing Scripture speak and then seeing that many contemporary values either opposed or limited the freedom of faith, many persons became aware that they had to cut the cable between themselves and society. Writing of the origin of monastic life in the 4th century, a commentator notes that "what is utterly clear., is the pulsing life the sacred texts give to the daily existence of the early monks. ¯ They serve as a basic frame of reference . In. memorization, rumination, and medita-tion of Scripture, words penetrated the deepest recesses of the soul and created ne~v possibilities and challenges.''3 The Spirit who so energized the word that it came ablaze with meaning and inspiration for those pioneers can do as much for me now if I do some "humble loving listening to him who speaks. It is in fact by the light and with the strength of the word of God that my own vocation can be discovered and understood, loved, and followed and my own mis-sion carried out. So true is this that the person's entire existence finds its unifying and radical meaning in being the terminus of God's word.''4 This is a colossal claim for Scripture, namely, that all strands of life can be brought together, and meaning can be recognized at the depth of my being, if only I am attuned to Scripture. The claim is for ontological meaning in my being's depths. This guar-antees a fusion of means and meaning. Scripture is a superb coun-terweight to much in current society which could keep me from God. As the light of the word slowly dawns, adoration may well be my being's basic response. Perhaps never before in the history of the church has Scripture been available to so many. The means of communication undoubt-edly facilitate this, but this does not mean that, with the media present everywhere, the Christian message is too. In my wide experience of monastic and religious life, home and abroad, for thirty years, I have yet to be convinced that this is so. To what Where no one seems to care, it is no surprise to find that many are careless. .~anuary-February 2001 MacdonhM ¯ Vocational Being 442 degree can we speak of "the pulsing life of the sacred texts" influ-encing consecrated.life generally? How many understand what it is to be "a terminus of the word of God"? I have never forgotten Protestant scholar Frederick C. Grant's comment in 1966 on Dei Verbum, the Vatican Council's Constitution on Divine Revelation: "Why not tell people what joyful discoveries lie before them in the Scriptures, what feasts of learning, what inspiration and encouragement, what sound teach-ing, what help in facing the problems and frustrations of life? As the prophet shouted, 'Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price'" (Is 55:1).s How many individually or collectively "shout" or reflect such enthusi-asm from personal conviction? Here is a superb means to assimi-late meaning, but how many habitually make it their own? Grant's approach may yet be rather new to us. It may take generations before Scripture is sufficiently bedded down among us to produce such results. Scholarship, excellent at the highest level, has perhaps not found a way of enlightening us. Source criticism, form criticism, redaction criticism, reader-response, structural lin-guistics, and so forth make an ever lengthening list; and so people nibble among the commentators and do not get round to assimi-lating the text. In a sad comment on his university studies, a priest spoke of "the acid rain of biblical criticism" and its effect on him vis-a-vis our Lord. If I am hooked already on Scripture and well know what Grant experienced, then current biblical commentaries and journals can help me. Regrettably, though, many of these scholarly materials seem to lack the warmth that could come from a community's fervently.shared faith; they seem not to reflect the wondrous joy that our risen Lord brought to the early church. Has any English writer, for example, during the past twenty years or so, been so fascinated withSt. Paul (man and writer) as to claim failure to do him justice if Paul does not leap from his pages and invade the reader's imagination? This is Richard Holmes's purpose in a superb biography of the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. He wants Coleridge's voice to be heard and to domi-nate the book. (His own edition of Coleridge's poetry functioned as ~a controlling influence on the biography.) Holmes serves the poet far better than any Christian writer has served--unless I missed it--St. Paul. In the seminary, not uncommonly, Paul is approached as an Review for Religqous intellectual problem, and the student is made to jump hurdles, to no very clear purpose. Scholars give the impression of seeing Paul as a maverick, like an unconventional student the disapproving examiner never knows how to place: "He is here to be examined, and clearly is not quite one of us!" This is a pity. (Bonhoeffer believed, incidentally, that the Sermon on the Mount could never be lived in a university context.) Paul is, of course, larger than any one pen can capture, but, rooted in Christ and in people and in his own evident humanity, his experi-ence is a genuine way of fusing both means and meaning in an authentically consecrated life. No one seeking inspiration in Scripture need read a line of St. Paul. The Law, the Prophets, and the rest of the Old Testament spread a lavish table. In the Synoptics, the sharp observation to be found in a saying of Christ or in a parable can open up much to me, as can pondering the weight of wonder of a phrase of Christ in John's Gospel. One needs only to experience them to feel their power, to bring means and meaning together. Whatever the form of prayer, wonder in the presence of Who is there is the underlying dynamic. Adoration There can be no one way or best way 'of being a religious. There are presumably as many ways to God as there are human beings called to him. But, as I have suggested, if we need to adore the gift of God in Christ from the core of our being, then we have found meaning. Taken out of myself by what I glimpse in faith, I respond in adoration as well as I can with all that is in me. Much in contemporary society obscures this glimpse, but Scripture can be a countervailing practical means to realize meaning. The church and monastic and religious life have for centuries found their deep-est reality through the Gospels. To adore, I need only to see in faith; then, following the rhythm of my breathing, I give myself to God giving himself to me. This is true, whatever the situation or however I feel. I always return to, though actually I never leave, that center. My being is engaged. The insight is increasingly more simple. Whatever the form of prayer (sacramental, liturgical, community, or individual), ~anuary-Februa~. 2001 Macdonald * Vocational Being wonder in the presence of Who is there is the underlying dynamic. Whatever is said, sung, or signed expresses this. Far from making me a maverick on the edge of a group, adoration invites me to be at one with the church in the worship of Christ. If habitual adoration underlies all I do, I can give myself faith-fully to whatever the present moment asks of me, yet not be taken over by it, since my identity does not depend on what I do or where I am. There is always, in faith, another dimension to real-ity not limited to the frame of circumstance. I function at a sim-ple level, trying t6 be at one with God's will, which, of course, is the purpose of monastic or religious life. In attempting this, I approximate the purity of line and color by which the painter real-izes his meaning. Whatever I am engaged in and whoever is with me, insofar as I adore I can recognize the gift of God and who it is speaking to me. Then, as John's Gospel promises, I can tap into a rich stream. On the other hand, pastoral plans, catechetical pro-grams, and personal apostolates are channels that may be awash by turns with limpid idealism or murky disillusion. If I invest in them, my "salvation" depends on,their success or failure; but, if I give myself to them in the light of adoration, I will receive both pru-dence and courage to persevere faithfully far from the criterion of "what's in it for me." Risen Lord I can summarize these reflections, perhaps, with a comment from M.R. Vincent's preface to his Commentary on St. Paul's Letter to the Philippians. More than one hundred years ago he indicated what might be found in a letter written from prison nineteen hun-dred years earlier. His words are relevant today: "While the char-acter of the epistle is ethical . . . it gives no countenance to resolving the gospel into a mere code of morals. The moral inspi-ration which it represents has its impelling center in a person and a life, not in a code. The personal Christ is its very heart. It exhibits Christ in Paul rather than before him. Christ is not a subject of controversy; he is not simply a pattern of conduct. He is the sum of Paul's life. Th~ view of the resurrection which this letter pre-sents is a standing rebuke to the superficial conception and loose grasp which the church too often brings to that truth. The resur-rection of the.Lord is to Paul a present informing energy and not only a recovery anda hope. He would know the power of the res- Review for Religious urrection now and here as well as hereafter. He not only lives according to Christ's life; he lives it I.n. Christ he is in the sphere of infinite possibilities.''6 Here surely is the fusion of means and meaning. As Paul keeps growing, by Christ's life, into Christ, he breaks out of prison in a letter of encouragement, alive with the light of his risen Lord. Not death itself, the ultimate in defeat and separation, can come between him and his risen Lord, who is for him "a present inform-ing energy and not only a recovery and a hope." The stance of adoration is not that of the self-made individual over against the universe, with a supporting cast of witless nobodies lost on the plains below. Life has "its impelling center in a person and a life" and therefore takes meaning from our once crucified and now risen Lord. In Christ I am lost in the wonder of it all, a new creation in view of whom I see and what I am given moment by moment from before time began. Literally, it beggars description. The silence of adoration, as it deepens, is eloquent though inadequate response. Held by the prese~nce of my risen Lord in every situation not excluding death, I too believe that in Christ I am in the sphere of infinite possibilities. He it is who gives meaning to life. Insofar as I allow him to make me his, I live to some purpose and try to express this in what I do. Assimilating Scripture is a superb means toward such maturity. Speechless adoration from the core of my being may become habitual, in view of the wondrousness of the One I am graced to see. I have not the means to ~:eplicate Botticelli's Adoring Virgin and Child on canvas, but from the per-spective of faith I am awash in that same wonder. Notes ~ National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, 2000. 2 Gillian Reynolds, The Daily Telegraph, London, 9 May 2000. 3 Douglas Burton-Christie, The Word in the Desert: Scripture and the Quest for Holiness in Early Christian Monasticism (Oxford University Press, 1993), pp. 298-299. 4 John Paul II, Pastores dabo ~obis (On the Formation of Priests in the Circumstances of the Present Day), 25 March 1992, §47. s Walter M. Abbott SJ, ed., The Documents of Vatican H (Chapman, 1966), pp. 130-131. 6 M.R. Vincent, Critical and Exegetical CommentaTy on the Ep#tles to the Pbilippians and to Philemon (Edinburgh: T. and T. Clark, 1897). January-February 2001 MARY ANNE FOLEY Spirituality for Mission: Marguerite Bourgeoys and ¯the Ignatian Tradition spiritual legacy In the 16th century the Society of Jesus represented an innovation in consecrated life for men, differing in struc-ture and aim from both monastic and mendicant forms and supported by Ignatius's approach to contemplation and action. Ignatian spirituality appealed also to women seeking a life of service outside the cloister, and Jesuit influence is apparent in the formation of women's com-munities as varied as the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Sisters of St. Joseph in the 17th century and the Religious of the Sacred Heart in the 19th. By contrast, when Marguerite Bourgeoys (1620- 1700) was founding the Congregation de Notre-Dame de Montreal in the latter part of the 17th century, her closest collaborators were not Jesuits; they were Sulpicians, other diocesan priests, and women like Madame de Miramion who were forming similar com'- munities. As a result the congregation is usually seen as a product of the so-called French school of spirituality? Mary Anne Foley CND, who discussed women's commu-nities in our July-August 2000 issue, wrote this article.for the 300th anniversary of the death of Marguerite Bourgeoys. After translation by E Richer, it first appeared as "Spiritualitfi pour la mission: Marguerite Bourgeoys et la tradition ignatienne" in Cahiers de spiritualit~ ignatienne (April-June 2000, pp. 79-91). Her address is University of Scranton; Scranton, Pennsylvania 18510. Review for Religious The congregation's spirituality, however, as seen in the writings of its foundress, reveals considerable affinity with Ignatian spiri-tuality. We shall ~xplore those parallels, but first a word about the congregation's origins is in order. From Marguerite Bourgeoys's perspective, the congregation began in her own experience of transformation at the age of twenty, occasioned by her gazing at a statue of Mary. As a result of this "conversion," as she calls it, she joined a group of laywomen asso-ciated with the cloistered Congregation de Notre-Dame in her native Troyes and chose Antoine Jendret, the local pastor, as her spiritual advisor. From Jendret she learned to see the "vie voyagkre" (missionary life) of the Blessed Virgin as a model for uncloistered religious life for women. At the same time, the congregation sis-ters trained her to teach children who could not attend their monastery school and shared with her their enthusiasm for estab-lishing a monastery in New France. Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve, brother of the congregation's superior and governor of the new settlement ofVille-Marie (Montreal), recognized the impossibility of establishing a monastery there at that time. Instead, he requested a single lays. oman to serve as teacher, and Marguerite agreed to go in that capacity. When she arrived in 1653, Ville-Marie was a small settlement, precarious both geographically and financially. It had been estab-lished eleven years earlier by an association of pious men and women in France who hoped to incorporate French and native people into a Christian society, thus creating a spirited church in the New World. Among the associates was Jean-Jacques Olier, founder and first superior of the Sulpicians. Unable to go him-self, he sent four members of his society to Ville-Marie in 1657 to establish its first parish. As "filles de paroisse" (women of the parish) Marguerite and the women who would soon join her were thus greatly influenced by the Sulpicians of Ville-Marie. Moreover, from Paris the third superior of the Society, Louis Tronson, was actively involved in decisions concerning the congregation and proved one of their staunchest advocates) In 1659 four recruits came from France to share Marguerite's simple, mobile way of life and her educational commitment in imi-tation of Mary's vie voyag~re. Over the course of the century, more than fifty women--native, French, and native-born French--joined this new Congregation de Notre-Dame, extending its reach from Ville-Marie to Quebec and beyond. Marguerite served as supe- January-Febr~ary 2001 rior until 1693, providing spiritual as well as practical leadership. Among her relatively few extant writings are several prayers and numerous reflections on the nature of the congregation, most of which appear to be conference notes of varying lengths. Brief and fragmentary though these texts are, they provide interesting glimpses of the spirituality that informed the congregation she founded.3 Gathering Up the Drops of Christ's Blood A brief, isolated passage in Marguerite Bourgeoys's writings presents a forceful description of the source, characteristics, and aim of the sisters' missionary activity: Consider, dear, that when you go on mission you go to gather up the drops of the blood of Jesus Christ that are being lost. How happy a sister who is sent on mission will be if she considers that she goes there at God's command and in his company, if she considers that in this work she can and ought to show her gratitude to him from whom she has received all things. Oh, she will find nothing difficult or burdensome at all! She will, on the contrary, wish to be in want of every-thing, to be despised by everyone, to endure all sorts of suffering, and even to die in disgrace. (W'W!B, 78) This passage may well represent the words with which Marguerite Bourgeoys invited the sisters to go forth from the central house in Ville-Marie to missions all over New France. Her description of the congregation's aim as "gathering up the drops of the blood of Jesus Christ that are being lost" is strongly reminiscent of a phrase employed by Paul Le Jeune sJ, superior of the Jesuit mission in Canada. In a letter written to his superior in France in 1633 and later published and widely disseminated, he attempted to persuade wealthy women in France to support the creation of a school for native women in New France: If they applied part [of their income] to gather the drops of blood of the Son of God shed for so many souls that are lost every day for la~k of help, they would not blush with shame on the day they appear before God to render an account of the goods for which he has made them responsible.4 Two years later he renewed the request, exclaiming, "What glory in the sight of the angels, to have gathered the blood of the Son of God to apply it to these poor unbelievers! "s Review for Religious What is particularly striking is that for Le Jeune the "gather-ing" was to be accomplished by women who worked for the edu-cation of other women. Initially he suggested that the school be run by "some good courageous widow assisted by two brave young women."6 By 1635, however, numerous women in French monas-teries, "overcoming the fear natural to their sex," had offered to come to educate native women and girls. This led Le Jeune to alter his original plan and to ask that a French benefactor endow a monastery whose members would carry out the work of educa-tion: "Will not some brave lady be found to give these Amazons of the great God a passport, endow-ing them with a house in which to praise and serve His Divine Majesty in this other world?"7 Madame de la Peltrie responded to that request, and the Ursuline monastery was soon founded in Quebec as a result. Marguerite Bourgeoys's writ-ings never indicate that she read Paul Le Jeune's letters, but, given the sisters' interest in the Canadian missions, she very likely did so during her association with the Congregation de Notre-Dame in Troyes. Thus, his use of the image of gathering Christ's blood probably influenced her directly. Furthermore, although there were no Jesuits in Ville-Marie from 1657 until the end of the century, she may also have been influenced indirecdy by their approach to missionary activity through her continued con-tact with Jesuits in Quebec. Although Marguerite Bourgeoys may consciously or uncon-sciously have adopted Le Jeun~'s metaphor for mission, she mod-ified it in several ways. In the first place, she used the word ramasser, instead of recueillir, with respect to what was to be done with the drops of blood. There is a difference of nuance here. The former term suggests picking up scattered bits and pieces, and the latter suggests taking in a unified quantity (such as a harvest),s This difference in vocabulary may not be particularly significant in itself,9 but another passage from the Writings makes it clear that for her the mission of education did indeed involve gathering up the individual drops of Christ's blood: "When you go on mission you go to gather up the drops of the blood of Jesus Christ that are being lost." January-Febr~ary 2001 Fole~ ¯ Spirituali.ty_for Mission It is work suited to draw down the graces of God if it is done with purity of intention, without distinction between the poor and the rich, between relatives and friends and strangers, between the pretty and the plain, the easy-going and the grumblers, looking upon them all as drops of our Lord's blood. (W'MB, 201) Where Le Jeune had used the imagery of gathering the blood to describe specifically the education of the native women and chil-dren, here it seems to refer to all the individuals taught by the sis-ters. (By the time these lines were written, in the 1590s, they were probably teaching few native children.) If all these individuals are the drops of Christ's blood, they must be treated as sacred objects. Teaching, then, becomes a holy activity, since it brings the sisters in close contact with those sacred objects. Second, Marguerite underlined the urgency of the sisters' mis-sion by the way she extended the metaphor of the drops of blood. Le Jeune remarks that the souls of "these poor unbelievers" for whom Christ's blood has been shed are being lost; Marguerite Bourgeoys suggests that the drops of Christ's blood themselves are being lost. So important is this to her understanding that we may interpret her as going beyond mere metaphor in her reference to the drops of blood. Since the writing of the first Letter to the Corinthians, Christian theologians have often spoken of the bap-tized as constituting the body of Christ in a real, though mystical sense. For Marguerite Bourgeoys, those who needed to learn of Christ's teachings were his blood in that same mystical sense,l° Rather than allow even one drop of that blood to be wasted, a sis-ter would travel anyw.here she was sent and endure whatever was necessary for the mission. Indeed, the act of teaching was both sacred and urgent. A prayer for the congregation written on 4July 1693, at the end of her extended service as the community superior, reveals the con-nection she saw between the sisters' mission and the passion of Christ. Declaring that her trust was not in her own powers, she tells God: "I base my trust on the merits of the precious blood given for my ransom, and with your grace I would rather give up life itself than fail to uphold the truth of your words" (W-M!~, 163). Her willingness to lose her life in order to make Christ's teachings known recalls the desire "to endure all sorts of suffering and even to die in disgrace," which she claimed was characteristic of the sis-ter who traveled on mission in God's company. Her belief that the Review for Religious missionary congregation sisters would desire to suffer in the course of their mission echoes a passage from the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius Loyola describing "the most perfect kind of humility" pos-sible for one who has decided to follow Christ: Whenever the praise and glory of the Divine Majesty would be equally served, in order to imitate and be in real-ity more like Christ our Lord, I desire and choose poverty with Christ poor, rather than riches; insults with Christ loaded with them, rather than honors; I desire to be accounted as worthless and a fool for Christ, rather than to be esteemed as wise and prudent in this world. So Christ was treated before me.~ As was true for Ignatius, Marguerite Bourgeoys believed the source of missionary activity for the congregation sister to be a call from the God "from whom she has received all things." Her missionary work is thus a grateful response to God's initiative: "She goes there at God's command." If the sister's mission comes from a divine invitation, then her going will be "in his company." The implication is that going on mission is a way for her to be present to God, a way of participating in God's activity, and hence a way of becoming holy. This is why she should be able to view any deprivation that she suffers in the course of her mission as a pos-itive advantage. "To be in want of everything, to be despised by everyone, to endure all sorts of suffering, and even to die in dis-grace" is to enter more profoundly into the way of Christ, whose mission was characterized by the shedding of his blood. Imitating Mary's Vie Voyag~re While the desire to gather up the drops of Christ's blood pro-vided motivation for the sisters' mission of education, Marguerite turned elsewhere for a way to depict their way of exercising that mission: the life Mary led on earth. The 17th century was remarkable for widespread and intense devotion to Mary, notably among the members of what has been called the French school of spirituality. In order to emphasize the greatness of God's working in her, they tended to focus on Mary's humility, dwelling on both the poverty of her origins and her hum-ble willingness to serve as the future mother of God. Furthermore, their insistence on the paradoxical juxtaposition of the "grandeurs" of Jesus in the midst of his humiliations led Cardinal de B~rulle and January-February 2001 Foley ¯ SpiritnalityforMission For Marguerite Bourgeoys the primary form of devotion to Mary was to honor her vie voyag re, her missionary life. his followers to reflect at length on the life of Jesus in Mary's womb. This is apparent in Olier's prayer "O Jesu vivens in Maria" and in their reflections on the Word's action in Mary's visitafon to Elizabeth. The visitation became central to Marguerite Bourgeoys's spirituality, as shall be seen; she shared as well the French school's emphasis on Mary's "littleness" which enabled her to become the instrument of God's power. While her version of the life of Mary reflects many of the the-ological concerns of her day, some of her contemporaries might have been puzzled by its omissions and even more by its focus. She refers very briefly to what most consider the two central moments in Mary's life, Jesus' nativity and his cru-cifixion. She merely notes that the circumstances of Christ's birth reveal Mary's love of poverty and the poor and that her presence at Calvary reveals her faithfulness, her accep-tance of God's plan of redempfon. In writings no longer available to us, she may have said more, but, given the detail she provides about other events in Mary's life, Marguerite's lack of attention to the nativity and crucifixion is at least suggestive. In contrast to B4rulle, for example, the brevity of her comments and the absence of sentimentality are quite striking. Even more striking is her focus on Mary's activity, rather than her passivity. Certainly she portrays Mary as the recipient of divine favor: God chose her, preserved her from sin, and made her Mother Of God and then Queen of heaven. But Marguerite pays far more attention to what Mary did. She shows her teaching and serving the other girls in the temple and making a vow of virginity. At the time of the annunciation, we see Mary imploring, preparing her-self, consenting, and offering herself to God. After that event she visits Elizabeth, gives birth to Jesus, receives shepherds and kings, and loses and. finds her child. Having witnessed Christ's teachings and keeping them in her heart, she teaches and encourages people during his public life, and afterwards she forms and reforms the members of the Christian community, even after her death, up to the present time. Review for Religious This focus on Mary's activity is in keeping with the advice Marguerite Bourgeoys gave her sisters: "To imitate our dear Foundress, we ought to go through her life and stop at what our Lord inspires us to do" (WMB, 52). In this emphasis she differed somewhat from the French school, for whom devotion took the form of reflecting on the eternal--and internal--"states" of Christ's and Mary's lives in order to enter those states oneself. Thus, even though he considered Mary a model of priestly and apostolic activ-ity, Jean-Jacques Olier still advocated above all a devotion to the "interior life" of Mary. The French school has in this respect been contrasted with Ignatius Loyola, whose Spiritual Exercises involve meditating on the words and particularly the actions of God, Christ, and the saints in order to imitate them.~2 While Marguerite Bourgeoys's random reflections are far different from the highly structured meditations of the Exercises, her focus on Mary's activity is more Ignatian than Berullian. Her approach to the life of Mary, however, was not that of many early-17th-century Jesuit writers, who cul-tivated a highly imaginative form of popular devotion that focused on the details of Mary's life. They were accused, not always unfairly, of promoting an exaggerated devotion to Mary that at times superseded the need for fidelity to the commandments.'3 For Marguerite Bourgeoys and for the congregation sisters, the primary form of devotion to Mary was honoring her vie voyag~re, her missionary life: M. Jendret told me one day that our Lord had left three call-ings for women to follow him and serve the church: that of St. [Mary] Magdalen was taken up by the Carmelites and other recluses and that of Saint Martha, by cloistered reli-gious who serve their neighbor; but the calling to the jour-neying life of the Virgin Mary, which needed to be honored, had not yet been taken up." (WMB, 142) Elsewhere she explains that because Mary was a teacher she incorporated the lives of both Martha and Mary Magdalen into her own: "The blessed Virgin, who was a teacher, included every-thing in her own person to an eminent degree" (WMB, 77). This depiction of Mary's "mixed" active and contemplative life was not original to Jendret,14 but he may have been the first to apply that analogy to women's communities. Nor was it common to speak of her vie voyag?re. Ordinarily the phrase refers to Christians who are still living on earth, as opposed to those who ffanuary-Februa~y 2001 Fole~ ¯ Spirituali~forMission have passed on to glory or purification--and sometimes to the public life of Jesus.~s For many 17th-century spiritual writers, this earthly, transitory, active aspect of Christ's or Mary's life was less inspiring and worthy of attention than their enduring states. By their attention to Mary's vie voyag~re, then, Antoine Jendret and Marguerite Bourgeoys presented an alternative approach to one of the central symbols of holiness in the Christian tradition. That approach had very concrete implications for the little congregation in Ville-Marie. In order to fulfill their educative mis-sion throughout New France, the sisters had to remain free to move wherever there was need. However, because holiness was most often identified with separation from "the world," and because of women's supposed fragility, ecclesiastical legislation during much of Christian history sought to protect consecrated women by insisting that they remain behind cloister walls. Indeed, the two first bishops of New France attempted to impose cloister on the congregation by urging their union with the Ursulines of Quebec. Marguerite Bourgeoys's response was to point to Mary: "The Blessed Virgin was never cloistered. She did indeed retire into an interior solitude, but she never excused herself from any journey on which there was some good to be done or some work of charity to be performed. We wish to follow her in some way" (WMB, 50). Without calling into question the value of life within a clois-ter, this .passage suggests that for Mary, and for those who wish to live her missionary way of life, love of neighbor can constitute a higher value. Clearly Marguerite shared the traditional view that this sort of uncloistered vie voyagkre could be dangerous, but she believed that those who imitated Mary's way of life would be pro-tected by an "interior solitude" and by their union with God in prayer. Dangerous or not, if Mary's work of building up the church by educating its women was to continue, then it was not only pos-sible but necessary for some women to follow her way of life. The Visitation Traditionally the sisters of the congregation renew their vows on the Feast of the Visitation. This suggests that for them Mary's visit to her cousin Elizabeth (Lk 1:39-52) is paradigmatic of their desire to become holy by going forth as missionaries. During the 17th century, however, the visitation was not nec-essarily associated with women who remained free to move out in Review for Religious order to serve their neighbor. In a reflection first published in 1679, the Capuchin Louis-Francois d'Argentan interpreted Mary's going up into the hill country as a reference to her ascent to God through contemplation and her willingness to share in God's redemptive plan. In this presentation, Mary is essentially passive in the encounter with Elizabeth, simply allowing the Word within her to speak in her.voice. D'Argentan suggests that during the visit Mary manifests humility by helping with household tasks, ardent charity (which he does not discuss further), and the way to engage in holy conversation with the neighbor. For him the ulti-mate fruit of reflection on the visitation is making "powerful resolutions to love seclusion, silence, and solitude, scorning all the rest so as to be attentive only to what is necessary, that is to say, to God alone and to the great matter of our eternity.''6 Such an interpretation of the visitation was not foreign to Marguerite Bourgeoys's thought. She too was convinced that Mary loved and was a model of soli-tude- but also was a model of conversation with others--and that the most important aspect of her encounter with Elizabeth was God's action in sanctifying the unborn John the Baptist. Nonetheless, here as always, Marguerite Bourgeoys's attention remained focused on Mary's activity and its effects. Moreover, her interpretation of that activ-ity contrasts with that of d'Argentan and even Francis de Sales, cofou

Issue 39.3 of the Review for Religious, May 1980. ; REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS (ISSN 0034-639X), published bi-monthly (every two months), is edited in collaboration wilh faculty members of the Dbpartment of Theology of St. Louis University. The editorial offices are located at Room 428:3601 Lindell Blvd.: St. Louis, MO 63108. It is owned by the Missouri Province Educational Institute; St. Louis, MissQuri, © 1980. By REVIEW FOR REL~O~Ot~S. Composed. printed and manufactured in U.S.A. Second class postage paid at St. Louis, Missouri. Single copies: $2.00. Subscription'U.S.A.: $8.00 a year: $15.00 for two years. Other countries: $9.00 a year, $17.00 for two years. For subscription orders or change of address, write REVIEW FOR RF.L~CaOt~S: P.O. Box 6070: Duluth, Minnesota 55802. Daniel F. X. Meenan, S.J. Robert Williams, S.J. Dolores Greeley, R.S.M. Joseph F. Gallen, S.J. Jean Read Editor. Associate Editor Associate Editor Questions and A nswers Editor Assistant Editor May, 1980 Volume 39 Number 3 Correspondence with the editor and the associate editors, manuscripts and books for review should be sent to REVlF.W FOrt RELIGIOUS; Room 428; 3601 Lindell Blvd.; St. Louis, MO 63108. Questions for answering should be sent to Joseph F. Gallen, S.J.; Jesuit Community; St. Joseph's College; City Avenue at 54th Street; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19131. "Out of print" issues and articles not re-issued as reprints are available from University Microfilms International; 300 North Zeeb Road; Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106. A Check on Our Availability: The Examen George A. Aschenbrenner, S.J. Father Aschenbrenner is engaged in campus ministry, and at the same time, working nationally with priests and religious. He resides at Scranton University, Scranton, PA 18510. [n an earlier issue (January, 1972, "Consciousness Examen") I had written about a renewed understanding of the traditional lgnatian exercise of the daily examen. In that article I preferred to talk of an "examen of con-sciousness," because most of us had come to understand "conscience" in a narrowly moralistic sense. This had turned the examen into a fairly negative practice, soon discarded when we got into the typically busy apostolic life. To set aside specific time each day to see what we did wrong was not very much help. Nor did the practice enrich our apostolate much, because it gradually turned God into Someone always catching us .doing something wrong--and thus we wrought havoc on our self-esteem. A good sense of self-value, an ef-fective apostolate, and our image of God are always intimately connected. A Positive~ Understanding of the Examen .~: The formal examen should rather be a time of prayer about how much God has loved me in the yery existential details of my day, and how he could have loved me more in certain situations if my inner spiritual decisiveness and external presence had been a bit different. This is not just a different articula-tion of the meaning of the examen. Rather, it leads to an enormous difference attitudinally and effectively. A healthy self-esteem has to be ultimately and ir-revocably rooted in our Father's love, climaxed in his victory in Jesus. This neither excessively highlights, nor denies, my daily sinful weakness. Rather it leads to a consoling humiliation, found in a Father's forgiveness that is con- 321 :322 / Review for Religious, V~olume 39, 1980/3 stantly available in Jesus as my personal savior. In this way, the daily effect of my sinful condition is not to tear down self-worth, but to build up true apostolic humility, which itself is the source of genuine self-esteem. This positive understanding of the examen helps avoid another fallacy. Many times the full, rich prayer of the consciousness examen shrinks into a quick, superficial reflection over the day, and the five traditional elements of the examen thus collapse into the third element by itself--a general survey of the day's activities. The formal examen, however, was never intended to be just a quick thinking-over of the day. It is supposed to be prayer--and that within a fairly specific form, one related to the daily contemplation but not identical with it. And if the examen is to be chiefly about God's love for me, then gratitude should play a major affective role. Of course, it is the gratitude of a sinner who is at peace with the nothing he can do on his own, because he is still wonderfully learning how our Father's love turns everything to good--even his own sinfulness. The Examen Is Essential to Availability In the conclusion of his letter to the Society. of Jesus on "apostolic availabi_lity," Father General Pedro Arrupe made thi~ statement: To become partly immobile through lack of availability on the part of individuals and the consequent fear of superiors to give them the missions called for by our apostolate today, would constitute a most serious threat to the very existence of our vocation . lgnatian availability is the guarantee and the conditio sine qua non of our practice, which leads to salvation, and alone is of interest to the Society and the Church. A strong claim! My central point here is that the daily examen is the primary means to maintain this disposition of Ignatian and, indeed, of all apostolic availability. Even so, why should a brief period of prayer assume such great impor-tance? This leads us to another insight often neglected in the past. The formal examen-prayer, with its five elements, (usually) lasting about a quarter-hour, is always a means to the informal examen, which is a special faith-sensitivity that is with one all through the day. Often in our early years, we have turned the formal examen-prayer into an end-in-itself, giving to it a rigid fidelity that corrupted its significance. Of course it would be illusory to imagine that we can grow into living the informal examen=sensitivity without the early development of habitual practice of the formal examen and a con-tinuing adaptation of our involvement with this type of daily prayer. Through the informal examen, a person acquires a special ability for discerning (or examining) "presence" in everything. For Ignatius, this quality-presence was more important and extensive than the formal examen-prayer, inasmuch as this presence helps the person to recognize ,the grace of apostolic availability and flexibility that is being'offered in every situation. Apostolic availability is a profound faith-experience that roots one's iden-tity and security in God's love. When a person's security is too rooted in a job The Check on Our A vailability: The Examen / 323 or a place, or even a certain reputation, there results a stubborn rigidity that undermines his availability, just as availability canequally be undermined by a disordered need for change and variety--as when a person is so superficially committed that he really doesn't care whether he's changed or where he's assigned. In that same letter, Father Arrupe pointed up some of the challenges for what we have termed apostolic availability that are especially present in the new directions, institutional involvements and types of service that are re-quired in the modern world. What is fundamental; though, is that availability ¯ is primarilya readiness and sensitivity of heart, not simply a changing of job and/or place. In the heart of a person serving for many years.in the same mis-sion there can be an availability that is very apostolic and invigorating~--and often more difficult than the "availability" that leads to a new assignment. Apostolic availability and genuine perseverance in the same task orplace can never be opposed. In the formal examen, we hold up our day to be seen against the light of God's love. Sometimes this will be more instructive for us than was the experience itself., We may appreciate what we didn't even see in the actual experien.ce. At other times, we can savor the depths implicit in our sensitivity in the actual experience of the day. The continuing informal examen makes us sen-sitive in every situation to a Father's love that is always available, makes us ready to respond in filial 10ve to the Father's desire, as Jesus was--especially on Calvary. At such a point of insight, we see how often our cowardice or disordered desires reveal us to be persons of the "Second Class" (Spiritual Exercises, 154), who seek to make God come to what we desire. This is precisely backwards: consolation and greater apostolic service are to be found in our coming to what God desires. The sensitivity of apostolic availability distinguishes the heart ofa person of the "Third Class" from one of the "Second Class." The difference can become very subtle in one's interior af-fective life, but what~is always at issue is nothing less than better service for the justice of God's kingdom. Availability and Discernment In our sinful human condition, apostolic availability does not at all come naturally to us, but often is born of our decisive dealing with desolation in ac-cordance with the principles of Ignatian discernment. The seven capit.al sins, as inner affective experiences (.before we intentionally act on them), are each a type of desolate violence endemic to our sinful condition. They infringe on, and restrict the freedom of our availability. In decisively going against this desolate violence (see Exercises319), we become interiorly available to God's loving and consoling attractiveness, which a!ways frees us for whatever his Heart desires of us now. In this way, Jesus' own decisive availability to his 324 / Review for Religious, Volume 39, 1980/3 Father, in service to our world, is gradually born in our affectivity through our careful living, with all the subtlety of discernment, in the face of our inner, desolate violence. The daily examen is the most practical and regularmeans to practice, this discernment for availability. Our particular examen could then focus on the flaw or weakness that now is most keeping us from this fuller apostolic availability. What is that flaw or weakness? It is not so much something that we decide on, but rather what God will reveal: to us in his loving concern that all of us should belong to him ~ver more totally. By responding to his call through the particular examen, and directing our attention and effort primarily against that flaw or weakness, we are allowing ourselves to be drawn more into the apostolic availability of Jesus where he and we best find the Father. The Examen: An Action-Reflection Model Apostolic renewal is not simply being able to get more done. Apostolic ac-tivity is not measured simply in quantity, but must respond to the dictates of a wise sensitivity in the zealous lover of God. A certain degree of.reflectivity is essential to the growth of this sensitivity. Although in the beginning this reflectivity may seem labored and artificial, as one matures in the Spirit it becomes more integrated, less obvious, and part of the "presence" one has everywhere. There is much talk about various action-reflection models to help renew our apostolic presence, and, indeed, some such model can be an essential instrument and method for apostoli~ religious formation from the novitiate onward. I suggest that the examen is precisely such an action-reflection instru-ment, one that is built right into our daily life, and capable of fostering apostolic availability as a whole way of life open to service to the needs of our world for God's greater glory. In these models, we reflect on our experience, hoping that the reflection will lead us to better quality in our apostolic efforts. Hence the reflection is never for itself, nor directed to a self-centered sanctification, Often in the past, the examen did not have an hpostolic orientation, ~but tended to a suf-focating introspection. As we mature in outpractice Of the examen, the separate steps of action-reflection-action integrate into a sensitivity of presence in the activity that makes us available in everything for the call of our Father's love, in whatever way he desires for his greater glory in our world. Just as the routine and regularity of the daily order help to keep the con-templative monk attuned to God, so the examen can keep the apostolic religious, who is both active and contemplative, a~ttuned to God's love, and allow us, mortified by apostolic availability, to find in everything of this world a son's filial, loving service of his Father. Missionary Prayer and the Problem of Inculturation Carl F. Stark/off,' S.J.~ Father Starkloff's last article in our pages, "Oppression, Death and Liberation: Thoughts in a Context," appeared in the issue of November, 1978. He continues as superior and director of St. Stephens Indian Mission; P.O. Box 294; St. Stephens, WY 82524. The', title of the recently published National CatecheticalDirectory--Sharing The Light of Faiths'is more provocative than one might think upon first sight, if one reads it as a missionary statement. It can be interpreted in the light of a eatechesis that is meant tO instruct Catholics in the faith handed on through baptism. But if we examine those places in the DireCtory that dis'cuss the relationship between faith and culture,' we may be sufficiently disturbed to make us probe more deeply the rfieaning of what it is to share our faith. To speak of the missionary apostolate brings to mind the turbulent history of the exegesis of the so-called "Great Commission" in Matthew 28:18-20, which is placed on the lips of the risen Christ as he sends forth his joyous (though not yet spiritually rejuvenated) disciples to teach all nations about the source of their joy. This gospel mandate began a missionary enterprise that sent preachers of the Good News throughout the known world and outward to the barbarians of northern Europe, the East and to the far-off British Isles. J. Verkuyl points out that the early reformers, probably because of their sense of urgency to establish their movement among European Christians, wanted (mistakenly) to restrict Jesus' mandate to the time of the Apostolic Age.2 The ~ Sharing the Light of Faith: National Catechetical Directory for Catholics of the I~lnited States (Washington: United States Catholic Conference, 1979). See especially pp. 7-16; 85-98; 116-119. 2 j. Verkuyl, Contemporary Missiology: An Introduction, tr. Dale Cooper (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1978), pp. 18-19. 325 326 / Review for Religious, Volume 39, 1980/3 nineteenth century, however, witnessed phenomenal growth in mission activi-ty among all Christian denominations, and the confident expansionist attitudes of the period endured up to the mid-point of, our own century. Today, however, there is a widespread "malaise" among missionaries, as Walbert Buhlmann puts it, though he is careful to note that such a condition is one environment that can nurture hope.~ In any case, there is a c'risis of confidence in the Church's self-image as a "sent" community, and the crisis extends back from the mission frontiers into families and communities, and into individual souls, as Christians question their right and duty to "spread the Gospel." This is a cultural and theological crisis that offers promise of much growth in understanding of the relationship between faith-proclamation and cultural sharing, or, to view it from the dark side, between preaching the Good News and cultural imperialism. A great quantity of material is flowing, from the pens of missiologists about this prob-lem, and there are various theories dealing with the faith-culture question. I have shared in this effort elsewhere. This article, however, is an attempt at a "spirituality" that might further an experiential approach to faith and culture as it is rooted in the life of prayer. Fundamentally, prayer is at the root of this crisis that touches catechesis in the "established" Church, and ,even touches relationships between parents and children. Chesterton wrote somewhere that to deny the right of parents to teach religion to their children is to deny them the right to teach them anything. If our prayer lacks conviction, we are easy prey to dp~bts about this right and duty. In this article, I do not intend to discuss whether there should be missions; I happen to believe there should be. Nor do I intend to take up the much-debated question of a "moratorium on missions"; 1 happen to believe that missions are part and parcel of Christianity. That "mission" should be done differently, with consideration of mutual'resources and values between the missionary and the local culture is beyond iluestion.And that mission should cease to be mission and become church is a prominent New Testament value articulated by St. Paul in his dealing~ with theJocal churches. But amid all the discussion of liberation and oppression, of imperialism and colonialism, of faith and culture, there shines the Light at the center, who is Jesus Christ--the only ultimate justification for all missions. The love of God as manifested in him must be preached-- no doubt in a~.growing way much more by Africans and Asiatics and Other third world people t.o p~eople of the first and second worlds. But they, too, must heed their calling to be transparent mes~sengers. The transparency of which I speak is primarily a question of the missionary's "spiritual life, and that is the subject of this article. A recent b~ok on mission spirituality stresses the importance of the mis-" sionary's life-style for his or her witness to the Gospel. Michael Reilly writes: ~ Walbert Buhlmann, O.F.M., Cap., The Coming of the Third Church, trans. Ralph Woodhall, S.J. (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1977), p. 405. Missionary Prayer and the Problem of Inculturation / 327 How can the life-styles of these countless men and women who did so much to spread Christianity in the early centuries be described? There is no lack of testimony and evidence on this point. It can be summarized under five categories: the transformation and moral uprightness of their personal lives, their fellowship and social concern for others, their joy, their endurance under hardship and persecution, and the power which they exercised by virtue of their faith.' This iri general speaks of the awesome demands laid upon the missioi~er. Certainly no mission labors c~in be sustained without these qualities, to which we will more explicitly add perseverance in profound daily prayer, even and especially amid the many "dark nights" that cultural conflicts can create or intensify. The growih in a person's ~n spiritual life should be a continuing conv'er-sion in the intellectual, moral and religious orders, of which Bernard Lonergan writes in the transcendental phenomenology of his theological method.~ Missionaries above all, because they confront so many new and challenging experiences, must undergo such conversion, which is fed by, and, in return, nourishes a gospel-centered awareness. The,apostle must have also that unqualified, unreserved "being in love with God" that Lonergan calls religious faith,6 and this faith should be anchored in the historical reality that is:Christianity. Lonergan writes: ""There is a personal entrance of God himself into history, a communication of God to his people, the advent of God's word into the world of religious expression.'" The missionary will have to apply this dynamic of constant growth to cultural realities and religious values, as well as to his or.her own sources of spiritual power, experiencing these with both.pas-sionate involvement and prayerful detachment. The title "missionary" is not only audacious and shocking; it is unforgivably arrogant unless one assumes in it the motive that stems from the experienCed knowledge of Jesus Christ as the embodied presence of God's love in the world. This love incarnate becomes most explicit in the various' gospel texts that order the proclamation of salvation to all peoples. To preach eternal salvation is fundamental to all missionary zeal. But because salvation is incarnate for the Christian, his preaching cannot merely" project salvation into eternity, disembodied and unattached. The Good News calls people to ex-perience God's love and kindness within temporal existence, Otherwise, why take creation with any seriousness, at all? Our reading of the various reports of the life. and work of Jesus of Nazareth has been conditioned by our catechetical upbringing. We have learned to see Jesus as laying down his life when.he wills to do so, meanwhile battling with the scribes and pharisees in their apparent hypocrisy and their intransigent insistence on external conduct. But it is to the credit of the Michael Collins Reilly, S.J., Spirituality For Mission (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1978), p. 53. Bernard J. F. Lonergan, Method in Tti'eology (New York: Herder and Herder, 1972), pp. 3-25. Ibid., p. 105, ' Ibid., p. 119. 32~1 / Review for Religious, Volume 39, 1980/3 "liberation theologians" that they have forced us to become aware of the pervasive and persistent struggle of Jesus to win for the poor of Yahweh a humane existence, snatching their lives from the hands of powers that oppress them with needless burdens and joyless, unwarranted submissiveness to human domination. Thus missionary zeal is summoned to examine itself about its concern for a basic humaneness of life; it should feel great pain whenever the Good News is kept from persons because they are humiliated and demeaned, when they suffer oppression or oppress one another. Indeed, our spiritual resources must be strong enough to make us believe that faith can thrive under oppression, but our contemplation of the Gospel also shows us that Jesus fought conditions that enslaved people, Jesus' mission, and that of the Church, is to work for the conditions that permit a joyous and free wor-ship of God. This is a profound social dimension of the Gospel that more and more who read it are coming to perceive. For the prayerful and devout Christian, one of the most urgent motives-- perhaps the motive--for mission.activity, at least in the year~; of Catholic and Protestant missions since the sixteenth century, has been the brooding con-templation of countless hordes of souls going to hell because they did not con-fess Jesus Christ. With the reflective work of modern theology and Vatican Council 1I (rooted incidentally in some very good and very old "natural theology"!), we may still have concern for our neighbor's salvation, but there is also the opportunity for a more enlightened appreciation of the values to be found in the religious traditions of all peoples, and for a more modest assess-ment of the spiritual condition of the non-Christian. This appreciation of the spiritual values of other religion, along with the sense of a Gospel permeated with social values, leaves mission theorists with the task of formulating new attitudes towards the mission apostolate. In fact, this qualifying of the sense of missionary urgency has led to a growing spiritual crisis for many church people, most especially those in an active mission apostolate. Toward a Missionary Spirituality The approach to prayer that I hav~ chosen to discuss here is one that might help the follower of Christ to find "seeds of the word" and a means of salva-tion in the religions of non-Christians or in elements of tribal spirituality not explicitly Christian. At the same time, however, it seems to me a nullification of the Christian vocation to deny or to bypass the person of Jesus Christ, taken both historically and in the Pauline cosmic dimension, as the fullness of divine grace intended to be the Father's greatest gift to humanity. 1 do not say this as a scriptural or dogmatic fundamentalist: the praying Christian should also be an inquirer into the more sophisticated areas of comparative religion and scripture scholarship. Still, whatever level of hermeneutics we may under-take, the New Testament constantly reminds us that courteous dialogue with non-Christians is only part of our calling. The prayerful realization of what Christ means in my life can do no less than move me to tell my dialogue Missionary Player and the Problem of Inculturation / 329 partner how utterly central Christ is for me. What the other does with his ex-perience of my witness is a matter of his personal decision, always to be respected. But that person should know that my life of prayer has shone out through my personal testimony and conduct. Juan Luis Segundo has proposed a helpful approach to the centrality of Christ and tile witness of the Church. He reminds us that the principle "no salvation outside the Church" should not be taken as a matter of church boundaries but rather that it deals with the mediatory role of the Church.8 Segundo calls the Churcha reality at once particular (pertaining to cultural realities), since it is a historical movement serving as a sacrament, and univer-sal, since it serves as a medium of salvation: "It is the expression of the mystery of Christ himself.''9 In Christ the missionary preaches God's love to people, and if he feels unable to broadcast the triumphalistic boast that no one outside the Church will be saved, he is still conscious of the unique gift of Christ. Segundo calls the Christian "one who knows"-- knows Christ as the beginning of the Father's plan that moves into the future and permeates all of time. The Christian is not the only one to enter into this plan, but he is the one who knows it through Revelation.'° This is anything but a revival of primitive gnosticism; it is rather a consciousness (grounded in prayer) of the gift of sav-ing knowledge and the acceptance of a calling found through hearing the Word of God. Such a "knowledge" given.to the Christian is the content as well as the experience of conversion, a living faith that Lonergan calls an "other-worldly falling in love."" What the Christian knows then becomes the driving force for the labor of proclamation. It is, for one thing, a deeply biblical spirituality, for our encounter with the Word of God in Scripture and preaching is our summons to mission. However, I have chosen here to offer a more particular approach or method based on resources within my own Jesuit order, hoping that these resources will serve others in developing a mission-centered prayer life. Recent documents of the Society of Jesus remind us that the Jesuit's self-knowledge is found in the sense of being a sinner who is nonetheless called to be a companion of Jesus.'2 We redeemed sinners are by vocation a "com-munity of dispersion," ready to be sent on mission." The basic dynamic of this vocation, paralleling similar resources in other communities, is the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius o( Loyola, which, made, serve to mediate the gospel-conversion-mission experience. Examining the experience of conversion and mission, we immediately con- 8 Juan Luis Segundo, S.J., Tr. John Drury, A Theology For Artisans of a New Humanity (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1973), Vol. I, p. 76. 9 Ibid., p. 78. ,o Ibid., p. 13. " Lbnergan, Op. Cit., p. 240, ,2 See Documents of The 31st and 32rid General Con.gregations of the Society o f Jesus (St. Louis: Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1977), p. 401. ,3 Ibid., p. 405. 330 / Review for Religious, Volume 39, 1980/3 front the problem/mystery of Christ and culture, of the universal sway and dominion of the Risen Christ .and the particular authenticity of cultural values. Indeed, the Exercises are themselves a partictilar cultural phenomenon within which the Christian faith is rekindled and nourished, and which have proved themselves to contain certain universal values. One who truly receives the liberating love of God in the Exercises comes in touch with the sovereign God in a discovery so powerfully expressed by Karl Barth: The love of God stands where there is disclosed, beyond and above and in the twofold negation, the preeminent affirmation--Jesus Christ, the .Resurrection and the Life~ Blessed discovery! God stands in light inaccessible. Blessed discovery! All flesh is as grass and all the glory of men is as the flower of the field. When, in spirit and truth, one of these discoveries is made, the other is involved in it, for both are in fact operations of the One God, whose universal majesty is the "Yes" in the"No.'"' The gift of a knowledge0of the love of God is so moving and powerful (perhaps in a very quiet way), that it is no wonder that enemies of the lgnatian Exercises have called them a brainwashing. The radical freedom of Christian conversion, as Barth so stirringly tells it above, calls us into a permanent state of tension. This tension is made up of what, to borrow from a number of spiritual writers, we might call "moments" of the Exercises--the two moments of conversion and of mission, I call them moments in the sense that they are kairoi, transcendent of any chronological order; they are experienced in an interweaving rather than in succession, and not merely in time of retreat but in the insertion into comrhunity and ministry. In the Exercises, the first truth one comes to grips with is God's sovereign-ty over one's life and destiny. One has to wrestle with and deeply assent to the fact that we are created to praise, reverence:and serve God, and thus come to salvation. I use the word "wrestle" here because the ascesis of,the Exercises contains much wrestling (though in the end we seethe folly of all this muscle!); no human being readily surrenders his or her own sovereignty andautonomy to anyone, even to God. Nor should they readily surrender. We are persons gifted with dignity, and until we realize that this dignity can be brought to final perfection in God alone, through obedience rather than abject slavery (an important reflection in ministry to the oppressed), we should not sur-render our autonomy. Yet we finally do have to surrender to God as Chris-tians, having,wrestled with him and been so wounded that we manifest in our very steps, as Jacob did, the divine-human struggle that eventuates in our ob-taining his blessing. Then the believer, too, becomes an Israel who realizes that all this effort was part of a foolish bout with God's love. I wish to return to this matter of conversion later, for it is the genuine source of crisis (under-stand "decision") in the missionary's grasp'of problems of culture and social justice. Karl Barth, The Epistle to the Romans, tr. Edwyn Hoskyas (London: Oxford University Press, 1965), p. 321. Missionary Prayer and the Problem of lnculturation / 331 Once the Christian has yielded to divine sovereignty (or arrived at a stage of acceptance, for the faith-choice that expresses this yielding occurs many times in "becoming a Christian"), he has again accepted the reality of his own sinfulness--the disobedience, the recalcitrance, the anger at God's insistence on submission. There goes with this an even more difficult acceptance of divine love, for within our sinfulness we find an inability to let ourselves be loved, and even glory in perversely thinking about God's "No" to us and fear His "Yes." With the opening to grace we rejoice in that essential Christian ex-perience of acceptance of self as loved by God. The loving power of Christ is the "tree of life" that nourishes our circle of existence at its very center--a powerful Amerindian image that indicates a wholeness of life based on devo-tion to its source. But the moment of conversion is hardly complete with repentance, or with the return of the prodigal. The once-lost younger son will discover now the meaning of mature membership in his father's household, that it is shared life and companionship, but also involvement in the labor and the suffering. Such a call to deeper filial piety may well bethe sequel to the Prodigal Son parable, in which the erring but more attractive younger son is equalized with the dour older brother who we all quietly tend to scorn. The sin in all of us resists true belonging. Thi~ is why the SpiritualExercises lead the Christian to understand what it is for Christ to be a "King" in our lives, for him to have a loving sovereignty 'rather than by an imperious and aloof barking of orders that avoids deeper ih~,olvement. David Fleming describes the Meditation on the Kingdom of Christ as the placing of oneself into a "mythical situation, or the kind of story-truth of which fairy tales are made."'~ One seeks to know Christ in whatever fashion one may need in ~order to bring home the fact of his lord-ship. The meditation on Christ's kingdom is thus thematic forall contemplation of the life, death and. resurrection of Christ. All the while meditating on the ministry of Jesus, a retreatant prays for the grace to know him more intimately, to love him with grea~er intensity and to follow him more closely. One can begin to attempt this radical Christian prayer, having first meditated on the mystery of the Incarnation, which we shall later take as the basic model for the missionary apostolate. St. Ignatius presents the Incarnation con~ templation as a mental trylStich, representing the Godhead in heaven, humani-ty struggling on earth, and the young woman of Nazareth who assents to the mysterious calling to' archtypically stand for every Christian's response to God. This meditation enters into the second moment, or moment of mission, but first of all it reminds the Christian that the essential grace to be gained from meditating on the life of Christ is "an interior knowledge of the '~ David L. Fleming, SoJo The Spiritual Exercises: A Literal Translation and a Contemporary Reading (St. Louis: Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1978), p. 65. 332 / Review for Religious, Volume 39, 1980/3 Lord, who for me has become man, that I may more love and follow him.'''6 This "for me" (so dear to St. Ignatius-- as well as to Martin Luther!) is the ex-pression of faith in a God who never remains for himself alone but perpetually gives of himself. It is the expression of the love of a missionary God. As the Christian enters more deeply into the mystery of the Incarnation, he realizes how much of the sinner hangs on, and how the moment of conversion is ever-present. As the Meditation on the Two Standards or Two Leaders-- Christ and Satan- shows us, the threat of fear and pride and exaltation of the false self is never far away. Within the gospel accounts one also contemplates types of persons who experience different degrees of submission to God, and so asks himself in what way this reflection applies personally to one's life. As the dread reality of St. Luke's journey to Jerusalem looms up, the Christian is made to realize, along with St. Matthew's newly appointed head of the Church, the still unconverted :Simon Peter, that each one of us shares in that journey. Somewhere within this period of meditation, St. Ignatius' Three Modes of Humility challenge the follower of Christ with the call not merely to avoid all sin, but to enter into his poverty and humiliation and suffering-~-to share fully in his mission. The Third Week of the Exercises is an entering into the fullest meaning of the passion of Christ, not merely with tears of empathy but with readiness for full association. The apostolic moment of the Exercises is mysteriously present here: one comes to sense the many possible challenges that could in the future demand a personal appropriation of the kenosis of the Son of God. Once again, the Christian may fear Christ and remain_ sitting outside the Garden of Olives, only to fall asleep, to avoid the grim strain of apprehension. Or, the disciple might insist with Peter that he will never betray Jesus, and almost in the same moment deny even being with him. We thus discover that it was a relatively simple matter to love God in a childish way as our understand-ing Father, in contrast to our acceptance of his Son as an intimate friend. Friendship can demand so much, and we fear the maturity that it requires, especially when we find that the Son of God, in his hour of greatest need, calls his disciples "friends." This is the opportunity to pass even more dramatically through the ever-deepening dying of "becoming a Christian," which, as Kierkegaard wrote, is all that we ever do in relation to Christ; we never fully "arrive" in this life. But if the Christian perseveres in prayer, there may come, finally, the gift of identification ~,ith Christ in which the cloak of sinfulness falls away and true companionship is accepted. If the Christian embraces the mystery of the cross (according to his or her own personal vocation), there comes that peace which pervades one's prayer at the. entrance to the sepu!chre. A true Christian is a child of the Resurrection, an heir to the joys of the Ibid., p. 70. Missionary Prayer and the Problem of Inculturation / 333 triumphant Christ, and a bearer of that joy. The Christian contemplates and absorbs the spirit of the risen life as the spirit of his own life, and, according to Ignatius, reaches holiness through sharing the joy of the Friend who has defeated death. It should be no surprise that this experience, too, is a conver-sion in the intellectual, moral and religious dimensions of life. We do not easily accept joy in our lives, or the fact that we are created for joy, as C. S. Lewis was astonished to discover. In the face of the grief in the world (and, if we are idealistic missionaries or social activists, our own tenden-cy to take too seriously our personal warfare with all this grief), we find it hard to transform our, solemn frowns into laughter of rejoicing. Perhaps we cannot but think of God as the Ruler of Olympus who becomes jealous of our hubris at thinking we might ever simply be happy. And there is that temptation to sadness in the anticipation of apostolic struggles. So conversion to Christian joy, and the mission to share that joy, are again telescoped into two moments of one experience. St. Ignatius did not leave us simply to contemplate the Resurrection with the first disciples. He has bequeathed to us the Contemplation for Obtaining Divine Love, which is summed up in God's desire to share himself with his friends. There is given here a recapitulation of all good gifts that descend from the Father of Lights in whom there is no shadow, (Jm 1:16-17). We consider all gifts received, and more, we affirm ourselv~es as gifts of God's favor. A joy-filled Christian can thus say: Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my intellect, and all my will--all that 1 have and possess. You gave it to me;to you, Lord, 1 return it. All is yours, dispose of it according to your will. Give me only your love and grace, for this is enough for me." This contemplation also expresses an aspect of the apostolic moment, both in the call to offer one's gifts in the divine Service, and in the vision of God dwelling in and giving life to all creatures. The consideration of the labor of God within all things helps to feel his presence as the very life of the ministry. There is here, too, a profound theodicy that enlightens the missionary about the working of the Holy Spirit in all created reality, where the Word is somehow present before his preaching even begins. It is a great blessing for an aspiring young missionary (or an older one seeking renewal) to be able to sum up his spiritual experience with the vision of all good gifts descending from above--the gifts of justice, goodness, pity and mercy--"as from the sun des-cend the rays, from the fountains the waters." This is ongoing conversion in the highest sense. The Translation of Prayer Into Mission Let us get "practical" about all of this. Where does one go missiologically Ibid., p. 140. 334 / Review for Religious, Volume 39, 1980/3 with the experience of conversion-mission? If I am a redeemed sinner, saved by God from my own self-oppression as well as from the,oppression of false spirits, l am under a mandate t~ p.roclaim that experience to all people. Fur-ther, as Barth has written, we have surrendered our old way of thinkingto the divine "No" and thus ~have been .renewed in a life of grace through His "Yes." To believe that one is saved is the ultimate experience of freedom, and if one has been gifted with a share in God's holiness, he may even sense a call to relinquish homeland and culture in order to announce that freedom to others. Such a state of soul is a great gift and a great mystery; it is also a great problem, and without ongoing intellectual conversion, can leave one open to many deceptions. There is hidden in this experience the danger that the con-verted Christian will interpret some of the chltural trappings of his conversion as essential to conversion itself. In fact, I woul,d venture the guess that much of the zeal to save "savages" has arisen from an uneducated state of mind in x, relation to what one sees as their "unhappy and primitive state." Metanoia in its most profound etymological sense must be part of any missionary prepara-tion and part of an ongoing learning process. Perhaps the most helpful spiritual approach to a missionary openness to foreign experiences is faith in the Incarnation as a continuing contemplation. So St. Ignatius' Meditation on the Incarnation might well serve as the fun-damental reflection of the apostolic moment of the Exercises.lncarnational theology has, of course, been thematic in the thought of theologians and in Church documents since Vatican Council II. Its frame of reference is the historical context of gospel proclamation, which stresses the service of Christ and his Church to .the temporal order, and the hope this service offers to humanity for a more truly di~,ine-human life. A healthy incarnationalism is also eschatoiogical, and in its optimism does not forget the reality of sin. It realizes that God's becoming human does not empty him of his transcendence but rather gifts humanity with a share in that transcendence. In simple w~ords, the Incarnation has its total fulfillment outside history and awaits the kingdom of God in faith even as it expresses its presence already. In. the con-rex: of missiology, incarnational theology proclaims the en-flesh-ment of God within cultures, and challenges all cultures to reach beyond themselves. Ignatius Loyola was a man of great sensitivity to the ways in which the Gospel is to be received humanly, as his instruction for the use of the senses in prayer attests. The Contemplation on the Incarnation is an experience of the divine entering history, of the Good News transforming human cultures and confronting the evils that threaten what is truly of God's creation in them. ln-culturation does pose a tension, if not even a dilemma, for the Christian, as I have already indicated. The zealous missionary who is filled with a desire to show Christ's love to the world iS a person who has acquired the gift of detach-ment from a familiar environment, though perhaps not to the degree he may think he has acquired it. Even the most dedicated Christian carries his or her native culture along as mental and affective baggage, and tends to extend that Missionary Prayer and the Problem of Inculturation / 335 culture, along with the Gospel, to other peoples. To offer the good things of one's own culture to others is a natural and authentic aspiration, if one is aware that these things are not coextensive with the Good News of Christ. This awareness can come only from a deep study'of the culture and from a "participation" in it to whatever degree is compatible with Christianity. Another factor of great importance is the relationship the Christian, has towards the people to whom he is missioned,. There is a danger that one will project one's own degree of commitment into these people, and thus expect of them too soon that same kind of response. Likewise, to compare one's own "surrender" or submission to God, acquired with the help of many cultural blessings and advantages, to the enslavement of oppressed peoples and its concomitant apathy or resistance, is of course a tragic confusion of entirely different experiences. Worse yet, one might even miss the signs of a people's dedication simply out of a failure to comprehend their ways of expressing it. However, meditation on the Incarnation, if we supplement it with proper cultural training, inserts us into the saving love°of the Godhead as well as into the infinite patience and empathy of Jesus Christ, who met people "where they were," living with them in their struggles and calling them to converison. Christ never destroyed or shattered a person's life, however great a shock he may have dealt, but rather uplifted and sanctified the life of every person. In the Contemplat!on on the Incarnation, St. Ignatius in. structs the retreat-ant to "see" the various persons in the eye of the imagination: "those on the surface of the earth, in such variety in dress and in actions; some white and others black; some in peace and others in war; some weeping and others laughing; some well, others ill; some being born,, and others dying . ,,,8 One is to continue by imagining how so many live in blindness, how they swear and blaspheme, how th6y kfli and go down to hell. And in the same mental exer-cise, we are shown how Father, Son and Holy Spirit conspire to work out the salvation of the suffering human race, and how the messenger Gabriel goes to speak to the Virgin of Nazareth. Whatever Ignatius had in mind as he described the misery of our race (in his own cultural terms!), and however we may have evolved in our attitudes about,how many benighted pagans are going into damnation, a sensitive response to his vision of a suffering humanity draws one deeply into a sharing of the human condition. The point here is that human beings have always injured and oppressed one another in various ways; but the much stronger aspect of this truth(See St. Paul'spollo mallon in Romans 5.) is that all types and cultures, all races and .nationalities, enter into the divine compassionate vision and its willto save and transform. Those who are to be saved will be saved as black or white or red or yellow, whether they wear three-piece-suits or loincloths or nothing at a!l, whether their music is rendered by pipe organs or jazz bands or ancient drums. We do not really know what God has in mind to Ibid., p. 72. 336 / Review for Religious, Volume 39, 1980/3 do with diversity in the kingdom of heaven; we do know that he has a total disregard for differences as far as the equal dispensation of his kindness is concerned. Thus a meditation on the Incarnation, if carried through with full involve-ment, takes a missionary into the midst of the culture he serves. It prods him to study anthropology and sociology and comparative religion, both in books and in lived exp~erience, as well as to do all that is necessary tomake him atten-tive, intelligeni, reasonable and responsible. It serves as the affective nourish-ment of all the intellectual and procedural efforts one may bring to work in a foreign culture. It would seem, therefore, that a missioner's own prayer life would change, to some degree, along cultural lines: An openness and sensi-tivity to the people will lead to a sharing of indigenous forms of prayer and worship. No matter how hard 1 may try, I will never become a Native American or South African black or campesino, especially if the culture I serve has a history of deep Wounds inflicted by the very society and church I represent. This should in fact be an initial experience of inculturation--to realize that onb is a foreigner or guest, or better, a pilgrim, and that one naturally resists becoming part of a new culture, especially in its startling and strange aspects. But still, we ~can take on many qualities of our environment, and should do so if they insert us better into the life of the people and help us to grow personally. Generally, the first experience of mission life for the outsider is one of conflict. This is emphatically true of all who enter into work among societies suffering from powerful structures and histories of persecution or cultural invasion. To become part of a wounded culture is to absorb inevitably the feel-ings of frustration, anger and despair; to experience the "diminishment" that occurs within as one responds again and again to expressions of these negative feelings. There may also be a deep dissatisfaction with oneself over the failure to remain tranquil and "understanding" in the face of such assaults. The mis-sionary must then turn, in a way perhaps never before experienced, but anticipated in earlier prayer, to the reality of a suffering and dying Savior, who himself knew pain and rejection and the feeling of being an outsider. When'the Word pitched his tent among us, he certainly had to live as an alien in our midst, with disciples who failed to understand, with authorities who re-jected him, with hangers-on who melted away in the face of conflict. The mis-sionary can be helped spiritually, through intellectual resources and the study of the history of injustice or persecution in the area of hi~ activity. For exam-ple," in studying the near genocide of a number of ti'ibal cultures at the hands of invaders who made these people aliens in their own lands, the missionary can learn to approprihte the sense of weakness often felt by Christ himself in the face of the burdens of history. However, even in a badly wounded culture, one can experience gifts in greater number. Among many of the more traditional, or "primal," societies Missionary Prayer and the Problem of Inculturation / 337 of Africa or Asia or the Americas, can be found spiritual attitudes remarkably resonant with the Christian experience: creative suffering, prayer, contempla-t! on, worship forms, acceptance of death, ascetical practices. One can learn to appreciate the reverence of the people, the sense of appreciation for nature, the deep respect for spiritual realities. It is possible to learn to enjoy the music, the dance, the language, the good times, as they occur in a natural cycle of tribal events. Perhaps the missioner will even find in the new culture (not because he hates his own but because he loves it too) a new"sacred space" in which to be at home. As this occurs, one finds oneself both proclaiming and experiencing conversion. Missionary prayer is then truly coming to birth according to the mystery of the Incarnation. To sum up, then, Christian conversion is not a narrowing experience. While it focuses our gaze upon Christ as the Father's unique expression of love, it also constantly opens our horizons and leads us to greater social and cultural understanding. But the conversion process must be a composite of in-tellectual, moral and religious growth. Prayer alone will not achieve this, but without prayer the missionary is merely another cultural invader. A strongly incarnational prayer reminds one constantly that in Christ the Father has reconciled the divine and the human, and that we can indeed preach a transcendent faith that finds roots in local cultures. "When Did We See You?" Donald Macdonald, ,S. M.M. Fr. Ma~cdonald, master 6f novices for the Montfort Fathers, is stationed at the house of Maria Bhavan; D.R. College P.O.; Bangalore 560029; India. ~ watched a group of sisters, out walking, slowly pass a row of hovels. Out-side one of them, a little girl was squatting, cutting wood. Seeing the sisters approach, she put down her knife, joined her hands in the Indian way of greeting, and gave them a lovely smile. The sisters (presumably) never saw her. Three other sisters were walking some five or six yards further back, and I thought that perhaps one of them would have seen what happened, and so stop for a moment to make a fuss over the child. They, too, walked past. I still see the quizzical look on the child's face. Clearly, mistakes are easily made. It is also unfair and invalid to draw a general conclusion from a particular instance. But from years spent in pastoral ministry, not least with religious, I suggest that there may be more in that incident than many of us would care to see. Such insensitivity may be the rule rather than the exception. Those sisters may be like that even with each other. They just do not see. This same lack of insight may be a consistent feature of their everyday world: They may never really live in the present moment, and so miss so much of what is happening about them. If the mature person is "one whose center of gravity is where he actually is," it may explain the immaturity of some religious lives." What is needed is the ability to be both part of, and apart from, the present moment, to give oneself wholly in the present as an expression of a mature Christian faith. So much of religious life, especially as one gets older, can be so unsatisfactory for so many, because they are never really "alive." Any one, for example, who has ever been in the company of the present Holy Father, might judge that he is in fact a great parish priest of the time when such men 338 "'When Did We See You?" really knew their people. He is always aware of what is happening. Though he may be unable to speak to everyone individually, yet he neglects no one, regardless of how many are about him. What steps, therefore, can the religious take to try to become fully alive to the present as an expression of a mature Christian faith? Listen Like a Disciple Once upon a time, most religious began the day with a "morning offering." I suggest that this once-common custom should be revived to help give a precise focus to our day. A line adapted from Is 50:4 makes an ideal morning prayer: O Lord, give me a disciple's tongue. So that 1 may know how to reply to the weary, provide me with speech. Each morning, wake me to hea~, to listen like a disciple. We should pray that we may speak only what we have learned of God--a disciple's tongue. We beg that we may never ignore the weary, and so have something to say ~to the child, the~neglect of whom began these reflections. Ideally, we want to be able to answer the questions people dare not ask. We want to offer not just sympathy but empathy,, the ability to feel for and with these persons of our world. We must have time for those that n'o one else has time for. So important is this approach to the present moment, that we should ask God to wake us each morning to hear. But, more than that, we should ~vant to listen like a disciple. In whatever circumstances we are placed, we want to be aware of all that is happening, to assimilate our experience. The whole world is sacrament. Thus we are eager to listen like a disciple, to try and catch every, nuance and inflection of the world in which we live. Most of us share a com-mon degree of hearing and vision. What separates us one from another is insight, or the ability to respond to the unspoken word or gesture. Our prayer, therefore, should be that God would give us the sensitivity to be fully alive in our global village. Our center of gravity is ~vhere we actually are. A day begun with ~suCh a reflective prayer to God can ~urely help give definition to our approach to the present. If our minds progressively assimilate the assumptions underlying the prayer, experience, in whatever form it comes, will be integrated into our lives in God. Through Love in His Presence The religious may further deepen that basic insight, by attempting to share the grasp of reality found in the superb opening prayer of the letter to the Ephesians. There Paul's present situation is prison. The future prospects, in his estimate, probably included death by execut~ion.The past, an apostolic life of mixed fortunes, was evidently drawing to a close. In such circumstances :340 / Review for Religious, Volume 39, 1980/3 notice the approach of a mature Christian faith, and the astonishing balance given by such a center of gravity: "Blessed be God the Fathe~ of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all the spiritual blessings of heaven in Christ" (Ep 1:3). There, the first move is to God. And what a God--"the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ," who has given us everything. This, from a man in prison, towards the end of his life; no self-pity, nor justified disappointment, nor even the pretence of whistling in the cemetery to pretend he is not scared. His perspective is anchored in "God the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ." Whata marvelously expansive opening to a prayer from a man shut in, and about to lose his career and his life. Then his faith, grasping reality,, takes him almost beyond the limits of imagination to the point of saying: "before the world was made he chose us, chose us in Christ" (Ep 1:4). The sense of awe and wonder is evident as it dawns on him, "the very least of all the saints" (Ep 3:8), that these moments of life have been given him by God. The immediate present is received as a gift from God in Christ offered before even the world was made. How does one quantify love on a scale like that? From this perspective, the present moment is an expression of the depth of the love of God for us that is quite literally beyond computation. One just receives and adores. To the extent that I can share this outlook, I allow God to love me in the present moment. Receiving life as so charged with the love of God, 1, too, deepen my capacity to love. I do not know when I first knew God, but from "before the world was made" God knew and loved me. The present moment is the focus of such love, where I "live through love in his presence" (Ep 1:4). This, l suggest, can be the center of gravity of a mature Christian faith. His Spirit Living in You Following Saint Paul, the religious can go still deeper into the present moment. "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?" (l Co 3:16). Individually or collectively, God is present among us in the only way that is real to us--through knowledge and love. Anything else is superficial. The point is given added emphasis when we remember that the word translaied "temple" i~s no(our word for Church, b~t rather, "tabernacle." "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us" (Rm 5:5). Religious, aware of God so present to them and in them, could only respond in wonder and awe. Their very personality would reflect adoration. "Your body, you .know, is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you since you received him from God" (l Co 6:19). If the religious truly listened like a disciple to words like that, the love of God, found in the present moment, would take them to !he heights, and give them "the strength to grasp the breadth and the length, the height and the depth, until knowing the love of Christ which is beyond all knowledge, ~you are filled with the utter fullness of God" (Ep 3:19). "When Did We See You?" / 341 For the Praise of His Glory Despite possible appearances to the contrary, the above approach to reality, stemming from an understanding of baptism, is simplicity itself. It has to be if it is to center on the present moment. Here the religious is never in the position of the harassed motorist driving at night, and trying to cope with all the signals he is receiving at a busy road junction. Nor is it an artificial con-struct pieced together from a possibly outdated literary-form. Quite simply the religious is aware that he is loved by God. He has always been present to God. Life is God's gift to him, moment by moment. In responding to life so given, all that is deepest in him echoes awe, adoration and love. Thus does he begin to sound the depths of "the unfathomablk riches of Christ" (Ep 3:8). Aware of the presence of God within him, he believes that with that gift he has received everything (see Rm 8:32). As the reality of this dawns on him, the love of Christ overwhelms him, as he begins to see that "for anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation" (2 Co 5:14,17). His center of gravity is moving gradually from self to Christ. Inescapably, and often at a level beyond words, his faith expresses itself in love, adoration, gratitude. In time, as he continues to allow God to 10ve him,his "life is hidden with Christ in God" (Col 2:3), so that, however imperfectly, he realizes, as a baptized Christian, "I live now not with my own life but with the life of Christ who lives in me" (Ga 2:20). Thus he tries to allow God full play in his life. As many religious know, such an approach to the present moment comes to be as natural as breathing. It is the normal, prosaic everyday basis of his life. It is the common coin he uses moment by moment. Living therefore in Christ in a sacramenthl world, one lives in the presence of God, not at some degree removed from him, as though he were a spectator. The smile and greeting of the child which provoked these reflections, can be seen as an expression of the love of God. Her puzzlement as she was ignored was surely an echo of the rejection of the love of God. The insensitivity of the religious presented a glimpse of Christ handicapped, unable to express his love for the child in that instance (see Ph 3:18). Attempting to listen like a disciple to what God might be saying in an incident that was over in seconds, one realizes all too well that, in addition to the above, there may be other inferences. Lord, in the child and the religious do I see you and me? Do I see your love always expressing itself in the most unlikely situations--and my response? Again, is that how I am to the people who come into my life? This reflection does not depersonalize the child, nor take from her her integrity as a human being. She is not a cipher. But viewed from the stand-point of Christian baptism, which is the basis and point of religious life, it is surely not illegitimate for us to deepen the realiz~ation that we are loved by God, that, as a result, we must "owe no one anything, except to love one another" (Rm 13:8). We are in debt, therefore, to everyone we meet, as we can never adequately repay love. There is perhaps no more exacting test of the authenticity of one's faith. The Threat and,the Thrill of Dominion Labour# Beneviile, S.C.C. Sister Labour~ teaches at Delone Catholic High School; S. Oxford Ave.; McSherrystown, PA 17344 Let us m~ike man in our image, after our likeness. Let him have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the cattle, and over all the wild animals and all the creatures that crawl on the ground (Gn 1:26). In the light of the Genesis account, we know ourselves to be the hallmark of the creative power of God who transformed the darkness over the a~yss; the God who shaped the formless waste which was the earth; the God who made light to dispel the darkness; the God whose touch brought forth vegetation and seeds of every kind. Custodians of creation, we are challenged to find joy and fulf!llment in this awesome burden of nurturing the universe. To do so, however, we must discern the subtleties of our behaviorand try to strip away any repressive thought patterns which distort our presence to reality. By un-consciously excluding that which is painful, fearful, or even sublime, repres-sion is the ego's means of scaling down life-- that is, of reducing ffc~th terror and ecstasy to something within our control. From infancy on, we have been schooled to block out that which either threatens or diminishes our own stature; thus anxiety is minimized and we are able to move through life with a kind of equilibrium. 'Capstones of God's creative power, we are marked by an ambivalence which suffers from the pain of finitude as well as from the glorious burden of mirroring Infinitude. We live simultaneously on the brink of obliyion and the brink of infinity. Because the possibility of both destruction and transcendence are threatening, we too readily settle for the protection which illusion offers. But truth and ultimate fulfillment demand that we live face to face with the realization that the universe is teeming with wonder and danger 342 The Threat and Thrill of Dominion / 343 of colossal proportion; and we cannot let our consciousness of this inure us to the utter magnificence of that which has been entrusted to us. Instead of deflecting the wondrous mysteries of the world, we must so sensitize ourselves to our task and privilege that the fullness of God's glorious creation opens up before us, and thus we can revel in the inestimable joy to which we are heirs. ". mountainsand hills shall break out in song before you, and all the trees of the countryside shall clap their hands" (Is 55:12). The innate fear by which we resist the greatness to which we are called-- a Jonah complex according to psychologists--prompts us to entrench ourselves in mediocrity, security and conformity rather than bear the risk of the superlative. In the depth of our souls we glimpse our godlike possibilities, but quiver at the thought of having our potentials actualized. Intensity hurts. Pain--albeit a "nice" pain--is the counterpart of intense living. "We are only the earthenware jars which'hold this treasure to make it clear that such an overwhelming power comes from God" (2 Co 4:7). Our spiritual and.emo-tional yearning often seems to exceed our human capacity to withstand. Repression of the sublime is the defense which enables us to maintain our balance in a universe which would sweep.us off our feet if we were totally sen-sitive to it. Ecstatic moments, for instance, are too charged to be endured for long. Because we lack the strength to bear the miraculousness and force of life at its fullest, we cut back to an idle; we moderate the degree to which we will let ourselves experience the grandeur of it all. Closing ourselves off to the possibility of unlimited greatnessthus enables us to remain intact, untouched in the face of an overwhelmingness which might otherwise be devastating. In Thornton Wilder's Our Town, Emily perceives the truth of life only after she returns from the grave: "Oh, earth, you're too wonderful for anybody to realize you. Do any human beings ever realize while they live it--every, every minute?" The stage manager answers: "The saints and poets, maybe--they do some." Just as the fear of greatness keeps us walled up, so does the fear of little-ness. In contrast to the rest of creation, we are at best miniscule, and that's ter-rifying. Man, the self-aware capstone of creation, is, in fact, insignificant. Our fragile position in a mighty world began with our helpless condition at birth. Despite unconscious efforts of denial, none of us can ever quite forget the fact that we were once dirty-faced, cry-baby kids who needed another even to change our diapers. As a species we may have been given dominion, but as individuals our personal histories are at best embarrassing. Unlike animals, we are endowed with a self-awareness which makes the truth of our fragility even more terrifying. "It means to know that one is food for worms., to have emerged from nothing, to have a name, consciousness of self, deep inner feel-ings, an excruciating inner yearning for life and self-expression-- and with all this yet to die.''t Ernest Becker, The Denial of Death (New York, 1973), p. 87. :344 / Review for Religious, Volume 39, 1980/3 Paradoxically, it's this very terror of our own nothingness which has generated such self-assumed authority, such egoism. The instinct for self-worth and self-preservation has sparked the fantasies and repression which delude us about our true condition. Unable to cope with the reality of our littleness, we have let our egos construct vast networks of illusions by which we assert and argue our own value. Without these lies to feed off, life would be nightmarish. The rose-colored vision which repression insures protects us from the omnipresent bogeyman whose terrors would disarm us: if we ever dropped the mask of importance. According to Kierkegaard, the lies perpetrated by the ego are: the most natural ,defense against the anxieties of life. Dread would be overwhelming without the escape hatch which repression offers. Fantasizing about one's role or place in the cosmos is a comforting ex-ercise by which the emerging person obscures the truth which lies at the root of the human condition. The egoism which dominates us doesn't ring of pride as much asit does of escapism. It's weak man's instinctual defense against his smallness; against . total negation in an apparently capricious and topsy-turvy universe. Let's face it, over and above the natural disasters which threaten us, the evils We heap on one another are staggering: the haunting memory of six million Jews exter-minated; the wake of Three Mile Island and the threat of nuclear extinction; four hundred thousand boat people drowned; incessant wars and rebellions which decimate the hopes of nations. Rather than live vis-a-vis our fragile position, we prefer, in fact, to pull the wool over our own eyes. The crux of our failure to resonate with the challenge of dominion, then, is two-edged: a fear of greatness and a fear of littleness. Repression serves to protect us from a double apprehension about the latent power which might be unleashed in us, as well as from a sense of feebleness in the face of a vast universe. By blocking out any mystery or terror which dwarfs our stature, we live comfortably with the illusion of control. Repression makes the dark so cozy that we forget our need for the light. The price of this illusion, though, seems to be a lobotomy of the soul. We have anesthetized our spirits as a means of maintaining our balance. Undoubtedly, to have been made in the image of the Creator and subsequently entrusted with undisputed authority is a fearful heritage. If we are to attain our true stature, however, we must be persons who accept their creaturehood and are brave enough to live without the facade of power or righteousness or control. We will enjoy the thrill of dominion and minimize its threats only to the degree we can live with our own vulnerability--that is, to the degree we can shed the protective armor which has shielded us from so much of life. Thus psychology and religion merge as we relinquish the security blanket of egoism, which has so falsified our percep-tions, and posit our faith in the God who created us. The formula for such faith is basically simple: "One is a creature who can do nothing, but one exists over against a living God for whom 'everything is The Threat and Thrill of Dominion / :345 possible.' -2 The Scriptures clearly delineate the nature of this call to faith: faith in a God who has told us every hair on our head is numbered; faith in a God who knows when every sparrow falls to the ground; faith in a God who feeds the birds of the air and clothes the grass of the field with splendor; faith in a God who has said,. "No one who comes to me shall ever hunger and no one who believes in me shall ever thirst" (Jn 6:35); faith in a God who himself conquered death through resurrection. Such faith is the death knell to all the claims which the ego has so jealously guarded. Instead of making our own arrogant assertions the touchstone, our fundamental identity with Ultimate Power gives us our significance. Creaturehood is no longer a liability--rather, it's a hotline to the Creator. The very One who has called us into existence and given us authority stands behind us and before us. The secret fears which once eroded our joy and op-timism are dissipated the moment we see creatureliness as our claim to the Creator. Similarly, the inner yearning to proclaim ourselves and to experience the something more of life takes on new meaning as we accept our role as capstones of God's creative power. Our identity lies in imaging the Father and in nurturing that which his loving touch has brought forth. No longer is our personal worth determined by social and cultural norms; on the contrary, our individual worth is affirmed by our link with the transcendent God who created us and gave us dominion. Love has shared Itself. We have been made in his image. "Before you were born, 1 called you by name," The mystery at the heart of each of us makes sense and finds fulfillment only in relation to the Mystery at the heart of creation. ~ Becker, p. 90. Towards Mutuality in Ministry Sally Kenel, D. W. Sister Sally serves in the pastoral ministry of St. Mary, Gate of Heaven Parish. She resides at 85-28 Forest Parkway; Woodhaven, NY 11421. Which do you identify with more? A typewriter or a piece of paper? Santa's bag or a Christmas stocking? ~ These either/or questions attempt to indicate a basic tension that exists in identifying oneself as either a "giver" or a "receiver." We religious engaged in ministry probably tend toward the giver option. It is true that mfnistry requires service, but a forced choice between giver and receiver can set up a dualistic I-as-opposed-to-you dynamic. This dynamic, in turn, can be d block to the growth of the minister. Much of our training in religious life has reinforced the notion that "it is more blessed to give than to receive.'" Evidence of our working out of this framework can be found in such everyday responses to people as, "What can 1 do for you?" Immediately, the giver/receiver dualism is established. It is my contention that it is blessed to give and to receive; that the clear cut distinction between giver and receiver does not exist in reality; that there can be, indeed must be, mutuality in ministerial relationships. Since this belief was brought home to me in my ministry with the elderly, reflection on this concrete experience is what will give shape to much of this article. However, mutuality in ministerial relationships can exist between people of different ages, backgrounds, sexes, and so forth. In fact, all our relationships offer the possibility of blurring the lines that separate us, plunging us into that unity of all things in Christ. At first cons'ideration, the elderly may seem an. unlikely group to demonstrate that mutuality in ministry is possible. Often, our culture tends to focus only on the losses and depreciation of old age. Economically, in terms of the relationship Of expenditure to production, the aged person is viewed as Acts 20:35 346 Towards Mutuality in Ministry / 347 a liability. From the viewpoint of the dominant values of medicine, the process of human aging is considered to be totally negative. Moreover, the experiences of many people attest to the losses of aging: loss of income, loss of role, loss of status, loss of affection, loss of competency, loss of power-- to name a few.2 .Certainly, the elderly seem to be a group with serious needs, and meeting these needs can become an all encompassing task. However, to look only at the negative aspects of aging and to focus solely on the needs of the aged, starts us ministers on the road to that dualistic l-as-opposed- tozyou mentality. If mutuality is to be a possibility, we must get beyond the needs to the person. As we meet the person, it is my experience that we will find that revelation continues to take place, that we can receive. "What we like best about your visits, Sally, is that they help us to remember." This comment of one of our parishioners personalized what Becker describes as the special function of the pastoral minister, that is . to "bring up to date," so to speak, the treasury of accepting relationships in the life of the older person. The personal relationships which the pastor activates in the contem-porary history of the elderly will help them to "remember" (anamnesis) the past mercies of God, the past loving, unconditional acceptance of family, friends and members of the household of faith (hopefully)? ~ Becker goes on to indicate that this remembering is biblical in nature. It takes on the import that it has in the Scriptures especially in the Old Testament where "remembering was understood not merely in the sense of recall, but in the sense of reliving, reactualizing by recollection.'" Thus, in listening to the story of a~person's life, often we hear an individualized, unique version of salvation history; a testimony tothe action of God i'n the life of that person. ~ Nouwen says that the "great vocation of the minister is to continuously make connections between the human story and the divine story.''~ Several of the elderly people with whom I have had contact have made,these connections themselves during the course of their lives. From them 1 have learned much about their individual lives, much about the mystery of life, and much about the God who informs all our lives. From them, too, I have learned much about m~own humanity and my identity as a religious. That I would learn about the htiman condition 'from the elderly did not surprise me; in fact, 1 expected to learn from those who had experienced so much more of life~ However, 1 was unprepared for the fact that the lives of the elderly would have so much to say about religious,life, Yet, aging thrusts a person into new relationships with poverty, 10helines~ and oppression, the very conditions to which the vows speak. Thus,. 1 found that the elderly stand with us religious in witnessing to 2 Evelyn E. Whitehead, "Religious Images of Aging", in Aging and the Elderly, Spicker et al., eds., p. 37. ~ ~ Arthur H. Becker, "Judgment~and Grace in the Aging Process", Pastoral Psychology, XXVII (Spring 1979), p. 188. ' Ibid., p. 188. ~ Henri J. M. Nouwen, The Living Reminder (New York: Seabury Press, 1977), p. 24. 3411 / Review for Religious, Volume 39, 1980/3 common values. Let us explore this a little more deeply. According to Johannes Metz: Poverty as an evangelical virtue is a protest against the tyranny of having, of possessing and of pure self-assertion. It impels those practicing it into practical solidarity with those poor whose poverty is not a matter of virtue, bui is their condition of life and the situa-tion exacted of them by society.6 Actually, many middle-class people are impelled into practical solidarity with the poor by old age. Living on a fixed income in our inflation-ridden society does not allow some elderly people even modest comforts. For these, poverty is a new experience which can either be creative or devastating. It is creative for those who, during the course of their lives, have realized that the quality of a person's life is not determined by possessions or achievements. On the other hand, if a person's life has been completely caught up in amassing more money and possessions, the poverty that old age brings will be devastating. Those who deal with their new poverty in a creative way have much to say to those of us who accept poverty willingly. These people demonstrate how poverty can open the heart to surprise, wonder and delight in the simple things of life. Consider, eighty-nine-year-old Bernie whose eyes sparkled as she showed me a jar of grape jelly, the gift of her granddaughter. The jar of jelly represented much more than a welcome addition to her diet; it told her that she was loved and remembered. To Bernie, it was a confirmation of the goodness of people, and ultimately, the goodness of God. Faced with this sincere gratitude for such a little thing, I find myself becoming more'and more aware of the many gifts I have been given. Material possessions fade in mean-ing next to such gifts as good health, friends, and joy in living. It is with people such as Bernie that we religious can grow "to recognize, even celebrate, a deeper truth-- that no one ever earns his way, that life's meaning is more a gift than a reward.'" However, while appre~:iating the qualities such as gratitude which the elderly manifest, we must not lose sight of the poverty in which' they are rooted. This poverty is real. It is the kind of poverty that makes three meals a day a luxury and has the elderly counting out their last bit of change in the supermarket. It is the kind of poverty that keeps the house cold all winter long because utility costs are skyrocketing. It is the kind of poverty that isolates because traveling is impossible and a telephone is beyond their means. In short, it is the kind of poverty that invades one's very being; If we allow ourselves to see poor people like these, to meet them and to be touched by them, 1 believe that we religious will be challenged. What the outcome will be in terms of living out poverty will be up to each of us. But the elderly will have ministered to us, repeating the words of Christ: "There is one thing more you must do. Go and sell what you have and give to the poor; yow will have 6 Johannes B. Metz, Followers of Christ (New York: Paulist Press, 1978), p. 49. ' Whitehead, op. cir., p. 45. ~ Towards Mutuality in Ministry treasure in heaven. After that, come and follow me.''8 Metz goes on to define celibacy:. . celibacy as an evangelical virtue is the expression of an insatiable longing for the day of the Lord. it impels toward solidarity with those unmarried people whosecelibacy (that is to say loneliness; that is to say not having anyone) is not a virtue but their social destiny, and towards those who are shut up in lack of expectation and in resignation.9 ~' Along with poverty, old age often brings a new form of loneliness. Distance from family and friends becomes a foe too formidable for the decreasing energy of the elderly to overcome. Opportunities for making new friends are often more severely limited than before. Ultimately, death itself provides the final separation. With the realization that much more of one's life lies in the past than in the future, loneliness can assume new proportions. Only when they are older do some ~people seem to realize how lonely their lives have been. John, a single adult of seventy-six, admits that now he is fascinated by children. He loves to be with them, to talk with them, to play with them, to watch them. He claims that in his younger days I~e never reflected on what it would mean to "live on" through children. Now, he sees this as a definite lack in his life, a choice that he drifted into rather than con-sciously made. Loneliness has made him a~are of his lack of responsibility for his life and he regrets what might have been. However, his new awareness of the fact that life is meant to be lived with and for others has led him into caring for his older sister who is handicapped. Thus, loneliness for John, has led not to resignation but to service. Our loneliness which results from our celibate way of life can lead to ser-vice also. However, this is different from using ministry to neutralize one's loneliness. Just as John has moved from the experience of loneliness to that of being with and for another, so too, must we religious come in touch with our loneliness in order that we may capture its implications for service. For some people, the lonelines~ of old age is a new experience, one which can make them more vulnerable. Consider eighty-nine year old Bill who, in the nice weather, spends most of his time enjoying the warmth of the sun in front of his house. One day he was approached by a well-dressed man who claimed to be a friend of his son. After some pleasant conversation, Bill in- ViCed him into his home where the man proceeded to rob him. Bill's hurt and outr,age stemmed not so much from the loss of mbney but from the fact that "he came as a friend, but in reality was a crook." Yet, Bill was willing to risk again. He opened his door to me, another stranger, and invited me to share a part of his life. For him, loneliness helped to keep alive the hope that relation-ships are possible. This willingness to risk is an important quality for us religious to cultivate. What is the point oi" celibacy if we surround ourselves with people who protect us from meeting strangers? Our celibacy demands that we also be open to Mark 10:21. Metz, op. cir., p, 60. ~150 / Review for Religious, Volume 39, 1980/3 others in ways that manifest the hope that relationships are possible. Such openness calls for risks, and the elderly who often have been separated from their life-long companions can show us how to take such risks. The loneliness of the elderly, which is accentuated by a new awareness of death, can lead them to greater depths of faith and hope. If the, lives of the elderly tell us that relationships with people are possible, so too do they announce the reality 6f ~ relationship with God. Moreover, this relation.ship with God is not merely limited to the present, but has eternal dimensions as well. The elderly 1 have come in contact with have revealed a variety of ways of relating to the Lord in prayer. For some, recitation of formal prayers like the rosary is very comforting. Others have discovered fgrms of contemplative prayer. One woman, unable to leave her home, said tl~at at first she missed attending church, but then came to the conviction that the whole worldis a cathedral and that God is truly present everywhere. She looks forward to experiencing this presence in a new way after death. For me, her faith~an~d hope serve as a reminder of Jesus' words: "I am the resurrection. If, anyone believes in me, even though he dies he will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.'''° It is in union with people such as these that our "longing for the day of the Lord" takes on corporate dimensions. It is in union with people such as these that we religious can break out of our own "lack of expectation and resigna'- tion." It is in union with people such as these that we religious can penetrate into the true meaning and value of our celibacy. Finally, Metz defines the ex~angelical virtue of obedience as: the radical and uncalculated surrender of one's life to God the Father who raises up and liberates. It impels one to stand close to those for whom obedience is not a matter of virtue, but the sign of oppression and of being placed in tutelage, and to do this in a prac-tical way.'t Growing older changes relationships, and often the elderly find themselves the victimsof oppression. A well-meaning son or daughter becomes convinced that the aged parent cannot live alone, and forces a move either to a relative's home or to a nursing home. An irate landlord, angered by the low rent an elderly person pays, refuses to make needed repairs. Doctors who refuse to make house calls make more frequent hospital stays necessary. The violent who prey uppn frail older persons can turn a routine trip to the bank in.:io a traumatic experience, and cause a person to live locked at home in fear. It is much the way Jesus put it to Peter: "When you were young you put on your own beet and walked where you liked; but when you grow old you will stretch out your hands, and somebody else will put a belt around you and take you where you would rather not go.'''2 Recently, I received a phone call from a woman whose children and grand- John I 1:25-26. Metz, op. cit., p. 67. John 21:18. Towards Mutuality in Ministry / 351 children were trying to move her to another state to be with them. "Please, please save me from their clutches." Her cry touched me deeply. Several days later I visited her. The pain of moving, the pain of leaving what had been home for forty-five years, the pain of separating from friends and neighbors, the pain of uncertainty about the future, were all still .there. However, something else was there, too. "They want me to move because they love me, and so I am going," she told me. Love was able to penetrate through her pain and make surrender a positive action. It is from this woman that 1 have learned much about "letting go," a characteristic so necessary for obedience. This attitude does not act as a sedativ~ for the pain that can result from having our desires and plans thwarted. It is not a withdrawal from life, a giving up because we cannot have what we want. Rather, it involves an active acceptance of what is, embracing the pain along with the joy. "Letting go" calls for seeing things in true perspective without the warping that our own fears and prejudices can bring to a situation. When we cannot let go of something it is usually because we wish that it were other than it is. We hold on to a relationship after its vitality is gone, wishing that it could return to its former intimacy. We insist on our way of ministering to others, wishing that their needs matched our own gifts a little more closely. We hold on to our anger and hurts, savoring them, but wishing that we were not so fragile and vulnerable. And yet, the wishing changes nothing. Our former friend moves out of our life. The ways in which we are asked to serve are often not what we would choose. We remain vulnerable people. It is in the difficulties that We experience in "letting go" that we religious are most closely united to those subject to oppression. Neither situation is easily remedied; both requi~e struggle. Yet the struggle itself is not sufficient to achieve liberation. This remains the gift of God. "If the Son makes you free you will be free indeed.'''~ And so, while we continue to struggle, we learn from others that the love which makes surrender possible is available to us. The elderly can teach us that liberation is a real possibility. In conclusion, as I have~ been ministering to the elderly, they in turn have ministered to me in a variety of ways. They have helped to bring about a new awareness and sensitivity in my ministry. I have become more conscious of the mutuality, in relationships, more apprec~ia~ive of the role of others in my life. "Giver" and "receiver" no longer seem like isolated, opposed ways of being. In fact, I understand to a greater degree how "it is in giving that we receive." This understanding helps me to approach others with more'humility and respect. No matter in what ways I minister to others, I am aware that they also are ministering to me. Mutuality in ministerial relationships offers oppor-tunities for growth that few of us, if any, can afford to pass by. John 8:36. Come and See: The "Cottage Program" M. Basil Pennington, O.C.S.O. Father Pennington's last article, "The Vocation of the 'Vocation Father,' "appeared in the May, 1979 issue. He continues to be "Vocation Father" at St. Joseph's Abbey; Spencer, MA 01562. The "Cottage Program" is an instrument of our cooperation in the mystery of the genesis of a vocation that I wanted to share with you through these pages. In our times, as it had been in the eleventh or in the fourth century, or in the time of Christ himself, serious-minded young men and women seek a teacher, a guide, a master-- someone who could give a fuller meaning to their lives. Andrew and John had traveled south, taking time off from their work. They had heard tell of a teacher, a prophetic man of God, on the banks of the Jordan, and joined the stream of seekers heading in that direction. They listened, they learned, they understood--perhaps more deeply than most, because, when the teacher pointed to another, they followed him. And he asked them: "What do you seek?" Ultimately,. that is the question the Lord addresses to each one of us. And the answer we give is the most significant decision of our lives, the decision that, consciously or unconsciously, decides all else that we do. If we listen to the deepest ye~arning of our hearts, we, too, will respond, "Master, where do you dwell?" Master!. Yes. Be our master, our teacher, our guide, and let us abide with you, wherever that may be for us. And he replies, "Come and see!" It is when we experience this presence of God, speaking to our deepest hearts, that we know we have found our Master, our Way, our Life. Some years ago I was in Rome taking part in a vocation conference sponsored by the Sacred Congregation for Religious. There were brothers and 352 Come and See: The "'Cottage Program" / 353 sisters, priests and lay religious from many nations taking part in the conference. One of the modern features of this conference was that each par-ticipant was :free to speak in his or her own language. One evening in the course of the program we had a question box. Archbishop Paul Philippe, the Secretary of the Congregation, was presiding, reading out the questions found in the box, and inviting answers from the floor. "Now, here is an interesting question," he said. "How do you get across to a young person the idea of the contemplative life?" A little priest from Brazil, a Salesian with an Irish name like McHale, jumped up. In rapid-fire Portuguese he explained that the only way one can convey to a person the nature and meaning of the contemplative life is to bring him or her into con-tact with it, and let him or her discover its meaning, l think Father was right. And I believe that is equally true of any way of religious life or anylife of a transcendent nature. "Come and see." That is the thinking behind theCottage Progr.am. There is on the property of St. Joseph's Abbey (near Spencer, Massachusetts) a small stone house with six rooms in all. It was built in the 1920's, hut the lodge-like living room boasts beams over two-hundred years old, taken from a barn that stood in the days of Ethan ~llen, the onetime owner of the property. The kitchen and dining-room have been converted into bedrooms. The garage is now a chapel, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, the 'first vocation director. In an icon over the altar he points to Christ in the tabernacle. Standing in the shadow of the recently built abbey, the cottage offers young men interested in monastic life the opportunity to "come and see." It is usually full, and at times more than full ("full" means five men, but the rooms can accommodate two, and there is also the attic. There is always room for one more!). Those staying at the cottage follow very much the same schedule as the monks. They' form a little community of their own, so they won't feel strange or lost in the large monastic community, but they do join the monks for the Office, the Eucharist and work. The men are welcome to come for a day, a weekend, a week, or sometimes even 'longer-- whatever seems good for them. They are encouraged to think of the cottage as their home--a sort of spiritual home base. They may come whenever they wish. To date, no one has abused this open hospitality. The first visit is usually preceded by some reading about life .in the monastery. Each evening the candidates (or "cottagers," as they are sometimes called) gather around the great stone hearth for a colloquium or a conference with the Vocation Father, where they can learn of the wisdom and ways of the monks and have their questions answered. In the course of his visit, each young man is given practical instructions on how to do spiritual or faith reading and how to meditate. If he already has a method of meditation which has proved fruitful for him, he is encouraged to continue in it. If it is one learned from an Eastern master, he is helped to see how to place it in a Christian framework so as to open it to the Spirit, to faith, 354 / Review for Religious, Volume 39, 1980/3 and to love, so that it can truly be prayer. Before he leaves, the candidate is asked to formulate his own rule of life and to go over it with the Vocation Father. Our method for this is simple: After reflecting prayerfully on l Corin-thians 2, the candidate takes four sheets of paper. On the first; he tries to ex-press as succintly as he can the present goals of his life as he sees them. On the second, he lists as fully as possible the things he has to do to attain these goals. On the third, he lists the things he sees have been preventing him from moving toward his objectives. And, finally, on the fourth, he formulates a daily pro-gram for himself, and also a weekly and monthly schedt~ie of particulai: events.* This gives the candidate a concrete, practical support for bringing into his everyday life something of what he has learned and experienced as he shared the monks' life accordin.g to their Rule. Such an experience helps the young man to recognize and foster' the grace of vocation he is receiving. In some chses, it may be a long time before an individual can enter the monastic community. The qottage, though, already gives him a sense that in some way he already belongs, that he has his place in the monastery and a'spiritual father who cares for him. In some cases, the cottage experience puts the young man in touch with the contemplative dimen-sion of his life and shows him how to develop it, even as he moves on to some other vocation. It is not as easy for active religious communities to provide a Cottage Program as it is for monastic communities whose life is centered in a stable fashion in one place. But it is not impossible, and I think it can be, in some way or form, very useful. Let me suggest what I think could be an ideal form for an active religious institute. Obviously, the ideal always has to be adapted as it finds its ieal incarnations. It has been my experience over the years that there are a significant number of active religious who feel the call to a more contemplative form of life, either on a temporary or a permanent basis. It seems sad that they must, in most cases, think of going outside their own communities to realize this. :Far better would it be I think, if, ea~:h province or congregation had its own contem-plative house or house of prayer. Here a core group of members, committed for varying periods of time, could live the spiritual dimension of the particular charism of the community in a fuller way, and devote time.to a deeper study of the institute's proper ~:harism. It would be a place where the other members of the community could come, for days of recollection or longer retreats, to get more deeply in touch with their shared charism, their own deepest spirit. Such a house of prayer or contemplative center would, of cours~e, form a very precious and enriching adjunct for the novitiate and house of formation. It could also greatly encourage and inspire the retirement community as the seni6r members live out their life commitment in a more c0nte.mplative way. Here, though, I am thinking of such a house as a context within which the o *For a fuller treatment of this method, see°the Epilogue of my book, Daily We Touch Hhn. Come and See: The "'Cottage Program'" / 355 vocation father or mother could offer the ministry of hospitality. The aspirants would be able to perceive in the core group,a good expression of the spiritual and communal aspects of the life of that community. It is precisely an attraction to these aspects that often leads ~ oung men and women to explore the possibility of living out their commitment to Christ and his Body in a religious community. There would always be a group of professed religiou~ there with whom the candidates could pray and work. These would normally be members more reflectively conscious of the charism of their community, of their own participation in the grace of the founder. And so they would be able to help the aspirants to identify the grace stirring in their own hearts. Such an arrangement-- a vocation program within the context of a house of prayer or contemplative center--will not always be possible, or even desirable in some cases. Another alternative for a Cottage Program would be the house of formation or novitiate, if the vocation father or mother could find a bit of space there; a few rooms, for the candidates and themselves, and a common room are enough. The formation team could be the "stable com-munity" providing the lived experience for the aspirants. And these young men or women could readily identify with the young people in the formation or novitiate program. Whatever the arrangements, the ingredients that seem to contribute to the makimal success of such a program are:" 1. The presence of a professed community which obviously lives the spiritual aspects of the vocation., though thi~ does not exclude involvement in active .apostolates. 2. Access to the younger members of the community who have recently embarked on this life and with whom the candidates can easily identify. 3. A vocation father/mother willing and able to function as a spiritual father/mother, to instruct in the spiritual arts, to pray with the candidates, and to pray for them. 4. Practical instruction in spiritual reading, meditation (we usually use Centering Prayer), and the art of receiving spiritual guidance. Merton's little book, Spiritual Direction and MeditatiOn, published by Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota, is good for this. 5. A rule of life. 6. An open and welcoming hospitality. We have found that frequently candidates tell others of their experience at the cottage and are eager to have them share ira this program. This has added to the almost geometric increase of caffdidates we have experienced since we have inauguratedthe Cottage Program. There are many other programs underway~in different religious orders and congregations, which include~ one or othi~r of the aspects of the Cottage Program. I do not propose this program as the only way or the best way, but simply share it as one way, a way that has worked very well for us. I believe it 356 / Review for Religious, Volume 39, 1980/3 has been not only successful in fostering vocations for our own community (we have seventeen in the novitiate at the moment), butin making a contribu-tion to other religious communities, and to the Church at large. This year more than three hundred fifty have stayed at the cottage. All have found it a beneficial experience. Each learned at least a little more~ about prayer; about community, about Christ our Lord and his great love for each one of us. Such fruit makes a Cottage Program more than worthwhile. Now Available As A Reprint Celibate Genitality by William F. Kra[t Price: $.50 per copy, plus postage. " Address: Review for Religious Am 428 3601 Llndell Blvd. St. Louis, Missouri 63108 Vocations: Identity and Commitment M. Marceiline Falk, C.PP.S. Sister Marcelline teaches at Bishop DuBourg High School; 5850 Eichelberger; St. Louis, MO 63109. Clearly we are living in times of crises. There are financial and political crises that make the front pages of our daily papers and evening newscasts. But there is another crisis, one that is becoming, or should be, of great interest and concern to those who love the Church of.Christ: that is the crisis of voca-tions to women's religious communities. " For centuries women religious, by their consecrated lives and devoted labors have fulfilled an important mission in the Church. Will they be able to continue that mission? Only if they are able to maintain their membership in sufficient numbers to continue in existence and so perform the apostolic ser-vices that the Church has entrusted to them. The severe drop in the number of vocations to women's religious com-munities is well-known. It is interesting to observe that both the sudden drop in religious vocations and the massive exodus of religious women engaged in active apostolates occurred at the same time that many communities were discarding religious habits, leaving earlier apostolates for other forms of ser-vice, and adopting life-styles more nearly !ike those of their secular counter-parts. Is there a causal relationship or at least a significant correlation between these concurrent phenomena? Are commitment to a specific apostolate and a readily perceived identity important factors in the viability of religious com-munities, as they are in other groups and organizations? Does a distin-guishable garb help to build an identity, promote a visibility which encourages vocations, make known that a religious woman is somehow different? Does a specific apostolic commitment attract the generosity of young women? Are 357 358 / Review for Religious, Volume 39, 1980/3 external life-style practices related to the number of vocations that a religious community can expect? If the answer to these questions is "Yes" then perhaps this will be instructive in our efforts to reverse the trend of too few vocations. In an attempt to find answers to the above questions, to ascertain the percentage of youthful members' in communities, and to establish a possible correlation between youthful membership and some readily observable life-style characteristics, 1 conducted a survey during the spring and summer of 1978. The results of this survey indicate that, indeed, the answer to these ques-tions is in the affirmative~ The results clearly show that religious communities which have kept a readily identifiable religious habit, however modified, and which engage in well-defined community apostolates do have more vocations. Many have adopted modified habits, but they are still readily identifiable as religious women~ Further, the term, "a definite community apostolate," need not preclude other works of charity being undertaken by the community in response to real need, when the work is not contrary to the spirit of the com-munity, and does not detract from the primary apostolate. The following questionnaire was sent only to major superiors of 300 active religious communities.2 The names were selected in a random manner from approximately 800 listed in the 1975 Catholic Directory. Responses were received from 223 or 74°70 of the sample. Of these, two were incomplete. The questionnaire used follows: Survey on Religious Life-style Practices A. 1. Nameofcongregation (or province) 2. Number of final professed sisters " 3. N~mber of sisters in temporary commitment 4. Number of novices of postulants 5. Number of other types of formation (pleasespecify) B. Policy of Congregation in regard to the following: 1. Is there a (superior, coordinator, Yes.____, No___. 2. 3. 4. .) in charge in each local house? Is this person elected , appointed ., other Other types of local government Are personnel appointments made a) __ by direct appointment.'?, ~. b) __ by choice of individual? c) __ by assignmer~t after consultation with the sister d) __ other (specify) Does your congregation have a definite commitment to a specific apostolate in the Church? Yes , No ? What is/are the principal apostolate(s) your sisters serve? Does your congregation have an official, d~stmctive habit? Yes " , No~__. ' Youthful membership includes sisters in temporary profession or promises and novices. Total membership includes final professed, temporary professed and novices. 2 Very small communities and contemplative communities were not included. Vocations: Identity and Commitment / 359 8. Does your congregation permit the use of secular dress? Yes~, No__. a) At the sister's own discretion? b) With thepermission of the major superior? c) Other (please specify) 9: Do the sisters have the use of a personal bridget? Yes~, No~. a) Is there a fixed amount? b) For what purpose may this budget be used? The questions in Part A we~:e used to provide information about the number of religious, and to determine the percentage of youthful membership in the congregations surveyed. The percentage of youthful membership can be used as an indicator of viability or numerical stability. Data from questions in l~art A were analyzed, and results are given in the following table. Com-munities were divided into nine groups, according to the percent of youthful members: Table I Group 07o Youthful Members No. of Communities % of Total Sample I Over 10% 18 8.1 o10 11 9.9-6.00/o 19 8.6°1o 111 5.9-4.507o ' 23 10.4070 IV 4.4-3.5070. " 28 12.6070 V 3.4,2.0070 29 13.1 070 VI 2.4-2.0% 29 13.107o VII 1.9-1.5°/0 23 10.40/o VIII 1.4-1.00/o 27 12.2% IX Less than 1 070 25 I 1.3% Let us assume that an average of about 10%0 of young members will allow a religious institute to maintain its membership,3 and that about five years elapse between entrance into the novitiate and final profession. This would mean that an average yearly entrance rate of about 2% would be required to maintain a numerically stable community.' If we accept this percentage of new members as necessary for the maintenance of numerical stability in the community, it takes into account an expected loss of 2% due to death or departures. Communities, then, which can categorize 10% of their population as "young," and which also have an influx of new members at the rate of 2% per year, would have a numerically stable, or even increasing membership. If a community can only describe 5% of its membership as young, this would indicate that it has been receiving new members at a rate of about 1%. A youthful population of 2% would suggest admissions at the rate of 0.4% annually. In each of these instances, given the typical 2% proportion of change due to death and departure, losses to the total membership would be statistically predictable: 1% and 1.6% respectively. The same predictability ' "Religious in the World (Statistics up to Dec. 31, 1974)," Consecrated Life I, No. 1 (1977). ' For example, a community of 500 would need an average of ten new members per year to main-tain a stable membership. 360 / Review for Religious, l/olume 39, 1980/3 would pertain to each of the nine categories of communities in our sampling. On the basis of these calculations, Group I would be expe.cted to maintain or increase its total membership. Communities in Groups II find IlI could be expected to have progressively slightly reduced membership. If the present trend continues for groups IV, V, and VI, their membership would probably be halved in three to five decades, while those in Groups VII, VII1 and IX might well cease to exist in about three decades. Obviously these calculations are premised on present trends. Factors, however, coulffchange in the future, and this could retard the fulfillment of these predictions-- or accelerate them. Part B of the questionnaire is concerned with som~ external, behavioral characteristics. The characteristics chosen are different from those usually associated with ~ecular life-styles, and traditionally have been common characteristics among active communities of religious women. Numbers one and two have to do with community governance. Numbers three through six are concerned with apostolate and personnel assignment. Numbers seven and eight deal with the matter of religious habit, and nine, with the question of personal budget. In each of thes~ areas, change became evident after the Second Vatican Council. One of the purposes of the survey was to explore the possibility that these changes had an influence on the incidence of vocations to the respective communities. To this end, the number and percentages of communities which evidenced a particular characteristic were tabulated, and compared against the percent-age of young members each community enjoyed. My fullest hopes in pursuing this investigation were not realized. Nothing could be concluded about postulants, or persons in other types of formation. Responses to questions 2 and 3B, concerning local governance, proved ambiguous, and indications concerning amounts and usages in the matter of personal budgets were too varied to admit of interpretation. Therefore, for purposes of our study, only Part A and questions 1, 4, 7, 8 and 9 of Part B proved useful for our analysis. In the tables which follow, the responses to the various items are grouped on the basis of .the proportion of youthful me.rnbers, i.e., on the basis of how those communities have succeeded in draw-ing new members to join them. Table 2 Percent of Communities With a Person in Charge at the Local Level Number in Group % of Group 10070 15 out of 18 83.3%0 9.9-6.007° 16 out of 19 84:2°/0 5.9-4.5070 18 out of 23 78.3070 4.4-3.5070 20 out of 28 71.4%0 3.4-2.5% 17 out of 29 58.4% 2.4-2.0% 18 out of 29 62.1% 1.9-1.5o/0 17 out of 23 73.9°70 1.4-1.0% 15 out of 27 55.6% Less than I% 21 out of 25 84.0% :Vocation~: Identity and Commitment / 361 Table 3 Percent of Communities with Personnel Placement After Consultation Number in Group °/o of Group 10% 16 out of 18 88.9% 9.9-&0%o 16 out of 19 84.2070 5.9-4.5°7o 17 out of 23 73.9°/o 4.4-3.5¢/0 24 out of 28 85.7%0 3:4-2.5%0 18 out of 29 62.1°/0 2.4-2.0%o 24 out of 29 82.8% 1.9-1.5%0 14 out of 23 60.9% 1.4-1.0% 20 outof 27 70.1% Less than 1% 20 out of 25 80.0% Table 4 Percent of Communities With Specific Community Apostolic Service Number in Group a/o of Group 10% 15 out of 18 83.3% 9.9-6.0% 16 out of 19 84.2% 5.9-4.5% 19 out of 23 82.6% 4.4-3.5% 23 out of 28 82. 1% 3.4-2.5% i4 out of 29 48.3% 2.4-2.0% 15 out of 29 51.7% 1.9-1.5% 14 out of 23 60.9% 1.4-1.0% 12 out of 27 44.4% Less than 1% 12 out of 25 48.0% Table 5 Percent of Communities with a Distinctive Habit Number in Group °/o of Group 10% 16 out of 18 88.9% 9.9-6.0% 15 out of 19 80~0% 5.9-4.5% 13 OUt of 23 56.5% 4.4-3.5% 23 out of 28 82.1% 3.4-2.5% 14 out of 29 48.3% 2.4-2.0% 14 out of 29 48.3% 1.9-1.5% 11 out of 23 47.8% 1.4-1.0% 8 out of 27 29.6% 1.0% 13 out of 25 52.0% Table 6 Percent of Communities Permitting Secular Dress at Sister's own Discretion Number in Group ~o of Group 10% 2 out of 18 I1.1% 9.9-6.0% 4 out of 19 21.0% 5.9-4.5%0 6 out of 23 26.1% 4.4-3.5% 9 out of 28 32.1% 3.4-2.5% 15 out of 29 51.7% 2.4-2.0% 17 out of 29 58.6% 1.9-1.5% 15 out of 23 65.2% 1.4-1.0% 19 out of 27 70.4% 1.0% 17 out of 25 68.0% 362 / Review for Religious, 'Volume 39, 1980/3 Table 7 Percent of Communities Using a Personal Budget Number in Group % of Group 10% 5 out of 18 27.8%0 9.9-6.0% 10 out of 19 52.6%o 5.9-4.5% 16 out of 23 69.6%0 4.4-3.5%o 22 out of 28 78.6%0 3.4-2.5% 27 outof 29 93.1% 2.4-2.0% 28 out of 29 96.6% 1.9-1.5% 20out of 23 ¯ 87.0% 1.4-1.0% 26 out of 27 96.3% 1.0% 25 out of 25 100.0% These tables indicate that the characteristics of a specific community apostolate and a distinctive habit do have a strong influence on the number of youthful members, and therefore, on the number of vocations to a com-munity. To test the degree of relationship between the given characteristic and the percent of youthful membership, a statistical analysis of the data given in the previous tables was made. The usual instruments of the Spearmann cor-relation coefficients and significance tests were used to demonstrate statistical correlation between the percentage of youthful members and .the various characteristics with the following results,~ The correlation between youthful membership and the characteristic of having "a person in charge at the local level" did not show any 'appreciable significance. The correlation was 38.33.07o with a corresponding significance of ¯ 154. This is evident from the data, which do not show much variation. Most communities reported a person in charge. Answers to the questionnaire on this point were frequently qualified by such statements as: "Yes, but not in smaller houses," or: "No, except in the larger houses." The correlation between youthful membership and the use of a personal budget is even less, at -31.67070, having a significance of .203. The negative correlation indicates that there is some slight decrease in the use of the budget as the percentage of youthful members increases. Again, although most com-munities indicated the use of a personal budget, the amount and kinds of restrictions on its use varied from very small amounts for the purchase of small, personal items to large amounts with practically unrestricted use. It was interesting to note that the use of th.e personal budget was least evident among communities which did not permit secular dress. Personnel placement after consultation with sisters shows a somewhat higher correlation, of 60.0°70, and a significance of .044. Possibly there is a ~ Spearmann correlation percentages, based on O- 100%, measure the tendency of two variable~ to vary ~together, that is to show a relationship to each other. Significance tests decide whether dif-ferences between values obtained from the samples and theoretical expeclations could be due to chance. A low significance factor indicates that the relationship studied could not be due to chance. Vocations: Identity and Commitment / 363 relationship between community apostolate and the placement of personnel in areas of community commitment. Of significance is the very high correlation between the number of young members and the existence of a specific community apostolate (90.0°7o and a significance of .001). This strongly suggests that a community commitment to a specific service in the Church has a strong influence on vocations. Such apostolic services were not necessarily limited to only one area of the apostolate. Many communities, in fact, indicated a wide range of apostolic services. But they were community apostolates, and not left to individual choice. A distinctive religious habit is also a significant factor in the number of youthful religious in a community. In this case, the correlation percent is 77.8070, with a significance factor of .007. The most highly significant correlation was the inverse ratio between the number of youthful members and the use of secular clothes at the sister's own discretion. Here a-98.33070 correlation coefficient, and a significance of .001 clearly indicate the negative influence of this characteristic on vocations.6 Ap-parently commun~ities having an open option for secular clothes fail to attract many young women. The characteristics analyzed in this study cannot be the only ones which in-fluence the number of vocations, and so affect the numerical stability of a religious community. Neither are they necessarily a measure of the internal fervor, or of the importance of a particular community's contribution to the Church and the People of God. Other aspects, such as the quality ofcom-munity prayer life, the kind of apostolate, the geographic location,ethnic origin, time of founding--as well as many other intangibles, such as com-munity spirit, understanding of the vows, and other internal characteris-tics- will certainly also have an effect on the overall picture. However, the statistical analysis of the data obtained in the questionnaire does clearly indicate that, generally, communities with a specific and well-defined apostolate, and those which retain the visible sign of the habit do have a significantly greater number of young members. Apparently these two fac- . tors do, in large measure, provide the initial visibility, the instant recognition of "Who We Are," and "What We Do" that are capable of drawing new members to the communities that possess them. 6 The negative percent means that the use of secular dress has a strong adverse effect on religious vocations. 364 / Review for Religious, Volume 39, 1980/3 Since these characteristics, a reasonably specific apostolic service and a distinctive habit (or nonuse of secular clothes) does seem to show such a high significance, it might be interesting to apply the conclusions to a real community. I made an analysis of membership trends for one particular community. This community changed its apostolic thrust from education to an open-ended .apostolate, according to which its present policy is to permit new members to choose their own apostolic field of service. The use of secular dress was also left to the discretion of each sister. A comparison of the membership of this community between the years 1961 and 1978 shows the following:' Table 8 1961 1978 Nurfiber of Final Professed 513 458 Number in Temporary Vows 47 1 I Novices 48 3 Total Membership 608 472 In 1961, the youthful membership (novices and "juniors") was 95, or 15.6% of the total. In 1978, these numbered only 14, or 3% of the total membership. This represents a net los's of 136 sisters during this seventeen year period, a 22% loss. During this same period, 94 sisters died, and there were 80 new admissions. There were also over 100 departures. The major loss due to departures and a decline in admissions began in 1968, when the policies of individual choice of apostolic service and the use of secular dress became effective. At this time, a new formation program was introduced, placing a strong emphasis on self-fulfillment and promoting individual choice of apostolic service and of the mode of dressing. The median age in 1961 was about forty-eight years. In 1978, it had risen to about 63 years. In 1961, about half the community was professed less than twenty-five years. By 1978, half the community was professed for forty or more years. During the last ten years, since the new policies of self-choice in apostolic service and the use of secular dress went into effect, only fourteen sisters made first profession. Surely this would indicate that the rise in median age is rather due to a lack of new vocations, and of departures, than to a ¯ general rise in the median age of the population at large. Further, it is clear that the median age of this particular community is much too high for com-placency about the future. The following table shows the shift which took place in the median age of this community: ' The year 1961 was chosen as starting date because it was the last year before Vatican ll; 1978 is the latest date for which statistics were available. Vocations." Identity and Commitment / 365 Table 9 1961 1978 Number of Years Number of % Number of % of Professed Sisters Total Sisters Total More than 53 18 3.0 61 13.0 48-52 22 3.6 44 9.3 43-47 30 4.9 65 13.8 38-42 40 6.6 79 16.7 33-37 55 9.0 42 8.9 28-32 65 10.7 32 6.7 23-27 78 12.8 37 7.8 18-22 65 10.7 32 6.7 13-17 39 6.4 40 8.5 8-12 48 7.9 15 3.1 4- 7 54 8.9 8 1.7 3 or less (Including Novices) 95 15.0 14 3.0'- Prognostications from this table make it clear that if the trends continue, and are not somehow reversed, it will become increasingly difficult for this particular community to continue its service to the Church, that, indeed, it faces a struggle for survival in the not too distant future. The. decrease in religious vocations is a grave concern for the whole Church, as the following statement of Paul VI in an address to religious women indicates: ~ In truth, here again we have to" make a double observation that is not a happy one. Religious vocations, for women, too, are falling off; yet both the Church and secular society have a gro.wing need for these vocations. This is one of th~ problems of our time, for whose solution we must work and pray? The importance of identity and apostolic commitment in fostering voca-tions is stressed by Cardinal Pironio, Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for' Religious and Secular Institutes: In a serious study of consecrated life--particularly in evaluating certain attitudes and concrete activities--there is no doubt that many things would change if we responded with loyalty to this question: "What do Christ, the ecclesial community, and the world in which we live expect of us?" At any rate, there are three aspects in consecrated life which it would be well to emphasize: The Church expects religious to be faithful to their identi-ty, to their essential values, and to their evangelical relevance . Religious are, before all else, Christians, but they are religious in a way that is unmistakably distinct . Religious identity d0es not segregate religious from the rest of the members of the People of God, nor does it remove them from the world; on the contrary, it identifies them and involves them in the world with their own, unmistakable specificity . The loss of identity is one ~ Pope Paul VI, "New Horizons for Women Religious," address given to women religious on the feast of the Nativity of our Lady, 1964, Documents on Renewal for Religious, Daughters of St. Paul, 1974, p. 57. 366 / Review for Religious, Volume 39, 1980/3 of the causes today of the drop in vocations to consecrated life. When an institute's iden-tity disappears, or is jeopardized, it is only logical for young people to lose their en-thusiasm and become disoriented. Being faithful to one's self is therefore to take on a strong commitment with God and with men. it is the essence of our vocation, and of our consecration, and of our mission.~ I The words of our Holy Father, John Paul II, spoken to mothers general on November 16, 1978, just one month after his election, are particularly significant: And if your consecration to God is really such a deep reality, it is not unimportant to bear permanently its exterior sign which a simple and suitable habit constitutes; it is the means to remind yourse!ves constantly of your commitment which contrasts strongly with the spirit of the world; it is a silent, but eloquent testimony that our secularized world needs to find on its way, as many Christians, moreover, desire. 1 ask you to turh this over carefully in your minds. '° This study of external behavioral characteristics as related to vocations is an attempt to contribute to a serious study of possible causes for the evident decline in the number of religious vocations to active communities of women in the United States. While it is true that this is only part of the total picture, it is hoped that a spirit of openness would encourage communities to consider seriously the impact of these external behavior patterns on the perception of what religious life is all about. The interior spirit of a community is of the ut-most importance, but the external manifestation of that spirit of dedication, the willingness to be recognized by a religious habit and the having of a specific apostolic commitment to the service of Christ in the Church and the world is also important. These externals advertise for all to see: "We are religious! We do believe that our.being and our service are essential to our specifically religious witness." 9 Eduardo Cardinal Pironio, "Th~ Joy of Fidelity," Consecrated Life Ill No. ~, 1979. ,o Pope John Paul 11, "Be True Daughters~ of the Church, Not Orily in Words But in Deeds," Strain Forward, Vol. 12, No. 1, January 1979. How About a Semi-Sermon Sometime? M. Eucharista Ward, O.S.F. Sister Eucharista teaches at St. Ladislaus Higl~ School; 2697 Caniff Ave.; Hamtramck, M 148212. It was hard to imagine how God could add to a spiritual nurturing that for ten years had seemed almost the equivalent of hothouse conditi

JUNE, 1901 ooTheoo ettysbur VOL. X NO. 4 PENNSYLVANIA COLLEGE GETTYSBURG,PA. PATRONIZE OUR ADVERTISERS. Amos Eckert Dealer in Hats, Shirts, Ties, Um-brellas, Gloves, Satchels, Hose, Pocket Books,J* Trunks, J>& Telescopes, Rubbers, Etc., Etc. AMOS ECKERT. PRICKS ALWAYS RIGHT. TUG Lutheran No. 1424 Arch Street, PHILADELPHIA, PA. Acknowledged Headquarters for Any-thing and Everything in the way of Books for Churches, Families, Colleges and Schools, and Literature for Sunday Schools. PLEASE REMEMBER That by sending your orders to us you help build up and develop one of the church institutions, with pecuniary ad-vantage to yourself. Address HENRY S. BONER, Supt., No. 1424 Arch St. Phila. 50 YEARS' EXPERIENCE TRADE MARKS DESIGNS COPYRIGHTS &C. Anyone sending a sketch and description may quickly ascertain our opinion free whether an Invention la probably patentable. Communica-tions strictly confidential. Handbook on Patent! sent free. Oldest agency for secuiingpatents. Patents taken through Munn & Co. receive special notice, without charge, In the Scientific American. A handsomely illustrated weekly. Largest clr. dilation of any scientific journal. Terms. $3 a year; four months, $£• Sold by all newsdealers. MUNN &Co.36""a* New York Branch Office, 626 F St., Washington, D. C. J. I. MUMPER, PHOTOGRAPHER, i 29 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, i'n. Special attention paid to COLLEGE WOKK A fine collection of Battlefield Views always on hand. Mail orders receive prompt at-tention. C. A. Blocher's Jewelry Store, For Souvenir Spoons, Sword Pins, Etc. All kinds of Jewelry. Repairing- a Specialty. POST OFFICE CORNER CENTRE SQUARE THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY The Literary Journal of Pennsylvania College Entertd at the Postoffice at Gettysburg as second-class matter VOL. X GETTYSBURG, PA., JUNE, 1901 No. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS William Shakespeare, . 104 What College Does for a Man, . . . . . . 107 The Mountain Brook, . 109 The Great Stone Face, . . Ill Two John Smiths, . US On a Sunlit Harbor, . . 118 Tennyson's "In Memoriam," . 119 Sonnet, . . 121 Editorial, . 122 The Present Difficulty Between Russia and Japan, 124 The Badge of Courage, . . 125 Translation of Horace I. 35, . 127 The Use of the Novel, . . 128 A Visit to Vahalla, . . 129 An Indian Legend, . . 131 Exchanges, . . . . . . 133 A Picture of Fancy, . . . . . . 134 The College Girl, . 135 For a cap and bells our lives we pay, Bubbles we earn with a whole soul's tasking; 'Tis heaven alone that is given away, 'Tis only God may be had for the asking ; There is no price set on the lavish summer, And June may be had by the poorest comer. And what is so rare as a day in June ? Then, if ever, come perfect days ; Then Heaven tries the earth if it be in tune, And over it softly her warm ear lays. Whether we look, or whether we listen, We hear life murmur, or see it glisten ; Every clod feels a stir of might, An instinct within it that reaches and towers, And, grasping blindly above it for light, Climbs to a soul for grass and flowers. -Lowell. 104 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE J. B. BAKER, '01 'TPHERE is no name in modern literature, or perhaps we may * put it more broadly and state with equal certainty, none in all literature as illustrious as the name of William Shakespeare. Homer, in the gay dawn of Grecian civilization, stands out as the finished product of a more illustrious civilization than the one he occupies. He inhabits Olympus with imperial gods and god-desses and sings the grandest of heroic songs. A thousand years thereafter, in a lavish mood Calliope smiled upon the Latins. She gave to them a Virgil. In sweet and mel-low tones he sang of arms and men, and sent ringing through the corridors of time the undying cadence of his mellifluous tongue. Dante, when the gods of Homer and the heroes of Virgil were no more, towered up in Titanic grandeur, proud and solitary, with the sad and solemn dreams of his poetic imagination. Milton, of immortal fame, opened the gates of death, of heaven and hell, and saw such visions as no man saw before or since. Goethe, the acknowledged prince of German poets, stirred the whole literary mind of Europe like a breeze sweeping over a forest. But Homer, Virgil, Dante, Milton and Goethe do not live in our hearts ; do not twine round our affections; do not satisfy our souls as Shakespeare does. Here and there we may find touches of more daring sublimity, passages more steeped in learning, lines more concealed in abstract thought, but with Henry Glassford Bell, we must acknowledge that the greatest and best interpreter of human nature, the poet of the widest sympathies, a greater sculptor than Phidias, a truer painter than Raphael, came into the world at the pleasant town of Stratford-upon-Avon in April of 1564. Much as might be said of the life of this myriad-minded man, his early environment, his education, his struggle for success, his domestic and public relations, we shall pass all these by and pause for a moment in profoundest reverence to meditate upon the mag-nitude of his intellect. Let us first view him as the dreamer. How barren and inhos-pitable would be the realms of fancy if the characters of Shakes-peare's creation were not its denizens ! What an arid plain ! How sparsely inhabited ! How cold its inhabitants ! Where in all history can we find a creation to equal, nay, to THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 105 , approach the production of " A Mid summer Night's Dream ?" What poet has ever seen so many fairies flitting along the green knoll, through the shady dingle, and near the crystal fountain ? Who saw them dancing on the sand with " printless foot," mak-ing midnight mushrooms, gathering dewdrops and hanging pearls " on every cowslip's ear ?" Who saw them creep into the acorn cups, stealing honey-bags from the humble bees, and plucking the wings from painted butterflies ? What intellectual vision was ever keen enough to catch them bringing jewels from the deep and putting a girdle " round the earth in forty minutes ?" Can you find anywhere in all literature a creation to approach the ex-ploits of Queen Mab driving her hazelnut chariot with little atomies, using traces of a spider's web, a whip of a cricket's bone, and a lash of film ? And not only are the sportive acts of these various fairy beings fascinating, their very names are suggestive to us ot their nature, and carry a charm to the ear that hears them. Puck, Cricket, Cobweb, Oberon, and Ariel who slept in the cow-slip's bell, are as sweet music emanating from the strings of a master harpist. Shakespeare's imagination, however, was not always leading his lambent feet to the ephemeral assemblies of sylvan life. His thoughts were not always wrapped in the dapper little inhabitants of the fields of fancy. He was more than a dreamer. He was an interpreter of nature. Never in all history has an uninspired mind so variously and so exhaustively interpreted the mind of the Creator as revealed in nature as Shakespeare has. No " cloud-capped towers" were too high for him to behold, and no grain of sand too mean for him to wonder at. The blue hills from which the Avon flows lay before him as the slope of age, which we must all ascend, and the dark ravines that lay between them as the valley of the shadow of death. The blinding flash from an o'erhanging cloud, and the quick, sharp clang that clattered through the heavens and echoed and re-echoed among the distant hills, awakened within him a sense of the majesty of his Creator. The frail anemone and the faint blush of the arbutus in the midst of bleak and wintry March, touched his heart like a hope from heaven in a field of graves. The spark-ling oriole swinging in his hammock, the quail piping from the meadow fence, and the lark soaring up from the lush grass, re-minded him of the happiness of liberty, and furnished him with 106 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY some of his sublimest thoughts. He plucked the lily of the val-ley, and showed to the world that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed like one of them. In short, he was a perfect child of nature, finding " Tongues in trees, books in running- brooks, Sermons in stones, and good in everything." But Shakespeare was more thau an interpreter of unconscious nature. He peered into the arcana of human character. He sunk his plummet into the sea of human experience, deeper thau poet ever stirred its briny depths. The magic wand of his genius laid bare to him that paragon of all animals—intelligent man. It revealed to him the asininity of passion as well as the nobility of reason, the niggardliness of greed as well as the voluptuousness of hedonism, the depressions of the canaille as well as the festivi-ties of the affluent. Who has ever depicted in such striking colors the power of an evil woman as Shakespeare has ? Where can you find one steeped in greater heinousness than Lady Mac-beth ? Jezebel, the infamous wife of Ahab, planned the murder of Naboth for the acquisition of his vineyards. Catherine de Medici, almost insane with fear of the Huguenots, shocked the world with St. Bartholomew's massacre. But Lady Macbeth was the bloodthirsty assassin herself. " Give me the dagger," she says ; " the sleeping and the dead are but as pictures ; 'tis the eye of childhood that fears a painted devil." On the other hand, what pen has given us a more sublime picture of the bonds of reciprocal love than that which existed between Celia and Rosalind ? That of Holy Writ between David and Jonathan, and the one between Laelius and Scipio, are the only ones of which we are cognizant that will bear comparison with it. Who has ever shown the fickleness of the multitude more strikingly than the consummate Anthony showed it when he ap-pealed to the passions of the populace ? Who has shown the desolating effects of revenge more accurately than Shakespeare's Hamlet ? Who has glorified the spirit of forgiveness more admi-rably than his Prospero ? In fact, there is scarcely a phase of life that he did not touch, and on account of this his name enjoys its unparalleled univer-sality. An Englishman reads him andhe says, " How English !" A German reads him and he exclaims, " How Teutonic !" An THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 107 Italian reads hirn and be says, "How Roman !" As they said that Helen of Argos had such universal beauty that every one felt related to her, so Shakespeare seems to an American an Ameri-can genus. His broad humanity transcends all sectional lines, and he is the common heritage of the literary minds of the world. WHAT COLLEGE DOES POR A MAN . WILLIAM FKEAS, '01 A S the end of the college year draws near, it is fitting to ask the **■ question, What does college do for a man ? I^et us try to answer this query. It is difficult to hit upon the best thing which may have been accomplished, for there are so many good results, but we will mention a few. An undergraduate cannot appreciate so well the influence his college career has upon him as one who has been out in public life for some years after leaving his Alma Mater, but he has a fairly good idea. There is one thing which seems to hold pre-eminence in the majority of cases. It is, that a habit of thought has been formed. Nothing can be of more benefit to a man. How many men who have graduated have retained much of the subject matter of the text-books used ? They are not very numerous. Then, of what use are the text-books ? It is the training of application and learning to read and study intelligently which makes them so use-ful. Another thing of vast importance presents itself. At the time a man generally goes away from home to college he is at an impressionable age. It is during this period that his character is formed. Frequently we hear it said that a man is through all his life what he was when he graduated. How careful we should be that our associations and surroundings are such as to form good, noble characters. The love of knowledge, for its own sake, is gained when we come into touch with the great number of things to be learned in this world. When we see the extent of good, solid literature, and realize how little of it we will be able to master, there comes to us an unsatisfied longing—an aching void. There opens before us a vista, through which we can travel only for a short distance. Then it is that we see how small is our real knowledge. It knocks the over-weening conceit out of a man quicker than anything else, and puts him into a true posi- 108 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY tion to his fellows. A college course reveals to us in what line we may be most useful, for what our talents are best fitted. It is true, the majority of men come to college with a fixed purpose, and lay out for themselves a prescribed course which will best fit them for their life-work, but new capabilities are developed, and they turn their energies into new channels. Outside work, such as managing a team, being on the staff of a college publication, being active in literary societies, and many other things, aid greatly in the progress of a man. Laziness attacks all men at times, and especially a college student, but a man with any spirit cannot always sit idly by and watch the progress of his friends and not make an effort to follow them. We might even say that his association with wide-awake men is an education in itself. Many a man gets his first impulse for hard, persistent work while in college. He begins to appreciate the true worth of the mas-terpieces of literature and art, and places inferior productions in their true light. Even to-day we hear the assertion that college life ruins many, and so people refuse the advantages to those whom it would ben-efit greatly. A man must have very little backbone if the good he gets does not far outweigh the evil. An example of a wrecked life, traceable to college days, does sometimes come to our view, however much we regret it, but that should not make anyone condemn a college career, for a great number of men gain many advantages from it. Frequently a man is led to live an intellectual life, and then looks at things squarely in the face, " clearly, dis-passionately, and in their large relations." It has been said that " the American college is a mother of men." When a man gets away from home, and has to look out for himself, he gets expe-rience sometimes dearly bought, but of great value to him. It gives him the quality of independence which stands him in good stead. There are two elements in a college career—instruction and personality, and it is not easy to say which has the more and better influence. A man at college comes into contact with higher per-sonalities than he is likely to meet under other circumstances. Instruction gives him good principles upon which to build the structure of his life, while, on the other hand, the personality of the instructors can and does influence a student to higher ideals. The contact of man with man is beneficial to all concerned. Many THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 109 a life-long friendship has been formed during college days which, in later years, is of inestimable value. College is an excellent place to study men—their modes of work, their characters, and, in fact, all about them. This training is very useful in later life. The study of science and philosophy strengthens our trust in our Creator. The more we study the plan which is everywhere exhibited about us the more we feel "perfect fear" and rever-ence, as well as love and devotion, for the God who made us. We get a grander idea of His love for us in the provisions made for our welfare. Some few men may, perhaps, scientifically and philosophically, reason God out of existence, but generally the moral and mental horizon is widened infinitely. Let us sum up a few of the things mentioned which college does for a man. It forms the habit of thought ; it molds charac-ter ; it gives a love of knowledge for its own sake ; it has a de-terminative influence ; it brings man into contact with many other men, some of higher personalities ; it enriches his life ; it deepens and widens his view of truth ; it raises his ideals ; it increases his view of, and his love for, the beautiful; and it strengthens his faith in God by giving him a better understanding of the won-drous provisions made by an all-wise God for his welfare here be-low. THE MOUNTAIN BROOK C W. WF.ISER, '01 From a crevasse in the ledges, Covered by the flowery hedges, Shaded froni the noon-day's glow, In a pocket, mossy, low, Cool and limpid, bubbling ever From its home, without endeavor— Flows the crystal ice-cold fountain, High upon the lonely mountain. From deep parts, to us unknown, It has through the ages flown; From dark caverns in the ground, Gushing, bubbling all year 'round It pours forth into the light, Pure and limpid, crystal, bright, Filtered rain and melted snows. Rippling, wavering, on it flows 110 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY From its rock-bound, mossy bower, Hidden by the bush and flower, Rhododendrons, ferns and pines, Thorny shrubs and flowering vines, From whose branches, twigs and strands Hanging mosses stream in bands. All's a deep, luxuriant maze Whence songsters bright peal softest lays. Over all's the glowing sun; Underneath the shadows run, Where the fountain noiseless plays All the livelong summer days. Down the nook and thro' the dell, Rippling on the brook to swell, Flows the little, limpid stream, Murmuring as in pleasant dream, By the ancient little mill, Sometimes clattering, sometimes still; By the vine-clad cabin running, On whose porch the dog is sunning, And the old black puss is drowsing. In the mead a cow is browsing, By the brook are children playing, To the woods a colt is straying, From the trees an axe is ringing, In the house the mother's singing, From the chimney, curling, blue, Floats the smoke, and wafting thro' The Heavens bright, above the trees Dissolves in cooling morning breeze. A moment, and the scene is gone, The gurgling brook is flowing on, Now between the ponderous mass Of towering peaks, thro' mountain pass, Tumbling down with swish and roar, Dashed to spray on rocky floor. Rushing on its downward course, Over boulders, rumbling, hoarse, Loudly, swiftly on it sweeps Down the pass and o'er the steeps, Dashing into feathery spray, Prancing silvery on the way. Loudly rumbling, Noisy, grumbling, Gurgling, whirling, Eddying, twirling; Wildly churning, Skipping, turning, THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 111 Downward rushing, Bubbling, gushing, In its hurry And its flurry L,oudly roaring, Madly pouring, On its way to vales below Does the mountain torrent flow. Thus the limpid mountain stream Floats at first as in a dream, a Sweetly murmuring softest tune, Harmonious with the month of June; Then as down the pass it flows, Swiftly up the scale it goes • With a rumble and a roar, Resounding far the mountains o'er; Floating, rushing, murmuring ever, Onward to the mighty river, Thence into the deep blue ocean, Tossed about in ceaseless motion, Till at last in vapor form It home returns in mist or storm. THE GREAT STONE FACE Oration by S. A. VAN ORMEB, '01 QITTING belore their cabin door, Ernest and his mother were ^ looking through the gathering gloom that follows the setting sun at the Great Stone Face, who, from his throne on the perpen-dicular side of the mountain, miles away, seemed to preside over the valley beneath. Here the mother related the story of the mountain image— told how that it had long been believed that the time would come when one should be born in the region who should become the greatest and noblest personage of his time ; and who should, in the splendor of his manhood, exactly resemble the wondrous features on the mountain side ; told how that the earliest inhab-itants had heard the story from the Indians, who had received it from their ancestors, to whom it had been told by the trickling waters of the mountain brook and whispered by the swaying trees. At the conclusion of the story Ernest expressed a desire to live to see the man; and his mother replied, " Perhaps you may." 112 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY Time passed. Ernest lived on in his log cottage, helping his mother with his little hands and loving heart. He had no teacher save the Great Stone Face, whom he imagined to smile at him in response to his veneration. After the toil of the day he would gaze at the Titan image, and discern the love that was meant for all. Soon it was reported that one who had been born in the region was about to return, and spend his declining years amid the scenes of his childhood—the prophetic personage long-looked-for. Now this Mr. Gathergold had been fortunate in business pur-suits. He was the owner of a fleet that gathered the treasures of land and sea. A great retinue preceded him, and the people eagerly awaited his arrival. He came; but the "yellow claw" that dropped some coppers to a beggar woman, and the careworn face, bore no resemblance to the benign features of the mountain image. Dis-appointment filled Ernest's breast, and he turned away ; while the crowd, heedless of his lack, lauded the miser. But Ernest continued to study the granite face. Soon it was reported that the counterpart of the wondrous image was to ap-pear in the person of General Blood and Thunder. The inhab-itants prepared to banquet him and his retinue. The tables were set in the open. The banquet ended, the General arose to speak, and then Ernest saw him over the heads of the jubilant throng. His war-worn countenance, full of energy and expressive of an indomitable will, was indeed characteristic of the warrior; but it bore little resemblance to the broad, wise and sympathetic features of the man of stone. Next came the eminent statesman, whose clarion voice had made him prominent. Great preparations were made to receive Old Stony Phiz. Officers and prominent men accompanied him. A band added to the enthusiasm of the crowd, for he was a Presi-dential candidate. But, in the words of the author, " the sublimity and stateli-ness, the grand expression of divine sympathy, that illuminated the mountain image and etherealized its ponderous granite sub-stance into spirit, might here be sought in vain." The years sped on. White hairs appeared in Ernest's head. He had become a minister, and many eminent men visited him to share his wisdom. THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 113 While he sat one evening reading songs that he thought worthy of one resembling the Great Stone Face, the author of those songs appeared, and Ernest was once again disappointed. Pleasantly they talked together; and when the hour arrived for Ernest to address an open-air meeting, they walked arm-in-arm to the scene. Ernest took his position before the audience; and as he poured forth the fullness of his heart the poet noticed the strong re-semblance between the grand beneficence of the minister's face and that of the face now enshrouded in the mountain mists ; and, in the author's words, " impulsively he threw his hands aloft and shouted: 'Behold! behold! Ernest is himself the likeness of the Great Stone Face !' " Such, in short, is the story of the Old Man of the Mountains; the legend of the Great Stone Face. Man cherishes ideals, and his worth in the world depends upon the ideals that he cherishes. Ideals, in the words of one, "are the meat and drink of life." Every thought that we think and every deed that we do is directed to some end; and life, which is but a series of acts, must answer to some end, noble or mean, pursued either consciously or unconsciously. The word progress is mean-ingless without reference to an ideal. They support and encour-age us. They exercise their influence upon us insensibly. They force us into the arena where we must wield the Gladiatorial sword in their vindication. The man of science discerns and interprets an order in things that we do not make. The effort to give distinctness and form to our ideals brings with it a purity that becomes evident. In this sense only should the word ideal be used; but if our thoughts and actions are directed toward a mean or low end, the result is just as evident. These truths are beautifully illustrated by the char-acters of the story. " We are what we are," says the Chinese aphorism, "'because we have been doing what we have been doing," and it might well be added that we have been doing what we have been doing because of the ideals we cherish. This is none the less true of nations than of men. Biography and History alike are replete with illustra-tions of men and nations that arose to eminence in a particular line because their thoughts, their efforts and their energies were directed toward that one end—an ideal. The merchant, the warrior, the statesman, the poet, and 114 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY Ernest—the minister—all were born in the valley over which the man of the mountain presided. The merchant left in early life, spent his time and energy in accumulating a massive fortune. Anxiety filled his breast lest the ships that sought the northern furs be crushed by the icebergs, or the savage tribes, for whose Afric gold he bartered, might murder his agents. The storm at sea filled his breast with terror; still he sought his gold. His saf-fron hand and knitted brow were indeed characteristic. He achieved his end. He was diligent in business, so are all men who achieve success—"they shall stand before kings." The Phoenicians centered their efforts on commercial pursuits, and they secured almost exclusively the carrying trade of antiquity. The general's stern features and commanding figure were suggest-ive of one who had obeyed the bugle's call and led the charge to the mouths of belching cannon; one hardened by the carnage and death-agony of fields lost and won. Contrast, if you will, two great warriors to two great nations— Napoleon and Washington. Napoleon welded together into one vast domain many parts of Europe; Washington gained the inde-pendence of the American colonies. Napoleon worked for vain glory and aggrandizement; Washington fought for a cherished principle—a noble end. Napoleon "stamped his name upon the bricks of Paris;" Washington in the hearts of his countrymen. Sparta devoted her attention to military pursuits and she pro-duced a race of warriors of whose deeds and endurance we read with wonder. The statesman and orator, whose voice was heard on various occasions, could sway his auditors, which was one aim —perhaps he had a higher. The lives of Adams, Madison, Web-ster, Clay, Calhoun, Douglas, Lincoln, Blaiue present the various phases of achievement that result from the tendencies and attitudes of the men; but these are familiar. Athens sought orators and she produced them—"Orators that commanded silence in the very streets while the}'- spoke in the as-semblies. '' The poet sung his way to the hearts of the people and left cheer and inspiration there—which was his ambition. Milton's Paradise Eost is the result of great effort. Grey spent seven years on his Elegy. There was a time when England gave much attention to literature, and in the Elizabethan Age she produced Spencer, Shakespeare and Bacon together with many others scarcely less famous. THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 115 But Ernest! He, like the others had heard the story of the mountain image in youth; but, unlike them, he had made it the study of his life. // was his ideal. He had seen it dimly through the morning fogs; he had seen it when the noonday sun made it effulgent or the storm-cloud cast over it an ominous shadow; he had looked upon it at evening until the ebon curtains of night shut itoff from mortal gaze. He it was Who had grown to resemble The Old Man of the Mountains; he was the counterpart of The Great Stone Face. TWO JOHN SMITHS L. W. GROSS, '01 TN a remote settlement in one of the upper counties of Pennsyl- •"■ vania there lived two men who both had the popular name of John Smith. Strange as it may seem, neither was related to the other nor to their illustrious namesake—the Virginia hero. These two men lived in a region once famous for its giant murmuring pines and its hemlocks, whose size is to this day re-vealed by the massive stumps which the. settlers removed from the ground and dragged to the roadside for the purpose of construct-ing iences on either side. Oftentimes the belated traveler would mistake their crooked gnarled roots, raised high above his head, for some giant ready to strike him down with a club. So fantastic and strange they appeared, making all sorts of weird forms and designs as they cast their crooked shadows athwart the road in the moonlight, that they startled and frightened anyone passing along this lonely road by night. In order to distinguish these two strange characters they were each given a special name to designate which John Smith was meant in talking about them. The one was called "Devil" John and the other "Lightning" John. Both names were descriptive of the personality of each man. Both persons were famous in the community. Of their early history I know nothing, but as my fancy pictures them to me now, I see them as aged men, perhaps 45 years of age. "Devil" John is tall, broad shouldered and slightly stooped. He goes about without a coat and has his trousers crowded into the tops of his boots. He wears a slouched hat and a lumberman's flannel shirt. He has long dark hair, mixed with gray, reaching nearly to his shoulders. His eyes are 116 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY small and of a grayish color, deeply set in his head, overhung by thick bristling eyebrows, and moved restlessly about when one looked at him. On the left side of his face is a scar which he says he received in an encounter with a bear. His face is nearly covered by his beard and moustache. His entire appearance arouses one's suspicion, yet his dealings with his neighbors are faultless. This man was the stage driver from the nearest railroad station to this particular place, which was a distance of sixteen miles. The way lay mostly through mountains and it required a full day to make the journey. To hear him relate his adventures with huge rattlesnakes, bears and highwaymen on the route made one think that he was a veritable "Tom Pinch." But this particular Smith's fame did not only consist in being a stage driver. That was a very small part of it. What he really was famous for was the fact that he was the biggest, the most skillful and accomplished liar in the community, besides other characteristics which contributed to his fame as a "character." Whenever the question in regard to the relative amount of pleasure derived from the pursuit or the realization of an object comes up, I think of a ride a young school teacher took on this particular stage. In contemplation of his journey he imagined himself seated on top of a huge coach, like a king upon his throne, with a coat-of-arms emblazoned upon the sides of the body of the vehicle. He imagined himself being drawn by at least four spirited horses at a full round gallop down the Narrows, around dangerous passes, over hill and dale. This was in contemplation. But what he realized when he stepped from the platform of the railway train was to find a disreputable old bay horse hitched to what was once a skeleton road wagon. It had been lengthened in order to make room for a trunk or two behind the driver's seat which was covered by a yellow umbrella. When the teacher inquired for the stage this odd combination was pointed out to him, and in a short time he was being driven over this route by the famous "Devil" John Smith. It took but a short time for the fact that he was the new school teacher to be known to the driver, and then into the credulous ears of this timid youth, who was already beginning to feel the pangs of disappointment and homesickness, were poured tales of all the bad boys in the school, making them appear as desperadoes, cowboys and veritable imps. THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 117 He was told about the number of teachers who had been turned out of the school during the last term. All these stories were so well told that the unsuspecting pedagogue could not help but believe them, and before he was halfway over the route he wished himself in any other part of the world. The little children were deathly afraid of "Devil" John and would scamper away whenever they saw him coming. It was rumored that when his two children were sick with diphtheria he intentionally gave them carbolic acid instead of the proper medi-cine and thus killed them in a few minutes. This wicked act caused the children in the neighborhood to fear him. "Devil" John was also very irreligious, never being known to attend a religious service, and he frequently cursed his good wife who was a constant church goer. "Lightning" John Smith was famous for being the ugliest man as well as the loudest shouting Methodist in that part of the country. In appearance he resembled a Galilean bedouin. His hair and eyes were jet black. Beneath a scanty black mustache a row of well-preserved and very white teeth displayed themselves. Unlike the other John Smith he would drive for hours through cold winter nights in order to give his experience in the regular series of protracted meetings held in the Methodist church of that village during the winter months. He invariably began to speak slowly and in a moderate tone, but the longer he spoke the louder he became, until he fairly shrieked, bringing his hard fist down on the back of the pew for emphasis at the end of each sentence. The torrent of words and blows could be heard by passersby, who ofttimes took the commotion for the ravings of a mad man. After continuing his cries and shouting for some time he would sit down and wipe the perspiration from his brow. Thus we have a picture of two characters which have been interesting to me, and I doubt not that many others have seen these two persons in their own community under other names. c^p In every act reflect upon the end; and in the undertaking it consider why you do it.—JEREMY TAYLOR. 118 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY ON A SUNLIT HARBOR J. R. S., '01 On the pier of a beautiful harbor stand Three figures garbed in royal array, With anxiety stamped on their noble brows,— A youthful hero, and honored gray. 'Neath the watery horizon the sun reclines ! A sea of fire 's on the face of the deep! But the delicate hues from the sky shine not In a sea of glass; for wavelets leap. And the eyes of the three are fixed on a spot Far out on the troubled, uneasy sea; For the tide is receding and the breeze is brisk And a precious gem is borne to the lee. The gold and the violet and the pale green flame, Like the colors of a mighty banner flung On the harbor,—were caught by the playful waves, And from their crests in splendor hung. It was not this grandeur that held their gaze, Enrapt by the scene an only child Was carelessly drifting to the open sea, And tempests were rising o'er breakers wild. Said the father to the hero, "She ventured too far She can never return against those odds." And the stately mother with silvering locks Disturbed the silence by heart-breaking sobs. In an instant two skiffs, the pursued and pursuing, Were afloat in a splendor, rare and unreal, That makes life in this world an ecstasy, A glorious, painless star,—an ideal. And as twilight drew its shades o'er the deep The ideal became the real, indeed; For the rescue is complete and the treasure regained And hope made joy by a noble deed. When daisies pied, and violets blue, And lady-smocks all silver white, And cuckoo buds of yellow hue Do paint the meadows with delight. —SHAKBSPBARE. THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 119 TENNYSON'S "IN MEMORIAM" CLYDE B. WEIKEBT, '02 HPO attempt to criticise such a piece of literature as the "In A Memoriam" of Tennyson would be rashness on the part of one whom insufficient study and poor interpretation of thought has acquainted with but few ideas of the real import of the poem. This work has been done more or less ably by men of culture in the art of criticism, and to these we willingly commit the task, being satisfied ourselves with an attempt at the comparison of this work to several others alike in character; and with an estimate of the poem, its merits and worth. In comparing this poem with the "Lycidas" of Milton we are at once made conscious of a vast diversity in degree of feeling in the hearts of the two authors. Milton mourns for the loss of his friend but his sorrow is obviously not so deep-seated as that which Tennyson pours forth in the endearing terms of the "In Memor-iam." The relation of the former poet to the subject of his song was tender and full of feeling, but the intimacy that existed be-tween Tennyson and Hallam was infinitely closer. In the one case it was the love of friend for friend; in the other of brother for brother, mortal man for his ideal,—almost perfect love. This love is expressed in a poem by Milton that compares with the feeling expressed in the verses by Tennyson only as a set of res-olutions framed by a secret society on the death of a brother does with the tender verses penned by a mother on the death of her child. The circumstances of King's death and the sorrow caused by . it are not treated philosophically by Milton in the "Lycidas" as are the like circumstances by Tennyson in the "In Memoriam." His departure from this life is deeply regretted, but the pangs caused by his death are not referred to as bringing blessings in disguise to us. Sorrow is not represented as elevating or as de-signed to better our condition; as making us more perfect morally or spiritually. Separation from loved ones is not mollified by any such vivid assurances of a happy meeting in the hereafter. The thought of the departed ones is not used as a guiding star by which we can regulate our aims and measure our achievements. Again, Milton does not indulge in any of the happy explana-tions or rather suggestive questions concerning the future state of the soul as does Tennyson. These almost inexplicable problems 120 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY are dealt with in a most interesting way by the author of the "In Memoriam," for instead of expressing his own beliefs he rather intimates happy and probable solutions and gives to the mind of the reader a subject for thought. The most notable of our innate curiosities concerning eternity are voiced and the poet does not seemingly shun any one of them. Milton happily refers to his friend in glory but does not suggest near so many of his possible conditions there. The thought in the "Lycidas" is not so subtle, nor is the trac-ing of the poet's meaning nearly so difficult a task as in the "In Memoriam," yet its many mythological references render it far less enjoyable and less capable of interpretation by the unschol-arly. The poem of Tennyson's seems to conform more closely to Milton's statement, "Poetry should be simple, sensuous, and pas-sionate," than does his own. Shelley treats the death of John Keats in his "Adonais" more extensively than Milton does that of his friend in the "Lycidas.'' However, it may be said as was concerning the latter that the sorrow for Keats was not so heart-felt; his death did not affect the author so directly as Hallam's did Tennyson. Furthermore, the philosophical treatment is less as are also the intimations concern-ing eternity. The thought is more subtle than in the "Lycidas," though still far inferior to the "In Memoriam," and the language is less scholastic. But the poem seems to be more of a reprimand or an accusation against the author of the harsh criticisms against Keats, rather than a loving memorial and eulogy on his life. Words again fail in attempting an estimate of this poem. Pardoning a personal reference, let it be said that never has any piece of literature appealed to my emotions more than this. Never has the light and purity of perfect love for a friend been shown so forcibly as was by Tennyson in this memorial of Arthur Hallam. Ideality of character and ambitions seem to be the chief attributes which are assigned to his friend and these are worshipped with a steadfast devotion. A perfect consciousness of the super-iorities of his ideal kept the worshipper forever in loving awe of the worshipped one and became his only delight. The philosophical treatment of the subject is excellent. The poet never allows himself to become so enveloped in the cloud of sorrow as not to be able to see the light beyond. Through each pang which Hallam's death has caused him he sees the refinement THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 121 of his own nature. His death he realizes to be only the opportu-nity for further development which will render him a more perfect model after which to mould his own life. Even the spring-tide, when the advent of Arthur's birthday approaches is used to rep-resent the glorious season of immortality when friend shall meet friend to part no more. As to the allusions to the future, nothing could be more probable and suggestive than his opinions. The intimation of the development of the mind in after life along all lines of knowl-edge and wisdom on a more rapid and perfect scale is beautiful. The hope for recognition in glory is full of pathos and contains a happy, consoling thought. His reference to his friend as being with God, where he is only in his true sphere, shows a faith that is boundless and displays the most confident trust. Surely noth-ing could be more full of belief in and admiration for the Divine than the verse with which the poem is concluded: That God, which ever lives and moves, One God, one law, one element, And one far-off divine event, To which the whole creation moves." SONNET I think of her and try, all through the day, To see her face, and as I persevere L,ove lets me see, but the sweet lips appear Cold, and the eyes not yielding' blue, but gray, Hard gray ; her whole form seems to say me nay. In all the din of day I cannot hear Her voice ; but in the night it seems so near, Laughing and chiding all my doubt away, So near, I almost feel her breath ; I crave Fancy of I^ove ; he sweeps me with his wing And all the air around is sweet with her : I feel her breast to mine like a swelling wave And lingering lips light love-words murmuring, Melt into mine in a soft slipping blur. Mortimer Stirling, from Red and Blue. THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY Entertdat the Postojjice at Gettysburg as second-class matter Voi,. X GETTYSBURG, PA., JUNE, 1901 No. 4 E. C. RUBY, '02, Editor-in- Chief R. ST. CLAIR POFFENBARGER,' 02, Business Manager J. P. NEWMAN, '02, Exchange Editor Assistant Editors Miss ANNIE M. SWAHTZ, '02 A. B. RICHARD, '02 Advisory Board PROF. J. A. HIMES, A. M., LIT. D. PROF. G. D. STAHLBY, M. D. PROF. J. W. RICHARD, D. D. Assistant Business Manager CURTIS E. COOK, '03 Published each month, from October to June inclusive, by the joint literary societies of Pennsylvania (Gettysburg1) College. Subscription price, One Dollar a year in advance; single copies Fifteen Cents. Notice to discontinue sending the MERCURY to any address must be accompanied by all arrearages. Students, Professors, and Alumni are cordially invited to contribute. All subscriptions and business matter should be addressed to the Business Manager. Articles for publication should be addressed to the Editor. Address THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY, GETTYSBURG, PA. EDITORIALS ¥ ITERARY societies are voluntary associations for educational ■"-^ purposes. They are entirely separate from the regular course of school and college work. In many instances they are established by the students themselves, and the officers are usually chosen from their own numbers. This gives them the opportun-ity to learn how to preside at public meetings and to become fa-miliar with the recognized methods of conducting the affairs per-taining to such organizations. It is in these societies that the young parliamentarian learns to make a motion or to rise to a point of order; the aspiring debater displays his skill in convincing his hearers that his opponents are wrong; and the coming orator pours forth his eloquence to his heart's content. THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 123 The debates, the essays and the orations develop the powers of observation and expression. They promote readiness and in-dependence. Are these not some of the most valuable things which a man, who goes out into the world to try its realities, ought to possess ? Do we as students fully realize the importance of such an equipment ? In all true education the amount of knowledge communicated, however important it may be, is an entirely subordinate matter compared with the mental desires that are aroused and the mental power that is stored up. I once heard a man say that he did not care so much whether the teacher taught his son the facts in his-tory, but he did want him to create in him a taste for history. This expresses exactly the idea of our college course. How few, indeed, are the facts which we as students are able to gather while under the instruction of the professor compared with those that are gathered by men who are working by themselves in some chosen profession! Some of us regret that not more time can be spent in the classroom on the subject of botany. If the professor has succeeded in arousing a taste for the subject he has accom-plished his work. The student will then become his own teacher and a better one he could not find anywhere. The same is true in the department of literature. How few are the authors to whom we get but an introduction ! But if we have been led to love lit-erature, or have been made hungry, we will not be satisfied with what we get in the classroom. Could not the same be said of all the college work ? We should not come to college with the ex-pectation of going away with a load of facts and a feeling that we have all we want. If we do not go away with a greater appetite than when we came, we might as well have remained at home. c^P Duty is a power which rises with us in the morning and goes to rest with us at night. It is the shadow which cleaves to us, go where we will, and which only leaves us when we leave the light of life.—GLADSTONE. 124 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY THE PRESENT DlfEICULTY BETWEEN RUSSIA AND JAPAN ARTHUR B. RICHARDS, '02 rT,HE current literature of the last mouth has had much to say *■ concerning the threatened war between Japan and Russia. The province of Manchuria, situated on the eastern coast of Siberia, seems to be the bone of contention. Each nation has her own distinct reasons for wishing to bring this province under her control. What Russia desires is a harbor in the east. She now owns the greater part of Siberia, but can not develop the resources of this vast territory nearly so well as she could were she able to reach the eastern markets. With a seaport in the east Russia could greatly increase her commerce; she could trade directly with the islands of the Pacific. But in order to reach a harbor she must go through the center of Manchuria and she is now striving to hold this country until she can secure the right of way. Japan, on the other hand, has not room at home to accommo-date her industrious and ever-increasing population. The people can not all be cared for on the small island, and Japan has long been looking to Manchuria as a possible outlet. Moreover, Japan had gained a landing in Manchuria during the war with China in 1895, but was forced by Russia to withdraw. This Japan has not yet forgotten, nor is she ready to forgive it. These, in brief, are the principal causes of the threatened war. In case war were toensue.it is generally conceded that Russia would prove too strong for her rival. Manchuria would be the objective point, and could probably be reached and a landing effected by Japan. But she would be unable to hold out long against the superior laud force of Russia. In round numbers, Russia's army has 1,250,000 men to Japan's 90,000. Russia's troops, by the thousands, could be hurried across Siberia by means of the newly constructed railway, while Japan would be compelled to bring her army by the slow process of transportation. These considerations show that Japan's hope of success is very small, and with such odds against her it is not likely that she will be willing to clash arms with the formidable Russians. THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 125 THE BADGE OF COURAGE CARRIE E. INGLEBIRT, '04 'T'HIS expression is doubtless familiar to nearly every one by ■"■ reason ol its being almost identical with the title of a recent and very popular book. You can read the words, pass on, and pay little attention to them, yet if the reader pauses and takes a deeper insight into them they gradually unfold a meaning which is far from being insignificant. Courage is a spiritual or innate force, which enables one to face trouble, danger, and even death, with that fearlessness which characterized the sainted martyrs of mediaeval days when being led forth to the stake. Amid the jeers and hisses of the surging crowds, they sang hymns. The American of today, living at too fast a pace to sing slow meter psalms in the face of danger, cheer-fully whistles. It is a somewhat common or popular opinion that courage can only be displayed upon the field of battle or other public places, in which the chief actors appear before the eye of the public. But this contention is false and unreasonable, as can be proven by examples almost without number. In all the humbler walks of life men and women, unseen and almost unheard of, show themselves to be heroes and heroines of the most courageous type. Do not the city papers bring to our notice page aftef page of noble soul-stirring deeds performed at a most perilous risk of life ? And despite the idea that news items are often fictitious, these cannot all be the products of ingenious reporters. With no disparagement to the soldier, it may be said that he has ever before him, as a stimulus to courageous deeds, the hope of promotion from the ranks. But no such red badge of courage adorns the man who saves another in distress, passes on into the crowds, and is lost sight of. Such instances are witnessed fre-quently in our large cities. The laurel and myrtle wreaths are reserved exclusively for those who are valorous in time of public danger, while the one who, from an unselfish Christian motive, takes his life in his hand, remains unrecognized. Out of the multiplicity of instances may we not treat of just a few ? To whom shall the badge of courage go with more pro-priety or justness than to those who leave home, and all the 126 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY sacred interests which are clustered around the homestead, and sail far away, across the sea to the sunny isles of a southern clime, there to become ministering angels to the suffering human beings stricken with leprosy. It is almost certain to be their first and last journey ; for who, with the meagre knowledge of man, can tell when they, too, will be in the same sad plight ? Let us also spare a kindly thought for the mothers, wives and clear ones of the hero who buckles on his belt and sword and goes forth to war. Must not pain and anguish almost wrack those fond hearts at the separation, which can so easily be final ? Surely, do the dear ones at home anxiously scan the daily mortality list, as sent out by the army. And then the startling intelligence reaches them that their hero has gone down in battle, or, sadder still, has fallen a victim to the wages of disease. No more will his cheery whistle resound through the house, or his happy smile chase the shadows of care and trouble away as the rising sun dis-pels the morning mist. It is altogether befitting that upon these sorrow-laden ones we pin the badge of courage. What emblem of courage should we give to such as these for their self-sacrificing devotion to their trust ? Theirs is the self-consciousness of work well done, of obligation carried out, of duty faithfully fulfilled, and no more honorable badge of courage can be secured at our hands than this. They know, as Christians, that they have answered the demands of their Maker, and the ringing plaudits of the people are as the singing of birds in their ears. The highest aspiration in life should be to do the best at all times, and in all places. And now, this having been done, a distinct feeling of satisfaction must surely be felt. Having endeavored to prove the theory already advanced, may we not conclude that the true badge of courage is not neces-sarily the red one for valor in time of danger, but is really the white, that one symbolic of purity and innocence, which is not secured in this sphere, but when the possessor has left the earthly scenes, and stands forth in the clear radiance of another world, then is the true reward, the real badge of courage, seen in its highest and holiest sense. The hearts of men are their books; events are their tutors; great actions are their eloquence.—Macaulay. THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 127 TRANSLATION OF HORACE I. 35 ABDEL E. WENTZ, JK., '04 O peaceful goddess, favored Antium's queen, Thou who canst raise a humble man to fame, And turn proud triumphs wondrous to be seen To funerals—all men adore thy name. The rustic farmer prays to thee in fear; To thee as mighty mistress of the sea, Whoever tries through boisterous waves to steer, Directs his prayer, that he secure may be. The warlike Dacian flees before thy face; Whole towns and nations look to thee for aid. The strength of kings depends upon thy grace; The power of despots all on thee is staid. They know that thou canst overthrow the state, And quickly rouse the idle ones to arms; They stand before thee trembling lest their fate Shall prove thee to be worthy of alarms. Stern Doom is ever foremost in thy train; She bears her emblems in her brazen hand: The huge beam—nail, the wedge, the clamps, the chain, And melted lead, to make thy edicts stand. Pure Faith and Hope are both thy steadfast friends, They follow thee whatever may betide; To thee each one an earnest friendship lends, Nor can misfortune drive them from thy side. As Caesar sails for distant Britain's shore, Do thou protect and keep him by thy might; Defend our youthful soldiers, we implore, And may they be successful in the fight. Alas! the awful crimes in which we've shared! Too long have civil wars abased our pride; What altars in our madness have we spared? What kind of evil have we left untried? O grant to forge the blunted sword anew! Remove from us the cause of all our woes; Bestow on us thy grace in all we do, And help us to subdue our cruel foes. 128 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY THE USE OF THE NOVEL BESS DRAIS, '04 TX EPRIVED of books the world would be robbed of one of its *-/ most essential joys. They are one of the few profitable things that afford unalloyed pleasure. In books, the mind has scope, something to develop its power and something that feeds it. There are thousands of standard works of fiction which are wholesome in tendency, purely educators of the mind. The bright accounts of travel, witty discussions, lively or pathetic story-telling in the form of a novel, is a singular characteristic of the present age. We should read them not merely to be occupied but to weigh and consider, although their purpose is, in a measure, to delight, relieve and amuse. A novel to be of great value, however, must be true to life. If it excites sympathy it will help us to see our own faults as well as the failings of others and will teach us to make an allowance for human nature. The novel superseded the drama when the latter had become unprofitable; not content with this, it makes high aims to rival history by discussing the great deeds of the past and the burning questions of the present; for its general use is culture, teaching history or science, thus reaching many people with its truths which would not be read elsewhere. In times of despondency, when even life seems monotonous, novels sustain and cheer, showing us the truest side of human na-ture which we are often inclined to imitate. Grounded on truth they arouse our moral imagination causing us to think—to think very seriously of our own weak selves. But truth is not the only requisite. The novel, to be profitable as well as entertaining, needs love. Of course I do not mean that sentimental art of love-making,' but rather a tender feeling for hu-manity and the conditions of man. Hawthorne, in his novels, pictures a higher ideal of life by making virtue more attractive and vice more repulsive. He goes deeper and higher than mere literalness; he. sees life as a whole but after all the true things are the spiritual things. At a certain age we are most amused by the unnatural and supernatural, but, as it has been said, when we grow older we realize that life itself has the best outlook for us and the most interesting fiction is that THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY . 129 which shows us life as it is. So every novel does have a purpose,' and whatever that purpose ma)' be it will be truly noble if built on the appreciation of human love, human courage and human character. A VISIT TO VALHALLA P. W. EYSTER, '03 /^\NE day in May after a shower of rain, a student while walk- ^^ ing over the scene of Pickett's charge in quest of relics found a ring, which had been washed out of the ground. On close examination he found it to be a broad, silver ring, which bore the device of two triangles, crossing each other in such a way as to form the representation of a star. King Solomon, the Wise, is said to have invented this device, which is of great use to enchanters and conjurers, but as the student was not well versed in the signs of magic he could not appreciate its value and carelessly placing the ring on the little finger of his left hand, returned to college. He was a member of society and attended the parties and enter-tainments given by the hospitable people of Gettysburg. In the latter part of May, on a beautiful moonlight night, there was a party given by his friends near L,ittle Round Top. He went to this party where he enjoyed himself until a late hour, when he saw that a certain young lady got home safely. He challenged her to walk on Little Round Top past the statue of Gen. Warren. She being active, accepted the challenge. They left their friends and when they reached the summit, being out of breath, they seated themselves on a rock near the statue for a brief rest. While they were resting, the statue commenced to speak, moving its jaws as if rusted from disuse. It said, "You, young man, have a ring on your finger bearing the representation of a star; that ring is the key to Valhalla. The fates have decreed that the gates of Valhalla shall not be opened by the hand of a man, even though he possess the ring with the star, but if the young lady will touch the rock upon which I stand after you have placed the silver ring on her finger, the gates of Valhalla shall for the first time be opened to mortal man." The ring having been placed on the young lady's finger, she touched the rock upon which the statue stands. Immediately there was a loud report like that of thunder, and the rock moved 130 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY aside leaving an opening where the two entered. After entering they found themselves on a grassy plain. They saw at a distance a body of English soldiers dressed in bright red uniforms, lined up for battle. Soon another body of soldiers appeared but not so gayly dressed as the other. At the head of this was the venerable George Washington preparing to fight for the thousandth and first time the battle of Yorktown. Washington rode before his men and said: "See those Red-coats, shoot for their belts, we must win the day or perish on a bed of honor." The English advanced, but the soldiers of the "land of the free and the home of the brave" being determined to win drove the Redcoats over their entrenchments. The visitors advanced farther and saw at a distance embank-ments of cotton-bales and earth thrown up, behind which were a few thousand men. Seeing Andrew Jackson riding near them they asked him what his men were waiting for. He said, "They are waiting to thrash the army which defeated Napoleon on the world-famed battlefield of Waterloo." The English army ad-vancing under Gen. Packenham soon attacked the embankments of Jackson's soldiers but was driven back in confusion under a writhing fire from the American guns. The next scene which met the visitors' eyes was a battle be-tween soldiers wearing the blue and those wearing the gray. As a regiment of soldiers were filing past the visitors, the young man asked a soldier, who was in the rear, what they were about to do. He replied, "We are going to fight the battle of Gettysburg, where we will show to the world that 'Republics shall stand and king-doms fall.' And we will teach the kings of Europe that 'a gov-ernment of the people, for the people, and by the people' is a possibility." By this time the battle was going on in dead earn-est. Valhalla was resounding from the artillery duel between the contending armies. Soon a division of the Confederate army, advancing from the smoke, charged the Union breast-works. A hand to hand conflict ensued, and above the rattle of the musketry could be heard the groans of the wounded and dying men. During the excitement of the battle the young lady carelessly lost the ring, when there was a clap of thunder and the visitors again stood on Little Round Top. Oh! had this woman not been so careless as to lose the key to Valhalla, we might visit at our leisure the warriors contending on the bloody battle-field of Val- THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 131 halla. But just as Eve was the cause of the downfall of man, so this Gettysburg maid, one of the daughters of Eve, was the cause of the loss of the key to that mysterious realm of the soldiers' heaven. But what is the use of mourning over the misfortunes of mankind, since we cannot add a cubit to our stature. After they had stood for a while on Eittle Round Top, breathing the atmosphere of mortal men, they started for the young lady's home. When the two separated, they promised each other to keep their visit to Valhalla a secret. But putting a secret in a woman's braiu is like pouring water on a sieve. So, dear reader, I have the pleasure of recording the incidents of a visit to Valhalla. c*$J AN INDIAN LEGEND A. 0. WOLFE, '04 To the westward, afar o'er the prairies is the land where the Sierra Nevadas Rear aloft their bald heads to the heavens; and reach out with their mystical shadows, Just as though the grim soul of the mountains stretched its hundred hands forth o'er the valley, To rebeckon its armies of whirlwinds, or to summon its thunders to rally. There the smiling- Yosemite valley, 'neath the sheltering crags of the mountains, Robed in tropical green and in freshness as is grass near the spray of a fountain, Stretches out with its slow winding river; and with a waving ocean of petals, Attempts, in its alluvial bosom, to conceal all its glittering metals. In the valley a town of the Shoshones, nestled snugly 'tween mountain and river, Seemed asleep in the afternoon sunlight; for the red men with bow and with quiver, Far away o'er the snowy capped mountains, sought the flesh of the deer on the prairie Or the lumbering buffalo hunted. The village, by the wand of a fairy, Seemed a quaint painting conjured on canvas; e'en the butterfly breezes were leaving The fierce watch dogs alone to their dreaming; and the squaws stopped anon at their weaving 132 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY With the maidens to witness the sunset. At some distance removed from the village Walked the wife of the red warrior's chieftain. She had gone the green meadow to pillage Of its succulent roots and its fruitage. To her right her child toddling and straying Neared the place where a crystal spring bubbling with itself like an infant was playing. From aloft in the transparent ether on bold pinions descended an eagle, Which at first seemed a speck in the zenith; then as bent on a purpose illegal, Nearer and larger it grew till at length, like a bolt from a bow it de-scended, Grasped ithe Indian child in its talons, and aloft to the wild crags ascended. Such a scream from the lips of the mother as might waken to life the departed, Roused the idling maids in the village. They beheld as she frantically started Up the steep ragged side of the mountain, that she further and further retreated In pursuit of her child and the eagle. But her journey was not half completed Ere a wild hissing sound through the branches, the dark gathering clouds and the thunder, The swift pattering fall of the rain drops, and the tossing of tree tops in wonder, All proclaimed the approach of the tempest. The elements crash! The wild winds bellow! And the day reels and rocks into darkness. Then the lightning shot forth in the yellow And sulphurous turmoil of ether in a network of serpentine flashing, Till the hills on their very foundations seemed to rock at its terrible crashing. And the storm is abroad in the mountains! The oracular hills and the hollows Are appalled at the noise of his stamping; and the brook in the gulch where he wallows L,eaps its bounds, in its anger, a torrent. Then from bastion to bastion each moment In the chaldron of vapor below with a roaring and rumbling the sound went Of the battering peal of the thunder. Millions or more of roused echoes arose When the wind rushing forth in his fury, left the blue ocean in placid repose And encamped 'mong the paralyzed hemlocks. And he howls as he hounds down his quarry. THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 133 And his lash tears the hair of the oak tree, which, with womanish fear in its flurry, As it clings to the rock with torn garments, is bewailing- its fate and the morning'. Then this fierce guide of storm and of terror rushes off with a hoarse note of warning Through the intricate maze of the branches. There is war in the skies! And the midnight, Doubly mocked by its own apparitions, quickly cringes and shrinks from the flashlight Of the murderous bolt of the lightning. Then the storm passes on to the ocean, And has left the dark mountains in quiet and the night-fairies filled with emotion. But the Indian child and the mother passed from life into death in its maelstroms; And the eagle bore skyward their spirits to the glad Hunting Ground of the Shoshones. As they sail through the night wind, richly lit by the glow of the moon-light, The bright orbs of the sky in amazement reel and swim in their oceans of starlight. All the spirits of beasts of the forest quickly flee the approach of the stranger, As a herd of wild deer on the prairie run away at the first sign of danger- Then a buffalo, older and wiser to oppose their advancing, had started, But the bold, fearless soul of the mother raised her hand and the wild beast departed; And at once in its place was the sunrise, was the glad Hunting Ground of the Shoshones. EXCHAINGES IT is a relief to turn from the somewhat tedious prose articles of * the college magazine to its lighter contents. We are not among those who say that the literary monthly should be com-posed entirely of short stories, but we do believe there should be enough light material to relieve the tedium which necessarily arises from the perusal of a number of theoretical articles, which are often difficult of comprehension. Because of its pleasing va-riety, The College Student holds first place among our last month's exchanges. Nearly all the magazines contain some fiction—The Touchstone and The Lesbian Herald too much, according to our opinion. 134 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY "The Poet's Corner" of the Dickinson Literary Monthly is always entertaining. " The "Wreck " is a vivid descriptive poem in the last number. The Shakespeare edition of The Coitey College Chronicle is full of excellent articles on the great dramatist and his work. Half-tones of the poet, his own and Ann Hathaway's home, make the magazine very attractive. " Nescius Aurae Fallacis " in The Western University Courant is the title of a story on a phase of college life which is probably familiar to most students. A PICTURE OF FANCY I. There's a vale in the far away mountains Where the pinnacle barriers stand Like guards in the outskirts of nature To shut in the peace of the land. Here, wild and alone, great boulders are strewn And there sweeps a beautiful lawn; And the Angel of Light brings a rose every night To hang on the curtains of dawn. II. She forgets not to pause in the evening And spread o'er the heavens a glow, With a picture whose secret of painting No mortal man ever shall know; When the stars are asheen and the skies are serene, And the soft clouds gently are driven, She changes the scene and the moon glides between Like a ray through the window of heaven. III. I gaze on the depths of the morning And all like a glory doth seem, I find in the twilight resplendent, A divine and immaculate dream. And touched by the wand of some magical hand, All the raptures of fancy unroll; And a music unknown, like a deep undertone, Is awaked in the harp of the soul. THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 135 IV. Would I Bell the sweet picture of fancy- Though its being were nought but a name? No not for the wormwood of glory, And not for the bubble of fame. It is sweet to be near to the eye and the ear, Of a Father who watches above, To study how grand are the works of His hand, And to catch little secrets of love. Ex. How much energy, vitality, effort, is being expended every day fruitlessly because of the want of intelligent application ! Even among students of college there are some who, though they are sincerely studious in their daily work, pass through their course without having attained the best which their opportunity affords and their efforts seem to deserve.—Ex. "To me, I swear, you're a volume rare;" But she said, with a judicious look, "Your oath's not good by common law, Until you've kissed the book." —Ex. THE COLLEGE GIRL There's a gladness in her gladness When she's glad; There's a sadness in her sadness When she's sad; But the gladness of her gladness, And the sadness of her sadness, Aren't a marker to the madness Of her madness When she's mad. —Ex, PATRONIZE OUR ADVERTISERS. Botcher Beef, Veal, Pork, Lamb, Sausages. Special rates to Clubs. In buying don't forget the Advertisers; They support us. ESTABLISHED 1867 BY ALLEN WALTON. ALLEN K. WALTON, President aud Treasurer. ROBT. J. WALTON, Superintendent. flammeistomn Bromti Stone Gompany Quarrymen and Manufacturers of Building Stone, Sawed Flagging and Tile Waltonville, Dauphin Co., Pa. Contractors for all kinds of Telegraph and Express Address. Cut Stone Work. BROWNSTONE, PA. Parties visiting the Quarries will leave cars at Brownstone Station on the P. & R. R. R. For a nice sweet loaf of Bread call on J. RAiUER Baker of Bread and Fancy Cakes, GETTYSBURG. PA. ~ EIMER & AMEND, Manufacturers and Importers of Chemicals and Chemical Apparatus 205, 307, 209 and 211 Third Avenue, Corner 18th Street NEW YORK. Finest Bohemian and German Glassware, Royal Berlin and Meissen Porcelain, Pure Hammered Platinum, Balances and Weights. Zeiss Mi-croscopes and Bacteriological Apparatus; Chemical Pure Acids and Assay- Goods. SCOTT PAPER COMPANY MAKERS OF FINE TOILET PAPER 7th and Greenwood Ave. PHILADELPHIA PATRONIZE OUR ADVERTISERS. The Century Double-Feed Fountain Pen. Fully Warranted J6 Kt. Gold Pen, Iridium Pointed. GEO. EVELER, Agent for Gettysburg College PRICE LIST. No. 1. No. 1. No. 3. No. 3. Chased, long or short $2 00 Gold Mounted 3 00 Chased 3 00 Gold Mounted 4 00 Spiral, Black or Mottled $2 SO Twist, " 2 50 Hexagon, Black or Mottled 2 SO Pearl Holder, Gold Mounted S 00 THE CENTURY PEN CO., WHITEWATER, WIS. Askyour Stationer or our Agent to show them toyou. Agood local agent wanted in every school 71 We Print This Book THE MT. HOLLY STATIONERY AND PRINTING CO. does all classes of Printing- and Binding-, and can furnish you any Book, Bill Head, Letter Head, Envelope, Card, Blank, or anything pertain-ing to their business in just as good style and at less cost than you can obtain same elsewhere. They are located among the mountains but their work is metropolitan. You can be convinced of this if you give them the opportunity. Mt. Holly Stationery and Printing Co. SPRINGS1;^A. H. S. BENNER, .DEALER IN. Groceries, Notions, Queensware, Glassware, Etc., Tobacco and Ggars. J7 CHAMBERSBURG ST. WE RECOMMEND THESE BUSINESS MEN. Pitzer House, (Temperance) JNO. E. PITZER, Prop. Rates $1.00 to $1.25 per day. Battlefield a specialty. Dinner and ride to all points of interest,including the th ree days* fig-lit, $1.25. No. 127 Main Street. You will find a full line of Pure Drugs and Fine Sta-tionery at the People's Drug Store Prescriptions a Specialty. J. A. TAWNEY_^_ Is ready to furnish Clubs and Boarding Houses with Bread, Rolls, Etc. At short notice and reasonable rates. Washington & Middle Sts., Gettysburg. R. A. WONDERS, Corner Cigar Parlors. A full line of Cigars, Tobacco, Pipes, Etc* Scott's Corner, Opp. Eagle Hotel. GETTYSBURG, PA. M. B. BENDER Furniture IRON BEDS, MATTRESSES, SPRINGS Picture Framing and Repair Work done Promptly 27 BALTIMORE ST. GETTYSBURG, PA. .00 TO. fjotel (Gettysburg Barber Sfyop. Centre Square. B. M. SEFTON W.F.CODORI, m^Tc^do^i Dealer in Beef, Pork, Lamb, Veal, Sausage. Special rates to Clubs. York St., GETTYSBURG. .GO TO. CHAS. E. BARBEHENN, Barber In the Eagle Hotel, Cor. Main and Washington Sts. CHAS. S. MUMPER (Formerly of Mumper & Bender) Furniture Having opened a new store opposite W. M. R. R. Depot, will be pleased to have you call and examine goods. Picture Framing promptly attended to. Repair Work a Specialty Students' Trade Solicited FAVOR THOSE WHO FAVOR US. Spalding's Official League Ball and Athletic Goods Officially adopted by the lead-ing Colleges, Schools and Athletic Clubs of the Country Every Requisite for— BASE BALL FOOT BALL OOLF TENNIS ATHLETICS GYMNASIUM Spalding's Official League Bail Is the Official Ball of the National Iveague, the princi-pal minor leagrues and all the leading college associations Handsome Catalogue of Base Ball and all Athletic Sports Free to any address Spalding's Offi-cial Base Ball Guide for 1901, edited by Henry Chadwick, ready March 30,1901. Price 10 cents. A. Q. SPALDINQ & BROS., Incorporated NEW YORK CHICAGO DENVER ROWE, Your Grocer Carries Pull Line ol Groceries, Canned Goods, Etc. Best Coal Oil and Brooms at most Reasonable Prices. OPPOSITE COLLEQE CAMPUS. S. J. CODORI, *#Druggists Dealer in Drugs, Medicines, Toilet Articles, J> Stationery, Blank Books, Amateur Pho-tographic Supplies, Etc., Etc. BALTIMORE ST. R. H. GULP PAPER HANGER, Second Square, York Street. COLLEGE EMBLEMS. EMIL ZOTHE, ENGRAVER, DESIGNER AND MANUFACTURING JEWELER. 19 S. NINTH ST. PHILADELPHIA SPECIALTIES: Masonic Marks, Society Badges, College Buttons, Pins, Scarf Pins, Stick Pins and Athletic Prizes. All Goods ordered through A. N. Beau. A. C Miller Job Printer Students' Trade Solicited Best of Work Guaranteed Meneely Bell Co. TROY, N. Y. MANUFACTURERS OF SUPERIOR BELLS The 2000 pound bell now ringing in the tower of Pennsylvania Col-lege was manufactured at this foundry. PATRONIZE OUR ADVERTISERS. The Pleased Customer Is not a stranger in our establish-ment— he's right at home, you'll see him when you call. We have the materials to please fastidious men. J. D. LIPPY, Merchant Tailor 39 Chambersburg" St., Gettysburg, Pa. L Try My Choice Line of .} £ High-Grade Chocolates 3 ¥¥ at 4flc per lb. Always fresh at CHAS. H. McCLEARY Carlisle St., Opposite W Also Foreign and Domestic Fruits A 3 ARY J Mil. R. R. p Y' Always on Hand. L. D. Miller, GROCER Confectioner and Fruiterer. Ice Cream and Oysters in Season. 19 Main St. GETTYSBURG City Hotel Main St. Gettysburg. Free 'Bus to and from all Trains Thirty seconds' walk from either depot Dinner with drive over field with four or more, $1.35 Rates $1.50 to $2.00 per day- John E. Hughes, Frop. Capitol Cits Cafe Cor. Fourth and Market Sts. HARRISBURG, PA. First-Class Rooms Furnished. Special Rates to Private Parties. Open Day and Night. European Plan. Lunch of All Kinds to Order at the Restaurant. ALDINGER'S CAPITOL CITY CAFE. POPULAR PRICES F. Mark Bream, Dealer in Fancy and Staple Groceries Telephone 29 Carlisle St., GETTYSBURG, PA. JxMijjJ^^hy .Photographer. No. 3 Main St., GETTYSBURG, PENNA. Our new effects in Portraiture are equal to photos made anywhere, and at any price. PATRONIZE OUR ADVERTISERS ftlrigbi 140-142 Woodward Avenue DETROIT, MICH. Manufacturers of High Grade Fraternity Emblems Fraternity Jewelry Fraternity Novelties Fraternity Stationery Fraternity Invitations Fraternity Announcements Fraternity Programs Send for Catalogue and Price List. Special Designs on Application. HOTEL GETTYSBURG LIVERY GETTYSBURG, PA. LONG & NOLTZWORTH, Proprietors Apply at Office in the Motel for First-Class Guides and Teams TME BATTLEFIELD A SPECIALTY Zhe Bolton Market Square Ibarrfaburg, ff»a. Large and Convenient Sample Rooms. Passeng-er and J5a.gga.ge Elevator. Electric Cars to and from Depot. Electric Light and Steam Heat. J. M. & M. S. BUTTERWORTH, Proprietors Special Rates for Commer-cial Men "EZ 1ST IMMER CUT ET WAS ZU WISSEIN." These are the words of Goethe, the great German poet, and are as true in our day as when uttered. In these times of defective vision it is good to know something about eyes. A great deal has been learned about the value of glasses and their application since Goethe lived. Spectacle wearers have increased by thousands, while at the same time, persons losing their eyesight have been greatly diminished. If your eyes trouble you in any way let me tell you the cause. Examination free and prices reasonable. We grind all our own lenses and fit the best lenses (no matter what anyone else has charged you) for $2.50 per pair and as cheap as SO cents per pair, or duplicate a broken lens if we have one-half or more of the old one, at a reasonable charge, returning same day received. .E. L. EGOLF. 807 and 809 North Third Street, FIARRISBURG, PA. PATRONIZE OUR ADVERTISERS. Pentpol J-fotel, ELIAS F1SSEL, Prop. (Formerly of Globe Hotel) Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, Pa. Two doors from Court House. MODERN IMPROVEMENTS. Steam Heat, Electric Lig-ht and Call Bells all through the House. Closets and Bath Rooms on Every Floor. Sefton & Flem-ming's Livery is connected with this Hotel. Good Teams and Competent Guides for the Battlefield. Charges Moderate, Satisfaction Guaranteed. Rates $1.50 Per Day. GET A SKATE ON And send all your Soiled Linen to the Gettysburg Steam Laundry R. R. LONG, Prop. Horace Partridge & Co., BOSTON, MASS. Fine Athletic Goods Headquarters for Foot Ball, Gym-nasium, Fencing and Track Supplies. Send for Illustrated Catalog. 84 and 86 Franklin Street R. W. LENKER, Agent at Penna. College. JOHN M. MINNIQH, Confeetionery, lee, • »««Iee Creams-*-* Oysters Stewed and Fried. No. 17 BALTIMORE ST. HARim §. 3EFTON The Leading Barber v>f)op (Successor to C. C. Sefton) Having1 thoroughly remodeled the place is now ready to accommodate the public Barber Supplies a Specialty. .Baltimore Street. GETTi^URCj., PA. ESTABLISHED 1876 PENROSE MYERS, Watchmaker and Jeweler Gettysburg Souvenir Spoons, Col-lege Souvenir Spoons. NO. lO BALTIMORE ST., GETTYSBURG, PENNA. L. t\. kiitm Manufacturers' Agent and Jobber of Hardware, Oils, Paints and Queensware. OETTYSBURa, PA. The Only Jobbing House in Adam* County. PATRONIZE OUR ADVERTISERS. For Fine. Printing go to Tfe Jo Co Wile foitiipg Honje CARLISLE ST. GETTYSBURG, PA. C. B. Kitzmiller Dealer in Hats, Caps, Boots and Douglas Shoes GETTYSBURG, PA. R. M. Elliott Dealer in Hats, Caps, Shoes and. Gents' Furnishing Goods Corner Center Square and Carlisle Street GETTYSBURG, PA. EDGARS. MARTIN, ^CIGARS AND SMOKERS' ARTICLES. %2** w^v^ Charnbersburg St., Gettysburg Leadership . IN THE CLOTHING and MEN'S PURNISHING Business It is strictly here—everybody knows it. Testimony? The stock itself. The pen suffi-ciently nimble to tell all the good points of our ::::::: FALL AND WINTER. SUITS AND OVERCOATS has not been found. We will keep you dressed right up-to-date if you buy your Clothing and Furnishings here. : : : : STIINE McPherson Block. No. II BALTIMORE STREET ,--.-;. Ibotcl (Bett^sbutQ. ©ett^burg, pa. ZlDerville IE. Ztnn, proprietor r^^^^gsS^S^S^-* The Leading Hotel Rates $2.00 per Day Long & Holtzworth Livery Attached Cuisine and Service First-Class Look for Wm. M. Seligman's Advertisement on this page in our next issue

AjN \Z r t SK*-*—*— DECEMBER, 1900 Qettysbtiir Mercury CONTENTS The End of the Nineteenth Cen-tury, 205 Pennsylvania College at the Close of the Nineteenth Cen-tury, 206 The Belles 208 The Mysterious Picture, . . 211 Father Hawkin's Observations, 215 King- of Reformers, . . .217 An Old Camera, . . .220 Editor's Desk 222 Elements of Inspiration in the Earliest Greek Poets, . . 224 Words add Things, . 228 A Financier, . 233 Book Review 236 Among Our Contemporaries . 236 FAVOR THOSE WHO FAVOR US. For Fine. Printing go to Tk J° Co Wile Prifltiig ftwe CARLISLE ST. GETTYSBURG, PA. C. B. Kitzmiller Leadership Dealer in Hats, Caps, Boots and Douglas Shoes GETTYSBURG, PA. R. M. Elliott Dealer in Hats, Caps, Shoes and. Gents' Furnishing Goods Corner Center Square and Carlisle Street GETTYSBURG, PA. IN THE CLOTHING and MEN'S fURNISHING Business It is strictly here—everybody knows it. Testimony'! The stock itself. The pen suffi-ciently nimble to tell all the good points of our ::::::: FALL AND WINTER. SUITS AND OVERCOATS has not been found. We will keep you dressed right up-to-date if you buy your Clothing and Furnishings here. : : : EDGARS. MARTIN, F^CIGARS AND SMOKERS' ARTICLES Chambersburg St., Gettysburg ST McPherson Block. No. li BALTIMORE STREET THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY, The Literary Journal of Pennsylvania College. Entered at the Postoffice at Gettysburg as second-class matter. VOL. IX. GETTYSBURG. PA., DECEMBER, 1900. No. 7. THE END OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. "Old Time's great clock, that never stops, Nor runs too fast nor slow, Hung up amid the worlds of space Where wheeling planets glow; Its dial-plate the orbit vast Where whirls our old earth free— Has pushed its pointers round again And marked a century." «^2> 'T'HE century ends. The startling records of to-day are being ■^ stamped upon the last lap of the scroll. Marvelous have been the achievements of the last ten decades. Strange are the inscriptions on the escutcheons of the nations of the world. May the American not cease to hallow the ground where rest the ashes of the sages, patriots and warriors! Remembered be the deeds of the fathers ; long live their admonition ! Soft be the breeze that sways the trees on the famous fields of battle! Forgotten the strife that stained our soil with blood! Firm be the future grasp of Labor's callous hand—recognized, in every sphere, the noble and the true! Appreciated be the heritage of the fathers ! Bared be every arm in defense of our common, sacred trust! Solid be the phalanx in freedom's holy cause! 206 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY PENNSYLVANIA COLLEGE AT THE CLOSE OP THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. E. S. BREIDENBAUGH, SC. D. T N this last issue of the MERCURY for the nineteenth century it *■ is proper to consider Pennsylvania College in connection with the present condition of higher education in our country. While not attempting a complete survey, a few glimpses of the field will be a source of congratulation and encouragement in our work, and may be an incentive to further effort for advancing the interests of our college. During the last third of the century there has been a large in-crease in the number of college students, proportionally a larger increase than the increase in population. There are no available statistics to show whether the number of Lutheran young people in institutions of learning has grown in proportion to the growth of our church membership, there are sufficient facts to show that there has been a very decided increase in the number of our young peo-ple who are having the advantages of the higher education. This increase in number of college students is due in part, if not wholly, to the growing conviction that a higher education is advantageous to men in every field of activity. While formerly the college graduates rarely entered any other profession than the ministry, law or medicine, we now find a minority of all the college graduates entering these professions. In our own college we find in recent years an increasing number of our graduates entering on business or technical pursuits. This change in the life work of college men has accompanied and has been in part the cause of and in part the effect of changes in the college curriculum. There have been introduced into the curriculum many important subjects, which in the early part of the century were hardly thought of in connection with a college education. This large increase in number of subjects taught has necessitated the introduction of electives into the requirements for entrance to and graduation from college. The same conditions have lead to the opportunity being given to the student to substi-tute for Greek, L,atin and Mathematics, which formerly occupied nearly the whole of the college time, Modern Languages, Natural and Physical Sciences, History, Politics, etc., thus giving the student the choice of subjects in which he may specialize. At the same time the requirements for entrance and graduations have THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 207 been notably increased. In all departments of study there have been changes in method of work which increase the labors of the teachers and require more and better study on the part of the pupils. Pennsylvania College has enlarged her courses of study —has adopted to a fair degree elective courses of study—and in every department has increased the requirements for graduation. These changes in subjects of study and methods of work have necessitated an increased teaching force and enlarged equipment. Our college has in recent years somewhat increased her teaching force and added laboratories of chemistry, biology and elementary mechanics. We have also greatly improved our accommodations for class work in new and convenient buildings. The duty of our college is not rivalry with our neighbors, nor is it at present to do university or technical work, but is to do the best possible for our constituency in providing a sound college training such as is demanded by the present times, to this end we need, and we need greatly, additional teaching force, increased facilities for laboratory work and larger library equipment. Our professors are required to teach too many subjects, and other subjects barely included or not included in our curriculum require attention which cannot be given them. While there has been no increase in the personal interest teachers have for their pupils, there has been a change in methods which requires more immediate individual work between teacher and pupil. This personal teaching in all subjects, while greatly benefiting the student, is a great drain on the vital power of the teacher. As the number of pupils increases the personal attention to individual pupils must lessen unless the teaching force is in-creased, thus enabling each teacher to have fewer subjects and a smaller number of pupils. Co-education has been adopted to a limited degree by Penn-sylvania College. If we desire to enlarge this work, which can easily be done, we must have suitable accommodations for the young women. There has been in our colleges a great change in the dormitory and other accommodations for students. What thirty or forty years ago was regarded as excellent is now deemed wholly inadequate by parents and pupils. In some places these provisions have grown to extravagant proportions, while Pennsylvania College 208 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY has not developed to such a degree, we are in these respects fully abreast of the times. We find the college student yearly taking a greater interest in matters outside the college curriculum—this when properly guarded, is wise and of educational advantage. Our students have shown reasonable activity and had fair success in many of these enterprises, such as athletics, musical clubs, publications and debating clubs. With all these changes in college work—with the greater pressure of material things, with the ever increasing claims of study on the energy of the student and the accompanying greatly increased personal freedom and self-control of the individual student there has been an equally increased interest in religious subjects—this is shown in many ways, not the least being the activity of the College Y. M. C. A. and the accompanying Bible study. In this brief summary of the changing conditions of college work—and we believe they are changes for the better—we find that Pennsylvania College has been advancing in the same direction as the general educational world, and while there is always room for fuller growth, we feel encouraged with the past and are hope-ful for the future. These improving conditions are due to the diversified and united labors of trustees, presidents, professors,students,numerous liberal friends and the general loyalty of the alumni of the college. It is in reliance on the continued energy and loyalty of all these friends that we are assuredly hopeful for the future of our college. THE BELLES. J. B. BAKER, '01. Hear the singing of the belles— Choir belles! What a world of vanity their rhapsody foretells ! How they wrinkle, wrinkle, wrinkle, All the muscles of their bite 1 While the gems that oversprinkle All their tresses, seem to twinkle With a hyaline delight; THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 209 Keeping time, time, time, In a faintly falling: rime, To the nasal proclamation that so dissonantly wells From the belles, belles, belles, belles, Belles, belles, belles— From the singing and the ringing- of the belles. II Hear the flippant summer belles, Giddy belles! What a string- of soda bills their coquetry foretells ! Throug-h the balmy air of nig-ht How they draw us out of sight! From their starting, darting eyes All aglow, What a funny feeling hies To the bosom of the lover, while he spies Not the bow. Oh, from out those spheric cells, What a gush of repartee extravagantly wells ! How it swells ! How it dwells On the future ! how it tells Oh the philter that impels To the flushing and the blushing Of the belles, belles, belles, Of the belles, belles, belles, Belles, belles, belles— To the flushing and the blushing of the belles. Ill Hear the loud alarum belles— Infant belles ! What a train of muffled oaths their noisiness compels ! In the startled ear of night How they scream out their affright! Too much horrified to speak, They can only shriek, shriek, Out of tune, In a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the sire, In a mad expostulation with his warm erratic ire Leaping higher, higher, higher, With a desperate desire, And a resolute endeavor To resign the job forever That he undertook alas, too soon. Oh, the belles, belles, belles What a tale their horror tells Of the crier! 210 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY How they squirm, and kick, and roar, What a horror they outpour On the palpitating bosom of the sire ! Nor the father fully knows, By the wiggling-. And the wriggling, How the sulphur ebbs and flows ; But the mother t'is who tells, In the jangling, And the wrangling, How the danger sinks and swells, By the sinking and the swelling in the squealing of the belles,- Of the belles— Of the belles, belles, belles, belles, Belles, belles, belles— In the squealing and the reeling of the belles. IV Hear the moaning of the belles— Ancient belles ! What a world of sympathy their monody compels ! Through the day and oft by night, How our tears spring into light, At the melancholy mumble of their tone ; For every sound that floats From the rust within their throats Is a groan. And the lovers—ah, the lovers— They who go and wed some others, Altar prone, And who strolling, strolling, strolling, By discarded belles alone, Feel a glory in so rolling On the human heart a stone— They are neither false nor true men— They are neither brute nor human— They are fiends, And their king the devil, tolls, And he rolls, rolls, rolls, Rolls A threnode from the belles ! And his scaly bosom swells With a threnode from the belles! And he dances and he yells ; Keeping time, time, time, In his Tartarean grime, To the threnode of the belles— Of the belles; Keeping time, time, time, THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 211 In his Tartarean grime, To the throbbing- of the belles— Of the belles, belles, belles,— To the sobbing- of the belles ; Keeping time, time, time, As he knells, knells, knells, In his Tartarean grime, To the groaning of the belles— Of the belles, belles, belles,— To the moaning of the belles Of the belles, belles, belles, belles— Belles, belles, belles— To the moaning and the groaning- of the belles. THE MYSTERIOUS PICTURE. STANLEY C. FOWLER, '04. 44QPEAKING of mysteries reminds me of a very curious, yes, ^ startling experience I had when a struggling young artist in Paris," said Wilbur Cutting. " What was that? " we asked. " Go ahead, let her rip, said Coleman, the irrepressible, "we're all attention." Wilbur puffed at his favorite corn-cob pipe and we all drew our chairs nearer the grate fire which burned cheerily and lighted up our cozy club-room. Presently we heard Wilbur's voice from behind a cloud of tobacco smoke, saying: "I was searching for a new model to pose for my 'Abraham.' I had been told of an old, patriarchal Jew, living in one of the many by-ways in the Latin quarter. While walking down a dingy, narrow alley, my attention was attracted by a picture lying on a heap of canvasses, in an old curiosity shop. Drawn by an irresistible impulse I entered and purchased it from the shop-keeper, a queer, little, old Orient, who seemed eager to dispose of it. I took it under my arm and hurried back to my studio, in-tending to retouch it. I placed it on my easel and scrutinizing it closely, marked what a peculiar face it was. Pure oval, the fore-head low and square, eyebrows high-arched meeting over a long, Roman nose, the nostrils were contracted, the mouth, tight shut, was cruel and sinister. The eyes had been scratched through the pupils, completely destroying its expression ; the hair, long 212 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY and black as a raven's wing, was painted as though blown by the wind and finally blended into the deep crimson background. The head had the appearance of flying through the air, for there was neither shoulders nor neck. I failed to recognize the style and searched in vain for the artist's name. "I was soon at work on the eyes, hoping to complete them before the arrival of Archie Armstrong, a young American, who, attracted by the gayeties of Bohemian life, had adopted them as his profession. He had a rich, indulgent, spinster aunt, living in Paris, who descended periodically upon his studio, which was across the hall from mine, and purchased all his masterpieces. To tell the truth, the only parts of them not painted by me were his signatures, which he persistently painted in the brightest colors and in the most conspicuous places. He was expecting a visit from his aunt that afternoon and was about to make a raid upon my studio and carry off all the paintings, finished or not. "As I painted the eyes, it seemed as though an invisible hand was guiding or directing my brush. They were soon finished and I stepped back to see my work. What an expression ! Simply hellish. The eyes seemed like living coals of fire. They burned and blazed and seemed to pierce one through and through. I felt a most peculiar tingling sensation. "I looked at lny hands. No longer were they covered with oil and paint stains, but were changed to long, slender white hands with tapering fingers. My velvet jacket and paint covered trous-ers were changed to an evening suit. Even the studio had changed to a drawing-room elegantly furnished. "Stepping over to one of the mirrors that adorned the wall, I looked in. I started back with a cry of surprise and alarm. The face that had stared at me from the canvass now gazed back at me from the mirror. Could it be possible? Was it I? I raised my hand to my face and when the glass reflected the action, I knew then that I had changed. "Presently I heard footsteps and turning, beheld a young man advancing towards me with outstretched hands to welcome me. I hastened to meet him and he led me into an inner room where a young woman was reclining gracefully on a high-backed, old-fashioned seat. She blushed prettily as we entered and he presented me to her—his wife. As I bowed low and kissed the tips of her dainty fingers, I had an uncontrollable desire to kill THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 213 her, take possession of me. I cannot explain it. It seemed as though I must kill her or myself. "The young man took me to his "den" where we were soon drinking her health. I took up a jeweled dagger from a table and told him of some murders I had heard of done under hypnotic influence. He asked if I believed in hypnotism and I replied in the affirmative, saying, that I could hypnotize him if I so desired. He seemed startled but continuing to drink heavily was soon in a stupor. "Seizing the dagger I stole into the room where his wife was; I raised it aloft and struck with all my might, again and again. As I felt the blade sink into the soft flesh, I could not refrain from laughing exultingly. I knew that when he was aroused from his stupor he would believe himself guilty of the crime. I think I must have been changed into the devil, for I chuckled and gloated over the misery that would come to the young man. "I stole away still gloating over my crime. Suddenly my face grew warmer and warmer. It seemed that flames were creeping slowly over my head. I screamed aloud for agony and then I must have fainted. "When I regained consciousness, I found myself in my own bed with Archie leaning over me and the.morning sun pouring in the window. " 'What has happened ?' I asked. " 'Blamed if I know,'said Archie, rubbing his head. 'Icame yesterday afternoon and nearly banged my fists off, trying to make you let me in. I heard you sputtering and as time was valuable, I pushed the door in and found you staring at the queerest picture I ever saw. You turned around to me sputtering gibberish and I took you into your room. I thought you had been indulging too freely. In the night you stabbed your lay figure with your pallet knife. You'll have a nice job replacing that gown. You had it spoiled before I discovered you. You've been raving until you screamed just now,' said Archie, looking disgustedly at me. ' 'I looked at my easel. The picture was gone. "'Where's the picture?' I asked. Archie looked sheepish and said: 'Well, auntie would have it. There's the check on the table.' % % if. ■%. % "That afternoon as I was relating my experience to Archie, the 214 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY door flew open with a bang and in stepped his aunt with head erect and fire in her eye. Without returning Archie's greeting, she opened hostilities thus: " 'What do you mean by selling me that picture, sir ! I don't believe you painted it at all! I think the devil did ! ' " 'Why, auntie, you surprise me. What's the trouble,' asked Archie. " 'Trouble! Humph! I should say so. Trouble! There's been nothing but trouble since I brought that thing to my house. Why, when I had Henry hang it in my saloon with the rest of your paintings, he acted like a lunatic. Tried to stab me ! He raved so all last night about that picture that I took it down this morning and threw it in the fire, and as I did so, it shrieked! My nerves have had such a fright that it'll be months before they'll get quieted again. How did you ever get it, tor I don't believe you painted it? ' she finally asked Archie. " 'Well, I'll confess I didn't paint it. My friend Wilbur bought it in an old shop and I thought since you liked it, you know, when—er—that is—I thought you would like it better if you thought that I painted it. I am sorry that I deceived you, but shan't do it again,' said Archie, looking very penitent. " 'You'd better not, for I am very shrewd. I thought you didn't paint it,' said his aunt, and turning to me said: " 'Mr. Wilbur, if you would turn your attention toward art, as my gifted nephew has, and paint a few pictures like his, it would be better than tramping around buying such things as that picture and calling them your own as I guess you were going to do. I hope this will be a lesson to you, Archie. Don't follow in your friend's footsteps again or attempt to deceive me again, for I am too shrewd for you !' and off she stamped, followed by Archie, whose face was purple with suppressed laughter. I was in deadly fear of the eruption and heaved a sigh of relief as they disappeared. "All those symptoms Archie's aunt attributed to his shame and mortification he felt at being caught trying to fool her. "I made inquiries afterwards at the shop about the picture. All that I could learn was that the shop-keeper had bought it at the auction of the art treasures of a young man who had killed his wife and died crazy. It was said that he had imported the picture from the Orient, where it had been, probably, for many I THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 215 years. It was the shop-keeper who had scratched out the eyes, for he said they haunted him. Whether or not I should have died mad, as did its former possessor, had it not been destroyed, I can't tell." e^pj FATHER HAWKINS' OBSERVATIONS. CHAS. W. WEISER, '01. Well, Lizer, I'se been up ter town, Ther college fur ter see, And talk about yer country Jakes— Ther same as you and me. Of bildins fine I saw a heft, That's fine as ever I've seen, And trees, and signs—"Keep off ther grass' I guess because its green. The Profs' got lots of larnin, And plenty fur ter spare ; But me thinks they need it all, Ter train thim fellers thare. So guess we'll send our Kier, Ter eddicated be, Fur he must have more larnin, Than ever you an me. I saw thim fellers go A stragglin long ther walk, Ther one he looked so strait ahead As any line of chalk. He looked not ter ther right er left, But just strait down his nose, And where that little nose did point, He always surly goes. Ther one did run his hands, Inter his pockets deep. With hangin head and crooked back, He ter the class did creep. His knees did knock each other gainst, And pigeoned were his toes. Well such er sight I niver seed Where ever I do goes. 216 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY Another one went walkin long, A lookin at ther cloud ; His nose er pointin in ther air, His heels er stumpin loud. He wore er collar high er enough, Fer any six months calf ; And tie like my red handkichief, That made er feller laugh. And one he said "Wha don chu knaw" I took my "cut" ter day ; Another one he got er "zip," And wished he'd stayed away. They say they "horse," and "make a stab, An some times make a "break." But if I had them in my field, I'd make them take a rake. When yer do hear a college chap, Yer don't know what he says I guess its Latin—but don know, In all my born days. We send our men from off ther farm— They have some common sense ; Ther "city's" call them "greenies" But grapple for ther pence. But soon they larn to shporty dress, And know ther college slang, They come back with swellin heads, Too fine ter help er lang. They think they know a heft of stuff, And flaunt it in yer face, But 'fore ther thro' ther college course, They've set another pace. But don't cher know, I often see, Ther boys from off ther farm, Who think ther "dad" has got ther "mon," Make oft ther shports—yes marm. And tho I kin not spaik mam Like eddicated men I'm not so dull as ruff mam Tho' kin not hold ther pen. And so they musn't judge mam, 'Cause farmin is our lot, THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 217 That we are slow and kin not tell Ef they're er man er not. They ortend fur ter be mam, More than thay really was, But live ter what ther trained fur, And not make sich a fuss. " KIING OP REFORMERS." GEO. W. NICELY, '01. Honorable mention Junior Oratorical. HPHE sixteenth century gave birth to the most remarkable man A the world has ever known. Welcome must have been the change in all Germany, created by the reformation. " From Germany proceeded the power which caused Rome, the once proud mistress of almost the whole world, to tremble, even when she was at the zenith of her potency. And from Germany also proceeded the power which shook the triple crown of the most artful religious and temporal usurper at modern Rome, and brought her to the very brink of inevitable ruin; it was in Ger-many where the morning dawn of a pure worship of the Supreme Being, and of a wise liberty of conscience was destined to arise." In order to realize, to some extent, the magnitude and im-portance of Luther's services to mankind in promoting the cause of freedom and progress, as well as in reformiug the church, it is necessary to recall the condition of the civilized world at the time he appeared and began his career on the stage of human affairs. In the beginning of the 15th century the church was almost universally corrupt, and popes and bishops and people were alike involved in the general demoralization. For a hundred years before the papal chair was occupied by princes, most of whom attained their elevation by intrigue and bribery, and some even by assassination. " It was an age of monasticism." Thousands of men and women in all countries had renounced the world and entered into monasteries and convents to lead lives of superior holiness, but these retreats from the world had changed from their original character and many of them were now places of in-dolence and sensuality. Guiler Von Kaiserburg declares that convent life had become a mere mockery. Infessura, a Roman 218 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY historian, says: "Everyone in Rome knows, alas, that monas-teries have now become dens of corruption.'' Such was the general character of the clergy, from the pope down to the lowest priest; and such also was the condition of religious teachers. Ignorance, superstition and immorality prevailed generally among them. All who questioned the authority of this complex despotism, or denounced its usurpations, were soon silenced or crushed. John Huss and Jerome Prague suffered martydom at Constance for preaching the truths of the gospel a hundred years before Luther; Savoiiavola, at Florence, met a similar fate in 1498. Thousands of others were persecuted, imprisoned, assassinated, tortured to death; hunted down like the wild beasts, or burned to the stake, for worshiping God according to the dictates of their own con-science, for reading the scriptures or for exposing the wickedness and usurpations of the clergy. It was under this state of civil and ecclesiastical despotism, when corruption and profligacy were dominant in the church, and ignorance and superstition prevailed among the people, that Luther appeared and entered upon the great work of reform, for which God had prepared him. It is difficult, if not impossible, at the present day to appreciate the magnitude of that work. All sources of power and influence in church and state; all customs and habits of the people for generations; all existing institutions and the entire structure of society were against him, and had to be assailed, confronted, overthrown and reformed. The word of God was buried in the Latin vulgate version, which only the educated few could read, and copies were so dear and scarce that they were inaccessible to the common people, even if they had been able to read them. " It was one of the achievements of Luther, and a service of ines-timable value to the Germanic nation, that he translated the Bible and gave it to the people in their own tongue, so that all could read it and know that the doctrines he proclaimed were the living truths of the living God, before whom popes and kings and priests and all men were alike accountable." But Luther's work was not confined to reforming the church and furnishing the Bible to the people. It was not only the overthrow of usurped ecclesi-astical power and the restoration of religious toleration and free-dom in Europe. It was all this, but it was also more. There is not an interest or reform affecting human welfare in modern civilization—whether educational, social, industrial or THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 219 political—upon which Luther did not shed the light of his great intellect and soul, enlightened by the word and spirit of God. He taught that it was the duty of the state to educate all the children of the people in order that they might become intelligent and useful citizens; and thus he was the pioneer advocate of uni-versal education four centuries ago. In quelling the outbreak of communism in Germany, known as the "peasant war," he de-clared it to be the duty of all to be subject to " the powers that be," and to acquire property, not by the plunder and robbery of others, but by industry, frugality and honesty. In an address to the princes and nobles of Germany, he taught the reciprocal duties of rulers to their subjects, and of subjects to their rulers, suggest-ing the fundamental principle announced in our Declaration of Independence, that governments, though " ordained of God, de-rive their just powers from the consent of the governed." " I will call this Luther a true, great man," says Carlyle. " Great in intellect, in courage, affection and integrity, one of our most lovable and precious men; great, not as a hewn obelisk, but as an Alpine mountain, so simple, spontaneous, honest, not set-ting up to be great at all; therefore quite another purpose than being great. A.h, yes, unsubduable granite, piercing far and wide into the heavens; yet, in the clefts of its fountains, green, beautiful valleys with flowers ! " "In my judgment," said Senator Wellington of Maryland, " Luther is the greatest man that hath yet lived." "Challenging the license To make gain of sin, Luther nails his protest; Listen to the din. "Striking with his hammer— How the panels shake— How the gateway trembles— How the timid quake! "Blows on blows resounding, Echoed from afar; How the world is shaken, How the churches jar. "We to-day are feeling Heart and conscience thrill, And throughout the ages Men will feel it still. 220 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY "Till the death-stroke's given To all force and fraud; For the striking' hammer Is the word of God." AN OLD CAMERA. P. W. EYSTEB, '03. A BOUT twenty years ago there lived in Dowingtown, about •**■ thirty miles west from Philadelphia, a young man by the name of Warren, whose ambition it was to succeed. He started out in life by teaching school in his native town. So, during the school term he was busy, but during vacation he did all kinds of work about his home. His neighbor was a photographer, and business being dull, he sold his old camera to Mr. Warren at a small price. After young Warren's school had closed, he packed up his camera and left the town, visiting the small villages and towns, to take the pictures of buildings and family groups. Finally he came to a small vil-lage called Pleasant Hill. There was at the time a small show in the place, and as Warren was strolling over the show grounds, he saw an Italian organ-grinder, and a curly-headed boy about six years old on whose face were the features of an American parent-age. Just then the intoxicated assistant-manager of the show came out of a nearby hotel, and tossing to the organ grinder a dime, said, "Make the little rascal dance." The organ grinder, after a few kicks and cuffs, got the boy to dance. The photographer, Mr. Warren, was among the onlookers and took a picture of the Italian and the daucing boy. Warren went to his lodging place, and after developing the picture, put it with others in his traveling case, forgetting all about it. Not meeting with much success at Pleasant Hill, he went to Ardmore, a suburb of Phila-delphia. He took the pictures of the pretty houses and beautiful scenes to be seen in and about Ardmore. One morning as he was stopping before a large sandstone house, preparing to take a pic-ture of it, a handsome lady, on whose face were signs of inward grief, came walking across the lawn, and commenced to talk with the photographer. THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 221 This was the house of Mr. Sheffield, a wealthy Philadelphia banker, who lived in Ardmore, and conducted his business in the city. About five years before, his little only son, then one year old, had wandered into the street and was kidnapped. Mr. Shef-field offered a large reward to any one who would make known the whereabouts of his child, but was not successful. Mrs. Shef-field, who admired children, was so grieved at the loss of her only child that she, at times, came near losing her reason. She would every morning, at the time the child was kidnapped, walk across the lawn as if looking for some one; and she Could frequently be heard repeating a low prayer, in which she asked but one favor from God—the return of her sou. This accounted for her pres-ence on the lawn at this time. Mr. Warren invited her to look over the pictures in his travel-ing case while he was fixing the camera. She examined them all till she came to the last, the picture of the organ-grinder and the curly-headed boy; and as she recognized the boy's picture, she exclaimed , "Oh, my boy, my dear little George," and fell over fainting. Just then Mr. Sheffield came; arid Mrs. Sheffield soon recovered sufficient to hand the picture to Mr. Sheffield, He took a long look at it, and judging from the tears that rolled down his cheeks, one could easily tell what his feelings were. Mr. Sheffield asked young Warren where and when he had last seen the organ-grinder and the little boy. Warren gave Mr. Sheffield the desired information, and in less than four hours the police in every town and village in eastern Pennsylvania were looking for an organ-grinder and a little boy, who answered the description of those on the picture. Both were soon found. The organ-grinder, who was the kidnapper, was dealt with according to law and the child was sent to the home of his loving mother. The boy grew up to take part in his father's business, and to-day the Philadelphia firm of Sheffield & Son is well known. The young photographer received from Mr. Sheffield the reward which gave him a good start in business. At present Mr. Warren lives in Baltimore as a retired mer-chant, and he often tells his friends about the old camera stored on the garret of his house. THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY. Entered at the Postoffice at Gettysburg as second-class matter. VOL. IX. GETTYSBURG, PA., DECEMBER, 1900. No. 7. Editor-in- Chief, S. A. VAN ORMEK, '01. Assistant Editors, W. H. HBTEICK, W. A. KOIILEH. Business Manager, H. C. HOFFMAN. Alumni Editor, REV. F. D. GARLAND. Assistant Business Manager, WILLIAM C. NEY. Advisory Board, PROF. J. A. HIMES, LIT. D. PROF. G. D. STAHLEY, M. D. PROF. J. W. RICHARD. D. D. Published monthly by the students of Pennsylvania (Gettysburg) College. Subscription price, One Dollar a year in advance; single copies Ten Cents. Notice to discontinue sending the MERCURY to any address'must be accompanied by all arrearages. Students, Professors, and Alumni are cordially invited to contribute. All subscriptions and business matter should be addressed to the Business Manager. Articles for publication should be addressed to the Editor. Address THE GETTYBURG MERCURY, GETTYSBURG, PA. EDITORS' DESK. "VVTE hear with regret of the death of Business Manager Hoff- " man's father. Mr. Hoffman was summoned home some weeks ago on account of his father's illness, and accompanied him to a Philadelphia hospital, where an operation to save his life was performed in vain. The MERCURY extends sincere sym-pathy to the bereaved family. Since the close of the foot ball season there is a noticeable in-crease in interest in the work of the literary societies. Special programs were rendered in both societies last evening (Dec. 7)— THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 223 in Philo, "An Evening with Kipling"; in Phrena, "A Mock Trial.'' Both halls were filled. It is to be hoped that enthusiasm in and the healthy rivalry between the two societies will continue increasing as time advances. A college man is expected not only to talk intelligently on the current topics of the day but also to meet his adversary in debate with clean-cut, forcible arguments. Men are needed who can think accurately and think on their feet. That Gettysburg men may be the better able to meet these de-mands, a course in Argumentation has been provided for. It is in charge of Professor Klinger, whose enthusiasm and magnetism will prove a source of inspiration to the members of the class, which, added to a knowledge of the principles of Argumentation and practice in the application of these principles, will amply pay for the time and energy expended. As this is the last issue of THE MERCURY for the year and for the century, we wish to bespeak a continuance of the kindly feeling and hearty support of the journal on the part of the stu-dents, alumni and friends of the college. We wish all a pleas-ant vacation, and hope that all may return with renewed ambition and high ideals. When we shall have been transported by the machinery of the world into a new century, may we behold a "New Era" that con-tains bright visions for the coming years ! *3^ab Do not look for wrong- and evil, You will find them if you do; As you measure to your neighbor, He will measure back to you. Look for gladness, look for gladness, You will meet them all the while; If you bring a smiling visage To the glass, you meet a smile. —Alice Cary. 224 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY ELEMENTS Of INSPIRATION IN TME EARLIEST CREEK POETS. C. M. A. STINE, '01. "VVTHAT do we mean when we speak of a book as inspired ? " What is the signification of the word inspiration? These two questions present themselves at the very outset of the subject. The word inspiration means, literally, a breathing into, that is, it is the breathing of God's spirit into the mind of man. When we speak of a book as inspired we mean that it makes the divine will known to man, or contains some great principle or truth in regard to the life of man. It is in this sense of the word that we use the terms inspired and inspiration. In considering the elements of inspiration in the earliest Greek poets we naturally inquire what these elements are in order that we may know what to look for. Let us consider the subject from three standpoints: first, the revelations of God and of the hereafter which they gave to their readers ; second, any prophecies which they contain ; third, their influence upon Greek morals and civilization. Homer and Hesiod are the earliest Greek poets of whose works we have any definite knowledge. The great epics of Homer and the "Theogouy" and the "Works and Days" of Hesiod may fairly be considered as representative of this earliest known period of Greek poetry. Hesiod, in his "Theogouy," as the name indicates, endeavored to harmonize and systematize the numerous myths in regard to the gods b}' arranging the gods themselves in the order of exact genealogy. Homer portrays the gods as grand in the strength of their passions and in their power, yet they leave the impression of being scarcely more than human beings endowed with great power and with immortality. In the Iliad they take sides against one another. Zeus at first is not favorable to the Greeks, and they realize that without the favor of Zeus it is useless to fight. They therefore prosecute the war by wiles and by spies till Zeus has been propitiated. The power of Zeus is recognized, but there are none of the attributes portrayed as pertaining to him which belong to the true God. In his portrayal of the character of Athena, Homer gives the loftiest conception of the Deity. Athena is mind personified. She is without the lower attributes and the petty jealousies which attach to the. other gods. Athena, "the flashing eyed," is essentially the goddess of the keeu-witted THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 225 Greeks. It is necessary that the Greek be constantly on the lookout not to offend the Deities, and if by some mischance a god or goddess is offended, it is necessary that the offended deity be placated at any cost. The various divinities have their favorites over whom they watch and whose actions they direct. In the first book of the Iliad Athena is represented as restraining Achilles by his yellow hair when he is about to draw his sword against Agamemnon : ***** jiffy g> •AOrjvrj ******* * * * l-avOTfi $k ho/ir/i HX* TTTjXziwya, (II. I. 193-201.) Again, in the Odyssey, she assists Teleuiachus to set out from Ithaca in search of his father, and watches over the wandering Odysseus. But how far is all this from the love of the Christian Jehovah ! There is a power spoken of against which it is useless to strug-gle or to appeal to the gods. The decrees of the fates are unalter-able. Even the gods themselves are subject to them. As com-pared with the Christian idea of God as the supreme power there is a wide difference to be noted here. Homer gives a high con-ception of God, when it is remembered that he was a pagan, but the Zeus of Homer and of Hesiod is far indeed from the God of the Christian. From the foregoing we see, first, that there is no clear revela-tion of the attributes of God; second, that there is no idea of Provi-dence; when a guiding hand is revealed it is still within the limitations of stern fate. As to revelations of the future life, the hereafter as painted by Homer is gloomy and forbidding. Instead of regarding the soul as the real ego, and the body merely as a fetter from which the soul is freed at death, the soul is regarded by him merely as a "shade," the shadow of the physical body. This life is all, and there awaited the Greek after death a joyless exist-ence in a gloomy twilight at best, and perhaps even the tortures of Tartarus. He makes the shade of the great Achilles in Hades to say: "I would be A laborer on earth, and serve for hire Some nian of mean estate, who makes scant cheer, Rather than reig-n o'er all who have gone down To death." Od. XI. 489-90, (Bryant's Trans.) 226 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY Such a conception of the hereafter must certainly be regarded as unfavorable to the attainment of the highest and noblest life. As to the revelations of God and of the hereafter as contained in these poems we may say that God never reveals half of himself, or in contradictory lights, nor can an idea of the hereafter be for a moment entertained as the correct one if it is hostile to the attainment of the noblest life and the fulfillment of man's highest ideals. Second, as to the element of prophecy as contained in these poems. Prophecy, strictly defined, is "a prediction under divine influence or direction." We ask then, what predictions are there in the works of these poets and what indications do these predic-tions give of having been made under divine influence or direction ? These poems contain not a single instance of this kind of prophecy. It is true that Homer represents predictions as uttered and later on as fulfilled, but there is no prophecy made by either Hesiod or Homer in regard to the future. The predictions of oiacles are mentioned, and later on we see the fulfillment of these predictions worked out as the action of the poem moves on, but in no case is a prophecy in regard to future ages uttered. We come next to the influence which the works of these poets had on the morals and civilization of the Greek people. It is from this third standpoint that we are most likely to speak of these poems as inspired. The"Theogony" of Hesiod moulded the vast number of myths which we find to have existed in that early period into an orderly, polytheistic theology and was accepted as authority by the Greeks. Any book which brings the idea of God nearer to a people and gives more definite form to that idea, whatever form it may be, will have an influence for good upon the morals of that people. In this way such a book as the "Theogony" must have influenced Greek morals. Hesiod's "Works and Days," however, came nearer home to the hearts of the common people. This poem is a sort of a farm-er's calendar, and in addition to the enumeration of the various lucky days for sowing, etc., it contains a collection of precepts, ethical, economical and political. While the style is homely and unimaginative there is a lofty and solemn feeling throughout, found-ed on the "idea that the gods have ordained justice among men, have made labor the only road to prosperity, and have so ordered THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 227 the year that every work has its appointed season, the sign of which may be discerned." A poem of this character certainly had a beneficent effect upon the minds of the people. It is before the immortal Homer that we must pause in wonder and almost in awe. The influence of the Iliad and the Odyssey upon the Greek mind can hardly be over-estimated. Tbe char-acters which stand forth in his poems, with their matchless symmetry and trueness to life, even to this day, twenty-five hundred years after the writing of the poems, play a part in the formation of the ideals of all who read them, and cannot but enoble the reader. Nausicaa, the loveliest of Homer's female creations, is a character which, in her innocence and her queenly maidenhood, has scarcely ever been equaled. Penelope is the ideal of a con-stant wife, faithful and unswerving in her affections through the most trying experiences. Hector is an ideal of a loyal, unselfish patriot. While no less brave than the fiery Achilles, he is yet more human than that mighty warrior, who has been rendered by the gods practically invulnerable. The appeal of the white-haired Priam for the body of his son will never fail to touch human hearts. With characters such as these ever before them in the lofty poetry of Homer, Greek minds could not fail to be purified and ennobled. Their influence upon the general culture of the age must have been very great, and they are therefore treated as one of the great factors in Greek civilization by many historians. To sum up, we find that while these early poems failed to give the highest conceptions of God, contain nothing of the idea of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, and were entirely lacking in the element of prophecy, they, nevertheless, were of the greatest value in the education of the Greek people and the advancement of civilization. In this third aspect, at least, they do not fall short of that lofty ideal which we expect an inspired work to fulfill. While we are not warranted in conclud-ing that they were inspired, yet so long as either Hesiod or Homer are read, the homely truth of the former and the superb genius of the latter must command our highest admiration. 228 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY WORDS AND THINGS. D. C. BUBNITK, '01. I ANGUAGE is God's gift to man. The lower animals pos- *~* sess memory, will and intellect, and in a few cases even the ability to repeat words; but to man alone has the Creator given the power of expressing his thoughts in words. This dis-criminate use of words is the most prominent mark of difference between man and beast. The value of language is realized when we try to imagine man without it. How limited would be his knowledge and how nar-row his range of thought, for he would be unable to receive from his fellows one single idea with which to compare his own thoughts, and thus arrive at new conclusions. Nor would reason have any value without words to communicate to others its re-sults. What would be the extent of scientific knowledge today had Copernicus, Newton, Franklin and all the host of discoverers been unable to preserve their results in words? "Thoughts without words are nothing." * Words are valueless without a knowledge of the relations they bear to the things for which they are the symbols. But an ex-tensive knowledge of their significance is inestimable, for upon this foundation rests all learning—that alone which can procure true appreciation of life and its blessings. Acquaintance with the real meanings of words is necessary to scholarship. One must be able at a glance to discern that which lies back of a word, the thing for which a word stands. He must have appropriate terms with which he can readily give accurate expression to his own thoughts. "A word fitly spoken," says Solomon, "is like apples of gold in pictures of silver." T_et us attempt to substitute one word for another in a passage of Milton, and we destroy the effect of the whole. It was Webster's accurate selection of words that placed him in history. How do we acquire this ability to join the right word with the right thing ? This faculty, like most other endowments, develops with age. The infant hears a word and learns by mere observa-tion what thing it represents. He wishes to denote an object or express a thought, and his elders supply him with the necessary words. And this process of obtaining the meanings of words may be pursued in this same manner all through life. No con- *Max Muller. THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 229 scious effort in this direction need be made in order to prosper, but to pass into the sphere of education one must apply himself to the work of definition; he must faithfully consult his dic-tionary. The student's vocabulary is also increased, as in the case of the infant, by being supplied with the ideas before he is given the corresponding terms. That is, a definition may precede the word it explains. This is the modern inductive method of teaching, especially in the natural sciences. By it we are lead first to form a conception and then given the appropriate word. By repeated use every word whose meaning is understood be-comes a complete possession. But not only mere definition and repetition suffice to procure for us in all cases true appreciation of the meanings of words. The things for which some words stand must be experienced before their real significance lies open before us. Who knows what the word "sorrow" really means but him who has had trouble ? The mild tempered person can-not realize fully what lies back of the word "anger." The true meaning of "ocean" is inconceivable to him who has never be-held its beauty. Words are living beings to one who has expe-rienced the things they represent. One of the greatest obstacles to retard our progress is the lack of this absolute requirement for advancement—total command of the words in common use. We wonder why this is. Of course some of us lack original capacity to understand words, and some of us have not had sufficient opportunities to obtain a good vocabulary. But most of us have this capacity and have had the best of chances, and yet we are deficient. The failure to understand and use words in their true import can generally be traced to the habitual disinclination to do that which requires .special effort; in short, we have been lazy. It is surprising how few of us are willing to attribute some of our fail-ings to that cause. Many of our present shortcomings are owing to wilful neglect in the past. In the case in hand we have failed to perform the fundamental process. We have procrastinated, deferring the definition of unfamiliar words till "the next time." We have done this again and again, and now when we attempt higher pursuits, we find our error. An exceedingly large proportion of persons are in this condi-tion. And it is to be deplored that a very large part of those in 230 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY this plight do not seem at all anxious to remedy their condition. How shiftless and inaccurate is their use of words. How feeble their attempts to argue, or even to hold intelligent conversation. The artisan must have materials with which to work. He who would make his thoughts known must have suitable words. But these persons are satisfied with their poor attempts, both to ex-press their thoughts and to understand the thoughts of others. "The world," says Paschal, "is satisfied with words; few care to dive beneath the surface." How true this is. We see it everywhere. Where it is possible the student uses his memory. Words, empty words, are all he tries to obtain; and, sad to say, he gets what he is after. He fails to see beyond the narrow present into the broad future. He strives for present reputation and marks, and he gets them; and that is all. He soon loses words, and he has never received their corresponding ideas, and all that is left is a record "on the books," which in these days of the survival of the fittest, counts for naught. But then there is that large class of persons who do thoroughly realize the necessity of greater command of language, who do want to make up for past neglect. How can we accomplish this ? "There is no royal road to learning." The rudiments of any study must be mastered before there can be advancement. We must now do what we have before neglected. We must use our dictionaries and weigh the significance of each word before we attempt to use it. To attain the highest use of language we must not pass by a single word without thoroughly understanding the thing it stands for. Extreme care must be exercised in the selec-tion of words with which to express our thoughts. Constant watchfulness is the price of success. This work of improvement is an arduous task, the performance of which persistence alone can accomplish, but the end fully repays the effort. Who that has reached this goal would trade his accomplish-ment for all that man could offer? With this possession one dwells upon a higher plane than that of his less intelligent fellow. By it he is brought a step nearer to the Being with whose help he obtains it. No other acquirement can produce such pleasure as this knowledge of the relations of words to things. THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 231 THE REFINING FIRE IN NATURE. J. R. STONER, '01. A T that period of the year when the process of oxidation is **• going on more rapidly than at any other, preparing nature for a state in which she may resume anew the forms of activity and life,—look out over the landscape ! The autumnal equinox has ushered in another season to succeed the vanished summer, and the robe of verdure is changed into the beautiful golden garb of autumn. The forest and the grove reflect a hue of amber and gold as they lie in the distance, bathed in the rich sunlight against the blue background of the sky. It is but the flame of this burning process in nature now fanned into a great conflagration consum-ing all that has flourished in the past year that is no longer of value in the economy of nature, except it be decomposed into its elements and taken up in the formation of other substances. But all is not consumed. The golden grain and the fruit of the tree; that which at one time appeared but as an obstructed growth of leaves, now contains within its narrow shell the capability of un-folding in another life. By its persistence in complying with the law that turns all hindrances to good effects, while it could not assume the beauty and prominence of a leaf in the bright robe of the herb or the tree, but submitting to its allotted destiny, it grad-ually developed into the permanent kernel, able to survive in the test under which the leaf must perish. We see all around us the work of nature purging the earth of all that is useless at the end of a period of creative activity or growth, preparing for another period of vigor and work. By means of this oxidation or slow burning "all effete substances that have served their purpose in the old form are burnt up" and only that which has the promise of life and usefulness passes un-harmed through the ordeal. Without this conflagration by which the earth is swept in autumn, there could be no.new, fresh growth in nature. Through the amber flames of autumn comes the pure, fresh verdure of spring. Everywhere is this refining fire purg-ing the universe of all that is worthless, perpetually tending to bring it into a purer state. Even the rivulet, whose crystal waters have been made foul by the natural contamination of the soil over which it has flown, is made purer by being thrown into a state of agitation as it ripples down over the obstructions in its way. The grand column that dashes precipitately over the awful 232 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY cataract and is separated into multitudinous particles of spray reaches the plane below in a purer state ; because the molecules have been bathed in the refining element of oxygen pervading the atmosphere. Thus we see that hindrances or adversity in nature are the means through which all great and phenomenal feats are brought about. And may not this principle be traced into the ethical life of man ? Surely all great heroes of the past, whose deeds are worthy of immortality, and whose careers merit the height of fame they have attained, have been disciplined by the stern school of adversity. They were men who met the hindrances with a de-termined will that would not flinch, when faced by difficulties, or cower in the presence of misfortune, their destinies were not moulded by circumstances ; but circumstances were controlled by their high destiny, the goal of their illustrious lives. And as a consequence the hindrances they met and surmounted prepared them to survive in the refining fire of trial, and instilled into their very sinews pure and noble principles of life. Thus estab-lished in character, they came from the ordeal all the more beauti-ful for having been submitted to the test. Arduous accomplishments that require an extraordinary amount of perseverence, patience, tact, and earnest toil should not be looked upon disparagingly. They are but the means, the testing fire, as it were, by which those who are fit to rise high in the walks of life, to take charge of responsible positions and to wield the sceptre of influence over the world in a manner to di-rect it in the channels of righteousness, are separated from those who are frivolous, trifling, insignificant idlers. And like the evergreen,—fitting emblem of the eternal that it is,—as it stands robed in its brilliant garb, unscathed by the withering effect of the autumn frost and the snows of winter, an object of life stand-ing out in sharp contrast with the seemingly lifeless world around it; so shall those, who have stood the test, be clothed in immor-tality though all things else may perish. CQgj 111 fares the land to hastening' ills a prey, Where wealth accumulates and men decay. —Goldsmith. THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 233 A PINANCIER. FRANK 8. FITE, '01. \ HAD the rare privilege, some forty years ago, to make the ac- * quaintance and to be favored with the confidence of a finan-cier who had risen to eminence from the lowest social grade. As a beggar boy, his exceptional talent for begging had roused the enthusiasm of a set of elderly maidens, who were attracted by his peculiar cry of helplessness and his boast of honesty. They put him to school. He learned there the fundamental principles of arithmetic, and little else; but his aptitude for trade was devel-oped in a marvelous degree. All the spending money of the scholars was invariably found at the end of a vacation in Chaucey Alcott's pockets. Yet, no boy could say that he had been cheated. All the fellows felt that their bits of silver coin had mysteriously disappeared in their various business relations with Alcott; but still they reluctantly confessed that everything had been "fair and square." He was said to be "on the dead level," yet plucked them, it would seem, pitilessly; but he stood by his own contracts, as he compelled them to stand by theirs. No act of positive dishonesty was ever proved against this plausible, cautious and relentless trader. The boys declared that he was shrewd, cunning and hard, yet he was "so obliging!" They disliked him, and at the same time accepted his services. Could they have caught him in any act of rascality his life would have been made a misery, but he was so discreet in his early preparation for his future career that, at the age of ten, he already gave promise of the great merchant and banker he eventually became. On leaving school, young Alcott found that his possessions amounted to thirty dollars. Instead of rushing at once to the elderly maidens who had helped him he went to the city and offered himself as clerk in a wholesale fish house. The senior partner was attracted by his evident talent and felt his youth renewed in looking at the youngster; he gave him a position in his counting room at once with a salary of fifty dollars a year. The keen youth, seeing at a glance that his employers were pious misers, instantly became, to all appearances, a pious miser himself. But in the course of five or six years he astonished the firm by show-ing that he knew more about the wholesale fish business than they did, and had made some money by quiet speculation of his 234 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY own. They oSered to double, treble, quadruple his salary, but nothing would satisfy Alcott but a partnership in their question-ablegaius. This they refused and Alcott promptly set up for himself on a small capital of money but a large capital of knowledge and intelligence, and soon cornered his former employers in a few heavy dealings and put them into bankruptcy in twenty-four months after he had left them, with the skillful use of their own methods. In the course of a few years he ventured cautiously but surely into other departments of commerce. He became a general merchant and at last assumed the dignity of ship owner and shipped his o-oods in his own vessels. He had two grand qualifications for business: his mind was quick and his heart was hard. In all financial panics he collected what was his due relentlessly, regard-less of the suffering it might bring upon nobler people than him-self; and paid all his own notes punctually as they fell due. To "fail'' was to him the worst of crimes. Almost everybody detested him, yet all knew that they could rely both on his word and his bond. Such a merchant, perhaps, should be judged by his own prin-ciples ; he had no sympathy with the great body of merchants of the country and laughed at all such sentimentality. "Get the better of 'em," was his motto. About this time he was a little wearied with commerce and bonds and stocks held for him the charm which merchandise had lost. He had obtained about two million dollars and amazed the moneyed world by a rush into Wall street, where he became a gigantic stock-jobber and banker. Here, as in school, the same shrewd, cunning characteristics were manifest, and slowly at first, but surely, his fortune increased and he obtained big commissions on the doubtful and worthless securities he sold; but just as his school-mates, those wbo relied on him could not assert that he had done anything to forfeit his reputation for honesty. It was at this point that I happened to have the honor of being one of his clerks, and in a short time his confidential one. I at once noticed his profanity. Everybody and everything interfering with his business designs brought forth a volley of oaths. There is probably no greater shock to the mind of an honest, well-intentioned country lad who is sent to confront the tempta- THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 235 tions of a city, with a mother's prayers hovering over him, than when he finds his employer is a rascal disguised as an honest man. Shall he also become a rascal ? Shall he stoop to scoundrelisms which his inmost soul abhors ! His behavior under such circum-stances is a test of his character ; his father, mother and sister, if he is fortunate enough to have a sister, combine all their moral energies to help him. There is no reason why the boy should have more privileges thau the girl, but the fact that he has is too evident to admit of a doubt. The denial of sisters to advance their brothers is one of the tragedies of human life. The re-verse SHOULD be the case, but unfortunately is not. But to return to my theme. As soon as I found out Mr. Al-cott, I began to look upon him with a certain horror. He had the greatest confidence in my honesty and even allowed me to sign his name to checks, but when I suggested that my services were worth more than I received, and that fifteen hundred would but partly recompense my unceasing work in his journal and ledger, he used his favorite formula and cursed me and my ser-vices roundly. He really thought that my services were due his pre-eminent position, though he was aware that I might ruin him in a single day had I chosen to "skip" at the close of business hours with his stocks and bonds. It is curious that I never had the slightest temptation to use the vast powers with which Mr. Alcott endowed me, for I might easily have become a millionaire in some European country had I chosen, like my employer, to become a rogue. I witnessed, as do clerks every day, the process of plundering, without any desire to plunder the plunderer. His wife, a meek woman, whom he swiftly scared into the grave, left him a daughter. She appeared to me a foolish, gig-gling creature, with large black eyes, a pug nose, and a complex-ion which was red to the point of ignition. A younger clerk in the office, much to our amusement, with a salary of five hundred dollars a year, declared that he was madly in love with her and convinced her of his sincerity ; as it was ridiculous to suppose that the father would consent to such a match, the clerk and heiress eloped and were married. When Alcott heard of it, he blasphemed with a savage fluency that was Wonderful even in him. His son-in-law was a bright fellow, however, with some rich connections, and with their backing, soon appeared in Wall Street. He made money, backed as he was, and Mr. Alcott went deliberately to work to ruin him, but at first he didn't succeed, as the son-in-law, in an early "corner in Erie," took eight hundred thousand out of his father-in-law's pocket: but this only stimu-lated Mr. Alcott and he ventured his millions without stint in an attempt to "corner" his son-in-law. [Continued.] 236 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY BOOK REVIEW. Quicksand, by Hervey White :—Small, Maynard, and Co., $1.50. QUICKSAND is the life history of a family with many more downs than ups. It is divided into three parts, in each of which a particular member of the family is the central figure, although all the members of the family enter into each divi-sion. The birth, boyhood, education, marriage, struggle for literary fame, and tragic death of Hubert form a conspicuous current in the narration. The varying dispositions of the members of the family, the appearance of the Indian, Maude, and the faithful hired man give an abundance of variety. The characters are depicted in striking detail, and the descriptions of the three homes (which the cover-ing of shame made necessary) are complete. The effect of a number of follies (crimes in some instances) are so clearly brought out as to emphasize the necessity of straight forward living. AMONG OUR CONTEMPORARIES, TT has not been the policy of THE MERCURY to devote much *■ space to an exchange article, but we feel it our duty to say something at intervals of those journals of other institutions, the reading of which gives us much pleasure and is profitable. The fact that an exchange article was crowded out of the November number explains why, in a few instances, reference is made to October numbers. The University of Virginia Magazi?ie is one of the most com-plete literary journals on our table, and the November number is an especially good one. It contains an article on "Keats—A Conscious Reformer of English Poetry," that is worthy of study. "The Quiet Indian's Ghost" in the November Touchstone is a well written story. The editor makes a strong appeal to the "men of Lafayette" in behalf of the literary journal of the insti-tution . The recent changes in the form and general get-up of the Pharetra make it the neatest and most attractive of our exchanges. The material is of a high grade, and the pen-sketches add ma-terially to its attractiveness. THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 237 "The Living Relic of Barbarism" in the October Ursinus Col-lege Bulletin is decidedly above the average oration in beauty and in force. An increased number of pages of literary material should accompany the change of The Bulletin from a biweekly to a monthly. The November Midland contains in its literary department a poem by Longfellow and one from the Denver News, an article by an alumnus and one by a student. Will this encourage liter-ary work among the students at Midland f The Dickinson Literary Monthly has materially raised its standard and, in general, does not suffer in comparison with the best; but the November number contains a partisan article that is unworthy a place in a college journal. Those interested in the educational condition of Puerto Rico will find an interesting article by Dr. M. G. Brumbaugh in the Juniata Echo for October. The Echo is to be congratulated on being able to publish these articles. We regret that the Novem-ber number did not contain one. "The Spanish Arnaida," an outline with explanations, by Stanley Ecker in The Western University Couranl reflects credit upon the author and the journal. It is the result of effort and thought. The poetry of The Lesbian Herald is an important feature of the publication. A well written article on "The Sun's Eclipse," accompanied by a photograph of the total eclipse at Centreville, Va., May 28, 1900, appears in the last issue. ««*£> "Over and over again, No matter which way I turn, I always find in the book of life Some lesson that I must learn ; I must take my turn at the mill, I must grind out the golden grain, I must work at my task with a resolute will, Over and over again." PATRONIZE OUR ADVERTISERS. C. F?. SOLT MERCHANT TAILOR Masonic Bldg., GETTYSBURG Our collection of Woolens for the coming- Fall and Winter season cannot be surpassed for variety, attractive designs and general completeness. The latest styles of fashionable novelties in the most approved shades. Staples of exceptional merit, value and wearing durability. Also altering-, repairing-, dyeing and scouring at moderate prices. .FOR UP-TO-DATE. Clothing, Hats, Shoes, And Men's Furnishing- Goods, go to I. HALLEM'S MAMMOTH CLOTHING HOUSE, Chambersburg St., GETTYSBURG, PA. ESTABLISHED 1867 BY ALLEN WALTON. ALLEN K. WALTON, President and Treasurer. ROBT. J. WALTON Superintendent. Hummelstomn Bromn Stone Gompany Quarrymen and Manufacturers of Building Stone, Sawed Flagging and Tile Waltonville, Dauphin Co-, Pa. Contractors for all kinds of Telegraph and Express Address. Cut Stone Work. BROWNSTONE, PA. Parties visiting the Quarries will leave cars at Brownstone Station on the P. & R. R. R. For a nice sweet loaf of Bread call on J. RAWER Baker of Bread and Fancy Cakes, GETTYSBURG. PA. EIMER & AMEND, Manufacturers and Importers of Chemicals and Chemical Apparatus 205, 207, 209 and 211 Third Avenue, Corner 18th Street NEW YORK. Finest Bohemian and German Glassware, Royal Berlin and Meissen Porcelain, Pure Hammered Platinum, Balances and Weights. Xeiss Mi-croscopes and Bacteriological Apparatus; Chemical Pure Acids and Assay Goods. SCOTT PAPER COMPANY MAKERS OF FINE TOILET PAPER 7th and Greenwood Ave. PHILADELPHIA PATRONIZE OUR ADVERTISERS. The Century Double-Feed Fountain Pen. Fully Warranted J6 Kt. Gold Pen, Iridium Pointed. GEO. EVELER, Agent for Gettysburg College PRICE LIST. No. 1. Chased, long or short $2 00 No. 1. Gold Mounted 3 00 No. 3. Chased 3 00 No. 3. Gold Mounted 4 00 Spiral, Black or Mottled |2 SO Twist, " 2 SO Hexagxm, Black or Mottled 2 SO Pearl Holder, Gold Mounted S 00 THE CENTURY PEN CO., WHITEWATER, WIS. Askyour Stationer or our Agent to show them to you. Agood local agent wanted in every school ^Mirmm^fr^wmmwwMmmmmmmwmm^ Printingand Binding We Print This Book THE MT. HOLLY STATIONERY AND PRINTING CO. does all classes of Printing- and Binding-, and can furnish you any Book, Bill Head, Letter Head, Envelope, Card, Blank, or anything- pertain-ing to their business in just as good style and at less cost than you can obtain same elsewhere. They are located among the mountains but their work is metropolitan. You can be convinced of this if you g-ive them the opportunity. Mt. Holly Stationery and Printing Co. K SPRINGS, PA. 73iUMtimU4UMtMlJUiUJUiUiU4UJUJUJUiUM R H. S. BENNEP, .DEALER IN. Groceries, Notions, Queenswcire, Glassware, Etc., Tobacco and Ggars. 17 CHAMBERSBURG ST. WE RECOMMEND THESE BUSINESS MEN. Pitzer House, (Temperance) JNO. E. PITZER, Prop. Rates $1.00 to $1.25 per day. Battlefield a specialty. Dinner and ride to all pointsof interest.including the tb ree days" fight, $1.25. No. 127 Main Street. You will find a full line of Pure Drugs and Fine Sta-tionery at the People's Drug Store Prescriptions a Specialty. J. A. TAWNEY^_ Is ready to furnish Clubs and Boarding' Houses with Bread, Rolls, Etc At short notice and reasonable rates. ■Washington & Middle Sts., Gettysburg. R. A. WONDERS, Corner Cigar Parlors. A full line of Cigars, Tobacco, Pipes, Etc. Scott's Corner, Opp Eagle Hotel. GETTYSBURG, PA. MUMPER & BENDER Furniture Cabinet Making, Picture Frames Beds, Springs, Mattresses, Etc. Baltimore St., GETTYSBURG, PA. .GO TO. fyotd (Gettysburg 3arber Sfyop. Centre Square. B. M. SEFTON W.F.CODORI, S£Sf)op (Successor to C. C. Sefton) Having thoroughly remodeled the place is now ready to accommodate the public Barber Supplies a Specialty. .Baltimore Street. (itrrT*l5£UR(i, PA. ESTABLISHED 1876 PENROSE MYERS, Watchmaker and Jeweler Gettysburg Souvenir Spoons, Col-lege Souvenir Spoons. NO. lO BALTIMORE ST., GETTYSBURG, PENNA. L. f\. MltW Manufacturers' Agent and Jobber of Hardware, Oils, Paints and Queensware. GETTYSBURG, PA. The Only Jobbing House in Adams County.

Issue 8.2 of the Review for Religious, 1949. ; A,M, D.G;. ~ Review for Religious MAR~H 15, 1949 Beginning Men÷al Prayer . Franc;s P. LeBuffe Nearness of God . : Pafr~ck F. Murray Confidence in God . Edward J. Carney Penitential Insfrumen÷s . Winfrld Herbsf The Hundredfold . Edward Sfanfon Prudence . Albed" Munfsch Adapfafion " J. Cre~sen Book Reviews Communications Questions Answered VOLUME VIII NUMBER 2 .,~ RI::VIi::W FOR RI::LI IOUS VOLUME VIII MARCH, 1949 NUMBER CONTENTS BEGINNING BEGINNERS IN MENTAL PRAYER-- Francis P. LeBuffe, S.J . 57 COMMUNICATIONS . 61 FOR YOUR INFORMATION . 62 THE NEARNESS OF GOD--Patrick F. Murray, S.J . 63 CONFIDENCE IN GOD--Edward d. Carney., O.S.F.S . 70 OUR CONTRIBUTORS . 72 RE: PENITENTIAL INSTRUMENTS --- Winfrid Herbst, S.D.S. 73 CANONICAL LEGISLATION CONCERNING RELIGIOUS . 79 ~FHE HUNDREDFOLD---Edward Stanton, S.J . 80 PRUDENCE--A NECESSARY VIRTUE--Albert Muntsch, S.J. 82 ADAPTATION~J.Creusen, S.J . 86 BOOK REVIEWS-- The Lord's Sermon on the Mount;' You Can Change the World . . 96 BOOK NOTICES . 99 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS . 101 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS-- 8. Shortening Canonical Year of Novitiate . 105 9. Postulant Cannot Take Vows on Deathbed . 106 10. Novice under Tw.enty-one Makes Will . , . 107 11. Supplyirig Absence from Meditation . 107 12. Typewritten Annals . 108 13. Use of Cuttings from Altar Breads . 108 14. Published Lists of Apostolic Indulgences . 108 15. Indulgences: for Rosary before Blessed Sacrament; for Renewal of Vows after Holy Communion . 108 16". Negro Candidates for Sisterhoods . 109 17. Trappistine Convent in the United States . 110 REPRINT SERIES . 112 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, March, 1949. Vol. VIII, No. 2. Published bi-, monthly: January, March, May, July, September and November at the College Press, 606 Harrison Street, Topeka, Kansas, by St. Mary's Co!lege, St. Mary's, Kansas, with ecclesiastical approbation. Entered as second class matter January 15, 1942, at the Post Of~ce, Topeka, Kansas, under the act of March 3, 1879. Editorial Board: Adam C. Ellis,'S.J., G. Augustine Ellard, S.J., Gerald Kelly, S.J. Editorial Secretary: Alfred F. Schneider, S.J. Copyright, 1949, by Adam C. Ellis.Permission is hereby granted for quotations of reasonable length, provided due credit be gi~;en this review and the author. Subscription price: 2 dollars a year. Printed in U. S. A. Before writln~j to us. please consult notice on inside" back cover. Beginning Beginners in/V en!:al Prayer Francis P. LeBuffe, S.J. MANY of our Sisters, Brothers, and priests know little about" mental prayer, and the majority of them find it difficult. These are facts, and we would do well to face them. It has long been a settled conviction with me that the major cause of thi~ situation is that they have been started off wrongly. This conviction is based on personal observation and on the experience of others, and not on armchair thinking, though I think we might arrive at the same conclusion by that method also. During my thirty-three years of priesthood I have had more or less continual opportunities to know the Sisters and their ways of spiritual living, and have enjoyed the confidencesof many in low and high positions. Moreover for sixteen years it has been my privilege to give a six-hour course .of lectures on mental prayer in the Summer School of Catholic Action. This is a completely elementary course, presup-posing no knowledge of mental prayer and outlining only the bare essentials. Yet time and again trained religious and deeplyspiritually-minded priests have commented on the help they. have gained from it. I always remember the remark of a solidly trained religious, a mem-ber of one of our finest Sisterhoods: "Father, this is the first time I ever knew what it was all about." What a tragedy back of that remark ! I think the major mistakes are that we begin beginners with too long a period of mental prayer, and, secondly, we do not give them adequate or proper instruction about mental prayer before they begin. Let me first discuss the" amount of mental prayer expected of beginners in the postulancy, novitiate, or seminary. Frequently they are asked to begin with a half-hour or even a full hour. It would seem that either is far too long. Why? Because they know little about the principles of religious or seminary life, and not much more than generalities about the life of Our Lord. Being thus ignorant, how can they develop these thoughts and make reasonable application to themselves? Even on the "affective" side, their emo-tions and acts of the will have not solid enough ground on which to be based. i am always reminded of a certain Brother-postulant who had 57 FRANCIsP. LEBUFFE Reoieta for Religious been one of the last pony-express riders of the Rockies. "Points" on th~ Hidden Life had been given the night before by a priest, and the next morning Brother John put in his full hour of meditation. Later on in the day, however, he buttonholed a Brother novice: "Say, let me ask you a question. Father told us last night to ask ourselves three questions in meditation. I remembered the questions and so I asked myself. 'Who done it?' I knew the answer: 'The Lord.' 'What did He do?' I knew that answer too: 'He did carpenter, work.' 'How did He do it?' Well, anybody would know that being the Lord He done it superfine. That took me two minutes. Say what did you guys do with the other 58 minutes?" In mental prayer, we "chew the cud"--I am talking now of dis-cursive prayer, where most beginners begin--and the "cud" to be chewed is our knowledge of things spiritual. Let's face facts and realize that beginners have little or no "cud" to chew--and it is pre-cisely for that reason they are beginners. They are quite in the same position for spiritual meditation as most of us are for a meditation on atom fission. Like Brother John if I w~re to meditate on the atomic bomb, I'd ask myself "What does it mean?" Answer: "Splitting the atom." Period. Because of this, it would seem wise to start" beginners off with the easiest form of mental prayer: meditative reading. Father Lind-worsky, S.J., in his Ps~jcbolog~ of Asceticism, characterizes it as a much-neglected way of .meditating. The advantage of beginning with this simplest form is that it provides the beginner with continuous food for thought; or, to change the metaphor, it provides a continuing anchor for his thinking. From meditative reading the beginner could pass on to that age-. old form of meditation wherein we take each word or phrase of a prayer and try to dig out and spread out the thought that lies hidden therein. Thus we can take the Our Father, meditating on the word "father" and all that it implies, and then checking our findings with all these qualities we find in God. Next, the word "our" with' all "its implications of universal brotherhood. All the while, of course, we warm our hearts and intersperse our thinking with the affective prayer of will and emotions. Of course it is highly advisable to have beginners meditate as soon as possible on the life of Our Lord, for that is truly "the customary food of a devout soul." But here again we must fit the meditation to the one meditating. Most Catholics who have had a Catholic 58 March, 1949 BEGINNING IN MENTAL PRAYER education, can meditate profitably for at least a few minutes on Bethlehem, the Shepherds, the Magi, the Agony in the Garden, the Crucifixion, and so forth. But once they get away from the big, well-known my'steries, their minds are either a completely blank page ¯ or they indulge in specfilations which may be entirely awry or at variance with the true doctrine enshrouded in the mystery. We don't ask high school students to write college essays, and we don't ask college students to write doctorate dissertations. Why then ask of beginners in the spiritual life what can reasonably be expected only of maturer religious? We are not, of course, discounting the workings of grace whereby God can and does freely grant a real gift of prayer to one yet unschooledin asceticism. Nor are we demanding a deal of learned knowledge for meditatiton. Our contention is simply this, that barring an unusual grace from God it is bard to amplify a thought if one hasn't got a thought. The lack of proper instruction preparatory to all attempt at meditation is, as I see it, the second'cause of the deplorable mental-prayer condition among religious and priests. If we begin with the simpler forms of mental prayer, no lengthy instruction is needed. The best way to instruct is to make the medi- ¯ ration out loud with the beginners. Many rules are quite unneces-sary. The instructor meditates aloud with them, always using the personal pronoun "I" and meditating as though he were a postulant, novice, or seminarian himself. This gives "audience identifica-tion" and soon his voice becomes their own audible thinking. ~/Thus Ican beginwithten minutes meditativereading. I read sentence, think it over aloud. Read another sentence and think it over aloud, frequently chatting it out with Our Lord in my own simple way and telling Him exactly how I feel about it. Utter simplicity should be stressed. Time and again I have bad students in the mental prayer classes tell of their suprise and comfortwhen they realized for the first time that they could talk with God exactly as they felt, no matter what their mood, and exactly as they would with mother, father, or any human friend. It makes one wonder whether we have not overformalized our praying and constructed too compli-cated. a machinery for our approach to God. Prayer is truly "rever-ent intimacy with God." I am afraid we have been stressing the "reverent" rather than the "intimacy." That may have been well enough in Old Testament times amid the thunders and lightnings of 59 FRANCIS P. LEBUFFE Revieu., for Rel[qious Sinai, but it does not quite fit in with the called-for approach to the Babe of Bethlehem or the Man of Sorrows. Again, as to the amount of time, it would seem to be wiser to begin with not more than ten minutes a day for at least the first two weeks or longer. Thereafter increase to fifteen minutes a day for another two weeks (or longer). Remember mental prayer is like olives: one must develop a taste and relish for it. In the courses on mental prayer I have always restricted the time of each little medita-tion to three or four minutes. Thus young people are not bored and they find out practically that something worth while can be done in even a few minutes. Only recently I talked on mental prayer to the sodalists of the School of Business Administration of Fordham Uni-versity. I bad time to make only three three-minute meditations with them. The sodallsts were motionless: one could have heard a pin drop. At the end the prefect, a young man, in closing the meeting said: "I never knew prayer could be so warm and natural." Years ago in Chicago at.a S.S,C.A. a U.S. sailor said to me: "Father, this mental prayer is wonderful. It is as refreshing as a glass of cold water from a spring!" The sad result of a bad start in meditat, ing either from an over-dose or lack of proper preliminary instruction is a complete floun-dering in a vacuum of thoughtlessness. And the sadder result is that having made a bad start afloundering, the religious or priest con-tinues for a long time to flounder in a vacuity. It might be well to add two further remarks. The way, of course,, to remedy the beginner's lack of spiritual knowledge is to give him heavy doses of spiritual reading, using only time-tested masters in the spiritual life and lives of Christ which are thoroughly authentic, such as for example, Maas, Fouard, Mescbler,-Le Camus. Fluffy-ruffle spiritual books should find no room on the library shelves of novitiates and seminaries. Spiritually well-read and hence well-fed religious and seminarians will soon have an ample "cud" whereon to chew. Another thing is.to remember that we Americans find thinking difficult. Give us something to do and we are happy. Ask us to remain qui~t and think--well, we soon get restless or go to sleep. (That native trait may be a far deeper cause of our poverty in mental prayer, than the more evident ones I have mentioned.) When thinking of some of our meditations and meditators, I am reminded of the story told by Father William Stanton, S.J. While giving a 6O March, 1949 COMMUNICATIONS mission in a village, he went down to the country store and started chatting with the "regulars" sitting akound the store stove. "What do you men do all day? . Well, Parson, sometimes we sets and thinks, and sometimes we only sets." Wouldn't that label truly many of our meditations? Can't we remedy it? Communica!:ions Reverend Fathers : It occurred to me as I read in REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS the discus-sions about worldliness in religious communities that a convent is the best place on earth in which to make a study of unworldliness. From the moment the rising bell rings at the unworldly hour of five in all kinds of weather until taps at ten at night the Sisters have been "on. call." Look at the day's agenda: morning meditation, Holy Mass, breakfast in silence, teaching or nursing duties until lunch time and again until afternoon prayer and spiritual reading, supper in silence, a short recreation period in a common room, study, night prayer-- everything on schedule for nine months of the year. Into the summer vacation are crowded an eight-day retreat, six weeks of summer school either as teachers or students, or teaching a vacation school in a rural district preparing children for first Com-munion and confirmation. This is the routine followed by Sisters who live in colleges, academies, hospitals, parochial school residences, orphan homes. Wherever the Sister's assignment is, her day is a long one and entirely out of harmony with the 44-hour week of women in the world. Sisters haven't time to be worldly. They surely are not worldly in their attire. Their uniforms were not designed for either b~auty or comfort. They are not usually known by their worldly names. The names they are known by are often not their choice, and many times they are not euphonious. They do riot attend worldly amusements. They probably see during the course of the year five or six carefully selected movies in their college or academy hall. Their convent parties are strictly exclusive and unworldly. Now all this does not go to prove that Sisters are ready-made saints. They are human; and it is amazing how, living the common life, each one retains her own individuality through all the years allotted to her. It is my firm conviction that the number of worldly Sisters in any community is a small minority. The rank and file of all Sisters are carrying the sweet yoke of Christ bravely and sweetly.~A SISTER (Golden Jubilarian) 61 Your lnr orrnaUon Reprint Series The last page (112) of the present number carries a definite an-nouncement of the reprint series that was suggested tentatively in No-vember, 1948. We delayed in making this announcement ii~ the hope. that we might find a distributor for the booklets, as we are not equipped for that kind of work. Up to this time, however, we have been unsuccessful in our quest for a satisfactory distributing plan; hence we will do the best we can. Because of our lack of facilities, xve must insist that those who order booklets carefully observe the direc-tions outlined on page 11 Please note the differences between the reprints now available and those listed as tentative in November. Number 2 on that list was made up of articles on the novitiate. Requests for those articles were not sufficient to warrant our reprinting them; in their place we are reprinting the articles on Gifts to Religious by Father Ellis. Number 3 on the tentative llst was to consist of four articles by Father Kelly (two on emotional maturity, and two on the particular friendship). As two of these articles are comparatively short, we have decided to add a fifth article (on Vocational Counseling). This first edition of the reprints is merely an experiment. We are printing only a limited number; and we do not intend to print more unless it becomes quite evident that the project is really worth while. If you wish copies, it would be well to send your order immediately. Summer Sessions . The Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi will conduct a six weeks' sum-mer session, under the auspices of the Cardinal Stritch College, Mil-waukee, for Sisters who are interested in. the care and education of mentally handicapped children. Enrollment limited. Apply to: The Psychological Instiiute, St. Coletta School for Exceptional Chil-dren, Jefferson, Wisconsin. Immaculate Heart College, Los Angeles, California, offers the following special summer features: Reading Clinic for Elementary Teachers; Workshop in High School Administration; Series of Courses on St. Thomas Aquinas; Audio Visual Education; Cerema-ics; The Great Books Program; All-day Conference for Teachers of [Continued on 13. II1] 62 The Nearness of God Patrick F. Murray, S.3. iN OUR DAILY religious life, with its care and duties as well as its monotony, it is so easy to lose sight of the grand purpose of our consecrated lives. We know that deep down within our souls there is a quiet and profound love for Our Lord that has ever been, and still is, the motivating power that keeps us going from day to day. "I live, now not I, but Christ liveth in me," as St Paul has expressed it; or again, "The charity of Christ drives us on." But amid the din and confusion a'nd cares that every day brings with it, it is quite easy to become entangled with so many visible duties that they gradually tend to obscure the silent flame of love within our hearts. They would extinguish it altogether if we did .not keep it alive with unrelenting effort in prayer. Constant prayer is the only fuel that can make it burn brightly so that it in turn will continue to motivate our actions in God's service. Great Appeal of Sensible Things The great appeal of things visible is something that everyone who would lead a spiritual life must struggle against constantly. We know that we love Our I, ord. We are eager to work to prove our love, because love proves itself in deeds, But we are so very much creatures of sense. It is so easily possible tolose our clear vision and to become so interested in the work we are doing to prove our love, that soon we come to find ourselves working because we have come to love the task given us rather than because we love our Divine Master. Before we know it, we are seeking praise and honor for our work instead of seeking tl~e praise and the honor of His Divine Majesty, as we started out to do. Our motivation has changed and our super-natural vision has dimmed by constant contact with the visible things around us. With God's gtrace and with constant effort we have to recall painfully that we are not working for a corruptible crown nor for a visible reward; but we are striving for an incorruptible crown from the loving hands of a still invisible Master. Highlg Recommended Practice lOne of the most highly recommended ways of keeping ourselves 63 PATRICK F. MURRAY Re~;iew for Religious on the path of perfection and of keeping our intention pure in God's service is to cultivate the habit of consciously living and working in His divine presence. He is present anyway, whether we think of Him or not; but it will help so very much if we can come to realize His nearness, for "in Him we live, and move, and have our being" (Acts 17:28). There is no point of our spiritual life more important; there is no easier means of personal sanctification : no means that can be more efficacious; no supernatural truth more fruitful in its results than an abiding and vitalizing sense of His divine nearness. Reward of Angels and Practice of Saints The angels in heaven are very fortunate. They stood up under .trial when the rebel angels fell. Now, while Lucifer and his followers burn for all eternity, the faithful angels possess what we are trying attain--the happiness of being with God forever. The saints are there too; and because they stood up under this trial which we call life, they share the bliss of the angels. The happiness of both the angels and saints in heaven consists in actuallyseeing and enjoying the infinite beauty of God in all the splendor of His divine majesty. Our Lord speaking of the angels said, "Their angels see the face of my Father in heaven" (Matt. 18:10). Among the saints of the Old Testament, a common manner of speaking was ever: "A~ the Lord liveth, in whose presence I stand" (III Kings 17:1). This practice was habitual with them as well as with the saints of the New Law. As David put it: "I kept the Lord ever before my eyes, because He is ever at my right hand, that I may not slip" (Ps. 15:8). Our Reward Also God created us so that someday we might come to stand eternally before Him in heaven and enjoy the sight of Him for all eternity. In this life He would have us attain to some kind of resemblance of that eternal happiness. This we can do by consciously walking in His presence, even though as in the twilight rather than in the full bright-ness of the eternal day. "Now I see as in a glass, in a dark manner; then we shall see Him face to face" (I Cot. 13:12). The. clear vision is the reward, the glory, the happiness that we hope for now. Walking in a spirit of faith in His presence, even though as "in a glass in a dark manner," is one of our best guarantees that we shall eventually come to see Him "face to face." Where Is God? The first wrong idea that we must rid ourselves of is that God is 64 March, 19 4 9 THE NEARNESS OF GOD somewhere away up in the heavens beyond the farthest star; or tha~ He is in some unattainable place that we cannot begin to approach in this life; that He is inaccessible. Of all the beings in existence, God is the easiest to contact. He is right here where you are this very moment, and at the same time He is in every conceivable place in the whole vast range of creation. He fills the whole world. "Do I not fill heaven and earth" (Jer. 23:24) ? He is whole in the world, and whole in every part of the world, no matter how large or how small. He is outside us, within us, all about us. We are living in God; not as part of Him (that would beto fall into the error of pantheism), .but as St. Paul tells us: "He is not far from each of us, since in Him we live, and move, and have our being" (Acts 17:27-28). The classic expression of this magnificent truth is David's: "Whither shall I go from Thy spirit; or whithe? shall I flee from Thy face? If I ascend into heaven Thou art there; if I descend into hell Thou art present. If I take wings early in the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there shall thy hand guide me, and thy right hand sustain me. Perhaps darkness shall cover me . But darkness shall not be dark to Thee, and night shall be as light as day." (Ps. 138:7-12.) God is more intimately present to us than we are to ourselves. He is the source of all life; the basic strength of all power; the source of all being and all existence. If it were not" for His omnipotence sus-taining us and every other creature, we would all fall back into the nothingness from which we were made. We are sustained by God, surrounded by God, encompassed by God. Some Comparisons The whole world is full of His presence. St. Augustine tries to give us some idea of what'this means by the illustration of a sponge in the midst of the ocean. It is surrounded by water; soaked with ¯ water, inside and out. But this comparison falls short of the manner in which God is present to us, because the sponge may sink to the bot-tom or be washed ashore; but we can never, in any way, get out of the presence of God. He is immense and infinite as well as omni-present. He is a pure spirit and penetrates us through and through-- something like light filling every particle of a crystal ball; or like an iron bar that has been thrust into the fire and heated to such a degree that it is almost impossible to differentiate the fire from the heated bar. It is white hot and looks more like a bar of fire than a bar of 65 PATRICK F. MURRAY Review [or Religious iron. But God is still more present within us, and to every one of His creatures. Sucb comparisons merely serve to give us some faint idea of the rehlity. God Is Present to Our Eoer~l Thought It is very difficult for the limited human mind to grasp such a concept. We cannot even begin to imagine the nature of such a Being who can be present at all times to every one of His creatures no matter how far apart they may be. Cardinal Wiseman brings this truth out very strikingly in his book Fabiola. In a beautiful passage Syra, the Christian slave, tries to explain the presence of God to bet young mis-tress, Fabiola. "Simple as light is His nature," she says, "one and the same everywhere, indivisible, ubiquitous, unlimited. He existed long before there was any beginning. He wil, l, exist after all ending has ceased. Power, wisdom, goodness, 16ve,--justice, too, and unerring judgment,--belong to His nature and are as unlimited and unrestrained as it. He alone can create; he alone preserve; He alone destroy." But then Syra goes on to the point that is more intimately con-cerned with our consideral~ion. She tells bet young mistress that to watch and note the l~hougbts and actions of every one of His creatures requires no effort or causes no trouble for this Infinite, Being, far less than the trouble it takes for the sun to light up with its ranis whatever it shines on. God is more intimately present to every one of His crea-tures and to the entire universe than light is to the rays of the sun. After pondering these thoughts, no wonder that Fabiola cries out: "What an awful thought t, hat one has never been, alone, has never had a wish to oneself, has never had a single thought in secret, has never hidden the most foolish fancy of a proud and childish brain from the observation of One who knows no imperfection. Terrible thought,.,that one is living ever under the steady gaze of an all-seeing Eye, of~hich the sun is but a shadow, for the sun never enters the soul!" (Ch. 16.) Source of Strength God, therefore, is everywhere; and yet He is so near. No matter what we think, He knows it. No matter what we say, He hears it. No matter what we do, He sees it. This is a thought that can be as consoling for those who sincerely try to serve Him as it can be terrible forthe most secret sinner. A deep realization of God's presence is a source of strength for souls who are naturally timid. Encircled by 66 March, 1949 THE NEARNESS OF GOD His loving presence they are able to present to the world that won-derful combination of timidity and moral courage which can belong to the Christian heart alone. Frequently, such is the explanation of unexpected strength of character in men and women who are not by nature strong and independent; yet when the occasion arises they are able to stand up under very difficult circumstances. They are quietly strong and self-possessed in their deep realization that of themselves they are nothing, 'but God is their'strength and their power. Special Graces of Saints Some of the great saints received special graces which enabled them to imagine Our Lord ever at their side under one form or another, such as Jesus Crucified, or in the power and glory of His resurrection. It requires special graces to carry on with such efforts of the imagination. But for ordinary souls, such efforts of the imagina-tion are not at all necessary. Spirit of Faith Is Necessary All that is really necessary is to accept in a spirit of simple faith that God is present and interested in absolutely everything we do, for such is the truth. Christ Our Lord, as Man, is present in heaven and in the Blessed Sacrament. But as Man, He is not present everywhere. ¯ As Man, He has a definite form and body, and we can imagine how He must have looked when He was on earth. He is also God as well as Man. But God, as God, cannot be imagined. He is a pure Spirit. "No one has ever seen God at any time. The only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has revealed Him." (John 1:18.) "The spirit of the Lord has filled the round of the earth" (Wis. 1:7). There is no need to imagine what is not. All that is necessary is simply to believe what is. Simple faith in God's presence is all that is needed ! How in Actual Practice But how is this to work out in actual practice? In his Epistle to the Hebrews, St. Paul says of Moses: "God being invisible, he con-sidered Him as present as if he saw Him" (Heb. 11:27). It is some-thing like being in a very dark room with another person present. We cannot see him, but we know that he is there. He makes his presence known by his actionsfrom time to time. We can know God by faith and by His works. "We see now in a dark manner"; so we may con-sider in a spirit of simple faith that God is present. It is enough to 67 PATRICK F:. MURRAY know that He is here as our most loving Father and Friend, to rejoice in His presence no matter where we may be, no matter what we may be doing at the moment. We cannot see how He is present because we are still in the darkness of this life. We must live with faith in His presence and with hope that on the morrow of eternity He will discover Himself to us in all the magnificence of His divine majesty; and we shall see Him as He is. "When He shall appear, then we shall be like to Him: because we shall see Him as He is" (I John 3:2). Acts of Desire and Looe Most Necessary It is not enough to know that God is ever present to us. We must let such knowledge flow over into acts of the will, into personal acts of desire and love for Him. When we adore Our Lord present in the Blessed Sacrament we do not spend a lot of time trying to figure out how He is present. It is the same with this exercise of taking advan-tage of God's nearness to us. We take it on faith that He is present and walk lovingly in His company. So we "go about our daily duties with a greater zest and cheerfulness, knowing that we are performing every action of the day in His divine presence; knowing, too, that He realizes we are doing our every act, no matter how big or how little, out of love for Him alone. Our reflection from time to time on His presence is a greater incentive to do all things as perfectly as pos-sible with the help of His grace. "Whether you eat or drink, or what-ever else you do, do it all for the glory of God" (I Cot. 10:31). Pray Atu)a~ls Once Our Lord said: "We must always pray, and never give up" (Luke 18: I). There would seem to be no better manner of carrying out this wish of Our Lord than ever walking in His presence, doing all things out of love for Him alone. As St. Paul expresses it: "You are no longer strangers and for-eigners, but fellow citizens of the saints, and domestics of the house of God" (Eph. 2: 19). By living in such a spirit all our dealings and conversation can become a thing not of this earth but of heaven. And we carry out St. Paul's ~urther advice: "Fixing our gaze not on the things that are seen, but on the things that are not seen; for the things that are seen are temporal, but the things that are unseen are eternal" (II Cor. 4:18). Strength in Temptation Further, we must remember that when we act. in this way, we must not consider God Our Father at some great distance from us, 68 March, 1949 THE NEARNESS OF GOD watching us. He is actually present and interested in everything we do. This makes the practice easy and sweet, and helps us to be on the alert to find new ways to please Him. It is also a great h~lp in temp-tation to realize that He sees us and knows our inmost thoughts and the depths of our souls, reading there the amount of true sincerity we have in trying to overcome the temptations that bother us. He knows our strength and our weakness, and is ever present to help us. It is always a good thing to recall that every temptation takes place in the very presence of God : that every sin takes place right in' His very pres-ence. And when we overcome a temptation and prove our love, we do that, too, right in His very presence; and we are sure of a reward for every battle fought and won for His love. In temptation, call to mind such texts as: "Come to my help, O God; O Lord, make haste to defend me" (Ps. 69:2). Or again, such aspirations as: "O God, my Strength, strengthen me! . Never per-mit me, dear God, to offend Thee." "0 God, may I die rather than offend Thee !" Kinds of Pra~jers to God Present The best and most effectual aspirations, whether in time of temp-tion or in time of loving conversation with God, are those which our own hearts conceive, moved by His grace. In our ordinary prayers or conversations with God so near to us, we should speak about even the most trivial things and the most intimate things as'though with a friend. It is not at all necessary to have a great number of prayers; nor is strain of any kind necessary. One short prayer, provided it expresses the thoughts of our souls, can be r~peated over and over again, and is sufficient. Or again, a Gospel text from the morning meditation repeated over and over again is very pleasing to God, because He knows that you mean it as words of simple and sincere love as you move about on the rounds of your daily life and work in His loving presence. "For what have I in heaven? And besides Thee, what do I desire on earth? For Thee my flesh and my heart have fainted away. Thou art the God of my heart, the God who is my portion forever." (Ps. 72:25-26.) 69 Confidence in God Edward J. Carney, O.S.F.S. WHENEVER his security is threatened, man experiences fear, and he attempts to escape, if possible, the impending evil. Properly controlled this emotion plays an important and use-ful part in developing the 'human personality. For example, one who did not fear the rapidly moving vehicles at a busy traffic intersection would regret his rashness. It is natural, then, for a man to experience fear under certain circumstances. Even Our Lord feared the death decreed for him: "And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee; and he began to be distressed and discouraged. Theri he said to them, 'My soul is sorrowful unto death.' " (Matt. 26:37- 38.) Fear, however, very frequently exceeds its proper limits. An excellent example of this is the worry and anxiety that trouble many" areligious. In a life dedicated to God through renunciation of the world there must be difficulties. Sometimes these are of great con-sequence; more often than not they are the minor crosses ot~ daily life experienced even by lay people. An improper viewpoint in meeting them, consisting in too little confidence in God, destroys the religious' perspective. Hi~ fear becomes pronounced, manifests itself in worry and anxiety, and makes him doubtful of success in his chosen w'ay of life. Some examples from Holy Scripture will help illustrate these points. Lack of faith in God begets fear. When the storm at sea threat-ened to overwhelm their boat, the disciples awakened Jesus, saying: " 'Lord, save us! we are perishing!' And he saith to them, 'Why are ye afraid, O ye of little faith?' " (Matt. 8:i5-26.) This fear coming from mistrust of God's providence makes a man doubtful of his ability to face a situation. "And Peter answered and said to him, 'Lord, if it be thou, bid me come to thee upon the waters.' And he said, 'Come.' And Peter went down from the boat and walked upon the waters and came unto Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was struck with fear; and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, 'Lord, save me.' And straightway Jesus stretched forth his hand and took hold of him, and he saith to him, 'O thou of little faith, why didst thou doubt?'" (Matt. 14:28-31.) 70 CONFIDENCE IN GOD An analysis of excessive fears and anxieties will undoubtedly dis-close that insufficient trust in God is a partial cause. The religious fears the demar~ds of obedience, a new charge, a new assignment. "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" Beset by temptations against the vow of chastity the religious questions his strength. "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" The mental serenity of the religious is disturbed by daily problems. "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" If mistrust of God's providence produces fear and worry, trust in God is accompanied by courage and peace. When the apostles cried out in fear as they saw Christ walking on the sea, 3esus immediately spoke to them, saying: "Be of good heart; it is I, fear not" (Matt. 14:27), After the Resurrection the apostles were gathered together in the upper room. Suddenly 3esus stood among them and said: "Peace be to you! It is I. Be not afraid." (Luke 24:36.) The quality of this faith or trust inGod is also indicated by Christ: "And 3esus answering saith to them, 'Have faith in God. Amen I say to you, whoever saith to this mountain, "Be thou lifted up and cast into the sea," and doubteth not in his heart, but believeth that what he saith is to come to pass, it shall be done for him. Wherefore I say to you, whatsoever things ye ask for in prayer, believe that ye have received them, and they shall come unto .you.' " (Mark 11:22-24.) A religious who allows fear and doubt to color his life may unconsciously make the mistake of believing his problems either too great or too small for God's consideration. If he believes they are too great, he approaches God halfheartedly. Reflection on some passages from the New Testament will convince such a person that the miracles of Christ were performed for those who believed in him. Hence even the greatest difficulties are not insurmountable when a person turns to God in loving faith and confidence. Faith in Christ obtained the cure of the paralytic: "And 3esus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, 'Be of good heart, my child; thy sins are forgiven' " (Matt. 9:2). It was a means of res'toring sight to the blind: "And 3esus saith to them, 'Believe ye that I can do this?' They say to him, 'Yea, Lord.' Then he touched their eyes, saying, 'Be it done to you according to your faith.' " (Matt. 9:28-29.) It was required of a father before his child was brought back to life: "But ~lesus, overhearing what was said, saith to the president, 'Fear not, only believe!' . . . And taking the child by the hand he saith to her. 'Maiden, I say to thee, arise!' And straightway the maiden rose and walked." (Mark 5:36-42.) It 71 EDWARDJ. CARNEY won divine pardon for a hardened sinner: "And he said, 'Jesus, remember me when thou comest in thy kingdom.' And he said to him, 'Amen I si~y to thee, this day thou shalt be with me in para-dise.' " (Luke 23:42-43.) Not only .the great events of life but even the smallest detail falls under God's providence. "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them falleth to the ground without your Father. But as for you, the very hairs of your hexd are all numbered. Wherefore fear ye not; ye are of greater worth than many sparrows." (Matt. 10:29-31.) "And he said unto his disciples, 'Therefore I say to you, be not anxious about your life, what ye are to eat; nor for your body, how ye are to be clothed. For the life is more than the food, and the body more than the clothing. Consider the ravens, how th~y sow not nor reap, neither have they store-room or barn, and God feedeth them. Of how much greater worth are ye than the birds~ If then the grass in the field, which today liveth and tomorrow is to be cast into the oven; God doth so array, how much more you, of little faith! Seek ye not therefore what you are to eat and what you are to drink . . . your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But seek ye his kingdom, and these things shall be added unto you.'" (Luke 12:22-31.) This trust in God presupposes resignation to God's will. It ever bears in mind that God is far more effective in directing human events than man, that what seems an evil on the natural plane may really be a means of advancing in God's grace if accepted with the proper spir-itual dispositions. Thus in turning away from unnecessary fears and worries it does not fall into the fault of presumption. Rather it con-ditions the religious to view all things in their proper perspective and to avoid unnecessary fear by turning to God in confidence and resig-nation. It eliminates doubt, anxiety, and worry, and allows the reli-gious to face life at peace with himself and with God. OUR CONTRIBUTORS EDWARD J. CARNEY is superior of the House of Studies of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, Washington, D.C. J. CREUSEN. well-known authority on canon law, is a professor at the Gregorian University, Rome. WINFRID HERBST, writer, retreat master, is on the faculty of the Salvatorian 'Seminary, St. Nazianz, Wisconsin. FRANCIS P. LEBUFFE, for many years on the staff of America, is at present engaged in Sodality work in the East. ALBERT MUNTSCH is a professor of sociology a-nd philosophy at St. Louis University. PATRICK F. MURRAY is a mem-ber of the Jesuit Mission Band of the Maryland Province. EDWARD STANTON is completing his theological studies at Weston College, Weston, Massachusetts. 72 Re: Penitential Instruments Winfrid Herbst, S.D.S. IN A DRAWER in my desk I have a large candy box containing an assortment of penitential instruments, to wit: one large hair shirt made of sterilized horsehair and one hair waistband of the same material; one large and 6ne small discipline made of Spanish hemp as well as one plain and one studded discipline made Of small but e~- cient steel chains; one waist chain and one arm chain made of stainless steel wire, the points of which will bear a bit of filing flat lest they pierce the skin. The set is purely for purposes of study and demon-stration-- visual instruction of a rare kind. Many religious (dare I say "most"?) have never seen the like. I confess that the very feel of some of them makes me shudder; and a young novice who saw them for the first time turned pale, grew weak at the sight, and, knowing that discretion is the better part of valor, sat down on a convenient chair. Among the instruments in this formidable collection (and I sup-pose there are other styles and varieties) I look upon the steel chains and the steel disciplines, especially the studded discipline, as the most dangerous, as apt to cause wounds that in our day of germs could easily lead to infection and medical care. The chains should never be so sharp-pointed as to pierce the skin and should be worn only for brief periods of an hour or so at a time and when one is at ease, as during meditation; and should invariably be removed when one is going to be in any way actively engaged. And the steel-pointed dis-cipline, to my mind, should be used only for display purposes, to show that modern man is not as thick-skinned as his ancestors were. The large hair shirt and the hair band cause me less perturbation. Both can be worn for brief periods, not to exceed an hour, let us say, unless one finds that it is injurious, causing subsequent rash, itch, and so forth. The waistband may be worn over the skin but the large hair shirt is better worn over the underwear or even over the shirt. The one in my collection is a wicked thing and reminds you quite insistently that you are a poor sinner even when worn in this com-promise manner. The hempen disciplines are the simplest and safest instruments in ¯ my interesting collection, provided one reasonably limits the strokes, 73 WINFRID HERBST Ret~iew for Religious both as regards number and force, and lets them fall discreetly on that portion of the body which can best take punishment without real injury, where the proverbial dad (now outdated too) applied the ; strap out in. the woodshed. Those are just my ideas, of course; others may think otherwise but not necessarily so wisely. And I know of religious who have used even the chains (points filed fia!!) regularly several times a week for years and never a bit of harm did it do them, though it was real penance, especially the putting on of the clammy thing on a cold win-ter morning ! Before I go any further, I wish it to be distinctly understood, as shall be several times repeated, that none of the above penitential instruments or others like them may be used without special permis-sion from one's confessor or spiritual director--permission as regard:~ manner of use and length of time--permission that is given only after due discussion of all the factors involved. It is, of course, quite evi-dent that this permission is not necessary in those institutes which prescribe such penances by rule or by legitimate custom, unless it is ,expressly mentioned in the constitutions that one must, even in the case of custom, have the confessor's permission. Nor does this per-mission seem to be necessary for a very moderate occasional use (by way of experiment, for instance), unless.it is evident from the pre-vailing practice of the institute that nothing at all of this nature "may be done without spiritual direction. The question now arises: Is the use of these penitential instru-ments to be recommended at all? That depends. If you are an utterly unmortified religious, an unobservant religious, one who is not even making an attempt to keep the ordinary constitutions-- the answer is, no! You have many more important mortifications to practice before you even attempt these supererogatory practices. You should remember that no source of mortification is more efficacious, universal, and secure than the perfect observance of the holy rule, that its observance is surer and more meritorious than any self-chosen penance. If, however, you are a truly observant religious and are doing all your state of life demands as perfectly as possible--the answer is, yes, with due discretion and the permission of your con-fessor or spiritual director, remembering that these practices are not of obligation. The rules of most religious orderk or congregations do not offi-cially impose any corporal mortification but only suggest ~he idea. 74 March, 19 4 9 RE: PENITENTIAL INSTRUMENTS Thus in various constitutions we read passages like the following: "The chastisement of the body must not be immoderate or indis-creet, in watcl~ing, abstinence, and other external penances and labors, which are wont to do hurt and hinder greater good. Wherefore it is expedient that everyone should lay open to his confessor what he does in this respect." "Since corporal penances contribute much to spiritual advance-ment, their practice must not be neglected by the members." "In the private practice of ordinary mortifications and corporal penances which are not injurious to health the members are guided by the judgment of the confessor alone: for external and public penances, however, they also need the permission of the local Superior." ""With still greater reason each one shall renounce the flesh and its concupiscences, pride and its suggestions, ambition and its intrigues, causing, according to the words of the apostle, 'his members to die,' even though it required fasting, the discipline, and the hair shirt. No austerity, however, is' to be practiced by a religious without the per-mission of his confessor or Director." This last passage, from Directions for Novitiates of the Congre-gation of the Hohj Cross1 by the Very Rev. Gilbert Francais, C.S.C., is commented on at length in that excellent classic. From those pages of comment (40-44) I make the following extracts: "Corporal mortification is more than a humiliation; it is both a humiliation and a physical pain that we very willingly impose on ourselves, either for the purpose of keeping ourselves from sin, or in order to punish ourselves for having sinned, or for the still higher motive of suffering with Christ Who suffered for us. This simple definition places corporal mortification beyond the reach of the silly and unjust ridicule to which the spirit of the world would subject it. The world very readily admits that we may inflict sufferings, may accept sufferings,' or may impose sufferings on ourselves, for the fur-therance of great human interests. It admits, it demands, it requires, that to save the country we shall fast, shall go through painful exer-cises by which the body is worn down and broken; shall accustom ourselves to carry heavy burdens, to make long marches, to put up with hunger, thirst, cold and heat; to sleep on straw or the bare ground, occasionally to pass whole Mgbts without sleep; in a word, to break and discipline ourselves in every way. This is the fate in 1Published by the Ave Maria Press, Notre Dame, Indiana. Quotations with special permission of the editor, Father P. d. Carroll. C.S.C., who writes: "The book, how-ever, is out of print and I do not know where you could obtain copies of it." 75 WINFRID HERBST Revieu~ ior Religious store for all soldiers, and the most beautiful names are given to this spirit of sacrifice and mortification in favor of a noble object. "The world even goes so far as to allow its votaries to suffer, to expose themselves to a thousand sacrifices, to a thousand sufferings, for the object of a sinful passion. Not only does it not laugh at these mortifications, but it reads the history of them in novels with intense interest, and in the theatre it looks upon the representation of them with eager avidity. Those mortifications which the world admits and admires when there is question of defending our country, or even of concentrating on a guilty passion--by a strange perversity it ceases to tolerate them and it mocks them when it is a question of defending one's soul against the powers of darkness, of .saving it for eternity, and of following in the footsteps of Christ . There is a serious lesson for us in this, and we are almost guilty when, at the instigation of this thoroughly wicked spirit, condemned irremediably by Our Lord, we blush at Christian mortifications, and when, on this point, we are tempted to return a smile for its laugh--a laugh both stupid~ and shameless. "Corporal mortification is, therefore, most truly noble. This is not all. There may be circumstances, and especially for the Religious who is called to such delicate perfection even in l~is secret tl~oughts, in which it becomes a moral necessity . "Corporal mortification is useful not merely to triumph over exceptional dangers; it serves to avert them, to remove them further and further from" us, and, in a manner, to render them infrequent. It is an act of manly e, nergy and of higher authority towards a body which should be kept in its place as a slave and made to obey. It is an act of justice by which we ourselves, with our own hands, punish ourselves for having sinned; and not only does God approve of this expiation and recognize its value, but He is pleased with us because of our own accord we execute what His justice would require Him to inflict on us in the flames of Purgatory . " 'No austerity, however is to be practiced without the permis-sion of one's confessor or Director.' This condition is wise and necessary, in order to check indiscreet zeal towards one's self, to be sure of doing" the holy will of God, and to add to the intrinsic, merit of the act by which we mortify ourselves the great merit of obedi-ence." I know there are many kinds of mortification: interior, of imagination, mind, will, heart, the passions; exterior, sight, hearing, 76 March, 1949 RE : PENITENTIAL INSTRUMENTS taste, touch, smell, tongue. I know that the mortification of the senses, as St. Francis de Sales says, is more profitable than the wearing of hair shirts or steel chains or using the discipline. "I know that in addition to taking what God sends in the line of sickness and so forth, in addition to doingone's duty,and in addition to the Church's fast and abstinence, the faithful observance of the prescriptions of modesty and good deportment offer an extensive (and, alas! often uncultivated) field for mortification. But in this article I am lim-iting myself to corporal mortifications of the kind suggested by my collection of penitential instruments. In The Spiritual Life by Tanquerey we read (No. 774) : "There are other positive means of mortification which penitent souls inspired by generosity deIigbt to employ in 'order to subdue their bodies, to temper the importunities of the flesh and give vent to their holy desires. The more customary ones are small iron bracelets clasped to the arms, chains worn about the loins, hairshirts, or a few strokes of the discipline when this last can be done without attracting any notice. As to all such practices one must faithfully follow the advice of one's spiritual director, shun whatever tends to evince any singularity or to flatter vanity, not to speak of whatever would be against the rules of hygiene and personal cleanliness. The spiritual director should not give his sanction to any of these extraordinary .practices except with the greatest discretion, only for a time, and on trial. Should it come to his notice that any inconveniences arise therefrom, he must bring them to a halt." As a footnote to this he says: "To resume the practices of corporal mortification is one of the most effective means of regaining lost joy of spirit and fervor of soul: 'Let us go back to our bodily mortifications. Let us bruise our flesh and draw a littl~ of our blood, and we shall be as happy as the day is long. If the Saints are such gay spirits, and monks and nuns such unaccountably cheerful creatures, it is simply because their bodies, like St. Paul's, are chastised and kept under with an unflinching sharpness and a vigorous discretion.' (Faber, The Blessed Sacra-ment, Book II, Section VII.)" It is perhaps this expression of Father Faber's, "draw a little of our blood," which prompted a religious to say to me, when I cau-tioned that one must never cause a real wound in the flesh when using penitential instruments: "But we were told that corporal penance doesn't really amount to much unless we draw a little blood." I vigorously protest. I do not agree. It does amount to much. 77 WINFRID HERBST Rep~eto for Religiotts And it is against the present-day rules of hygiene thus to d~aw even a little blood. Why, even my favorite author Cappello, Italian and ascetic as he is, gives the following rules to be observed as regards corporal morti- £cations.--Such corporal mortifications (macerations) as are too injurious to health are never permitted. The following are among macerations of this kind: (a) flagellations in which the discipline is applied to the more tender parts of the body or upon wounds not yet healed or by using a discipline studded with sharp points that pierce the flesh; (b) hair shirts made of steel thread so thin that the sharp points penetrate the flesh; or hair shirts that are too tight; or hair shirts that are.constantly worn ; (~). th~ privation of sleep, so that the penitent habitually has less than ~'~vdn hours rest. (Please note, you who burn the midnight oil!) A~ regards corpora/mortifications in genera/, we must distinguish between the case in which the penitent asks permission to employ them and the case in which there is no request for such permission. In case there is no request, the confessor may indeed advise some fasting or some other slight¯penances, but not the hair shirt or the discipline. In case the penitent does ask, the confessor usually puts him off with a view to seeing whether or not he will ask again. If he asks again and very ea'rnestly, the confessor may find it well to grant permission, provided that the penitent is very well grounded in humility and genuine wrtue, in which'case he will at first grant permission to prac-tice such and such a corporal mortification for such and such a length of time on certain days. These are the rules ordir~arily followed by a spiritual director. In case of great necessity and of a penitent disposed to do hard things, he may more easily permit macerations or advise them, but always with due prudence and discretion. (Cf. Cappello, De Sacramentis, vol. 2, No. 573, edition of 1943.) And now, in conclusion, I imagine how some of my readers have been following my ramblings with an amused smile. Perhaps they. are saying within themselves: "Evidently the good man doesn't know that we have to lay it on good and heavy, according to the rule. He seems to think that what he calls macerations are out of date." But I do know. And I do not think so. I bow myself out with the following excerpt from The Catholic Encyclopedia, arti41e "Asceticism," in volume one: "In some of the 78 March, 19 4 9 RE: PENITENTIAL INSTRUMENTS orders the rules make no mention of corporal penance at all, leaving that to individual devotion; in others great austerity is prescribed, but excess is provided against'both by the fact that the rules have been subjected to pontifical approval and because superiors can grant exceptions. That such penitential practices produce morbid and gloomy characters is absurd to those who know the light-beartedness that prevails in strict religious communities; that they are injurious to health and even abbreviate life cannot be seriously maintained in view of the remarkable longevity noted among the members of very austere orders. It is true that in the lives of the saints we meet with some very extraordinary and apparently extravagant mortifications; but in the first place, what is extraordinary, and extravagant, and severe in one generation may not be so in another which is ruder and more inured to hardship. Again, they are not proposed for imitation, nor is it always necessary to admit their wisdom, nor that the biog-rapher was not exaggerating, or describing as continual what was only occasional; and on the other band it is not forbidden to suppose that some of tl~ese penitents may have been prompted by the Spirit of God to make themselves atoning victims for the sins of others. Besides, it must not be forgotten that these practices went hand in hand with the cultivation of the sublimest virtues, that they were for the most part performed in secret, and in no case for ostentation and display. But e;cen if there was abuse, the Church is not responsible for the aberrations of individuals,, nor does her teaching become wrong if misunderstood or misapplied .The virtue of prudence is a part of asceticism." CANONICAL LEGISLATION CONCERNING RELIGIOUS The authorized English translation of that part of the Code of Canon Law which governs religious is now available in the United States under the title Canonical Legislation Concerning Religious. The booklet is published and dis-tributed by the Newman Press, Westminster, Maryland. (Pp. 74. Price: 75 cents [paper] .) 79 The I-lundredt:old Edward Stanton, S.J. 44~ND everyone who has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall possess life everlasting" (Mr. 19:29). If this expression, "the hundred-fold," is read out of context, it can easily be misunderstood. Actually, in the earlier verses of this same chapter in Saint Matthew's Gospel we read that our Lord had offered "treasure in heaven" to the rich young man on condition that he would accept the invitation to "go sell what thou hast, and give to the poor . and come follow me": there also we read His comparison between a camel struggling through the eye of a needle a'nd a rich man squeezing through the gates of heaven. In the light of these two observations which Christ made on the hazards of wealth, it would seem quite inconsistent to have Him, in verse twenty-nine, speaking primarily of a return in kind of the very things He invited religious to renounce in order to imitate more closely His example of detachment, poverty, submission, and obedience. It may be helpful, then, to consider briefly what various Fathers of the Church and some modern exegetes have had to say about Christ's promise of the hundredfold as it applies to those who have answered His call to the cloister. Saint Jerome, whose opinion in interpreting the hundredfold Venerable Bede followed three centuries later, stresses spiritual goods almost to the exclusion of material pos-sessions. He speaks of peace of heart, joy, divine consolations, and other gifts and graces with which God comforts His servants and which He lavishes upon them. These gifts are the rich rewards of a life of consecration to God's service, "for they surpass all earthly goods and joys far more than a hundred exceeds unity." In much the same way, Saint Ambrose (In Ps. cxix) understands by the hun-dredfold God HimselL and consequently the whole world which is God's possession. To such as leave all things for God's sake God is father, mother, wife, brother, sister, and all things--"because," remarks the saint, "he who has left all things begins to possess God, and He is, as it were, the perfect reward of virtues, which isreckoned not by the enumeration of a hundredfold, but by the estimation of 80 THE HUNDREDFOI.D perfect virtue." He cites the example of the tribe of Levi which by God's command was deprived of its portion of the Holy Land. How-ever, the Lord Himself promised that He would be its portion and inheritance. And from this he concludes: "He who has God for his portion is the possessor of all nature. Instead of lands he is sufficient ¯ to himself, having good fruit, which cannot perish. Instead of hquses it is enough for him that there is the habitation of God, and the temple of God, than which nothing can be more precious. For what is more precious than God? That is the portion which no earthly inheritance can equal. What is more magnificent than the celestial host? What more blessed than divine possession?" Saint Augustine (Epist. 89, quaest. 4) declares: "The whole world is the riches of the faithful." And Saint Gregory (Horn. 18 in Ezecb.) writes in the same vein: "He shall receive a hundredfold becauke God shall take care that such a one shall rejoice far more in his poverty, or his renunciation of his goods for the love of Christ, than rich men rejoice in all their riches and advantages." Father Cornelius a Lapide, referring to a parallel passage in Saint Luke's Gospel, explains the hundredfold as "many times more." More recent commentators, such as Fathers C. L. Fillion. F.C. Ceulemans, J. M. Lagrange, and J. A. Petit, in their com-mentaries on these words of Christ, lay special emphasis on the spir-itual rewards of peace, joy, and consolation even in the midst of sufferings and persecutions. The words of Father Alfred Durand in the Verbum Salutis series are worth quoting: "The hundredfold will not be given without persecutions (Mk. 10:30) ; this is a new proof that in this present life it should be bestowed for a religious purpose and not for a purely earthly advantage. This is what Saint Paul (2 Cor. 6:10) has summed up in a wo~d, speaking of himseIf and of the other Apostles: 'as having nothing, yet possessing all things.' "It goes without saying that the promise of the hundredfold thus understood, comprises . a tacit condition: unless it pleases God to dispose otherwise and that in our personal interest. Is there any need to add that a means given by God for the temporal support of the "ministers of His word' should not be considered as an end in itself? That would no longer mean renouncement but a miserable calcula-tion. Moreover, the hundredfold does not mean wealth." The request the mother of the sons of Zebedee made of Christ: "Command that these my two sons may sit, one at thy right hand, and one at thy left hand, in thy kingdom"; the question the dis- .8l PRUDENCE--,/si NECESSARY VIRTUE ciples put to Christ after His resurrection: "Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?"--and many similar statements in the New Testament appear to us today, to have sprung from a background of ignorance. We conclude immediately that the ones who made these requests had forgotten Christ's words: "The king-dom of God is within you," and again: "My kingdom is not of this world." Yet, are there not some religious who at some time .or other have sighed the lament o-f the disciples on the way to Emmaus: sperabarnus, "we were hoping"? Could it be that we were disap-pointedin our hopes because they were founded on our own fanciful dreams, rather than on the words of Christ? Of this we may be sure, that God, our "reward exceeding great," will infallibly make good His word that those who, in their zeal "for the better gifts," have left house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's" sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall possess life everlasting." Prudence--A Necessary Virtue Albert Muntscb, S.d. DO NOT the very nature of the religious calling and the many safeguards it offers its followers protect the latter from impru-dent ways and methods? Unfortunately, no. In religious life much is left to the good judgment of the individual, and he may easily adopt manners and fall into habits which do not harmonize with the high ideals of his profession. In other words, lack of pru-dence may vitiate well-formed plans and purposes, at least in their execution. Today, especially, when there are many occasions which bring religious persons into freer association with worldlings and worldly practices than was formerly the case, the virtue of prudence should accompany them like a guardian spirit. It is all well to say that new duties demand new methods of approach; but they do not call for laying aside the splendid poise and bearing, the recollection and exterior reserve that should always characterize the soul which has exchanged the trappings of the world for the livery of Christ. Those .who think they have larger privileges to imitate worldly 82 March, 19 4 9 PRUDENCE--A NECESSARY VIRTUE ways and to follow worldly patterns are precisely the ones who need most the protecting strength of Christian prudende. The world bestows an approving smile upon all who fall into its ways and fol-low its changing patterns; but in secret, it ridicules and condemns. Would that this were n~)t so. But the wise and thoughtfM, who hold fast to the way of the rule and regulations sanctiofied by higher wis-dom, need not be convinced by a telltale list of "the preceding proved by example." Prudence is an indispensable part of the armor of every religious. It is required in the classroom. The illustraiions and examples, the applications and iomparisons used to explain texts and principles need not be such as to suggest familiarity with the follies of the idle rich nor the pastimes of the degraded proletariate. No doubt, more than one Christian teacher has been savagely criticized in the home circle precisely for such lack of prudence in the classroom. Prudence is required in caring for the patient in the hospital. The inhibitory powers of tl~e sick and convalescent are often lowered, and they may unwisely and unfairly expect a degree of attention-- perhaps of affectionate care--which is not within the right of any religious to bestow. In such cases guidance by the spirit of the rule, if not by the letter, may be the best preservation from ugly conces-sions. The prudent religious will look at the crucifix in the sick room and will hear the voice of the Master counseIing conduct based on the fear of the Lord. "Blessed is he who offendeth not in speech." Prudence in con-versation with those not of the community, and especially with those not of the household of the faith, is a gift to be prized. Let Christ be our model both in what is to be said and, more especially, in what is to remain unsaid. In the recorded conversations of Christ you find no insinuation of base motives. Only a brave, fearless, outspoken denunciation of hypocrisy, sin, deceit, and hardheartedness; and then only when it was necessary and would prove beneficial to the offender or the bystander. And there is the important matter of friendship--both in and outside of the community. What is of God? What springs from the cravings of lower nature? Is the friendship founded on the real supernatural motive of charity? Would it be approved by Christ if He were present in person and you could lay the case before Him? Weighty questions these, whose answers entail a goodly amount of prudence, prudence based on Christian faith and charity. 83 ALBERT MUNTSCH Review for Religious There remains the vast field of personal attitudes, likes, dislikes, preferences. Is it wise to manifest them to one and all at the slightest provocation? Are others really interested to know of them or do they care to hear of them? Prudence cautions wise restraint. Some religious tell their hearers loudly: "I just hate such a thing and abominate such and such conduct!" Is this confession not apt to act as a boomerang which will bring sharp criticism for the uncalled for manifestation of your attitudes? St. Paul, in his ep!stle to the Ephesians, (chapter 6), describes what has come to be known as "The Christian Armor." This Chris-tian panoply includes the breastplate of justice', the shield of faith, and the helmet of salvation. But can we not say that the virtue of prudence is to guide every Christian in the use of these powerful spir-itual weapons? Prudence is one of the four cardinal virtues, which are defined as, "the four principal virtues upon which the rest of the moral virtues turn." A careful reading of the lives of the saints, as well as recollections of Catholic missionary activity in foreign lands, show how all-important is the virtue of prudence. It was at times the only guide to' success in the Christian warfare, andprepared the way for the entrance of the Gospel of Peace in foreign lands. Take the case of the famous Jesuit missionary Robert de Nobili (1577-1656). He labored in Madura, Mysore, and the Karnatic. In his day the system of caste was perhaps more rigorous than in our time. In order to gain over the Brahmins, he decided to follow some of their ~igorous modes of life. The cry arose that the missionary was adopting pagan customs, and that his example was apt to lead the native Christians astray. In the controversy which followed, one virtue was above all necessary. This was prudence. Should the mis-sionary discontinue his practice and so lose the golden opportunity to convert the higher caste Brahmins? Or should he consult the well'ire of the weaker brethren who would not be able to understand the meaning and motives of his procedure? Prudence justified him in continuing to adopt these foreign customs. He was later officially directed to cease these practices; but in the decision finally given, De Nobili was justified insofar as the customs which he upheld were distinctly cultural and had no necessary connection with worship of the Supreme Being. As stated in a preceding paragraph, the virtue of prudence is per-haps more necessary today when religious have so many opportunities 84 March, 1949 PRUDENCE--A NECESSARY VIRZFUE of coming in contact with people in the world. @he writer recalls a meeting of a scientific society several years ago when a member of a religious community arose several times to present some opinions on the questions under discussion. On one occasion especially this reli-gious embarrassed the audience by presenting views which apparently no one could follow and which seemed to be utterly wide of the mark. Finally, at the suggestion of one of the delegates, the religious ceased from further speaking. We leave it to the judgment of the reader to decide whether or not the virtue of prudence would have prevented this embarrassing incident. Is it not.significant in this connection to recall that one of the great saints of the New Testament--St. Joseph, the Head of the Holy Family--is referred to in liturgical hymns, as "'uir prudens et fidelis." Prudence guided him in his,first associations with the Mother.of God; and the Holy Scripture refers to his embarrassment so delicately, in a delicate situation. It was his prudence that directed him in such a way that won for him the approval of the evangelist. The three great model saints of Catholic youtb--Aloysius, Stanislaus, and John Berchmans--were each one distinguished in his own way for the prac-tice of Christian virtue. Yet each one of these distinguished members in Christ's army wa.s guided by that necessary virtue, prudence. If this virtue bad not been present, they might easily have become offensive to their fellow religious and might have failed to become models for youth in aftertimes, t3ut prudence kept them on a path which exemplified the highest type of spirituality and the greatest love of God, and yet made them dear to and worthy of imitation by those who saw their bright example. These are only a few simple thoughts on a virtue which is apt to be pushed aside like Cinderella in order to give scope to the practice of "heroic virtue." Heroic virtue--that is what we all need and desire-- is to be found in the daily practice of little duties in the spirit of faith, with eyes fixed on God, but above all in the spirit of sweet charity towards all of God's children. Let us then realize that this cardinal virtue is a most potent weapon for shielding us from many pitfalls and for aiding us to a higher degree of perfection in the life of religion. 85 Adapt:at:ion J. Creusen, S.J. Translated from the French by Cla.rence McAuliffe, S.J. [This article first appeared in Reuue des Communaut& Religieuses, XVIlI, 97. It is translated and printed here with the author's permission. The author, though a recognized expert on the religious life, would not want his suggestions to be taken as the last word on the subject of adaptation. Discussion of many of the points in the article, especially as they might apply to the United Sates, is desirable: and we shall welcome communications of this nature.--ED.] ADAPTisAa proTblemIOthatNbesets every age, but- it be- ~omes particularly pressing at times of rapid and,far-reaching social changes. That ours is such a time is beyond all question. When the religious life comes under scrutiny, the probl~m may be posed somewhat as follows: Is it expedient that religious life be adapted to the new circumstances of our times, or must novices and young religious adjust themselves to those demands that are looked upon as essential to genuine religious, life? In this article we intend to try to give the broad outlines of an answer to this extensive question. To adapt oneself means to conform one's life and conduct to a new set of circumstances. If a person travels from one climate to an entirely different one, he must adapt himself to the latter in matters of food, clothing, and work. He must in other words adjust his habits in such things to the requirements of heat and cold. A person must know how to adapt his ways of speaking, of teaching, of nursing the sick, and so forth to the diverse circumstances in which he is placed. Adaptation, therefore, involves change; but not from a mere desire for change in itself, or from fickleness, but from a desire to be able'to live or to act more profitably. Since surrounding circumstances do nor remain fixed, every living thing is compelled to make some adaptations. Just as winter imposes its own special demands, so also does summer. Once a being becomes incapable of adaptation, it is doomed to destruction. Acts that are devoid of adaptation are ineffectual and, as a consequence, usele.ss. Religious life, too, since it is a form of living and acting, cannot be an exception to this law. Apart from the basic applications of sovereign moral and ascetical principles, religious life imposes obliga-tions and norms of conduct that owe their rise to the exigencies or 86 ADAPTATION conditions of special circumstances or of a particular epoch. We need not dwell on this truth which is irrefutable and called into question by scarcely anybody. II The Church, while always remaining faithful to principle, pro-vides us with .striking examples of adaptation. She does not alter by one jot the dogmatic truths which Christ has entrusted to her. Truth does not change with the passage of time. It remains immutable, though the formulas expressing it may vary because of the evolution of human language. For this reason the Church does not alter her moral principles. She condemns contradictory heresies, not only those which unduly exalt human freedom or the worth of creatures, but those also which profess io deny the goodness of the divine work even in material creation. While proclaiming the superiority of per-fect chastit~ over conjugal chastity, she rejects the error of those who condemn marriage. While reminding us of the heroic mortifications practised by the saints, she does not prohibit or dissuade anyone from drinking wine temperately. Did not Christ choose wine as the mat-ter/ from which His greatest Sacrament would spring? ~ta The Church aiso keeps intact, insofar as possible, the fundamen-ls of her liturgy and even of her discipline. To maintain sacerdotal celibacy in the Latin Church, she has had to bear the brunt of recurring attacks. Even within recent memory Pope Benedict XV took occasion to declare that the Holy See would not relax her dis-cipline in this matter even though her failure to do so might prompt some priests to schism. Yet, only an'ecclesistical law is at stake, and its abrogation would imply no loss of essential doctrine. However, bowing to demands arising from circumstances of time and place, the Church does modify, either temporarily or perman-ently, certain disciplinary decrees even though they may date back to the very beginning of her history. Her legislation regarding fast and abstinence both during Lent and on Ember days, and particularly on vigils; has undergone remarkable relaxations. It should be noted, too, that some of these modifications even preceded the war of 1914-1918. Moreover, from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century the secluded or segregated aspect of religious life passed through a total transfor-mation. This was, so to speak, thrust upon the Holy See because many religious congregations had already contributed to it by the adaptations which they themselves had espoused. Again, within 87 J. CREUSEN Relaiew for Religious recent years we have witnessed a considerable extension of the liberty accorded to religious in the choice, at least periodically, of their con-fessors. The Holy See has regarded this as an inevitable consequence rio.wing from the abandonment of rigid seclusion, from a more pro-nounced awareness of freedom of conscience, and from'the new legis-lation about frequent Communion. The first decrees of Plus Xupon this last subject were greeted with vigorous opposition. But even though the highest superiors of some of the most distinguished orders remonstrated, they could not shake his resolve to grant this adapta-tion. Does not the Holy See guide us along the same road when it approves the most diversified forms of religious life? An enormous distance has been traveled from the day when Plus V wanted to oblige all religious to papal enclosure and solemn vows to the present time when approval is extended to religious societies whose members do not even live in community. On the other hand, the Church is prudent in her approach to such adaptations. She undertakes them gradually; she looks about for guarantees of their worth; she often delays until isolated experiments have demonstrated the harmlessness, the usefulness, and the need of the proposed change. Notice, too, how certain devotions, such as the devotion to the Sacred Heart, have passed through progressive stages of approbation. Again, are we not eyewitnesses of the transformation in some liturgi-cal practices? However, in matters liturgical, regardles~ of who may assert the contrary, the Holy See by no means allows priests, bereft as they are of all authority, to introduce changes as they please. Liturgi-cal practices emanate from the authority of the Holy See, which has reserved to itself exclusively the right to pass judgment on their pro-priety. Hence, without special authorization a priest may not cele-brate Mass while facing the congregation. It is no excuse to plead that such an adaptation is required by liturgical progress. III Objects of Adaptation 1. It is perfectly clear that no change can be made in the basic principles of the spiritual life which our Savior taught in His gospel. No matter what development of ideas or of customs may take place, self-abnegation and the way of the Cross will always remain the indispensable means of acquiring and fostering that perfect charity which unites us to God. To prove this we have at hand the explicit 88 March, 1949 ADAPTATION and unequivocal teaching of the gospels, the sum-total of tradition, the testimony and practice of all the saints. Against this solid truth, only specious arguments could be advanced. For instance, someone might contend that a person must necessarily revel in creatures in order to raise himself to God by their instrumentality. The genuine mystics, however, keep telling us that long and rigorous privation and self-denial are the gateway to contemplation and the fruition of God through the enjoyment of creatures. The religious spirit, diametrically opposed as it is to the spirit of the world, must be preserved. The new generation no less than the old must renounce the world--its ease, its dissipation, its spirit of independence and of criticism. The characteristic spirit of each insti-tute is also a treasure that should be jealously guarded. Is not this spirit the handiwork of divine grace operating in the souls of founders and foundresses? Moreover, the primary applications of general prin-ciples of Christian asceticism will remain unchanged or but slightly modified. For instance, certain safeguards of chastity, since they are required by the ingrained weakness of human nature, are always valid and are not out of step with variations in custom. Thus the practice of consulting a retreat director only in the confessional, or possibly in the parlor but not in his private room, will be maintained. Parlors where priests converse with religious women, whether young or old. should have doors panelled with glass. No need or legitimate reason exists for altering this usage. 2. Some adaptations are absolutel~t necessar~t. A. By reason of changes in ecclesiastical legislation. We have already mentioned the comparatively recent laws dealing with confessions of religious men and women. At first some supe-riors objected to these laws because they believed that this new lib-erty, unknown as it was to the earlier history of their institute, engendered a real danger. Today we can hope that such a state of mind has disappeared. The custom of exposing the Blessed Sacrament during Masses of some slightly greater solemnity than usual had ~o cease when the decree was issued allowing exposition only during Masses within the octave of the Feast of Corpus Christi and during the Forty Hours. Again, the Congregation of the Sacraments has very clearly expressed its desire that freedom to abstain from Holy Communion should be facilitated by every means in those communi-ties or social groups that receive Communion at a specified time. The habit of approaching the Holy Table in order of seniority, whether 89 J. CREUSEN Review for Religious of profession or of age, is certainly an obstacle to such freedom. Moreover, this ancient practice has been eliminated in some of the most famous orders. Communion is received without any regard for the position one occupies in the chapel or in the community. We have nothing but praise for this adaptation. It might even be con- , sidered as obligatory insofar as it can be done, because of the directives of the Sacred Congregation. B. By reason of the growth of the institute. When an institute spreads beyond the borders of its native coun-try and branches out into many foreign lands, the time has come when religious of other nationalities should be granted their rightful place in the government of the institute. This is particularly true when the foreigners outnumber members belonging to the native land of the founder or foundress. The foreigners, therefore, should be represented at general congregations or chapters. Just as the Holy Father chooses cardinals from all countries and from all nationalities, so should a general congregation be truly representative of the entire institute. This procedure, moreover, is necessary in order to forestall the temptation to separation from the institute. When religious bodies of men, and especially of women, find themselves systematically excluded from the government of their institute, they fall an easy prey to this temptation. Unfortunately, too, this temptation is often induced and kept alive by some of the local clergy who are anxious to exert a more direct and more extensive jurisdiction over the religious in their own country. The day may well come when thought must be give'n to forming a new province from a group of houses which have grown in number and importance. Similarly, the wisdom of suppressing a province must also be weighed when it has a dearth of members and cannot anticipate a fresh increase of novices for a long l~ime. If such a prov-ince is not suppressed, a general chapter will not have a jr/st propor-tion of representatives from various sections of the institute. As a result, certain groups get.the definite impression that they are gov-erned by superiors and chapters that ignore or neglect their own special interests. A more delicate question comes up, but we cannot waive it. Some institutes keep their communities stamped with a truly international character. In such cases it should not be surprising to find that the superiors of these communities are not citizens of the country where the house is established. O~her institutes, on the contrary, by reason 90 March, 19 4 9 ADAPTATION of the very necessities of their apostolate, must choose local superiors from persons who are either natives of the country or at least speak its language. It is easy enough to understand why authority should be exercised for a long time by superiors (we speak here particularly of communities of women) who are natives of the country in which the institute had its origin; but this state of affairs should not be pro-longed indefinitely. The time comes when it is fitting to appoint English or Irish superiors in England, American superiors in the United States, Belgians in Belgium, and so on. Omit this adaptation and the institute presents a foreign appearance in the country. This is damaging both to the recruiting of novices and to union of spirit. In addition, it furnishes the clergy of the land with a pretext or reason for inducing the native members to withdraw from their religious family and to found another of exactly the same kind, but one that is independent and better suited to the requirements of local conditions. On the other hand, the hearts of all become attached to the institute when confidence is reposed in those who are foreign to the country of its origin: C. By reason of the swift euolution of ideas and custbms. It is evident that the first condition for the proper direction of novices and young religious is to understand them. This supposes personal contact with, as well as experimental knowledge of, the external conditions in which they have been reared and educated. Sometimes masters and mistresses of novices, though quite elderly, understand modern youth perfectly because they have been in constant touch with it for many years. A true youthfulness of spirit results from this uninterrupted contact. However, when a successor has to be appointed to this office, it is important to select someone who is young enough to have retained memories dating from recent times and also youth's natural gift of facile adaptability. These qualities make it possible to understand the ideas, impressions, reactions, and mistakes of the young souls who are to be guided; and such understanding is a requisite condition for exercising 'influence and inspiring confidence. The same qualities should be found in prefects or directors of studies, and also in the superiors of certain houses. The physical condition of modern youth should enter into our consideration no less than its psychological dispositions. The war has radically affected the nervous systems of most young men and women who knock at the doors of our novitiates. This fact must be taken into account- seriously when matters concerning diet, length of 91 J. CREUSEN Review for Religious sleep, and the amount and kind of recreation are determined. When the garden is not sufficiently extensive, physical exercises can be very much in place.1 They afford relaxation from the overconstraint brought on by the religious habit, the practice of modesty, and a life that is too sedentary. In some countries it is perfectly circumspect for religious to enjoy the refreshment of a bath in a,swimming pool or in a pond located on the conveht grounds. In other countries, however, public opinion will hardly allow religious or clerics to swim even in a pool of their own. It is clear that public opinion must be reckoned with in this matter. D. B~] reason of special local circumstances. Most institutes having houses in hot climates have gradually adapted their religious garb to the climate so as not to wear out their subjects prematurely. Again, doctors scarcely allow religious nurses to enter the operating room unless their clothing is adapted to the functions to be performed there. Some cornets or headdresses have to be ruled out because they hinder freedom of bodily action too much. A white dress or apron will also have to be slipped over the religious habit. We need not insist on this because it causes no difficulty, and all institutes willingly consent to it. 3. Some adaptations though not necessary can be very suitable. Hence they are more or less important or urgent. The rational grounds underlying them resemble those we have mentioned above. A. The Liturgical Movement, for instance, will prompt the taking of a more intimate and active part while assisting at the Holy Sacrifice. All members of the community will be provided with a missal so that they can follow the prayers of the priest. On certain days, perhaps, the dialog Mass will be held. Some of the set prayers recited in common might be profitably replaced by others borrowed from the liturgy. One community, for example, has introduced the custom of reciting Compline as its evening prayer. B. Today quite a few candidates for religious life bring along a personal formation which their elders did not always have. This is explained by the modern abundance of spiritual literature, by more frequent confessions, and by more carefully organized closed retreats. Such candidates, of course, have new needs with regard to partictilar modes of the spiritual life. Would this not be a reason for doing lln the text Father Creusen seems to recommend calisthenics provided religious have not the facilities for other forms of exercises. His recommendation is hardly a sug-gestion to establish a regular regime of calisthenics, obligatory on alI.--ED. 92 March, 1949 ADAPTATION away with the custom, still widely in vogue, of reading the points of meditation every evening for the entire community? Would it not lead at least to the elimination of their rereading in the morning? Complaints about this matter are voiced quite often and they seem to be well-founded. After some time a suitably formed religious soul should be able to prepare for itself the matter of its prayer. It will feel drawn toward~ such or such a subject. Why compel such a one to listen in the morning to an entirely different kind of subject mat: ter? Sometimes even the manner of presentation does not correspond to the state of such a person's soul, to say nothing of its failure tO correspond to the mentality of the majority in the community. It is one thing to supply subject matter for morning prayer to novices for a time, or to provide the same help to the lay Sisters. It is quite a different thing to foist such subject matter' on persons who are already fuIIy formed both intellectually and spiritually. It would be absolutely intolerable, of course, for religious to lose their appreciation for the Rosary or for the beautiful invocations o~ litanies which are approved by the Holy See. But no need exists to' inspire a kind of distaste for these devotions by their overmultiplica-tion. It is hardly necessary to add that superiors should see with jealous care that fidelity is always maintained to the mental prayer prescribed by the constitutions. Sometimes, the length or number of vocal prayers recited in common infringes noticeably on the morning or evening meditation. C. Demands made b~t teachir~g. How many young religious men and women today must prepare for two, three, or four years to take examinations that require a considerableamount of knowledge as well as extensive laboratory exercises. The daily order should be adapted to this kind of work. To repeat certain courses intelligently or to put certain compositions in final form calls for. undisturbed and protor~ged study. Such students, therefore, should have at their disposal quite lengthy periods of study and should not be obliged to interrupt their study to attend to exercises of piety or manual labor. Some daily orders were formulated at a period when the preliminaries before class took practically no time or effort, especially after several years of prac-tical preparation. They are not at all suitable to present-day require-ments in the matter of study. The same holds true of preparation for examinations. Not forgetting, therefore, that some more elderly members may also be included in the dispensation, these young reli-gious will be dispensed from certain observances. Other members of 93 J. CREUSEN Reoieto for Religious the community who have more time either by reason of age or work, can continue to keep them. The Holy See sets the example here, for in the great monastic orders it allows exemption from choir to stu-dents of philosophy and theology. D. Technical progress. In a house of some size a house telephone system saves a considerable 'amount of time and eliminates many fatiguing trips and distractions. Telephones are p'erfectly in order in the rooms of the superior, the assistant, the treasurer, the prefects of study and of discipline, as well as in the kitchen, the infirmary, the tailor shop, and so on. How many runnings to and fro would be avoided, how many conversations shortened, what an asset for con-tinued and peaceful labor! An outside telephone evidently brings up different problems. Its use should not be permitted to the free choice of the members of the community. Simple prudence and sometimes the observance of poverty demand some limitations. Here again a wise adaptation is very much in place. The same should be said of the use of automobiles. A visitor was told in a kind of boasting way that in a house of studies there were at least fifteen typewriters. "How does it happen," he said, "that there are only fifteen? Each professor and most of the students should have their own typewriters." We submit this answer to the reflection of superiors. It is certain at any rate that a typewriter is no longer an object of luxury and can be strictly necessary for a teacher or a writer. Even the organization of work in some religious houses would profit much if it were inspired by the modern methods pursued in enterprises of considerable scope. An industrialist who had become a religious told us one time: "What an extravagance of personnel, what losses of time, what a lessening of the effectiveness of our work because we are not rationally organized." We might mention by way of example lack of adequate space, manual tasks imposed on eminent religious because they do not have secretaries to help them in their work, the lack of suitable instruments for work (furniture, index files, and so forth). E. The growth of the Institute brings up another very delic~ite question: Is it proper and, if so, when is it proper to transfer the gen-eral headquarters of the institute to Rome? To begin with, let us say that, although the Holy 'See wants to see a house of every institute at Rome, the Sacred Congregation does not urge all institutes to transfer the mother house there. When a mother house has been a cradle of 94 March, 19 4 9 ADAPTATION the institute; when it has been sanctified and made famous by the vir-tues and sometimes even the miracles of the founder or foundres~;' when most cherished memories are connected with it; we can readily understand that truly valid reasons are wanting for its removal. This is true even though one of the suggested reasons for removal is the advan'tage of baying the mother house in the center of Christianity. Proximity to the Vatican is not an indispensable condition for fos-teringdeep attachment to the Sovereign Pontiff and for acquiring a truly Catholic spirit. However, it can happen that the mother house by reason of the spread of the institute can lose its prestige in the minds of very many members; whereas the actual presence of the superior general's house in Rome certainIy lends to a congregation a mark of universalism and a feeling of union with the Holy See, both of which promote devotion in all members of the institute to those who govern it. Consequently 'it might be well to ask if such a project should not be submitted to the deliberations of a general chapter. IV How should the adaptation be carried out? 1. With prudence. To adapt means to change; and we know that changes do not always take place without shock. Sometimes they cause surprise. Oftentimes ~they inspire spirits of lesser con-stancy and prudence with a desire to introduce other changes which no good reason counsels or commands. Once a change is made it is often difficult, even impossible, to retrace one's steps. Hence a choice should be made in. the alterations to be introduced. Sometimes the unfavorable aspects of a change are perceived only after it has been made. This is an additional reason for seriously considering all possible consequences beforehand. A religious once suggested to his superior that a door be installed at a certain spot in the coiridor. The superior answered: "My dear father, in such and such a year a door was put there; some time later, another superior had it taken out. Later on it was replaced, and then it vanished again. Don't you think it is better to leave things as they are?" Hence counsel should be sought, but not solely from those who are so set in their ways that they cannot imagine or accept any change. It will be helpful to get information .from religious men or women of other institutes. What works well in one institute of the same kind may prove advantageous and beneficial in similar circum- 95 BOOK REVIEWS Review For Religious stances. When feasible, an experiment should be made without offering the change as permanent. 2. With decision. Prudence does not require an indefinite delay before introducing beneficial or necessary changes. Such delay easily engenders restlessness and regrettable criticism. Once the utility or the need of a change has been recognized, it should be introduced with-out complaints, without laments over the evils of the time, without harking back continually to the advantages of the former system. Such a policy might disco.urage souls of good will, or embitter those less favorably disposed. Above all the principle, "That was never done before and things went along all right" should be avoided. Such reasoning simply and categorically closes the door to all progress. Dis-tinction must be made between healthy tradition, custom, and row. line. The first is, generally spea.king, to be kept; the second can and sometimes should be changed: the third should be unequivocally condemned. ook Reviews THE LORD'S SERMON ON THE MOUNT. By St. Augustine. Translafed from the Latin by John J. Jepspn, S.S. Pp. v~ -f- 227. The Newman Press, Wes÷mlns÷er, Maryland, 1948. $2.75. The editors of "The Ancient Christian Writers" seri?s, Dr. Jo-hannes Quasten and Dr. Joseph Plumpe of Catholic University, have again succeeded magnificently in presenting to the English-speaking world an excellent translation of an important work of. Augustine. The entire work is a pithy, thorough analysis of the most challenging of all messages, the Sermon on the Mount, the party platform of Christianity. The work is divided into two books. Book One delves into the meaning of the sermon. Book Two establishes the truth that it is humanly possible to put the Sermon on the Mount into practice, that this sermon is not a moral code for a select few but a perfect pat-tern of Christian living, that it does not contain only counsels for a better class of Christians but rather also for every follower of Christ. The intimate relation between ethics and religion as it appears in this sermon intrigued the great mind of Augustine, and he set himself 96 March, 1949 BOOK REVIEWS to explore this relationship. As a result, in this volume we meet Augustine the moral theologian rather than Augustine the- dogmatic theologian, the ethics master rather than the metaphysician. As a result too, the book is easier to understand, more pleasant, even more devotional at times, as compared with his heavier dogmatic works. The cases handled and the learned discussions concerning them prove Augustine to be the greatest exponent of moral theology in Christian antiquity. In this work he 'made an impoftant contribution both to the science of ethics in general and to that of moral theology in particular. Several of Augustine's comparisons make for instructive and pro-vocative reading. He compares the Beatitudes with the Gifts of the Holy Ghost; and be concludes his book by comparing them to the seven petitions of the Our Father, saying that the first seven Beati-tudes are stages of grace that correspond to the seven petitions of the Our Father as they ask for the coming of the Kingdom of God. The treatment of the Our Father has excellent material for prayerful reflec-tion. One final asset of the book is the copious notes that clarify difficult passages and correct dubious solutions.--V. P. MICELI, S.J. YOU CAN CHANGE THE WORLD! The Chris÷opher Approach. By James Keller, M.M. Pp. xlx q- 387. Longmans Green and Co., Inc., New York, 1948. $3.00. The opening message of this book is that "the United States is being effectively undermined by less than one percent of the people of our country," who are fired by "a militant hatred for the basic truths upon which this nation is founded," and. who, in order to poison the minds of many, "make it their business to get into one of the four in-fluential spheres of activity which touch and sway the majority of the people." The challenge that immediately follows this message is that an equal number of people, fired by a love of Christian principles, desirous of enlightening the minds of the many, can enter the same influential spheres and save the country. And, since this parallel can be extended from country to country, the Christ-bearers (Christo-phers) can save the world. This, however, is only a part of the chal-lenge, for the emphasis of this whole Christopher movement is on the you (singular) ; and it says to every Christ-bearer, "'You can save the world." I will not attempt to give a complete outline or criticism of Father Keller's book. As a matter of fact, it is not a book in the ordinary 97 ]~OOK REVIEWS Reoiew for Religious sense; and anyone who wishes to read it as a book will very probably punish his-head mercilessly. It is a manual, a detailed plan of action covering the four major spheres of influence--education, government, labor-management, and writing--in which every individual who at least believes in God and in the fundamental moral truths can help to counteract the anti-God campaign that is now wrecking the country and the world. It does not stop, however, at these major spheres. It goes into the library, into business, onto the campus, and into the heart to convince every individual of good will that be can do some-thing and to point the way to do it. Because of this extensive scope and the multiple suggestions contained under each head, You Can Change the World is intended more for piecemeal pondering accbrding to one's own circumstances than for reading straight through. A large percentage of our readers can use Father Keller's book very effectively. It could make a fine basis for a discussion of various apostolic works; also for a consideration of various avocations (~nd sometimes of vocations). _And I might add that one can hardly read the opening chapters without being urged to pray for the world, and particularly for the Communists. One reader of the book said that he had not finished five pages before it suddenly came home to him that it would be better to pray for the Communists than against them. If Father Keller accomplished nothing more than to throw emphasis on conversion rather than destruction, on love rather than hate, his book and the whole Christopher movement would be more than justified. In one respect this book treads on what I might term "theological thin ice." Father Keller's message is addressed to all men who hold to the moral fundamentals, irrespective of their religious affiliations, and he encourages all to communicate what truth they have to others. This is a dangerous message and it must be phrased skillfully. The appeal to all men independently of religious attachments can readily connote-religious indifferentism; and the charge to spread what truth they have can lead to communicating the errors woven into the parr tial truths. On the first stretch of thin ice (the appeal to all men of good will) Father Keller is in the very safe company of Plus XII. The second stretch is more dangerous; yet it seems better to risk a plunge into the cold waters of misinterpretation by a positive and encouraging approach to those outside the Faith than to remain (freezing, more or less) in the so-called safety zone of negativism. As a matter of fact, my general impression is that Father Keller crosses 98 March, 1949 BOOK NOTICES even this very perilous patch with remarkable skill and courage. He makes it perfectly clear that his book and the Christopher movement are under Catholic auspices: he does not water down the fact that only Catholics possess the fullness of God's truth; and, in drawing up a minimum plan for the spiritual life of a Christopher, he wisely lim-its his suggestions to Catbolics.---G. KELLY, S.J. BOOK NATURAL AND SUPERNATURAL WEDLOCK, A LENTEN COURSE OF SEVEN SERMONS, by the Reverend Clement H. Crock, includes the best ideas from many sermons on marriage prepared by the author over a long period of years. Compiled in response to requests of bishops and priests for a series of concise, up-to-date Lenten sermons on matrimony, couched in simple, straightforward language, and pleasantly sprinkled with an abundance of apt illustrative examples, these seven sermons drive home .the fundamental doctrine which should be known by those already married and those preparing for marriage. They are easily adaptable for long or short sermons, and should prove very useful for all preachers. (New York City: Joseph F. Wagner, Inc., I948. Pp. 64.) THE JOY OF SERVING GOD by Dom Basil Hemphill, O.S.B.,con-talus twenty chapters, eacl4 of which deals with some important vir-tue or practice of the religious or priestly life. As usually happens, these time-honored subjects, such as humility, charity, spiritual reading, suffering, obedience, silence, detachment, derive new fresh-ness from their treatment by another personality. The book, there-fore, is worth adding to the community library. It is hard to see. why the author omits chapters on the vows of poverty and chastity since they are basic elements of the religious life. A few inaccuracies mar the book. For instance, very few theologians would want to defend this sentence: "All the venial sins of our past life for which we are sorry are forgiven by every absolution, whether they have been mentioned or not" (p. 162). Neither is it correct to say that one of the constitutive elements of the sacrament of penance is the "performing our penance" (p. 157). The meaning of the "imprimatur" on a book is not expressed clearly enough (p. 170). It is also surprising to find silence described as the "twin" of obedience 99 BOOK NOTICES Reoiew for Religious (p. 15). It is rather an atmosphere in which all virtues flourish. But despite these flaws, which after all take up but a few lines of the vol-ume, the book by its simplicity of style and general soundness will provide enlightenment and inspiration for many. (St. Louis, Mis-souri: B. Herder Book Company, 1948. Pp. x + 194. $2.50.) As its title indicates, OUR LADY'S DIGEST contains Marian articles chosen from Catholic magazines and books. It follows the familiar pattern of the Catholic Digest and other similar magazines, differing from them only in subject matter. The articles are frequently very good; but the stories, which are few in number, are with some excep-tions below average in literary quality as are also the poems. The various issues to date (the magazine has been in publication for almost three years) are uneven in quality, but in general are im-proving. With good editing the publication should develop into a very valuable and interesting magazine. (Olivet, Illinois. 11 issues per year. $2.00.) OUR LADY'S HOURS, by Mary Ryan, discusses the meaning and the beauty of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin. This discussion is preceded by two chapters on "Liturgical Prayer" and "The Divine Office." The book should be of great value to Sisters and others who say the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin. (Westminster, Maryland: The Newman Book shop, 1948. Pp. xv + 195. $2.50.) THE IMITATION OF MARY contains brief chapters with Marian thoughts selected from the writings of Thomas ~ Kempis and edited by Dr. Albin de Cigala. Each "thought" is followed by applications made by the compiler. The book does not approach the appeal of The Imitation of Christ, but it contains a fair number of interesting thoughts. The attempt to arrange the material to fit the fifteen mys-teries of the Rosary is not successful. The work was translated from the original French by a Dominican Sister. (Westminster, Maryland: The Newman Press, 1948. Pp. 114. $1.00 [paper] : $2.25 [cloth].) RELIGIOUS TEACHING OF YOUNG CHILDREN, by S.N.D., has four parts. The first is historical and highlights the chief events in Our Lord's life. The second is doctrinal, corresponding roughly to the Creed. The third and fourth parts deal with the child's first steps to God: prayer, confession, and Communion. The narratives and instructions are simple and adapted to the tiny capacity of the very young. Religion is presented, not so much as a stern Creed, Code, 100 March, 1949 BOOK NOTICES and Cult but as an attractive and lovable person whom the child is drawn to follow. The copious suggestions and devices after each les-son are practical aids to help the child live, love, and serve Christ, his best Friend, twenty-four hours every day--on Monday as well as on Sunday. Parents and teachers will discover in this charming book the secret of that most difficult of arts--introducing a child to the Lover of little children. (Westminster, Maryland: The Newman Bookshop, 1947. Pp. 173. $2.25.) BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS. [We have been receiving more books than we can possibly review. Because of this we must make a decided change in our policy. In future we shall list each book received and shall in most cases include a brief descriptive notice of the contents, in so far as this can be estimated from a glance at tbe book, the jacket, and the pub-lisher's announcement. This is the most that we can guarantee for any book. Some books, of course, will be reviewed later or will be given a more complete and critical notice. We can make no guarantee at all for booklets and pamphlets. The list of books announced here supplements the list included in our January number, p. 56. This list, together with the reviews and notices published in this issue, is a complete acknowledgement of all books received up to February 10, 1949, and not previously reviewed.] BENZIGER BROTHERS, INC., 26 Park Place, New York 7, N. Y. Our Lady of Fatima, Queen of Peace. By Joseph Delabays; translated by John H. Askin. Pp. xv + 197. $2.75, A fairly full history of the Fatima story, fol-lowed by nearly fifty pages of prayers to Mary, Five illustrations. BRUCE PUBLISHING COMPANY, 540 N. Milwaukee St., Milwaukee I, Wis. Vade Mecum for Teachers of Religion. By Sister M. Catherine Frederic, O.S.F. Edited by the Rt. Roy. William F. Lawlor. Pp. xvi -'k 344. $4.00. A grade school teacher's reference book containing material on the liturgy, the Mass, a glos-sary of ecclesiastical terms and abbreviations, and brief lives of class patron saints recommended for study. The Watch. By the Most Rev. Alfred A. Sinnott, D,D., Archbishop of Winni-peg. Pp. vii -5 155. 1947. $2.50. Contains fourteen Holy Hours for use each month of the year, for Holy Thursday, and for Forty Hours. CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA PRESS, Washington,-D.C. The Provincial Religious Superior. By Rom~eus W. O'Brien, O.Carm. Pp. x q- 294. Adissertation on the rights and duties of provincials in religious orders of men. EVANS-WINTER-HEBB, INC., Detroit, Mich. No Greater Service. By Sister M. Rosalita, I.H.M. Pp. xx q- 863. The history of the Congregation of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Mon-roe, Michigan, (1845- 1945), with a foreword by His Eminence, Edward Cardinal Mooney. Achievement of a Century. By the same author. Pp. xiii -Jr 299. An account of the mother house and missions of the congregation. Both volumes pro-fusely illustrated. $15.00 for both volumes. Order From: Publications Office, Saint Mary's, Monroe, Michigan. FATHERS OF THE SACRED HEARTS, 4930 South Dakota Ave., N.E., Washington 17, D.C. 101 BOOK NOTICES Review For Religious Father Damien: Apostle of the Lepers. By the Most Reverend Amleto Giovanni Cicognani. Pp. 47. $.50 (paper). THE GRAIL, St. Meinrad, Indiana. As Others See Us. By Henry Brenner, O.S.B. Pp. 117. $1.25. Presents the Sacred Humanity of Christ as the mirror in which we may see ourselves. The Mass Year. By Placidus Kempf, O.S.B. Pp. 124. $.30. A daily Mass guide for 1949 with liturgical reflections on some of the SeCrets. The Virgin's Land. By the Young .Monks of St. Meinrad's Abbey. Pp. 97. $.50 (paper). B. HERDER BOOK COMPANY, 17 South Broadway, St. Louis 2, Mo. Where We Got the Bible. By th," Rt. Rev. Henry G. Graham. Pp. xii q- 166. Paper. $1.00. Tells how the Catholic Church preserved the Bible. A reprint of a work that has not been available for several years. Meditations For Evergman. By Joseph McSorley, C.S.P. Volume II. Contains. meditations for each day of the liturgical year from Pentecost to Advent; also a handy index of the Scripture texts on which the meditations are based. Pp. vi 211. $2.75. Dante Theologian, A translation of and commentary on The Divine Comedy, by the Rev. Patrick Cummins, O.S.B. Contains an English version of the encyclical on Dante, the text of The Divine Comedy, commentaries, and a dictionary of proper names. Pp. 604. $6.00. The Three Ages of the Interior Life. Volume II. By the Rev. R. Garrigou- Lagrange, O.P. Translated by Sister M. Timothea Doyle, O.P. Pp. xiv -[- 668. $7.50. The present volume discusses the illuminative and the unitive ways and extraordinary graces. Second Latin. By Cora Carroll Scanlon and Charles L. Scanlon. Pp. vi -1- 270. ' $3.50. Intended for students who can devote only two years to the study of Latin and who must be prepared to read Latin textbooks of philosophy, theology, and canon law. The Well of Living Waters. By. Pascal P. Parente. Pp. viii -t- 335. $3.50. Excerpts on spiritual topics from the Bible, the Fathers, and the masters of the spiritual life. P. J. KENEDY ~ SONS, 12 Barclay Street, New York 8, N. Y. Another Tu2o Hundred Sermon Notes. By the Rev. F. H. Drinkwater. Pp. ~ii -t- 210. $4,25. Provides from two to five outlines for each Sunday of the year, as well as a choice of themeS, for a large number of feasts and occasions when a pul-pit talk is in order. L'IMMACULI~E-CONCEPTION, 1844 est, rue Rachel, Montreal (34), Canada. Lumiire et Sagesse. By Lucien Roy, S.J. Pp. 301. A study of mystical grace according to the theology of St. Thomas. LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO., INC., 55 Fifth Ave., New York, N. Y. You Can Change the World. By James.Keller, M.M. Pp. xix -b" 387. This is the story of "The Christopher Approach"-~of how the ordinary man can do a great job ifi changing the world for the better. $3,00. Transformation in Christ. By Dietrich yon Hildebrand. Pp. ix -b 406. $4.50. The theme of the book is the operation of the supernatural life in the sphere of personal morality. Lord, Teach us to Pratl. By Paul Claudel. Translated b~" Ruth Bethell. Pp. 95. $2.00. De La Salle: A Pioneer of Modern Education. By W, J. Battersby, Foreword by A. C. F. Beales. Pp. xix + 236. $3.50. 102 March, 1949 BOOK NOTICES Sermons and Discourses: (1825-39). Pp. xviii q- 348. $3.50. --- Sermons and Discourses: (1839-57). Pp. xvli-b- 382, $3,50,--Two more volumes of the new series of the works of John Henry Cardinal Newman. Edited by Charles Frederick Harrold. MACMILLAN COMPANY, 60 Fifth Avenue. New York. Mary o[ Nazareth: A True Portrait. By Igino Giordani. Translated by Mother Clelia Maranzana and Mother Mary Paula Wiltiamson. Pp. xlx + 185, $2.75. MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY PRESS, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Peace Proposals of Plus Xll in the Writings of David Lawrence. By Sister Cath-erine Joseph Wilcox, S.P. ,Pp. xi q- 95. A dissertation. THE MARYKNOLL BOOKSHELF, Marykn911, N. Message of Fatima. A unit of work for intermediate grades. Lithographed. Pp. 103. How the People o[ the Andes Live. A new unit of study on Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador. Assembled in loose-leaf binder. $1.50, .THE MERCIER PRESS, Cork. Communism and Ireland. By Sean P. MacEaoin. Pp. 132. Paper: 3/6d. Westward by Command. By Maire Cotter. Pp. 159. $2.50. A life of Mother Cabrini. THE MISSION PRESS, 1502 West Ashby Place, San Antonio 1, Texas. The True Concept of Literature. By Austin J. App, Ph. D. Pp. v -1- 110. Paper: $1.00. NATIONAL CENTER OF THE ENTHRONEMENT. 4930 So. Dakota Ave., N. E. Washington 17, D. C. Proceedings of the'First National Congress of the Enthronement of the Sacred Heart in the Home. Pp. 92. Paper: $1.00. Contains much conference material. THE NEWMAN PRESS, Westminster, Ancient Christian Writers, No. 6. This volume comprises The Didache, The Epistle of Barnabas, The Epistles and the Martyrdom of St. Polycarp, The Frag-ments of Papias, The Epistle to Diognetus. Newly translated and annotated by James A. Kleist, S.J. Pp. vi + 235. $2.75. Meditations on Christian Dog.ran. By the Rev. James Bellord, D.D. Vol. I: Pp. xxv--[- 369; Vol. II: xiv -[- 363. $7.50 for the set of 2 volumes. The medita-tions cover the whole of dogma. Two pages for each meditation. They seem very solld. This is a Newman reprint of a work that has not been available for a long time. The Vell Upon the Heart. By George Byrne. S.J. Pp. viii q-- 103. The book treats of private prayer. Thy Light and TbU Truth. By Rev. Robert Nash. S,J. Pp. 197. $2.50. A book of meditations. A selection of the Spiritual Book Associates. The Old Testament and The Future Life. By Edmu, nd F. Sutcliffe, S.J. 2nd. edition. Pp. vii q- 201. $3.50. Surveys the development of the doctrine of the future life as it is found in the Old Testament. The Way of the Mystics. By H. C. Graef. Pp. 160. $2.75. A study of the mystical life in various mystics. Christ ls All. By John Carr, C.SS.R. Pp. 143. $2.25. This is the fourth impression; the Imprimatur is dated 1928. According to the author's preface, the book is of a moral and devotional nature and is intended to make Cath,olics' belief in Our Lord more vivid and practical. The Mystical Body, the Foundation of the Spiritual Life. By Father M. Eugen~ 103 BOOK NOTICES Revieu~ for Religiou,~ Boylan00.Cist.R. Pp. 130. $1.75, cloth: $.90, paper. This was the April (1948) selection of the Spiritual Book Associates. The Liturgical Year. Volume I: Advent. By Abbot Gu~ra, nger, O.S.B. Pp. x + 520. The price of the present volume is $4.00. Subscribers to the entire set of 15 volumes are entitled to a discount of 25 per cent. Another Newman reprint of a classic work. Catechism Stories. By the Rev. F. H. Drinkwater. Pp. xxxv ÷ 480. $3.'50. Contains nearly seven hundred stories, each designed to drive home some point of Catholic teaching. Written originally as a companion to the English catechism, this American edition has references to the appropriate sections of the Revised Baltimore Catechism No. 2. Diocesan Censures "Latae Sententiae" and Reseroed Sins in the United States. Compiled at Woodstock College, Woodstock, Md. Pp. 38. Paper: 50 cents per copy; 6 or more copies, 20 per cent discount. A handy booklet for students of canon law and for priests in the ministry. A Retreat Souvenir. By Father Victor, C.P. Pp. 79. Paper: 30 cents. A translation of the French. Intended primarily for girls and young women who have made an enclosed retreat. Platform Replies. By the Very Rev. J. P. Arendzen. Volume 1. Pp. 199. Paper: $1.75. Answers to questions on ethics and religion. Companion to the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius. By Aloysius Ambruzzl, S.J. (Third edition.) Pp. xiv + 348. $3.00. First Steps in the Religious Life. By Bernard J. Kelly, C.S.Sp. Pp. 127. $2.50. A planned series of instructions on the religious life. Hidden Fields. By Sister M. Rosalia, M.H.S.H. Pp. viii + 55. $1.50 (paper). A brief sketch of the life of Mother M. Demetrlas, foundress and first superior gen-eral of the Mission Helpers of the Sacred Heart. The Liturgical Year: (Christmas, Book I, 4th ed.). Pp. vii + 456. $4.00. --The Liturgical Year (Christmas. Book II, 4th ed.) Pp. x ÷ 522. $4.00.-- Both by Abbot Gu~ranger. O.S.B. Translated by Dora Laurence Shepherd. The Lord is mg Jog. By Paul de Jaegher, S.J. Pp. 182. $2.50. Describes the relationship between happiness and holiness. The Mother of Jesus. By Father James, O.F.M.Cap. 'Pp. viii + 159. Chapter Headings: Portrait, Vocation, Immaculate, Pre-Ordained, Virgin-Mother, Media-tion, Queen. Nazareth. By J. K. Scheuber, O.S.B. Translated by the Venerable Archdeacon M. S. MacMahon. P.P., V.F. Pp. xiv + 278. $2.50. A pocket-size book of counsel and prayer for the married. Readings and Addresses. By the Reverend F. H. Drinkwater. Pp. vi + 190. " $2.75. For the Holy Hour and other occasions. Religious Teaching of Young Children. By S. N. D. Pp. 173. $2.25. A book for teachers and parents. A Spiritual Aeneid. By Monsignor Ronald A. Knox. Pp. v + 263. $I.00 (paper) : $3.00 (cloth). The author's account of his conversion. This Age and Marg. By Michael O'Carroll, C.S.Sp. Pp. viii + 158. $2.50. FREDERICK PUSTET COMPANY, INC., 14 Barclay Street, New York 8, N.Y. Ave Maris Stella. By Max F. Walz, C.PP.S. Pp. vii + 70. $1.50. Each chapter handles a stanza of the "Ave Maris Stella" hymn in the manner of the sec-ond- method-of-prayer. The Shepherdess of Souls. By a Sister of Mercy. Pp. ix + 125. $1.50. Each of the thirty-o.ne short considerations consists of a quotation from some book about 104 March, 19 4 9 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Mary, some thoughts about the event in her llfe, followed by a moral application to the reader's llfe, concluded with a prayer to Mary, and an appropriate poem. RADIO REPLIES PRESS, St. Paul I, Minn. The Singing Heart. By Rev. Lawrence G. Lovasik, S.V.D. P. 144. Sto~y of girl named Antoinette Marie Kuhn. ROSARY COLLEGE (Department of Library Science), River Forest, Ill. The Catholic Booklist: 1948. Pp. 110. $.60. The Catholic Booklist: 1949. Pp. 86. $.65 (paper). ST. ANTHONY GUILD PRESS, Paterson, New Jersey. The Book of Genesis. The first of a new set of translations of the Old Testa-ment. Work is done by scholars of the Catholic Biblical Association and is spon-sored by the Episcopal Committee of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. Pp. vi + 130. THE SENTINEL PRESS, 194 E. 76th St., New York 21, N. Y. The Eucharist and Christian Perfection. Parts I and II, translated from the French of Blessed Julian Eymard by Mrs. Amy Allen. Part I contains two retreats: one given to the Brothers of St. Vincent de Paul: the other to the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament. Part II contains a retreat given to the Blessed Sacrament Fathers. PartI:Pp. vi + 327; PartII, xii + 236. Each, $2.00. Month of St. Joseph. Translated from the French of Blessed Peter Julian Ey-mard. Pp. xxvi -1- 131. $1.50. Contains thoughts for each day of March. In the Liqht of the Monstrance. Translated from the French ol~ Blessed Peter Julian Eymard. Pp. vii + 248. $2.00. This volume contains miscellaneous writings of Blessed Eymard that represent the basic principles of his spiritual doc-trine. The compiler is the

Part one of an interview with George Antonioni. Topics include: Family history. How his mother started in the restaurant business and opened the Lazy A and then the Il Camino. What it was like making pizza and working in the Lazy A. How his parents came to the U.S. from Italy. His parents settled in Leominster. Italian clubs in the Fitchburg-Leominster area. George's childhood memories of food, reading, and travel. Speaking English at home. His mother's work history. Working in the family restaurant business. George's education and work as a principal and teacher in the Leominster school system. How he knew Norma, his wife. ; 1 WENDY: This is Wendy Rhodes online with the Center for Italian Culture at Fitchburg State College. It's Monday, September 24th, 10:20 AM, and we're here at the home of… GEORGE: George Antonioni, 24 Dillon Street, Leominster, Massachusetts. WENDY: Okay, and with us is… ANNE: Anne Masifero. WENDY: And… NORMA: With Norma. WENDY: Okay. So George, thank you for agreeing to do this, first of all, and maybe we should start with the restaurant business. Can you tell me about your parents? GEORGE: Yes. My parents came over as children; in fact, they came over the same year, 1916. My mother was 10 years old and my father was 12. And they grew up… my father at first was in Oakdale living with his uncle on a farm, and upon reaching 16, he moved back to the Leominster-Fitchburg area. My mother lived down on the Railroad Street with her parents until she, uh, married my father at which time they moved to Leominster because they both worked at DuPont. And over the years, my mother always had a yen to cook. WENDY: Could you just tell us your mother's name? Including… GEORGE: Ilda, Ilda Cattel. And, um, in fact they lived in Fitchburg. And as we grew up, my parents, of course, were not able to go to school too long. My mother stopped school at the age of 13, and my father at about 14 or 15. But my mother was tri-lingual; she could speak French, Italian, English and wrote as well as any high school student. And my father was a well-educated man for he always read, and they insisted on us studying at all times. We were at times a semi-Italian family and other times an American family. We did not speak Italian at home. But during the war, my mother finally convinced my father that perhaps she could have a restaurant.2 WENDY: And which for? Which restaurant? GEORGE: This was the Lazy A Restau-, at World War II. And upon coming home, my mother was cooking in the house and sending products out. She was making a lot of pizza and éclairs. And then, in 1948 they started The Lazy A Restaurant. It's not an Italian name, but that was the lazy Antonioni's. WENDY: [Unintelligible - 00:02:57] GEORGE: You could not be lazy there. WENDY: So where does the term "lazy" come from? GEORGE: My brother, I believe, thought of the name The Lazy A. And so we carried that restaurant for 10 years, I believe; and it probably was the third Italian restaurant that the city had had because Monti's was, I believe, the first and still in existence, and that was started way in the '30s. And then for a brief period there was another Italian restaurant, Concheto's. You probably remember that. That was very highly successful but did not stay in business for too long. And then The Lazy A came in. And The Lazy A is now called The Gondola and it's still in business. And then… WENDY: Where is The Lazy A? GEORGE: On Lancaster Street. WENDY: Now, is this close to where you lived? GEORGE: Yes, we lived on Longwood Avenue, so the house was on Longwood Avenue and the restaurant was on Lancaster Street. [We're home from three blocks] straight through, so there's no problem about having to travel; and I had married and my wife came to Leominster to live, and we stayed with my folks because I was still in college, and we're all working in the restaurant. And then we get out of the business, and my mother got anxious again and wanted to go back in business again, and so they started the Il Camino Restaurant, which is down on Central Street. And that too was a highly successful restaurant; but at this time they start and 3 get up in age, you know. My brother was not interested in taking it over; he was a lawyer and I had just been promoted to junior high school principalship, so I wasn't interested in taking the business over. Only my wife was, and we didn't do it. So it's a strange thing. We sold the Lazy A to Mary and Gus Lelli; and Gus is a partner in the business, and his wife is an Angelini. And then when we sold the Il Camino, that's Lelli's wife's sister is an Angelini also. Well, married and this [Chikielini], and her daughter bought the restaurant; so we actually sold it both times to Angelinis, but the Daigneault's on it 'cause the husband is a survivor. WENDY: Okay. The Angelini… GEORGE: Still a lot of Angelinis. WENDY: I haven't interviewed anyone yet by that name. But getting back to the restaurant business, can you explain a little bit more about your mother? You said that she started making éclairs and pizza? GEORGE: Yes. WENDY: So what does that mean? She made it for whom? GEORGE: Well, we lived at -- the Lancaster Street lots faced DuPont, and my mother was known as a very good cook. And she used to make pizza, and so they would order it from her. So when they left on Fridays especially, she would have a large number of pizzas and have it delivered at DuPont. And éclairs. Because of those, they didn't eat meat on Friday evening. So pizza was a big item. So we take over 30, 40, 50 pizzas; and so my father knew that the business would succeed. But just in case the business did not succeed, the original building was such that you could convert it easily into a four-room house. So the financial risk wasn't as great as it probably would have been if you built it as a restaurant per se. WENDY: Who made all of the bread dough or the pizza dough?4 GEORGE: We made it. What we would do on a Friday, my mother would be the cook and take care of all the restaurant part. My father and my brother would be making the pizzas, that is, putting the ingredients on; and we had another person who'd be rolling the dough. We didn't flip it like they do now; we bought a pie-making machine, okay, down in Boston, and my mother had bought some dough down there and she worked it around and they could get a nice round pizza right there, so. I think they bought it from Johnson and Johnson, and I think after that Johnson and Johnson's [unintelligible - 00:07:51] the pie-making machine is a pizza machine also, because it's… WENDY: Can you explain the workings of it? GEORGE: Well, I guess if you… all it was a set of rollers, and you would feed the dough through the roller and it'd shape it as you push the tube. And you get any size you want depending on how big the pizza dough you put through. And then you put it in the pan and you put all of them aside and let them raise. Because on those days, raised pizza dough was the rage. It wasn't like today where you have all the thin pizza crust. It was still thick dough on those days. WENDY: Now, is that called Sicilian? GEORGE: Now they call it Sicilian pizza, but everybody who made pizza in the old days was more of a half-inch thick. WENDY: And what kind of toppings? GEORGE: On the toppings, my brother and my father would put tomato, a little bit of oregano, grated cheese -- the mozzarella hadn't really come in yet because mozzarella's a later thing. But those days it was grated cheese, and we put on anchovies. Friday was popular. At the end of the week, you put peppers, onions and hamburg. We use to call that The Summer Special. And while they did all that work, I had the easy job; all I did was answer the telephone, wrap 5 it in, give the pizzas to the customers. For two hours that's all I did. WENDY: That's all you do? GEORGE: That's how big a business it was. WENDY: We can stop and take a break. GEORGE: Excuse me? WENDY: Would you like to stop? GEORGE: Yeah, I get a… WENDY: Okay. GEORGE: We had a very big business, very big business. And of course, Norma was out, blown all the way to sink. As I said, Norma would be there also and she'll be a waitress and take care of the dining room; and then when the other girls came in, Norma's day was not done. Now she became my mother's assistant and go on with cooking also. WENDY: So you must have liked it. NORMA: I did like it. WENDY: Sounds like a lot NORMA: [Unintelligible - 00:10:08] WENDY: You don't mind doing it. NORMA: I don't mind doing it. GEORGE: When I married Norma, she didn't know how to cook. WENDY: I guess that helps [laughter]. GEORGE: Norma was working… well, in the economy [unintelligible - 00:10:25] things like that. Actually she was down at the MIT Lincoln Lab a while also. So she had been around, but she didn't cook, assisted with the cooking at home. NORMA: I was the cleaner. WENDY: You were the cleaner? I could see why you'd want to learn how to cook then.6 GEORGE: But now she's an excellent cook. My brother said she's the best in the family on cooking. From a beginner to the top. And that's pretty how much we did it. WENDY: Let me clarify something. You said that your mother began with the pizzas and the éclairs because she was primarily catering to the DuPont crowd and you would bring them. Now, was the restaurant open? GEORGE: No, not at that time. And just before we opened, actually, she was delivering pizzas on Friday noontime to Foster [Grant], which was a big company in town on those days, and -- I still have one of the big pants that we used to use. And we'd take those up there and they would sell them in their lunchroom, because they had a lunchroom. It was such a big place and they'd buy four to six sheets of pizza every Friday. WENDY: And then they would reheat them, or…? GEORGE: Well, they come up hot and we'd give them right up there to them. And I don't think they had to reheat them, but they would sell them. And it's quite a thing. She had a going business before she was even opening the door. WENDY: Yeah, when did she begin making the pizzas to deliver on that Friday? GEORGE: The delivering of the pizzas started during the war after I had gone into the service. So by 1945 I'd say she started doing it regularly. WENDY: But as she began making the pizzas, you said that she would deliver them on Fridays but it must have been a process all week? Can you… GEORGE: No, no. WENDY: No? GEORGE: No, to make the pizza, you can make the dough couple hours ahead of time to get it raised, and then we'll start cooking them. Doesn't7 take long. Pizza's a quick item, actually, and it cooks in 15 minutes at the most. WENDY: So there wasn't a lot of preparation? NORMA: She got up early in the morning. GEORGE: On that day, yeah. WENDY: Preparing time. GEORGE: Because she did éclairs also, she'd make huge trays of éclairs. She used to make them with a custard filling, and people liked them. She'd been making those before. My mother was an excellent baker. She was very good at baking, and people knew it and they would call up and ask her to make éclairs. She wasn't a cookie person, you know. People think of Italians as cookie persons, but my mother was more cakes and éclairs, cream puffs. WENDY: Did she bring any of those recipes from the old country? GEORGE: No, I don't believe so, 'cause she came over as a -- as I say she was nine, ten years old depending on what part of the year she came over 'cause she was born on 1906 and she came over in 1916, so. WENDY: But her mother -- did she travel with her mother to this country? GEORGE: She came over with her mother. In fact, [pure witness of the game], she came over on the same trip. We have a picture of them in my daughter's house. My daughter's great aunt [unintelligible - 00:14:01] old family pictures, and she's got one on the wall there, my grandmother coming over with the girls. [Unintelligible - 00:14:10] four with my Ma on that picture? NORMA: Four of them at that time. GEORGE: See? That had to be quite a trip. Mother coming with four daughters. WENDY: Did you hear anything about the trip? GEORGE: My mother used to talk about it, yeah. They had a lot of trouble on that ship coming over. I think there was a murder. The ship had 8 been used when they came over to transport some beef, and all these people going back spat up and get rowdy and they had trouble amongst themselves, and there were submarines. It was not a pleasure cruise. So it was… I imagine it was a howling experience. WENDY: So she traveled here with her and mother and her sisters. GEORGE: Yeah, came directly to Fitchburg. WENDY: Did anyone else travel with them? GEORGE: Not to my knowledge. They came as a family unit, and that was it. WENDY: But you have an uncle or a brother. GEORGE: Well, my grandfather was already over here, and she had been over here before. WENDY: Your grandmother? GEORGE: Yeah. She had been over here before. My mother had never been here before. My grandmother had been here to visit my grandfather obviously; and same thing with my father, he came over with his father, though, and then his mother was supposed to come over with the sisters. So one of the sisters was [unintelligible - 00:15:47] and they had to wait 'til she got married, you know, before they could come over. And in the meantime, my grandfather on my father's side went back, but he left my father here with his brother down in Oakdale. And my father never saw his father again, actually, 'cause he didn't go back. WENDY: Okay. GEORGE: He was working on the railroad, the reservoir, one or the other. Because right there in Oakdale, we have a big sand area that they were using, and my uncle's farm was probably half a mile away to the woods, which I've traveled many times. So it wasn't too far to go to work, and he's kept working there, and then he'd go back to Italy. All these men in the old days used to leave home and go to 9 work, make some money and go back the other way. So they have made many trips. In fact, they have a watch. It's in the bank vault right now, but it was my grandfather's watch and it's 1885. So he had made trips over here previous of that trip. WENDY: Your grandfather was here and your father was here. GEORGE: Yeah, they stayed on the farm. WENDY: Okay, and how old was your father when he made the trip? GEORGE: He would be 12. WENDY: About 12. What part of Italy did they come from, your father? GEORGE: My father came from what you'd call Central Italy on the Adriatic side, and it is what they call them the Marque. And [unintelligible - 00:17:38] is the big city where he came from; they lived around the city. Then my mother came from up in Revine. That's not the one everybody thinks of. They always think of Ravena along Maine, this is only Revine, it's R-E-V-I-N-E, and it's way, way up in the mountains. The closest town you'd recognize would probably be Cortina. It was a mile away, up in the Dolomites. I was there, so. WENDY: Oh. GEORGE: I was there this past November. I've been there twice, actually. It's really out there, it's really out there. Oh yeah, one of the cousins. They're at Pieve di Cadore. We visit those places twice. I've been to my father's area once. We stayed there four days when I went to visit my uncles, you know. We took the children over one time to see the whole place. WENDY: When you say they're out there, what did you mean by that? GEORGE: You mean…? WENDY: You said the village with your uncle. GEORGE: Oh, it's really out there, way out in the boonies. It's really interesting. In fact, the village is practically dying, but now we went back this last time, this restaurant is building a huge 10 conference [sauna there]. So that might revive town. I think there was 60 to… like 60 children on the school system, so that tells you how the town was going down, down, down. But as I say, there's a hotel-restaurant that's building a -- 100 or 500 units they wanna build there. It's gonna be big. And you wonder how anybody's gonna get there, but they're gonna get there, you know. NORMA: I forgot to tell you that his mother lived in a castle. GEORGE: [Laughter] NORMA: They called it a castle, and it looks like a castle. GEORGE: But it's not really a castle, you know… NORMA: They called it's a castle, though. GEORGE: Yeah. That had to had been either some nobleman's home or a religious site at one time, but you still got the [slots] where they used to pick the gums on the arrow, so you know, it's interesting. WENDY: And they lived there just their family? GEORGE: That time it was just their family, yeah. But now, I think it's just their family again. But they have a system over in Italy that they sold parts of the houses. So… you own this section and you own that section and I own this section, but they bought the whole thing back now, so they own the whole thing. But [unintelligible - 00:20:24] of Pieve di Cadore, we three families that own parts of that house, it's almost like each one had own tenement; and we're not talking condos. These are old houses, and that's the way it was. WENDY: Do they all have a private bathroom? GEORGE: They have private bathrooms, but then there's a general bathroom on one floor that you can use. They're well-constructed houses, nice houses, and it's a nice area [unintelligible - 00:21:15] 'cause the air is clear as a bell, and… the scenery is magnificent. WENDY: Are there any tales about Ma leaving the village and going to the port city to come here?11 GEORGE: No, no. My mother didn't say too much about that. But once again, her family had been in the United States, aunts and uncles, what have you. They have been coming here since the 1800s at the Civil War. In fact, one part of the family had an open-air kitchen; they used to sell down in Pennsylvania down in the coal mine areas. But if you're familiar with the United States' history, the coalminers' staff had a lot of trouble unionizing and all that stuff, and things got very, very… bad. And fighting and things were going on, so they came back home. And they also had a catering business up in Pieve di Cadore. So they were hardworking people; they've been all over. My grandfather had been all over Europe and [unintelligible - 00:22:33] in Turkey as well as United States before he decided to settle here. WENDY: And why is it that they decided to… GEORGE: Well, it's like everybody else. They're looking for a good life and avoid turmoil. In Europe, there was always turmoil, or had always been, always building fortifications and things like that type of war, so they come over here. WENDY: And then specifically took the [unintelligible - 00:23:00]? GEORGE: Well, someone went to Fitchburg, maybe to work up in the quarry, because the Venetians, which my mother is, they're [unintelligible - 00:23:14] way up on top of the hill over towards the quarry. And that's where they lived, most of them. My grandfather lived down in the, what we call the patch area, but most of the Venetians didn't live there; they lived way up to what we call [unintelligible - 00:23:33]. And I don't know how many families there were about, but there weren't too many Venetians. They had their own club and everything; they tended to segregate just like all the Italians in -- you came from one section of Italy, you went to that club, you didn't go to any other clubs. Like in Leominster, there were six or seven Italian clubs. Can you imagine that? They 12 work, and all of those, I would say, work within a half-mile radius, seven clubs, six or seven clubs. WENDY: The club brings up an interesting question. Do people consider themselves Italian or do they consider themselves part of a particular region? GEORGE: I think when they talk amongst themselves, they were Veneziano, [unintelligible - 00:24:31], Sicilian or whatever. Of course the Sicilians tend to think of themselves as separate anyway. If you've ever been to Sicily, they don't call themselves Italians; they're Sicilians. But on Lancaster Street itself, there were one, two, three, four, five clubs within a quarter mile. We go from [unintelligible - 00:24:56], there were five clubs. And there was one on the back of [unintelligible - 00:25:01], I was a Saladini and then you had Colombo Hall on the [unintelligible - 00:25:06]. Can you imagine? What other nationality would do that? WENDY: Right. GEORGE: They did it, and Fitchburg -- or at least three, I think. That doesn't help you any, you know. In those days when you want them to do something, you need political power. You still do, and they were fragmented, you know. WENDY: Is there any attempt to unify? GEORGE: There was the Sons of Italy, but the Sons of Italy was never strong up in this area. In fact, even to this day it's basically a social club, I think, if anything. I think it exists, but that's what it is. They don't get that involved in politics, to my knowledge. But I don't know. WENDY: Why don't we talk about the particular club that your parents had joined? GEORGE: My father, even though we lived in Leominster, did not join one of the clubs in Leominster because he'd grown up in, you know, from 16 on or 17, he had lived in Fitchburg; so all his friends were up 13 there and he was one of the incorporators of the Marconi Club, [unintelligible - 00:26:23] founder of the club. And so he never left that club. And in fact I joined it for a while, but there was no call for me to go up to Fitchburg if I want to join the club, so I stayed there for two years. But I remember that club, they started up in, you know, room in a three-decker, and they move around, I guess to find the cheapest rent, and they finally decided to build the club that they had still in existence. They were hardworking people. I remember them working in the wintertime building that thing. And imagine, you'd get some man outside, [unintelligible - 00:27:09] out there, banging away on its soles and soils, trying to get the trench in so they could get the water. And [unintelligible - 00:27:19] was doing some of the brick masonry, and you know, lock in all that [unintelligible - 00:27:24] working away, donating their services for their club. WENDY: Why do you think they found it important to join? GEORGE: I think everybody has to belong to something, and that was their -- they're with a feeling they belong and they felt safe with these people. They grew up with them; a lot of them were childhood friends from the old country. It's like talking… well, if you went to the California and suddenly there's 10 Leominster people there, families, they'll just have to stick together. Especially in those days when language was a problem. WENDY: Do different regions of Italians have trouble talking to each other? GEORGE: It can happen. The language picks up certain sounds. For example, in the [uplands] who probably pick up a little of the French accent; and if you live up where my mother comes from, sometimes the words sound almost Germanic. I still maintain that when I sit there and listen to some of these people talk from that region, "strada" was almost like "strasa" at times, you know. And then if you go down to Sicily, I think the two regions are so far 14 apart that language is a part of the problem. They all had their own idiosyncrasies and what have you. See, in the United States, it isn't quite as bad, you know. We all understand each other. Some of those have their pronunciation, but it isn't that much different than the [unintelligible - 00:29:15], you know. WENDY: On Americanization classes, I realize that both of your parents came here at a young age, so they maybe learned in a public school. What about your grandparents? GEORGE: My grandparents, I'm not sure what they did. I think in those days, you could -- if my grandfather, which he must have done, gone to classes, I think you could get your whole family in under your citizenship. You didn't have to go yourself. The wife and children, I think, automatically could become citizens when you did. So, I'm sure when he was back in Italy, he'd be going to night school, because he was another person who loves to read. I still remember my grandfather reading all the time. He's like my father. The two men in my life were men who liked to read with an educating process on. My father still read the Italian newspaper almost 'til the day he died; and the only reason why he read it was so he wouldn't lose his language because there was no one to speak to anymore in Italian, a very few people. So he kept getting the Italian newspaper. WENDY: Now, is that something that the club perpetuated, with the Italian language? GEORGE: No, no. When I became a member of the club which was after the War of Ceylon, 1947, '48, a lot of the discussions were in English even though they're all old Italians, most of them. They all would speak in English at the meetings. Otherwise, the guys like myself who would be new members and young -- you know what happens to the young guy, he becomes the secretary. They were talking in 15 Italian, it wouldn't come out like so. They pretty well-learned how to speak English. The men did anyway. Some of the women… I won't say their station in life, but what they did, they didn't go anywhere in those days. You know, it's not like today; we all get in the car and take off. The women tended to stay home more. Now, the women do the driving half the time, so. But those days, women didn't go too far. WENDY: What kinds of things do they do at the club? GEORGE: Well, the men, if they went on their own, the Marconi Club was a little different. For a while they even had a [unintelligible - 00:32:06], but that didn't last too long because it's kinda noisy when they're busy playing cards. Most of the men would play a game they call three-seven, and they played for the beverages or candy bars or whatever you wanted. If you won the game, you either could have a glass of beer or candy bar or whatever. But big gambling games, I never witnessed any of them. They might have had some, but most of the men were there just for recreation; they weren't there to make a fortune. And actually, before I went to the service, there were a group of bakers. They would come in on Friday night at 11 o'clock, they're all done working for the weekend, and they started to bring in pizzas; they bring a tray of pizza, and they hand it out. After a while they began to smarten up, you know, but more and more people were coming, and now they bring two trays, three trays, so they start to sell the pizza. But I remember my father waiting for them to come in on a Friday night so we could have a slice of pizza, each of them. We'd take one home to my mother, maybe two slices probably 'cause my brother was old enough, so we have family pizza by the pan they were selling it, you know. And it became a big business up there. I think the Marconi Club kept 16 selling pizza, spaghetti, and cola very recently. It's quite a business. WENDY: Was the club open every day? GEORGE: The club used to open up generally at night because most of the days the men were working. But then later on the club opened up in the afternoon, and I don't know what it's doing now. I hadn't been there in many, many, many years. WENDY: So who would round the club? GEORGE: They would have the board of directors, so to speak; and then they would have a bartender, and then the treasurer acted like the steward. So that's how they ran it. And you had your monthly meetings, and the steward would get up and explain how much money came in, how much money went out, all that, you know. Every month was a big time financial statement. We got news of how little money came in or how much, it was always the important thing. WENDY: Were there dues? GEORGE: Yeah, we used to pay, I think $1 a month, and it was a… we'll get [in club] in that if you get sick, you would pay the sick benefit. It wasn't very much money, I mean, it could probably get $8, $10 a week, which was not big money, but it helped out with the fee, with the salaries were in those days. But if you were very, very careful, you just didn't get it for staying home. You had to be sick; and if you're sick, you get the benefit. 'Cause the sick committee was always checking, so it's quite a thing. You had to see it to believe it, because everybody want to take care of everybody but nobody wanted anybody checking what they were supposed to be doing, you know. So it's good, it was a nice club. Then they used to run some dances. Dances weren't too successful there for some reason, but they ran a few. In fact, and I played for 17 a couple of them with our sisters. Yeah, we talked about all-girl band [laughter]. NORMA: I can't believe I'm hearing those stuff. GEORGE: They were the originals. So that worked out. And one of the strange things was—I don't know if Anne remembers this—we even had Italian prisoners of war up there one time. Were you there? [Laughter] ANNE: [Unintelligible - 00:36:17] GEORGE: [Laughter] World War II. A lot of Italians were taken prisoner, so there are a lot of them down in Boston. And apparently Italian prisoners of war weren't considered dangerous, so on a Saturday night they would take them out or something and -- to different club and organizations. So we have a dance or something, they came up once or twice to my knowledge, and they circulated with the people, and they'll look at and then women talk to them because they see if they knew anybody from where they came from, you know, hope against hope, you know my family or something, you know. But down in Boston, they'd be there out all the time. In fact, some of them married Boston girls after the war. WENDY: Was there any marriage in here? GEORGE: Not to my knowledge, no. But down in Boston, there were. They used to have the fence and the girls would go over them and talk to them. In fact, I was just reading a book about the Italian prisoners of war down in Alabama and how friendly they became with the girls down there. They'd go up to work in the fields and what have you as prisoners of war. So everybody knew them. And I ran into one of them when I was in the army. I was going overseas in California, and the Italian prisoners of war were doing the cooking and I was with the KP to get that one out. When you stand there and you're cleaning out a soup tureen and the Italian isn't, you won the war. We're winning this war. And they used to say they 18 had, you know, an American soldier got this beer garden at the camp; they used to say the Italians and the wine garden—I don't know how true that was but that was one of the stories. That's when I was on camp Enza, guess that was outside of Riverside, California. But a lot of strange things in this world. WENDY: Let's get back to your childhood. You said that you grew up in a home that was half-American, half-Italian? GEORGE: Yeah. On a Wednesday night, you know, they say that's Italian spaghetti night, we might be having corned beef and cabbage. My father since he was alone used to eat in diners a lot, 'cause he lived in boarding houses 'til he get married. So he picked up all these habits of different food, and when he married my mother, my mother said, "What would you like to eat?" And he'd say, "I like those, I like that." So we used to eat a lot of those things, you know. WENDY: Now, how did she learn how to cook corned beef and cabbage? GEORGE: What? WENDY: How did she learn how to cook something like that? GEORGE: My mother was very clever when it came to cooking. She could make almost anything taste great. In fact, I used to go up to my mother's after I was married many, many years. We'd go up and have corned beef. I still like corned beef. So we just have all these -- lot of American food. We were not heavy on ravioli and things of that type 'cause my mother worked in the factory all the time, so those things took time to prepare. You gotta make the ravioli and things like that, you've got to… so we [unintelligible - 00:40:01] things like that, but not all the time. WENDY: But there must have been other differences besides the food. GEORGE: Well, we're only two boys in those days, so we traveled around a lot, and my father had a car, we always had a car. And most of the people stay pretty much in the neighborhood, so we would always 19 be going someplace. Like they had taken me to the World's Fair back in late '30s, things of that type. So we're going places. My father -- I still remember my father taking me to the library when I was -- my first trip to the library. When I took my daughter to the first trip to the library, things hadn't changed in the Leominster Library in those days, so we went there. It reminded me of when I went with my father. And they always let me read, you know. On those days, you weren't supposed to read comic books because they weren't good for you. My father let me read comic books, and that was very good because you picked up vocabulary. You learn a lot of vocabulary and you learn a lot of history. And so he constantly would buy me -- books were never a problem. WENDY: You said you went to the World's Fair. GEORGE: Yeah. WENDY: He drove to New York? GEORGE: We took the bus. WENDY: Okay. GEORGE: We took the bus. Of course that was quite an experience because, you know, the bus stops periodically for a rest stop and something to eat, so my brother and I thought it was the greatest thing ever because every time we stop, we get something to eat, you know, candy bars or something. I always had something. And we got to New York and we stayed at my aunt's. She was a nurse in New York, Mrs. Andriski, and she goes down in Oakdale actually, and she and her girlfriend who came from Fitchburg also were nurses. So they worked nights, so we were there and there was no [intrusion] upon them 'cause they weren't there anyway. And during the day we'd go to the fair. It's quite a thing. WENDY: World Fair in Italian Pavilion? GEORGE: Oh, yeah, we went to the Italian Pavilion. That was a one-week first stops, and then we went to the G Building and we did our 20 rounds. It was quite a thing. [Unintelligible - 00:42:35] obviously to see the Magna Carta, still remember that. And Crown Jewels. So it was interesting. My mother was -- I keep saying my father, but my mother was a real [unintelligible - 00:42:51] on this occasion. She made sure there was a Parent's Day; she made sure my father went because he would be working nights so he could go on the daytime. Those days, you'd want in the daytime for most of these things, so he would go. He'd be the only man on the room unless Mr. Anderson -- he was the only other man that'd be there. Usually all these Italian women are sitting there, listening, and there'd be my father and Mr. Anderson. At nighttime, it was a far from -- she'd be there. She'd always be there. School was important to her; and in fact, more important than my father. My father always believed that you could trade some things like that, and he was like trades can do the same thing for you that college can. But she was always, "You gotta go to school." WENDY: So there was never a question of you or your brother going to college. GEORGE: No. We'll always gonna go to school, that was a given. And make sure we got enough good grades to go [unintelligible - 00:44:07] hear about it when report card came. It worked out good. WENDY: So you never felt any influence to go into the restaurant business? GEORGE: No, no. They never tried to talk me into [unintelligible - 00:44:22] restaurant business. I have, when it comes to cooking and labor, I have two left hands, so it wouldn't work. Right, Norma? It would not work. NORMA: [Unintelligible - 00:44:37]. I couldn't tell. GEORGE: They used to put me out front. You're the maître d'. Get [unintelligible - 00:44:43] kitchen. It's dangerous. WENDY: Did you say that your mother was tri-lingual, or is that your grandmother?21 GEORGE: My mother. She would -- spoke French fluently, and she could speak Croatian French. WENDY: [Unintelligible - 00:45:00] she lived in the [unintelligible - 00:45:03] area? GEORGE: No, she lived down the patch, that's Italian. Italian and Sicilian. But when she worked in the factory as a little girl -- 'cause she was only 13 when she started, she started to pick up all these languages. All of that language -- as you well know; the younger you are on foreign languages, the better off you are. And she's being young like that, she paid attention, and she could talk French. WENDY: Did she ever try to teach you? GEORGE: Teach me French? No. Once I got into the… fourth, fifth grade, I think they decided that they might have made a mistake in not teaching us Italian. So they'd send me off to St. Anthony's for a couple of weeks in the summertime, and my mother got a whole set of Italian grammar books for kids, and she start to teach me some Italian. But by that time, it was too late. I did take Italian in high school, though. It was too late. I understood it and I could read it, but I couldn't speak it. WENDY: In the home, they always spoke English, too? GEORGE: No, they talk Italian when they didn't want us to understand, but they soon discovered that was a mistake, especially with me. They knew I could talk Italian, I could understand it. I wouldn't speak it, but -- in fact, my grandmother was very upset that they weren't teaching us to speak Italian when we were little kids, but I think my father wanted to make sure we were fluent in English, learn what would be our mother tongue, English, you know, and I was -- so that's what you had to do. WENDY: It's interesting that your grandmother felt differently. GEORGE: Yeah, yeah. WENDY: Can you remember any discussions or anything?22 GEORGE: No, I just… I know that she was upset that we didn't speak Italian. My grandfather didn't seem to bother at, all but he always talked English to me anyway so, you know, you'll never -- my grandmother would mix the two languages a lot but my grandfather was -- you'd think he came from America too. WENDY: Although she started working in a factory at 13? GEORGE: Thirteen. WENDY: [Unintelligible - 00:47:27] GEORGE: Had to be in Fitchburg, I don't know which factory. It was supposed to be 14, but she got in at 13. WENDY: She ever talked of those days? GEORGE: Not too much. The only thing she regretted was she had to leave school. She liked school, but… I don't know how many children were there, six or something like that in those days, and I guess times were tough. She was the last one they pulled out of school; she and her oldest sister did not go to school. From then on, my Aunt Toni who was next. She became a registered nurse and Ere, I think, went to business school; Doris didn't go to school beyond high school. Ellen got married, so she didn't go beyond high school; my Uncle became a dentist; and my other Uncle had a high position on industrial business down in Connecticut—he was a Holy Cross graduate. In fact, he and I graduated together… the same class. That was due to the war, yeah. WENDY: What year was that? GEORGE: '49. 1949. WENDY: [Unintelligible - 00:48:53] strongly about your education? GEORGE: I think she felt strongly because her home aren't going to school, my father not going to school. But those days, it was quite common. They didn't go to school. I still remember living on Longwood Avenue and boys becoming 16 or girls becoming 16, 23 that was beyond the school, get a job and they make $12 a week, something like that, if they went to work. WENDY: And you never felt that call to begin making money? GEORGE: No. Actually we were two boys. Most of the families had three, four, five kids, probably be a widow or a widower, you know. We lived well compared to a lot of them. So it never happened, you know. We had always had a small garden, we had chickens, we had some rabbits, and so it was always plenty of food; and my mother was an excellent person on canning. She could can almost anything. You'd talk about buying corn on the cob -- she didn't freeze it; she knew how to can it, corn on the cob. And it wouldn't be a lot of log. Remember that, Norma? She just had a lot of corn left over one time, hated to see it go to waste or fed to the chickens, so she just vacuum-packed it. That was good. She can do the same thing with -- I remember being in the service, I'd get a jar, and then it would be fried rabbit. Oh yeah, I like rabbit, I like rabbit. But she wouldn't waste anything, it was amazing. And she could sew, she make my trousers, shirts, and then my father bought her an ironing machine one time. I don't know if you remember those things, they used to call them a [mangle]. It's a circular item, and she had it, and my father bought an old electric sewing machine, and the man came to look at it and show how to run those sewing machine, they saw that and they [unintelligible - 00:51:23] "What can you do with that?" She says, "They can iron shirts," everything. I see her do something, so she'd get all this things and says, "I'll give you a job on Saturdays to demonstrate these ironing machines at Sears and Roebuck." So for a year or two, that's what she did. Every Saturday afternoon she'd go up there, take all our laundry, and iron it to people. She's a very clever woman, my mother. WENDY: So did she work while you were in school?24 GEORGE: When I came back from the service, she didn't work anymore in the factory, because now I had a sister and then a child after I came back, our second sister. We're two families; we got two younger sisters and my brother and I. I'm 20 years older than my younger sister, almost to the day. She's December what, Norma? Fifth? NORMA: December 2nd. GEORGE: Second, she's the 2nd and I'm 15th. 20 years difference. WENDY: Is she working prior to the… GEORGE: Yeah, she always worked in the factory. My mother always work. My mother couldn't sit still. She had to work all the time. My wife is like her; she can't sit down. WENDY: I'm always in awe of everything these people were able to get done, but they'd still work. It's amazing. GEORGE: She would can all of it. We had canned blueberries, canned raspberries, strawberries, all kinds of tomatoes, jelly. She used to make [unintelligible - 00:53:02] school when they used have what they used to call hospital days, and you would bring canned goods and things like that. And my mother gave me some apple jelly to bring, and the teacher looked at it and looked out to the window, it was clear as a bell. She went down and got another teacher, "Come over here, I wanna show you something." She's still [unintelligible - 00:53:22] she hold it and, "Look at that." WENDY: Without machine? GEORGE: Without machines. Norma could tell you stories about my mother. She knew my mother all her life, so… very clever. Her mother was an excellent cook, and mother was a real cook. WENDY: You wanna talk? You wanna say anything? NORMA: She looked tremendous, she knew everything and she could do anything. Anything you ask her do, she could do it. WENDY: How could she do all these work, working during the day? Was it weekends, or after…?25 GEORGE: When she came home at night. My father would start to prepare some of the things for her, you know, then he'd go to work and she'd come home and… and since he wasn't home, you know, he's at work and then were just two boys, so she'd get working on something, keep busy, and that was it. WENDY: So when you were [unintelligible - 00:54:17] passed away? GEORGE: No, my father died around, what, 86, Norma? NORMA: 80 when he died. GEORGE: He was 80 when he died. So, around 80, about 1984 when he died. Or no? NORMA: No, [unintelligible - 00:54:43]? WENDY: Okay. Maybe I just assumed, but you said there were two families. But I think what you said was you're… GEORGE: Oh, I'm different. WENDY: Okay. GEORGE: There was a girl who died in between, and she always wanted a daughter, so then they had the girl. Then they figured she's growing up alone, so they had a second one. WENDY: She wasn't busy enough? GEORGE: No, no, no. By the time the girls came, my brother and I were fairly grown up. I was 16, so I can help out with the little girl and keep her busy and things. And then when I went to service, my brother was old enough to help out. Like he'd deliver a lot of the stuff. He wasn't in school, so, you know, he was -- it's quite a thing. WENDY: So let's go back to the restaurant business. So after she became successful with these pizzas, can you fill in the blanks? They aren't, for example -- I get the impression that they had always thought they would open up a restaurant when these pizzas became popular.26 GEORGE: Yeah. My mother was really strong, and my father was conservative, you know. He had reached the point that DuPont were, you know, your job is secured for life now and do we really wanna get involved in this when they had two little children. And my mother kept insisting, so they get the building. We bought the land in the back there because my father want the [unintelligible - 00:56:28] to go to work. Those were on empty lots that DuPont owned then. The DuPont was selling all the lots they had, and the buildings. Because in the old days, the factory used to buy up a lot of land and houses, and then the people would then rent them from them. Well after the war—just prior to the war, rather—they started to sell some of the stuff up during the Depression. And there was this one lot sitting there which was directly in back of ours, so my father was able to buy it for a very ridiculously low price in those days, and just cut a hole in our fence and we had an entry to the Lancaster Street. And we put a little garden there, and… since the lot was there and the expense of buying land was no longer a problem, we'd put the building up. And as I say, it was not a huge building. I got a picture of this some place, the original building. So they started, and the business was so successful. It was so successful I think within six months they had to add to the back part of it for kitchen expansion. And then a year or two later, they added to the dining room section; they doubled that up in size. Then later they put an entrance on the side to get down into the basement area. We were there 10 years, that's all. By that time, everybody is getting tired; 'cause in a family business, everybody's gotta work. WENDY: So when did she expand the menu? Was that immediately? GEORGE: Immediately. We had a full menu right away. She didn't do just the pizza. She wanted a restaurant. And so we had all the different 27 types of spaghettis and manicottis and all that stuff. It was an Italian restaurant. WENDY: So you said she really didn't cook ravioli or manicotti at home? GEORGE: No. WENDY: So she determined… GEORGE: But she was an excellent cook. A successful restaurant is one that -- where there is no waste. So if you make something and it's not going to sell, you get two choices: you've got to find a way to use it or throw it away. My mother was so clever. We used to have veal, for example, and there'll be little pieces left over when they churn the cutlets from the bone, just little pieces, and what are you gonna do with it? So it's still on the menu, veal casserole. [Unintelligible - 00:59:24] wine and [unintelligible - 00:59:25], and all of a sudden something that was waste is a big seller. In fact, if I were to go to one of the restaurants now, that's what I would have. WENDY: Historically, I hear of something. I hope that hasn't been happening a lot in time. It's just suddenly, but suddenly [unintelligible - 00:59:47]. Okay. Thank you. So were these all her recipes that she used? GEORGE: Yeah. WENDY: Was she the only cook? GEORGE: She was always the lead cook. She had help, but she still made the determinations of what would go in and what wouldn't. Norma would work with her, and if my mother wasn't there and then Norma would be the lead cook. But it's always family. WENDY: How many [unintelligible - 01:00:21] was it open? GEORGE: Six. We had long hours in those days, not like today where the restaurant opens for six, eight hours. Those days it opened at 12 noon, it closed at 12 midnight. 28 WENDY: Incredible. [Unintelligible - 01:00:39] dad worked at the restaurant? GEORGE: My father would work there during the day, and then he would go to work at 4 o'clock at DuPont, then he gave that up once he got the -- after he got his 25-year pin, he left and stayed just at the restaurant. WENDY: And you said you and your brother also worked there? GEORGE: Yeah, we worked there. My brother was a good cook too. He's the one that can do many things. He takes after my mother on that respect. He can cook and he can do electrical work and do tile work. You name it, he can do it. WENDY: And what is his name? GEORGE: Attilo. WENDY: Attilo. Is he called [unintelligible - 01:01:28] GEORGE: Oh, Tony. WENDY: So can you tell us a little bit about what it was like working in a restaurant? NORMA: It was hectic. I have a little girl with me and she used to stay with me while I waitressed and worked in the kitchen. [Unintelligible - 01:01:43] my daughter, and then when the [unintelligible - 01:01:45] stay with me too and he'd hold on behind me while I was waitressing… with his finger, he used to -- he know how to play [unintelligible - 01:01:54] jukebox. He'd know every song that was there. And he used to dance, and army people used to come in and just watch him. And we really wanted him to be something, but [unintelligible - 01:02:08]. GEORGE: Wow. I didn't want… NORMA: He was good. He's staying and he danced, and he was about three or four years old when he was doing this. GEORGE: Younger than that when he started.29 NORMA: When he started. But somebody signed him somewhere, but I'm not [unintelligible - 01:02:23]. No? GEORGE: No. NORMA: No, he stopped her after that. And he was [unintelligible - 01:02:29]. Soldiers used to come just to see him. GEORGE: Yeah, with them [unintelligible - 01:02:35] big in those days and they -- we had a lot of army trade, and they'd come up and they look to him and give him a quarter, so he'd play five songs and … NORMA: And he knew every song there was, too. WENDY: So how did he learn to sing? [Unintelligible - 01:02:52] GEORGE: Just listening. We'd have a stack of records like that, 'cause we had a jukebox, people would come around and they changed them, and they'd give him a bunch of them, you know. And he'd pick one up and he was four years old and maybe at best pick the record up and say, "What's this one, Georgie?" "It's a concerto." WENDY: Wow. GEORGE: [Unintelligible - 01:03:20] concerto. He couldn't read. It was scary. That's why he could do it though, unbelievable. WENDY: Do you think your mother enjoyed the restaurant? GEORGE: Oh, she loved it. She loved it. She didn't wanna get out of it; but everybody was tired, everybody was tired. We reached a point that you don't wanna do it anymore, so we got out. But then they went back in again, and… WENDY: What year do you think that was? GEORGE: I think it was 1958, about 1958 they got out. Then by '62, something like that, they went back in again. When they get through, they went cross country with my two sisters. I think they went for about six weeks; they made this trip down to Mexico all around the United States and back to Leominster. And again, went back to Italy, you know. They wanna see America first. He liked the United States. He was always… he'd be what you call a 30 patriot. He was in the National Guard; he always loved to talk about his being in the National Guard, you know. He loved the United States. He went back when his sisters became ill, and after that he made several trips to Italy. WENDY: 1958, and they were back into it by '62? GEORGE: '62 or '63, they went back in. WENDY: So what happened? They got some left and… GEORGE: And my mother was ready to again. But they didn't stay that many years after that because [unintelligible - 01:05:10] going to sixties now. And my brother and I were not really that interested in doing it. In fact, I'd worked Friday night and he'd work Saturday night. And all I did was… I was the maître d', so I wasn't doing much of anything. But she wanted us there, my brother and I, and he was on Saturday and I was Friday nights. WENDY: Did you work there too? ANNA: I only worked there about a year and a half. WENDY: With the Il Camino? GEORGE: Yeah. WENDY: Can you tell me about the history of it? For example, did she purchase the restaurant from someone else? GEORGE: No. She wanted to go back in business, and so she had my brother start looking for land; and that's pretty much what he does, a lot of titles—he's a title man. And he found this piece of land that was just sitting there and was surrounded by, I think, the land owned by [Blocks] Incorporated, but there was one watch just sitting there. And so they bought it, and they started off with the original building. And this restaurant was not quite like the Lazy A; it was more of an -- I won't say it's upscale, but it was basically a restaurant, not a pizza combination. Times have changed and the pizza was no longer the big thing for a restaurant, we thought, and so they built this restaurant with the idea of [unintelligible -31 01:06:48]. And it took off right away. In fact, it's about so fast that they had to add a little room in front. They had to -- was it two rooms, Norma? NORMA: Two. GEORGE: Yeah, put two rooms in the front. One was a lounge and the other one was another restaurant, dining area. And then they added in the back so the place, just kept growing; but as I say, as a full restaurant, delay gets even more intense than a… I was not going stay that much more, and my brother as I say, was -- his practice was starting to pick up, so. And the girls were too young. Well, Jeannie was in college and Margaret was at the restaurant, but she had got married, so. WENDY: Mother is still doing most of the cooking at the time? GEORGE: All 'til the last day, 'til the last day. She loved it. Her mother was the same way. When they had their restaurant, I think they were happiest when they were in the kitchens. Wouldn't you say, Norma? NORMA: Oh, yeah. She loved to cook. [Unintelligible - 01:07:59] and my mother did all the cooking. WENDY: That's a good trainer. Was there a push for education for your sisters? GEORGE: Yes. Margaret went to Rivier for one semester. She did not like college, and she came back and went to work with my mother; and she married and had three children. She's a widow now. And my sister Jeanie went to -- up in -- what is it? NORMA: Merrimack. GEORGE: Merrimack, Merrimack College. And she [unintelligible - 01:08:39] she has a good job. She's been there for many, many years. In fact, starting next year she can even retire. When you're 55, you can do that nowadays. And she's the boss; she has no children. But she takes after us, and that she's a reader too. She 32 loves to read, read, read, read. In fact, she just came back from China with my sister Margaret. They both went and Margaret said -- Norma asked her, she's too much talking, so the first two days, she didn't said anything, she just read. [Laughter] WENDY: [Laughter] So tell us a little bit about your schooling. I know you're a graduate of Holy Cross? GEORGE: Yeah. WENDY: Prior to that? GEORGE: I went to Leominster High School and graduated in '44. I started college in July because it was wartime, and I figured I could get some time in before I went to the service. It would also guarantee me a place when I came back. So I finished my freshman year in February of '45, and I was in the army in March of '45. I came back and went back to school, and I've taken some extra courses, somewhere by accident, and so I found out if I went to summer school I wouldn't have to do my second semester junior year, and I graduated in '49 instead of '50. Then I went to [unintelligible - 01:10:24] and I stayed up there for a few months teaching elementary school, but I didn't like it. And so I came back to Leominster in 1952; I was in the Leominster school system. I became a principal of junior high school. I was the first Italian secondary principal. Christine McDowell was the first elementary one; her name was [unintelligible - 01:10:52]. She was the first, I believe, elementary school principal of Italian descent. WENDY: But you were the first secondary? GEORGE: Yeah, and I became the high school principal, and I was the first one there full-time. Dr. [Anthony] did it temporarily while they found a principal. And then I succeeded the man that they had found, [unintelligible - 01:11:20] two and a half came in. And he was not the first curriculum coordinator of Italian decent, Robert 33 Duppal would come to Leominster and worked for a couple of years, but Robert Anthony, Dr. Anthony, he became the first assistant superintendent of curriculum. He was a native son also. And Dr. Amadeo became the first Italian superintendent in Leominster. But after I became junior high school principal, a whole wave of Italian descent children of Leominster became elementary school principals. Salvatalis and Negliosis and Sardeli, Bacani, they all came in after. And then Chino Salvatori became a junior high school principal. There was a whole wave of us, but that's the way of America anyway. If you've studied history, whatever wave comes, through they take those jobs and their children will want different types of jobs. Just like the old story of the Irish cop, they had their wave and they moved on, their children did not become policemen, they took better jobs. And same thing with the Italians, they moved up, [unintelligible - 01:02:46] loaded with doctors and lawyers and everything now are of Italian descent. WENDY: Did you ever considered going anywhere else to teach? GEORGE: I had taught as I say in [unintelligible - 01:12:58] for a short time, but I didn't like elementary. So I came back to Leominster and waited for a slot opened. And as I say, did that until 1988, and when I was 62 and I retired. But I went down at St. Andrews, and I did the five-year short-term—it was supposed to be shot-term, but it was five years before I left as elementary school principal down there. So I taught everything from pre-K to high school. WENDY: And how did you meet Norma? GEORGE: I've known Norma all my life. NORMA: His father and my father lived in a duplex house in Italy. And my mother and his father used to go to school, elementary school in Italy with each other, and we were friends… GEORGE: Yeah. I've known her from day one.34 WENDY: Wow. Did anyone suggest that you get married? NORMA: No. WENDY: No. NORMA: I asked him to go to my high school prom, but he had to go into service so that was the end of that. But while he was in the service he used to write to me, and when he got home, started going together, and that was it. GEORGE: Fifty-three years later. WENDY: Fifty-three [unintelligible - 01:14:20] and 54 in February? GEORGE: Yeah, it'll be 54 years in February. WENDY: I have a friend who's talking to her the other day, and she said that a lot of marriage nowadays is anything over seven years. GEORGE: My daughter was 25 last week. Twenty-five years of marriage. WENDY: So the parents feel when you came to Leominster to teach? GEORGE: Oh, they were happy 'cause I was gonna stay. Nobody wants their children to move, you know that. So they're happy that I got a job in Leominster. WENDY: But it wasn't just a job. You became a teacher. GEORGE: But I never left the community, [laughter] actually. I mean, when I went to Holy Cross, I was a base student. I didn't live there. And they always knew I was gonna be a teacher 'cause I always said I was gonna be a teacher. That was always… I'd made up my mind. By the time I'm in seventh grade, I knew I want to be a schoolteacher, so that was it. So there was no big surprise, and they accepted it. I don't know if they wanted me to be a lawyer or something else. My brother became a lawyer but I didn't, I just wanted to be a schoolteacher. I was happy. I used to be a very happy schoolteacher. WENDY: What made you become a… GEORGE: Combination of things. Like my wife said, "Before you take the job, are you sure you wanna be one? Don't do it for the money." 35 And I said, "No, I won't do it for the money." But the money was good compared to teaching, and it was a new challenge. But if I didn't become a principal, I'd have been happy anyway. Like my wife said, I always used to sing going to school in the morning, so I was happy. I had a happy life. I was also the audio-visual director, so I had a couple periods off every day to do that. So it was a combination that you didn't get bored, you know, you taught your classes and then you went into these audio-visual materials. And I always kept busy and never had any big problems with children, so that's fine. In fact, I still run into students who remember our days in class and the punishments, which are big jokes, you know, and it was fun. And even when I was looking for better jobs, I'd go to the school boards; some of them were my pupils, and they would joke with me what we used to do in class and all. I actually get people coming up—Norma can tell you that—they still come up and say, "Remember when…" NORMA: [Unintelligible - 01:17:23] write papers, that's what I always hear. WENDY: Write papers. What subject did you teach? GEORGE: I was a Social Studies teacher. I had taught a little bit of English in junior high when I was a long-term sub there, but basically a Social Studies teacher. I teach world history and geography and economics, current events, government, depending upon what they needed in that particular year. I always used to like to teach three subjects. I didn't like teaching one subject all day, so I teach three. And every year I get a new set of textbooks so I wouldn't bog down, repeating the same things all the time. This year I'd get a new history book and next year I'd get a new geography book, the next year I'd get a new economics book or government book. So it's always something different, and it was a lot of fun.36 WENDY: How did you see education change from the time that you were at Leominster High School? GEORGE: Well, of course, there's more technology involved now, but they haven't changed that much, you know. They're not as reluctant to speak as they were in the old days, but you can still control them, you can still -- they still can be reasonable. They have to know why more now than they did in the old days. For example, I would punish children as a principal, then I would say, "What did you do? Did you egg the teacher on?" And most of them would say, "Yeah." So, "Then what do you want me to do about it? [Unintelligible - 01:19:13] punishment coming?" But he said this, "Did you egg him on?" "Yeah, I did." "I'll speak to him, but I also have to punish you too because you egged him on." And he was, "Okay." That's that. They wanna be treated fairly. The old days, you know, they're the boss and we're not. But today, you let them know the ground rules and it works out pretty well. At least I think it that. I haven't taught for a few years now, but when I was at the end of my career, they would come in and see me and they'd sit and talk. And I always had a jar of candy, you know./AT/jf/rs/es

Daisy Eason, photo taken at her home on January 22, 2014 ; The New Zion Community Advocates worked with community members age 80 years and older to have contributed to the history of Ogden city. The interviews looked at the legacy of the interviewees through armed services, work, social life, church, NAACP and educational systems in an environment where their culture was not predominant. This program has received funding from the Utah Humanities Council and the Utah Division of State history. ; The following is an oral history interview with Daisy Eason conducted on January 22, 2014 by Deborah George. ; 26p.; 29cm.; 2 bound transcripts; 4 file folders. 1 sound disc: digital; 4 3/4 in. ; Oral History Program Daisy Eason Interviewed by Deborah M. George 22 January 2014 Oral History Program Weber State University Stewart Library Ogden, Utah Daisy Eason Interviewed by Deborah M. George 22 January 2014 Copyright © 2014 by Weber State University, Stewart Library Mission Statement The Oral History Program of the Stewart Library was created to preserve the institutional history of Weber State University and the Davis, Ogden and Weber County communities. By conducting carefully researched, recorded, and transcribed interviews, the Oral History Program creates archival oral histories intended for the widest possible use. Interviews are conducted with the goal of eliciting from each participant a full and accurate account of events. The interviews are transcribed, edited for accuracy and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewees (as available), who are encouraged to augment or correct their spoken words. The reviewed and corrected transcripts are indexed, printed, and bound with photographs and illustrative materials as available. Archival copies are placed in Special Collections. The Stewart Library also houses the original recording so researchers can gain a sense of the interviewee's voice and intonations. Project Description The New Zion Community Advocates worked with community members age 80 years and older to have contributed to the history of Ogden city. The interviews looked at the legacy of the interviewees through armed services, work, social life, church, NAACP and educational systems in an environment where their culture was not predominant. This program has received funding from the Utah Humanities Council and the Utah Division of State history. ____________________________________ Oral history is a method of collecting historical information through recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account. It reflects personal opinion offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ____________________________________ Rights Management Special Collections All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to the Stewart Library of Weber State University. No part of the manuscript may be published without the written permission of the University Librarian. Requests for permission to publish should be addressed to the Administration Office, Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden, Utah, 84408. The request should include identification of the specific item and identification of the user. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Eason, Daisy, an oral history by Deborah M. George, 22 January 2014, WSU Stewart Library Oral History Program, Special Collections, Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden, UT. iii Daisy Eason, photo taken at her home on January 22, 2014 Abstract: The following is an oral history interview with Daisy Eason conducted on January 22, 2014 by Deborah George. DG: We are in the home of Daisy Eason, today, January 22, 2014 to do an oral interview about her history in Ogden, Utah. Would you tell us your full name? DE: My full name is Daisy Louise Eason. DG: What's your birth date? DE: June 11, 1928. DG: How are we related? DE: We're not related. DG: So what are you doing now? DE: Now I'm just having fun. I work one day a week at Davis Hospital as a volunteer. DG: Where do you work in Davis Hospital? DE: I usually work in the volunteer office, answering the phone. I used to just take patients out and do a lot stuff, but since I've gotten to be this age I just answer the phone for them now. DG: What are some of the most important lessons you've learned in life? DE: The most important lesson I've learned in life is humility. I just think people learn that you have to humble yourself because you can get a lot by just being humble and nice. Take you a long ways in life. DG: What are you proudest of in your life? 1 DE: My 11 children. 10 daughters and one son. I'm proud of their accomplishments because having 11 children, people go through a lot. I went through a lot, but nothing major like being locked up. So they've done well. DG: Wonderful, so how long have you lived in Ogden? DE: I came in 1950. DG: What brought you here? DE: Well my first husband was in the military, I came here with him. Then we separated and I went home. I went back to Mississippi - Brookhaven, Mississippi. I was pregnant and had my baby and then I was working for my mother. My mother had a café and I worked in her café. There was an army base there and I met my second husband there. We got married and for some reason he came to Utah. So yeah I moved back here again just three years later. DG: What was the year when you came back? DE: 1953. I came back and I picked cherries because this city was a base then. Navy base, army base, air force base. So there wasn't a lot of people here there was just cherry fields. Cherry fields and beet fields, you wouldn't believe it. The Bamberger train went from Ogden to Salt Lake. DG: Oh really? DE: That's what we rode. DG: Kind of like a trolley? DE: Yes trolley is what it was. That's how I went to Salt Lake. I had my children still, but then I got a job at the base, working for the officers there. It was a good paying job and I just kept my job and stayed here, stayed in Utah. 2 DG: So can you tell me how Ogden has changed over the years from when you first came to now? DE: Oh it's changed. I had a house there on Pingree Avenue, it's still sitting there. I look at it sometimes now. You know how long it has been because it cost $6,000 for a whole house, 6,000 dollars is what it cost. DG: But at that time… DE: It was a lot of money. I paid the down payment on it by picking cherries, and apricots and sugar beets. I worked out in the fields. My husband said, "Oh you don't have to do that." I said, "Oh, yes. I got to get me some money. I'm going to work." The men would come by for us to go and I'd get in the truck with them and go pick them, make me two or three dollars. That's all I was making. It was a lot of money back then, it was a lot of money for me. I made $2.50 a day and that was a good deal you know. That's candy for the kids right now. DG: So what was it like when you first moved here? DE: When I first moved I was just really, really disappointed. DG: How so? DE: Because when I got here I didn't see no African American people here. There was a few on the base. I saw them on the base, I was so happy when I saw African American soldiers. I just learned to adapt you know because I'd got me a house, my husband was here. He had gotten a job so I learned to adapt by my mother. I don't know why I come out here there's no black people out here. My mother was very spiritual, she said "Well, we are all God's children. So we're all one." Humility and kindness…she kept bringing that to me. She says, "Be kind to 3 people and people will be kind to you." That's what happened, wasn't always kind but still I didn't let it bother me or change my attitude. DG: So what do you miss most about the way it used to be? DE: I don't really miss anything about the way it used to be. DG: That's fine. DE: I don't miss any of that. DG: Can you think of any of the great characters that lived in and around Ogden, people that just kind of stuck in your mind? DE: Well, there was one person that I kept in contact with that really made me want to stay here was the base commander. I'm a real religious person and it was nothing but God. I was working in base housing and he said to me, "Do you know anybody who can work for my wife or help her out for a while she broke her leg?" I said, "What you want them to do?" He said, "Just mostly be with her and help her with things because she is moving slow since she broke her leg." So I said, "How many days you want?" He says, "Just one day a week." I said, "I can do it." He says, "Can you do it?" I says, "Yes." He said, "Well I want you to meet my wife. When you get off of work come by and meet my wife. If you want me to pick you up I can pick you up." So he picked me up and I went and met his wife. I worked for them until they left. Really and truly he said, "Why don't you go civil service?" I was working in non-appropriated funds. He says, "Why don't you go civil service?" I said, "Well I put my application in, but they didn't hire me." They had a class at Weber State teaching you how to be an aircraft mechanic. It cost $80…it seemed like $8000 dollars! It was $80 dollars for the 4 course. So my husband and I said, "I'm going to take this course." So I signed up for the class and I paid $15 dollars down. When I went back there was a man there named Mr. Murakawa, he was a Japanese guy. He said, "You shouldn't have to pay for this." I said, "Why?" He said, "All these people in class here, I bet you there aren't three of them that have paid their money." I said, "Well how did they get in?" He says, "There's a grant." Then he gave me a form to fill out, I filled it out and mine got paid. The rest of mine got paid. So I finished the course, I mean I passed it, but it was a nine month course. I passed it with flying colors and they hired me here for the aircraft mechanic. He said, "I'm surprised you did well on that test. You did real well." I really wanted a good job to take care of my babies. So I passed it, got my job at the base and worked out there until I retired. DG: That's what you did when you worked? How many years at the base? DE: I worked until I retired. I worked 27 years. DG: Do you remember any great stories or legends about Ogden growing up, anything that you thought was interesting? DE: I went to get my kids, to take my little girl to the movie. I only had two children then. I wanted to go into Ogden to the movies so we took the Bamberger to Ogden. So when I got there and sat down the man came and told me, he says, "You got to sit upstairs." I said, "Oh, okay." So they had me go sit upstairs, I couldn't sit downstairs with the Caucasian people. So people were watching me in the movies, so we left and went back over to take the Bamberger train back. They all got the train and I am not paying no attention you know. We come back all the way to Clearfield and I mean just a little Bamberger track running through 5 that, no freeways or nothing. Some were saying, "Where do all you darkies come from?" One man was just mean to me on the trolley, he was picking at me. So I had my little girl by the hand. I put my hands around her and pulled her close to me so nobody could bother her. I was right behind the driver, he says, "Ma'am listen to what I'm going to tell you. When I stop this train I want you to jump off with your baby and run as fast as you can home. I'm going to keep going." I got off and I run took my baby home. I looked back, he was taking off, they was all, "Stop this train, stop this train!" He wouldn't stop, he just kept going. He said, "I can't stop until the next stop." He knew they were going to bother me so he went and let me off. I thought how nice he was to do that because he didn't have to do that you know. He said, "When I stop this train I want you to get off fast." While he was talking, his head was looking straight ahead but he was talking to me you know. I said, "Okay." I really got nervous then, but I got out and ran home. Going by yourself was scary, so I didn't go downtown by myself. That was a bad experience for me you know. I never got over that. DG: Did you have a nickname as you were growing up? DE: Sister. DG: Sister. Okay and how did you get that? DE: My mother and my sister just called me sister. Mother had four girls, just called me sister. I don't know why they called me sister. They did though. DG: Did your other siblings have nicknames too? 6 DE: No Laramie, they called her Laramie and Josephine and Loraine. But they would always called me sister, they didn't have one. DG: Who were your best friends? DE: You know Mrs. Isabel Brigham I met her when I came here. From New Zion Baptist Church, you know Mrs. Brigham? DG: Yes. DE: I met Mrs. Brigham when I came here. She didn't have any children, her and her husband I knew them. I met Mrs. Clydis Finn and Mrs. Bina McCowan. I met them after I had been here about maybe 7 or 8 years. DG: So what were they like, your good friends? DE: They were nice because we went to the same church. I was at New Zion Baptist Church. As a matter of fact, all my children was baptized at New Zion. DG: So what did you do for fun? DE: We used to go to houses. Mrs. Burton's house was one we used to go to her house and my house. On Friday nights we'd go to a house and make the food and play dominoes or play Chinese checkers. Sure did. On Friday nights it kept me from being out so we had children you know. So we had little house parties and that was really good. DG: Did you bring your children with you or you had babysitters? DE: I used to take them with me but when they got a little bigger my oldest daughter used to keep them because we'd got grown enough to get a black and white TV. They would stay home and watch TV you know. We had us a black and white TV 7 and some of the kids would come over to look at TV at our house. Yeah, that was fun. They enjoyed it. DG: So what are some of your best memories from your elementary, junior high, high school days? DE: Oh I went to school in Mississippi. I had some fun memories back there in Mississippi. My mother used to make all of our clothes and she would dress us so pretty because of school. I'd look forward to getting my new dress to go to school. Just to go to school with my friends because I could put on clothes like they could put on. It's important when you're little. My mother said, "I'm going to learn how to sew so I can sew for my girls," and she learned how. She started making us things. I remember that so well when she made that first dress. I thought, "What is this?" It was a little skirt, but it was good. Times was hard you know. The fun time things I remember doing is my mother raised all her vegetables. She never bought store bought vegetables and she'd bottle those vegetables. So one time we had her bottle of vegetables in jars, you know those mason jars? She had a place out in the back, a little storage house and it was just full of food that she'd bottled. We always had plenty. She would grow it and she would bottle it. When I first came here I used to make preserves because I had all these apricots and cherries. I used to make preserves, but I got tired when the kids got grown. I said, "No more of this. No more of this, I'm tired." But my mother used to bottle all her vegetables; I thought that was so neat. We were never without and always had plenty of food to eat. 8 DG: That's good. So you kind of talked about how you met your husband. Were you meeting in the café? DE: My first husband? DG: Well whichever. DE: My first husband I met in my mother's café. My first husband, we came out here but we divorced. DG: And your second husband, how did you meet him? DE: At Hill Field Air Force Base, my last husband. DG: This is when you were working there that you met him? DE: Yes. He would come down where I worked. There were three girls that worked in the Mechanics shop I was working in. There was a Spanish girl, a white girl, and a black girl. I don't know how we all came to be there. We used to call ourselves the United Nations, we did. We were young then and go around together. They were good friends, shared our lunches. We shared everything, it was just really good. They were the ones that really made me notice my husband. They say, "He keeps looking at you, girl." I say, "I'm not looking back at that man." She says, "He keeps coming out here looking at you. You should go with him to the cafeteria." So finally he got up nerve and asked me to go to lunch with him. I went to lunch with him and struck up a conversation. We exchanged phone numbers and he started calling me. I told the girls I says, "Once he find out I got these 11 children he going to turn and go the other way." I told her that and she said, "I don't think so Daisy." I said, "I bet he does." But you know, he didn't. My baby was only seven years old and he asked me to marry him and built me a 9 house over in Layton for me and the kids. However, the big girls was working and kind of buy their own stuff at the time. Three of them in college at the same time and so I had that part-time job at Job Corp on weekends. He said, "You really don't have to do that no more." I said, "But I want too. I want my kids to go to school." I said, "I'll let them graduate and get a nice job and then they have to start jobs to pay back college loans." That's not good. I'd like for them to go to school without having to borrow money. So he said, "Okay, if you're going to work on weekends than I am too." So he worked at Job Corps on the weekends, too and we got the kids through school. They all graduated except my last children who were identical twins. My last husband raised them and they finished high school. After their graduation, they went out with their friends out to the woods. And they came and asked us, "Is it okay that we're leaving tomorrow at 8:00?" I said, "Where are you going?" My husband caught his chest I said, "What's wrong with you?" You know he caught his chest like he was going to pass out. He went in the room and sat down he was so disappointed because he had raised them like his own little girls. He said, "Why are they leaving?" I said, "I don't know why they're leaving, but they're leaving. They going in the Air Force and they won't kill them in there, they'll train them." They went in the Air Force and did very well. DG: You kind of answered my next question, but I'll ask it anyway. How has being a parent changed you? DE: It's just marvelous. You know I enjoyed my children. We didn't have much, but we were always close together. It really hasn't changed me, just made me 10 stronger - made me a strong woman. My husband died 25 years ago, I've been by myself ever since. It just made me stronger being a parent. DG: You told us you were an aircraft mechanic. As you were growing up before you became a young adult what did you think you wanted to be when you grew up? DE: I always wanted to be a mother. Always wanted to be a mother. I used to tell them, my mother say, "What you going to be when you grow up?" I say, "A mother." She said, "Why do you want to be a mother?" I just want to be a mother and I don't know why but I always wanted to be one. DG: Now your husband was in the military. Was he involved in any wars? DE: No. My last husband wasn't involved with any military. DG: So as you look back over your life what lessons do you think you've learned through all this? Leaving Mississippi coming out here to Utah? Utah's been your home for quite a while. DE: You know, this is what I learned. I learned that people are the same everywhere you go. Everywhere, I don't care what town you're in or where you go, you're going to find good people and you're going to find bad people. I don't want to say bad, but that's what they are. I want to say people who don't know any better and that's the way they act. They think that's really the way you're supposed to act, but it's not. Kindness rules the world, I learned that it's the same everywhere you go. Pretty soon you're going to find the same situation. You've got good people over here, wonderful people over here, and you got these little devils over here, like a bunch of crawfish. I'm down here and I want you to be down here with me. Everybody needs to have their own personality, their own strength to make it in 11 this world. Know what you want and go after it. That's was my philosophy and I told my kids, know what you want to be now work toward that goal. Be all that you can be in that project. Don't care what job you're on, it's not going to be a bed of roses. There's going to be problems on every job you get, always going to be problems, but you got to cope with them with humility. I just believe that love and humility just goes hand and hand and you can move mountains with that. DG: Well is there anything else you'd like to talk about that we didn't cover? DE: Oh, no. DG: Those words you gave us were just great. DE: I wanted to say this, I had 11 children and I'm very proud of my children, I lost two. DG: Have you? DE: Yes, I lost a daughter at 20, but she had a birth defect. She was in Ogden. My second husband was stationed in Alaska and then he retired in Alaska. So she died in Alaska, aneurysm. They told me that Friday and I got there Saturday morning before day. That was one shocking trip, I didn't tell nobody I was coming, they just told me your daughter's in the hospital and she's very ill. Her girlfriend called me. I didn't tell nobody I was coming, I just got me on a flight. Told my husband I got to go, she's sick I got to go. He goes out and gets me a ticket and said, "You leave at four o'clock," and it was about 12 then. I just threw stuff in a suitcase and took off to be with my baby. I got there and she was in a hospital in Anchorage, she lived in Fairbanks. I got off the plane at Anchorage and didn't know nobody, it was about three o'clock in the morning. I thought, 12 "Why didn't I tell somebody I was coming?" So I'm standing up in this airport by myself that time of morning and I met people in there - that was God again. This military guy walked up to me. He said, "Ma'am are you lost?" I said, "Not really lost, but I didn't tell nobody I was coming." He said, "Well, who are your relatives?" I said, "You know AWB?" Because that's my son-in-law's business. He said, "AW? I worked for AW." I said, "No you don't." He said, "I do." I say, "His wife is in the hospital." I didn't tell her name, "His wife is in the hospital up here at Anchorage and I don't know how to get there." I said "All I have is 200 dollars and I don't know what the cab would charge me to take me there?" He said, "You don't have to get a cab. I'll take you." I said to myself, I don't know who you are but looked to God, praying. He said, "Miss Jenny is in the hospital?" When he called her name I knew he knew her. I said, "Yes, she's in the hospital." He said, "Oh, no I'll take you." So he took me up there. I walked in and my son-in-law said to me, "Mama, where did you come from?" I said, "Man, where are you getting my nickname from?" Because my son-in-law call me mother too. He said, "I got her at the airport. You didn't come to pick her up." So as they were talking, I said, "I'm going to see Jeannette." So he took me up to see Jeannette. I sat by her bed until she took her last breath. She died that Sunday by 4:30. I went up to her room and I thought, "My baby she don't even know who I was I don't think." Doctor said she did know who I was, she had a stroke, an aneurysm on the side of her face. The face was kind of twisted. He said ask her to squeeze your hand; she'll squeeze them. I said, "Jeannette I'm mama will you squeeze my hand?" She did, so she knew I was there. I sat down by her and she died. 13 It was so weird because I was up there that summer, she died in October. I was up there I think in June. When I came home like in July she called me said, "Mother I want you to do something for me." I said, "What?" She says, "If anything happened to me will you make sure that Trina (her baby girl) finishes college?" I said, "Make sure she finishes college she's planning on quitting? She said, "Well no, I don't think so we're just wanting her to keep going." I said, "I will baby she has got to finish." So I thought when she died a light went off in my head what she had told me. I said, "She didn't know she was going to die, did she you know?" She told me that so I got on Trina. I said, "You have got to finish college." She had one named Trina, Gina, and Destiny. She had three children, three girls. But she finished, she's in Atlanta now. She called me last night as a matter of fact. I spent Christmas and New Year's with them in Georgia. My life has been interesting here in Utah, very good. I remember one time I was living in North Ogden. My twins was in like second or third grade, they were little. I didn't marry my last husband until they was about, well they might have been in first grade. They were little bitty things. So I think it was in the first grade and so I was dating him, but I hadn't married him. So I was at work and I said, "I didn't give the kids their lunch money," so I call the school and told the school I didn't give my kids lunch money I said, "Could you give them lunch today?" So my supervisor looked up from his desk and I didn't want him to know what was wrong, you don't want nobody to know your troubles you know. So I kind of turned around and I said, "Will you do it this time please?" "Well this one time we'll do it," but the school secretary's voice was just real ugly. I got up from my 14 desk and my boss said "What's the matter Daisy?" I said, "I'm okay." He said, "No you're not." So I went back out on the line and started working. He came out there and got me and said, "Come in my office for a minute." "What is the matter?" I don't know if he knew or what. When the phone rang he sent a secretary to get me. He said, "Come back in my office." He said, "How many children do you have?" I told him I got 10. He said, "You got 10 children?" I said, "Yeah." He's sitting at his desk just looking at me. "And you have to pay lunch tickets every Monday?" I said, "Well yes." "Well you don't have to pay no more." I said, "Well I have too." He says, "There's funds for people with big family. You don't have to do that." I said, "Well I had to fill out this form. He told me my income was on the border line and they couldn't help me." He said, "What?" I told him again they told me I was on the border line. He said to take leave, "Here, I want you to go to the school board and talk to this man. Tell him what you just told me." So I said, "Okay." When you get through come on back to work. He said, "That's a shame, I got four children I can hardly make it and I make twice your money," because he was my supervisor. He said, "I can hardly make it and you got 10 children and they ask you to buy lunch tickets." So I went to the school board and I just told them and they said, "You must be Daisy," and I say, "I am." He said, "Well I've been expecting you," because my boss had called. He was mad that's why I said there are good people everywhere you go. So he said, "Do you have one of your check stubs with you?" I said, "Yes I do." So I showed him my check stub and he said, "How many children you got at home?" So I told him, "They all are at times. Two of them are at college and the rest are home." 15 He said, "Don't send another penny to the school. I'll handle it from here." They handled it and I never paid or bought another lunch ticket. He told me, "You go back to work and finish taking care of your kids. Many people with this many children would be on welfare or doing something next to nothing. You are working taking care of your own kids." No, this is not fair, but the man at the school wasn't a very happy camper with me. They must have really went into him some kind of way. When he saw me again he said, "You didn't really have to go to the school board you could've just come to me." I said, "You don't know what your teachers are doing in the school. He was the one who told them to charge me because he once said we had to have a border line somewhere." I said, "You remember you told me you had to have a border line somewhere and that's why you couldn't help me. Remember you told me that?" DG: Didn't have anything else to say did he? DE: No, he said, "Well I'm sorry." That was the worst encounter I've ever had going into schools. I was up there and mine was the only ones in school, in North Ogden. They was the only ones in school at that time. My children had encounters in every class. So I told them I wanted to be part of the PTA. Every time I would leave my job at Defense Depot (it's not the Defense Depot any more) and go pop in at the school to have lunch with my girls. One day the principal told me, "You just can't come in whenever you get ready." I said, "Well why can't I? I have children here. I'm not doing anything but having lunch with them. What's wrong with that?" I guess he thought, "I better leave her alone, she may go to the school board again." But I never would have done that, my boss 16 was the cause of it, telling them how wrong they were to make me pay and the funds were there for large families. But I made it. It wasn't easy raising my children, but I think they did better because they were in Utah than they would have anywhere else I think because I had to smother them. Got them raised - I was always afraid somebody may bother them so I was just overprotective of them you know. Some bad things happened like that but I just shook them off and got over them and kept on moving. I said, "That's the way you have to get along in this world. You have to ignore some things and use humility you know otherwise everybody be ranting and raving and carrying on." DG: Those are all the questions that I have for you. We just thank you because I learned so much. DE: Oh thank you. DG: Do you have anything? LR: I have just one question. It struck me, you talked about all you wanted to be growing up was a mom. Was there a role model that you had like your own mother? DE: My mother. LR: Why is that do you think? DE: She was strong. My father left my mother when we were just little children. We had a milk cow, you know it was on a farm. He sold the milk cow and left my mother with these four girls. She was a go getter, she worked and she raised us. She said, she was a very good cook. So she used to make things for people's parties and that. "Can you do this for me Mary Lou for this party and this party?" 17 So she'd make them and then they would come and get them and pay for them and take them the food. She had an idea one day—all my kids say I'm just like my mother—she had an idea one day that she could run and have her own café. So she started out in the part of the house, had two little tables there. She start selling meals at the Blue Flame Café. It expanded, she's very thrifty. I guess I got that from her because I'm very thrifty, too. My mother always said, "I'm going to buy me a café." So she bought this café and it just boomed. It was called the Blue Flame Café in Brookhaven. Everybody knew my mother. I remember I came home to surprise my mother. I was getting in a cab and this guy driving the cab he says, "Who are you visiting here?" I said, "I'm visiting my mother." He says, "What's your mother's name?" I said, "Mary Lou." He said, "Mary Bird, Blue Flame Café?" I said, "Yeah." He said, "Well everybody knows Ms. Bird. I'll take you right there." We got there and I said, "How much do I owe you?" He said, "Oh you owe me nothing, I'm going to have Ms. Mary get me a sandwich." He wouldn't even charge me. He just wanted to go in the café and get him something to eat. He said, "I brought your daughter home." I don't think I told her I was coming. I used to always fool her. DG: Those surprise visits. DE: I always surprised her yes. We took a tour of the south, me and two of my girlfriends. We just got in the car and just driving through the south. I said, "I want to get to Brookhaven, we're going to leave early." We were in New Orleans—no we was in Alabama. I said, "We're going to leave early so we can get to Brookhaven by 10 o'clock. We going to go into church and surprise my mama." 18 She said, "Why you want to do that for?" I said, "Just doing something to her." She was in the choir singing. DG: I bet she stopped mid-song. DE: I told the lady I said, "Is Mary Bird at church?" She says, "Yes she's in the choir." I didn't know she was singing in the choir. She saw out of the corner of her eye she said, "I knew them people." I know it was funny. She stayed there until she got through singing but she made a beeline to me after she got through singing it was good, it was funny. She said, "Why didn't you tell me you was coming so I could've cooked you a big meal?" "Oh, you don't need to cook we're just passing through." "Passing through? Where you going," she said. It was nice though to surprise her like that you know. LR: That's great. That was my only question. DG: Well we just thank you for letting us come in your home and answering these questions. We want to capture this history before all our seniors are gone. 19

The Implementation of Gap Information Activity to Teach Speaking Procedure Text to the Ninth Graders Luhur Bayu Nirwana 092084002 English Education, Faculty of Language and Art, State University of Surabaya luhurnirwana@gmail.com Dosen Pembimbing: Him'mawan Adi Nugroho, S.Pd., M.Pd. English Department, Faculty of Language and Art, State University of Surabaya Abstrak Bahasa Inggris adalah salah satu pelajaran wajib yang dimasukkan ke dalam kurikulum sekolah SMP dan SMA. Ini berarti siswa telah belajar bahasa sejak tahun pertama di bangku SMP. Tapi kemudian ketika mereka lulus dari sekolah tinggi kemampuan mereka berbahasa Inggris tidak berkembang dengan baik. Strategi mengajar tampaknya menjadi salah satu faktor kegagalan. Kegiatan kesenjangan informasi tampaknya menjadi pilihan bagi guru dalam melakukan kegiatan mengajar kepada siswa. Berdasarkan pandangan CLT kegiatan ini sangat membantu untuk mengembangkan keterampilan berbicara siswa. Ini memberikan siswa banyak kesempatan untuk berlatih berbicara selama kegiatan pembelajaran. Dengan demikian, peneliti memutuskan untuk melakukan penelitian tentang kegiatan ini untuk digunakan dalam mengajar berbicara teks prosedur untuk anak kelas sembilan. Ada dua pertanyaan penelitian dalam penelitian ini. Pertama adalah tentang pelaksanaan kegiatan informasi kesenjangan dalam mengajar berbicara teks prosedur untuk anak kelas sembilan. Yang kedua adalah tentang respon siswa terhadap implementasi dalam mengajar berbicara teks prosedur untuk anak kelas sembilan. Penelitian ini dilakukan di SMP Negeri 1 Bangkalan. Subyek adalah siswa IX-D nilai. Ini adalah penelitian deskriptif yang menggambarkan pelaksanaan kegiatan informasi gap untuk mengajar berbicara prosedur teks untuk siswa kelas sembilan. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian, pelaksanaan kegiatan informasi gap yang baik untuk diterapkan di kelas untuk mengajar berbahasa Inggris. Selain itu, siswa juga memberikan respon yang positif terhadap penerapan Gap Information Activity di dalam kelas. Kata Kunci: Gap Information Activity, Pengajaran Berbicara, Prosedur Teks, Kelas IX Abstract English is one of compulsory lessons which is put in junior and senior high school curriculum. It means students have learned the language since the first year in junior high school. But then when they are graduated from high school their English speaking ability does not develop well. The strategy seems to be one factor of the failure. The gap information activity seems to be an option for teacher in conducting teaching activity to students. Based on the CLT view this activity is helpful to develop students' speaking skill. It gives students a lot of chances to practice speaking during the lesson activity. Thus, the researcher decides to conduct research about this activity to be used in teaching speaking procedure text to ninth graders. There are two research questions in this research. First is about the implementation of gap information activity in teaching speaking procedure text to ninth graders. The second is about students' response toward the implementation in teaching speaking procedure text to ninth graders. This research was conducted in SMP Negeri 1 Bangkalan. The subject was the students of IX-D grades. It is the descriptive research which describes the implementation of gap information activity to teach speaking procedure text to ninth graders. Based on the result of the research, the implementation of gap information activity is good to be applied in class to teach speaking English. Moreover the students gave positive response toward the implementation of the activity. Keywords: Gap Information, Teaching Speaking, Procedure Text, Ninth Graders. INTRODUCTION Background of Study There is no objection that language and human being cannot be separated. Language is a media for people to communicate each other. Without language we cannot make a good interaction with other people. It is like what Yule (2010) says that human language trully serves a communication system in any situation. Moreover language also tool for learning, Yule (2010) states in his book that we can use language as a tool to learn about language itself. English has taken its role to be an international language. As quoted by Crystal in Cahyono & Widiati (2004) it is abudantly clear that now English has achieved its global status and the global status of English cannot be separated from its popular role as the language, science and technology. As the result of this situation, English has started being popular to be the media of communication among people around the world including Indonesian. As a country that wants to take a role in the world trading and competition, Indonesian government puts English as compulsory lesson in junior and senior high school curriculums. It is stated in Depdiknas (2006) that the aim of English teaching is to enable students to communicate with target language. In the term of communication, speaking skill takes the bigest role. However the final target of learning a certain language is to use it as a media to communnicate with other. Here in Indonesia, students start to learn English from the first year of Junior High School and it is continued regularly until they graduate from senior high school. But then the problem appears here. Although they have started to learn English since first year in Junior High School, their English skill do not develop well. There are seceral factors cause this failure, one of those factors is the method that is applied in class. Most of English teachers in Indonesia still apply teacher-centered class setting in teaching English. This class setting does not optimally give students chance to communicate through target language. This class setting will also provide low students talking time, so that the researcher will conduct a research of The Implementation of Gap Information Activity to Teach Speaking Procedure Text to Ninth Graders. The researcher decides to carry out research in speaking field because the main purpose of learning a language is to communicate and the most obvious way of human being to communicate is by speaking. Speaking is an important part of learning to speak the language teaching purposes should improve the communication skills of students, because that way, students can express themselves and learn how to follow the rules of social and cultural right in communicative circumtance. Kayi (2006) It makes speaking takes very important role in either learning or teaching English. The purpose of the students who learn language is to communicate. Finally it only can be communicated as well as expressed through speaking. Moreover students need a motivation to stimulate their willingness to communicate. They need a reason and an environment that supports and encourages them to start speaking through target language, English. Here is where teachers take their roles. Teachers have to be able to motivate their students to speak through English by creating the atmosphere and environment that support their students to speak and communicate through the target language, English. How then teachers will provide all those thing to students? It is of course they should find the right method to be applied in the class. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) method can be a solution in this case. Richards (1999) says that CLT sees the needs of language teaching is to communicate each other in the real life. That is why the teacher should focus on communicative profiency rather than mastery of structures. There are some class activities that include in CLT, such as Role-play, interviews, information gap, pair-work and learning by teaching. Based on the perspective view of CLT, researcher decides to conduct a research about the implementatioan of Gap Information activity. It is because the gap of the information will make students curious and it gives the students reason to ask. Whenever they have a question to ask, it means they have reason to communicate and it can be good beginning for teacher to start teaching their students to communicate through target language. Moreover there are some genres in our national curriculum. They are procedure, descriptive, recount, narrative, report, news item, analytical exposition, hortatory exposition, spoof, explanation, discussion and review. The researcher will only concern on the procedure text because he believes it motivates students more since through procedure text students will be abble to share their idea of making or doing something. Based on the background study above, the researcher formulates questions in carrying out this study.Those questions are: (1) How is the implementation of gap information activity to teach speaking procedure text to ninth graders? (2) How is the students' response of the implementation of gap information activity to teach speaking procedure text to ninth graders? This research will only focus on students' speaking skill. It will be conducted to the ninth graders students in SMP Negeri 1 Bangkalan. The result of this research may not be the same with other school, other material and other students in different level Review Literature The aim for someone who learns language is in order to communicate with others using the target language. According to Harmer (2003) in order to make the communication to be successful, the speaker must have to structure the discourse in such a way that can be understood by the listeners. It means that when the speakers try to speak, they do not need to use complicated structure of discourse. They only need to make what they want to deliver can be understood by the listeners, so that the goal of communication can be achieved. Still related to the former, Kayi (2006) explains that the ability to communicate in a second language clearly and efficiently contributes to the success of the learners in school and success later in every phase of life. Kayi mentions the words "success" and "ability to communicate" in his statements. It is clearly enough that by being able to communicate well, people have a big chance to be successful in various situations. People tend to express what they feel through spoken language. If those people can express it well and understandable, they have more opportunity to get the things they want. In the country which uses English as foreign language like in Indonesia, most of its learners study language at school. They learn English with many limitations, such as limitation of time, place and situation, especially when they want to start learning speaking. They do not have enough opportunity to do that. Klancar (2006) states young learners in the communicative classroom should get as many speaking opportunities as possible and their speaking time should slowly but steadily rise so as to prepare them for various communicative situations. The opportunity of speaking will affect to the speaking ability. After giving the learners opportunity to speak teachers should improve learners' speaking skill. At this point, the role of the English teacher is also important to the students' speaking skill development. The teacher should be able to conduct a good teaching speaking during the lesson activity in class. to attract students' attention during the lesson, the teacher should be smart in positioning himself in front of the students during the lesson activity, because the way of how teacher takes role during the class activity can also affect the students' attention. One of the best methods in teaching English is Communicative Language Teaching. This method aims to make students can communicate through target language. Belchamber (2007) says that the main focus of CLT is to teach student use the target language as their media of communication. That is why this method is appropriate to support foreign language learners to communicate through the target language. There are lots of features that provide students to speak much use target language. CLT can be understood as the principles of teaching goal, all features in this method both the setting of the class, the role of teacher and also the class activities facilitate the learners well. One of the activities that is included in this method is Gap Information Activity. Harmer (2007) states that Information Gap is where two speakers have different bits of information and they can only complete the whole picture by sharing that information-because they have different information, there is a gap between them. It means that gap information is the class activity that is used to train students speaking skill communicatively. In this activity each student will be given a paper that consist different information with his partner. Students have to get the complete information by asking his partner. Harmer (2007) also says that the idea of information gap as an organizing concept for a speaking activity is that one person has information that another lacks. They must use English to share that information in order to accomplish a task. Through this activity student will get the real reason and situation that will make them communicate trough the target language In implementing gap information activity to teach speaking procedure text teacher needs to follow some steps that have been stated by Murray (2006) Pre Activity: This stage is the beginning of the lesson. Firstly, the teacher needs to tell students everything about the procedue text. Its aim, grammar features and also the generic structure. After that, teacher needs to tell the students the rules of the gap information activity. He also needs to show the students the example how they will do the gap information activity. Whilst Activity: This stage is the main activity of gap information. In this stage, teacher let students do the activity while the teacher himself watches his students and helps them with their difficulties. In this stage teacher should pay much attention to his students' activity to make sure that the activity is going well. Post activity; This is the last stage of the lesson activity. In this stage teacher discuss the students' work together. After that he tells the students the conclusion of the activity that they just did. Then he ends the lesson. It can be adapted from Ansarey (2012), her study by title "Communicative Language Teaching in EFL Contexts: Teachers Attitude and Perception in Bangladesh". One of its aims is to find out the contribution of communicative language teaching in Bangladesh and the result of this study is it obviously shows that CLT can contribute much in helping develop more proficient speakers of English. METHODOLOGY Research Design The researcher used descriptive qualitative research design to obtain the information concerning with the implementation of gap information activity to teach speaking procedure to ninth graders. According to McMillan (1996) descriptive study investigates and describes the existing phenomena. It shows the real condition happens when the research is being conducted. The researcher is not allowed to manipulate anything, the condition of the research must be naturally happens. The researcher used descriptive research since the objective of this research was to demonstrate a class activity in teaching speaking procedure text. The researcher did not get involved in teaching and learning process. He only observed the teaching learning process in the class. The researcher did not make any interaction or participation during teaching and learning activity in class. The researcher only observed all activity that occurred during the lesson concerning how the teacher delivered gap information activity in teaching speaking procedure text. He kept on detail recorded of what happened and monitored the observation as the result. The researcher would only write what he saw and listened during the lesson activity. At the end of the observation, he would analyze the data involved observation checklist, field note and questionnaire. The Subject of the Study The subjects of the study were the ninth grade students. This research was conducted in class IX D of SMP Negeri 1 Bangkalan which consists of 36 students. Setting of the Study This study took place in the IX D class in SMP Negeri 1 Bangkalan. The researcher chose SMP Negeri 1 Bangkalan as a place to conduct this study. The school was comfortable for learning activities since the school was surrounded by trees and the situation in the school was not too crowded, so that students could study pleasantly. Besides the students were also provided with facilities that supported teaching and learning activities, such as library and various laboratories, The important part of the school that encouraged the research to be successful was the clean, wide and comfortable classroom which the students were in to study. It was one of the essential facilities which give an effect for the teaching learning process. Those factors create conducive atmosphere in class the support the researcher to conduct this study. Moreover the teacher applies gap information activity that suitable with this study. Data and the Source of Data The data of the study were the activities in the teaching and learning process that were according to gap information activity. The researcher would describe the data in the form of words, phrases, and sentences, rather than numbers because the researcher would conduct the descriptive qualitative study. The data were in the form of description of the students' English oral performance during the gap information activity and the responses of the students. Those data were needed to answer research questions of the study. The data to answer the first research question "how is the implementation of gap information activity to teach speaking procedure to ninth graders?" were the class activity during the teaching and learning process. To get the data, the researcher use observation checklist to observe the presence of the behavior and field note to take a note of the thing that happened during the teaching and learning process. The data to answer the second research question "How is the students' response of the implementation of gap information activity to teach speaking procedure text to ninth graders" were the students' opinion. To get the data the researcher used questionnaire. Research Instrument Research instrument was an equipment to collect the data. In this study, the researcher would use observation checklist, field notes and questionnaire as instruments. Those would be explained below: Observation Checklist The researcher used observation checklist to understand individual behavior or process of occurring a noticeable activity in actual or situation. "The simplest device used is a checklist, which presents a list of the behaviors that are to be observed. The observer then checked whether each behavior were present or absent" Ary, Jacobs, Sorensen, & Razavieh (2010). Through checklist the researcher would know which part of behavior was missed by teacher during lesson activity. Field Notes Field notes was a kind of brief notes made by the researcher to observe the teaching-learning process. The researcher used field notes to observe the activity in the class by watching, listening, paying attention and writing everything that could be used as the data during the research. Bodgan and Biklen (2003) say that field notes are the written account of what the researcher hears, sees, experiences and thinks in the course of collecting and reflecting on the data in the descriptive qualitative study. The researcher would write all the important things she would see, hear and some additional information that was not mentioned in the observation checklist. It is also supported by Wallace (1998) that making field notes can prevent the researcher from trouble and confusion in presenting data caused by continuing to the next things. It will help her to organize the data before the data is being analized. Questionnaire Questionnaire was an instrument to get the survey information from the research participants. It is in line with McLean in Cohen, Manion, & Morrison's book ( 2007) state that questionnaire can be used to collect survey information that provide structure, often numerical data being able to administrated without the presence of the researcher and often being comparatively straight forward to analyzed. Data Collection Technique The researcher got the data from observation checklist, field note and questionnaire. The observation checklist was used to get the information during the teaching and learning process. The observation checklist was also to know whether the teacher applies the indicators or not. The field note would be used to records how teacher would implement gap information activity to teach speaking procedures text and what situation would occur during the lesson activity. It would be used by researcher to answer the first research question. To answer the second research question the researcher would use questionnaire. Questionnaire would gain the information about students' responses toward the implementation of gap information activity to teach speaking procedure text. Data Analysis Cohen, Manion, & Morrison (2007) state that data analysis of qualitative research is a process of categorization, description, and synthesis data in a form of participations' definition. In analyzing the data, the researcher would present the result of the observation checklist, field note and questionnaire during three meetings. The results of observation checklist were analyzed based on the class condition and responses of the data students. The researcher would observe the teaching and learning process during three meetings. The results of the field notes are used to support and explore the data from the observation checklist and questionnaire. The results of the questionnaire are analyzed by dividing number of comments of each item with the total number of students then are multiplied with a hundred percent. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Result The Result of the Observation Checklist and Field Note: Observation Day I The first observation was conducted on Wednesday, July 24th, 2013. It was Ramadan Month. Most of students who were Muslims were fasting that is why the learning activity in class was shorter than in regular days. It was 2 X 30 minutes for each meeting. The class was begun at 6.30 AM. Right at that time the observer together with all students entered the class. The observer took a seat at the back row in order to be able to take a note of the class situation during the class activity. The students were so crowded. They were so busy talking each other. At 6.35 AM the teacher came and asked all students to take their seat before the lesson began. In the very first time teacher asked one of the students to lead their praying before starting the lesson. This was the conversation that occurred in the beginning of the class: Dialogue I T : Halo guys, good morning S : Good morning sir, T : Ayo semuanya kembali ke tempat duduk masing2 yaa Ayo, rafa pimpin doa S : Before we start let's pray together Than all students pray S : Finish! After praying, teacher checked the students' attendance list by calling their names. At the beginning of the lesson, teacher reminded his students about the previous meeting. Their previous meeting was about reading procedural text. Teacher gave them short review about the previous meeting. Teacher asked students some questions about their previous meeting to stimulate students' memory about previous material and to give them chance to speak when they answered the question. Dialogue II T : Ok students, know I want to check do you still remember about procedure text? S : Yes sir ( they answer in a choir) T : All right students, raise your hand please. (Some students raise their hands) Yes, andika please S : Procedure text is text tell we about doing and making pak T : Oh good, any other answer? Yana, please yana S : Same sir, text telling us to make or doing thing T : Yes, good. Procedure text is a text that tells us about doing or making something. Very good. What about the generic structure? Anybody knows? (Students answer in choir and the class become crowded) Teacher chose one students to answer his question S : Title, ingredients, steps T : All right good, the other? Teacher point other student S : Same with sir, the title, the tool and ingredients and the steps T : Ok, very good, it seems you understand about procedural text, jadi sekarang kita akan mulai ke speaking, apa speaking itu? S : Ngomong paaak ( together) In this point teacher had succeed to remind his students about the previous meeting's material which was still related to today material. It also gives them chance to start speaking in answering some questions from the teacher which was as the warming up before they start to the main activity, speaking procedure. The next thing which was done by the teacher was telling his students about what they were going to do that day. Moreover teacher gave them example about their activity today. Teacher also asked his students to help him in doing the example of their main activity which was gap information activity. Dialogue III T : Oke anak anak, sekarang kita akan belajar speaking procedure text sambil main game, S : Horeee ( the class become crowded) T Nama gamenya adalah Gap Information. Dan dimainkan berdua dengan teman sebangku kalian yaa. Here I have the steps make instant noodle but it is not complete information it is only picture. Ayo latihan dulu sebelum main, mari kita lengkapi sama sama informasi how to make instant noodle Then the teacher sticks the incomplete text of how to make instant noodle to the whiteboard and ask the students to complete it together. T : OK, bangku sebelah sini, apa step number one? S : Masak airnya sir, T : Yes, come on in English please S : Boil the water T : Ok, good. Come on next row S : Keluarkan the noodle from its kemasan sir and then put in to the boiling water T : Ayo open your dictionary S : Take it of the package T : Ok, good, what's next? S : Mix the flavor T : All right, and then? S : Mix the flavor with the noodle, and it's ready to serve T : All right, you all are very good. Nah nanti kalian kerjakan sepert tadi ya, saling melengkapi dengan temen sebangku kalian masing-masing. Remember, always speak English because I will watch all of you. Ok students? S : yes sir After giving the students example about the activity, teacher gave his students the worksheet. The worksheet was a procedure text about how to serve a simple diner. Each student received a text with the same title but had different information. One student had the information which his bench friend did not have. The teacher asked them to complete their worksheet by asking to their bench friend. After that he walked around the class to watch and help his students. In the other side students were being so busy completing their worksheet. They did the gap information activity like what their teacher did. They asked their bench friend about the information they need to complete their worksheet. The conversation occured among the students during the main activity. They tried to speak English bravely and confidently to their friend. The atmosphere in the class was good enough and conducive that support students to speak English. Here are the examples of the students' conversation. The examples of the conversation bellow were taken from several pairs of students in class: Dialogue IV S1 : What is the first ingredient? S2 : The first ingredient is water. S1 : OK, what is next? S2 : Akuuu. . . S1 : Oh,OK yes please. Dialogue V S3 : What is the second ingredient? S4 : The second ingredient is meatball S3 : Oke I get it. S4 : Next, what is the third? S3 : The ingredient number three is noodle S4 : Ok, its hamper lengkap S3 : What is next? S4 : Next ingredient is chili flavor. Now, what is the last ingredient? S3 : The last ingredient is salt. S4 : Ok, now it is complete. . Dialogue IV and dialogue V were the script of conversation that occurred from two different groups in the class during the activity of gap information. They participate very well and actively speak with their partners to complete the information of what ingredients they needed to serve a simple dinner. The similar conversation also occurred in the other pairs during the activity. They kept speaking actively during the gap information activity. The examples below were the conversation that occurred when some students were completing the steps of how to serve a simple diner. Dialogue VI S1 : The first step, Boil the water for ten minutes. S2 : Thank you S1 : Come on, next! S2 : Next is put in the meatball to the boiling water. Dialogue VII S1 : What is the step number three? S2 : Take the meatball, then put in the noodle to the water S1 : Ok, after that when the noodle masak, what is masak? S2 : Sir, masak bahasa inggrisnya apa sir? T : Just say being cooked, pake tobe ya. Is being cooked S1 : Thank you, Sir. Ok. When the noodle is being cooked put in the salt and mix it S2 : Ok, next step. Put in the chili flavor and mix it. S1 : Yes, after that put in the meatball and wait for three minutes. S2 : Then the food is ready. All students conducted the similar conversation with the examples above during the gap information activity. In the other side the teacher kept watching and guiding his students during the activity. The student centre activity like what happened in this class really gave much time to students to speak and express their English during the lesson. They did not need to be afraid of making mistake or asking because they had supporting environments to learn and practice to speak English. Besides, the teacher was always ready to help them if they had some difficulties or questions. After doing the gap information activity teacher asked all students to check their worksheet. At last teacher asked the students randomly to deliver the step how to serve a simple diner to the class. Teacher chose two students to speak in front of the class. Those lucky students are Suci and Ramdan. They did it well although grammatically they still made some mistake. In the end of class activity teacher asked his students to review what they had done that day. After that, the teacher asked students to make group of 6 that would be used in the next meeting. Teacher also gave students some assignment to find a procedural text for each group. And finaly teacher asked the captain of the class to lead his friends prayed before they went home. The Result of the Observation Checklist and Field Note: Observation Day II The observation day II was conducted on Friday, July 26th,2013. This observation was also conducted in 2 X 30 minutes. It was the same with the day I, the class also began at 6.30 AM. All students and the researcher entered the class right at 6.30 AM. Same with day I, the observer took seat in the back row in order to be able to watch the whole class. For about ten minutes after all students entered the class, teacher entered the class and greeted his students. After greeting and having little conversation with the students, he checked the attendance by calling the students' name on by one. Next, he asked the students to sit with their group that they had made. After all students sit with their group, he asked the captain of the class to lead their friend prayed before starting the lesson. After that, teacher reviewed their previous meeting. The following was the dialogue between teacher and students in the beginning of the lesson. Dialogue VIII : T : Ok students, how are you all? S : Fine, Sir. T : Good, before we continue the lesson, I want all of you to sit with your group. S : (Students move to sit with their group) T : All right, good. Now before we start the lesson. Raffa, ayo pimpin doa S : Before we start, let's pray together. (Everybody starts praying) Finish! T : Well students. now, I want to check. Who still remember about our class meeting (students answer in a choir, it makes the class crowded) T : Silent please, ayo dibiasakan raise your hand. Jangan keroyokan Yes, Lita please S : Learn about procedure text sir, play gap information how to serve simple dinner. T : Very good. Gitu dong, ngacung dulu kalo mau jawab. OK, now who still remember the generic structure of procedure text? Yes, anang, please S : The title, ingredients and steps sir. T : That's good. I think You all still remember everything. Now it is time to submit your task. Ayo ketua kelompoknya maju kumpulkan tugas yang bapak kasih kemarin. This review was very useful as the warm up for the students before they continued to the main activity. Moreover, by remembering what they did in the previous meeting, it would make students be ready to receive material of the lesson that day. In this point, teacher also asked students some questions to make them speak, this was done to create English atmosphere in the class. However, when students had supporting environment they would participate well to the whole activity during the lesson. The next activity which was carried out by the teacher was another gap information activity. Different with the previous meeting, it was conducted in group not in pair. Students would do the activity with their group. It applied the basic concept of gap information activity where one of the group members had the information while the others did not have. Those who had the information should tell his friends what information he had to complete the worksheet was given by the teacher. Since the activity that day was different with the previous meeting. Teacher gave them example how to do the activity. He asked some students who were the representative from each group to come forward and help him gave an example to their friends. Before teacher started the example he stuck a passage of how to make meatball to the white board. After that all students who came forward was asked to gather as a group. Then he asked one of the members to read the text in the white board and remember it. Later when that students came back to the group he would tell the group what he had read and all members of the group will take a note of what their friend told them. Every single member of the group would have their own turn to read the passage and tell his group about the information that he read. In the end the group should collect all the information and complete the work sheet as the perfect procedure text. The dialogues bellow were some conversations that occurred when the teacher was giving the example. Dialogue IX : T : Well students, now we will do another gap information activity. S : Horeee ( students yelling together) T : We will do this activity in group. Does everybody have the group? S : Yes, Sir! T : Ok very good. I will give you example, but I need some students to help me. Ayo masing masing kelompok kirim satu orang untuk maju. How many groups is in here? S : Six groups, Sir T : OK. Sekarang bapak dan teman teman kalian akan memberi contoh bagaimana kita nanti akan melakukan gap informationnya. Well, here I have a passage of how to make meatballs. I will stick this passage to the whiteboard. Nah, sekarang. One of you read one sentence of this passage and tell your group. Come on do it. S : One student walks toward the whiteboard to read the text and then tell his friends what he just red. T : Nah sudah, gantian. Diikuti yang lain. Begitu seterusnya, urutan sampai teksnya selesai. Is it clear students? S : yes sir. After the example was given, the main activity, gap information, was started. On the white board there were three passages of procedure text. Text number one was how to make egg and lemon soup, text number two was how to make milkshake and text number three was how to make tomato soup. Group one and five were asked to do text number one, group two and four were asked to do text number two while group three and six got text number three. After listening to all instructions and getting their job, each group started doing the task. Every student was so busy completing the worksheet which had been given by the teacher. When completing the task some conversation occurred among students. The following dialogue was the example of conversation that occurred among students. Dialogue X S1 : The title is how to make egg and lemon soup. To make egg and lemon soup you need all these ingredients. (While one of the group member was saying the sentences, the other group members were taking note in their paper. Then after the first member finish, the next member immediately went to the whiteboard to get next information) S2 : Number one. Three pints chicken stock. Number two juices of two lemons. S3 : Number three salt and pepper. Number four, four eggs well beaten. The conversation above was the example of the dialogue when students in group one completing the ingredients of the procedure text. The similar conversation and situation also happened is the other group. The following was the dialogue of group six. Dialogue XI S1 : Number four, a half teaspoon of salt. Number five eight cups of water. S2 : Number six, one per four teaspoon of pepper. Number seven small clove of garlic S3 : The last ingredient is one pr four teaspoon of butter. In completing the next part of procedure text, the steps, students took longer time because the sentences were longer than in ingredients. However they still actively took part in the activity to complete their worksheet. The dialogue below was the example of conversation in group four when they were doing the steps of how to make milkshake. Dialogue XII S1 : Now follow these steps to make a milkshake S2 : Number one, place milkshake glasses into the freezer. S3 : Number two take the ice cream from the freezer before you. . . I forget, wait. (She went back to the whiteboard to read the text.) From the freezer before your shake. S4 : Number three, mix the ice cream, milk and added flavors into blender for one minute. S5 : Number four, pour shakes into the frosty glasses. Take the milkshake glasses out of the freezer, then pour the shake mixture in. S6 : Drop a straw into the shake, then enjoy The last thing that students needed to do after they had completed the ingredients and steps was collecting all those information and write it to the worksheet. Directly after it was completed, they submitted their worksheet to the teacher. In thirty minutes all groups had finished their work. Then, teacher asked one student of each groups to read their worksheet in front of the class. in the end of activity teacher asked the students to review what they had done that day. After that the captain of the class led their friend to pray. Before the class dismissed teacher greeted his students and the class was over. The Result of the Questionnaire The result of the questionnaire was used to find out the students' responses during the implementation of gap information activity in teaching speaking procedure text. The questionnaire consisted of fourteen statements in the form of multiple choices. After classifying the result of the questionnaire, each opinion was calculated by dividing number of comments of each item with the total number of students then was multiplied with a hundred percent. The Students' Opinion About the Teacher's Role The result of the questionnaire showed that teacher really had good skill in teaching. More than seventy percent students said that they can easily follow his teaching way. Moreover most of students said that they understood what their teacher taught them. It was proved by more than seventy five percent students choose "understand" for the statement "do you understand what your teacher has taught you?". Teacher also gave much time for students to take their role during the learning activity. More than eighty percent students said that teacher did not dominate the class activity. Most of students in that class also said that their teacher often gave them explanation for something they did not understand well. As well as more than eighty percent students agreed that their teacher also often asked them to deliver their idea or opinion during the class activity The Students' Opinion About the Material Based on the sixth statement of the questionnaire, the text that was given by the teacher was quite easy to catch by students. More then half students in the class also agreed that the topic of the text was interesting enough for them. Moreover most of the students said that the material from the teacher increased their motivation to practice speaking English. However, students still found some difficult words in the text that was given by teacher as the material in during lesson activity. The Students' Opinion About the Technique Students also gave their opinion relating with the activity conducted by the teacher. More than seventy percents of the students agreed that the activity was interesting for them. Teacher also gave quite clear explanation to the students about the procedure to do the activity. Most of the students also said that the activity increased their knowledge about the procedure text. They strongly agreed that gap information activity had motivated them well to speak English with their friend during the lesson. Moreover most of the students said that the activity was easy to do. Discussion The Implementation of Gap Information Activity to Teach Speaking Procedure Text to Ninth Graders In this chapter, the researcher would answer the first question of the research question. It was how the implementation of gap information activity to teach speaking procedure text to ninth graders is. The implementation of the gap information activity could be seen in the result of observation checklist and field note. In the first meeting the teacher began the meeting with reviewing their previous meeting. It was about the procedural text. The teacher explained about its generic structure and its aim. He also gave the example of the procedure text to the students. Afterward he explained to the students about the activity, gap information. Then, he continued giving them example how to do it. He asked the students to do the example together to stimulate them to speak as the warm up. After that he guided his students to conduct the main activity, gap information activity. In the first day, the activity of gap information was conducted in pair work. It was because the pair work was simple to do since the students had never done the gap information before. In the second day it was conducted in group work. The teacher let the students make the group of six by them self. During the main activity both in day I and day II the teacher walked around the class and kept his eyes on the students while the students were working with their partners. Sometimes he helped the students translating the difficult words. In the end of the lesson teacher asked some students to deliver their work in front of the class and discussed it together. The way of teacher conducted the lesson above showed that he gave much time to the students to practice their English. Klancar (2006) the opportunity of speaking will affect to the speaking ability. The more of speaking the learners get, the better they will become. The point was done during the teacher conduct the lesson. Before doing the main activity he gave students chance to speak while they were doing the example of gap information activity. Before, he also gave students chance to speak while reviewing the previous meeting. The gap information activity which was applied by teacher in class was suitable with Murray (2006). However, he modified the system according to the situation in the class. In the preparation the teacher preferred to make the worksheet by himself than collect the information from the students. The rest of the procedure was similar with what Murray suggested. He divided the students into small group (pair group in day I and bigger group in day II). Then he gave them the worksheet and asked them to complete the worksheet by trading the information they had with their friends. During the main activity, students actively spoke with their friends to complete the task. It was truly like what Harmer (2007) states that the idea of gap information activity as organizing concept for speaking is that one person has the information that another lacks. They have to speak English to share the information in order to accomplish the task. As the time ran out, he asked his students to deliver their work in front of the class. While a group was delivering their work, teacher was doing correction to it. Moreover the implementation of gap information activity really had helped teacher to attract students' attention. It

Part two of an interview with Settimio "Babe" Pellechia. Topics include: His children's education. The Italian traditions Babe's family tries to keep. Memories from Lincoln School. How Italians in Leominster were treated while Babe was growing up. Social clubs in the Leominster area. Babe's experience in World War II. His thoughts about September 11th. The Italian Colonial cooperative grocery store. Pride in being Italian. ; 1 SETTIMIO: … did very, very good from the hill. But no, we felt that he lacked the basic knowledge at the very beginning in schooling. The first three years were completely lost. But I think it was no fault of his. He couldn't see, and we didn't know it. We didn't know that he couldn't until one day we had an exam for some reason. He had glasses and he said, "Now I can see the blackboard now." We said, "Why didn't you say that before?" He said, "I thought everybody saw it," you know. So that could have been part of it, too, that he just didn't get it. We believe in education: my daughter had paid for her own education, my daughter went to Smith, and she got a graduate from Harvard. So education is the number one priority. We didn't have it. Isn't that something else? Going through, paying for all that education? LINDA: It is. It's remarkable. So it sounds almost as if it wasn't an option for them to work at the motel or… SETTIMIO: No, no. They had to go to school. They had, definitely. My daughter -- my son-in law -- my daughter always, because she was, she graduated out of Smith with a 3.9, so she just ate up school, and as far as I could -- she just -- I used to help her do her spelling, she insisted. You know, there are three columns of spelling and I'm supposed to bring them down. So what I would do is one night I just went in diagonal and I go back, and she said, "Dad, you missed a word." I said, "Well then, that's enough for me." The only thing that I didn't do with her, which was mean, was on math. She had to struggle for math. And one day she did her homework and she did -- everyone was wrong. 'Cause I always used to help her. So just one night I said, "I'm not going to let her get away with that." So it was all set [unintelligible - 00:02:08]. The next night she comes home crying, she said, "You made me get a zero!" I said, "No, you got the zero yourself. You didn't put anything into it." So then I would help her, but she would check. And if I knew she didn't find [unintelligible - 00:02:22], which was, I think even though that she got a zero, it helped her, I think. 2 LINDA: You were talking about Lincoln Terrace and how people had pigs and chickens and gardens. Did you and your wife do that also? SETTIMIO: My wife? LINDA: You and your wife. Did you keep gardens and chickens? SETTIMIO: With all that we had to do? No. LINDA: I could have guessed. I just wanted to know the different generation. SETTIMIO: Nope. My wife always liked that work that she did out there, and I liked what I did. You know? LINDA: Have you kept many of the traditions alive in your family? The Italian traditions? SETTIMIO: Naturally it kind of falls apart. We do a big Christmas meal. We [unintelligible - 00:03:23] children come over, or if they can't make it, because there are times they couldn't make it, [unintelligible - 00:03:29] Thanksgiving. But [unintelligible - 00:03:32] when my mother-in-law was living, we spent a lot of time with her on weekends and so forth. That was strictly all-Italian, you know. Her mom lived to be 99, and she did all the things like that. She was -- she could crochet a bedspread in one month, she'd do a whole bedspread. [Unintelligible - 00:04:00] doing her own cooking, 99 and doing her own cooking and everything. So that's it, but we've got the tradition with that. We got close to her like that. Actually, my parents were gone. You know, they died long before that. LINDA: Who was your closest friend growing up? SETTIMIO: My closest friend when? LINDA: When you were growing up in Leominster. SETTIMIO: In Lincoln Terrace we were all friends; all the guys were very friendly. We all went together. In fact, being in school, in Lincoln School, when I was in sixth grade, I had all I could do to get Cs in spelling and English and anything like that. You know, I just worked hard and I just gotta get a C. But in math I was always a straight A. So at the end of the year, when the principal would ask who was the smartest one in the class, and by all means, I wasn't the smartest, but all of Lincoln Terrace would vote for me, 3 so she got sort of mad. She said, "Now I know Settimio knows math, but we've got people smarter than him in all subjects. Now, we'll have one more vote. We will not have any election this year," she said. That's how close people were. LINDA: So you were going to school at…? SETTIMIO: Lincoln School. LINDA: So was it mostly Italians there? SETTIMIO: Yeah, that school was. LINDA: Do you remember the teachers? SETTIMIO: Mrs. Blunt was the Principal, Mrs. Taylor was the fifth grade, Mrs. Benz was special. I think the others were the younger ones: Mrs. Heinz and Mrs. Lane was there. I think they had newer ones too. But I have to say I don't think they were fair to the Italian people on different things. I like to see justice and so forth, and I don't think there was any justice in that school for the Italian people. LINDA: Can you give me an example? SETTIMIO: Hmm? LINDA: Can you give me an example? SETTIMIO: Just remarks they'd make and so forth. [Unintelligible - 00:06:25] school system. LINDA: That's right. There's a lot of Italians there. A lot of Italians were in education. So you were giving me an example, or you were about to give me an example of how you thought maybe some of the teachers weren't fair at Lincoln School? SETTIMIO: That's the feeling you'd get. Describing something now would be difficult, but in one case, even my brother, the teacher asked, "What makes a good centerpiece in every Italian home that had a bottle of wine on the table?" And he said that he got expelled for a week. They asked the question, and that was his honest answer. So that the -- that was one case that really stuck out when they did that. 4 LINDA: So it sounds as though the teachers really didn't know anything about the culture or the tradition. SETTIMIO: I don't think they cared either. LINDA: They didn't need to care until one became a principal. SETTIMIO: Like I said, I went there six years, and I'm not talking -- mostly the higher up, two old ladies were what they were by then. So old that you could just see it, remarks, much like my remarks and so forth that they… LINDA: Well, speaking about ethnic differences, did you notice anything in Leominster growing up? SETTIMIO: I noticed while we were growing up that people of Italian descent had a rough deal as far as city hall, the banks, especially. They never got a fair shake. Never during that whole time. The difference today is that almost all of our politicians are Polish or Italian, like when you see almost any principal, all but one is Italian. So that's the biggest difference that I can see that's happened. I had a banker tell me when I was billing up and the president of the bank said to me -- I wanted to get some money, to borrow some money, and he says, "You know, you can spoil a baby by giving him too much candy." I said, "I really didn't come here to get candy. I came here to get money." He said, "Well, you've done well. You should just stay where you are," and let it go like that. That's the banker telling me, so I says, "Well, I didn't come here for your opinion either." I said, "I'm still looking for money." So with that, he said, "Well you've got money in this bank." So while I'm sitting at the time, I just saw the door of the bank had gold leaf at that time, Capital, and so forth, Reserve. So I said, "Could you explain to me why the bank would need a reserve?" He said, "Well, you've got to draw," he says, you know, "on the money," he says we've gotta -- I said, "You're asking me to do something you yourself believe in? You want me to take my reserve of my savings and go with other reserves?" With that, he finally gave me the money. 5 But that's funny with banks, with banks I always find it funny you've got to have an answer for everything because they just try to talk you out of things. That's what they do. When I built the motel, that was the time when -- this is the other bank, Savings Bank -- they said, "We'd like to loan you the money. We feel you can do it, but we don't know about your wife. What would she be able to do?" I said, "My wife is able to -- I can prove to you -- my wife was all upset thinking I'd get the loan." He said, "Well, yeah." But I says I've got so much insurance policy, and the whole loan would be paid up with insurance policy. "Is that good enough, sir?" Security, and I got the money. So you had to play with them at that time, and I still think it was because of who we were. LINDA: When did you see that start to change? SETTIMIO: Hmm? LINDA: When did you see that start to change? SETTIMIO: They started dying off and the Italian population kept increasing. They all knew that group for what it is there. We've got to look at [unintelligible - 00:11:31]. I'm sorry I keep… LINDA: That's okay. SETTIMIO: In 25, 30 years we'll probably learn the same thing with the Spanish people. If they fill out the note they're going to be allowed to do what we did, and I hope they do as well as we did. LINDA: Did you see your children go through any of the hardship that you went through? SETTIMIO: No. No. They don't know what hardship is. LINDA: But they're successful anyway? SETTIMIO: Hmm? LINDA: But they are successful anyway? SETTIMIO: Yeah, yeah. They are, yeah. LINDA: Why do you think that is? SETTIMIO: Well, of course they knew they would always have whatever they need from us, and then we always ingrained in them to go out and do better and 6 keep doing things, like -- my daughter didn't take that much, she absorbs education. She was very, very good at that. My son, we had to kind of push him a little bit, but he's glad now that we did that because he notices a difference. LINDA: So did you feel it was equally important for your daughter to have an education? Did she go to Worcester Academy too? SETTIMIO: No. She didn't need it. She graduated with all these kids [unintelligible - 00:12:56] while we lived in Sterling. So, National Honors Society. She got it all as far as marks. LINDA: Would you like to tell me a little bit about the clubs that you had joined? SETTIMIO: The one was -- we mentioned the Italian Society on there. I'm somewhat disappointed it wasn't what it was supposed to be. I really thought what I wanted was a culture society, where we have -- where they teach Italian, where they have Italian plays and Italian speakers, and it didn't turn out that way. They spent a lot of money and made a big place out of it. It's almost -- which they hardly use it, but you need somebody coming in to pay for the bills. So I just call it a glorified ballroom now. So that wasn't -- I didn't like that too much. LINDA: I didn't take the information. Were there any clubs that you had joined in your younger years, or ones that your father and mother had belonged to? SETTIMIO: No, because they faded out. My father belonged to a couple of clubs but they pretty much starting fading out by the time we would be ready for that. I was really active in a lot of other things, charitable things. I've been Director of the Red Cross. I spent 22 years in a hospital as a cooperator trustee and on the executive board. I was President of the [unintelligible - 00:14:46] Club, which is a men's Rotary Club in Sterling. And then I did my bit as far as charity work and so forth. I felt someone's been very, very good to me, and that's why I got into the charitable end of it, to help out.7 LINDA: You see that continuing with this next generation? Do you see that volunteer, that commitment to give back to the community in the next generation? SETTIMIO: I really don't know. I hope they do. I know I really felt -- and I used to say I like that the hospital I fought for was doing something for the benefit of the people. I would always say so, you know. They were going to do certain things, and I said, "This would be better and cheaper." And that's all I could contribute until it started getting away -- I finally left when we got an administrator that just liked to spend money. So after 22 years I said, "You don't need to spend money. Anybody could spend money." So I resigned at that time. The Historical Society, I've been a Director there for years. I'm still on there right now. LINDA: How did -- has faith played an important part of your life? An important role in your life? SETTIMIO: What was that? LINDA: Faith? SETTIMIO: Absolutely. Absolutely. You've got to have faith, you have to be charitable, gotta be fair to one another. That's all really, really important, I feel. LINDA: Think that's an Italian cultural …? SETTIMIO: I've always thought of it that way, yep. See, but oftentimes you take some of the older people, I say that they probably could have done even better, but because they had to work to get to where they were, they just didn't have time for some of those things. So I think they would have been a lot better off, a lot better. I know that. Yeah. LINDA: Another question: getting back to the banks and maybe how they weren't fair enough, did the Leominster Credit Union play a big part in our helping, let's say, Italians in Leominster? SETTIMIO: Italians in Leominster? They were sympathetic to the Italian calling I'd say, but whether they helped or not I don't know that part. Credit-wise, I know they didn't help us in the building. Nobody had the opportunity to 8 sell them anything. And I said this to [Seth] at the time. He was [unintelligible - 00:17:46] he called me up, said, "Some people want to see you. You've got to make money." So the last time I said, "Do you even realize, Seth, that the only way that people will give you money is they've got to earn it?" He had taken me to this bank in New Haven. Not once did they even entertain taking in a bid from me. I said, "You won't be able to get money anymore." The Credit Union did this. I was a little bitter. But they had the opportunity, which I didn't like. I didn't think that was fair; that was -- probably that's one of the things that bothers me most about as long as you belong to when all our lives you got the big jobs. You work hard to get it. I know that my father, it never bothered him how much time he spent figuring jobs as long as he had the opportunity to bid on it. But when they didn't even give you that opportunity, and if you're high you just say "We can get it done cheaper," and that's the end of it. But don't just ignore them. Or even at the hospital, one time we got some bids for some work and a friend of mine asked, he wanted to bid the job. I said, okay, so I talked to the board, I said, "This, also, would like to bid the job." I says, "He's a low bidder. You'll want to give a job." He became the lone bidder and they didn't give him a job. You know, that night, I told them at the meeting, I said, "I don't think this -- I've done this all my life and I don't believe in it. You shouldn't have had him bid if you didn't want to give him the job, because it takes time and money to do that bid. It just isn't fair." LINDA: Just two more things: what was your hardest experience in your life? SETTIMIO: Three years in World War II. That was quite difficult. LINDA: Would you like to explain a little bit? SETTIMIO: Huh? LINDA: Would you like to explain a little bit or share a story? SETTIMIO: No, we're always a family in our own home, and to be away like that. And then under the conditions that you had to live in that you would think you 9 did. But you said the worst thing, that's doing that, although it turned out, I came back, no problems. But even then I worked -- I had to fight to get -- to the top. Now, I was in heavy artillery and, my job was handling 96-pound shells, and of course I just felt that there were better things in life than handling 96-pound shells. There was no future in it. So I hung out with the boys in the survey section, there were eight of them. They did the computing, running the transits, computing for these -- because we had this survey, anything you did on it. And I learned anything that there was to learn on it, and when OCS came, that's officer's training, they get anybody to go that likes to go, and of course the survey is supposedly the brains of the battalion, there's six of them that left for OCS. So I asked permission from -- through the first sergeant and my captain that I'd like to get on survey. And he was nice to me, real nice. He took me a bunch of papers like this here, and they had all these on all circled around, and then they put parts between them. And he said, "I'm going to shake this, and all the cards that fall out, if your name's in there, you can get on survey." My name didn't fall out. And he said, "Now let's see why." Ninth grade -- you have to be a minimum of a high school graduate to get on it, because it required trigonometry and you don't get trigonometry in the ninth grade. You get algebra but you don't get trig. So I said, "But I can do it." He said, "I can't promise you nothing." He said, "You stay with your shells." I still kept there, I started doing it, and I became the -- I became the chief computer -- the [unintelligible - 00:22:24] operator, which wasn't all too good with all the shell people in back now that I'm on the front-line. If we can see the enemy, they can see us. So the payoff. LINDA: I just want you to end with asking you about how you feel about September 11th, what's happening in the country now. SETTIMIO: Terrible, the whole thing is real, real uncalled for. I don't know why you'd have to do something like that. You know, it's murder -- it just gets 10 me that they, that they [unintelligible - 00:23:05] for the world and shelling them and killing civilians. What did they do? Kill 10 people, there's a big [unintelligible - 00:23:16] about it. They killed almost 6,000, let alone the damage. The damage can always be fixed, but lives -- life is gone, you know. Once it's gone, it's gone. So I don't know what the -- what's going to happen. We got to do something to -- somewhere along the line though we've changed. We used to -- every year, immigrants had to register at the post office. Why did they discontinue that in this country? I don't know if you remember that, do you? Every year you had to go to the post office if you were an immigrant, your address, what you're doing and so forth. So they actually were [unintelligible - 00:23:59] they knew where all -- if they still had that, they would know that these guys, number one, that their visas had gone past and so forth. LINDA: I often wonder what the veterans of let's say World War II feel about the men going to fight now, because at least you knew who the enemy was. SETTIMIO: You don't know who the enemy is in this. This is what they -- you have to fight their game, which isn't -- there again, it's not fair. [Unintelligible - 00:24:37] we fought the Germans. We knew what they did. They were in front of us, we were on one side, you knew what you were doing. But to have somebody you can -- somebody in your home and you got terrorists and just get information, the next day you could be gone. LINDA: Anything else you'd like to share? SETTIMIO: Huh? LINDA: Is there anything else you'd like to share with us? SETTIMIO: One of the other things I thought is -- you see that package right there? That little one right there? You organize this; you're at the grocery store. He closed his grocery store so the Italian Colonial could start. LINDA: What was the Italian Colonial? SETTIMIO: Huh?11 LINDA: I don't -- what was the Italian Colonial? SETTIMIO: A grocery store. LINDA: A grocery store? SETTIMIO: [Unintelligible - 00:25:28] be one up there and they became a cooperative. They all bought shares, and he moved his grocery store right next to the other one with all the stuff that we had, you know. We wanted to leave once they start that. LINDA: Well… SPEAKER 3: They were all Italians that got together and formed this cooperative, Colonial -- SETTIMIO: [Unintelligible - 00:25:54]. SPEAKER 3: And when they finally disbanded, they all formed their own little corner stores [unintelligible - 00:26:03]. LINDA: So what was they -- where did they get -- would they be growing their own produce and bring it in, and… SPEAKER 3: Some of them did that. SETTIMIO: Oh no, they bought it. They bought everything, like a legitimate store [unintelligible - 00:26:20] -- I keep moving this don't I? LINDA: That's okay though, that's not important. SETTIMIO: Yes it is, or you wouldn't have it. LINDA: Or I wouldn't touch it. You're right. SETTIMIO: No, but the -- he was very instrumental in helping on getting this Italian Colonial, because he -- number one, if he can close his store, [unintelligible - 00:26:40] but… and then the other thing was bringing the Italian Colonial, you know, the Lincoln Hall in Leominster, which is now Saint Anne's Church, they started the Lincoln Hall, I believe, when -- in 1926, I believe it was. And it was -- the main purpose of it was to naturalize as many Italians as they could. They wanted to move their building because at that time all the different Italians that come from different parts -- Italy was not unified at that time. 12 It wasn't unified until I think in 1961, '56 or something like that, but all these people -- if one club was running the hall, the other clubs wouldn't go. One of those things that they -- that's why the Lincoln Hall failed, contrary to what their remarks they made in the book in the office at Saint Anne's. They said they foreclosed on them -- they foreclosed because none of them would join it. They shouldn't have lost that, you know. LINDA: So why is it they wouldn't join? SPEAKER 3: Parts of Italy, [Forgia, Saladini, Graphinio] had their own [unintelligible - 00:28:05]. SETTIMIO: You could almost [unintelligible - 00:28:08] Boston and then New York and then somebody in Chicago. If the guy in Chicago is on the organization we don't want nothing to do with it, and New York we don't if we're doing it, they don't want to, and that's what happened to that Lincoln Hall, which we can't -- that was one of the bad things the Italian Colonial let go. We don't -- otherwise we wouldn't have Saint Anne's now. So everything turned out pretty well. LINDA: Like who was Lincoln Hall -- who was affiliated with Lincoln Hall, which group? SETTIMIO: All the Italians. LINDA: Oh, so it was a mixture. SPEAKER 3: The functions they would hold there, if one little group was holding a dance or a social event, the other groups stayed away. SETTIMIO: [Unintelligible - 00:28:51]. This is a letter that was written in 1929, as much of it is in Italian, I don't know if you can understand it. But what it is that unless the people joined and paid their dues, they're going to lose the hall. They didn't do it, so… SPEAKER 3: Sounds like your brother, your brother. SETTIMIO: [Unintelligible - 00:29:24]. LINDA: So you said they were trying to naturalize as many Italians as they could. So Italians from any region? SETTIMIO: [Unintelligible - 00:29:34].13 LINDA: In Leominster or any region? SPEAKER 3: Yes. Danny [Cato]? SETTIMIO: Huh? SPEAKER 3: Danny Cato was on this Italian American [unintelligible - 00:29:45]. SETTIMIO: This is the bleeding Italian Americans in Massachusetts. LINDA: Oh, that's an honor. That's your father, right? SPEAKER 3: Mm-hmm. LINDA: So Ann, do you have anything to add? Can you think of anything? SPEAKER 3: Oh, you were speaking about that cooperative grocery store. Is that where some of the people, when they sold out, they would open up their own store like Chet's Grocery, [unintelligible - 00:30:24], all those little stores? SETTIMIO: Nemo had a little store too. SPEAKER 3: Who did? SETTIMIO: Nemo also. SPEAKER 3: Nemo? SETTIMIO: Yeah, it was very lucrative. You hear [unintelligible - 00:30:35]. I'll just tell you a little story about that. My father wanted to get it going good and at the time [unintelligible - 00:30:43] made cash registers, and he had six-drawer cash registers, so each clerk would have to punch their own if they bought it. So my father suggested that the salesmen should go there and sell it, and maybe it would keep them honest, you know, they'd have their own cash box. So at the last minute, my father told the salesman the night of the meeting, he says, "Now don't get alarmed, I'm going to vote against it." He says, "You called me, and now you're going to vote against it?" He said, "If I vote for it, they won't buy it." They bought it, they never used it. LINDA: So the coop -- did different people sell different things? SETTIMIO: Oh no, it was all -- it was a regular store but it was just owned by a cooperative. SPEAKER 3: It was owned by all of them.14 SETTIMIO: This is interesting too, nothing to do with Leominster, but [unintelligible - 00:31:33] they had in Boston in 1492 when Columbus -- it was unbelievable what they did [unintelligible - 00:31:43] try and list it on that. But you see where they -- just the parade and all -- look the way they decorated their buildings. LINDA: Wow, this is to celebrate Columbus Day? SETTIMIO: Yeah, it's unbelievable. It's all parades and all that. There's a state house. It's so unusual. There were no Italians -- I went through this. I couldn't find an Italian name, but it was a big deal for Columbus. Now, in 1992, nothing was done. LINDA: Wow. I know with my children in school, nowadays there's a big discussion whether or not you should even celebrate Columbus Day. SETTIMIO: [Unintelligible - 00:32:28], mm-hmm. SPEAKER 3: But October is the Italian Heritage Month and they have functions going on almost every day, either here or in Boston or some other place where there are Italians. LINDA: That brings up something interesting though. Did you -- when growing up, did you feel proud of Christopher Columbus and that he was an Italian? Do you remember? SETTIMIO: We felt proud of anyone that was Italian. [Unintelligible - 00:33:00] proud of any American that's done unusual things. I don't feel too proud when they name a building for some politician that got paid all his life and had to -- 15, 20, 30 years they name a building after him. What did he contribute actually as far as for the benefit of the people? But we still keep doing that, you know. SPEAKER 3: There are a lot of things -- there are a lot of Italians that have contributed to the world as we see it today, as we know it today, in the arts and the music, and… SETTIMIO: Did you read the one that I had -- the Italian [unintelligible - 00:33:45]? Did you ever see that one? Yeah? LINDA: No, no… where did this come from? From an Italian American?15 SPEAKER 3: I think I saw this on the board at the Italian Center in Leominster. LINDA: Do your children consider themselves Italian American? SPEAKER 3: Oh yeah. SETTIMIO: I hope so. I know my daughter; she spent more time in Italy than she does here now. Sabbaticals and so forth. In fact she's going there for -- she just got a grant to go there with the grade eight students, give a lecture over there. [Unintelligible - 00:34:30] also, you know, different parts of Rome and Florence and [unintelligible - 00:34:36]. SPEAKER 3: She has a doctorate in Italian. She has a doctorate in Italian History. SETTIMIO: She can read even the old script Italian. She's really -- she spent a lot of time there. She spent six years in Florence, so she can really -- in fact my daughter's very thin and so forth. We went up to visit her one day and went to the grocery store, and I saw my daughter do something that she never did. She literally, with her little frame, pushed a big Italian lady in the line. I said, "Linda, where did you learn that?" She said, "Dad, I'll be at the end of the line all day if I didn't do that." That's what they do. So she learned she's got to get in there. SPEAKER 3: Make her way. LINDA: Where does she teach? SETTIMIO: University of Delaware. LINDA: Oh. SETTIMIO: Yeah. LINDA: Have you -- you ever gone back to Italy? SETTIMIO: Oh yeah. I've been there three times. My wife keeps going, but she goes a little more than I do, because women like to travel more than men. My wife likes to travel. She's been to Jerusalem three times. She's been to Kenya; we both went to South America. LINDA: Did you ever go back to the village of your father? SETTIMIO: Went back up to where my mother was born and where my father was, and also where she was born. You know that. LINDA: Well, thank you.16 SETTIMIO: That's all? We're done? LINDA: It was a long time, two hours. Aren't you tired? It's tiring. SETTIMIO: I just tried to accept what I'm going to do every year what my father did from 19-, from when he came here up until he passed away. I want to make it complete. [Unintelligible - 00:36:47] yeah. That's one project I got to do. The other project I got to do is I got a lot of movie pictures that I took, and I want to put those on VHS and break them down. I got the floods of '38, and I got parades and all that sort of stuff, and I got also Saint Anne's -- the opening of Saint Anne's dedication. SPEAKER 3: Very good history. SETTIMIO: I have a library, and I'm a collector [unintelligible - 00:37:23] stuff. I'm proud of a lot of it too. I got all the directories going back -- that's why it was so easy to do this. I have all these downstairs, these books. I also have it on Fitchburg, I go back Fitchburg 1880, and I keep buying local history, whatever I can get, or anything that originally was made in Leominster, so forth. [Unintelligible - 00:37:51] LINDA: It's interesting. SETTIMIO: The only thing is time is running out. LINDA: Oh, it seems like you come from a long line. It seems like people live a long time in your family. SETTIMIO: Well, they try to do it. Whether they make it or not, I don't know. Time will tell. LINDA: Well, don't give up. SPEAKER 3: Don't give up. SETTIMIO: Oh, no. SPEAKER 3: You have a lot of good work here. SETTIMIO: Huh? SPEAKER 3: You have a lot of good things here. LINDA: Did you mention to me that you had your mother's -- maybe your grandmother's wedding dress? SETTIMIO: Yes, I have it.17 SPEAKER 3: Your mother's or your grandmother's? SETTIMIO: My mother's. SPEAKER 3: Your mother's wedding dress. LINDA: Wow. SPEAKER 3: That was 19 -- what? What year? SETTIMIO: They got married what would be the year 1902, I think, or something like that. LINDA: Wow. SETTIMIO: Would you like to see it? LINDA: I'd like to. SETTIMIO: I think it's in the closet. LINDA: Okay, hold on. This is the end of the interview. /AT/pa/rjh/es

Part two of an interview with Amelia Gallucci-Cirio. Topics include: The alternative school at the Fitchburg Art Museum. Amelia's thoughts on the current events of September 11th. How Amelia's parents met and married. How Amelia ended up at Boston University. How Amelia's parents came to the United States. Her mother took Americanization classes and learned English. The affect of the Depression on her family. What life was like during World War II. More talk about the events of September 11th. The Roma Club Amelia and her husband formed in Phoenix, Arizona. Speaking Italian. ; 1 AMELIA: It is he, really, my husband that started all this interest in Western civilization. Yeah. Mm-hmm. LINDA: Truly admirable. AMELIA: Yeah. Mm-hmm. LINDA: This cause of… AMELIA: I have -- I've given them, oh, many books on Western civilization to the - to the library, and um, yeah, they're going to establish it. It's gonna be set up, it should have been set up for two weeks I was here, but they don't, they haven't given us the space yet. Mm-hmm. And all those books are on Western civilization. ANNA: It will be [unintelligible - 00:00:35]. It will be. AMELIA: And that's why I'm so interested in what the Phoenix Art Museum is doing. They have… ANNA: Phoenix? AMELIA: Oh, I keep saying Phoenix, I mean Fitchburg. Fitchburg Art Museum. They, they teach young children there. They have a Mr. Roger, Roger Dale, who teaches his classes. ANNA: Yeah. Alternative school. AMELIA: Right. What do they call? ANNA: Alternative school. AMELIA: Alternative school. They go to the museum, and they -- he explains to them what the statues are and what the Romans have contributed and so on. And I think it's important that that be taught to the children when they're young. Mm-hmm. LINDA: That's right. AMELIA: Right, huh. LINDA: To have an appreciation. AMELIA: Yeah, right. Mm-hmm. LINDA: Okay. AMELIA: Yeah. And even in -- at the Fitchburg State College, they have nothing. They have Frenches, French. They teach French 2 language, they teach Spanish, they teach Russian, they teach German. There's no Italian. ANNA: I haven't seen the new catalog. AMELIA: But they are interested. They are planning Italian history, Italian language because they are interrelated history, and Italian languages are [unintelligible - 00:01:53]. And they promised that they would do that. ANNA: Yes. I think they will. AMELIA: Yeah. Well, they're not getting a penny until they do. [Laughter] ANNA: Yeah. I think you'll see it in the new catalog. AMELIA: Well, that's what they told me. LINDA: So getting back to today's horrific set of events. I mean, nothing like this would have ever happened when you were, let's say 30, 40, 50, 60 years old. AMELIA: No, no. LINDA: How do you feel about it? AMELIA: Well, I don't know. I think that years ago we were more isolated. There is now more of -- you know, it's one world. The United States is involved in helping all nations, and at one time we just kept to ourselves. But now that we are trying to help so many different people, it's getting so complicated, and life is not as safe… ANNA: It's not as safe? AMELIA: As safe. Right… I don't think this would have happened if the United States were not involved in helping Israel, shall I say. The Palestinians feel that we are doing more to help one country than the other. It's… it's really difficult. LINDA: Now, in your travels, do you ever see a sentiment against Americans? Or fear? AMELIA: No. No. They look up to Americans. In my travels in Italy, or whenever we went there, they're, "Oh, Americano!" You know, 3 they're very much interested in what we're doing and what we're doing for them. No, there was never any discrimination. LINDA: So would you like to speak about anything else? Let's see, that you have a lot of [unintelligible - 00:04:06]. AMELIA: Yeah, well I thought you were going to ask me when my mother came, or… so I jotted down a lot of notes, but I think… well, I think we told you that Grandpa came here with Aunt Sil and my mother in May 27, 1902. And my mother and father met at Lancaster Mills. Do they still have it there, Lancaster Mills? ANNA: I don't think so. AMELIA: And that's when they married and they went to Clinton. I think we talked about that. LINDA: Do you know anything about their early days when they met, or…? AMELIA: No, they worked at the Mills in Clinton, and that's where they… when they got married they went to Clinton there. And one -- my best girl from high school -- remember how [unintelligible - 00:04:55] they attended the affair? Helen Liz is originally from Clinton, and she told me -- I asked if she wouldn't go to the archives, you know, at the city hall, and get some information, and she found out that my father had a grocery store on Maple Street. And I do wanna get together with Anna, with Helen—I doubt whether I can this time—and go to visit Clinton. Yeah. So. LINDA: Look out if the building is still there? AMELIA: No. I don't think the building is still there. It's Maple Street, and she said that they did have a record of it, but I think that's it. LINDA: And why is it that they moved to Fitchburg? AMELIA: Well, because Grandpa had built that home, and I think my father had sold his store, and so they came to Fitchburg for about three or four years where my sister Christine and I were born, and then we went to Naugatuck. 4 LINDA: Did your mother enjoy coming back to Fitchburg to [unintelligible - 00:06:01]? AMELIA: Oh, yes. She loved it because she, her mother was here and her sisters and relatives and Anna's family, you know. Yes, she did. But unfortunately we had to go back to Connecticut. LINDA: And you really traveled back to Connecticut because your father's youngest sister…? AMELIA: Yeah. My father's youngest sister was in Connecticut, and you know how an older brother always looks over a younger sister, and that's what brought us to Connecticut. But… LINDA: But she married and moved to Connecticut? AMELIA: Yes. She had married, and she had moved to Connecticut, and I think she needed assistance. And so my father moved to -- unfortunately to -- we often say we wish we'd stayed in Fitchburg. LINDA: Wow. Did your mother ever write letters back to relatives in Fitchburg? AMELIA: Oh, yes. Yes. Unfortunately I don't have any of those letters. No, I don't. LINDA: So it's the natural progression, like we already talked about, for you to come back to Fitchburg. AMELIA: Yeah, right. LINDA: So it's [unintelligible - 00:07:09]. AMELIA: Right. And not only that, but if I had gone to one of the other schools, I would have to pay not only a tuition fee but boarding fees and so on, and we were not in the position, you know, to afford that. LINDA: Didn't you consider staying in Fitchburg after graduating? AMELIA: Well, I wanted to get back to my mother and my brothers and my sisters—we were always so close. And I went back to Connecticut, and that's where I started teaching. LINDA: And when did you attend Boston University? That was…? 5 AMELIA: I taught -- let's see, I taught for about seven or eight years in Connecticut, and my last teaching job in the seventh and eighth grade, I taught with a teacher who had been my English teacher when I was in the seventh grade. So when I went to her school to teach, I was both teaching the third grade—Miss Megan was her name. When Miss Megan found out that Miss Gallucci was coming to teach, she said, "I want you upstairs in the seventh and eighth grade." She taught Math, and I taught English and Science. And she said, "I want you upstairs with me." Well, it was the wrong thing to do. There was professional jealousy. She used to come in the rooms and interrupt my classes, and so I decided I was very unhappy the two years I was there. I decided to take a year's leave of absence, and that's when I went to B.U. So when I came back to Naugatuck, then I went into the high school teaching just English. Freshman English. LINDA: So then you -- how did you make the decision to go to Boston? Was it your uncle, and…? AMELIA: Oh, yeah. Uncle taught was, he was a member of the Boston Civic Symphony, and I thought it'd be easier, you know, commuting from Fitchburg. I used to commute by train. I had classes three times a week in Boston, and I learned to use the subway. I haven't been there in a long time. I'd like to go back again. So that's what brought me there. It was mostly because Uncle would go back and forth to Boston to the concerts, and I would take in schooling and a concert as well. LINDA: So you received your graduate degree in [unintelligible - 00:09:29]? AMELIA: Yeah. I got my masters, and then I returned to Naugatuck. LINDA: Okay. AMELIA: To be with my family. We were always very close. And then I'd come to Fitchburg to visit. 6 LINDA: Do you recall anything, being told of anything from the old country by your parents? AMELIA: Did I what? LINDA: Recall being told anything about the old country? AMELIA: No. My mother always said that the little town where she came from, she says a nice little town, and she spoke about living right next to the church. Ann, have you been there? No? ANNA: No. I haven't. AMELIA: Right next to the church was a -- to use the Neapolitan, [sotto campanar]. But their home was sotto campanar right under the bell tower, right next to the church. And she always talked about that and how she used to go the nuns to learn to sew and crochet and so on. Yeah. LINDA: And she left her parents behind to travel here? AMELIA: No. Her… you mean, my mother? LINDA: Mm-hmm. AMELIA: No. My mother was with Aunt Sil, Rachel's mother came with Grandpa to this country. And then the rest of the family came, Grandma with the other members of the family. LINDA: So they possibly sent money back so that they could…? AMELIA: I think, I think so, yes. Yeah. LINDA: And then your father? AMELIA: And then my father -- I don't know too much about… I know my father came shortly after my mother, but there was no relationship there whatsoever because they met here. Papa came, and he went to Providence. He had cousins in Providence. One of them was Dr. [Dillon], and Dr. Dillon and Aunt Sil was the maid of honor and the best man for Mama and Papa. Yeah. And he came to Providence, and then he must have come up to Massachusetts because that's where he met my mother, at the Lancaster Mills. LINDA: I wonder if he knew someone, a relative or someone… 7 AMELIA: He may have. Yeah. He may have because a lot of the other [paesan], they lived in this area. Yeah. LINDA: Do you remember that anyone, a padrone, I believe they used to call him padrone, a man who would, who worked in this country but would help his fellow Italians leave the country, start them up in business or tell them where to find work? AMELIA: What was the name? LINDA: A padrone. AMELIA: Oh, padrone. Oh, padrone. Oh, I see, yes. No… ANNA: It would be in the country, and… AMELIA: It would be in the country, and they would help them financially to set up. Oh, I see. ANNA: Mm-hmm. Financially, and you know, help them to become citizens. AMELIA: Yeah. Oh, I see… LINDA: I had read in a book about Fitchburg, a man named Tony Murphy. ANNA: Yes. Yeah. LINDA: And I had tried to ask Mrs. Collie, but I don't believe she was talking about the same one. ANNA: Yeah. So would Dad do, would he know? Probably not, huh? AMELIA: I don't -- no, because it would have been too early. ANNA: Too early. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. LINDA: Yeah. ANNA: And moments that we had, the Italian citizens caught up, and there was one man who really helped the Italians to become citizens and to, you know, get… AMELIA: You mean there was someone in this area? ANNA: Yes. AMELIA: Oh, really? ANNA: In Leominster. I think we will be talking to him, too. He has some papers that he's already passed into the… 8 AMELIA: What is his name? ANNA: His name is Danny Taylor. And he is the one who now has the records of it, but he is not the one… his name was [Angelo Palumba]. AMELIA: Palumba. ANNA: I think he's the one that helped the Italian immigrants to establish in Leominster and become citizens. AMELIA: Oh, I see. ANNA: He was very helpful. LINDA: Do both of your parents speak English? AMELIA: Yes. Papa, not -- I don't recall because I was still a youngster, you know. He may have, you know, certain expressions. But my mother did speak English better than my father because she lived to be about 86 years of age, and you know, we were older and we'd understand. But it was mostly Italian that we spoke at home. And it was a Neapolitan Italian. LINDA: Do you believe that she may have taken Americanization classes? AMELIA: She did. She did. And it was just during time of the war right after world war, or during World War II when, not being a citizen, she had to apply permission to go to the wedding that we were having in Rhode Island. Did your mother become…? ANNA: She was. I think there was a Mary Berkeley who got here, and Margaret Kelty that helped the Italians to become citizens in Fitchburg. AMELIA: We figure there's a bigger Italian population here, so they did help one another. We were in Naugatuck at the time. Yeah. But I do know she was working towards her citizen papers, you know. We said, "Mommy, you've got to become a citizen." But, you know. LINDA: Did the Depression affect your family very much? AMELIA: Yes, it did. Very much so. Because we went to Naugatuck, and my father opened up the grocery store and the bakery shop, and we 9 were a different group with the people we lived within the Italian section. They're mostly some Ruotis in the southern part of Italy, and they were uneducated people, and -- not that we felt better than they, but they more patronized their own kind, and we were sort of isolated, and things did not go too well. And during Depression, so we'd lost everything. That's when my father decided to come to Italy to gain part of his inheritance. Yeah. It was a bad period. LINDA: So perhaps sometimes Italians really went by region or their group. AMELIA: Yeah. LINDA: More so than just Italians. So they would maybe frequent businesses? AMELIA: Yes. There was competition with more of the people from Ruoti in our area, and so the business, the bakery shop and so on, did not go too well. LINDA: How would you spell that village that you're… AMELIA: The what? LINDA: The Rioti. Is that Rioti? Where were the people farming…? AMELIA: The Ruoti. R-u-o-t-i. They were loosely called Ruotesi. They came from the lower region of the Italy. Where is Calabria? LINDA: The lower. AMELIA: Would it be the lower part? I think Ruoti is farther south. LINDA: Hmm, that could be. I never heard of it. It's probably just a tiny village. But I think you're right. The… generally speaking, the further south you go, people aren't educated. AMELIA: No. Not as educated as the people in the northern part or central part. LINDA: So could your mother read and write? Oh, she must have been able to if she was taking… AMELIA: Yeah. She did. She read the daily paper. And if she didn't understand something, she would ask us to explain it to her. Yeah. But all the dealings with my father—I can remember with the 10 salesman used to come to sell merchandise—was all in Italian. So I don't remember his speaking English at all. LINDA: Is that a lot to do -- did your family, did your mother and older brother ever consider returning to Fitchburg? AMELIA: No, because we thought that my father was coming back, and they didn't wanna make that move. And then my brother Joe was working and he was the only one supporting the family, so it would not have been a wise move. Or at least my uncle from Fitchburg didn't encourage us to make the move. I don't know which one. Yeah. LINDA: So your mother was waiting for your father? AMELIA: Yeah. We were waiting for him thinking that he would come back with some money so that we could, you know, start life anew, but it didn't materialize, no. Yeah. LINDA: What was it like living through World War II? AMELIA: I was teaching at the time, and I know in the grammar schools we were selling -- what, was it war bands, we were selling? It was like one time, you know, my brother Tommy, the… he was the fifth in the family, was called to service, and at the time we went to all the theaters of war. They went to London. They went to England on the Elizabeth, I think. It was a warship, wasn't it? They converted the Queen Elizabeth or the Queen Mary. And then they went down to North Africa, and they approached Italy from North Africa into Sicily. In time it wasn't all those war zones. In fact he was the one that came to visit my aunt, the oldest one of the Scalano family, her name was Josephine. [Zia Pepinella]. He went to visit them in Lacedonia during the war. And he also went to visit Serralunga, where my father was born, and he's the one that brought back the family tree. We have the great, big -- a huge one that he brought from Italy. I have it in Connecticut. 11 ANNA: That's great. AMELIA: Would you wanna picture that? I mean, is it necessary? LINDA: I think [unintelligible - 00:21:02]. AMELIA: Yeah. When I get back I'll get quite a few for you. LINDA: That would be great. AMELIA: Yeah. Right. LINDA: Would you like to share anything else? AMELIA: No. I think that's it. I think we've covered everything. LINDA: Can you think of anything, Anna? ANNA: No. AMELIA: Ann, you've been to Italy. You went to visit your father's place, didn't you? ANNA: Yeah. I've been to Father's place. I did not go to Lacedonia, though. AMELIA: Oh, you didn't go to Lacedonia. ANNA: My mother's sister is still living in Salerno, so we visited Salerno. AMELIA: Oh, I see. ANNA: And her other sister lives in Milan, and they were getting together for the summer for… AMELIA: Now, that was last year when you went to visit… ANNA: About three years ago. AMELIA: Three years ago. Yeah. ANNA: So that I saw both sisters, both aunts, and they're elderly, very elderly. One of them must be like 91 now. AMELIA: Oh, my Lord! ANNA: Yeah. And the other one was maybe 88. But they were very good, very nice. AMELIA: You went with your sister, didn't you? ANNA: Mm-hmm. AMELIA: Oh, that was nice. 12 ANNA: Yeah. But during the war, I was just getting out of high school, and many boys graduated from high school and went into service, never came back. And so… and the Depression, all those WPAs, with the, you know, there's no work, and then I think the government, Roosevelt, I think put on the WPA, and also the women in civil defense. If you didn't go into active service, I think a lot of the women do things at home. They would have blackouts, and you would have to go out to see if your neighborhood was safe. I learned to be in the motor corps; I was changing tires. [Laughter] I learned to do it. LINDA: You've got to learn to do it, I guess. ANNA: There were different classes that they would give, you know, so that women could -- Rosie the riveter; that became popular. So it's different in the '40s. LINDA: Right. I know how jittery I feel today. Did you wake up every morning like that, or did you get used to it? ANNA: Well, the war was over there, you know. And I think that we always felt there was a distance between the war and the United States territory. Or, as you know, it wasn't… today would not be very far with the planes that can cover the air so quickly. I think it's very scary today especially. AMELIA: Oh, we're terribly moved today. ANNA: When I heard the news for an hour or so, I'm wondering, I'm almost afraid to get the statistics. How many people have been injured? How many have been killed? AMELIA: And one of the towers really collapsed. ANNA: Collapsed. Exploded. LINDA: The… there is so many different levels now that they can get us. You know, there's [unintelligible - 00:24:36]. There's all the technical, everything technical that we have. ANNA: Will we ever be at peace? 13 LINDA: I don't know how we can be if somebody's actions… AMELIA: Technology has moved so fast. Very frightful. ANNA: Hope it moves for the good, but right now it's not. AMELIA: Not good news at all. ANNA: It's frightening today. We don't know half of what has happened. LINDA: That's true. I was thinking about… when I was driving here and all of the reports, I was thinking, I wonder what they really know, because they've always filtered what we find out. And I think that's what make me so nervous about my husband being in New York is that how do we know other things aren't being released? ANNA: I don't think they can see either. There's such black smoke, and they don't know what's under that, you know. AMELIA: How can they get to douse that fire? How can they get to it? ANNA: They haven't gotten to it. LINDA: I heard that every firefighter in New York, throughout the whole state, has gone to Manhattan. ANNA: Oh, that can't be. They must have, you know, reserve units. AMELIA: Yes. LINDA: Yes, it's devastating. I don't know. ANNA: And then Washington, too. You know. AMELIA: This requires very careful planning. Oh, my goodness! LINDA: Planes take off. AMELIA: I thought it was just the two towers. But then when they started mentioning the Pentagon and Washington – wow! ANNA: A third plane. AMELIA: Third plane. LINDA: And you know what made me nervous at the beginning today was that the first plane, I think, maybe hit at let's say 8:55, and then the second plane, 9:20. And then… AMELIA: Oh, my Lord! LINDA: … it's the same every 20 minutes or half hour. 14 ANNA: There's the traffic. LINDA: And the company. ANNA: They make that corner so fast. LINDA: Well, thank you, Amelia. AMELIA: Oh, you're welcome. LINDA: Anyway, I can't say enough kind words for what you're doing, really. AMELIA: Oh, thank you. Well, I'm now on my way out, I wanna make sure that these things really take place because we don't know… ANNA: I have notes there, Amelia. AMELIA: Yeah, well… ANNA: You have given us all that you want to give us? AMELIA: Yes. I think I have. I just… ANNA: I don't know whether Rachel and I have returned all those things. LINDA: Oh, is that all…? AMELIA: See, even when I… when we went to Phoenix, I forgot this. My husband was always interested in Roman, in Western civilization, in promoting the Italian language and culture. We formed a Roma Club, and we occupied a building. It was a hospital building right across the Phoenix Public Library, which is now the Phoenix Museum. And the… we went to Italy that summer and picked up a lot of these ceramics—there's one right there, and the vases on the fireplace – all the ceramics that I gave Rachel, Anna. We went to Italy and we got all kinds of ceramics, and we decorated these buildings, and we used to have people come in and we -- my husband would like to -- my husband gave a course in Italian. And most of the people who started, took the course were the professors from the Arizona State University. They weren't teaching Italian at the time. And that was our first, really first project in trying to establish a cultural center was in -- I just noticed that the Roma Club. 15 LINDA: And what year was that? AMELIA: That was late 1950s. Mm-hmm. That was the late 1950s. LINDA: What do you do? Scan your notes. We'll just keep that paper, and it looks nice without editing. We can just edit them. AMELIA: But you will delete certain things, won't you? LINDA: Oh, sure. AMELIA: Yeah. Right. And I used this quotation too, when I gave that talk on May 8. I said, "What we are, we owe to those before us. What we become, we owe to ourselves." So I'm trying to do my part. I guess that's it. LINDA: You know what, I think it's wonderful too, that you and Ann and everyone that I've met just want to share. And it's so refreshing, because oftentimes, we meet people and they don't feel like they have anything to offer. And somehow, I don't know that it's the water in Fitchburg. [Laughter] In hindsight, you all seem to not only want to share, I feel like you have a way to make other people feel good. I was wondering what -- how did that come about? ANNA: I think that you realize that a lot of the Italian culture and languages last. And unless something like this takes place, the next generation is not going to know anything about the heritage. AMELIA: And we've got to start them young. Therefore, I think even in the Alba classes that -- oh, you should see what they're doing in the Waterbury. ANNA: It's never too late. AMELIA: No. Right. ANNA: And I think even the older ones that don't speak Italian. I have sisters that don't speak Italian. They may understand what you're saying after a while, but they don't speak Italian. And I think it's because our parents wanted to learn English, wanted us to learn English and didn't speak at home, you know. Maybe they did, you 16 know, among themselves, but you were supposed to learn the English language right into the programs at school. LINDA: Was that the same way for you and your family? AMELIA: Yeah. LINDA: Do you speak Italian? AMELIA: Well, we don't -- you mean now? No, we don't. I may say something in Italian, and my sister Connie will -- now, we go to a restaurant where we always talk Italian, in Fitchburg, in Phoenix. One of the Italian-American restaurants, and when we go there they'd say, "Oh, le prendere sedeli." When we come in, you know. And the man who runs it is Italian, and they have very good food, and we talk Italian. Connie uses the dialect, you know, which is very colorful, but sometimes the grammar is incorrect, but yeah, we have a lot of fun. We do speak it when we go out, and I'll speak more of it at home with my sisters and my nieces -- well, my nieces all speak Italian because they got their – they studied and they got their doctorate. And they've been all over. Wonderful. ANNA: I think it would be beautiful to revive that, you know, to speak Italian to one another. Practice is always lacking. AMELIA: Well, I belong to the -- there is a center in Phoenix for Italian culture, and we attend the opera, of course, and we go out, we have lectures, and there is Italian spoken there. We try to speak it. In fact, they're teaching Italian conversation at the public library. You know, it Borders. LINDA: Borders? AMELIA: Borders. They will -- you cannot teach the language, you know, the way they do with the colleges. They -- it's Italian conversation. Borders will allow that. Do they do it here? ANNA: I don't think so. AMELIA: Yeah. We have that in Phoenix. So there… we do use the Italian. 17 ANNA: There is… at Leominster High School, I think there are students there, I don't know if it's a hundred, 120 students that are taking the Italian language. And it was started by a member of our board. AMELIA: Was that the woman that just…? ANNA: That was Margaret Morgan. AMELIA: Oh, Margaret Morgan. ANNA: She started it about three years ago with about 60 students. The next year she had 90, then now 120. She's no longer at Leominster High School now, but there is another Italian woman who is teaching the language today. AMELIA: But do you know in Connecticut, they're beginning to teach Italian in the public school system in the primary grades. LINDA: Good. ANNA: Good. AMELIA: They're getting help from the Italian government. Oh, yes. ANNA: That's very good. AMELIA: Although there is a bit of Italian-American population in southern Connecticut, at Hartford, Waterbury, Watertown. LINDA: And they're getting money from the Italian government? AMELIA: Yeah. They're teaching Italian in the third grade. The Italian government is giving money. LINDA: Wow! ANNA: It's pretty much linked into that. LINDA: Okay, well there's been recent studies, recent studies that show that. I mean, it's only common sense, really, but people have actually studied how you learn a language. And certainly before you're seven. AMELIA: Yes, oh, yes. Their minds are… they absorb it more quickly. LINDA: So it doesn't make any sense to introduce it when they're in grade seven, it's when they're 12 and 13… 18 AMELIA: I know we studied when we were at the high school, that's when started studying languages, Latin and French. In fact, those were the only two languages they taught. ANNA: That's right. LINDA: I know that. ANNA: But I don't want to speak when you and the people that you went to school with, but I know myself, we didn't learn your language. We took French like, say, the four years, but we didn't learn it conversationally. AMELIA: No, no. It was strictly the language. Right. ANNA: And it's forgotten. LINDA: It's forgotten. AMELIA: And I think there's my Latin. Latin is not being taught in this school because it has to be made more attractive to the students. In Phoenix, Latin has become very popular in the school system because the people who are teaching it are making it interesting to the students. For example, Saturnalia, which they celebrate the -- it was around Christmastime. They dressed up in Roman costumes and they dramatized, and that's more interesting than just sitting at the desk and learning to, you know. ANNA: Sure. LINDA: Right. It's the benefit of learning Latin, just, you know, like it affects every language. So it seems to me it should be a requirement that… AMELIA: I'm sorry. I didn't… ANNA: For a few years. AMELIA: Oh, yeah. In fact, I think that Phoenix may have been -- I have a letter that I'm gonna send to the editor. He makes fun of Latin. He says, "Who is studying Latin today?" And one of the things I do when I get back to Arizona is I'm gonna write him a letter. He's been sending me a letter wanting me to renew my 19 subscription. I'm not going to renew, and I'm gonna tell him why. He didn't speak Latin well at all. LINDA: Should we end here? AMELIA: Pardon? LINDA: Shall we end? AMELIA: Yeah, I think so. LINDA: Okay. AMELIA: What time is it? Are you getting hungry? LINDA: It's 20 to 12. This is the end of the interview with Amelia and Anna. This is Linda Rosenwann. Thank you so much. AMELIA: Oh, you're welcome. So happy we were able to do this./AT/jf/jc/es

Technical Report 2018-08-ECE-138 Technical Report 2002-09-ECE-007 Enterprise Engineering - A Transdisciplinary Activity: Mapping IT to Core Competency Rajani S. Sadasivam Urcun J. Tanik Murat M. Tanik This technical report is a reissue of a technical report issued December 2002 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering University of Alabama at Birmingham August 2018 Technical Report 2002-09-ECE-007 Enterprise Engineering- A Transdisciplinary Activity: Mapping IT to Core Competency Rajani S. Sadasivam Urcun J. Tanik Murat M. Tanik TECHNICAL REPORT Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering University of Alabama at Bi1mingham December 2002 ENGINEERING OF ENTERPRISES: A TRANSDISCIPLINARY ACTIVITY Mapping Information Technology to Core Competency Contributors: Murat M. Tanik, Rajani S. Sadasivam, lJrcun J. Tanik 1. ELEMENTS Qli' INTERNET ENTERPRISE ENGINEERING 1.1) Uusiness Language Structure Before any e n gin~ring takes place, the requirements of the project must be identified in as much detail as possible to satisfy the customer. Hence a customer-driven system is created, with the goal of ensuring that the end product is profitable. Business analysts should be able to accurately assess customer needs and break them down into manageable pieces for the technology analysts and engineering team, and that analysis can be effectively done on common ground with an object-oriented design language called Unified Modeling Language (UML). Introduced in November 1997, UML has quickly become the standard modeling language for software development, later adapted by business analysts to systematically design business processes [15]. UML has a business model approach that provides a pJan for engineering an orchestrated set of business functions. It provides a framework by which business is to be perf01med, allowing for changes and various improvements in the process. The model is designed to anticipate changes in business function and adapt software implementation accordingly in order for a business to maintain a competitive edge. One of the advantages of modeling in UML is that it can visually depict functions, relationships, and paradigms. UML is reconunended for business analysts to breakdown a large-scale business operation into its constituent parts for restructming and design. 1.2 Strategic Guidance One innovative approach to safely guiding an lEE venture through unce11ain waters is the Cosmos model, proposed by Yeh [10]. It is a model designed to assist a business manage change through holistic, three-dimensional modeling. One of the important aspects of this model is that it should be noted that three dimensions exist interdependently, as each dimension behaves as an enabler and an inhibitor to the other dimensions. The Cosmos model provides a conceptual tool for managers to guide their company along the best possible path by providing a structure for effective decision-making, while navigating from one point of an organizational situation to another over . time. The managerial decision made at each point in the path detetmines the future course of the company and the most optimum tradeoff's along the way. 1.3 General Business Types and Characterizations The Enterprise Maturity Model is introduced in the beginning of Chapter 2 to serve as a general reference for business and technology analysts working together to build an Intemet enterprise riO]. This model helps to accurately define the objectives for the specific type of organization they wish to build with respect to the maturity level of the organizational structure. In order to characterize a business in terms of its level of maturity, focus, activity, coordination, and infrastructure, these various faclors are covered explicitly. It is very helpful to understand the maturity level of a given organization in order to apply the most appropriate management techniques according to enterprise type. 1.4 Online Business Model Selection and Analysis An enterprise business model is one of the most important aspects in the construction of a viable business initiative. The combination of a company's policy, operations, technology, and ideology defines its business model [16]. Entrepreneurs who wish to launch e-businesses need to be aware of these models and how to implement them effectively. An array of business model types are provided that have proven profitable for actual enterprises in operation today, including the storefront model, auction model, portal model, and dynamic pricing model [11]. The case study is used as an example for online business model selection and analysis. 1.5 Online Financial Transactions In financial transactions, it is critical to have a reliable method to collect payment. Since the scope of this thesis covers lEE systems, this thesis describes those that would be relevant to Cyberspace operations. There are various methods and mechanisms that merchants online use to collect income through electronic transactions. The types of transactions covered include credit card, e­wallet, debit card, digital currency, peer-lo-peer, smartcard, micropayment and e­billing mechanisms [11]. 1.6 Online Legal Contracts In order for proper oversight of monetary operations, legal issues must be addressed for lEE projects, so the concept of the online contract is introduced. An online contract can be accomp.lished through the use of Digital Signatures [1 1]. These electronic signatures are the electronic equivalent of written signatures. The ";Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act of 2000" (E-sign Bill) was recently passed into law [ 1 I, 4]. This technology was developed for use in public-key cryptography to solve the problems of authentication and integrity. The purpose of a digital signature is for electronic authentication. The U.S. govemment's digital­authentication standard is called the Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA) [1 1]. The U.S. government also recently passed digital-signature legislation that makes digital signatures as legally binding as hand-written signatures. This legislation is designed to promote more activity in e-business by legitimizing online contractual agreements. 1.7 OnUne Security For centuries in human society whenever something of value was transferred, a method to protect that shipment or trade had to be established. Naturally, this subject is discussed to illustrate the measures taken by current security agencies to protect value on the Internet. For example, Netscape Communications developed the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol, developed as a non-proprietary protocol commonly used to secure communication on the Internet and the Web. SSL is designed to use public key technology and digital certificates to authenticate the server in a transaction and to protect private information as it passes f1·om one party to another over the Internet. Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) protocol was developed by Visa International and Mastercard and was designed specifically to protect e-commerce payment transactions [11, 12]. SET uses digital certificates to authenticate each party in an e-commerce transaction, induding the customer, the merchant, and the merchant's bank. 1 . 8 Online Business Prototyping Technologies and Development In order for technologists to satisfy the requirements set forth by the business analysts expressed in a language such as UML, various high-level tools are needed to develop an accepta~le solution. One such tool, Macromedia . Drumbeat 2000, recently released by Elemental Software, is capable of accepting and delivering complex information and functionality through a Web-interface [20). This technology is introduced as a recommended tool for building a professional enterprise through rapid prototyping. The tool aids a visually skilled Web designer to competitively build a website without necessarily having to do any coding. It is a sophisticated tool that interacts with the back-end database by building user-friendly client-side applications with Active Server Page (ASP) Web technology. 1.9 Government Initiatives in Cyberspace An enterprise planning for the future should consider the overall development of the global Internet infrastructure. It is important to understand the territory in which an Internet enterprise is to be launched. In addition to the current Intemet environment, a new government initiative is in the works, entitled The Next Generation Internet (NGI). This multi-agency, national U.S. research and development program began on October 1, 1997 with the partidpation of the following agencies: DARPA, DOE, NASA, NJH, NIST, and NSF. These agencies are charged with the responsibility of developing advanced networking technologies, developing revolutionary applications that require advanced networking, and demonstrating these capabilities on test beds that are 100 to 1,000 times faster th

Not Available ; Strategies for Doubling Farmers' Income in Rainfed Regions of the Country Rainfed agriculture with nearly 53 per cent of the cultivated area contributes to 40 per cent of country's food production. Nearly 83% of the area under pulses, 85% of the area under coarse cereals, 70% of the area under oilseeds and 42% of the area under rice is rainfed. Rainfed regions are home to about 40% of the human and 60% of the livestock population and the performance of rainfed agriculture is critical to achieve and sustain higher growth in agriculture, enhance incomes and improve livelihoods. The productivity of several rainfed crops is around 1 t/ha and the adoption and diffusion of key rainfed technologies is still low resulting in large yield gaps between research stations and farmers' fields. Decline in the size of the holdings, continuous and unabated land degradation, widespread nutrient deficiencies, increasing climatic variability and climate change poses new challenges in the form of deficit rainfall, droughts and floods impacting the productivity and profitability. Besides, large livestock population inhabiting the rainfed regions require nutrient rich fodder and the demand and supply of fodder is widening. By 2025, the deficits will be to the tune of 65% in case of green fodder and 25% in case of dry fodder. The real incomes of the farmers are declining due to growing labour and input costs. In order to achieve doubling of farmers' income, besides meeting food and nutritional security of the growing population, enhancing the productivity of crops as well as an accelerated growth of livestock, fishery and horticulture sub-sectors will be required in rainfed areas. The short-term strategy would be deployment of location specific proven rainfed technologies depending on the resource endowments for bridging the yield gaps, cropping intensification in medium to high rainfall regions with appropriate water harvesting and efficient use, diversification of agriculture at farm level. Emphasis on strengthening of the farming system and enhancing income from livestock component, focus on market intelligence and dissemination of market information is key for enhancing income at farm. Upscaling of climate resilient integrated farming system modules with diversifying enterprises with high farm income is an essential strategy particularly for small and marginal farmers. The medium term strategy would be on high value crops and commodities including horticulture, protected cultivation of high value crops, value chain development for rainfed crops, capacity building of communities on market intelligence, skill up-gradation towards value addition, cost minimization by way of establishment of farmers producers groups, and risk minimization by way of providing access to water and insurance. For long-term sustainable agriculture, building Dr. K. Sammi Reddy soil organic carbon and promotion of application of organic manures and crop residues with reduced tillage to improve soil health is needed. These strategies have to be implemented in a system mode in association with all the relevant stakeholders so as to establish scalable and evidence based models for doubling of income for various rainfed agro-ecosystems in the country. The action plan need to be implemented in a mission mode pattern by DAC&FW and State line departments by converging with ongoing Central (PMKSY,PMPKVY, MGNREGA, RKVY, PMFBY, etc) and State (eg. Krishi Bhagya program of Karnataka, PantaSanjivani of Andhra Pradesh, PoCRA of Maharashtra, drought management program of Odisha, TSMIP of Telangana etc) programs. This may require adequate fund allocation and manpower. The focus should also be on capacity building/skill development of all relevant stakeholders at various levels. ICAR-CRIDA along with network partners through AICRPDA, AICRPAM, NICRA and SAUs would contribute for implementing the mission mode program through technical backstopping. K. Sammi Reddy Director (Acting), CRIDA CRIDA - Newsletter 2 Research Highlights New Research Initiatives Development of Microbial Consortia for Drought Tolerance in Rainfed Crops Plant beneficial microorganisms have great potential to enhance the drought tolerance and crop productivity. They exhibit variety of plant growth promoting characteristics, which help in modifying the physiological responses to water scarcity and enhances the survival and growth of crop plants. Combination of microbial cultures potentially aid in multiple functions, which are not possible otherwise. Since the constituent individual species perform different functions such as nitrogen fixation, phosphorus solubilization, drought tolerance etc. which gives additive benefit for crop growth and development. At ICARCRIDA, a project entitled 'Development of microbial consortia for drought tolerance in rainfed crops' has been initiated in collaboration with AICRP on Dryland Agriculture to evaluate microbial consortia already developed at CRIDA under different rainfed regions of the country and to identify potential isolates/ consortia of microorganisms if any for drought tolerance and plant growth promotion from native soils. This study would help in characterizing the location specific effective consortia that could be used to improve plant growth and yield under drought stress conditions. District Action Plans for Drought Proofing ICAR-CRIDA has been given the responsibility to develop district action plans for drought proofing for 24 selected districts in 3 states i.e Karnataka (16), Andhra Pradesh (4), Rajasthan (4). The plans being developed in association with participation of district level officials of different line departments including agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, irrigation, groundwater and rural development and KVKs and state agriculture universities. A common template has been prepared by ICAR-CRIDA and circulated to all districts to collect the relevant information on all sectors covering climate information, crops, animals, water resources availability and prioritisation basis to identify the crops/horticulture systems/ livestock systems to assess the vulnerability and the possible interventions in terms of water management, watershed activities and crop based interventions for inclusion in developmental programmes. Capacity building workshops were organised for 3 states separately on the template and review meetings are also completed for district level officials. Co-4 fodder in the farmer's field Farmers FIRST Project Farmers FIRST project on "Farmer Centric Natural Resource Development for Socio- Economic Empowerment in Rainfed areas of Southern Telangana Region" being implemented since October, 2016 in Pudur mandal of Vikarabad district of Telangana State in a cluster of four villages namely: Thirumalapur, Rakamcharla, Pudugurthy and Devanoniguda comprising 400 households. Based on PRA and baseline survey information, an action plan and technology package for the area has been implemented. The technology package modules comprised of soil and water conservation, crops and cropping systems, horticulture, livestock, farm mechanization and socio-economic studies. Development of model irrigation system, vegetable nursery raising at farmers level utilizing portrays with cocopeat; seed and shade nets, backyard poultry; mineral supplementation; crop residue management by making total mixed ration and use of chaff cutter; ram lamb technology; fodder technology var.CO- 4 series were some of interventions carried out in the villages in participatory mode. CRIDA - Newsletter 3 Unreaped Yield Potentials of Major Rainfed Crops A Decision Support System (DSS) has been developed which can be hosted online. The DSS accommodates 15 rainfed crops. For a selected crop and district, the DSS identifies model district having agro-climatic features similar to target district and provides potential yield achieved by model district. It further explores the scope for bridging the yield gap with adoption of HYVs and proper nutrient management. Some validation checks were incorporated for nutrient use. Testing is being done for hosting the application on CRIDA server. Yield efficiency of a district was assessed under rainfed conditions by building a composite index. The index was built by combining crop-wise efficiencies (20 crops) using area sown under a crop as weight. There were 60 districts which have potential for doubling of yield under rainfed production system. Scientific Activities Orientation Workshop on Drought Management An Orientation Workshop on "Drought Management in Odisha" at Watershed Mission Building, Bhubaneswar was organized on 7th July, 2017 by Department of Agriculture and Farmers' Empowerment, Govt. of Odisha, involving all line departments. The workshop was attended by Director, CRIDA and Scientist representatives from CRIDA, IIWM and OUA&T. The meeting was chaired by Smt. Sujata Kartikeyan, Commissioner cum Director, Odisha Watershed Development Mission. Dr. K. Sammi Reddy, Acting Director, ICAR-CRIDA in his opening remarks, appraised the delegates about short, medium and long-term action plans of Drought management to be taken up and role of various stakeholders in carrying out the MoU. Two presentations were made, first by Dr. P. Vijaya Kumar, ICARCRIDA on the detailed approach for drought management and the other by Dr. G. Kar of ICAR-IIWM on Mitigation Strategies. Deliberations were made on identification of blocks which are vulnerable to drought based on data available for selected parameters. Further, stress on inclusion of socio-economic parameters was laid, as Odisha is lagging behind in these aspects though it has better natural resources. A core group was formed to work out the methodology of prioritizing blocks for drought management. Smt. Sujata suggested for development of detailed technical programme for the selected blocks at the earliest to initiate the activities and also for monitoring and evaluation of the Programme by ICAR and SAU. Institute Advisory Committee (IAC) Meeting under Farmers FIRST Project Institute Advisory Committee (IAC) under Farmers FIRST Project was conducted on 26th July, 2017 at ICAR-CRIDA, under the chairmanship of Dr. K. Sammi Reddy, Director (Acting), ICARCRIDA in the presence of Dr. Y.G. Prasad, Director, ICAR-ATARI (Zone-X), Smt. S.V. Bharati, ADA, Vikarabad Dist., Ms. Vijayanti, HO, Parigi division, Dr. G. Nirmala, PI and all Co-PIs of the Farmers FIRST Project. A brief presentation on activities of project was made by Dr. G. Nirmala, PI which included the progress of work done and action plans for the year 2017-18. Some suggestions made by official includes to sum up each parameter of survey of 400 households in 4 villages, establishment of fodder bank, seed bank and IFS module in each village. Orientation Workshop on Drought Management in Odisha Institute Advisory Committee (IAC) under Farmer FIRST Project Interface Meeting on Agriculture Contingencies An interface meeting was organised on 8th August, 2017 at ICARCRIDA, Hyderabad, to assess the prevailing crop condition due CRIDA - Newsletter 4 to deficient rains in Telangana state under the chairmanship of Sri Parthasarathi, Agriculture Prin. Secretary, Govt of Telangana which was attended by District Level Officials and representatives of various institutes in Hyderabad. The rainfall for Southwest monsoon 2017, was predicted to be normal for the entire state. Rainfall during June month observed to be very good with majority mandals receiving normal to large excess rainfall in the state. A total of 264 mandals out of 584 mandals in the state received large excess rainfall. Only 63 mandals received deficient (59 mandals) to large deficient (4 mandals) rains in the state. Contingency measures to be taken up under the present condition were discussed. An assessment of available water in major, medium and minor tanks was also discussed. District level officials were advised to be cautious and also requested to monitor the emerging pests for cotton and other crops and requested to issue timely advisories to farmers using electronic media. Interface Meeting Standing Technical Committee (STC) Meeting of National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA). The Standing Technical Committee (STC) meeting of National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) was held on 8th September, 2017 at ICAR-CRIDA, Hyderabad under the Chairmanship of Dr.K. Sammi Reddy, Chairman, STC & Director, ICARCRIDA. Sri B.V.N. Rao, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare gave a brief on the importance of the pilot research projects being implemented by the various ICAR institutes sanctioned under NMSA. The committee reviewed these projects and suggested to develop Climate Resilient Farming System models. The committee advised to develop a withdrawal strategy for maintenance of assets created under the project and the outcome of the projects should indicate how the interventions of the project would contribute towards the vision of doubling of the farmers' income and reducing the risk due to extreme climate events. Hindi Fortnight Celebration The Hindi Fortnight was organized from 1-14 September, 2017. On this occasion Hindi Noting Drafting, Hindi-English technical, terminology, Hindi competitions and many others were organized. Winners were awarded with cash prizes on the concluding day by Director, CRIDA. Hindi Fortnight Celebration Dr.K.Sammi Reddy, Director (Acting) visited various experimental plots during Field IRC Field Institute Research Council (IRC) Meeting Field Institute Research Council (IRC) Meeting for 2017-18 was held on 21st September, 2017 at Gunegal Research Farm (GRF) and 27th September, 2017 at Hayathnagar Research Farm (HRF) under the chairmanship of Dr. K. Sammi Reddy, Director (Acting). The chairman IRC, Dr.K.Sammi Reddy, Project coordinators, Heads of Divisions/Sections and scientists visited various experiments and discussed thoroughly on various treatment effects. Various suggestions like displaying of the experimental and treatment boards at the experimental site, periodical Meeting in progress CRIDA - Newsletter 5 monitoring of soil moisture in CA related experiments, correlation of rainfall amount, rainy days and crop were made in Field IRC. Quinquennial Review Team (QRT) Meeting A two-day Quinquennial Review Team (QRT) meeting was organized at ICAR-CRIDA, Hyderabad during 20-21 December, 2017 under the Chairmanship of Dr. J.C. Katyal, Former VC, HAU, Hisar & Ex. DDG (Edn.), ICAR. The meeting was attended by Dr. V.M. Mayande, Former VC, PDKV, Akola; Dr. A. M. Shekh, Former VC, AAU Anand; Dr. V.S. Korikanthimath, Former Director, ICAR-CCARI, Goa; Dr. S.D.Gorantiwar, Head, (Dept. of IDE), MPKV, Rahuri and Dr. Rajender Parsad, Principal Scientist, ICAR-IASRI. Dr. K. Sammi Reddy, in his welcome address briefed the members about historical background of the institute, organizational structure, achievements in brief. The QRT members appreciated the efforts of ICAR- CRIDA and recommended inter-divisional approach for carrying out research. An interaction session was also organized with the scientists of the institute. QRT meeting in progress Interaction session with scientists Technology Transfer Exposure Visit under Farmers FIRST Project An exposure visit was conducted for nearly 80 farmers from Devononiguda and Rakamcherla villages of Pudur cluster, Vikarabad district, Telangana state on 30th August, 2017 to expose the farmers to the horticulture exhibition which has been organized at Peoples plaza, Necklace road, Hyderabad by the State Department of Horticulture and Sericulture, Government of Telangana. During the visit the farmers were exposed to various horticultural technologies. A technical session was arranged on horticulture schemes of department and subsidies and prospects of organic farming in vegetable cultivation, and best management in vegetables particularly chillies which is grown by the farmers. The exposure visit provided farmers an opportunity to meet promoters of organic farming, medicinal and aromatic products, Bonsai practitioners etc. Farm Implements Distribution to Tribal Farmers In the month of October, 2017 two programmes were organized in Kothwalguda cluster of Adilabad district and another in Yellamma thanda cluster of Rangareddy district (27th October, 2017) to create awareness among tribal farmers and to distribute improved implements to the farmers, in the awareness programme organized in Rangareddy district. Dr. K. Sammi Reddy, Director (Acting) emphasized the need of various improved implements and machinery and presented machines to the selected beneficiaries. CRIDA Farm machinery team under the guidance of Dr. I. Srinivas conducted demonstrations to farming community. Participation of Farmers in National Workshop Farmers from Pudur cluster under FFP project participated in 'A National Workshop on Doubling Farmers Income' from 22-23 December, 2017 at ICAR-NAARM. Feedback and suggestions on technology generation and dissemination for doubling farmers' income were provided to Telangana farmers during the meet. Dr. K.Sammi Reddy, Director (Acting) distributing power sprayers to farmers of Rangareddy Cluster Adilabad cluster village farmers display power sprayers received from CRIDA Participation of farmers in National Workshop Mera Gaon Mera Gaurav (MGMG) Activities Teams of Scientists from CRIDA have visited villages of Adilabad and Rangareddy districts in Telangana state under MGMG programme during July to December, 2017. During the period the following activities were undertaken in the programme: CRIDA - Newsletter 6 Districts Villages Activities Adilabad Seetagondi gram panchayat: Chinna Malkapur, Pedda Malkapur, Kothwalguda and Garkampet Demonstration and distribution of ten 5-hp pump sets and power sprayers to eligible beneficiaries, acquired under TSP plan Rangareddy Yellammathanda, Dadipalli thanda, Venkateswarthanda and Rangapur Distribution of power sprayers Nalgonda Kothathanda, Boringthanthanda, Lakma thanda Voice based Agro-advisries National Nutrition Week Celebration ICAR - KVK, Ranga Reddy district, CRIDA organized National Nutrition Week from 1 - 7 September, 2017 in the KVK adopted villages Narrepally and Gummadivelli. The theme of the event envisaged by the Govt. of India was "Better health and Improved diet in Infants and children". In Narrepally village, the programme was conducted on 6th September, 2017, where about 200 farm women, farmers and Anganwadi teachers attended the programme. Dr. V. Maruthi, Head KVK emphasized the traditional diets, their importance in nutrition to rural women. Smt. Shantisree, ICDS CDPO and chief guest presented a detailed picture of Nutritional programme for women nutritive value of synthetic diets nutritional disorders etc. In Gummadivelli, Kandukur Mandal, Ranga Reddy District the National Nutrition Week was celebrated on 7th September, 2017. Around 200 farm women attended the programme. Sri M.Babu Sarpanch, Sri Rameshwara Rao, District Training Officer, Zilla Parishad, Smt. Shobana CDPO, Kandukur mandal participated in the programme as Chief guests. Nutritional aspects of farm women and nutrition requirements were the topics of discussion during the programme. Field Day on Usage of Agricultural Implements ICAR-CRIDA KVK has conducted field day and an awareness programme on usage of agricultural Implements in field demonstrations on 18th September, 2017 at Gummadivelly village, Kandukur mandal, Ranga Reddy District. Dr. V. Maruthi, Head, KVK briefed the farmers on the need to adopt mechanization in all operations for cost reduction and yield enhancement with different implements and other technologies. Dr. B. Sanjeeva Reddy, Principal Scientist and OIC of farm Implements ICARCRIDA emphasized on CRIDA developed implements usage and availability. Er S. Vijayakumar, SMS (Agricultural Engineering), organized 30 field demonstrations in two villages with seedcum-fertilizer planter and the performance of demonstrated farmer fields with comparison to farmers' method and was found to be effective. About 67 farmers participated in the field day programme from two villages Gummadavelly and Kolanguda villages. The Farmers were educated on the improved production technologies through interactions and brochure prepared in local language. An exhibition was also arranged during this occasion to exhibit different agricultural implements developed from ICARCRIDA. Technology Week Technology week was organised at KVK-Ranga Reddy, ICARCRIDA, Hyderabad during 14-16 October, 2017. On the first day Dr.V.Maruthi, Head, KVK and Principal Scientist chaired the event and the Chief Guest of the day was Er.M.Mallikarjuna Swamy, State Technical Expert, State Level Nodal Agency, PMKSY and WDC, Telangana State, Guest of Honour was Dr.K.Dattatri, Principal Scientist, ICAR-ATARI, Hyderabad. Exhibitions were organized on farm machinery, livestock medicines, feed mixtures, bio-products, micro-irrigation, fodder cafeteria, books and literature on agriculture. National Women Farmers' Day National Women Farmers' Day (Mahila Kisan Divas) was organized by Krishi Vigyan Kendra, CRIDA on 15.10.2017 at Hayathnagar Research Farm with the participation of 250 women farmers from Ranga Reddy district. Dr. V. Maruthi, Head, KVK and Principal Scientist briefed the importance of the day and women's role in agriculture. Dr. K. Uma Maheswari, Head, PGRC, PJTSAU in her lecture discussed about the problems faced by women in farm activities. Dr. Sarah Kamala, Professor, AICRP (H.Sc.) discussed the issues related to drudgery reduction technologies for farm women, farm women's role and problems in agriculture. Dr. K. Sammi Reddy, Director (Acting), ICAR-CRIDA, Chief Guest of the programme addressed the women farmers by highlighting the KVK role in women empowerment, drudgery management and nutritional aspects. Dr. Y.G. Prasad, Director, ICAR-ATARI, Guest of Honour in his address sought the farmers to utilize the services of KVK by women farmers related to nutrition garden, drudgery equipment, trainings on farm and nonfarm activities. Live demonstrations, exhibits, technical sessions and farmer interactions with the experts were organized. National womens day celebration at CRIDA-KVK. CRIDA - Newsletter 7 National Agriculture Education Day ICAR-CRIDA celebrated National Agriculture Education Day on 3rd December, 2017 by organizing essay writing competitions for Class VIII & IX students and painting competitions for Class VI & VII students to mark the birth anniversary of first President of Independent India and Union Minister of Agriculture, Bharat Ratna (Late) Dr. Rajendra Prasad. Total 36 students from 12 different Kendriya Vidyalaya Schools located in Hyderabad and Secunderabad participated in the competitions. Dr. R.Nagarjuna Kumar, Scientist, briefed about the celebrations of Nation Agriculture Education Day. Dr. K. Sammi Reddy, Director (Acting), ICAR-CRIDA distributed prizes to the winners. In his address, he advised the students to choose agriculture science as a career option and also said that agriculture as a discipline which has huge opportunities and awareness of this has to be created through such science based programmes. oriented the farmers about soil testing facility, procedure of soil sample collection, analysis and usage of recommendations for higher crop yields. Sri. Pentaiah, Village Sarpanch thanked the CRIDA efforts in preparation and distribution of soil health cards and requested for similar cooperation and support in future. CRIDA scientists and extension functionaries from Agriculture department and Horticulture department interacted with the farmers. 140 Soil Health Cards were distributed with the crop related recommendations to the farmers of Rakamcharla, Tirumalapur and Devanoniguda villages of Pudur cluster under Farmers' First Project. Dr. K. Sammi Reddy, Director (Acting), ICAR-CRIDA explained the usage of Soil Health Cards and its National Agriculture Education Day Celebration World Soil Day Celebration at Rakamcharla Village KVK-CRIDA celebrated Agriculture Education Day on 3rd December, 2017 at KVK, Hayathnagar Research Farm. A batch of 164 school children from Ravindrabharathi School and St. Patrick School of 8th -10th standard actively participated. These school children were exposed to live field crops technologies, fodder cafeteria, farm mechanization, agricultural implements, livestock demonstrations etc. and also emphasized the importance of soil health status for agriculture crops and importance of soil by demonstration of soil testing in the laboratory. A debate competition on "Importance of organic Agriculture" was organized for students. Dr. V. Maruthi, Head, KVK and Principal Scientist and KVK staff interacted with children on various issues concerned to Agriculture education, followed by the distribution of appreciation certificates for the winners. World Soil Day Celebrations ICAR-CRIDA celebrate World Soil Day on 5th December, 2017 at Rakamcharla village, Pudur Mandal, Vikarabad district under the Chairmanship of Dr. K. Sammi Reddy, Director (Acting), ICARCRIDA, Hyderabad. Around 200 farmers from the villages of Pudur cluster attended the Soil Health Card distribution program. Dr. G.Nirmala, Principal Scientist, Head, TOT welcomed the participants and explained the objectives of the programme. Shri Ram Mohan, Agricultural Officer from the Agriculture department World soil day celebration at CRIDA-KVK interpretation for effective nutrient management for sustainable crop yields. On this occasion farm literature on "Soil Health Cards", "Soil and Water Conservation measures" and "Nursery raising through portrays" were released by the dignitaries. Dr. K. Sammi Reddy along with CRIDA scientists reviewed the progress of Farmers FIRST project activities during the field visit. World Soil Day was celebrated by conducting programme in one of the KVK adopted villages: Nagireddipalli, Nawabpet Mandal on 5.12.2017. Honorable MLA Sh. K. Yadaiah, Chevella Assembly Constituency participated in the programme along with other local representatives, government officials, NGOs and 188 farmers and farm women. Expert lecture by Dr. K. Srinivas, Principal Scientist (Soil Science), ICAR-CRIDA was arranged on soil health, nutrient management and soil test based recommendations to the farmers. Dr. V. Maruthi, Head, KVK and Principal Scientist briefed the importance of world soil day to the farmers. Hon'ble MLA distributed few soil health cards to the farmers from 4 villages. Pledge on Soil Day was also taken. Video message was displayed. A total of 300 soil health cards were distributed. Exhibits on soil testing kit, bio-fertilizers and fodder were also arranged. CRIDA - Newsletter 8 News from AICRPs Farmers-Scientists Interaction Meeting AICRPDA Centre, Rakh Dhiansar organized Farmers-Scientists interaction meeting in AICRPDA-NICRA village Khaner, District Samba on 26th November, 2017. Dr K. Sammi Reddy, Director (Acting), ICAR-CRIDA, Dr. G. Ravindra Chary Project Coordinator (AICRPDA), Dr. S. K. Dhyani, Principal Scientist, NRM Division ICAR, Dr. J. P. Sharma, Director of Research and other officials from SKUAST-Jammu, Scientists from AICRPDA centres, Rakh Dhiansar, Ballowal Saunkhri and farmers from the AICRPDA-NICRA villages Khaner and Dangervala participated in the meeting. Farmers appreciated the real-time contingency measures to cope-up with weather aberrations and farmers emphasized on farm mechanization in rainfed crops. Brainstorming Session on "Automation of Agromet Advisory Services" A meeting of scientists from IMD, AICRPAM and ICAR-CRIDA was organized on 3rd August, 2017 at ICAR-CRIDA. The meeting was chaired by Dr. K. J. Ramesh, Director General, IMD, in which Dr. K. Sammi Reddy, Director (Acting), ICAR-CRIDA, Dr. P. Vijaya Kumar, PCAICRPAM and other scientists from IMD, AICRPAM Unit and Farmers-Scientists interaction in the AICRPDA-NICRA village AICRPAM Annual Working Group meeting National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) Annual Action Plan and Review Workshop of NICRA-KVKs Annual action plan and review workshop of NICRA-KVK's of various ATARI Zones were conducted in July, 2017 to review the progress in 2017- 18 and to discuss and finalize the action plan for 2018-19. The meetings captured the salient achievements and success stories from technology demonstrations in NICRA adopted villages. Dr. JVNS Prasad, Co-PI, TDC-NICRA emphasized about the approaches for scaling up of the proven resilient practices in the NICRA villages which is to be adopted in the next phase of NICRA in various workshops. Various suggestions were given to make the NICRA-KVK's achievements visible to other farmers and stakeholders. NICRA-KVK's of the zone presented from three AICRPAM centers attended and discussed about the collaboration between AICRPAM and IMD in preparation and dissemination of Agromet advisories. AICRPAM Annual Working Group Meeting The Annual working group meeting of AICRP on Agrometeorology was held at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agriculture Sciences & Technology (SKUAST) Jammu, Chatha during 27th-29th November, 2017 to evaluate the research progress made during Kharif 2016 and Rabi 2016-17. All the scientists from AICRPAM Unit and cooperating centers participated. The center-wise progress of AICRPAM was reviewed under each individual research theme. QRT member Dr. AM Shekh and other invited experts have provided their valuable suggestions. Training to IMD Scientist In a series of trainings to IMD scientists, Dr. (Mrs.) Lata Bishnoi was trained under AICRPAM, ICAR-CRIDA in Agrometeorology from 21-08-2017 to 8-09-2017. Brainstorming meeting on Automation of Agromet Advisory CRIDA - Newsletter 9 the consolidated achievements of the NICRA programme in the last 6 years and the action plan for the next year. Details of the Annual Action Plan and Review Workshop of NICRA-KVKs Sl.No Zones Place Date 1 Zone VIII Krishi Vigyan Kendra- Baramati (Pune) 3 July, 2017 2 Zone III ICAR-ATARI, Jodhpur 5 July, 2017 3 Zone V ICAR-ATARI, Kolkata 12 July, 2017 4 Zone VI College of Veterinary Sciences, Assam Agricultural University, Khanapara, Guwahati 10-11 July, 2017 5 Zone X ICAR-CRIDA, Hyderabad 13 July, 2017 6 Zone XI ICAR-ATARI, Bengaluru 29 July, 2017 Expert committee meeting in progress resilient agriculture, Up-scaling farm machinery custom hiring centres in India: A policy paper, "Roots of rainfed crops and Issues and remedies in rainfed farming" (in Hindi) were released by the Hon'ble DG, ICAR. Glimpses of Annual Action Plan cum Review Workshops Expert Committee to Review the Research Projects A two-day NICRA Expert Committee meeting was organized at NASC, New Delhi during 23rd-24th October, 2017.Dr. T. Mohapatra, Secretary, DARE and DG, ICAR in his address set the road map for next phase of NICRA with outputs that have impact at national level. Progress of 13 ongoing projects from Competitive Grants and two projects under Sponsored component were reviewed under the Chairmanship of Dr. K. Alagusundaram, DDG (NRM) and co-chaired by Dr. S Bhaskar, ADG (AAF & CC). Dr. K Sammi Reddy, Director (Acting), ICAR-CRIDA, Hyderabad presented the overview of progress under NICRA under CG and Sponsored components so far and the need for thorough monitoring of the progress by the expert committee. For each project a subcommittee of relevant members from NICRA Expert Committee was formed to mentor and monitor the progress of the projects. The committee deliberated on the identification of themes for inviting new proposals under Competitive Grants component for the next phase of NICRA. On this occasion, four publications from ICAR-CRIDA, Hyderabad viz., Farm innovations in climate ZMC visit at Kendrapara ZMC visit at Jharsaguda Zonal Monitoring Committee (ZMC) Visits Zonal monitoring committee's visits to various zones were organized to review the technical progress of different modules like NRM, crop production, livestock & fishery and institutional interventions in NICRA villages and for making appropriate suggestions for improvement. Details of ZMC visits during 2017-18 Sl. No Name of the ATARI Name of the KVK Date Name of the participating Member from CRIDA 1 Kolkata Kendrapara, Jharsuguda 31October - 1November, 2017 Dr. M. Osman 2 Barapani Ri-Bhoi and Imphal East 23-24 November, 2017 Dr. JVNS. Prasad 3 Hyderabad Nalgonda & Khammam 12-13 December, 2017 Dr. I. Srinivas, Dr. G. Pratibha 4 Patna Buxar, Jehanabad and Aurangabad 13-15 December, 2017 Dr. S.K. Bal, Dr. D.B.V. Ramana 5 Jodhpur Sirsa, Yamunangar 21-23 December, 2017 Dr. S.K. Yadav, Dr. K. Nagasree CRIDA - Newsletter 10 Important Visitors Visit of Dr. K. Alagusundaram DDG (NRM), ICAR Dr. K. Alagusundaram, Deputy Director General (NRM) has visited ICAR-CRIDA on 16th August, 2017 to review the research activities and oversee the completion of Climate Research Facilities (FATE, CTGC and SCADA) at Hayatnagar Research Farm (HRF). Dr. K. Sammi Reddy, Director (Acting) along with Project Coordinators, Heads of Divisions/Sections, other Scientists, staff of Administration and Finance have accompanied the DDG to HRF. The DDG (NRM) expressed his satisfaction Dr.K.A Lagusundaram, Deputy Director General (NRM) Interacting with Scientists about the progress made in installation of Climate Research Facilities. He visited the farm machinery workshop and gave valuable suggestions for improving the workshop facilities. Canadian Delegation Visit to ICAR-CRIDA Canadian delegation visited ICAR-CRIDA on 17th November, 2017. The team interacted with the Director and Scientists of the institute. The team got acquainted with the technologies developed by the institute displayed in Dryland Gallery and were exposed to various research facilities present at CRIDA. Visits Abroad Dr. D.B.V. Ramana participated in the International Conference on Recent Advances in Animal Nutrition (RAAN) held at School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia from 25-27, October, 2017 under 2015 Norman E. Borlaug International Agricultural Science and Technology Fellowship Programme (Borlaug Fellowship) of United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Foreign Dr. D.B.V. Ramana participated in the Recent Advances in Animal Nutrition (RAAN) conference Agricultural service, USA. The purpose of the visit was to get exposed to the recent advances in animal nutrition and had dialogue with mentor for possible future research linkages. Human Resource Development Training Programme on Efficient Watershed Management in Rainfed Agriculture A five day training programme on "Efficient Watershed Management in Rainfed Agriculture" sponserd by watershed development department, Govt. of Karnataka was organized at ICAR-CRIDA from 19-23 September, 2017. Twelve officials from the Karnataka agriculture departments participated in the programme. The training covered various aspects of soil and water conservation, water harvesting, farm machineries along Participants of the training programme Canadian delegation visit to ICAR-CRIDA CRIDA - Newsletter 11 with field visits and practical exposure to the water harvesting structures. Dr. K. Ravi Shankar, PS, TOT was the course director for the training course. Model Training Course on Participatory Natural Resource Management for Sustainable Agricultural Productivity in Rainfed areas Model Training Course on "Participatory Natural Resource Management for Sustainable Agricultural Productivity in Rainfed areas" sponsored by DOE was organised at CRIDA during October 4-11, 2017. Fifteen officials from eight different states viz., Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Punjab and Karnataka attended the model training course. The course covered focus on various technologies for sustainable NRM, horticulture systems in rainfed agriculture, enhancing productivity of crops and cropping systems through effective use of natural resources, farming systems approach, role of livestock and their management for enhancing productivity and income in drylands, gender mainstreaming, communication tools and techniques for sustainable NRM. Dr. K. Nagasree, Principal Scientist was the course director for the training programme. Participants of the training programme Training Programme on Farm Mechanization under CRP-Farm Mechanization and Precision Farming The programme was organized by the ICAR-CRIDA under CRP-Farm Mechanization and Precision Farming in association with KVK, RR District for TSP farmers on 27th October, 2017 at Yellamma Thanda village, Manchal Manda, Rangareddy District. The participants were addressed by Dr. K. Sammi Reddy, Director (Acting), B. Venkteswar Rao, ADA, Alair Reddy District, Smt. G. Jayamma, MPP, Mr. Jagadeswar, village Sarpanch and ICARCRIDA Staff. The participants explained about the importance of farm mechanization in agriculture. Different farm machinery viz. manual weeder, six row multi crop CRIDA planter, bed planter cum herbicide applicator, bullock drawn weeder etc. were demonstrated. Around 200 farmers were trained from Yellamma Thanda village. The trainees were imparted skills in operation of different crop based agricultural implements. ICAR Short course on Tools on Monitoring, Evaluation and Impact Assessment of Rainfed Technologies and Development Programmes ICAR Sponsored Short course on "Tools on Monitoring, Evaluation and Impact Assessment of Rainfed Technologies and Development Programmes" was conducted for 10 days from 1-10 November, 2017 at ICAR-CRIDA. Dr. Y. G. Prasad, Director, ATARI (Zone-X) was the Guest of Honour for the inaugural session. Dr. Y. G. Prasad addressed the participants about the importance of Tools on Monitoring, Evaluation and Impact Assessment of Rainfed Technologies. Dr. K. Sammi Reddy, Director (Acting), ICAR-CRIDA highlighted significance of M&E for impact assessment of rainfed technologies in the context of doubling farmers' income. Dr. G. Nirmala, Principal Scientist and Course Director briefed the objectives of the short course. During the ten days of short course, the participants were familiarized with topics like concepts and principles of M&E, results-based management, theory of change, protocols for organic livestock interventions, impact assessment of KVK, IWDP and agricultural development programmes. Inaugural session of the short course Participants of the training programmes ICAR-Sponsored Training Program for ICAR Technical Staff ICAR-sponsored training program on 'Agrometeorological Data Collection, Analysis and Management' for ICAR technical staff was organized at ICAR-CRIDA during 11-23 December, 2017. All the trainees were exposed to various agro-climatic analysis techniques, and on hands on practicals. Besides these, they were exposed to national and international institutes where the Agrometeorological research is going on through field visits. CRIDA - Newsletter 12 Capacity Building Activities of Farmers Training on Crop Colonies and Soil Health Management in Horticulture Crops Department of Horticulture, Telangana and KVK-CRIDA organized the training programme on "Crop colonies and soil health management in horticulture crops for sustainable net returns" organized at Center of Excellence, Govt. of Telangana, Jeedimetla, Medchal on 8th September, 2017. About 150 practicing farmers from Ibrahimpatnam cluster attended the training. Sri. S. Parthasarathi, IAS, APC & Secretary to Govt.Agriculture & Cooperation, Government of Telangana, Sri L. Venkatram Reddy, Commissioner of Horticulture (FAC), Government of Telangana and department officials interacted with farmers and visited the fields. Importance of soil testing, procedures for soil sampling, soil test based fertilizer recommendations, vulnerability of small and marginal farmers in rain-fed/dryland areas, integrated farming with agri-horti-animal husbandry for sustainable net income, crop diversification, inter crops/mixed cropping, strip cropping, trap crops, boarder crops, sticky traps, pheromone traps, water traps etc were also demonstrated. Pest Management and Vegetable Cultivation in Nawabpet Mandal of Vikarabad Division (Kesavapalli and Thimmaredy palli villages). Dr. SM Vidya sekhar and Sh. G. Sri Krishna from KVK-CRIDA, Ranga Reddy District, Telangana, Sh. Nagabrahma Chari, CEO of Seed NGO and Village Sarpanch along with 67 farmers participated in the programme. The soil test based fertilizer recommendations were given to 200 farmers for crops like Rice, Cotton, Redgram, Maize, Vegetables and soil health management aspects were explained to farmers by Dr. S.M. Vidya Sekhar, KVK during the training programme. Around 200 soil health cards prepared by KVK were distributed to farmers of the two villages. Integrated Pest Management of Cotton and Redgram crops were covered and the farmers were given the demonstration of inputs of pheromone traps with lures for Pink bollworm, Helicoverpa, Spodoptera for Cotton and Redgram and bio-fertilizers, Trichoderma etc. Training Programme on Soil Health Management, IPM and Vegetable Cultivation An off-campus training programme in collaboration with SEED NGO under the sponsorship of NABARD was organized on 14th September, 2017 on Soil Health Management, Integrated Participants of the training programme Off-campus training on "Soil Health Management and IPM" Training on "Crop colonies and Soil health management" Training on Good Horticultural Practices in Tuber Crops KVK, ICAR-CRIDA conducted on-campus training on Good horticultural Practices in Tuber crops suitable for Ranga Reddy district farmers on 29th November, 2017 at KVK, CRIDA. About 42 vegetable growers and KVK staff attended the programme. Dr. D.Anitha Kumari, Scientist (Entomology) VRS, SKLTSHU explained about suitable major tuber crops viz. Colacasia, Sweet potato and Yam with reference to improved varieties, climate, soil characters, seed rate, spacing, planting methods, weeding, irrigation, fertilizers, pest, disease management, harvesting and yield. GHPs like Bio-fertilizers, Bio-control agents, plant derivatives, Raised bed cultivation, Use of Drip irrigation, Adaptation of Fertigation, Need based Micronutrient foliar sprays, trap crops, Boarder crops, sticky traps, pheromone traps, water traps etc. which will reduce the cost of cultivation were demonstrated. CRIDA - Newsletter 13 Forthcoming Events Sl. No. Title of the event Duration 1 26th Meeting of RAC at ICAR-CRIDA, Hyderabad January 11-12, 2018 2 International training on Strategies for Enhancement of Farmers Income in Dryland Agriculture" under the program Feed the Future - India Triangular Training (FTF-ITT) January 16-30, 2018 3 Republic Day January 26, 2018 4 XVI Working Group Meeting of AICRPDA at AICRPDA centre, Jagdalpur February 1-5, 2018 5 International Training programme on Rainwater Management for Climate Resilient Agriculture in Dryland under India-Africa Forum Summit-III February 15 - March 07, 2018 6 CRIDA Foundation Day April 12, 2018 7 IRC meeting April/May, 2018 8 World Environment Day June 5, 2018 For further details please visit the website : www.crida.in Participation in Seminars and Symposia Name of the scientist Workshops/seminars/meetings/symposia Duration Venue K. Sammi Reddy Chaired the Thematic Session-5 on Climate Resilient Agriculture in the 3rd World Congress on Disaster Management Nov 7, 2017 Visakhapatnam, AP Delivered a lecture in Summer School on "Recent Advances in Abiotic Stress Management in Climate Smart Agriculture" Sep 15, 2017 NIASM, Baramati, Maharashtra Attended World Bank aided Project meeting on Climate Resilient Agriculture (POCRA) and to give inputs regarding the effective dissemination Sep 22-23, 2017 World Trade Centre, Mumbai, Maharashtra Attended Interactive Seminar on the foresight – Agrimonde – Terre : 2050 The Indian Perspective Dec 7, 2017 NASC, New Delhi Attended International Groundwater Conference and delivered a keynote address Dec 11, 2017 New Delhi C.A.Ramarao Zonal Review and Progress Workshop for KVKs of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra July 13, 2017 ICAR-ATARI, CRIDA, Hyderabad Workshop on 'Green Revolution in Eastern India: Constraints, opportunities and way forward' organized by IFPRI & TCI Oct 9-10, 2017 NASC, New Delhi 77th Annual Conference of the Indian Society of Agricultural Economics. Oct 12–14, 2017 CGPS, CAU, Umiam, Barapani Silver Jubilee Conference of Agricultural Economics Research Association on "Doubling farmers' income : Options & Strategies" Nov 7-9, 2017 ICAR-NAARM, Hyderabad Planning Workshop on Research Impact Assessment Nov 13, 2017 ICAR-NIAP, New Delhi C.A.Ramarao, V.Girija Veni International Seminar on 'Global climatic change : Implication for agriculture and water sectors' organized by VNMKV, Parbhani Dec 14 -16, 2017 WALMI, Aurangabad B.M.K.Raju ICAR, DAC and Dept. of Agriculture, Govt. of Telangana Interaction Meeting on 'Kharif 2017 Agriculture Scenario Assessment and Contingency Plan Preparation for Telangana' Aug 8, 2017. ICAR-CRIDA, Hyderabad R. Nagarjunakumar National conference on "Technological Challenges in Social, Environmental and Agricultural Reforms" Sep 9-10, 2017 ICAR-IIRR, Rajendra-nagar, Hyderabad International Conference on Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences Oct 23 -25, 2017 PJTSAU, Hyderabad Er. Ashish S Dhimate Workshop on "Advanced Farm Mechanization: Crop Sector" Sept 25-29, 2017 NIRDPR, Hyderabad CRIDA - Newsletter 14 Awards and Recognition AICRPDA-Ananthapuramu centre received "ICAR-Vasantrao Naik Award for Outstanding Research and Application in Dryland Farming Systems 2016" during ICAR Foundation Day and Award Ceremony on 16th July, 2017 at NASC, New Delhi. Dr. R.Nagarjuna Kumar, Scientist was awarded the best Ph.D. Thesis award and best paper award for the paper "Mobile Applications : Shaping the future of agricultural extension and advisory services" presented during the National conference on "Technological Challenges in Social, Environmental and Agricultural Reforms" organized at ICAR-IIRR, Hyderabad during 9-10, September, 2017. Ms B. Saraswati won 1st Prize in session on "Creativity and Innovation for excellence" and 3rd prize in session on "Effective Media Communication Skills" in training programme on "Enhancing Efficiency and Behavioral Skills for Stenographers Receiving Award at ICAR-IIRR, Hyderabad Grade III, PAs, PSs, & Sr. PPSs" of ICAR organized at ICARNAARM, Hyderabad during 25-31 October, 2017 Dr. Ravi Shankar received the Young Scientist Award-2017 from Indian Society of Extension Education, New Delhi at the ISEE National Seminar on "Doubling Farmers' Income and Farm Production through Skill Development and Technology Application" organized by the Department of Extension Education, Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour and Indian Society of Extension Education, New Delhi at Sabour, Bihar during 28-30 November, 2017. Mr. G. Venkatesh, Scientist (Senior Scale) awarded with the Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Science and Technology by the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad on 15th July, 2017. Mr. AVM Subba Rao, Sr. Scientist was awarded Doctor of Philosophy on 12th December, 2017. Personnel Information Appointments/Promotions/Transfers/Joining Name and Designation Transferred/Joined/Promoted/Appointed Date w.e.f Dr. S.K. Bal, Principal Scientist (Agrometeorology) Transferred from ICAR - NIASM, Baramati, Pune 01.07. 2017 Dr. T. V. Prasad, Principal Scientist (Entomology) Transferred from ICAR-NBPGR, New Delhi 07.07.2017 Mr. Rajkumar Dhakar, Scientist (Agril. Physics) Joined back in ICAR-CRIDA after Ph.D. at ICAR-IARI, New Delhi. 01.08.2017 Shri. Ravi Dudpal, Scientist (Agril.Econ.) Transferred to ICAR-IISWC Research Centre, Bellari 28.09.2017 Ms. Sneha Verghese, Assistant Appointed in ICAR-CRIDA 07.12.2017 Shri. Putta Santosh Appointed in ICAR-CRIDA 06.09.2017 Promotions Dr. T. V. Prasad Sr. Scientist - Principal Scientist 17.06.2015 Shri. D. Sudheer STO - Assistant Chief Technical Officer 16.10.2015 Shri. Sri Krishna STO - Assistant Chief Technical Officer 28.12.2015 Receiving Young Scientist Award at Sabour, Bihar Name and Designation Transferred/Joined/Promoted/Appointed Date w.e.f Shri. I. R. Khandgond STO - Assistant Chief Technical Officer 16.10.2015 Smt. P. Laxmi Narasamma ACTO - Chief Technical Officer 01.07.2014 Shri. S. Srinivas Reddy ACTO - Chief Technical Officer 01.01.2014 Smt. Vidyadhari ACTO - Chief Technical Officer 01.07.2016 Smt. V. L. Savithri STO - Assistant Chief Technical Officer 01.07.2016 Shri. Manish Tomar Tech. Asst. - Sr. Technical Assistant 16.03.2017 Shri. Hemant Sahu Tech. Asst. - Sr. Technical Assistant 21.03.2017 Shri. P. Satish Tech. Asst. - Sr. Technical Assistant 02.03.2017 Shri. P. Ramakrishna Tech. Asst. - Sr. Technical Assistant 08.04.2016 CRIDA - Newsletter 15 Oath taking ceremony on Sadbhavana Diwas Independence Day Celebration The 71st Independence Day was celebrated on 15th August, 2017 with pride, patriotic zeal and gratitude towards the sacrifices of our freedom fighters. The Director hoisted the flag and addressed the staff of CRIDA. On this occasion Director distributed cash awards (CCS&CCRC) to the X class toppers of CRIDA staff children and motivated the staff with his message to work with dedication and boost institute's growth. Cultural and Welfare Activities Independence Day Celebration Name and Designation Transferred/Joined/Promoted/Appointed Date w.e.f Shri. Prem Kumar STO - Asst. Chief Technical Officer (Retired) 01.01.2011 Smt. D. Kalpana Assistant - Assistant Administrative Officer 30.12.2017 Shri. J. Mallesh & Shri. Ch. Balaiah Granted MACP from level 3 to level 4 28.07.2017 Smt. Avula Lalitha Granted MACP from level 2 to level 3 11.07.2014 Our hearty congratulations to all of them Sadbhavana Diwas "Sadbhavana Diwas" was observed on 18th August, 2017. Accordingly, a pledge taking ceremony was held on 18th August, 2017. Swachhta Hi Seva "Swachhta Hi Seva" was organized at ICAR-CRIDA during 14th September to 2nd October, 2017. The inaugural day started with oath by all the staff and various activities were carried out under "Swachhta Hi Seva". All the staff participated in the event for Retirements Name Designation Date of superannuation Mr. E. Ravindranath STO 31.11.2017 Shri. Bandari Sathaiah SSS 31.08.2017 Shri. Sama Sathi Reddy SSS 31.07.2017 Shri. P.Srinivasa Rao Assistant 31.07.2017 Our best wishes for happy and peaceful retired life to all of them Glimpses of Swachhta Hi Seva South Zone Sports Meet ICAR-CRIDA contingent participated in ICAR South Zone Sports Meet held at ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu from 9-13 October, 2017. Mr. Mukund, Technical Assistant secured 2nd place in 1500 meters cycle race. Vanamahostavam CRIDA Cultural and Recreation Club organized Vana Mahostavam at Hayathnagar Research Farm of the Institute on 28th October, 2017. All the CRIDA staff members actively participated in the cultural activities. The events generated great enthusiasm and unity among staff. Vigilance Awareness Week "Vigilance Awareness Week" was observed from 30th October to 4th November, 2017. Dr. K. Sammi Reddy, Director (Acting) in his address emphasized the importance of vigilance week and suggested all the staff to be vigilant in day to day office activities. As part of vigilance awareness week Shri. B. Viswanath, Deputy Chief Vigilance Officer, South Central Railway delivered the lecture on "My Vision : Corruption Free India" on 2nd November, 2017. cleanliness in office premises and residential quarters. Trees were planted in KVK adopted village, HRF, GRF, CRIDA main office and residential complex. Samagra Swachhata Diwas Sharamadann was celebrated in KVK adopted village. CRIDA - Newsletter BOOK-POST To _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ Published by : Dr. K. Sammi Reddy, Director (Acting), CRIDA Editorial Board Chairman : Dr. K. Sammi Reddy, Director(Acting), CRIDA Editors : Dr. (Mrs.) K. Nagasree, Pr. Scientist, TOT Dr. P. K. Pankaj, Senior Scientist, TOT Dr. R. Nagarjuna Kumar, Scientist, SDA Dr. Jagriti Rohit, Scientist, TOT Dr. Anshida Beevi CN, Scientist, TOT Hindi Translation : Dr. P.K. Pankaj, Senior Scientist, TOT Dr. S.R. Yadav, Asstt. Director (OL) Shri. G. Prabhakar, STO Photo credits : Mr. K. Surender Rao, CTO, TOT देश के वर्षा आधारित क्षेत्र में कृ ों षक आय को दगुनु ा करने की नीतियां भारत में वराषा आधारित कृ षि क्षेत्रफल लगभग 53 प्रतिशत है, जो कि देश के कु ल खाद्यान्न उत्पादन में लगभग 40 प्रतिशत का योगदान देता है। दलहन का लगभग 83 प्रतिशत, मोटे अनाज का लगभग 85 प्रतिशत, तिलहनो का लगभग 70 ं प्रतिशत एवं चावल का लगभग 42 प्रतिशत क्षेत्र वराषा आधारित कृ षि क्षेत्रफल के अंतर्गत आता है। वराषा आधारित क्षेत्रों में लगभग 40 प्र त्रों तिशत मानव एवं 60 प्रतिशत पशु निवास करते हैं। वराषा आधारित कृ षि में अधिक उत्‍पादन को निरंतर बनाए रखना तथा आय एवं जीविकोपार्जन को प्राप्‍त करना बड़ा ही जटिल कार्य है। कई वराषा आधारित फसलो की उत ं ्‍पादकता लगभग 1 टन प्रति हके ्‍टेयर है। हालांकि, किसानो में प्रमुख वर ं ाषा आधारित प्रौद्योगिकियो को अपनान ं े की प्रक्रिया एवं प्रसार अभी भी काफी धीमा है जिसके परिणामस्‍वरूप किसानो कं े खेतो एवं ं अनुसं धान कें द्रों क्रों े बीच के उत्‍पादन में काफी अंतर है। दिन-प्रतिदिन कृषको हं तु े घटता कृ षि क्षेत्रफल निरंतर एवं अक्ण्ण भू षु मि निम्‍नीकरण, पोषक तत्‍वों में काफी ्‍वों अंतर, बढ़ती जलवायु विविधता एवं जलवायु परिवर्तन ने वराषा की कमी, सूखा एवं बाढ़ के रूप में नई चुनौतियां पैदा की हैं, जो उत्‍पादकता एवं लाभ को प्रभावित करती हैं। इसके अलावा, वराषा आधारित क्षेत्रों में पशुओ त्रों की आबादी अध ं िक होने के कारण पोषकतायुक्त चारे की आवश्‍यकता होती है लेकिन चारे की मांग एवं आपूर्ति में अंतर बढ़ता ही जा रहा है। अनुमानत: वर्ष 2025 तक, हरे चारे की कमी 65 प्रतिशत एवं सूखे चारे की कमी 25 प्रतिशत तक होने की सं भावना है। मजदूरी एवं निवेश लागतो में वृ ं द्धि के कारण किसानो की वास् ं ‍तविक आय घटती जा रही है। कृिष से आय को दगुना करन ु े के लिए, बढ़ती आबादी की खाद्य एवं पोषक सुरक्षा की मांग को पूरा करने के अलावा, फसलो की उत ं ्‍पादकता में वृद्धि के साथ-साथ वराषा आधारित क्षेत्रों कत्रों े उप क्षेत्रों में पशु-पालन, मछली पालन एवं बागवानी को त्रों बढ़ावा देने की आवश्‍यकता है। लघु अवधि की नीति के रूप में उत्‍पादन अंतर को कम करने के लिए स्‍थान विशेष के लिए तैयार की गई वराषा आधारित प्रौद्योगिकियों पर आधारित सं साधन सं पन्‍न प्रक्रिया अपनानी होगी। उपयुक्‍त जल सं ग्रहण एवं जल के बहतर उपयोग स े े अधिक वराषा वाले क्षेत्रों सत्रों े मध्‍यम वराषा वाले क्षेत्रों में फसल त्रों सघनता एवं कृ षि विविधता को फार्म स्‍तर पर पहुंचाने हेतु समन्वयन करना होगा। कृ षि आय बढ़ाने के लिए कृ षि प्रणाली की मजबूती पर ध्‍यान देना, पशुपालन से आय बढ़ाना, बाजार की मुख्‍य सूचना का ज्ञान एवं प्रसार करना प्रमुख हैं। विशेषकर छोटे एवं सीमांत किसानो को अध ं िक आय प्राप्‍त करने में सक्षम करने हेतु विभिन्न उद्यमो कं े साथ िमलकर जलवायु समुत्‍थान समेकित कृ षि प्रणाली का उन्‍नयन करना अत्यावश्यक है। ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture Santoshnagar, Saidabad PO, Hyderabad - 500 059 Ph: 040-24530157/161/163 Fax: 040-24531802 E-mail: news.crida@icar.gov.in Website: www.crida.in बागवानी, अधिक मूल्‍य वाली फसलों की संरक्षित कृ षि, वराषा आधारित फसलों के लिए मूल्‍य श्रंृखला का विकास, बाजार ज्ञान पर समुदायो की ं क्षमता का निर्माण, मूल्‍य सं वर्धन की दिशा में कौशल विकास, किसान उत्‍पादक दलो की ं स्‍थापना करतेहुए लागत में कमी लाना एवं जल तथा फसल बीमा प्रदान करने से जोखिम में कमी लाना आदि को शामिल करके अधिक मूल्‍य वाली फसलो एवं उत ं ्‍पादो पर मध् ं ‍यम अवधि की नीति अपनाई जानी चाहिए। लंबी अवधि की टिकाऊ कृ षि के लिए मृदा जैविक कार्बन का निर्माण तथा मृदा स्वास्थ्य सुधार के लिए जैविक खाद के प्रयोग को बढ़ावा देना एवं कम कर्षण सहित फसलावशेषो कं े प्रयोग की नितांत आवश्‍यकता है। इन नीतियो को सभी सं बं ध ं ित पणधारियो कं े सहयोग से प्रणाली के रूप में कार्यान्वित किया जाना चाहिए ताकि देश में विभिन्‍न वराषा आधारित कृ षि पारिस्थितिक प्रणालियो में कृ ष ं ि आय को दगुना करन ु े के लिए मांपने योग्‍य एवं प्रमाणयुक्‍त मॉडलो की ं स्‍थापना की जा सके। केंद्र स्तर पर (पीएमकेएसवाई, पीएमपीकेवीवाई, एमजीएनआरईजीए, आरकेवीवाई, पीएमएफबीवाई आदि) एवं राज्‍य स्तर पर (कर्नाटक की कृ षि भाग्‍या, आंध्र प्रदेश की पंटसं जीवनी, महाराष्‍ट्र का पीओसीआरए, ओडिशा का सूखा प्रबं धन कार्यक्रम, तेलंगाना का टीएसएमआईपी आदि) चलाए जा रह का े र्यक्रमो की समाभ ं िरूपता से डीएसी और एफडब्‍ल्‍यू एवं राज्‍य सरकार के सं बं धित विभागो द्ं वारा मिशन मोड पद्धति में कार्य योजना को कार्यान्वित करने की नितांत आवश्‍यकता है। भाकृ अनुपक्रीडा अपने नेटवर्क भागीदार के रूप में एक्रीपडा, एक्रीपाम, निक्रा एवं राज्‍य कृ षि विश्‍वविद्यालयो कं े साथ मिलकर तकनीकी सहयोग द्वारा मिशन मोड कार्यक्रम के कार्यान्‍वयन के लिए सहयोग देगा। इसके लिए पर्याप्‍त निधि आबं टन एवं श्रम शक्ति की आवश्‍यकता हो सकती है। विभिन्‍न स्‍तरो पर सभी सं बं ध ं ित पणधारियों केक्षमता निर्माण/कौशल विकास पर भी ध्‍यान देने की आवश्‍यकता है। के . सम्मी रेड्डी निदेशक (कार्यकारी), क्रीडा डॉ.के . सम्मी रेड्डी निदेशक की कलम से.

Issue 2.5 of the Review for Religious, 1943. ; A. M. D. G. Review for Religious SEPTE/xlBER 15, 1943 Prayer to Christ the King . Thomas A. O'Conno'r" Progress in Prayer. . Robert B. Eiten ,Sacred Vessels and Linens . ~ . James E. Risk Leadership in Catholic At÷ion ¯ ¯ ¯ . , ¯ Vouree Watson Devotlonto the Holy Name Gerald Ellard Sfimmer School in the Spiritual Life . Patrick M. ,Regan '~ Book Reviews Communica÷ions Questions Answered Decisions of the Holy See VOLUME II NUMBER 5 RF.VII::W FOR. RELIGIOUS VOLUME 11 SEPTEMBER 15. 1943 . NUMBER CONTENTS THE PRAYER TO CHRIgT THE KING--Thomas A. O'Connor, S.J2.81 PROGRESS IN PRt~YER--Robert B. Eiten. S.d .2.9.7 THE STORY OF CARMEL . 306 THE HANDLING OF SACRED VESSELS AND LINENS---~ James E. Risk. S.d. .~ . 307 PAMPHLET NOTICES . 311 THE PRINCIPLE OF LEADERSHIP IN CATHOLIC ACTION-- Youree Watson. S.J . 312 D.EVOTION TO THE HOLY NAME OF JESUS--Gerald Ellard, S.J.327 A SUMMER SCHOOL IN THE SPIRITUAL LIFE'--- Patrick M. Regan. S.J . 329 COMMUNICATIONS (On Vocation) . 333 BOOK REVI-EWS (Edited by Clement DeMuth. S.J.)m THE MASS PRESENTED TO NON-CATHOLICS-- By the Reverend John P. McGuire . 336 . A HANDY GUIDE FOR WRITERS--. By the Reverend Newton B. Thompson, S.T.D. 336 AN OUTLINE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH BY CENTURIES-- ¯ By the Reverend Joseph McSorley . 337 THE ONE GOD. By the Reverend Reginald Garrigou-LaGrange, O.P.337 HANDBOOK OF MEDICAL ETHICS. By the Reverend S. A. La Rochelle, O.M.I. and the Reverend C. T. Pink, M.D., C.M. ' 338 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS-- 32. Meaning of "Constitutions" . . 339 33. Blessing of Subjects by Superigress . 339 34. Legislation on Benediction of Blessed Sacrament . 339 35. Moment when Dispensation from Vows takes Effect .~ . 340 36. Diocese of Origin for a Convert . 341 37. Abstinence Imposed by Rule and by Church . 341 38. Presence Required for Mass of Obligation . 342 39. Intention Required for Gaining Indulgences . - 342 DECISIONS OF THE HOLY SEE OF INTEREST TO RELIGIOUS343 REVIEW~ FOR RELIGIOUS, September 1943. Vol. II. No. 5. 'Published bi-monthly : January, March. May, July. September, and November at the College Press. 606 Harrison Street, Topeka, Kansas. by St. Mary's College. St. Marys, Kansas, with ecclesiastical approbation. Entered as second class matter ,January 15, 1942. at the Post Office, Topek.a, Kansas, under the act of March 3, 1879. Editorial Board: Adam C. Ellis, S.3. G. Augustine Ellard. S.3. Gerald Kelly. Copyright, 1943, by Adam C. Ellis. Permission is hereby granted for quotations of reasonable length, provided due credit be given this review and the author., Subscription price: 2 dollars a year. Printed in U. S. A. The Prayer Ch ris : !:h e,King,- Thomas A. O'Connor, S.3. 44 lONG live Christ theKing!" The shout rose to a roar.Up from the streets below, this battle cry of the persecuted Mexican Catholics floated through the open windows of the presi-dential palace. Calles heard it and knew that somehow his triumph .was being turned into defeat. Only a day before he was sure that he had conquered. The scene of his imagined triumph was an enclosed courtyard, with powder-blackened Walls, pockmarked.by bullet holes, before which jutted up a protecting log barri~ cade with flat, human-sized wooden dummies before it. This was where the firing squad did its bloody work. The political prisoner, whose death Calles had unjustly decreed, showed not even, the slightest trace of hatred or surliness in his manner, as he stood there'in his dark suit with a checkered vest sweater showing through his unbuttoned coat. "Have you any last request?" barked the captain of the firing squad. "Permit me to pray," he calmly replied; and he knelt down on the sand and gravel, turning slightly away from the crowd. Reverently he made the sign of' the cross, prayed devoutly for a few moments with joined hands, then, kissing fervently the little crucifix he held in his hand, he rose and faced his executioners. Crucifix in hand, he made the sign of the cross over the soldiers and officers there. "May God have mercy on you all." 281 THOMAS A. O'~CONNOR Then with his rosary twined about his left hand, he extended his arms in the form of a cross. "I forgive my enemies from the bottom of my heart." Saying this, he lifted his eyes to the clear, blue heavens. A moment's pause: then slowly, r~verently, firmly came the beautiful words: "Long live Christ the King!" Th~ rifles cracked. The prison~er slumped heavily to the ground. An awful silence. A sergeant stepped up, and fireda bullet through the victim's head. It was 10:30 a. m. November 23, 1927. Two years before, on December 11, 1925, Pope Plus XI had issued his encyclical on Jesus Christ King. Father Pro arid hisloyal Mexican Catholics had heard this call to a more valiant service of Christ the King. In trying to win their country to the Kingdom of-Christ, the)~ had sealed their lives with their blood. Father Pro's last words, "Longlive Christ the King," had been the spark which detonated the thunderous roar that Calles heard the next day, as six thousand marchers and five hundred cars escorted the body of Father Pro to Dolores Hill for burial. The Feast or: Christ Our King In his encyclical, Quas Primas, establishing the Feast of Christ the King, Pope Plus XI said: "When we command that Christ Our King be venerated by Catholics throughout the world, We are providing for the special needs of our own day a very effective remedy against the pests which pervade human socie.ty." In other parts, of the same encyclical, the Pope further explained these special needs of our time: "Evil has spread throughout the world because the greater part of mankind has banished Jesus Christ ~nd His holy law from their lives, their families, and from public 282 PRAYER TO CHRIST THE KING affairs . There will never arise a sure ho]ae of lasting peace between the peoples oi~ the world as long as individ-uals and nations continue to deny or refuse to acknowledge the rule of Christ, Our Savior. It is necessary for all men to seek 'the peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ' . "Today.we grieve., over the seeds of discord apparently sown everywhere, the rekindling of hatreds and-rivalries between .pe0ples which prevent the re-establish-ment of peace. In spite of :this we are sustained by the holy hdpe that the Feast of Christ Our King, wbich will be ' :celebrated hereafter every year, will at last lead society to our Blessed Savior . It appears to us that an annual cele-bration of the F~ast of Christ Our King will greatly assist all nations . In fact, the more the dear name of Our Redeemer is passed over in shameful silence, be it in inter-national meetings, be it in parliaments, so much the more nec?ssary is it to acclaim Him as King ~ind announce every-where the rights of His royal dignity and power. "All indeed can see that since the. end of the last century, the way Was being prepared for the long desired institution of this new feast day . The supremacy of the Kingdom of Christ w'as also recognized iri thi~ pious practice of all those who dedicated, even co.nsecrated, their families to the Sacred Heart of Jestis." Then he referred to Leo XIII's cons.ecration of the whole human race to the Sacred Heart. Announcing his intention to do this, Pope Leo XIII had said: ."I am about to perform the gr~eatest act 6f my pontificate." .In his encyclical on "The ConSecration of all Mankind to the Sacred Heart," given on May 25, 1899, he added: ",lust as, When the newly born Church lay helpless under l~he yoke of the Caesars, there appeared in the'heavens a cross,, at once the sign and the cause of the marvelous vict0~y that was soon to follow, so today before our very eyes there appears 283 THOMAS A. O'CONNOR another most happy and holy sign~ the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, crowned by a brilliant cross set amid raging flames. In this Sacred Heart we shall place all our hopes; from it, too, we ask and await salvation." "In virtu~ of Our Apostolic authority," said Pope Pius XI, "We institute the Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ King, and decree that it be celebrated everywhere on the last Sun-day of October . Likewise We decree that on this very same day, annually, there is to be renewed the consecration of all mankind to the. Sacred Heart of Jesus." Pra~ter t~ ~Christ the King On February 21, 1923, through the Sacred Peniten-tiary, Plus XI approved the Prager to Christ the King, and to its recital he attached a plenary indulgence, once a day, under the usual conditions (Preces et Pia Opera,. 1938, n. 254). Undoubtedly it was the Pontiff's wish that every loyal follower of Christ would daily recite this act Of per-sonal loyalty to Christ the King. In the remainder of this article we are developing the various phrases of the Prayer to Christ the King, somewhat after the. manner .of the second method of prayer, by quoting generously from Pius XI's encyclicals on "Christ the King" ~Quas Primas), and "Reparation to the Sacred Heart" fMiserentissimus Redemptor), and from Leo XIII's "Consecration of all Mankind to the Sacred Heart" (Annum Saqrum). "'0 Christ Jesus" "Whose name is above every name . who though by nature God . made (himself) like unto men . appearingin the form of man" (Philippians 2:6). In the words of the Athanasian Creed, "He is God begotten before all ages from the substance of His Father, 284 PRAYER .TO CHRIST THE KING and He is Man born in time from th~ substance of. His Mother." The Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, assuming human nature, united it to the Divine Nature under His single Personality in a union which is called the Hypostatic Union. Hence "not only is Christ to be adored as God by angels and men, but also angels and men must be subject to His empire as Man." He is perfect Man as He is perfect God. "Thou art beautiful above the sons of men," says the Psalmist, "grace-is poured abroad in thy lips, therefore hath God blessed Thee forever and ever." In Him, flowering forth in all its fullness, is ever~ virtue and perfection: kindness, sympathy, patience, strength, courage, wisdom, loyalty, self-sacrifice, love. He is also God with full power and kingly majesty: all-wise, all-holy, all-powerful, all-merciful. Christ .Jesus, at whose name "every knee should bend of those ifi heaven, on earth and under the.earth, and every tongue should.confess that the Lord Jesus.Christ is in the glor~ of God the Father" (Philippians 2: 10). '~I Acknowledge Thee King of the Universe" "We assert that it is necessary to vindicate for the Christ-Man both the name and power of a King in the full meaning of that term." (Quas Primas) "Christ reigns as King in the minds of men not only because of the keenness of His mind or the vastness of His knowledge, but also because He is the Truth. It is there-fore necessary that all men seek and receive the truth from Him in full obedience. "Christ reigns as King in the wills of men either because there was in Him a complete submission of the human will to the Divine, or because He influences our free will in such 285 THOMAS A. O'CONNOR an efficacious way by His holy inspiration that we are led to desire only the noblest things. "Finally Christ is recognized as the King of Our. Hearts because of that love of His which surpasses all understand-ing and because of the supreme attraction we have for His divine meekness and kindness. No man, in fact, ever was so much loved as Jesus Christ, or ever will be." (Quas Primas) "The. Empire of Christ extends not only over Catholic peoples, and over those who, reborn in the font of Baptism, belong by right to the Church; it embraces even those who do not enjoy the Christian faith, so that all mankind is un-der the power of Christ." (Annum Sacrum) The doctrine of Christ the King is amply vindicated in the words of the New Testament. The Archangel Gabriel announced to the Virgin Mary that she was to bear a Son. "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of David His father, and He shall be king over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end" (Luke 1:32). Christ took every opportunity to call Himself King and publicly affirmed His Kingship in the court of the Roman governor (John 18:37). "Thou art then a King?" asked Pilate. "Thou sayest it," Jesus answered, "I am a King. This is why I was born, and why I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth." In the Apocalypse (1:5) St. John calls Him "the ruler of the Kings of the earth" and again (19:6) "King of Kings, and Lord of Lords." Of His kingship Christ said: "All power in heavena.nd on earth has been given to me. Behold I am with you all days even to the consummation of the world." 286 PRAYER TO CHRIST THE'KING "Could He possibly have meant anything else by these: words than that His regal power was absolute and that His kingdom extended over all th~ earth?" (Quas Primas) "He announced before .the Roman consul that His kingdom 'was not of this earth'," yet, "since Christ has received from His Father an absolute right over all created things, so that all are subject to His will, they would err grievously, who would take from the Christ-man power over all temporal things . " (Quas Prirnas) "'All That Has Been Created Has Been Made for Thee" "All things were made through him, and without him was made nothing that was made" (John 1:3). "As God, Christ possessed full and absolute sway over all created things. As Man, it can be said-that He has received 'power, honor, and a. kingdom' from the Father." In the book of Daniel (7:13) we read: "I beheld a vis-ion of the night, one like the son of man came with the clouds of heaven., and he gave him power, and glory, and a.kingdom; and all peoples, tribes and tongues shall serve him; his power is an everlasting power that shall not be taken away; and his kingdom that shall not be destroyed." The prophet Isaias tells us of the future coming of the King, who will be no less than God Himself, appearing up-on earth in the lowly and endearing form of a human babe. "Achild is born to us and a son is given to us, and the government is upon his shoulder; and his name shall.be called Wonderfu!, Counsellor, God the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace. His empire shall. be multiplied, and there shall be no end of peace: he shall sit upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom; to es-tablish it and strengthen it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth and for ever" (Isaias 9:6-7). "The Lord hath made all things for Himself," saysPro- 287 THOMAS A. O'CONNOR verbs (16:4). God brought into being from nothingness all things that are. Being Infinite Wisdom He could not act without some definite purpose in mind. Since nothing had existed previously but Himself, and since nothing but Him self could be an end worthy of His action, He created all things for Himself. Not that He needed these. No. For, being Infinite, nothing was wanting to Him. Nor cou!d these add to His perfections since, being All-Perfect, He pos-sessed all things in their fullness. But being Infinite Goodness He longed to communicate His gifts to others; and "from His fullness we have all re-ceived" (John 1:16). By His omnipotent fiat all things were made. Every-thing called into existence is a copy, even though necessarily imperfect and limited, of some aspect of His infinite perfec-tion. Each reflects something of His nature and attributes. "The heavens show forth the glory of God and the firma-ment declareth the work of his hands" (Psalms 18:2). "If any one Shall say that the world was not created for the glory of God, .let him be anathema" (Vatican Council). "'Exercise upon Me All Tby Rights'" "Christ rules over us by right o1: birth." He was born a King. "He has dominion over every one of us by His very essence and nature. "But Christ rules over us not only by right of birth, but also by right of conquest," by His redemption of mankind. "You know that you were redeemed., not with perishable things, with silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ" (2 Peter 1 : 18). "We therefore no longer belong to ourselves alone, for Christ has bought us with a 'great price'." (Quas Primas) "Do you not know . . . that you are not your own? For you have been bought at a great price. Glorify God and 288 PRAYER "~O CHRIST.THE KING bear. Him in your body" (I Corinthians 6:20). "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?" (1 Corinthians 6: 15). "Your members are the temple of the Holy'Ghost" (1 Corinthians 6:.19). Christ rules over men also by His right of law-glver. "For the Holy Gospels not only tell us that Christ promul-gated laws, but they also present Him in the very act of making them." (Quas Primas) Again Christ rules over men b.y His right of judge. "For neither doth the Father judge any man, but hath given, all judgment to the Son" (3ohn 5:22). lzastly, "executive power must equally be attributed to Christ, since it is necessary for all to obey His commands," and no one violates them without meeting the punishments He has established. "I Renew Mg Baptismal Promises Renouncing Satan and All His Works and Pomps" The Kingdom of Satan and the powers of darkness.are opposed to the Kingdom of Christ. In his Epistle to the Ephe~ians (6:11) St. Paul urges us to "Put on the armor of God that you may be able to stand against the. wiles of the devil. For our wrestling i~ not with flesh and blood, bu~ against the Principalities and the Powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness on high." We renew the promises we made at Baptism. "Do you renounce Satan and all his work~ and pomps?" the priest asks at Baptism. And the one being baptized or the sponsor answers: "I do renounce them." "'I Promise to Lead a Good Christian Life'" The Kingdom of Christ "requires from its subjects not only that their souls be deta, ched from riches and worldly things, that they rule their lives, and that .they hunger and 289 THOMAS A. O'CONNOR thirst after justice, but also that they renounce themselves and take up tl~eir cross." (Quas Primas) Before Christ can reign over the whole world, He'must reign over the hearts of individuals. Before world-conquest'for Christi we must think of self-conquest. With a complete surrender of ourselves there will follow quickly an entire dedication of our energies and ability to His Divine service and to doing Our part in conquering the world for Christ. Christ the King must rule over our minds, over our ¯ wil!s, over our hearts, over our bodies. Listen to the~vords df Pope PiusXI: "It is necessa~ythat Our Lord should rule over the mind of man, who by his intellectual submission shall firmly and at all times assent to the revealed truth and doctrines of Christ; that He rule over the will, which shall obey the divine law and com-mands; that He rule .over our hearts, which despising mere natural love shall love God above all things and be united to Him alone; that He rule over our bodies which as instru-ments . will promote the sanctity of the soul." (Quas Primas) By leading a good Chris;an life we not only horror God, but we bring great peace and happiness to ourselves: For, truly; to serve Him is to reign. He alone is deservng of our whole-hearted attention, and to serve Him devotedly i~ to reign in a peace and happiness which the world cannot give. To serve Him and not the world; to serve Him and not the flesh, to serve Him and not ourselves; is to reign over the deceitful allurements of the world, is to reign over the imperious demands of our traitorous fl~sh, is to reign over the fretful importunings of our self-love with all its yearn-ings for prominence and vain display. To serve Him is to reign over our fickle feelings, our wild, intemperate impulses, and all the chaotic twists of our sin-disrupted 290 PRAYER TO CHRIST THE KING nature: our outbursts of impatience and irritability, our fits of moodiness, our haughty airs and domineering ways, our quick, sarcastic tongues, our instinctive shunnings of little hardships, our selfish seeking of comforts and the good things of life, our petty quarrelings, and our puerile nursing of work-a-day bruises as serious, intentionally- .inflicted wounds. Only by serving Him and forgetting ourselves, do we rise to that greatness of soul whereby we reign over self, over the vicissitudes of life and over the. creatures of time. .~ t//"And to Do Ail in M~! Power to P~ocure the Triumph of the Rights of God and That Church" "The rule of Christ over mankind'has been denied, the Church has been refused the right which comes from th~ very law of Jesus Christ to teach all peoples, to make her own laws for. the sp!ritual government of her subjects in. order to bring them to eternal happiness. Little by little the Christian religion has been made. the equal of other.and false religions . The Catholic religion was made subject to the civil power and was practically abandoned to the control of rulers. . There were not wanting governments which imagined they could do without God and ~over up their lack of religion by irreligion and disrespect for God Himself." (Quas Primas) How are we to meet this modern apostasy from God and bring back Christ to the modern wbrld? We must do all in our power to bring about the ]:eign of Christ. We must use every legitimate means to restore His. rule over the individual, the family, the nation, and the whole, world. For this "purpose the Feast of Christ the King w.as instituted. It is a clarion call to a "more virile, more militant, more 29i THOMAS A. O'CONNOR aggressive Catholicism." Every Catholic is called upon to serve in this campaign. "To hasten this return to Christ by means of good works and organized social actions is a duty incumbent on every Catholic, of many of whom it can be said truthfully, that neither positions nor authority in civic life have been accorded as would be fitting to those who tarry before them the torch of Truth. "This condition perhaps is due to the a.pathy or timidity of the good who abstain from strife and are apt to resist only too weakly. From our weakness the enemies of the Church are emboldened to greater and more fearless acts of audacity. "But w.hen the Faithful clearly understand that they must fight with courage, always under the banner Of Christ Our King,. they will then sttidy with the zeal of Apostles how best to lead rebellious and ignorant people back "to God. At the same time they will themselves acquire strength to keep inviolate God's holy laws." (Quas ¯ Primas) Last Christmas Eve Pope Plus XII, b.roadcast[ng t6 ~he whole world, called upon "all men of good will to unite in a holy crusade . . . Sad as is the condition of the world today, it is not a time for lamentation. Now is the time for action . ¯ Be ready to serve and sacrifice yourselves like the crusaders of old. Then the issue was the liberation of a land hallowed by the life of the Incarnate Word of God. Today the call is to set free the holy land of the spirit, that, liberated from all the evils and errors to which it is subject, there may arise thereon a new social order of lastingpeace and justice . Thesewords are meant as a rall_ying cry to the magnanimous and brave of heart." They are a call'to them "to unite in a solemn vow" whereby they pledge themselves "not to rest until in all peoples and in all nations 292 PRAYER TO CHRIST THE KING on earth there shall be formed a vast legion who are bent on bringing back man to God." "'Divine Heart o~: Jesus, I Offer Thee M~t Poor Actions" Young and 01d, weak and strong, learned and unlet-tered-- Leach one can do much to hasten the reign of Christ over man. ¯ Made a soldier of Christ by Confirmation, each of us must "labor as a.good.soldi~r of Christ" (II Timothy 2:4). .- Insignificant as our actions seem, they yet have great efficacy for good. "A wondrous bond joins all the Faithful to Christ, the same bond which unites the head with the other members of the body, namely, the communion of saints, a bond full of mystery which we believe in as Catholics, and by virtue of which individuals and nations are not only united, to one another but likewise with the he~d itself, 'who is Christ. For from him the whole body (being closely joined and knit together through every joint of the system according to thefunctioning in due measure of each single part) derives its increase to the- building up of itself in love' " (Ephesians 4:15-1 6). (Miserentissimus) "W.e are held to the duty of making reparation by the most powerful motives of justice and love; of justice, in order to expiate the injury done to God by .our sins and to re-establish by means of penance the Divine Order which has been violated; and of love, in order to suffer together with Christ. so that we may bring Him, in so far as our human weakness permits, some comfort in His sufferings." ( M iserentissimus ) "At the present ,time we in a marvellous manner may ¯ and ought to console that Sacred Heart which is be.ing wounded continually by the sins of thoughtless men, since Christ Himself grieved over the fact that He was abandoned 293 THOMAS A. O°CONN~R by His friends. For He said, in the words of the Psalmist, 'My heart has expected reproach and misery. And I looked for one that would grieve together with Me, but there was none; and for one that would comfort me, and I found none. "Anyone who has been considering in a spirit of love all that has beefl recalled [namely about the sufferings Christ endures from men]., if he has impressed these thoughts, as it were, upon the fleshy tablets of his heart, such a one assuredly cannot but abhor and flee all sin as the greatest of evils. "He will also offer himself whole and entire to the will of God, and will strive to repair the injured Majesty of God by constant prayer, by voluntary penances, by patient suf-fering of all those ills which shall befall him; in a word be will so organize his life that in all things it will be inspired bythe spirit of reparation . "We order . a solemn act of reparation in order that we may, by this act, make reparation for our own sins and may repair the rights which have been violated of Christ, the King of Kings and our most loving Master." (Mis-erentissimus) "'That All Hearts Mag Acknowledge Thg Sacred Rogaltg'" "The annual celebration of this feast [o~ Christ the King] ~will also become a means of recalling to the nations their duty of publicly worshipping Christ, that to render Him obedience is not only .the duty of private individuals but of rulers and governments as well . His royal dig-nity demands that. Society as a whole should conform itself to the commandments of God and to the principles of the Christian life, first by the stablizati0n of its laws, then in the administration of justice, and above all things in pre-paring the souls of our young people for the acceptance of 294 PRAYER TO CHRIST THE KING sound doctrine and the leading-of holy lives." (Quas Primas) "If the heads of nations wish the safety of their govern-ments and the growth and progress of their country,, they must not refuse to give, together with the people, public testimony of reverence and obedience to the Empire~of Christ." (Quas Primas) "'And That Thus the Reign ot: Th~ Peace Mar Be Established throughout the Universe. Amen." If men, both privately and publicly, will recognize the ~overeign power of Christ, the signal benefits Of a just free-dom of calm order and of harmony and peacewill pervade . the whole human race. Just as the royal rights of our Lord" render the hflman authority of princes and heads of states sacred to a certain degree, so too they ennoble the duties imposed by obedience on the citizen. "If princes and legitimate rulers will be convinced that. they 'rule notso much in theii own right as through a man-date from the Divine King; it is easy to see what holy and wise use they will make of their power, and with what zeal for the common good and the dignity of their subjects they will be inflamed both in the making and the enforcing of laws. When. this happens every reason for sedition is removed and order and tranquility flourish and grow strong. When citizens see that their rulers and the heads of their states are men like themselves, or are for some rea-son. unworthy or culpable, they will continue even then to o.bey their commands because they Will recognize in them the image of the authority of Christ, the God-m~in. "As for the effect of all this upon concord and peace, manifestly the vaster this Kingdom is and the more widely it embraces mankind, so much the more will men become conscious of the bond of brotherhood that unites them. 295 THOMAS A. O'CONNOR Just as this consdousness of their brotherhood 'banishes conflicts so too it weakens bitterness and turns 'them into, love. If the Kingdom of Christ, which rightly embraces all men, should in fact embrace them, could we then despair of that peace which the King. of Peace brought to earth, that King, We say, who came 'to reconcile all things, who did not come to be served but to serve others' and who, though the Lord of all, made Himself an example of humility and charity as His chief law? 'My. yoke is easy and my burden light' (Matthew 11:30). "Oh, what happiness might we enjoy if individual families and states would only allow themselves tobe 'ruled by Christ! 'Then indeed,' to use the words of Our Prede-cessor, Leo XIII, addressed twenty'-five years ago to all the Bishops of the Catholic world, 'would many wounds be cured, and every right would r.egain its ancient force and the blessings of peace would return, and swords and weapons would fall to the ground, when all would will-ingly accept tl6e Empire of Christ and obey Him and when every tongue would proclaim that Our .Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory, of His Father'." (Quas Primas and Annum Sacrum) To serve Him is to reign, now and forever. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done. Long live Christ the King! [NOTE: The ~ompl~te text of the Prager to ChriSt the King reads as follows: 0 Christ Jesus, I acknowledge Thee King of the universe. All that has been cre-ated has been made for Thee. Exercise upon me all Thy rights. I renew my bap-tismal promises renouncing Satan and all his works and pomps. I promise to, live a good Christian llfe and to do all in my power to procure the triumph of the rights~ of Go'd and Thy Church. Divine Heart of Jesus, I c.ffer Thee my poor actions.in order~to obtain that all hearts mag acknowledge Thy sacred Royalty and that thus the reign of Tb~l peace may be established throughout the universe. Amen.] 296 Progress In Prayer Robert B, Eiten, S.J. 44=I"o PRAY well is to live .well"--this is an old saying | famiiiar to us all. In modern scientific dress and as applied to religious, the first part, "to pray well," might be paraphrased by "progress in prayer"; and the last, "to live well," by "spiritual progress." Thus complete, our new title would be: "Progress in .Prayer is Spiritual, Progress." We religious are-all certainly-interested in spiritual progress5 for we have often heard of the obligation of tending to perfection or of making spiritual progress. We must then be interested in progress in prager since it is a very important factor in our spiritual growth. Note the title reads: "Progress in Prayer," not "Prog-ress through Prayer." Here we are not concerned with showing how prayer helps us to grow spiritually. We have taken that for granted. With this in mind our whole attention is rather focussed on progress in prayer. Besides--to make a brief important digression=-if we had been told in our early novitiate days that we should always make our prayer in the same way and that there was no hope of progress in our prayer-life, I believe that we should have been much discouraged and not very ambi-tious. That is only natural, for all life-activity seeks im-provement and development. Thus, prayer, being an activ-ity of our supernatural life, naturally.should develop, or, t6 come back to our title;there should be "Progress in Prayer." Progress in prayer carl refer either to the intensity, that is, the deep fervor of our prayer., or to. its continuity and frequency, or to both at the same time. We shall limit our- 297 ROBERT B. EITEN selves here.to its continuity, for through this approach a mode of intensified prayer-life will also be found. Perhaps there are some souls who never have the proper attitude towards prayer. These really need a few ¯ simple and correct notions on prayer so that in their minds prayer vcill not be a stilted and formalistic affair or some-thing which only the learned can do well. Quite the con-trary, Learning can be a great hindrance to successful prayer if it is not joined with the great Simplicity of soul which prayer~ r~quires. While it is true that prayer should correspond to all our relations with God, still there is one relation that we have with God which should brdinarily be emphasized more than the others. God is not our taskmaster and merely a severe Judge, and we his slaves and servants. No, He" and We are more than .that. No~ is God merely our friend, He is still more than that~ RatherGod is oui: Father and we are His dear children, as God Himself tells us: ". And I. will be a Father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters" (II Corint~aians 6: 18). But God is even more than our Father; he is our tooing Father, for St. John defines God as Love (I John 4:16).' Yes, God is Love, purest and infinite Love; He is~ our Lover, our Divine Lover, the mightiest and purest of all lovers. Hence, while ¯ we realize the fact that God is our Judge, we must espe- Cially stress the fact that He is the most loving of fathers. ¯ Ordinarily our attitude towards God ought to be that of a simple and loving child towards its father.or that of a lover towards his beloved. How simply; spontaneously, and lovingly a child converses with its father and. tells him how much it loves him and what it wants! . Or again, how simple and direct is the language of tho~e in love! . Prayer is but a familia'r and childlike conversation with God. It is a heart-to-heart communing or chat between God, our 298 ~ PROGRESS IN PRAYER loving Father, and ourselves, His children. In the intimate associations between a loving child and its dear parent, as .weli as between lovers, ~usually there is no set form ~f words or speech. Words a, nd forms of speech come spon-taneously. "Heart speaks to heart.". We may use fix.ed forms of prayer, such as the Ogice, the Our Father, the Hai! Mar~t, and giveoutward expression to them. This is called vocal prayer, an excellent fo~m of prayer and necessary for all public Church services. The Church by its wide use Of vocal prayer gives it very high approval. ~ Nevertheless, when we are alone, other things being equal, it is preferable for most of us to express to God, our Father and Divine Lover, the intimate feelings of our souls in our own words without always resorting to fixed expres, sions, although mental prayer may be made up of the latter also. Mental prayer is. the inner expression to God of the interior sentiments of ourseFces, His dear children. The Church, realizing ~he importance of mental prayer, req.uires religious superiors to see to it that their subjects devote some time daily to mental prayer (canon 595). Let the foregoing jottings suffice to show the utter free-d, orh of prayer from intricacy, as well as point out our ordi-nary attitude towards God in prayer. Such a proper atti-tude, I believe, is all-important for progress in prayer and,- perhal~s, some souls never have it. And now to return more directly to our theme: Prog, resgIn Pra~/er, From the remarks on our attitude.towards God i~ prayer, we must be even further convinced of the necessity of our progress in prayer. Does not a perfect intimacy or nearness between two souls require a.mutual interchange or communication of their ideas; longings, and projects as often as possible? And should there not be between God and us an intimacy and nearness which far surpass all other intimacies of any and all people, seeing 299 , ROBERT B. EITEN that God is the most loving of all fathers, and the .mightiest and purest of all lovers, a Lover Divine? We' all surely realize that We carry on and further this intimacy with God through pra~jer. Thus it is a question of trying to pray as well and as much as possible within the limits of prudence. In heaven a constant uniori with God will be our normal lot and one of the big factors of our happiness. In view of this future, too, it would seem that here below we ought to aspire to make this constant union with God or a pro-gressive prayer-life our Chief quest. But can this be realized? Is it possible to reach this without c~ausing violence to our souls or, as they say, "cracking our headS?". ¯ Certainly it is impossible for us to be.'praying uocatly all the time. Because of the fatigue involved, one of the greatest spiritual writers of the last three centuries recom-mended that a priest avoid saying all the hours of the Divine OfFice in one grouping. Likewise it is impossible to prolong incessantly strict meditation, which is the lowest form of men~al prayer and one made up of a chain of distinct reflec-tions or considerations with at least some simultaneous or subsequent affections. The same is true, at least for a very large majority, and particularly for those not exclusively devoted to the contemplative life, in regard to ordinary af- ¯ fective prayer. oIn affective prayer, as the name indicate~, the affections occupy more of the time than do consider~itions and reflec-tion. As more o~dinarily practised, this form of prayer includes a great variety of affections: for example, senti-ments of love, praise, gratitude, contrition, and so forth. In this ordinary form, because of the variety of the sentiments, it can scarcely be made continuous without the risk of brain fatigue. Hence we must look for something else, if we wish. to cultivate an intensive andI uninterrupted prayer-life. 300 PR0.GRESS IN PRAYER The next step forward in mental 'prayer brings us to simplified affective pra~jer or the prayer of simplicity. It is sometimes called acquired or active contemplation, the prayer of simple regard or simple presence of God. In this form-of acquired prayer, intuition or an immediate grasp of a supernatural truth largely replaces the reasoning process found to a greater or lesser degree in either meditative or ordinary affective prayer. While iri ordinary-affective prayer there is usually a variety of affections and resolu-tions, here in simplified affective prayer little variety in either is noted. Likewise representations of the imagination. as of God or our Lord,~here have little or no appeal. It is sufficient for the prayer of simplicity that there be a spiritual sentiment or affection, which is not necessarily accom-panied by sensibleemotions or even by any distinct idea such as a representation of God or our Lord or a conscious 'reflex thought of the presence of God. DeSmedt, the famous Bollandist, describes it as follows: "'It is enough that the soul be found in a disposition. similar to that of a child living for a long time near its mother, whom it loves tenderly and by whom it knows itself to be tenderly loved. It passes all its days near her, it enjoys .constantly her presence; but for this it has no need to say constantly: My mother is here, I see her. It knotos that she is there. When it has something to say to her or ask 6f her, it has but to lift its head-and speak to her; and even when it is not speaking to her, it has a very'lovirfg feeling of peace and joy, on account Of the presence of its mother."1 We said that in the prayer of simplicity there will be some thought or affection that r¢cursqalways allowing for 1Notre vie surnaturelle, t. 1, 4th ed., p. 468. I am especially indebted to this work (pp. 465-471) for much of the material in this article, especial!y for the means to arrive at the prayer of simplicity. I have also made liberal use of Poulain, Tan-querey, and Marmion. 301 ROBERT B. EITEN some inte.rruptions arid modifications--frequently, readily, and rather spontaneously, with .little or no development and in the midst of other various thoughts, some useful and others nbt. Poulain describes this occurrence as follows: "We may compare it to the strands which thread the pearls of a necklace, or.the beads of a Rosary, and which are only. visible here and there. Or, again, it is like the fragment of cork, that, carried away-by the torrent, plunges ceaselessly, appears and d!sappears. The prayer of simple regard is really only a slow sequence of single glances cast upon one and the same object.''2 Some other comparisons Of things familiar to us are the "following. Con~ider a~mother watching her baby. She thinks of it for hours lovingly,, with relish, and without reflection and fatigue, but still with some interruptions. All this she does without any concern of mind whatever, for it seems, to her such a spontaneous and loving thing to do. Or again, note how an artiit without any fatigue can become absorbed for hours with some beautiful scene or great masterpiece. AS anotherexample, s~ippose the case of a man who is 2000 miles away from home, when he is informed of the sudden death of his mother. His grief will be so intense and persistent that it will, no doubt, continue to be felt even when he is carrying on engaging conversations on the train homeward for the funeral. Perhaps best of all is the case of a person in love. Day and night he thinks of the object of his love. Yet his thoughts and affections for his loved one show little variety: and he, on his part, experiences/~o need ot~ a cfiange. Tlaus for instancea devoted husband and Wife can ~erriain alone long hours.together at home, not always having new ideas ¯ 2The Graces of Interior Prayer, 6th ed., p. 8. .302 PROGRESS IN PRAYER" to exchange, but still .relishing the joy found in being together in quiet and silence. And when they are apart, how readily their thoughts are directed to each other? When~ we realize, as we .just saw, .that God is 'our loving Father and that we are His dear children, and even more, that God is our Lover, is it not strange that this simplified affective prayer is not more common? Should we not be spontaneously prone to be occupied'with this loving Father by a loving, simple, and uninterrupted gaze just as a child is with its mother, or as one in lov~ with the object of his love? We can readily se~ .that this prayer should be a spontaneous outcome of the full realization ~ that God is our loving Fathe). and our Divine and mighties~t of lovers. The praye~: of simplicity thus brings with it a threefold simplification: first, that of reasoning or reflection; sec-ondly that oi~ the affections; and finally something that should rather naturally fbllow: that of our life, . which is ". really a'result of this prayer rathe~ than an element of it. In ordinary affective prayer there is some simplification of reasoning, but not of the affections; and as the affections of affective prayer become more simplified; this prayer verges more into simplified affective prayer or that of simplicity. It is easy-to see how this twofold simplification of reason-ing and of the affections will bring a simplification of our entire life-~-a" consequence of this form of prayer, as was just said. We pursue our work, studies, and spiritual exer-cises in the presence of God and with the spirit of faith and love. Thus, as a result of this prayer, ours is a life of uninterrupted and continual recollection. Of course, when we say uninterrupted or continual,, we are not speaking mathematically. We are rather referring to a frequent recu rrence. How are we to begin the practice of this prayer of sire- 303 ROBERT B. EITEN plicity? In keeping, with the idea that God is our,loving Father and the mightiest of all lovers, we must first of all be thoroughly convinced that God tenderlyloves us and that He finds great pleasure and ~atisfaction. in our love of Him. Secondly we must exclude from our lives, by thor-ough conquest of the senses, mind, and heart, every affec-tion which is not perfectly subordinated to the love of God arid which cannot serve to nourish this love; In brief,- through complete detachment from creatures we try to be-come wholly attached t6 God. Thirdly, we must put on Christ, .God's model Son, by bringing burselves to a com-plete conformity with His ideas~ longings, conduct, and en-tire mode of living. The more we put on God's model Son, the Apple of His eye, the more He will love us. Besides the foregoing, it is also necessary to make a deliberate attempt to live an intensive prayer-life. This prayer-life would include the following points: a ) A great fidelity to exercises of piety prescribed by rule: making them at the time and place and in the way pre-scribed, except in the rare cases of hindrance, dispensation, or other lawful excuse. b) A similar fidelity, but without childish anxiety or a sense of compulsion, to exercises of supererogationchosen with the approval of the spiritual ,director or the superior. Whatever these exercises are, they should not be left to passing whims, but should be definitely marked out ina plan of life. This plan might contain such details as the following: the amount of time to be spent daily before the Blessed Sacrament; how this time is to be distributed; how daily recollection is to be linked up with morning prayer; whether or not a weekly Holy Hour is to be' made, and so forth. One of the functions of these.,superer0gatory exer-cises is to help us to perform our prescribed exercises'better. c) A frequent use of ejaculatory prayer. It may b~ 304 ' PROGRESS II~ ~RAYER preferable to use ejaculations of our own making, since this will insure greater spontaneity on our part as well as greater fervor, whereas other fixed ejaculations are apt to be recited in parrot-like fashion. These ejaculations should be said slowly and with relish. We.can readily be deceived by large numbers here, although we might well ,aim at large num-bers if we can recite our ejaculations with .relish, slowly, and without strain. d) Eager and instinctive recourse to God in all our diffi-culties whatever they are, as in the case of trials crossing our path, or on the occasion of faults of surprise and weakness. By this constant recourse to God we acquirea habi~t or dis-position whereby in the presence of the least difficulty, suf-fering, obstacle, or unexpected consolation, we turn imme-diately by instinct to God, in an ~lan of prayer approPriate to the case at hand. This. promptness is an indication of unbroken union of our soul with God. We resemble the little child-who instinctively has recourse to its.mother in any and all difficulties. Familiarity with these four exercises, especially with the ¯ fourth, will surely bear fruit, even though it may be several years before we acquire the continuity.of the prayer of sim-plicity. If, however, after noble efforts we do not reach this continuity, let us riot be discouraged, since there are souls very holy and the object of God's special love who have similar difficulties. Among those who reach this degree of prayer in a certain measure, the majority arrive there but gradually, at the price of effort, or rather of the inner work of grace continued over a period of years. In this matter let us resign ourselves to God's Holy Will, believing that He will dispose all things sweetly. Beyond simplified affective .prayer we cannot advance with our own efforts, for'the next stel~ forward is into ~he realm of infused contemplative prayer. Howev.er, we ought 305 ROBERT B. EITEN to realize that the careful practice of this simplified affective prayer is the best disposition for and a stepping stone to infused prayer. Conceiving the higher phases of the prayer : of simplicity as a bridge between acquired and infused men-tal prayer, let us march forward towards this bridge, resigning ourselves, however, to God's Holy Will, after we have done our part, to decide whether or not we are to arrive on the other side of it--the life of infused contem-plation. THE STORY OF CARMEL The Discalced Carmelite Nuns of Milwaukee have edited a brief history of the Order of Carmel entitled Carmel of the Mother of God. The book includes the interesting and traditional acount of the foundation of the Order, mentions the existence of Carmelite nuns as early as 1452, and sketches St. Theresa's reform. More in detail is the inspiring story of the Carmelites' early days in the United States. The Carmel founded in Milwaukee in 1940 is completely described, since the book was written especially at the request of many friends in that city. A frank discussion of the Carmelite's daily routine and of the chief devotions fostered by the Order makes, the book both devotional and instructive. Twelve illustrations and a diagram showing the date and location of each monastery of Discalced Nuns in the United States add further interest. Copies 6f Carmel of the Mother of God may be obtained at Carmel, 4802 West Wells Street, Miiwaukee, Wisconsin. The price is fifty (50) cents.--C. A. CHAPMAN, S.J. 306 The N. andling of Sacred Vessels and Linens James E. Risk, S.J. SO GREAT is the reverence due the HolyEucharist tha~ the Church not only requires that special respect be shown to persons dedicated to the service of the Altar, but also demands that the sacred vessels and linens used in the Holy S~acrifice be accorded reverential treatment. ¯ The law regulating this treatment is expressed in Canon I306, one of the canons governing the externals of divine worship. The first,part of the canon prescribes that no on,e except clerics and sacristans be permitted to handle the chalice and paten, and the purificators, palls, and corporals that have not been cleansed after having been used in the Holy Sacrifice. The second part of the canon prescribes that the first washing of purificators, palls, and corporals used in the Holy Sacrifice be performed by a cleric in major orders, and not ~y a layman, even a religious, and that the water from this first washing be thrown into the sacrarigm or, if this be lacking, into the fire. The objects of the first prohibition are the consegrated chalice and paten, and certain linens that have been used in the Mass itself, namely, purificators, palls, and corporals. The corporal always comes into contact with the sacied .species; and both pall and purificator are !ikely to do so. The pall can absorb traces of the Precious Blood that may adhere to the rim of the chalice; the.purificator can absorb either minute particles of the Host or tiny. drops of the- . Precious Blood; though, generally speaking, none of these should remain after the ablutions. To avoid confusion, it may be useful to refer to some 307 JAMES E. RISK objects that lie outside the restrictions of this "law. The Code is silent about the ciborium, the pyx, and the lunette. Though these contain the Sacred Host at times, they are not consecrated, and they are not, properly speaking, objects whose function is directl~t connected with the Mass. Need-less to say, only a priest or a deacon may handle these ves-sels when they contain the Sacred Host. No special rest~ric-tion affects the handling of purificators, palls, and corporals that ,have never been used at Mass or that have been used, but in the meantime cleansed. The corporal used at Bene-diction is not included in the prohibition; nor are the. chalice veil, burse, vestments, and other accessories of the Holy Sacrific.e. But it is well to note here that the absence of any prohibition do~s riot excuse anyone, cleric or lay-man, from observing a reverential attitude towards al! obje4ts in any way connected with the Sacrifice of the NeW Law. Priests and religious, by word and example, should inculcate this lesson of reverence in the minds of the young, lest a carelessness born of familiarity towards holy things supplant an attitude of respect. The persons allowed to handle these sacred objecFs. according to the. first part of the canon, fall into two classes, namely, clerics and sacristans. One who receives the ton-sure formally enters the clerical state a~cording to Canon 108. Such a one may tOUCh the sacred vessels used at Mass as well as the linens described above. The second class comprises sacristans or, as the Code puts it, "those who have custody" of those objects. Sacristans are usually given charge of the sacristy and all the liturgical equipment. An assistant sacristan would enjoy the same right since he would come under the heading of those entrusted with the care of the sacred vessels. Since the law contains no restricting clause, we may conclude that the office of sacristan may be filled by man or woman, religious or lay. 308 SACRED VESSELS AND LINENS ¯ By inference we know those who are excluded from any contact with the sacred vessels or linens. They are those who have never been formally inducted into the clerical state by reason of the tonsure and those who are in no wise charged with the care of the sacristy or the altar furnish-ings. The mere fact that one is a religious does not confer on him this right. An emergency wouldjustify the handling of the sacred vessels or linens by anyon.e. Danger of theft or irreverence or harm of any kind would demand their removal to a. place of safety by any one of the faithful who ¯ happened to b~ 6n hand. To prevent immediate contact with the sa~cred vessels a cloth is sometimes used. This is a laudable custom, but there is no obligation to follow it, It may not be out of place to .propose the following question, closely allied to the matter under discussion. Who may arrange the chalice for the priest who isabout to cele- .brate Mass? The first answer comes fr.om the Rite to be Follovoed .in the. Celebration of Mass, Title ,1, no. l., instructing the celebrant to prepare the chalice. The Sacred Congregation of Kites, in response to a query, permitted such a preparation to be made by one who is allgwed by law or Apostolic privilege to touch the sacred vessels, but in the same response it recommended that the celebrant' him-self carry out the prescription of the Rite of Celebration just mentioned. This is found in the Authentic Decrees of the Sacred .Congregation of Rites, no 4198. ~ The second part of Canon 1306 concerns the first washing of pu~ificators, palls and corporals used in the Holy Sacrifice. These objects are mentioned in particul~ar because they are used in the Holy Sacrifice in such a way as ' to come into contact with the sacred species; the corporal, since it providesa resting place for the Sacred. Host; the pall and puriticat0r, since their functions do not exclude the possibility of contact with the sacramental species. The 309~ "JAMES E. RISK same may' be true to a very slight extent of the little purifi-cator used to dry the fingers of the priest who has distrib-uted H61y Communion outside of Mass or who has helped the celebrant to distribute Communion during Mass. No other linens are affected by this law. .Persons allowed to wash these linens are clerics in major orders to the exclusion of all others. The washing reserved to major clerics is the first washing, a more thorough cleansing being left to others. The two 'additional washings are.traditional but not obligatory, nor is there any obliga-tion to throw into the sacrarium the water from these addi-tional washings. The exclusive nature of this function is clear from the exhortation given to those about to be ordained subdeacons. The ordaining Bishop addresses them in these words: "- "°Dearly beloved sons, who are about to receive the 'office of the subdiaconate, consider with care the nature of the ministry which is given to you. It is the duty of'the subdeacon . to wash the altar cloths and the corporals ¯ . the cloths which are laid over the altar should be washed in one vessel, and the corporals in another. And none of the other linens should be washed in the watei in which the corporals have been washed, and this water should be thrown into the sackarium." Any exception to the law expr~essed in Canon 1306, part. 2, must be granted by the Holy See. The Congrega-tion for the Propagation of the Faith, realizing the emer-gencies and the inconveniences that often arise in the mis-sion fields, has granted to missionary Bishops the faculty to permit Sister sacristans to perform the/irst Washing of the, purificators, palls and corporals; a duty reserved by law to " those.in sacred orders, as we have just seen. When there is a serious reason for it, this same privilege can be obtained 310 SACRED V~SSELS AND LINENS from the Congregation of Religious for Sister~ outside mis= sion districts: A final word concerning the oblioation imposed by canon 1306. The first part of the canon does not seem to impose a strict obligation on lay persons not to touch the sacred vessels and linens, but merely a caution for superiors not to let them do so. The second part of the canon is" phrased more strictly: "Purific.ators, palls, etc . must not be given to lay persons for washing . . . ': To delib-erately act contrary to this prohibition without a sufficient reason-would be sinful; though, in the opinion of eminent commentators, it would not be a serious sin, as the matter is hardly grave, and the irreverence manifested would be slighk. Of coursea special emergencTmight arise in which these linens shouldbe cleansed without delay. The absence . of a major cleric and.the inconvenience involved in finding one would then justify a lay sacristan in performing the first washing of these linens, and no sin would be com-mitted in the case. The spirit of reverence that has always characterized religious sacristans makes easy the observ.ance of this law. PAMPHLET NOTICES VChat is the Bible? by the Reverend Frar.cis P. LeBuffe, S.$. Revised edition. Single copy by mail, 12 cents; 50 copies, $4.00; 100 copies, $7.00; The America Press,-70 East 45th Street, New York" 17, N. Y. Indulgence Ale, and Little Praq. ers with Plenary lndulg~nces--both by the Reverend Francis J. Mutcl~., Each 10 cents per single copy; 5 for 25 cents; 100 for $3.50. Our Sunday V.isitor Press, Huntington, Indiana. 311 The Principle ot: Leadership in Ca :holic Action Youree Watson, S.J. ARE we religious perfectly satisfied with the youth com-mitted to our care? On the whole our boys and girls are "good".---no question of that. One cannot but be aware, however, that in most of our young people this goodness is mixed with" a more or less high degree of world-liness, so that a painful new question inevitably presents itself: will they stay good after they have left us? We must acknowledge that very many of our Catholic students! are worldly. Their ambitions are of the earth: their heroes and heroines are from Hollywdod, not Heaven; their daydreams revolve around the hope of amassin~g a for-tune with its accompaniment of pleasure and prestige, or of wielding great power and influence (of course, they will be benevolent despots!) or of living long, comfortable (ig-noble) days. Surely they intend to pay to God the tribute of weekly devotion, and in many cases considerably more; but in their ordinary daily thinking the supernatural life of 0~grace doesn't loom very large or shine very brightly, so that we wonder if in the end they will not be ensnared by the spirit of this .world and come to have much the same point of view on life as the pagans who surround them. Why this worldliness? The obvious answer is that it springs from the worldly environment in which our youth live. And when I say "environment," I am not using the 1Although in this article the technique of specialized Catholic Action is for the sake of definiteness applied to a particular environment; namely, that of the student worid: nevertheless, with certain minor adjustments the very same technique is equally applicable to other environments, as that of farmers, or of workers, or of professional men and women: doctors, nurses, lawyers, etc. 312 LEADERSHIP IN CATHOLIC ACTION word in ~i narrow sense. All the numerous-influences that come tO a person from without--the sounds that crowd ~his ears, the sights that flood his eyes, and all the "meaning" which these carry---constitute his environmentl Almost every action of a man is at the same time a reaction tohis milieu. Understood in this broad way the influence of en-vironment on character is of incalculable importance. If then we are to lead the masses of our youth to the feet of Christ, we must take into serious consideration the environment, the milieu, in which they live. If the cus-todian of a goldfish pond discovers that his fish are slowly dying because of some poisonous substance in the water, he doesn't engage in the long-drawn-out task of treating each fish separately with some specific remedy., o.nly to leave him in the water to be. reinfected--no, he simply proceeds to change the water. The efficient process of saving souls is not dissimilar. Why.do we insist that Catholic parents send their chil-dren to ou[ religious schools,, if not in order that these may receive their education in a proper environment? Certainly, relative to the environment of a public school, the "atmos-phere" of any St. 2oseph's or St. Anne's Academy is deft-nitely superior. But we must not deceive ourselves; what we.say to thi~ pupils in tl~e classroom is only a part of the school environment and, from the point of view of charac-ter training, not the most important part. Most teachers will no doubt agree that our students are more affect.ed by what the majority of their companions think and do than by all we can tell them about what they ought to do. Besides, a student is not exposed merely to the school environment. First of all there is the home, which of the several elements of the total environment is in the longrun the most important. If the home is truly Christian, our worries will be halved from the start. However, a specia! 3'13 YOUREE WATSON factor for teadhers to bear. in mind is that from early, ado-lescence the influence of parents is very considerably lessened bY. the natural craving for independence from older people --"freedom from the apron strings"--that awakens atthis period. But child and home alike are strongly affected by the influences of our great public amusements: the movies, radio, books, and magazines (to say nothin, g of comics and comic books). These too are youth's environment, insofar as they constitute the matter of his exp.eriences, the source 6f innumerable ideas and judgments, his stimuli to action. All these are, as a rule,, not imme'diate!y d~ingerous; it is their slow but steady inciHcation of false attitudes on life that makes the Christian educator fear them. How often, for example, do they not show, in vivid, concrete portrayal,. how~a person can be supremely happy without the aid of God and religion! It is a platitude to say these public amusements are pagan, but like so many .platitudes itstates a truth too often .ignored. No one who allows himself frequently to enjoy such things, and does notat the same t~me react against the wrong attitudes of mind which they so commonly imply, can possibly escape being tainted with naturalism, or, if you prefer, worldliness. He will come ultimately ~o consider the supra-sensible world--terra ir~cogrlita to most movie and radio stars and to heroes of fiction~as of little practical importance. Religion will be thor.oughly dissociated from life. It is this propaganda of modern paganism, joined with a constant association with an ever-growing number of religious indifferen.tists, which acts on home and individual to pervert the straight-ness of our Christian thinking. We immediately recognize the fact that, if we are seri-ously interested in training the. character of our young charges, we must in some way try to improve their environ- 314 LEADERSHIP IN C~THOLIC ment. outside the hours of formal class, and even the environment of the classroom insofar as it is not constituted by. ourselves how many classroom traditions of indolence, inattention, cheating~ oi of something-less-than-innocent deviltry flourish sometimes in our despite! ' Now, we cannot affect the family environment directly: no more.~an we affect the "public amusement environ-ment," except, perl3aps, negatively in our boarding schools. "What then can we affect? That which, when all is said and done, is, for older students at least, probably the most important of all environmental factors: the influence of fellow-students. But are we not in a vicious circle? What can we do to influence the student milieu bther than to prepare with utmost diligence our catechism classes, our little spiritual talks, our references to God and His saints scattered thrgughout the daily lessons? No more, perhaps, is possible to us working as teachers on the student mass as a whole, but there is a certain indirect approach which may prepare wl, iite harvests for our zeal. We must get allies amongthe stu-dents, must win over to the cause of Christ's apostolate two or three leaders, and then set them to work on their fellow students. ~This is according to the. principle of "like to like" recommended so warmly by our late pontiff, Plus XI: "Each situation will have then," he tells us, "its corre-sponding apostle: the apostles of the workers will. be workers; the apostles of the farmers will be farmers; the apostles of the seamen will be seamen; the apostles of the ¯ students Will be students." We have thus far considered a grave problem of our times--the poisoned air of modern life in which our Cath-olic youth must breathe and grow--and we have intimated its solution; namely, specialized Catholic Action with its leadership technique. Catholic o.~ganizations for youth 315 YOUREE \VAT$ON have always stressed the importance.of developing le'aders, but specialized Catholic Action is,entirely based on wha~ we might call the principleof leadership. This can be simply expressed.as follows:, there are leaders in every human environment: namelyl peisons who havea strong influence on others, whose personal opinions become the opinions of many, whose conduct or misconduct sets the style, so to speak, for their companions. To this tru, th is the corrol-lary: there are followers, persons easily influenced one way or the other. Of course, there are many degrees in the abil-ity to lead; but a really powerful personality will usually -be able to override, the weaker influence of lesser leaders. This is true whether on a world scale a dictator sways the thought of millions, or a fourteen-year-old student man-ages to get the crowd to accept his ideas and schemes. ¯ " One might argue that this "principle of leadership" seems undemocratic. The objection is at once seen to be point1~ss, for by this "principle" we say no moie than that men have different degrees of intelligence, imagination and emotion, of temperamental-courage and prudence. Again~ the "principle" merely states the fact of natural leaflets: it. does not assert that these persons have any right to govern others authoritatively, unless they should be delegated to this by popular choice. Can one deny, . moreover, " that it is ordinarily the natural leaders who rise to politicalpower even in a democracy? It is not different in the case of social influence in factory or farm or classroom. If there are natural leaders-~-as psychology and litera-ture and, indeed, every' day experience affirm--it is of utmost importance in the battle ever going on between Christian. and pagan-influences in the various environments that we win leaders to serve wholeheartedly and with the deepest conviction on Christ's side. But there are many . ¯ leaders in every environment, and some will not easily be .3.16 LEADERSHIP IN CATHOLIC ACTION brought to fight for the Christian ideal, so that we must content ourselves in the beginning at least with winning over ttvo or three leaders of considerable influence. Of course, these leaders acting alone could never change the whole environment of'a school. However, with the aid of a powerful, closely-knit organization based on the prih-ciple of leadership they could go far toward the realization of this[ The Catholic Action cell with its ramifications provides, us with such an organization. Organization is necessary. Some peopl~ have an unreasonable contempt for organization. They could learn a lesson from the Corffmunists and Nazis, who have suc-ceeded in firing their youth with a burning enthusiasm for their false doctrines by means of an extremely well-organized onslaught on their intellectk and emotions. "Organization," wrote Pius XI, "is a necessity of the time." Lal~er in a public discourse he added: "Good, well-disciplined organization can alone achiev~ full succesS." The present papal Secretary of State, in a letter written, two years ago to the president of the Canadian Semaines L%ciales, after recalling the exposition of Catholi~ Action given by our present pontiff, Plus XII, added by way of further specification" "Catholic Action is a strongl~j organ-ized collaboration, differentiated according to the different categories of persons to be reached. " There are, as we know, many types of organization. What we want is an apostolic organization, one whose pri-mary aim is the conquest of so.uls, whose spirit is militant Catholicism, and whose dynamic structure gives full scope to the leaders to lead., Such again, as we shall show, is the organization proper to the Catholic Action cell With its" accompanying teams. The cell is a group of about eight persons exercising a very active apostolate, a group of young students or factory 317 YOURE~- WATSON workers or farmers or others determined to win over their environmentto a more thorough and living Christianity. Their characteristic technique is the Social Inquiry. This. consists of three fundarriental steps:-OBSERVE, JUDGE, ACT. According to these, they first investigate the state of their environment, usually in regard to some particular religious or moral question. In a school such topics as the following would b'e looked into: the spirit of fraternity among students, attitude of students toward study, honesty in school work and games, attitude toward authority, ,atti-tude in regard to the Mass, preaching, religion class, and so forth. Other inquiries would take up corresponding prob-lems of the students' home life. As each of these larger inquiries would constitute more or'less a whole year's work, their would all be subdivided into a number of subordinate inquiries. Having carefully observed the actual situation--a process which may include several weeks in a minor in-' quiry--the militants will next consider what the ideal situation would be. A most effective way of doing this is by a sort of group meditation on those Gospel passages which bear on the problem in hand. If no immediately pertinent passages can be. found, then the teaching of the catechism, supplemented by information from moral and ascetical theology, can be substituted for these. Naturally, the-guidance of a priest or religious is always called for here. The alI too common, but none the less sad, discrepancy between the actual and the ideal will awaken in the student pity and the desire to do something to help out, and also, if he be a real leader, a definite sense of responsibility for others who, perhaps with no less good will, are less blessed than he with religious conviction and moral strength. This,. the Judge stage of the inquiry, consists ultimately in a 318. , LEADERSHIP IN CATHOLIC ACTION firm practical judgment: "I ought to do somdthing about this." Exactly what is to be done must now be decided on --both a long range activity and also some definite things for the next weekl Lastly there comes the all important execution--the action toward which all cell activity is orientated. The main features of the cell and its technique were well described in an article by Father Albert S. Foley in the May issue of this REVIEW. Moreover, all those who would actually wish to start a cell can find all essential material in The Technique of the Catholic Action Cell Meeting. Thi~ excellent booklet was recently compiled by Father Stephen Anderl and Sister M. Ruth (see REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, July 15, 1943,. Bboklets, p. 251). In the present article, as we consider.anew the workings of the technique, we can tOUCh on many points which for lack'of .space could not be takefi up in Father Foley's article: but above all we wish to observe as we go along how the principle of leadership comes into play. Theyoung person who is most outstanding for his apostolic leadership will naturally become the president of the Catholic Action organization. As the most zealous of the officers, he is expected to keep the ardor of his two fel-low officers up as close as possible to his own high level. (while their companionship will save him from the weak-ness of isblation). All three--president, s~cretary, and treasurer--constitute a .governing committee made up of the most ardent of the youthful lay apostles in the cell. As "apostles of. the apostles" they must be given very special attention by the director (in oNcial Catholic Action this is always the chaplain appointed directly or indirectly by the bishop; but in many schools a rel!gious assistant exercises much of the immediate direction under the .general super-vision of the chaplain, who, moreover, must attend to his 319 YOUR~ ~'rATSON priestly function ~f guiding souls). If the chaplain or assistant cannot be present at the officers' meeting, the preside.fit of the Catholic Action organization should dis-~ cuss all important matters'with the one or the other ahead of time. Why the officers' meeting? Precisely in accordance with the principle of leadership. The officers are leaders relative to the ordinary cell.members; they are to e'xert their encour-aging influence on the rest. They will surely do this if they have come together ahead of time and planned the mat-ter to be brought up in the cell meeting. They will then be able ~o furnish fresh ideas, if these seem to lag, and new motives Wherethese are called for; they will at the same time h~ve organized a united front which tho~e who would be tempted to think certain points in a campaign a bit too difficult will find it hfird to resist. We have seen the-princ!ple of leadership active within the cell itself. In the actual apostolate of the cell members --whkh .we are now to consider--its application is even more important. To. begin with, the apostolic influence W-hich the cell exerts is of two kinds: general, by means of all the ordinary types of propaganda--talks, skits, posters, bulletins, and so forth; personal, by means of man-to-man contact. Both are important, but the latter is more distinc-tive of the cell-movement and absolu~el3~ indispensable to its success. I.t is carried on chiefly through small groups known as "teams." The "team," which is certainly an integral part of cell technique as it has been worked out in the now interna-tional movement of Jocism, has sometimes been too much neglected in the "cell movement" of this country. How- .ever, according to the best practice here as elsewhere the cell is made up of "leaders of teams." In Joci~t literature, to 320 LEADERSHIP IN CATHOLIC ACTION be sure, the cell rfieeting is often--and properly--called "the meetinKof team leaders." What is a team? It is a group of about four or five persons under the influence of, a leader. The names given to this leader indicate what is expected of him: in New England among the Franco-Americans he is known as a "'responsable"; and this key virtue of responsib!lity is also stressed in their slogan, "Your team is your family!" More commonly he is known as a "militant." As his name im-plies, the militant is a full-fledged apo.stle, lavish of his time. and energy for Christ, willing to do hard things for the tri-umph of His cause. The team member is one who, while not willing to "go all Out" for Christ, is, nevertheless, willing to cooperate in m. any ways with his militant leader in his apostolic work. A militant's team will be drawn from those with whom the militant fihds himself in most frequent contact. For the most part they.will be those whom he would naturally influence, including, perhaps, a couple of close friends; for, after all, the first ones whom the militant should wish to lead to a closer service of the Ideal are those most intimately associated with him: his brothers and sisters, his friends, his acquaintances. The militant should gather his team together~the more informally the better-~- at least every two weeks (whereas the officers' meeting and cell meeting would be a ¯ weekly event); he will, of course, keep in frequent touch with the individual members, giving special attention ~to anyone whom he thinks to be of leader caliber, c~pable himself of becoming a militant. It is not necessary, how-ever, for an evident leader to pass a definite term of appren- ' ticeship on a team. We begin to see how the good personal influence radi-ates. In any particular inquiry with its resultant campaign the initial spark may come from the chaplain Or religious 321" YOUREE ~rATSON assistant of the .Catholic Action group, but it is essential that the cell officers.catch fire. At the cell meeting the~e set aflame the Other members of the cell. ¯ Each of these mili-tants has, in turn, the primary task of communicating his convictions to his team; thenhe must raise them ~o that pitch of enthusiasm wherein they themselves-will b~ suffi-ciently apostolic-minded to try to get yet others to see the thing as they do.If ~ach team member on the average wins over one other person, see how far the ~'drive" will have gone already! Let us say there are seven young people in the cell, each with a team of about four members. Then twenty-eight.persons will be actively engaged in promoting any campaign decided upon by the cell. Th~se twenty-~ eight~will get at least twenty-eight more. Then some of these last "sympathizers" can be counted on to exert fur-ther influence, to win over,,say, fourteen more; so that at the beginning of every concerted effort toward the realiza,- tion of the Christian social order the leaders could count on about seventy regulars! If the .general propaganda is well conducted dozens more are.sure to "come around"; while as the thing becomes more and more widespread, many oth-ers will "climb on the bandwagon." The team is the ordinary instrument by which the leaders keep in touch with the mass and leaven it. For the benefit 6f those who may doubt the necessity of this some-what complicated system of personal contacts, we might call to mind again the "good" example of the Communists and Fascists along these lines. But to choose a less exotic illustration,' let us .consider one of our own American political campaigns. If a person has anyknowledge of the procedure~ followed--which is in the last analysis purely and simply an effort to persuade people to do something, for example, to vote for such and such a candidate he will realize that for this, cell-team organization is both 322 LEADERSHIP IN CATHOLIC ACTION natural and essential. ~There will be general propaganda in such a campaign: poste.rs, handbills, newspaper articles, and so forth. But no candidate would dream of doing with-out a little cell of supporters in every important voting center--a cell of campaigners who Willwork chiefly by personal contact, who will try to enlist to the cause more and more active supporters or at least sympathizers who, when occasion offers, will put in a good word for their side. This. organization may be ordained for a very different ultimate purpose from the organization found in Catholic Action, but their immediate end is the same--to influence public opinion. Catholic Action organization too must take into account the general rules of persuasion, and the natural ways of'ieading the public mind. This is what the new technique actually does. It is apparent that it demands a lot, not only from youth, but likewise from us, the chaplains or. assistants. Nevertheless, the resialts will be so exceedingly worthwhile (and the consequences of Our failure to invigorate the reli-gion of our student masses so terrible) that there is not one among us who will stop to count the cost. The results have been e.xceedingly worthwhile wher-ever it has been seriously tried by competent directors. For - all this is not just "theory"'; movements using this tech-nique are flourishing~in some eight different countries and are well established in about fifteen more. Even in our own United St~ites, where the movement hardly dates back more than four years, it is being carried out in very many places. And as elsewhere so also among us such organizations, whether operating independently or as a sort of "apostolic committee" within some larger, long approved organiza-tioi~, are in a particularly effective and intimate way pre-paring leaders for Catholic Action--o~cial Cathoiic Ac-tion, if the bishop of the diocese should see fit to give his 323 YOUREE WATSON mandate for~this, as indeed several, bishops have already done in particular instances.2 Young men and women, boys and girls are getting their companions to live fuller Christian lives. Sometimes we read that they have cured an unhappy lad of the habit of telling dirty stories; again we hear of them stopping an epidemic of cursing. Now we find them substituting admiration for Christ for admiration of Superman; now they will be .getting their fellows to go back to the Sacra-ments, which they have been neglecting. In one city a year after their first beginnings nearly every cell had either won a convert or brought Several fallen-away Catholics back to the Church--and often enohgh such successes as these are won 'under circumstances which call for truly heroic courage and charity on the part of the"young, layo leaders. To sum up, these militants are fighting for whatever will promote thereign Of Christ in the student world--anything f~om changing public opinion on the relatively mild moral blight of cheating in class to remedying the truly grave evils of. over-drinking and improper dating. Their Work is by no means all negative; rather it is fun-damentally positive. In their observation of. the actual mbral and religious situation of the environment, they seek for every force tending to uplift and do all in their power to encourage it. Sucha spirit leads themmallowance made for human weakness--to cooperate with all our older Cath-olic organizations, to work through them and with them, and, when occasion offers, to serve them. 2It is necessary to distinguish between Catholic Action less properly so-called, by which is 'meant any apostolic lay activity, and Catholic Action in the strict sense of the term, which designates a particular, definite organization with an episcopal man-date for its apos.tolate. For a complete explanation of'the nature and char;icteristics of Catholic Action the reader is referred to Father Win. Ferree's booklet: "'An Introduction to Catbollc Action," N.C.W.C. (Washirigton, D.C.) and to Arch-bishop Charbonneau's Pastoral Letter, The Apostolate Press, 1 I0 E. La Salle Ave., Southbend, Indiana. 324 LEADERSHIP IN CATHOLIC ACTION This movement is by now firmly established in some of our schools.However, through our graduates, specialized Catholic Action should spread among the workers and other groups. This, as. Bishop McGavick says in his inspiring foreword to the booklet on cell technique referred to above, is the gr~at hope of th~ Church~ The achievements thus far would, indeed, seem to jus-tify this h0pe.They may well be illustrated by the story of a former militant in a mid-western university. This young man was suddenly snatched out 9f school and sent to a naval training base. The job assigned to him was that of clerk in ~n office under a Master of Arms who ~uns a certain company. This MA was a fallen-away Catholic, and foul-mouthed. However, the militant, who happe.ns to look amazingly mild and unaggressive (a leader does not have to be noisy and self-assertive!), started to use what he had learned in the cell back at the university. He "brought. this MA round," got him to stop obscenities, and took him to the chaplain to have his marriage fixed up. Now the MA is making every "gob" whom he hears using bad language scrub out a barracks, sends .others /~o Mass or to church; or something of the sort. He is also reading a good deal of Catholic literature supplied by the young apostle, who likewise gave him his rosary, medals, and whatnot when the MA asked for them. The sailors call this militant the "preacher," but he just laughs at them, jokes good-humoredly with them, gets them to attend Mass, even got a crowd of them to go to Mass and Communion every day~ for a week before Mother's Day. He is now working on the problem of "leaves." Many of tl-;e young boys go out tothe tough districts of nearby cities and come back with souls badly stained. He is trying to get a team of older fellows quietly to plan leaves and week-ends and herd ~mall groups of youngsters around to 325 YOUREE WATSON decent e.ntertainment. T~is means plotti~g~ getting tickets, spending much time that he might employ for himself in legitimate recreation. Yet his apostolic ,~pirit and his sense of responsibility drive him on to new battles for Christ. _ ~ There ha~ existed for centuries an all too popular mis-conception that only priests and religious are supposed to" be saints, that theirs alone is the business of sa3ring souls. This false notion has been the cause of truly calamitous losses in the realm of grace. Theologians have often dem-onstrated the falsity of this ancient, Satan-born lie; our young militants are even more effectively disproving it by the Christ-like beauty of their deeds. So enthusiastic are these Catholic Actionists, so zealous in their apostolate, so ardent in their desire to Serve (the movement has been called "charity on the march"), so strong in their conviction of the social lessons of the doc-trine of the Mystical Body, that the story of their efforts and victories--may it some day be written in fullmreminds us not a little of the things we read about the first Christians in the Acts of the Apostles. If we were to try to sum up their spirit in a word or tWO, we should say it is a spirit, of Christian conquest; for our new techniqu~ has truly revealed to us many a secret in the art of training leaders for the arrfiy of Christ. It was doubtless with such glbrious possibilities in mind that Cardinal Lepicier, Prefect of the Sacred Congregation ofReligious, some years back called "the knowledge of Catholic Action henceforth indispensable to all who are engaged in the education of Christian youth." 326 . Devotion t:he I-Ioly Name 0t: ,Jesus Gerald Ellard, S.J. #/~ .SPECIFIC devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus is a legacy to us ~--~ from the Middle Ages. A zealous son of St. Francis has recently. summarized the history of the devotion in a doctoral disserta-tion, presented at St. Anthony's Pontifical "Athenaeum" in Rome, and no.w published in this countr~y.1 Its style is lively, not to say, sprightly; its factual data, well-substantiated; its inner story, very intei:esting. If the roots of the devotion are traced to some classic patristic'phs-sages, which were quoted by medieval v)riters with all manner of ascription, still it is in the written records of the twelfth century that the devotion is found to have taken on'its characteristic notes and forms. St. Anselm of Canterbury (d. 1109), St. Bernard (d~ 1153), and his great Cistercian contemporary, St. A~Ired of Rievaulx, Eng-land, (d. 1167), were among the foremost prom0ters'of the devo-tion at that time, 'as; in the subsequent century, was the author of the desu dulcis mernoria. Under Pope Innocent III (1198-1216) .a Mass in honor of the Holy Name was first approved. St. Francis of Assisi _(d. 1226) bequeathed to his order a special reverence for;the written Name of Jesus. Under the presidency of St. Bonaventure, the Coun-cil of Lyons (1274) decreed that all should bow. the head on hearing o? pronouncing the Name of Jesus. In the fourteenth, and early fifteenth c~nturies, most particularly in northern Italy, this devotion was giving its prestige to multiple associations, confraternities, and even institutes of religious. Thus in 1338, tb~ C~mpagnia del GesC~, a group of flagellants.at the Santa Croce Church in Florence, claiming a long corporate existence, was .given by ~xtension the privileges of the Friars Minor (pp. 122-3). More .famous" were the Jesuati, and their female counterpart, the Jesuatesses, respectively a nUrsing brotherhood and sisterhood founded in 1354 at Siena by Blessed John Columbini and his cousin, .Blessed Catherine Columbini. The men's organization had existence as a religious institute for three full centuries, the women's for more than five hundred years. ~History of the Det~elopment of Deootion to the Holy Name. By Peter R. Biasi-otto, O.F.M. Pp. xii q- 188. St. Bonaventure, New York, 1943. $1.50. Page numbers cited in the present article refer to this book. 3217 GERALD ELLARD Of course'the greatest popularizer of devotion to the Hbly Name was the Sienese Franciscan, St. Bernardine (d. 1444), by means of his celebrated painted monogram. St. Bernardine founded in Siena in1425 what he called the "'sotietas benedicti nominis Yhesus," (p, 123). .o An interesting linking of Franciscan, Domini~can and Jesuit for-tunes is seen in the circumstance that the oldest Holy Name Society in Rome was St. Bernardine's foundation in 1427 in a small church that then occupied part of the site of the prese.nt Church of the ¯ Gesi~ (pp. 95, 6). The author advances the suggestion that St. Ignatius of Loyola derived his devotion to the Holy Name in part from the then current legendary account of such a devotion on the part of his-patron, St. Ignatius of Antioch. According to the legend, the heart of St. Ignatius of Antioch was cut open after his martyrdom, and there in letters of~gold wasfound the'Name of Jesus. The suggestion does not lack probability, since it is well known that the founder of the ¯ Society of Jesus was at baptism given the Christian name of Inigo, and that he deliberately took the name of Ignatius after his conver- 'sion. The legend concerning St. Ignatius of Antioch is found in the Legenda Aurea, read by the wounded knight of Pampeluna during the period of convalescence that was climaxed by his conversion. St. Be~nardine had much to suffer, chihfly at the hands 0f reli-gi09. s of other institutes, before the devotion he was preaching had overcome all opposition. The dissertation recounts the story, but there-is no need of entering upon it heie. ;i'hestory of the growth of'the devotion is broken off at the .z.enith-pdint, th~ account of the great Battle of Belgrade, 3uly 21-22, 1456, Mien, inspired and led by St. John Capistran, under the sole rallying cry of Iesu, the attacking Christians were victorious over vastly.superior forces of Islam. Among the interesting links with the present age, mentioned at the end of the dissertation, are that the Litany of the Holy Name, suppressed together with nearly all litanies in 1602, was restored to the Universal ~hurch by Pope" Leo XlII in 1886, and that a peti-tion was handed in at the Vatican Couficil for the addition of a Preface of the Holy Name to the Missal. Dodsn't Cardioal New-man tell'us, too, of his own boyhood institution of a prayer-union to be known as the Society of Jesus? 328 , A Summer School. in t:he Spirit:ual/it:e1 Patrick M. Regan, S.J. ACOURSE in the spiritual life is something comparatively new in summer school curricula. Let it be noted at the o.utset that it is not a course in philosophy, a summary treatment of questions in special ethics. Nor is it a course in dogmatic theology ada, pted to the needs and talents of religious. Nor is it, as some insist on calling it, "Religion," a course closely.related to dogma. Neither is it so par-tict~ larized or restricted as a series of lectures on mental.prayer, for example. Rather the spiritual life course pertains to ascetical the-ology, since it has for its purpose the explanation of some aspects at least of the life of perfection religious follow accc~rding to their institute. The particular course in the spiritual life which is. the subject of this article was giyen at Webster College in Webster Groves, Mis-souri, during the past summer. There were some two hundred and fifty Sisters in attendance at the"course, mo~t of them Sisters of Loretto; besides these there were also Sisters of Mercy, Ursulines, Daugh.ters of the Cross, Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur and Bene-dictines. Textbook The choice of a textbook is as difficult as it is important. One instinctively thinks of The Spiritual Life by Tanquerey; as a matter of fact this text has frequentl3i been used in similar courses. It labors under the difficulty of being too encyclopedic for a six weeks' course. Yet there are not many other works of ascetical theology written in English. One must avoid the mere devotional, since the object of- the course is to teach underlying principles of the life of perfection. Ultimately we selected Dora Aelred Graham's book, The Looe God. The particular advantage of this work is that it treats the essential element of the spiritual life, the love of God, under various 1During the summer the Sisters of Loretto provided courses in the spiritual life i~ a number of'their larger houses, thus making it possible for practically all their Sisters to attend such a course. Father Regan was one of the many priests conducting the courses. We asked him to give us his impression of his course. The response is contained in the present article.--ED. 329 > PATRICK M.'REG~N" aspects; conversely it gives a conspectus of the spiritual life under its most fundamental aspect. In the words of the author: ". :. we have chosen to discuss the love of God in the light of Thomisfic principles rather than make miscellaneous selections from authorities who, though possessing greater emotional appeal, .are not so fundamentally satisfactory" (p. xii). Furthermore there is the added advan~tage that the spiritual life i~ thus unified, all its parts tied together'by the pre.- dominant idea of the love of God. It was a revelation and inspiration to those who followed the course to consider the way of God as it is treated in thefirst section of the text, "The Nature of the Love of God." The reason for thi~ new enlightenment is significantly brought out in thd very chapter he.adings: "The One Who is Loved; . The One who Loves;" "The Love Itself." Most of the matter treated in these chapters is ordinarily .taken for granted or merely all'uded to in the-fraining of religious; but a study of these c~apters will convince one that the spiritual life suffers greatly from passing over such fundamentals. In thesecohd section of the book, "The Conditions of this Love;" the necessity of growing in knowledge of God takes on new signifi-cance when considered as a condition for growing in the love of Him. Likewise, "Drawing near to God" and "Unworldliness" (two remaining chapters), as conditions of growth in tl~is love of God, appear under a new and attractive explanation. The third section. of Dom Grabam's .book, "The Expression of this. Love," treats: "Prayer," "Self-abnega.tion," and "Action." Our six weeks' c6urse "concluded with the study of prayer as the expr.ession of 19ve. This was an excellent stopping place, as it completed the re-organization, as it were, of the copious life of prayer of the religious under that arresting aspect often heglected: the expression of the love of God. , That each member of the class might have an available record of the ~ourse, a summary of the class lectures was made and issued in the form of mimeographed notes. Not quite so satisfactory as the book itself, these had the advantage of being, considerably less expensive. Each Sister had her own individual set of the notes, which she was free to annotate during the lectures; furthermore they were hers at the end of the course,.a handy reference for future study and meditation. The Lecture As there was a double lecture period, there was danger that the 330 SUMMER SCHOOL IN THE SPIRITUAL LIFE course would become dull and tiresome, especially on the hot July days in St. Louis. Moreover, a spiritual life course can easily deteri-orate into a monotonous repetition'of pious platitudes which have been offered the auditors from the early days of their religious life in retreats, exhortations, instructions, rules find books of devotion. The course should be aimed at the enlightenment of the intellect, and very interesting indeed will be reactions of the listeners as theji realize more deeply the what, the how, and the why of the practices of reli-gion._ The lecturer must be prepared tO exhaust all the skill of peda-gogy be may possess to make the course interesting and enlightening. The blackboard with its diagrams.must really slaveto make sublime and abstract thoughts a bit less difficult for the mind to grasp. Count-less examples, as original .as possible so that they' may make a deep impress on the memory, must illustrate the matter at every step. Any-one. who reads a page or two of Dom Graham's book will p~rceive at once he has not steered clear of deep philosophy and theology. But that is precisely what the Sisters want and need, though it must be adapted to their capacity. Lest the matter overawe, insist with the auth6r: "The philosophy of the Church is not an esoteric doctrine; it'is nothing more formidable than common sense and requir.es for its understanding only patience and mental simplicity. Indeed, experi-ence shows that scholarship and imaginative brilliance can often be obstacles rather than aids to anything deeper than a verbal appreciation of the pbilosophia perennis. Here, as in another context,, the things hidden from the wise and prudent are revealed to babes." (p. 5) Variety was also introduced into the class by the use of the "question box," the numerous contributions to which were read and answered at the end of the first period each day. This was found to be the most feasible way of maintaining contact with the audience. It afforded the opportunity of wording questions-carefully and cir-cumvented the fear of speaking out before a large group. Still, many chose oral questions also. Another bit of variety was achieved by electing one of the Sisters as "Mistress of Novices" and referrihg practicaI cases to her. This opened the way to off-the-record discussion which was also helpful. Semi-Retreat But a spiritual life course, to attain its ideal, cannot be merely a series of classroom lectures. AsDom Graham notes on the title page of his book, citing St. John of the Cross: "At eventide they will 331 PATRIGK M. REGAN examine thee in love--." L6ve, as well,as knowledge, should grow in such a course. The soul should reap its harvest,, the spiritual life should be improved, the lessons of the classroom should be reduced to p~actice. And the director of the course should help individual souls in their personal efforts to reduce the principles to practice. Each day, therefore, an hour was set aside for confessions and another hour for individual private conferences. The eager response to these oppor-tunities was clear'enough proof of their great utility. The final exercise of each day was the giving of Points for .the meditation of "the following morning; this afforded the director another oppor-tunity tO bring theoretical teaching down to the plane of practice. The Sisters appreciated this semi-retreat atmosphere. It was somewhat the realization of a dream that has come to many of us in time of retreat: if only we could have a get-together to discuss some of the excellent spiritual matter offered in the various retreat confer-. ences, surely great profit would accrue to our souls. The Sisters realized this to the full. The dinner and supper tables buzzed with di~cussionof the spiritual life, while the conversations at recreation neversuffered from that mid-summer ennui that so often afflicts them. Ai one put it: "We really battled it out and "for once knew what we were talking about"; and another: "Whycan't we have such spirit-ual conversationsMl the year round?" Fruits Only God; of course, can judge the fruits of such a course. But all the indications are that this forward-looking policy of the Sisters of Loretto will pay spiritual dividends fdr years to come. Such enthusiastic participation in the course, such earnest application, such deep interest in spiritual theory and practice must fructify. Not only will each individual gain but the order also will gain by having its whole spiritual tone deepened and made more substantial. While it is true that new knowledge does not necessarily lead to new love and better service, still among religious of high ideals and purposes it can hardly fail to accomplish that result. Thus the certitude we have that we grew in knowledge of God in our summer school of the spiritual life is a trustworthy guarantee that we also grew in love. 332 ommun ca ons [EDITORS' NOTE: The following letters are the first responses to the Editorial in the July number (p. 217). Other communications on Vocation will be welcomed and will be printed ano.nymously unless the writers explicitly request that their names be given. Address communications to: The Editors of Review for Religious, St. Mary's College, St. Marys, Kansas. The Editors assume no responsibility for the opinions expressed in the com-munications. Judge thegn on their own merits.] Reverend Fathers: I have found on more than one occasion that ~i hopeful candidate for the religious life will seek advice from several persons at the same time. Such a one is inclined to choose the advice more to her liking, though it may not be more to her advantage. I have in mind a girl who had been in the convent. After a few interviews itwas perfectly clear that she had no vocation. But another priest, quite truly not at all familiar with the religious life, advised her to try again. She tried and lasted less than six months. Today she is quite.a nervous wreck and resentful of those who did not "keep her" in religion., Another girl, having made' tw6 attempts at the religious life seeks counsel from a nun and from me. The nun insists that she should try again--though this nun was not of either community which she had tried--and is in opposition to me who advi~e that she sh6uld not try a third time. A former mistress oi~ novices to this girl has assured me that she.had no vocation--a desire but not the gift of vocation--and it is next to impossible to persuade xhis girl that she should seek to settle herself in some position in the world. So Iwould make a point that there should be no more than one who is to guide and direct a vocation. The conflict of advice is almost certain to result in disaster for the advised. Another point on which I should like to see you take a stand is that seco~d. 'and "third attempts, generally are bound to be futile attempts. I do not mean to say that occasionally a girl or a young man may not have made a wrong choice in the first place. But this should be carefully tried and tested before he or she will be ehc0uraged to make a second attempt in a second community. Nor do I mean to say that, where sickness has required that one leave a community, one .might not be readmitted to the community of the first choice; I do not mean to say that when family needs may have forced a departure from 333 COMMUNICATIONS reiigiou~ life such a one cannot be.taken back into the community that had been "home" the first time. But from my experience, and it has been over some twelve or thirteen years, and with ,a couple of scores of those about whom I speak, I don't hestitate to say that if once tried it should not be tried again,, especially if the community .of the first choice would not read-mit the candidate. A community that. makes a specialty of receiying subjects who have belonged to other communitiesis apt to become a home of malcontents. If commfinities--and all of them are in need of subj.ects--could be brought to realize that quality not quantity makes for the best community life and religious spirit, as well as for the accomplishment of. great things for God's .lasting glory, there would be fewer defections from the ranks of religious life and there would be a fuller accomplishment of the ends for which each com-munity was established. Reverend Fathers: , May I suggest, in the matter of irocations, that the observance of the following three-point program thrqughoht the land would lead to a pronounced increase in vocations. To plunge at once in roedias res: pastors can foster vocations to " the priesthood and the religious life'by carrying out the follow, ing program in their respective parishes: 1. Once' a year let them preach one sermon on the priesthood and vocation thereto, and once a year one sermon on the religious life (religious priests, Brothers, and Sisters) and vocation thereto. 2. Once a yearlet them call in "a strange priest," as the expres-sion has it, to give one address to the school children on vocation, on a school day and to give one sermon, at all the Sunday Masses, to all the people on the same .subject. 3. In connection with the above-mentioned sermorls and addresses, as a most effective follow-up, let the pastor see to it that appropriate reading matter on the subject of vocation is placed into the hands of every boy and girl in the parish who is able to read, through whom it will also reach the whole family at home. By following ~his three point program, universal interest will be aroused in the matter of. vocations to the priesthood and the religious life. ', Interest having thus been created in vocations, doubts will also 334. " COMMUNICATIONS arise in the minds of many~ questions will b~ asked. The soil will be tilled and ready for the sowing .of seed that may sooner or later germinate in vocations to the priesthood and the religious life. Reverend Fathers: We religious have to be ready to reply, to youth's questions about vocation with answers, that are honest, straightforward, and hu,mbly sincere. But are we truly prepared? First of all, let each ask him or he'self: "Am I myself thoroughly convinced of the greatness, the beauty, the enduring charm and richness of my own vocation?" A disgruntled, popularity-seeking religious doesn't know Christ with ¯ that dey6ted familiarity which makes him yearn to increase the circle of our Lord's close friends. Comradeship always t~lls on. character. When the major objective of life is SELF, there is no room for Jesus and His interests. The true religious is like a pane of plate glass, so crystal-free of selfishness that the Christ in him or her is easily discerned in the Words, motives, .actions, and .smile of everyday life. That warm smile ~--tiny and simple as it may seem--is a priceless boon to the boy or girl who comes seeking a private interview. Frequently young people come with, "I know you are very busy, but do you think you can spare the time to answer a question or two for me? I know you can do it in a minute." Just such a request is our golden oppo.rtunity. That query is" the verbal expression of an interior prompting of the Holy Spirit. Of this we may be certain, for the Prince of Darkness never urges the solu-tion of. doubts by. God's chosen servants. Suppose you were vouch-safed a glimpse into the future and there you saw this young woman or young man.as a Mother. General or some outstanding member of the hier.archy, a zealous missionary, an inspiring Brother or nun. ¯ You would be glad to know that you had been the trusted confidante of a one-time adolescent and perhaps awkward youth, would you not? Cheerfulness, whole-souled sympathetic unddrstanding, interest in all ~hat concerns the youthful caller--these are the keys to the heart which will some day carry on after God has called us to rest in the garden which might well bear the slogan of a Trappist monastery: "Pax Intrantibus." Calmly we may face that long sleep if we have done our pa~t in aiding young folk to find themselves. 335 ¯ Book Reviews THE MASS PRESENTED TO NON-CATHOLIC;S. By the Reverend John P. McGulre. Pp. 80. The Bruce Publishing C;ompony, Milwapkee, 194~3." $ 1.00. O~ all the elements of Catholic worship, the Mass is, perhaps, both the most widely known and unknown to non-Catholics. They know of the Mass througl~ newspaper notations in Sunday Church sections, or from placards at Church doors, or by casual inquiry of Catholics, But it is generally unknown to them in its detail and its world-wide, time-wide, significance. Hence it was a we11-directed zeal that urged Father McGuire, by this brief booklet, "to introduce the average non-Catholic reader to the study of the official act of wbrship of the Catholic Church--the Mass." The n6tion and. 'necessity of sacrifice is treated succinctly. A ¯ detailed explanation of the Mass-liturgy includes the full text of the Ma~s pr.ayers. Twelve pictures of key actions help the exp.lanation. The Mass Pres'ented to Non-Catholics is not controversial but simply explanatory. Hence it is equal also to the p~rpose of introducing Catholics to a better understanding of the focal fact of their faiths-the Mass.--R. E. SOUTHARD, A HANDY GUIDE FOR WRITERS. By fhe Reverend Newfon Thompson, S.T.D. Pp. 248. B. Herder Book Co., St. Louis, 1943. $2.00. ¯ This small book aims to provide in convenient form an answer to most of an author's perplexities. It distinguishes the most fre~ ~quently confused synonyms, gives adequate rules for correct punc-tuation, capitalization, and hyphenation, offers detailed instructions for the compilation of an alphabetica.l index and for proofreading, Under the entry "Manuscript" the author makes a number of common-sense suggestions about the preparation "of a manusdript. Under "Spelling".he lists more than twelve pages of words that authors often misspell in their manuscripts. Under "Translation" he offers twelve pages of suggestions to translators, "largely the fruit o~ my limited experience." Although A Handg Guide for. Writers contains little that.is new, it should prove to be a ready and reliable reference work for busy authors and editors.--H. MCAULIFFE, 336 BOOK REVIEWS. AN OUTLINE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH BY CENTURIES. By the Reverend Joseph McSorley. Pp. xxlx + J084. B. Herder Book Co., St. Louls, 1943. $7.50. To say that most Catholics, even educated ones, know practically nothing of the history of their Church is to state a regrettable fact. If this situation persists in the future it xvill not be the fault of Father McSorley. This zealous, scholarly Paulist Father has given us a remarkable volume which stands head and shoulders above any simi-lar work obtainable today. To tell the many-faceted story of the Church's first two thousand years in one thousand pages would seem an impossible feat. Yet in that limited space Father McSorley has produced an incredibly full story. In a clear, direct and interesting style the author relates, century by century, the Church's trials and triumphs setting them against their particular political backgrounds. Espedally stressed are the Papacy; Catholic Life in doctrihe, disci-pline, and practice (Official Teaching, Councils, .Art, Education, Writers, Saints); Opposition (Persecution, Heresy, Schism, Other Religions) ; and'the Missions. Over a hundred pages are devoted to the Church in the United States'. primarily a textbook, the book contains many valuable peda-gogical features. These include a preview and summary of each chapter, time charts, maps, bibliographies, and a full, carefully pre-pared index. But the Outline is more than a mere textbook. It contains genuine appeal for the general'~eading public. No teacher.of any field of history can afford to ignore it. No Catholic library can omit it from its shelves. No Catholic who wishes to be well-informed should miss Father McSorley's superb contribution. It is an ideal gift for priests, religious, or laity.--P. T. DERRIG, S.J. THE ONE GOD. By the Reverend Reglnald Garrigou-LaGrange, O.P. Translated by Dom. Bede Rose, O.S.B., S.T.D. Pp. viii -I- 7~16. B. Herder Book Co., St. Louis, 1943. $6.00. This volume is a translation of Father Garrigou-LaGrange's Latin commentary on the first twenty-six questions of the Summa Theologica. Students who have perused previous works of the An~lelico professor will be familiar with his general technique and outlook. In this work, the' author has broken down the structure of St. Thomas' article-form into the common "state of the question," 337 BOOK REVIEWS "objection," "doubts," "argument" sequence. Positive material Of thecommentary i~ drawn from Thomistic commentators, both old and new. Scotists, Suarezians, together wi~h the usual modern adversaries, flee to the same slit-trench before the block-busting of the reverend author. This line-up, too, will be familiar to old readers. A preface of thirty-0dd pages on the general character of the Summa~ the basis of St. Thomas' teaching, and theological method iS excellent. The translator has from time tO time appended foot-notes which should do much to aid the none-too-skilled reader. Despite "the hopes which prompted the translation of this opus, it is our opinion that only the clergy or the almost-professional lay-man will find the going tolerable. Ordinary readers will not attempt it. The style, though fairly clear, is often burdened by a compli-cated method of presentation. For the professional student of sacred science and the stout-hearted clergyman this-book will make valuable reading. Patience will be required, besides the will to overlook the bite in many of the author's remark's, born of over-preoccupation With disputes among the schools.--T. C. DONOHUE, S.J. HANDBOOK OF MEDICAL ETHICS. By the Reverend S. A. La Rochelle, O.M.I., and the Reverend C. T. Fink, M. D., C. M. Translated from the Fourth French edition by M. E. Poupore, with the collaboration of the Reverend A. Carter and Doctor R. M. H. Power. Pp. 363. The New-man Book Shop, Westminster, Maryland, 1943. $1.75. The handbook is intended for nurses, physicians, and priests. In format it resembles a small pocket dictionary. It covers the general ethical principles pertaining to conscience and human conduct, a very large number of ethico-medical problems, a number of practical prin-cip. les relative to the Sacraments, and some principles of charity and justice that have special reference to the medical profession. In two appendices it gives the Moral Code for Catholic Hospitals and a num-ber of prayers used by ~he Church on the occasion of ministering to the sick and the dying. A bibliography (mostly French) is included. The book is certainly valuable by reason of the number of sub-jects of which it treats. Yet in many places it seems to lack one qual-ity that seems to me essential to a good ethics book--clarity. Perhaps the real fault lies in the translation.--G. KELLY, S.J. 338 Questions and Answers m32~ What is the exact meaning of the word "constifufions" in the Code? (E.g. canon SOS: "the higher superiors shall be temporary, unless the con-sfifutions determine otherwise." And canon SI6, § 4: "if the consflfu- ¯ lions are silent on ÷he manner of electing the bursars, they shall be elected by the higher superior with the con'sent of his council.") Does the term include the enactments of a general chapter? For all practical purposes the term "constitutions" signifies the collection of laws which govern a religious institute and have been approved by the Holy See, in the case of a pontific~il institute, or b~ the local Ordinar]r, in the case of a diocesan institute. Hence theterm does not include the enactments of a genera! chapter. 33 May a religious superloress bless her subjects? ' A religious superioress may bless her subjects just as a parent~ may bless a child, that is, call down God's blessing upon them. "~his is a private blessing since it is not given in the name of the Church by an authorized minister of the Church. In some of the older orders the rule. prescribes that subjects ask the blessing of their superiors before leaving the house and upon returning. A superioress should not demand that her subjects ask for her blessing, unless the rule or the constitutions require them to do so on certain occasions. 34 We have been told that the Second Council of Baltimore permlfs pub-lic benediction with the Blessed Sacrament in all churches as well as in chapels of religious on Sundays and holidays of obliga÷[on, on feasts of the first and second class, twice a week during Lent, every day during a mis-sion, and during the oc%ve of Corpus Christi twice a day, at Mass and Vespers. May pastors and religious avail themselves of this legislation? While it is true that the Second Council of Baltimore in decree N. 375 legislated for the solemn exposition and benediction of the Blessed Sacrament as stated above, it is difficult to understand how pastors and religious may follow this legislation today. Canon. 1274 339 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS of the Code of Canon Law regulates exposition and benediction of the Blessed Sacrament as follows: "In churches and oratories in which the Blessed Eucharist is reserved with permission, private exposition with the ciborium may be had for any just cause without the permission of the Ordinary; public exposition with the monstrance may be had in all churches on' the feast of Corpus Christi and during the octave, both during Holy Mass and Vespers. At other times a just and grave, particularly pub-lic, cause and the permission of the Ordinary are required even in churches belonging to exempt religious." Canon 6, 1 ? of the Code tells us that all laws, whether general or particular, which are opposed to the prescriptions of the Code are abrogated, unless express mention is made providing otherwise in favor of particular laws. Number 375 of the decrees of the Second Plenary Council is a particular law, and differs from canon 1274, which contains no special mention of particular laws. Hence it seems that the Baltimore law is abrogated by canon 1274. This is also the opinion of Father 3ohn D. M. Barrett, S.S., who has made a thor-ough comparative study of the Councils of Baltimore and the Code of Canon Law.1 If a religious is granted a dlspensatlon~and changes his mind about leavin9 and his congregation is willing to keep him, what steps must be fak~n~in order ~hat he may rema,n in religion? Provided ¯that the rel!gious has not actually accepted the dispen. sation, no steps need be taken in order th~at he may.remain in religion, sin'ce the dispensation is effective only when accepted by the person who requested it. The Sacred Congregation of Religious, in a reply. dated August 1, 1922, stated that a religious who has obtained an indult-of secularization or a dispensation from simple vows can refuse to accept the indult or the dispensation when he receives notice of it from the local superior, provided superiors have not grave reasons to the contrary, in which case they should refer the matter to the Sacred Congregation. On the other hand, the moment the religious who has requested a dispensation from his vows receives the same and freely accepts it XBarrett: A Comparative Studg of the Councils of Baltimore and the Code of Canon Law, Washington, D. C., 1932, p. 153. 340 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS h~ ceases to be a member of the institute, and a dispensation must be obtained from the Holy See to receive him again. N36--- Regarding the testimonial letters required by canon 544, § 2; which is the diocese of origin for a convert: the place where he was born, or the place where he was baptized? Must the testimonial letters be obtained from other dioceses in which he lived for more than a year previous to his conversion? Canon 90 states explicitly that the place of origin, euen/:or a con-uert, is the place in which the father had his domicile or quasi-domicile at the time the child was born. Since canon 544 makes no; exception for a convert, testimonial letters must be obtained likewise from other dioceses in which he lived for more than a year previous to his conversion. No commentator dn this canon, as far as we know, makes an exception in favor of a convert. Our Constitutions read: "Besides fasting and abstaining on the days prescribed by the Church, the Sisters abstain from flesh meat on Wednes-days and Saturdays." Does this impose a double obligation of observing Hne precept of fast and abstinence: namely,,becau~e it is a law of the ~ Church and also because,it" is a part of +he Constitutions? ~ Is it permissible for a superior to grant a dispensation from the rule of abstaining on Wednesdays and Saturdays over a ralher long peri?d of time, say, three months of every year? The purpose of the Constitutions is to impose abstinence on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The days of. fast and abstinence ¯ according to the Law of the Church are mentioned only in passing. ' Hence on Fri.days of the year, the religious in question have only one obligation to abstain, namely, tha't imposed by the gei~eral law of the ~ Church; and on all fast days they have but one obligatibn to fast. However, if a day of abstinence 'prescribed by theChurch happens to fall on Wednesday or Saturday (for instance, the Ember Days), the religious are then under a two-fold obligat~off to observe it. ~The powers of a superior to dispense from the rule :should be defined by the Constitutions. Superiors who are granted the power of dispensing from the Wednesday and Saturday abstinence could remove the obligation imposed by the rule, but if these h@pened to 341 QUESTIONS ~ ANSWERS be also days of abstinence according to the law of the Church, the dispensation from the rule would be of no avail unless the subject were also excused or.di.spensed from this latter obligation. The Code gives superiors of clerical exempt orders the power of dispensing from "the laws of fast and abstinence. Other clerical superiors may ,have special po~ers by delegation. Lay superiors are never given this power. m38u Does a.ssistlncj at Holy Mass from a side. room or back sacristy of a church or from a hallway outside a chapel satisfy the obligation of hearing Mass on Sundays and Holy Day~ of obligation? ~ The ordinary.rule for determining presence at a Mass of. obliga-tion is this: one must be in a place in which he can be reasonably con-sidered as a part 6f the congregation, if. there is a congregation, or at least as United with the priest, if there is no ~ongregation.In practical ¯ terms we say that anyone who is within the .body of a church in which Mass is being celebrated can satisfy his obligation; regarding other places, the obligation can still be fulfilled if the distance sepa-rating the person from the. priest or, congregati6n is not great and if the progress of the Mass can be followed by s6me sensible means. There. appears t6 be no difficulty about the places referred' to in the "question. m39m IS it necessary that one have in mind a specific aspiration to which a plenary indulgence is attached, when making the prescribed visit to a church, or when reciting prescribed prayers for the intentions of the Holy Father, or will a general intentidn to gain these indulgences suffice? No, it is not necessary to have in mind a specific aspiration to which an indulgence is attached when making the prescribed visit to a church, or when reciting prayers prescribed for the intentions of the Holy Father. A general intention ~o gain all indulgences, suffices, provided the good works enjoined are. performed. If one wishes to gain an indulgence for the souls in purgatory, a special intention is required, since, under normal conditions; one gains all indulgences for oneself. One may, of course, make a general intention to gain all indulgences possible for the souls in purgatory. Such an intention will prevail until it is revoked. 342 June 29, Iq43: His Holiness, PoPe Pius XII, issued an Encyclical. Letter, M~stici Corporis (of the Mystical Body), which contains an extensive .theolo~gical study of-the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ. Though the complete text of the Enc3~ lical is not available at this time, a g.ene~al summary of its contents was sent out from Vatican City on July 3, from which the following points are culled. The first part of the Encyclical explains why the Church is the Mystical Body of Christ: 1) Cl~rist became the Founder of the Church when He invested the Apostles with supernatural poweis after having called them to their high office and instructed them regarding the propagation of the Church throughout the world. 2) Christ is the Head of the Church: primarily in virtue of His supreme dignity and pr~-eminence; also because, while exercising. His power invisi.~bly and

Author's introductionAlthough criminologists have long dominated the field of school violence research, there has been a growing body of research by cultural sociologists in this area as well. In many ways, a cultural approach to understanding school violence has taken school violence beyond the realm of just criminal and physical acts of violence. These scholars have begun to examine verbal, emotional, sexual, and racial expressions violence, as well as violence that is perpetuated by institutions, what Bourdieu has called symbolic violence. Courses that take this perspective explore how cultural concepts, or what Swidler calls a 'cultural toolkit', can be used as a lens for analyzing the experiences and practices of school violence. This can include, for example, an examination of how the dominant American ideology of meritocracy and competition can foster fights between middle school students, or how a feminine identity might push girls to be relationally aggressive towards each other rather than physically aggressive. In this regard, cultural sociology broadens our understanding of what constitutes school violence to uncover a wide spectrum of behaviors, attitudes and beliefs that may indeed lead to more overt expressions of violence. In doing so, a cultural approach can also help educators rethink discipline policies that have been created to resolve this social problem.Author recommendsSwidler, Ann 1986. 'Culture in Action: Symbols and Strategies.'American Sociological Review51: 273–86.Swidler's concept of a cultural toolkit provides a strong foundation for any cultural sociology course. Swidler defines a cultural toolkit as the symbols, stories, rituals, beliefs, ideologies and practices of daily life through which people use to shape their behavior. This paper presents a broad understanding of culture, which Swidler argues is not a unified system, but rather a set of complex and changing concepts from which we select different pieces from in order to construct different strategies of actions. When considering cultural approaches to school violence, it is useful to consider this broad definition of culture.Henry, Stuart 2000. 'What is School Violence? An Integrated Definition.'Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science567: 16–30.Henry provides a definition of school violence that transcends physical violence and interpersonal violence between students to include psychological, emotional, ethical and moral violence that occurs not only between students, but also includes harm committed by teachers and organizations against students. This latter form of harm can include tracking, school security, sexual harassment, or essentially anything that hinders the creativity, learning and academic success of a student. Henry argues that school violence must include symbolic violence, which he defines as the use of authority, power, and coercion to dominate an individual or group of people.Ferguson, Ann Arnett 2000. Bad Boys: Public Schools in the Making of Black Masculinity. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.Ferguson builds on Bourdieu's concept of symbolic violence and Foucault's theory of disciplinary power to examine an intervention program for 'at‐risk' students, which was comprised of mainly 5th and 6th grade African‐American males. Her ethnography provides a great example of the benefit of using a cultural approach to studying violence, discipline and punishment in schools. For example, Ferguson argues that fighting among boys should be seen as a symbolic expression of masculinity and a space for boys to do emotional work, as well as a site for the production of power and a form of resistance to authority. Her work also explores how teachers and administrators can enact a form of symbolic violence onto students. She observed how the cultural behaviors of African‐American boys, for example, their use of Black English, was often translated by the teachers as 'problem behavior' and resulted in their label of 'Troublemaker'. Such labels often condemned the boys to the bottom rung of the social order and negatively impacted their academic success.Spina, Stephanie Urso, ed. 2000. Smoke and Mirrors: The Hidden Context of Violence in Schools and Society. New York, NY: Rowan and Littlefield.This edited collection examines school violence as a complicated and multi‐faceted phenomenon, exploring how political, economic, ideological and discursive practices contribute to school violence. This interdisciplinary book includes chapters from Donna Gaines, Henry Giroux, Peter McLaren, Stanley Aronowitz, and Paulo Freire and Donald Macedo. The authors expand the definition of violence by arguing that youth violence, adult violence and societal violence are all intricately connected, and therefore prevention of school violence would requires educators to move beyond reform that only takes place in the school system. Instead, violence prevention needs to implore a broader strategy for change that includes schools, families, communities, and beyond.Brown, Lyn Mikel 2003. Girlfighting: Betrayal and Rejection among Girls. New York, NY: New York University Press.Mikel Brown conducted qualitative interviews with more than 400 girls from first grade through high school who were from different economic, racial and geographic backgrounds. She begins the book by analyzing the cultural messages that girls receive in the media; messages and images that she argues provide girls with a context for fighting among their peers. She draws on Paulo Freire's notion of horizontal violence to look at how girls' meanness to other girls is a result of their struggle to make sense of gender‐saturated images of beauty and heterosexuality that often reinforce their subordinate status in the world. Girlfighting then becomes an avenue to power for young girls in a culture that is rife with sexism. Unlike many other recent books on relational aggression among girls, Mikel Brown interrogates the complicated intersections of race, ethnicity, and class as it relates to girlfighting.Casella, Ronnie 2001. 'Being Down': Challenging Violence in Urban Schools. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.Casella's ethnography of Brandon High School, a small city school in a diverse neighborhood in upstate New York, takes a cultural‐ecological approach to school violence, capturing systemic, interpersonal and hidden forms of violence. He provides a thoughtful critique of intervention strategies that have been created to deal with school violence, such as peer mediation programs, the use of police officers in the hallways, and D.A.R.E. programs, because these programs only address individual acts of violence and do not account for the realities of urban environments, prejudice, economic injustice and poverty that underlie and contribute to school violence.Merten, Don E. 1994. 'The Cultural Context of Aggression: The Transition to Junior High School.'Anthropology and Education Quarterly25(1): 29–43.Don Merten has published several articles that provide a useful framework for examining aggressive behavior from a cultural standpoint. The data from this article come from a larger ethnographic project of predominantly middle class students in a suburban area who recently transitioned from elementary to junior high school. Merten argues that middle class culture promotes and celebrates individualism, success and hierarchy, which in turn creates a culture that promotes aggressive behavior among students, because students learn that meanness can be an easy avenue for gaining power and status in the hierarchy of cliques in schools.Morris, Edward 2005. '"Tuck in that Shirt!" Race, Class, Gender and Discipline in an Urban School.'Sociological Perspectives48(1): 25–48.Morris draws on Bourdieu's classic reproduction theory to look at the relationship between cultural capital and bodily discipline as it relates specifically to clothing styles and manners. This article is based on an ethnographic study of an urban middle school in Texas that recently enlisted a 'Standard Mode of Dress' uniform policy. The regulation of dress became a constant source of conflict between the students and staff at the school, but had the most punitive effect on poor and racially ethnic minority students, whose cultural styles tended to be negatively stereotyped by the teachers. These students were more likely to punished for violating the policy, even though all social class and racial groups, to some degree, violated the policy. This harsher punishment engendered resistance and alienation among the minority students, which Morris argues had the potential of pushing these students away from school, further reproducing the very inequalities that the school was trying to change.Online materials http://nces.ed.gov/programs/crimeindicators/crimeindicators2008/ The National Center for Education Statistics puts out an annual report on indicators of School Crime and Safety. The indicators in this report are based on information drawn from a variety of data sources, including national surveys of students, teachers, and principals. The report covers not just overt forms of school violence, such as bringing a weapon to school, fighting, and teacher injuries, but also covers bullying, victimization, student perceptions of school safety, and availability and use of drugs and alcohol. http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/yrbs/index.htm The Youth Risk Behavioral Surveillance System is a school‐based survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The survey is conducted every 2 years and provides a representative sample of 9th through 12th graders in public and private schools in the United States. The YRBSS asks a wide variety of questions, but most relevant to school violence include self‐reported responses about behaviors that might lead to unintentional injuries and violence, such as carrying a weapon to school, being threatened by a weapon or being in a fight on school grounds. These data serve a useful comparison between student self‐reporting of violent behavior and school reporting of incidents of school violence. http://www.sshs.samhsa.gov/default.aspx The Safe Schools/Healthy Students website is a federal initiative by the U.S. Departments of Education, Justice, and Health and Human Services. It provides many useful resources, including links federal reports on school safety, a list of related websites, and video podcast discussions of school violence that can be used in the classroom. http://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/2001/uslgbt/toc.htm 'Hatred in the Hallways: Violence and Discrimination against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Students in U.S. Schools' is a report conducted by the Human Rights Watch. Data consists of interviews with 140 students, ages 12–21, and 130 parents, teachers, administrators and counselors across seven states, in every region of the U.S. The findings discuss a broad spectrum of violent behavior, including verbal harassment, homophobia, and physical violence. It can be useful for classroom discussion because each finding section of the report includes a 'case study' of one of the participants with direct quotes from their interview. http://www.aauw.org/research/hostile.cfm 'Hostile Hallways: Bullying, Teasing and Sexual Harassment in School' is a national report conducted by American Association of University Women on 8th to 11th grade students. The study found that 8 in 10 students experienced some form of harassment during their time in school. Both the executive summary and entire report are available to download on the website.Sample syllabusCourse outline and selected reading assignmentsSection 1: Introduction to cultural sociologyDefining CultureSwidler, Ann 1986. 'Culture in Action: Symbols and Strategies.'American Sociological Review 51: 273–86.Jepperson, Ronald and Ann Swidler 1994. 'What Properties of Culture Should We Measure?'Poetics 22: 359–71.Cultural Capital and Symbolic ViolenceBourdieu, Pierre and Jean‐Claude Passeron 1977. Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture. London: Sage.Lareau, Annette, and Elliott B. Weininger 2003. 'Cultural Capital in Educational Research: A Critical Assessment.'Theory and Society 32: 567–606.Reproduction TheoryMacLeod, Jay 1987. Ain't No Makin' It: Aspirations and Attainment in a Low Income Neighborhood. Oxford: Westview Press. Read Chapter 2, 'Social Reproduction in Theoretical Perspective.' Pp. 11–24 and Chapter 8, 'Reproduction Theory Reconsidered,' pp. 135–54.Cultural PedagogyGiroux, Henry 2000. 'Representations of Violence, Popular Culture and Demonization of Youth.' Pp. 93–105 in Smoke and Mirrors: The Hidden Context of Violence in Schools and Society. Edited by Stephanie Urso Spina. New York, NY: Rowan and Littlefield.Section 2: Broadening the definition of school violenceHenry, Stuart 2000. 'What is School Violence? An Integrated Definition.' Annals of the American Academy of Political and social Science 567: 16–30.Watkinson, Ailsa 1997. 'Administrative Complicity and Systemic Violence in Education.' Pp. 3–24 in Systemic Violence in Education: Promise Broken. Edited by Juanita Ross Epp and Ailsa M. Watkinson. Albany, NY: State University of NY Press.Urso Spina, Stephanie 2000. 'Violence in Schools: Expanding the Dialogue.' Pp. 1–40 in Smoke and Mirrors: The Hidden Context of Violence in Schools and Society. New York, NY: Rowan and LittlefieldCasella, Ronnie 2001. 'What is Violent about School Violence? The Nature of Violence in a City School.' Pp. 15–46 in Preventing Violence in Schools: A Challenge to American Democracy. Edited by Joan Burstyn. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Elliott, Delbert S., Beatrix Hamburg, and Kirk R. Williams 1998. 'Violence in American Schools: An Overview.' Pp. 3–30 in Violence in American Schools. Edited by Delbert S. Elliott, Beatrix A. Hamburg, and Kirk R. Williams. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Newman, Katherine 2004. Rampage: The Social Roots of School Shootings. NY: Basic Books. Read Part I, Chapters 1–3, pp. 3–76.Section 3: Ideology and aggressionMerten, Don 1994. 'The Cultural Context of Aggression: The Transition to Junior High School.'Anthropology and Education Quarterly, v. 25 (1): 29–43.Willis, Paul 1977. Learning to Labour: How Working Class Kids Get Working Class Jobs. Farnborough, England: Saxon House.Newman, Katherine 2004. Rampage: The Social Roots of School Shootings. NY: Basic Books. Read Part II, Chapters 4–7, pp. 77–178.MacLeod, Jay 1987. Ain't No Makin' It: Aspirations and Attainment in a Low Income Neighborhood. Oxford: Westview Press. Read Chapter 6, 'School: Preparing for Competition,' pp. 83–111.Devine, John 1997. Maximum Security: The Culture of Violence in Inner‐City Schools. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Read Chapter 1, 'Schools or 'Schools'? Competing Discourses on Violence,' pp. 19–46.Section 4: Cultural scripts – masculinityKimmel, Michael S. and Matthew Mahler 2003. 'Adolescent Masculinity, Homophobia, and Violence.'The American Behavioral Scientist 46(10): 1439–58.Ferguson, Ann Arnett 2000. Bad Boys: Public Schools in the Making of Black Masculinity. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Read Chapter 4, 'Naughty by Nature,' pp. 77–99 and Chapter 6, 'Getting into Trouble,' pp. 163–96.Bender, Geoff 2001. 'Resisting Dominance? The Study of a Marginalized Masculinity and its Construction within High School Walls.' Pp. 61–78 in Preventing Violence in Schools: A Challenge to American Democracy. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Klein, Jessi and Lynn S. Chancer 2000. 'Masculinity Matters: The Omission of Gender from High‐Profile School Violence Cases.' Pp. 129–62 in Smoke and Mirrors: The Hidden Context of Violence in Schools and Society. New York, NY: Rowan and Littlefield.Section 5: Cultural scripts – femininityEder, Donna 1985. 'The Cycle of Popularity: Interpersonal Relations among Female Adolescents.'Sociology of Education 58(3): 154–65.Merten, Don 1997. 'The Meaning of Meanness: Popularity, Competition, and Conflict Among Junior High School Girls.'Sociology of Education 70(3): 175–91.Merten, Don 2005. 'Transitions and 'Trouble': Rites of Passage for Suburban Girls.'Anthropology and Education Quarterly 36(2): 132–48.Artz, Sibylle 2004. 'Violence in the Schoolyard: School Girls' Use of Violence.' Pp. 167–90 in Girls' Violence: Myths and Realities, edited by Christine Alder and Anne Worrall. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.Morris, Edward W. 2007. ''Ladies' or 'Loudies'? Perceptions and Experiences of Black Girls in Classrooms.'Youth & Society 38: 490–515.Mikel Brown, Lyn 2003. Girlfighting: Betrayal and Rejection among Girls. NY: New York University Press.Section 6: Culture resources and school violence – languageLanguage and Symbolic ViolenceFerguson, Ann Arnett 2000. Bad Boys: Public Schools in the Making of Black Masculinity. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Read Chapter 7, 'Unreasonable Circumstances,' pp. 197–226.Youth Talk about ViolenceDiket, Read M. and Linda G. Mucha 2002. 'Talking about Violent Images.'Art Education March: 11–7.Morrill, Calvin, Christine Yalds, Madelaine Adelman, Michael Musheno, and Cindy Bejarano 2000. 'Telling Tales in School: Youth Culture and Conflict Narratives.'Law & Society Review 34(3): 521–65.Burman, Michele 2004. 'Turbulent Talk: Girls Making Sense of Violence.' Pp. 81–103 in Girls' Violence: Myths and Realities. Edited by Christine Alder and Anne Worrall. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.Obidah, Jennifer 2000. 'On Living (and Dying) with Violence: Entering Young Voices in the Discourse.' Pp. 49–66 in Smoke and Mirrors: The Hidden Context of Violence in Schools and Society. New York, NY: Rowan and Littlefield.Section 7: Culture resources and school violence – clothingClothing and School Safety DebatesHolloman, Lillian and Velma LaPoint, Sylvan I. Alleyne, Ruth J. Palmer, and Kathy Sanders‐Phillips 1996. 'Dress‐Related Behavioral Problems and Violence in Public School Settings: Prevention, Intervention, and Policy—A Holistic Approach.'The Journal of Negro Education 65(3): 267–281.Stanley, M. Sue 1996. 'School Uniforms and Safety.'Education and Urban Society 28(4): 424–35.Gereluk, Dianne 2008. 'Limiting Free Speech in the United States.' Pp. 41–64 in Symbolic Clothing in Schools: What Should Be Worn and Why. New York, NY: Continuum.Brunsma, David L., ed. 2006. Uniforms in Public Schools: A Decade of Research and Debate. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Education.Clothing, School Policies and Symbolic ViolenceHorvat, Erin McNamara 1999. '"Hey, Those Shoes are Out of Uniform": African American Girls in an Elite High School and the Importance of Habitus.'Anthropology and Education Quarterly 30(3): 317–42.Morris, Edward 2005. '"Tuck in that Shirt!" Race, Class, Gender and Discipline in an Urban School.'Sociological Perspectives 48(1): 25–48.Ferguson, Ann Arnett 2000. Bad Boys: Public Schools in the Making of Black Masculinity. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Read Chapter 3, 'School Rules,' pp. 49–73.FilmsTough guise: violence, media, and the crisis in masculinity (2002)This Media Education Foundation film explores the relationship between popular culture and the construction of violent masculinity. Of particular relevance to this class, the film examines how the construction of masculinity relates to school shootings. The film is directed by Sut Jhally and narrated by Jackson Katz. This film could be used in the section Cultural Scripts – Masculinity.Wrestling with manhood: boys, bullying and battering (2004)This Media Education Foundation film, written and directed by Sut Jhally, examines the relationship between professional wrestling and the construction of masculinity. The film looks at how wrestling contributes to homophobia, violence against women and bullying in school. This film could be used in the section Cultural Scripts – Masculinity.School violence: answers from the inside (2000)This film originally aired on PBS''In the Mix,' a television series created by and for teens. The film examines stereotyping and conflict in schools through the eyes and voices of teenagers attending a diverse suburban high school. This film could be used in the section Cultural Resources – Language.The killer at Thurston high (2000)This PBS Frontline film focuses on Kip Kinkel, who in 1998, at the age of 15, shot his mother and father, and then opened fire at his school in Springfield, Oregon, killing two and injuring 25. He is currently serving 111 years in prison. The film provides an understanding of the tragedy through multiple viewpoints, including interviews with Kip's sister, teachers and psychiatrists. This film could be used in the section Broadening the Definition of School Violence.Mean girls (2004)Written by Tina Fey and based on Rosalind Wiseman's book, Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and Other Realities of Adolescence, this fictional account of 'mean girls' is a film that most college students will be familiar with. Clips from the film can be used in the section Cultural Scripts—Femininity to begin a discussion about relational aggression between girls in schools. It can also be used to examine the role that racism and classism play in our public perception of violent behavior, particularly since 'mean girls' in this film tend to be constructed as white and upper class, whereas in contrast, 'violent girls' in film have historically been constructed as poor, young women of color.Project ideas1. Social Policy and Intervention. This assignment is intended to get students critically thinking about how educators approach school violence. Have students pick either a national intervention program, such as D.A.R.E., or a local school policy created to deal with school violence. Begin by analyzing how school violence is defined and what type of intervention/prevention is being proposed. Require students to use a cultural approach to understand and critique the policy. In writing the paper, students should consider the following questions. How would a cultural sociologist define violence? What types of violence are missing from this policy? How would this policy be different if it took into account a cultural approach? The book, 'Being Down': Challenging Violence in Urban Schools (2001) by Ronnie Casella provides a good background resource for completing this assignment.2. Observation Project: Clothing and School Safety. Students will begin by gaining permission to observe at a local middle school or high school. Begin by analyzing the school policy towards clothing. Some schools might have an official uniform policy, whereas others might have policies regarding certain types of clothing (i.e. gang clothing, clothing with profanity, etc.) Next, spend several days observing students in non‐classroom settings, like the hallways, cafeteria, bus or playground. Take detailed fieldnotes. Pay particular attention to the clothing that students wear, any discussion made about clothing by either students or teachers, the relationship between clothing and identity, how clothes are used as a site of resistance, and how clothes might cause conflict between students, or between students and teachers. (You may also want to informally interview students about their perception of the school's policy on clothing, how they negotiate rules about clothing, and how they see clothing policies as contributing to conflict and violence, as well as school safety.) As a class, develop a coding scheme for the fieldnotes. Each student will then individually write an analysis paper on the relationship between clothing, conflict, discipline policies, and school violence.3. Mean Girls: Examining Relational Aggression in Schools. There has been much public attention in recent years to 'mean girls.' As a class, view the film Mean Girls during the course section, Cultural Scripts – Femininity. As a class, develop an interview guide with about six open‐ended questions (i.e. What were your experiences with 'mean girls' in high school? How did you or a close friend deal with being the victim of relational aggression? To what extent did you ever participate in being a 'mean girl'? How did teachers at your school respond to relational aggression between girls?) Next, have students interview six female students using the class interview guide. Students can work individually or in groups to write a paper that compares and contrasts the social construction of mean girls in the film with the actual perceptions of mean girls from their research participants. The analysis should be grounded in the social science research that students are reading on relational aggression.