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Issue 27.1 of the Review for Religious, 1968. ; 21, CHASTITY AND LOVE Joseph J, Sikora, S.J. VIRGINAL TEMPLES Thomas Dubay, S.M. ALIENATION OF MANUSCRIPTS James I. O'Connor, S.J. COMPREHENSIVE MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAMMING John F. Muldoor~ 66 INDIVIDUAL FORMATION PERIODS William F. Hogan. C.S.C~ GROUP METHODS IN SPIRITUAL DIRECTION Quentin Hakenewerth, S.M. AUTHORITY AND RELIGIOUS LIFE J. M. R. Tillard, O.P. 104 LOVE HAS ITS PROPRIETIES Sister Mary Sheila, S.N.J.M. COMMUNITY AND MYSTERY AT MASS Robert A. Bagnato, S.J. THE JESUIT NOVITIATE Nicholas A. Predovich. S.J. 137 THE TERRITORIAL IMPERATIVE Sister Teresa Margaret, O,C.D 143 THE PIETY VOID Kevin O'Shea, C.Ss.R. 163 SURVEY OF R~)MAN DOCUMENTS 170 VIEWS. NEWS, PREVIEWS 174 'QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 186 BOOK REVIEWS 1;12 121 EDITOR R. F. Smith, S.J. ASSOCIATE EDITORS Everett A. Diederich, S.J. Augustine G. Ellavd, S.J. ASSISTANT EDITORS Ralph F. Taylor, S.J. John C. Treloar, S.J. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS EDITOR Joseph F. Gallen, S.J. Correspondence with the editor, the associate editors, and the assistant editor, as wei| as books for review, should be sent to I~EVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS; 612 Humboldt Building; 539 North Grand Boulevard; Saint Louis, Missouri 63~o3. Questions for answering should be sent to Joseph F. Gallen, S.J.; St. Joseph's Church; 32x Willlngs Alley; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania tgxo6. + + + REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS Edited with ecclesiastical approval by faculty members of the School of Divinity of Saint Louis University, the editorial offices being located at 612 Humboldt Building; 539 North Grand Boulevard; Saint Lores, Missouri 63103. Owned by the Missouri Province Edu-cational Institute. Published bimonthly and copyright © 1967 by REVIEW YOU RI~LIGIOUS at 428 East Preston Street; Baltimore, Mary-land 21202. Printed in U.S.A. Second class postage paid at Baltimore, Maryland. Single copies: $1.00. 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Questions for answering should be sent to the address of the Questions and Answers editor. JANUARY 1968 VOLUME 27 NUMBER x REVIEW FOR RELI(~IOUS Volume 27 1968 . EDITORIAL OFFICE 539 North Grand Boulevard St. Louis, Missouri 63103 BUSINESS OFFICE 428 East Preston Street Baltimore, Maryland 21202 EDITOR R. F. Smith, S.J. ASSOCIATE EDITORS Everett A. Diederich, S.J. Augustine G. Ellard, S.J. ASSISTANT EDITORS Ralph F. Taylor, S.J. John L. Treloar, S.J. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS EDITOR Joseph F. Gallen, S.J. Published in January, March, May, July, September, Novem-ber on the fifteenth of the month. REVIEW FOR RELI-GIOUS is indexed in the Catholic Periodical Index and in Book Review Index. Micro-film edition of Review for Re-ligious is available from Uni-versity Microfilms; Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106. NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS On February i, 1968, R~vaEw FOR P~ELI~IOUS will publish clothbound reprints of volumes 2I to 25 (1962-I966) incluslve of the REv-mw. 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Orders for all the above should be sent to: R~vmw Foa REL~C~OUS; 6x2 Humboldt Building; 539 North Grand Boulevard; St. Louis, Missouri 63103. JOSEPH J. SIKORA, s.J. Chastity and Love Recent* decades have seen a gradual change in theo-logical emphasis and perspective regarding various as-pects of human sexual love in the state of marriage. Four such aspects might be distinguished: pleasure, procreation, mutual help, and personal love and com-munion. While all four of these have in fact always been present in this sexual relation, though not necessarily in every case, until only recently the first three were most strongly emphasized. And of these three, procreation has been traditionally regarded as the "primary end" of marriage. But in recent years the fourth, with the help of modern psychological and philosophical studies, has come into much greater prominence, so much so that some have wished to treat it as in fact the really pri-mary end of marriage. In the light of the past teaching o{ the Church this seems quite impossible, but it is at least recognized now that this personal love and com-munion is not just something subordinate to the bio-logically procreative aspect of sexual life. Interpersonal communion among us is one of the pri-mary values of human life, and human sexual love is ordinarily the primary and fullest mode of this inter-personal communion. Sexual intercourse in marriage is the full incarnation of this sexual love in the manner connatural to the human person; it is at once a sign and expression of this love and communion, ~nd also a means of intensifying it still more. When intercourse reaches its natural term in procreation, the child himself is a yet further expression and sign of the mutual love of the parents and at the same time a new bond that joins them still more firmly in this love, now not only mutual but for .the child as well. Thus marriage and family life are most fully human, not at the level of mere biological activity, but at the level of human love and interpersonal * Since the writing o{ this article Father Joseph J. Sikora, S.J., has died; may he rest in peace. This article will appear in a posthumous book by Father Sikora on the theology of religious life to be published in 1968 by Herder and Herder. ÷ ÷ ÷ Chastity and Love VOLUME 27, 1968 4" 4" 4" .loseph .I. Sikora, S.1. REVIEW F~R RELIGIOUS 6 communion. The whole biological structure finally exists only in order to support such a life of persons in mutual knowledge, love, communion, and communication. From a purely biological point of view we might speak of the primary end of marriage and sexual intercourse as b~ing that of the biological species rather than that of the individual, and consequently of its being found in pro-creation rather than in the pleasure and good of the biological individual. Still, this could hardly be said in such a simple way of the domain of personal and inter-personal values that are found ;here. (But this is not meant to suggest any hasty conclu'sions about the thorny problem of contraception.) But if marriage is now understood primarily in its significance in the personal and interpersonal sphere (though without ever setting aside its biological as-pects), this must mean that religions chastity also has an altered significance. Religious chastity, of course, still entails the denial of the pleasures of sex, of the possi-bility of procreation, and of the various joys of married life. But this chastity must also mean that a primary natural mode of human interpersonal communion in love is also excluded. Metaphysical and theological reflection in this light reveals a .most serious problem with the ideal of religious chastity. We do not relate ourselves to God in the same direct manner in which we can relate to our fellow hu-man beings. In fact we come to know God through the analogical resemblance of His creatures to Him; and we understand the meaning of interpersonal love and com-munion with God through our understanding of human love and communion. But if we are, through chastity, to exclude from our lives the primary mode of such hu-man love, then how can we come to the most profound affective relationship to God? And yet the very purpose of religious chastity is to enable us, with the help of grace, to come to just such a deeper relationship of love, not only to God but even to our fellow men. It would seem, then, that religious chastity really defeats its own purpose. This problem has also another aspect. The two sexes are mutually complementary in many ways, and really need each other in order to achieve full human growth to maturity. Either one by itself lacks a certain complete-ness in the line of nature, in some manner is not yet a full person. Especially is this so in regard to the very dimension of interpersonal communion itself. But with-out this interpersonal communion one must remain to some extent closed in upon himself, and, so it would seem, thereby less capable of opening outward in the love of God. Still more, religious chastity tends, in the con-crete, frequently to close off even other modes of mutual human interpersonal affective relation, in the interest of avoiding possible dangers of undue attachment to another person and even of eventual sexui~l difficulty. But all this only appears to weaken the ability of the person to enter into any affective relation at all, even to God. There is in fact a fundamental openness to God---even in the natural order and .the structure of our finite being, but also in the supernatural order through infused faith, hope, and charity--that already exists prior to any hu-man interpersonal relation at. all. It is true that our su-pernatural life is thus intrinsically prior to and inde-pendent of any particular human relationships at all. But still, this supernatural life must make use of our natural knowledge, natural love, natural affective com-munion, in order to come to .some analogical understand-ing of the meaning of the love of God, and to those particular acts of prayer and action that fill out our super-natural life under faith, hope, and charity. "If anyone does not love his neighbor, whom he sees, how can he love God, whom he does not see?" Full human life, and even full human life with God, seems to suppose pro-found affective relation to other persons, and perhaps even complete sexual communion with another in mar-riage. Such considerations as the above have led some to consider seriously whether we ought to reverse the ideas of many centuries concerning the value of religious chas-tity as a means of entering into a more intense life of loving communion with God. They point out that hu-man persons are both spiritual and fleshly, that it is simply wrong for us to try to escape this fact about our being, that we must work out with the help of God our salvation in and through the world and in and through our bodies as part of this world and even of our being. And these latter points are, to be sure, valid enough so far as they go. And yet there is in fact an ideal of religious chastity; it remains one of the three evangelical counsels. It has had a long history in the Church, in pre-Christian times, and in non-Christian religions. Quite apart from the position taken by the Church in its regard, religious chastity could not but be regarded with a degree of respect because of this long tradition in its favor in widely varying cultures and religions. It would be some-what naive for us to think that the difficulties cited above are of themselves conclusive and that religious chastity has become an outmoded cultural and religious form. Chastity has some resemblance to religious poverty. Chastity and Love VOLUME 27, 1968 7 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS Again, there is a renunciation of the use and possession of some creatures in the .interest of a greater freedom of spirit in their regard. This ddtachment from creatures is thought to make attachment to God in love easier than it would otherwise be. At the same time, chastity like. poverty, tends to enable the one who embraces it to achieve a greater degree of order in his love, now his love of p~.rsons and not just of material things, and indeed also ,a greater degree of perfection in this love. Chastity by no means intends to deny the need of grace-elevated human love and communion, as well as of love' and communion with God through grace. But through the renunciation of sexual love, chastity prepares for a "mystical" love of God :and of all other persons in God. The meafiing of this "mystical" love will be explained in more detail.below. For the moment let it stand for a certain excess in intensity of" love that is so focused on God that everything else, is loved only in relation to Him. The dangers of .religious chastity for many persons have long been known in at least a general way. This way of chastity is not for everybody, nor even for most. "Let him take it who can." An already neurotic person-ality might look tO religious chastity as a way out of some of his problems, but in fact 0nly fall into further en-tanglements as a result of embracing' it. (And yet it is also possible for some neurotics finally to grow to ma-ture persons in a religious life of poverty, chastity, and obedienceS--but under enlightened direction.) It would be possible for one who embraces religious chastity to pervert its intention by so turning in upon himself as, to be completely unable to relate affectively with other peisons: Chastity here has been twisted into narcissicism. Or one could go not quite so far down this path, by mis-taking the renunciation of sexual love for a renuncia-tion of any intense human love of friendship at all. Such a person would be at least a stunted "personality, some-what'hollow, perhaps al~n'ost mechanical in his life and work. All these are serious .dangers to be avoided by careful direction of those who would enter upon the way of Chasiity. Theyare fhrther reasons, besides the strength of the basic human sexual-impulse, that chastity is not [or anyone and everyone--not even for" everyone wh6' might think he wants it. But with all this,, the theory of religious chastity is fundamentalIy Osound. It should lead, and most important it has led, to a higher degree of detachment and freedom of spirit in regard to material things and the desires of the flesh. It should provide, and has provided for many, the opportunity for a new height of affective supernat-ural communion with God, and also with all men in God. It.should offer, and has offered in fact, to many a greater freedom for their apostolic work for the kingdom of God. The Church has already taught in an irreformable manner the great value of chastity as a means in the love and service of~ God; in itself the state of virginity or chastity is superior to that of matrimony for this reason. We have the example of Christ Himself, of His Mother, and of many of the canonized saints. In the face of ob-jections concerning the "natdralness" of sexual union and of matrimony, we must first insist that the natural order is not all that is to be considered. In general, however, we must agree that successful human love-rela-tionships (that are also desirable and licit) do tend to favor supernatural life with God and with our fellow men at the level of the reflex articulation of prayer and at that of particular action. They are even dispositions in favor of a good basic moral option of charity under-lying all these particular thoughts and actions (merely negative dispositions if these relationships are not in-spired by grace, even positive dispositions if they are. in fact inspired by grace). But in order to understand fully the actual role of religious chastity in regard :to super-natural love it is necessary to adopt a quite different point of view. There is a love that is of'its nature a unique love, without the possibility of any simultaneous analogues in the same person. Of itself it is a once-and-once=only affair (though it is possible for one such love to give way to another in the course of life, or in the entrance to eternity). Jacques Maritain has distinguished, in his recent Carnet de Notes (Paris, 1965), between an amour d'amitid and an amour de 7olie, to bring out this point. It is possible for us to take advantage of his elaboration of this distinction a propos of chastity in order to better understand several aspects of chastity and its relation to our supernatural life of grace. But not everything in the presentation here is necessarily to be attributed to Maritain. Amour d'amitid, or ordinary love of friendship, is opposed to amour de [olie. Both of these would certainly have to be called love of friendship in a broad sense, since the amour de folie is a yet more intense form of love that goes still farther, beyond ordinary friendship. But we shall set aside for the moment all consideration of this amour de folie, and concentrate our attention upon various aspects of the ordinary love of friendship (amour d'amiti~)--such as ~is found to exist between hu-man friends and also between a person with sanctifying grace and God Himself. When such a love of friendship comes to its perfection + + + Chastity and Love VOLUME 27, 1968 9 4" 4" 4" .loseph I. Sikora, S.l. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 10 (speaking only relatively, since such a.love could go on increasing without limit), there is profound affective communion between the friends. This communion also includes, both as a support and as a result, the mutual sharing of all their goods in communication and in other forms of mutual giving. All that belongs to one also belongs to the other. And yet it could not be said that each has given his whole self to the other, except by a metaphor. It would be quite possible for each to have other friendships similar to this and simultaneous .with it, at the same or even greater degrees of intensity of love and communion. Each shares all he has, but not all of his very self. There is a love of friendship similar to this between the human person with sanctifying grace and God. This friendship between man and God means that the man has a personal affective regard for, communion with, and commitment to God that does in fact go beyond what he might have for any human friends. This is only to say that he loves God above all things and would prefer to lose any creature rather than God and His friendship. Such a friendship with God already exists at the level of the basic moral option of charity; thus it might be found even in anonymous Christians who would not be able to articulate in their thought or ex-press so well in their particular acts (at least not in such a full and conscious manner) their actual profound love of God. Such anonymous Christians do not have the fully articulated faith of Christians in the Church but only an inarticulate faith-adherence to the saving good who is God. But those Christians who live in the light of articulated faith can cultivate relations with God even at the level of reflex articulation of thought and through the various particular acts that every concrete situation calls for. Such a fuller life with God, at the level and under the direction of reflex consciousness, wouldneces-sarily be understood and lived by analogy with one's experience of ordinary human interpersonal relations further illumined by the light of faith. Clearly, every licit form of experience of human love and interpersonal communion could aid in enriching one's life with God at this level. But if there, is analogy between friendship between men and that between man and God, there is also notable difference, It is true that such a friendship between man and God is simply compatible with profound supernat-ural human affection and friendship for other human beings. But at the same time supernatural friendship with God, in its roots in the basic moral option of char-ity, calls for ever greater entry by man into participation in the very life of God Himself. There must be gradual growth of the divine life' in man, a gradual assertion of its dominion over every aspect of the human life in man. And although natural human tendencies ~ontinne to assert themselves throughout human life until death, these tendencies must themselves be elevated ever more completely by grace--integrated ever more completely into the supernatural life in man--so that God may have an ever more complete dominion in the human spirit in supernatural faith, hope, and charity. Concrete human love continues in this life to have both elements, supernatural grace and natural tendencies that are not thoroughly and completely subjected to supernatural grace. But the fundamental tendency of supernaturally graced man is toward an immediate union and total communion with God that could not exist simply side-by- side with another such communion but rather must really come to dominate exclusively and in utmost inti-macy- so that God really does become the form in some manner of the human soul. This kind of communion with God will be communion with God as one's All, simply one's All. This communion is already realized in an incipient manner through sanctifying grace and the indwelling of the Trinity in the human spirit; but it will be realized more fully, and more clearly, in the light of the immediate vision of God in eternity. But if such a height of friendship with and total im-mersion into God in af[ective communion is not part of the ordinary course of human supernatural life until eternity, nevertheless the mystical writers testify that this tendency of the life of grace can be in fact more fully actualized even at present. God does become more completely All for and in the spirit of man in the "mys-tical life" and through "mystical love." (But these terms are used here simply as designating a special mode of interpersonal relation to God, without carrying the weight of any special ontological account of "infused contemplation" that would make a radical break between ordinary Christian spiritual life and the entire mystical life.) This leads to a consideration of the second mode of love noted above, the amour de folie, or, we may say, "love unto folly," We shall examine the general charac-ter of such a love and then note the two modes in which it can come to realization here below. This analysis will enable us to understand much better the precise role of chastity as a religious means toward fullness of life with God here below, and indeed also the role of the whole life of the counsels in this regard. "Love unto folly" goes beyond ordinary friendship. In it there is not only a complete sharing of goods but even ¯ a complete, unreserved, mutual self-giving. Such an + ÷ ÷ Chastity and Love VOLUME 27, 1968 11 ÷ ÷ ÷ Joseph ~. Sik~ra, S4. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 12 abandon in the giving of one's whole self to another is only folly to mere reason. For reason sees the natural reference of every human love somehow to the self (in the natural sphere, and without consideration of the fundamental tendency of supernatural life). To mere reason, love must always be the love of a good that is good-for, a good that is good in itself but also a good for the one who loves. But in this love unto folly, this seems to be almost ignored by the one who loves; this is a love that goes beyond such categories of formulating and discursive reason, following a higher light of intuitive reason. And what is it that intuitive reason "sees"? It all depends on which of two directions this "love unto folly" takes. But for the moment we must confine our-selves to remarks about this love that are quite general. In this love there is fully exclusive affective commun-ion, not excluding other loves of friendship but com-pletely excluding any other love like this. This is love of the other as one's All. But we can have only one All, in whom we are totally absorbed and to whom we are totally given in all that we are and have. Such a love means complete communion Of spirit and complete open-ness to communication and all mutual giving. Needless to say, there would be no possibility of an analogical relation between two such loves in the same person simultaneously--there can be only one All for a person at a time, unless this person be the infinite God who gives Himself totally in all that He is to all men who will receive Him. But such a perfection of love as this could be found by man in either of two orders. There is a natural per-fection (capable also of elevation by supernatural grace) of such love. This is to be found in the complete mutual giving of man and woman in sexual love in marriage. This sexual love is finally and fully incarnated, sym-bolized, and at its peak of intensity, in its physical as-pect, in the act of sexual intercourse. But such sexual love is much more than this in the spiritual domain of affective communion and all that follows from this. In sexual love of this kind, in which one person gives him-self completely to the other in h~is whole being, there is the greatest other-centeredness that could be found in natural human love for another human being. It is to the other as to his All that he gives himself. We are of course speaking of the most successful human marriage relations and not of the failures; these latter remain all too possible, especially for lack of the ability to love in such a manner. This other-centered love is not without the radical reference to self that is the mark of every natural hu-man love to the extent that it is not elevated by and brought under the complete, and perfect dominion of grace. If one finds his All in another, this is still in the other as another self (and therefore finally as somehow good-for the sel~). This follows from the very meta-physical structure of natural human love. But at the same time the metaphysical structure of this natural sexual love, focusing on the other as fully another self--even as a part of one's integral being--also makes it to be the most fully other-centered mode of natural human love. Sexual intercourse is of itself expr.essive of this complete other.centeredness, of total personal giving in mutual communion. Such a love as this could clearly be only for one other at once. When such a perfect sexual love is elevated by supernatural grace, it retains the same basic characteris-tic, that each person is All to the other. But supernat-ural charity, as we have seen, gives a new further orien-tation and drive toward God and toward a fullness of communion with God. Some day the "love unto folly" of married persons must end, at least in eternity; for charity must fructify into complete loving communion with God now present in vision. Then He will truly become the All for everyone who is with Him. Rejoicing together in their supernatural friendship of charity, they will all see and love the Three who are much more than friends to them, who are their All, whatever else they may have besides. But even in this present life here below it is possible for men to arrive at a perfection of supernatural love o[ God that is in some ways parallel to the perfection of natural (and supernaturally elevated by grace) love in most successful marriage. This would be a "mystical love," as has already been noted above. As a mode of "love unto folly" it would be simply incompatible with the simultaneous presence of another such love as this. Only one other could be one's All at one time. Yet this love inspired by supernatural grace would not be a love for God only as "another self" (such as would be any mere natural love, with its radical reference to the self), but even for God as the transcendent and infi-nite Self, good-for Himself and also to and for His shared life of supernatural grace. The focal point of grace-inspired love is altogether outside oneself, even in the most radical sense. Such a love is never found iso-lated in the pure state in our present mode of being; there is also a (in itself neither sinful nor disorderly) natural element--a natural love--with it that retains an independent and radical reference to oneself in focusing upon what is good-for oneself. This element will, of course, remain even in eternal life with God; but there it will be completely integrated under the dominion of ÷ + ÷ Chastity and Lo~e VOLUME 27, + ÷ ÷ 1oseph J. Sikora, S.]. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 14 supernatural life¯ Our progress in supernatural life here below consists in large part of the growth of this do-minion of supernatural grace even at present. In "mys-tical'love" for God, the supernatural aspect clearly be-comes more and more dominant; it is even possible for complete integration of everything else under the super-natural life to be achieved in the state of transforming union and the mystical hght. But such an intricate and refined analysis need not be carried any further here. What is of interest here is a more descriptive account of this supernatural mode of "love nnto folly." In and through such a love of man for God, God shows Himself more openly and enters into a more profound intimacy with the human spirit. In this love the real finality of supernatural grace in us emerges more into the light (though still in the obscurity of faith)--its tendency toward the complete dominion of God in the soul, as the center of every activity, through supernatural faith, hope, and charity. This supernatural mode of "love unto folly" is ultimately incompatible with another such simultaneous love in the order of human sexual relation, and indeed utterly transcendent in relation to such a sexual love in any event. There is therefore no possibility of analogiz-ing from such a sexual, human love in order to achieve an adequate reflex articulation of "mystical love" in thought or in particular day-to-day action. Passive con-templation, without the possibility of adequate active articulation must begin here; this is a way of renuncia-tion of means and a way of darkness for the spirit--in which it must be led by th~ Spirit rather than find its own way. Every articulation in terms of earlier experi-ence is now simply insufficient to express what is now felt, and no acts are in any way adequate to testify to the actnal intensity of this love. Only silence, and per-haps also the most intense apostolic activity, come any-where near expressing this personal devotion and intensity of affective communion with God and with Christ; and yet finally everything falls short. There are no patterns in human love available here, except those we find 'in the revelation of God--especially in Scripture--in the life of Christ, and in the lives of the saints. But each one who follows this way must follow it in his own unique manner, under the guidance of God. Still, it is not true to say that the earlier modes of expressing friendship with God in articulated thought and action simply disappear. Far from it. Common mo-rality always remains to be lived as perfectly as possible. Frequent articulated prayer goes right along with mys-tical prayer--articulation first in the liturgy of the Church but also in personal prayer outside the liturgical events. And as we have said, the modes of apostolic ac-tion still remain, perhaps now expanded both in variety and in scope. So also, it remains true always that many human interpersonal relations of the most profound affective nature will help to deepen awareness and understanding, aid in greater reflex articulation, and also contribute to inventiveness in our apostolic action among our fellows --as well as enabling us to carry out better the simple exigencies of that fundamental love of neighbor that goes along with any friendship, and afortiori such a friendship, with God and with Christ. Only one such human interpersonal relation is ex-cluded as incompatible with such a full love-relation to God; .this is the "love unto folly" that ordinarily should mark successful marriage. And yet marriage itself is not excluded here. Neither is sexual intercourse within mar-riage (though it is deprived of its full symbolism of com-plete mutual giving of self--how could one give himself wholly to two Alls?). Perhaps the true "love unto folly" that is "mystical love" is not ordinarily found in such cases; but who could collect and offer statistics in this matter? In any event this kind of supernatural "love unto folly" for God does'mean that a union in marriage be-tween "mystics" would have to be something less in itself than it would be if it were itself a "love unto folly" for these same persons. Of itself and apart from the con-sideration of special circumstances, perfect chastity would ordinarily be the "easier" way, more free of tension, for those who would wish to give themselves in such a manner to God. In this sense, chastity and the whole way of the counsels could be called the "ordinary way" of pursuing such a path of love of God. In the light of these considerations, the supernaturally motivated renunciation of marriage, of sexual inter-course, of sexual pleasure, is of itself a preparation (negative, or even positive) in the supernatural order for such a higher mode of love of God. This renunciation is such a preparation precisely in so far as it excludes the other mode of "love unto folly" that could only exist among married Persons and that would incarnate and symbolize itself in sexual intercourse. This renunciation is not of itself already the actual "achievement" (if we may so speak of what can only be a gift of God) of .a "mystical" love of God; but it cannot help but point toward and even call for such a relation to God. The whole life of the evangelical counsels tends toward this exclusive love of God that goes beyond mere friendship; and this kind of love of God does not seem really possible without something at least equivalent to what is ordinarily understood as the life of the counsels. 4. 4- 4. Chastity and Love VOLUME 27, 3.968 4. .]oseph .1. Sila~ra, Sd. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS ]6 The renunciation of sexual love that is called for by the life of: the counsels, and by ,evangelical chastity in particular, is of necessity more than just a renunciation of marriage and sexual intercourse. It requires also the renunciation~ of a large number of other intersexual rela-tions that ultimately tend toward the full relation of marriage and intercourse, and that would consequently endanger this ideal of chastity. But at the same time, many other modes of human interpersonal relation through affective regard and communion are not only open to but even very necessary for anyone who would preserve and grow in such an intense loving relation to God Himself. Our love for family, friends, brothers or sisters in a religious community, or in some instances perhaps for a wife, contributes in several important ways toward ~the full expansion and development of that love -"unto folly" of God. that still transcends them all. It would be well briefl~ to dwell upon these ways. As has already been pointed out before, such well-ordered relations of love: toward and communion with other human beings are analogues of human love for God. Even when ttiere is question of "mystical love" for God, these analogues still help to deepen and to support our partial and inadequate understanding of this relation to God and aid the ever inadequate articulation of our attitude in prayer. Such a "climate of human love," also elevated by supernatural grace, greatly facilitates those particular acts in relation to our neighbors toward which charity impels us. Even a natural love of others, com-paratively uninfluenced by the life of grace in us, could be a basis ~on which charity could buildbthough it could also be an obstacle to real supernatural charity by tena-cious resistance to the dominion of charity. ¯ Also, human love of the kind we are describing can remove very serious psychological obstacles that might otherwise be present, obstacles to the full appreciation arid. articulation, so far as possible, of our own love for God and for our neighbor, and also obstacles to the full appreciation, so far as possible, of God's own tender love and care,for us. If we had no feeling of ~being loved by anyone, how could we really appreciate in our human way, however inadequate, God's love for us? How could we really articulate a love for God, whom we do not see, if we cannot feel profound affective regard for other hu-man beings, whom we can see, or if we cannot articulate such a love for other human beings and express it in our various actions in their regard? We need both ,.the ex-perience of being loved by other human beings and that of loving them if we ale to be able to live any kind of articulated supernatural life that is expressed in partic-ular acts of love and care for:both God and man. It would, of course, be imprudent and even naive not to take account of the very real dangers to supernatural life that human love of this kind can create. It would be quite possible for one to grow in attachment to friends so much'that such friends come to stand alongside or even above God in the affections. It would be possible for one to fall gradually even into serious sexual diffi-culties. The great variety of human temperament makes it altogether necessary that no one simple standard of behavior should be required of or imposed upon all in regard to human friendships. But we must always keep a sense of perspective, ~an awareness that a certain amount of possible and remote danger should be tolerated in view of the greater good of full human development and fuller relation with God. In fact, our life of human love is very important indeed in Our religious life--and or-dinarily all the more so in those who follow the way of religious chastity. It would be altogether disastrous for the persohality if some distorted ideal of religious de-tachment were to succeed in crippling or killing our capacity for human love of other human beings. There is a certain amount of conventional nonsense regarding the saints. It is possible that some of them had no real human friendships; but the lives of the saints in general are full of examples of warm friendships, of saints surrounded even by a multitude of friends. Always they look toward a transcending of all such relations in their intense communion with God, but the richness and effectiveness of their human personalities in great part depend upon their capacity for human love. A chastity ¯ that would destroy this would make one much less than he was and would recall the words of Piers Plowman: "Chastity without charity will be chained in hell." But it must finally be understood that religious chas-tity does fundamentally orient the human person toward a love of God that goes beyond all other loves and is a true "love unto folly." Chastity, of all the counsels, points out most vividly the radically mystical purpose of these counsels. And yet if we have in most of this treat-ment emphasized the role of religious chastity as a prep-aration and disposition for a greater fullness of our af-fective love for God and man, this same chastity also has a very great value as regards the effective apostolate that should spring from such love, in all who are not living in a purely contemplative state. It would be well here briefly to note some aspects of this apostolic significance of religious chastity. Religious chastity is of itself a sign of the eschatolog-ical kingdom already here present through grace. It bears witness to the day when we shall come to the full-ness of supernatural life with God in which there will ÷ ÷ ÷ Chastity and Love VOLUME 27, 1968 ]7 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 18 be no marriage or giving in marriage. It also bears wit-ness to the power of grace even here below. Such a wit-ness to the reality and primacy of the spiritual and supernatural life of love of God has its powerful impact in the world. In excluding the bond of married love, religious chastity frees one for the concerns of God, for a really universal apostolate in the love and service of all men. It gives a much dearer vision of both material and spiritual reality by freeing one from total absorption in and centering on the pleasures and partnership of sexual love. The human energy that would otherwise have been expended in such a love is now available for yet higher purposes. If chastity has been insufficiently appreciated in very recent years for its apostolic power as well as for its role in communion with God, it nevertheless lacks nothing of its perennial value. It is only necessary that we come to an adequate appreciation of the more profound under-standing of chastity and of the requirements for success-ful living of such an ideal, that has become possible in the light of the metaphysical and psychological real-ities already discussed above. Such a more adequate ap-preciation will not lead to the abandonment of the ideal of religious chastity but to an even greater perfection in its practice today. It is now possible to make a few sug-gestions concerning the concrete practice of chastity to-day in religious communities. There are many safeguards to religious chastity that are dictated in large part by common sense. Clearly these must still be learned and preserved, today as much as ever, not only in the course of education of new members of religious communities but later as well. It is unneces-sary here to enter into the details of such a program. Only naivete could question the reasons for segregation of sexes and restrictions surrounding this. The same is to be said as regards a somewhat larger area in which Chris-tian modesty would have to be exercised, larger than that for those in or tending toward the married state. But there must be adequate education for recognition of the real complementarity and mutually enriching role of the sexes in human life, for understanding their fundamental equality as well as their differing psychol-ogies. It is simply impossible today to carry on with modern youth and young religious a successful program of sex education that would not meet their more sophis-ticated desire for fuller understanding of themselves precisely as masculine or feminine and therefore as naturally related to their complement. This is no matter of simple education to the simple physical sexual struc-tures and functions. What is needed is much more, a real understanding of the proper psychological mystery of the other sex as well as of one's own. If such an under-standing is absent, there is a felt ignorance of life that can only cause many more and serious problems. With-out such an understanding, one is less a man or less a woman. Such a more elaborate "sex education" of novices and young religious must of course be conducted only in the context of a presentation of the real meaning of the sacrifice entailed by religious chastity. This sacrifice must be seen not simply as a privation endured for the sake of an ascetical "test"--to prove one's strength of char-acter but in its direction toward fuller union and com-munion with God in "love unto folly" and toward total dedication to apostolic concern. But once the meaning of chastity as directed toward greater love is seen, then the role here even of human love and friendship must be pointed out. The values of human friendship~for fuller spiritual life, for fuller human maturity, for better meeting of human problems --must be opposed sharply to the concept of an "isola-tion with God" that would perhaps more commonly tend toward a rather narcissistic preoccupation with one-self and one's subjective states. We must beware of pseudo-idealizations of the saints and of the rhetorical exaggerations of ascetical writers. The saints too were human like us and had the same need of friendship as we do. Human love enriched their lives just as it does ours. If we are to grow in our human capacity for love and the expression of love--the ca-pacity that is supposed for the actual articulation and day-to-day manifestation of our supernatural love for God and for our neighbor, then we must have the ex-perience of this love. Nor would it be enough to have this only as a past recollection from earlier life in the family circle and in the world. It is not difficult to dry up, to forget how to love in a human way, unless this capacity is renewed, stirred to new growth, by the con-tinuing interpersonal involvement of human friendship. In this regard it is well to approach with a somewhat lighter touch the problem of the so-called "particular friendship" that has so much preoccupied many spiritual directors of the past. There is a genuine problem here. There is question of an immature affective relationship that is far too much under the domination of an emotion that goes beyond all bounds. Such relations must finally be controlled or cut off. But at the same time, we must not allow ourselves to be stampeded through fear or excessive caution into looking for the simple removal of emotion and warmth from human friendship. This would be to aim at the ideal of a rather mechanical man ÷ + ÷ Chastity and Love VOLUME 27, 1968 19 ÷ ÷ ÷ Joseph J. Silurra, SJ. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS ~0 or woman, perhaps really incapable of any profound human love. Such a person would be "immature" in the sense that he or she was not allowed ever to grow to the full capacity for human affective relation to other human beings. Such a person would perhaps have some serious deficiency in dealing with other persons in the work of the apostolate and might find a relative impoverish-ment in his life of prayer and communion with God. Yet human love does have different characteristics in persons of different temperaments. Some are much more affective than others; some put much more emphasis upon practical and effective love that really does do, more than feel, good for other persons. Again, it is im-possible to set down any kind of uniform norms for such things. But the general implications of all that has been said are clear enough, it seems. Finally, it seems well to add a few words concerning the chastity of Christ, that chastity which always remains the model for every form of Christian religious chastity. Christ had, of course, the highest degree of "love unto folly" for His heavenly Father, and consequently for His Father's will. It is in this light that we should look upon His frequent resort to prayer in solitude. Hig Father was His All, here on earth just as in eternity. The chastity of Christ was therefore most congruous with His inner communion with God in the depth of His human heart. But in this union and communion with His Father, and flowing out of this very union and communion, He showed the most complete and tender love for all men, and especially for His very. own. A reading of John 13-17 would far surpass any words that could be added here to demonstrate this. Again we see this tender love when we look at Him, just a few days earlier, weeping over the death of Lazarus, or again, weeping over the city of Jerusalem. He was not the kind of mystic so totally absorbed in the One, or in the "divine darkness," or even in the "divine light," that He had no love to give and to manifest openly to His fellow men. Far from this, He radiated this love to all around Him, and especially to His very own. This lc;ve of Christ must be our own exemplar that guides our effort (aided by grace) just as it guides His own hand in drawing us to Himself and making us true instruments of His peace. THOMAS DUBAY, S.M. Virginal Temples "Wherever# a virgin of God is, there is a temple of God." z "Never has a golden or silver vessel been so dear to God as is the temple of a virginal body." ~ If consecrated virgins are the choicest portion of the Lord's flock,s and if they are the "marvelous sign" of the Church's sanctity,4 and if this Church is the temple of the indwelling Spirit-Sanctifier,~ we may not fail to devote some extended attention to the relationships found between the divine inhabitation and dedicated purity. The Church herself offers us her hand to guide us through this discussion, for if we may judge by her liturgical texts, she especially loves to contemplate her God resting in the virginal bosom. She prays, for example, on the feast of St. Gertrude to "God who has prepared in the heart of blessed Gertrude, virgin, a dwelling delightful for Yourself," ~ and on the feast of St. Cecilia she re-joices that "this glorious virgin always bore the gospel.of Christ in her breast nor did she cease day or night from divine converse and prayer., and her heart burned with a heavenly fire." r # Previous articles in this series were published in REVIEW FOR RE~AG~OUS, V. 26 (1967), pp. 20~-B0 ("Indwelling God: Old Testament Preparation"); pp. 441-60 ("Interindwelling: New Testament Com-pletion"); pp. 652-50 ("Indwelling Dynamism"); pp. 910-58 ("Eu-charist, Indwelling, Mystical Body"); and pp. 1001-25 ("Indwelling Summit"). z St. Ambrose, De virginibus, bk. 2, c. 4; P.L. 16:214. ~ St. Jerome, Letter 22 to Eustochium, n. 2~; P.L. 22:409. z St. Cyprian, De habitu virginum, c. 5; P.L. 4:445; Pius XII, Sacra virginitas, Acta Apostolicae Sedis, v. 46 (1954), p. 174. *Pius XII, Sacra virginitas, pp. 175--4. ~ Cor 5:16-7. ~ Roman Missal, Collect of November 16. ~ Roman Breviary, Responsory of Lesson 2 of Matins of Novem-ber ~2. Thomas Dubay, S.M., teaches at MaD, crest College; Davenport, Iowa; address: Box 782; BettendorL Iowa 52722. VOLUME 27, 1968 21 4. 4. Thomas Dubay, S.M. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS Aim oI Virginity: Indwelling God Establishing relationships between consecrated chastity and the divine inhabitation requires no straining of one's theological imagination. On the contrary, Sacred Scripture is quite replete with them. Basic to all of these relationships is the virginityqove orientation: a virgin is a virgin because of the great commandment. Throughout the pages of Sacred Scripture God-and-man intimacy is prominent, and central to this intimacy is love. Even in the old dispensation the love command-ment is clothed with a majestic solemnity and insisted upon with an impressive series of reminders to protect it from oblivion and neglect: Hear, O Israeli The lord is our God, the Lord alonel There- [ore, you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today. Drill them into your children. Speak of them at home and abroad, whether you are busy or at rest. Bind them at your wrist as a sign and let them be as a pendant on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates,s One day some centuries later a pharisee strolled up to this God become incarnate with a knotty problem. "Master," he wanted to know, "which is the great com-mandment in the Law?" 0f the many possible precepts scattered through the Law the Master unhesitatingly came up with the crucial one: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind." 9 This is man's main occupa-tion. It is also the reason a virgin is a virgin. The purpose of renunciation cannot be negative. Nothingness cannot motivate the will. Nor can it serve as a basis for a state in life. Dedicated chastity is not an escape from the burdens of marriage. It is not a flight from something tainted. According to Paul it is a total, efficient, unimpeded, liberating Self-donation to God. One remains virginal to give an undivided attention and love to the Trinity: "I would have you free from care. He who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please God. Whereas he who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife; and he is divided. And the unmarried woman, and the virgin, thinks about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy in body and in spirit." 10 The virgin is a virgin that she may love undividedly. In pa-tristic thought the virgin is a person apart, a glory of the Church. Her love is supernatural, superhuman, unspeakably beautiful, immortal: s Dt 6:4-9. ~ Mt 22:36-7. xo 1 Cot 7:~2--4. In this marriage [to Christ] there is no tinge of passionate desire because the fervor of this holy love is nourished by a spiritual refreshment. O angelic and superhuman virtue found in menl O inexpressible splendor of a heavenly and eternal servicel Those who receive it contemplate in the flesh what they shall enjoy in immortality, for they choose the better par,t which will not be taken from them but rather will be perfectea in them. What they now preserve by deed inviolate, shall be rendered to them in an increased reward of a glorious immor-tality, u Such, too, is the thought of Pope Plus XlI: This then is the primary purpose, this the principal aim of Christian virginity: to strive solely after divine realities and to turn one's mind and soul to them, to seek to please God in everything, to think of Him eagerly, to consecrate body and soul entirely to Him. It is nothing but love that sweedy impels the virgin to consecrate entirely, her body and soul to the Di-vine Redeemer. With this idea in mind St. Methodius, Bishop of Olympus, places on her lips these charming words: "You Yourself are all things to me, O Christ. For You I preserve myself unta,!nted; to You I run, my Spouse, holding my shining lamp aloft.' It is love for Christ, surely, which prompts the virgin to flee into the shelter of her monastery and to remain there for life to contemplate and love her heavenly Spouse more easily and without hindrance.~ When she makes her dedication the object of a vow the virgin places herself in a particularly holy relationship to the Trinity she bears in her heart. This holy situation is brought about, first of all, by her more complete self-surrender. She gives to her God not only the acts by which she is pure but also her very being and faculties that are pure. Just as a man does well who gives the fruit of his orchard to a friend, but does even more if he gives the orchard together with its fruit, so a man does well to give the Trinity acts of purity, but if he gives his very being and powers together with his acts he does even more.~a The virgin's self-donation is complete. The virgin's relationship to God is enhanced by vow, secondly, because through her solemn promises she fixes herself permanently in the holy condition of being bound to the fountain of goodness.14 Being bound is not neces-sarily unfortunate. It depends on that to which or to whom one is fastened. Genuine lovers reckon themselves fortunate to be bound to each other in matrimony. When the virgin binds herself to Beauty by vow, she is in an enviable condition indeed. We may note by contrast that just as a mortal sin is tragic, but to be obstinate or fixed in ~1 St. Fulgentius, Letter 3 to Proba, n. 17; P.L. 65:331. = Plus XII, Sacra virginitas, pp. 165-7; see also Vatican II, Decree on Religious Li[e, n. 12; Decree on the Ministry and the Life of Priests, n. 16; Constitution on the Church, tan. 42, 44, 46. ~ St. Thomas gives this teaching and example in refcrence to vows in general, 2-2, q.88, a.6 c. It Ibid. + 4- + Virginal Temples VOLUME 27, 1968 23 ÷ ÷ ÷ Thomas Dubay, $.M. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS it is far more tragic, so also to be pure is angelic, but to be fixed in a pure union with the Trinity is far more angelic.1~ Spiritual Marriage ¯ So intimate is the love relationship between the virgin and God within that the Church has from the firs~ centu-ries seen a supernatural marriage in consecrated virginity. The doctor of virginity, St. Ambrose, fifteen centuries ~go put this relationship in as brief and lucid a gtatement as one could ask: "Virgo est, quae Deo nubit--she is a virgin who is married to God." x0 In the East St. Gregory of Nyssa, himself a married man but a great admirer of virginity, several times uses the expression, spiritual marriage, to refer to the celibate's union with God. Of it he says: "The soul who joins himself to the immaculate Spouse is bound by love to the true wisdom which is God." aT For St. Fulgentius Christ is the one Spouse and crown of all sacred virgins: This is the only-begotten Son of God, only-begotten Son of the Virgin also, the one Spouse of all sacred virgins, the joy, the beauty, the gift of holy virginity. He it is whom holy vir-ginity corporally brought forth, whom holy virginity spiritually marries, by whom holy virginity is made fruitful in order to persevere, by whom it is graced that it may remain beautiful, by whom it is crowned that it may reign gloriously forever.~ This same saint speaks of God "chastifying" or purify-ing the virgin into being His spouse: "Harken to the love of your Spouse in you; reflect on the loveliness of the Lord. The Lord is good in making you His handle/alden. This Spouse is beautiful who has purified you into being His spouse." 19 So truly did the.fathers consider the con-secrated virgin as wedded to God that they bluntly spoke of an unfaithful virgin as an adultress. Said Ambrose: "She who has espoused herself to Christ and has received the holy veil has already ma.rried, she has already, been joined to an immortal Man. Then if she should wish to enter a common marriage, she commits adultery." s0 Augustine's judgment was the same: "If a virgin marries [that is, one only physically a virgin], she does not sin, but if a nun (sanctimonialis) marries, she Will be con-sidered an adultress of Christ." 21 Pope Pius XII pointed ~ Mt 22:30. ~ le De virginibus, bk. 1, c. 8; P2,. 16:203. See also c. 5. 1~ De virginitate, c. 20; P.G. 25:301. rs Letter 3 to Proba, n. 6; P.L, 65:326. l~Ibid., n. 30 his; P.L. 65:336: "Attende igitur in te sponsi tui amorem, considera Domini pietatem. Plus est Dominus, qui te sibi fecit ancillam; speciosus sponsus, quite castificavit in sponsam;" ¯ o De lapsu virginis, c. 5; P.L, 16:373. ~Enarratio in Ps. 83, n. 4; P.L. 37:1058. out that already from the fourth century the Church's rite fdr the consecration of virgins was closely similar to her rit~ for blegsing earthly marriages.22 Even in today's liturgy the sainted virgin is called the spouse of Christ,2a and' the newly composed Mass for the profession cere-mony of religious women has the marriage theme running through it. If the law of praying is the law of believing, it is s!gnificant indeed that the Church has chosen to weave a supernatural wedding thread throughout the virgin's consecration to God.~4 In this most pure and heavenly marriage the virgin fi~ho has left all things for her spouse bears Him in her breast. This union is not only intimate, not only indis-soluble, not only personality-completing; it is a union that cannot be interrupted by death or clouded by the spectre of death. Divine revelation, speaks of God's rela-tiohship to any faithful soul as a wedded relationship, but in an additional way can these statements be understood of the consecrated virgin who will have no lover in her life but'Him.2~ Although Catholic Scripture scholars commonly understand the Song of Songs as expressing the intimate and incomparably beau'tiful love between God and man, it may be applied even more pointedly to this relationship between God and the virgin:2~ My lover is for me a sachet of myrrh to rest in my bosom .As an apple tree among the trees of the woods, so is my lover among men. My lover speaks; he says to me "Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one, and come!". "Let me see you, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet, and you are lovely." . Set me as a seal bn your heart, as a seal on your arm; for stern as death is: love, relentless as the nether world is devotion; its flames are a blazing fire. (Cant. 1:1~; £:8, 10, 14!, 8:6). Indwelling Spiritualizes the Temple Divine m~ste~es are all secret, wondrously hidden. Solne of them, ,.however, "we see (or think we see) more clearly than others. One of the most secret of the divine works is the manner in which the abiding Spirit conse-crates and even somehow spiritualizes the flesh bf His human temple. That He does is a fact of His own telling: ~ Plus XlI, Sa~ra virginitas, p. 166. ~* Vespers of a virgin. a Those who now deny a bridal relationship of the consecrated virgin to Christ should reckon with the fact that they are running counter to the plain'mind of tile Church. ~ Is 54:5,7-8; Song of S, passim; Eph fi:21-3~. We may distinguish in traditional Catholic thought four types of brideship with Christ: the Church, each Christian soul, the advanced soul enjoying the transforming union, the consecrated virgin. It is only the last who can share in all four, ~ The Church herself in using the Song of Songs for the profes-sion of religious women herself suggests that we so use it. + 4- 4- Virginal Temples VOLUME 2~, 1~,9 2~ ÷ ÷ Thomas Dubay, S.M. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS "They who are according to the flesh mind the things of the flesh, but they who are according to the spirit mind the things of the spirit. You, however, are not carnal but gpiritual, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you ¯. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? It anyone destroys the temple of God, him will God destroy; for holy is the temple of God, and this temple you are." 27 Because the virgin particularly lives according to the spirit and minds the things of the spirit, she especially is spiritual and not carnal. And if she especially is spirit-ualized, it is indeed because the Spirit of God dwells in her. All men are holy and consecrated by this inabiding Fire, but especially is she who by her integral dedication "thinks about the things of the Lord that she may be holy in body and in spirit." ~s In an eminent manner may we apply to her the remarkable praise the Lord God bestowed on His people: "You were exceedingly beauti-ful, with the dignity of a queen. You were renowned among the nations for your beauty, perfect as it was, because of my splendor which I. had bestowed on you, says the Lord God." 29 Indwelling: Motive for Crystal Chastity If the very flesh of the human temple is sanctified, con-secrated by the presence of the Spirit, we can easily grasp the converse conclusion that this very presence is most fittingly honored by a crystal purity in the temple. When St. Paul comes to convincing the Corinthians of their great need for chastity, he lines up several doctrinal truths and caps them with the divine indwelling. First, the Christian's flesh is not a thing for itself; it is the Lord's: "The body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body." so Second, this body is to rise gIoriously one day as did the Lord on the first Easter: "God has raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by his power." 3XThird, this body is a mem-ber of the mystical Christ and is therefore to cling to no sinful partner but to the Lord Himself: "Do you not know that your bodies' are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? By no means[ Or do you not know that he who cleaves to a harlot, becomes one body with her? 'For the two,' it says, 'shall be one flesh.' But he who cleaves to the Lord is one spirit with him. Flee immorality." a~ ~ Rom 8:5,9; 1 Cor 3:16--7. = 1 Cot 7:34. ~ Ez 16:1~-4. ~ 1 Cor 6:13. m 1 Cor 6:14. ~ 1 Cot 6:15-8. Lastly, this body is the very temple of the Holy Spirit bought at the price of the Lamb and thus precious in its value: "Or do you not know that your members are the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God, and "that you are not your own? For you have been bought at a great price. Glorify God and bear him in your body." as The conclusion is clear: rejoice this abiding God by your prayer and your purity. This, indeed, does glorify Him in your body. Indwelling Converse and Virginity It consecrated virginity occupies so singular a place in the supernatural economy that its representatives are the choicest portion of the Lord's flock and are wedded to their God, we should expect that it would be somehow bound up in a unique intimacy with this God. We should expect that the virgin possesses some advantage in con-versing with her Spouse that the non-virgin does not pos-sess. The data of divine revelation bear out our expecta-tion, for St. Paul tells us that together with the undivided heart the reason a virgin is a virgin is that she might pray unimpededly to her Lord: "The unmarried woman, and the virgin, thinks about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy in body andin spirit. Now this I say for your benefit, not to hold you in check, but to promote what is proper, and to make it possible for you to pray to the Lord without distraction." 34 Catholic tradition traces a long history in its apprecia-tion of the relationship between virginity and contempla-tion. Gazing upon the loveliness of the Lord is the virgin's one occupation: When you begin to seek Him, 0 virgin, I-Ie is present, for ¯ it is impossible that He should be absent from those who de-sire Him.Pursue Christ, 0 virgin, in your light, in your holy meditations, in your good works that shine before your Father who is in heaven. Seek Him at night, seek Him in your cell because He comes at night and knocks at your door. lie wishes you to be watching at all times and to find the door of your heart open. See to it, 0 virgin, that you diligently de-vote yourseff to prayer.= Being a life of knowing and loving, consecrated chastity renders the human person more like the divine: The pursuit of virginity, it seems to me, eemarked St. Gregory of Nyssa [himseff a married man], is an art and a power to lead a more divine life and it teaches how we who are bound by the bonds of the body may become similar to spiritual beings. The intent and purpose of this life is wholly = 1 Cor 6:19-20. u 1 Cor 7:34-5. =.St. Ambrose, Exhortatio virginitatis, cc. 9 and 10; P.L. 16:353, 357. Virginal Temples VOLUME 27, 1968 4" 4" Thomas Dubay, $.M. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS to preserve the loftiness of the soul from being lowered by the onslaught of pleasures and to keep us who should be contem-plating and gazing upon divine and heavenly truth from lapsing into the mere inclinations of the body.8~ Hence, the virginal life is a living for the soul alone and that i~ why it may be termed angelic: the virgin contemplates the Father of perfect integrity and by gaz-ing upon His beauty becomes herself more beautiful: This is to live for the soul alone, namely, that one insofar as he can should imitate the manner of life of those powers who have no bodies, for these neither marry nor are given in marriage. But this is their intent, purpose, and perfect duty: to contemplate the Father of immaculate integrity and as far as imitation is possible to ~nhance their own beauty by gazing on the exemplar of beauty itself,~ From the negative point of view perfect purity makes indwelling converse easy in that it frees a man from the absorbing distractions of bodily pleasures. "If the human mind," writes St. Cyril of Alexandria, "is burdened and immersed in the pleasures of the flesh, it cannot look up to God, nor can it with a fixed gaze contemplate His deeds." as It follows, then, that the virgin's dominating occupa-tion according to the pure stream of Catholic tradition is contemplating the beauty of her Lover. "If therefore you have declined the nuptials of the sons of men from which you would have begotten sons of men," Augustine admonishes her, "love Him with your whole heart who is beautiful beyond the sons of men. You are free, your hearts are untied by the bonds of marriage. Contemplate the beauty of your Lover. Reflect on Him who is equal to His Father and subject to His Mother, ruling in heaven and serving on earth, creating all things, created [that is, human nature] among all things." a~ It is in this finality that we find the root cause for the sublime dignity of the virginal consecration: "That which more effec-tively disposes one for the most noble act is itself the more praiseworthy. But that which most effectively fits one for the act of contemplation--in which the highest purity is needed---is virginity." ,0 St. Thomas writes in the same thought pattern: "For this reason does holy virginity abstain from all venereal pleasure that it may be more freely at leisure for divine contemplation." 41 St. Gregory of Nyssa, De vlrginitate, c. 5; P.G. 25:273. Ibid., c. 4; P.G. 25:273. In lsaiam, 1, orat. 3; P.G. 37:78. De sancta virginitate, c. 54; P.L. 40:427-8. ~°St. Bonaventure, De perlectione evangelica, q.3, a.3: "Quod magis disponit ad actum nobilissimum est laudabilius; sed ad actum contemplationis, in quo requirit~r maxima puritas, magis disponit virginitas." 2-2, q.152, a.2 c: "Ad hoc autem pia virginitas ab omni delec-tatlone venerea abstinet, ut liberius divinae contemplationi vacet." In this light we can appreciate more fully St. Ambrose's charming axiom that "wherever a virgin of God is, there is a temple of God," and St. Jerome's judgment that "never has a golden or silver vessel been so dear to God as is the temple of a virginal body." If the whole raison d'etre of the virginal dedication is a loving contemplation of the Trinity, surely the chaste virgin is both a sign of the indwelling mystery and the person best disposed by state to live it, Sacramentality oI Virginity To appreciate the sign or witness value of virginity we must first touch briefly on the sacramentality of our supernatural economy. In a broad sense of the term, sacrament may be referred to any visible reality that in one way or another proclaims the divine reality. It implies a kind of wedding between the visible and the invisible whereby the latter is declared by the former. In this sense the whole universe is a gigantic sacrament of God for "the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims his handiwork." 42 But the term can have stricter meanings; and it bears the most rich of them when it is applied to the incarnate Word, the sacrament of God. This Sign is the God He proclaims: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God: and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. And we saw his glory--glory as of the only-begotten of the Father4z . In him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bod-ily." 44 As the Church sings in her Christmas Preface, "while we know this God visibly we are by Him rapt up to a love of invisible goods." The Church, too, is herself a sacrament of Christ for she is mystically identified with .Him and proclaims Him to the world: "As the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, many as they are, form one body, so also is it with Christ4n.He who hears you, hears me.''46 Sacred Scripture likewise possesses a sacramentality, since as the Word assumed human flesh in Mary's womb, so does He assume human speech in the womb of the hagiographers' minds. Through these human words the Word can make us burn with love for God: "And they said to each other, 'Was not our heart burning within us while he was speaking on the road and explaining to us the Ps 18:2. ISJn 1:1,14. Col 2:9. 1 Cot 12:12. Lk 10:16. ÷ ÷ ÷ Virginal Temples VOLUME 27, 1968 29 4. 4. Thomas Dubay, $.M. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOus Scriptures?' " 47 The sacramentals, too, are obviously sacramental because they consist in a visible rite that somehow influences a supernatural effect. But most com-monly do we apply the term, sacrament, to our seven sacred signs that themselves produce the grace they sig-nify. In this whole orchestra of the sacramental universe the divine wisdom and goodness and power shine through. Because man is a composed being, he goes to his God by composed means. Man is an invisible-visible unit and so he rises to the fountain of all by invisible-visible sacra-nlents. In this extended sense of the word a virgin is a sacra-ment in her very dedicated person: St. Ambrose recorded sixteen centuries ago that on the occasion of receiving the veil of virginal consecration Marcellina heard the words, "[your Spouse] bestowed on you the pure sacra-ment of virginity." 48 We. think that Ambrose's thought was either that the veil is a sign of virginity or that as Marcellina was being dedicated to perfect purity she became a sign to the world of divine realities, and espe-cially that she became a virgin-sign, that is, a person representing total surrender to the Trinity. St. Gregory of Nyssa likewise saw a kind of sacramental meaning to virginity: "The virginal life.s~ems to be a certain image of that future immortality of beatitude. The virgin enjoys in this life the goods that shall be our supreme good at the resurrection." 49 Though he does not use the word, sacrament, Pope Plus XII c/early taught the sacramentality of virginity when he assigned the terms "image" and "sign" to de-scribe the virgin's witnessing function before the world: It surely, redounds without doubt to the highest glory of virgins that they are living images o[ that perfect integrity by Which the Church is joined to her divine Spouse. For this So-ciety founded by Jesus Christ it is a supreme joy that these same women are a marvelous sign of that flourtshing sanctity and spiritual fecundity for which she is eminent. Cyprian wrote well of this when he said: "They are the flower of that ec-clesial bud, the beauty and adornment of spiritual grace, a reason for our joy, a fresh and untainted work of praise and honor, an image of God corresponding to the holiness of the *~ Lk 24:32. At the turn of the first century St. Ignatius of Antioch already recognizes a special power in biblical words when he speaks of himself as "confugiens ad evangelium tamquam ad corporaliter praesentem Christum"--"fleeing to the gospel as to the bodily presence of Christ" (Ad Phila., 5, 1; P.G. 3:681). ~De virgin(bus, bk. 3, c. l; P.L. 16:219-20: "In te quoque sin-cerum sacramentum conferet [Sponsus] virginitatis." Ambrose was probably here using the term "sacrament" as Augustine defined it: Signa, "cure ad res divinas pertinent, sacramenta appellantur" (Letter 138, c. 1, n. 7; P.L. 35:527). ~° De virginitate, c. 13; P.G. 25:290. Lord, the more illustrious portion of the Lord's flock. The Church rejoices in them and the glorious fruitfulness of this Mother abundantly flourishes in them. The more the number of virgins grows, the more does the joy of this Mother increaseY In what ways is the virgin a witness-sign to the world? Sign o[ God-centeredness The doctrine of the divine indwelling in the souls of the just is undoubtedly a doctrine of God-centeredness. The whole aim of its preparation in the Old Testament and its revelation in the New is to impel men to an intimacy with the triune God. By being so close, so deli-cately close that He is within, he is asking each man to develop the kind of spiritual life that will prompt him sincerely to shout all his days: One thing I ,ask of the Lord; this I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, that I may gaze on the loveliness of the Lord.As the hind longs for the running waters, so my soul longs for you, 0 God. Athirst is my soul for God, the living God. When shall I go and behold the face of God?~a The consecrated virgin is a sign that man must seek God as his all. Her whole being proclaims that human life must be orientated to the divine alone, for she is what she is precisely that she may gaze on the loveliness of the Lord, that she may unimpededly thirst for Him and be-hold His face. There are two elements involved in a dedicated vir-ginity. The first is a bodily integrity by which one has never committed .a complete and voluntary act against the virtue of purity nor has contracted and used marriage. The virginal body is whole, integral. The second element is the firm and pious will to abstain forever from any voluntary venereal pleasure. The will is firm by its vow and it is pious by its supernatural motive for the vow. Thus an adolescent who has never sinned seriously against chastity is integral in body but does not thereby enjoy the state of consecrated virginity, for even though the material element (b, odily incorruption) is present, the ~o Pius XII, Sacra virginitas, pp. 173-4. St. lsidore of Seville long ago saw the virgin as a sign of the Church: "Since the Church her-self is a virgin espoused to one Man, as the Apostle says, how much greater is the dignity of her members who preserve in the flesh what the whole Church preserves in her purpose?" (De ecclesiastids ol~iciis, bk. 2, c. 18; P.L. 83:804-5). Even earlier St. Augustine had said that "the whole Church is called a virgin" Enarratio in Ps. 147, n. 10; P.L. 37:1920. Vatican II, of course, frequently recalls the wit-nessing value of the evangelical counsels. ~1 Ps 26:4; 41:2-3. 4- 4- 4- Virginal Temples VOLUME 27, ~.968 31 ÷ ÷ ÷ Thomas Dubay, S.M. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS formal.element (the intention of dedicating this integrity forever to God)is absent.5~ ~ The virgin is a sign of God, centeredness as regards both elements in her consecration. Her bodily integrity is'a peaceful and pure self-preservation for Him alone. Her intimate being is a garden enclosed. Her body 'that knows no voluntary disturbance of passion itself declares that God alone can have her, that the indwelling Trinity can abide in the tranquil garden that she, is. Such. is the thought of Paul when he says that "the virgin thinks about the things of the Lord, that she may be hol~ in body and in spirit." Her chaste flesh is itself a. sign,: of concern with the Lord. Especially is she the sacred temple of the Trinity: "Holy is the temple of God, and :this temple you are." 5s The spiritual or formal element in th~ virgi.nal con.s.e-cration is likewise a sign to flae world of God-centered-ness. By her firm and pious will to give her heart to no other lover the virgin proclaims to all who will .hear that God alone is the objec.t of her concern and attention. This perpetual resolve declares in a per.fect~ manner the cruciality of God in the Christian life: "Ofie t~hing I ask of the Lord. that I may gaze on the loveliness of the' Lord." 54 It declares that the virgin is a. sign to men that all must love Him with a whole heart; a whole soul, a whole mind. She is a sacrament illustrative of Psalm 118:10: "With all my heart I seek you." To her especially does this God say: "You are precious in my eyes and glorious. I love you." ~ ~ Sign of Indwelling Mystery The divine inhabitation is an interpersonal intimacy between God and man effected by supernatural love and consummated by supematu[al joy: "If you love me, keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father and he will give you another Advocate to dwell with you for-ever, the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot re~'e.ive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. BUt you shall know him, because he will dw.ell with you, and be in you. If anyone love me~ he will k~ep .my word, and my Father will love hin~, and we will come' to. him and make our abode with him. 2. Abidd ifi my love'.'. These things I have spoken to you that.my ]oy. may be in. you, and that your joy may be made lull. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God .in him r~ Because the religious vow' of chastity is not a vow of gi~ginit~, a non-Virgin~ can become a religious and can even share by her com-plete selLdonation in the sign character of the ~irgin. ~ 1 Cor 3:17. ~ u Ps 26:4. . M Is 43:4. ¯. The charity of God is poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Look to him that you may be radiant with joy. Taste and see how good the Lord is." 56 Yes, our mystery is a love-delight mystery. And such precisely is the virgin's forte. She is a virgin in order to love with an undivided heart, and she receives a hundredfold of love and delight by giving up all for her Spouse: ',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. Because she can love unimpededly she can also more easily attain the ofuilness of joy that stems from love: "Eye has not seen nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, what things God has prepared for those who love him." ~s Hence, our basic argument is simple: love. for God is closely interwoven with the indwelling mystery; the virgin is a virgin precisely to love; therefore, the virgin as a virgin is somehow woven into the indwelling mystery. She is a sign of it. This same truth stands out from another point of view¯ The divine inhabitation consecrates a persgn, puri-fies and spiritualizes the body: "Holy is the temple of God, and this temple you are. They who are adcording to the flesh mind the things of the flesh, but they who are according to the spirit mind the things of the spirit . You, however, are not carnal but spiritual, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you." ~9 When Paul comes to admonish the Corinthians to live chastely he caps a list of reasons (the resurrection of the body, membership in the Body of Christ, union with the Lord) with an appeal to the divine inabiding: "Do you not know that your members are the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have fxom God?" 50 Purity and the divine presence are intimately related. Virginity, therefore, as the loftiest type of purity is par excellence related to the indwelling mystery. We may say that the consecrated virgin is the visible sacrament of the indwelling: "Wher-ever a virgin of God is, there is a temple of God." It follows, then, that the virginal temple enjoys a singular splendor, shines with a' particular beauty be-cause of the Trinity abiding within. Especially true of her is the encomium of Yahweh: "You were exceedingly beautiful, with the dignity of a queen¯ You Were re-nowned among the nations for. your beauty," perfect as it was, because of my splendor which I had bestowed on ~U7J nM 1t 41:91:259-7. ,28; 15:9,11; 1 Jn 4:16; Rom 5:5; Ps $$:6,9. ~1 Cor 2:9. ~ 1 Cot 8:17; Rom 8:5,9. ~ ! Cor 6:19. ÷ ÷ ÷ Virginal Temples VOLUME 27, 1968" ÷ ÷ Thomas Dubay, S.M. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS you, says the Lord God." 01 When she is a religious, her habit likewise shares in the sign character of her consecra-tion, since it proclaims that she is the set-aside property of the Trinity, that the habit encloses a temple beautiful by its tranquil purity. Sign o[ God's Cosmic Primacy The incarnation has wedded the uncreated to the created. It has raised the entire universe to a new level, a new sacredness, a new unity with its Author. All things are restored in the Christ, the Sacrament of God. Yet God still does enjoy a primacy in this new and sacred unity, a primacy by which He infinitely transcends the cosmos, a primacy by which the latter must not inter-fore with His glory, a primacy by which all else is orien-tated to His praise. One of the most radical (in both senses of "root" and "drastic") doctrinal themes in the gospels is the idea of voluntary poverty. It permeates the whole like an atmos-phere and it is so uncompromising that it must come as a shock to anyone who takes it seriously: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it is made fruitless. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where rust and moth con-sume, and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither rust nor moth consume, nor thieves break in and steal. For where thy treasure is, there also will thy heart be . The foxes have dens, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. If thou wilt be perfect, go, sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me . Amen I say to you, with difficulty will a rich man enter the kingdom of heaven. And further I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Woe to you richl for you are now having your comfort. Woe to you who are filledl for you shall hunger. Carry neither purse, nor wallet, nor sandals. Take heed and guard yourselves from all covetousness, for a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. Every one of you who does not renounce all'that he possesses cannot be my disciple. You cannot serve God and mammon." 82 Whatever else these thunderbolts may be, they are not platitudes. Evangelical poverty is mani-festly an exchange of the cosmos for God. = Ez 16:13-4. ~ Mt 5:3; 13:22; 6:19-21; 8:20; 19:21,23-:4~ ;,Lk 6:24-5i 10:4; 12:15; 14:33; 16:13. The virgin is a poverty-~ign. She is a sacrament of the divine primacy in creation. Bodily integrity, of .course, has in itself no obvious connection with poverty, but consecrated integrity in the special supernatural economy in which we live does possess a relationship. This tieup is visible not only in the life of the virginal Holy Family and in the actual structure of the religious life of .the Church but also in the traditional thought of her teach-ers. St. Gregory of Nyssa writes of the fourth-century vir-gins together with his sister, Macrina, that "such was their life that every human v?nity was foreign to them and hence their life closely resembled that of the angels. They found their delight in temperance; they reckoned as their glory to be known by no one and their riches to possess nothing." 6z Pope Plus XII writes in the same vein when he say that a virginity consecrated to Christ is witness to a faith in the kingdom of heaven,~* and when he asks the rhetorical question: Are not sacred virgins who dedicate their lives to the service ¯ of the poor and the sick with no distinction as to race, social position, or religion, are not these virgins intimately united to their miseries and hardships and are they not most warmly attached to the poor as tho .ugh they were their actual mothers? ~ This same truth that dedicated chastity is a poverty-sign of God's primacy is borne out by a consideration of the nature of the dedication. If a virgin gives up a greater good, marriage, for the sake of serving God more effec-tiyely, it is only logical that she will give up lesser goods, material, possessions, for the same reason. She is, there-fore, a sign to the world that God comes first in the uni-verse, that He transcends not only human love but also non-human things. She is a living sign in the flesh pro-claiming to each man by her being: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind." ~ Her poverty declares by fact if not by word that "God is my riches." By it she may ask: "Whom else have I in heaven? And when I am wit.l~ you, the earth delights me not. Though my flesh and my heart waste away, God is the rock of m~] heart and my portion forever. For me to be near God is my good." ~ -How is the virgin's poverty made a visible sign of the Trinity's primacy in the cosmos? How does her inner love of the indwelling God and her detachment from things not God appear to the world? Life of St. Macrina, P.G. 25:596. Plus XlI, Sacra virginitas, p. 172. Ibid., p. 178. Mt 22:~7. Ps 75:25-6,28. 4. + 4. Virginal Temples VOLUME 27, ].9~B ÷ ÷ REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS. 36 First of all, she loves the poor and the downtrodden. She favors them, prefers to serve them because her Master was one of them. The world can see through her involve-ment with the havenots that God, not things are her concern. Sheknows that "he sins who despises the hungry; but happy is he who is kind to the poorl" She is aware that "he who oppresses the poor blasphemes his Maker, but he who is kind to the needy glorifies him." 6s Secondly, in her personal life she is as factually poor as her vocation permits. Simplicity shines out in her manner of life, in her convent, its furnishings, her habit. Her food is plain and she takes it in moderation and detachment. She has gladly deprived herself of superfluities and is a picture of a godly contentment. She has subscribed to Paul's thought: "Godliness with contentment is indeed great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and certainly .we can take nothing out; but having food and sufficient clothing, with these let us be content." 69 She welcomes the sufferings of deprivations when they occur and she is happily satisfied with them according to. the doctrine and practice of the Apostles: "Beloved, do not be startled at the trial by fire that is taking place among you to prove you, as if something strange were happening to you; but rejoice, insofar as you are partakers of the sufferings of Christ, that you may also rejoice with exul-tation in the revelation of his glory. Calling in the apostles and having thdm scourged, they charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then let them go. So they departed from the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been counted worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus." T0 She avoids worldly amusements: "Do not love the world," she says to her-self, "or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father isnot in him." 71 She is a sacrament that declares to those who will listen: "Eye has not seen or ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, what things God has prepared for those who love him." ~z Sign oI Feminine Dignity Since the fall it has been difficult for mankind to allot to woman her proper place in the divine scheme. Even she herself often does not see itand even more often does not live according to it. The virginal temple of the Ho!y Spirit is an existential sermon declaring to the world the Prov 14:21,31. Tim 6:6-8. Pt 4:12-3; Acts 5:40-1. Jn 2:15. Cot 2:9. personal worth of woman before God even aside from her natural maternal function in society. The virgin proclaims in her being woman's great nat-ural and supernatural intellectual value. Historically and aside from the influence of revelation woman has been looked upon largely as a means to man's welfare and pleasure. A naturalistic world lays great stock by her physical beauty when and while she has it and seems to feel that it is her main contribution to society. When after a decade or two her visible attractiveness has waned, interest in one is replaced by interest in another. On the other hand, by her charming modesty and evangelical poverty the Christian virgin is a living witness to woman's worth as an end. She deem.phasizes physical beauty to make the world realize~that it is secondary; that a woman is valuable especially because of her in-tellect and will; that she is a person, not a tool; that she has much to contribute to the good of mankind by her spiritual qualities tinted as they are with feminine traits; that she, too, no less than her male counterpart is es-pecially to spend herself in pursuing God: O God, you are my God whom I seek; for you my flesh pines and my soul thirsts like the earth, parched, lifeless and without water. Thus have I gazed toward you in the sanctuary to see your power and your glory, for your kindness is a greater good than life; my lips shall glorify youY The virgin underlines likewise the fresh beauty of womanly integrity and purity. She asserts in her person the blessedness of the pure of heart, the happiness of those who live an untainted life. She silently proclaims the angelic lot of the elect: "At the resurrection they will neither marry nor be given in marriage,' but will be as angels of God in heaven." 74 Even if the virginal temple of the Trinity were never to enter a classroom, never to make an apostolic visit to the poor, never to walk a hos-pital corridor, she nevertheless is a witness to the charm of a pure womanhood and the dignity of unsullied in-tegrity. The virgin is a sign of supernatural motherhood. She has declined a natural fecundity only to embrace a loftier, more universaI fruitfuIness. Like her Spouse, she has come that men "may have life, and have it more abun-dantly." ~ There are, of course, two kinds of birth and therefore two kinds of life to be conceived and nourished: "Unless a man be born again of water and the Spirit, he. cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the ~ Ps 62:2-4. ¢~ Mt 22:30. ~ Jn 10:10. ÷ ÷ ÷ Virginal Temples VOLUME 27, 1968 37 ÷ 4. 4. Thomas Dubay, S.M. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS Spirit is spirit." r8 Somehow God has deigned to .share this supernatural parenthood with ~man, for the latter can say: "My dear children, with whom I am in labor again, unti! Christ is formed in you." 7r The dedicated virgin is a mother; she is a sign of a superior feminine fecundity because her maternity surpasses a natural ma-ternity. 7s The Church implies this superiqrity when she sings on Holy Saturday night: "It would have profited us nothing to be born unless we had also been redeemed." The virgin, then, is a witness to the fact that the ecclesial apostolate can be feminine, that the woman's motherly traits and desires are fulfilled in the supernatural order as well as in the natural. She is once again a sign of feminine dignity. Sign of Love lor M'en To the casual observer the religious is a woman who seems devoid of anything, one might call a living love for men; and yet if she is anything at all to the world, she is a lover of it. We may go so far as to say she is so much a lover of men that she is a sign set up among the nations of how we should love our fellows. Three revealed premises lead us to this conclusion. The first is that the mark that sets the supernatural man apart from his natural counterpart is the Christlike love he has for his neighbor: "By this will all men know [it is a sign] that you are my disciples, if you have love for one an-other." 79 The second is that one is essentially a super-natural man by a double love, for God and for neighbor: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God.with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. And the sec-ond is like it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself," s0 The third is that the virgin is of all people the undivided lover of God, and ,hence of neighbor also: "He who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife; and he is divided. And the un-married woman, and the virgin, thinks about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy in body and in spirit." sl If the love of God and neighbor are inseparable,s2 and if the consecrated x;irgin is wholly devoted to love of .God, she cannot avoid being devoted by profession to love of ~ Jn 3:5-6. ~7 Gal 4:19. ~S,,Truly and solidly does the virgin mother rejoice, for she by her spiritual work gives birth to immortal children" (St. Gregory of Nyssa, De virginitate, e. 13; P.G. 25:289). r~ Jn 13:35. *~ Mt 22:37-9. ~ 1 Cor 7:33-4. ~ 1 Jn 4:20-1. neighbor. And furthermore, if this latter love is the sign of a disciple, she is especially a sign. The history of consecrated virginity confirms our rea-soning process. The pages of the Church's apostolic jour-nal are replete with the extraordinary loves of extraordi-nary women. If actions clamor more loudly than words, we must reckon these consecrated women among the greatest lovers of men the world has seen. Any list must be incomplete, but we need think only of Eustochium, Macrina, Catherine of Alexandria, Clare, Catherine of Siena, Angela Merici, Margaret Marie, Teresa of Avila. The world needs the lofty love these dedicated persons exemplify. Parents easily love their'children on a natural plane, but not so easily on the supernatural. Often na-tions react toward one another on the basis of deception and intrigue, very often on that of a cold diplomacy more or less mingled with justice, seldom with a supernatural love. The world desperately needs the love-sign of the consecrated virgin. She is a fresh flower in a sandy desert. Sacrament of Contemplation "For this reason does a holy virginity abstain from every venereal pleasure, that it may be more freely at leisure for divine contempIation." sn In such manner does St. Thomas summarize Catholic thought on the finality of perfect purity. In the Christian economy one does not embrace chastity to avoid something evil, to shirk re-sponsibility, to attain a natural peace and security. These reasons are either inadequate or plainly wrong. Complete chastity is aimed at peaceful prayer: "The unmarried woman, and the virgin, thinks about the things of the Lord." Just as the virgin is a sign of the primacy of God and of the indwelling mystery itself, so is she a sign that converse with the Trinity is man's primary occupation. The virgin is a sacrament of contemplation for several reasons. Her contemplative love is reserved for God alone: "God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him." s~ She has given her heart to no other lover. The virgin rests in God only. Though all men should be able to join the Psalmist in saying, "Only in God be at rest, mysoul," s5 the virgin is most likely to say it and to live according to it. She has given up the comforts of marriage and family. God is her rest and comfort, for indeed He is "the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort." s~ s~ 2-2, q.152, a.2. ~ 1 Jn 4:16. ~ Ps 61:6. sa2 (;or 1:3. Vlrginat Temples ÷ ÷ ÷ Thom~ Dubay, $.M~ REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS The virgin delights in God. In her particularly and in ~/lofty manner are fulfilled the sentiments of the Psalmist when he declares: "Whom else have I in heaven? And when I am with you, the earth delights me not. Though my flesh and my heart waste away, God is the rock of my heart and my portion forever. For me to be near God is my good." s7 She especially o£ all men can say: "Whom else have I and whom else could I want who have All?" She especially can say: "The earth delights me not, and I have proven it by giving up the earth, for You only have I chosen, You only are the rock of my heart and my por-tion forever." She especially is likely to assert: "But for me, to be near God is my good; to make the Lord God my refuge--I have chosen no other good, no other refuge." ¯ The virgin calmly contemplates her virginal God. St. Gregory Nazianzen back in the fourth century reflected the eastern persuasion of an absolute value in virginity (aside from .its benefits after the fall), when he remarked that "the first virgin is the holy Trinity." ss It is perfectly true that the divine processions are completely without passion or loss of integrity, for the divine nature is the purest spirit. The family joy of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is most pure, most tranquil, most integral, most supreme. The virgin's contemplation is a reflection of it. She gazes on the virginal loveliness of the Trinity purely, calmly, integrally, supremely: "One thing I ask of the Lord; this I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, that I may gaze on the loveliness of the Lord." S9 She is the sacrament of divine contemplation. Sign of Final Victory The culmination and summation of the sign character of a holy virginity is the body-soul triumph of eternity. Virginity is eschatological. It points not to earth but to heaven, not to time but to eternity, not to the place of struggle .but to that of victory. Of the relatively few men-tions of virginity in the New Testament it is significant that at least three of them refer to the Ultimate triumph. Jesus describes the life of perfegt purity as angelic and heavenly: "At the resurrection they will neither marry nor be given in marriage, but will be as angels of God in heaven." a0 St. Paul explicitly ties up detachment with the parousia--or at least with each man's individual death---' and the parousia with the motivation behind a dedicated purity: s~ Ps 72:25-6,28. ss Poema 1; P.G. 21:287-8. s~ Ps 26:4. ~e Mt 22:$0. But this I say, brethren, the time is short; ifremains that those who have wives b~ as if they had none; and thos~ who weep, as though not weeping; and those who rejoice, as though not rejoicing; and those who buy, as though not possessing; and those who use this world, as though not using it, for this world as we see it is passing away. I would have you free from care. He who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please God. Whereas he who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife; and he is divided. And the unmarried woman, and the virgin, thinks about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy in body and in spirit.~ St. John assigns to virgins a select place in the celestial life with the risen Lamb of God: "These follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were purchased from among men, first-fruits unto God and unto the Lamb, and in their mouth there was found no lie; they are without blemish." 02 What is the final victory and how is the virgin an image ~f it? Essentially the triumph is the beatific vision in a risen body, the face-to-face, supremely delightful sight of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God: "We see now through a mirror in an obscure manner, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know even as I have been known. Beloved, now we are the children of God, and it has not yet appeared what we shall be. We know that, when he appears, we shall be like to him, for we shall see him just as he is. Eye has not seen or ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, what things God has prepared for those who love him." 93 This is the victory of all victories: to attain the ineffable joy of clasping unending Loveableness, Beauty in an unending embrace. The virgin is the sign of this embrace. The vir-gin is the sign of this embrace because even on earth she has begun the embrace in her undivided heart and in the most effective way open to her. 'She is a virgin precisely to contemplate the Trinity. "One thing," she proclaims by profession, "I ask of the Lord; this I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, that I may gaze on the loveliness of the Lord." ~4 Her earthly con-templation is imperfect to be sure; it is not intuitive; but it is the beginning of the end. She is a sign of this essential beatitude because her virgina! joys in God are a prelude and sketch of the joys all the children of men shall even-tually have in God when they are neither married nor given in marriage. The otherworldiness of her life of ~1 1 Cur -34. ~ Apoc 14:4-5. It is not clear whether virginity is meant here strictly or metaphorically. ~ 1 Cur 13:12; 1 Jn 3:2; 1 Cur 2:9. This last text refers to super-natural wisdom through faith and/or the beatific glory through vision. ~ Ps 26:4. 4. 4. 4. Virginal Temples VOLUME 27, 1968 41 ÷ ÷ ÷ Thomas Dubay, S.M. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS poverty and purity shouts to men that we have not here a lasting city, that we are a pilgrim people. As we shall note in a later article, one of the accidental triumphs of eternity due to the indwelling Trinity is the victory of the risen body over our passible body: There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So also. with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown in corrup-tion rises in incorruption; what is sown in dishonor rises in glory; what is sown in weakness rises in power; what is sown a natural body rises a spiritual body. For this corruptible body must put on incorrupdon, and this mortal body must. put on immortality. But when this mortal body puts on immortal-ity, then shall come to pass the word that is written, "Death is swallowed up in victoryl" ~ This splendid victory, this glorious resurrection of the human frame is due to the indwelling presence of the vivifying Spirit: "If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, then he who raised Jesus Christ from the dead will also bring to life your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who dwells in you." 06 Though the virgin's body does not yet enjoy supernatural agility, nor immortality, nor brilliance, it does begin to share in the victory to come and it is surely a sign of it. By her consecrated purity she has freed herself from the unruly disturbances attendant on even the good use of marriage and so she is an image of the bodily calm that shall be the lot of all men in the heavenly city. Further-more, the being of all temples of the indwelling Trinity is somehow spiritualized even while they are on earth: "You, however, are not carnal but spiritual, if indeed the Spirit of God dwelIs in you." 0r This burning Fire of love elevates in some mysterious manner the being of fallen men by abiding within. Because of her eschatologi-cal orientation the virgin temple is an apt sign of this incipient purification, elevation, spiritualization effected by the Spirit on earth as a preparation for the complete purification, elevation, spiritualization of heaven. Because she is a sacrament of things to come the con-secrated virgin should be an example to men of the in-carnational detachment so beautifully formulated by St. Paul. She looks and lives for eternity: "We look not at the things that are seen, but at the things that are not seen. For the things that are seen are temporal, but the things that are not seen are eternal." 0s Because she is living for the risen body and the intuitive vision of the Trinity, she has a taste for heavenly things, not worldly ones: "If you have risen with Christ, seek the things that are above," ~1 Cor 15:41-4,58-~. ~Rom 8:11. ~ ,Rom 8:9. ~1 Cor 4:18. she says by her life, "where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Mind the things that are above, not the things that are on earth." ~ When we see her religious garb we are reminded that because the time is short, "those who rejoice [are to :be] as though not rejoicing; and those who buy, as though not possessing; and those who use this world, as though not using it, for this world as .we see it is passing away." 100 She teaches us by her set-aside position in the world that our all-absorbing yearning must be finally to. see the face of God: "As the hind longs, for the running waters, so my soul longs for you, 0 God. Athirst is my soul for God, the living God. When shall I go and behold the face of God?" 101 The virgin, then, is a temple of the Trinity, at once in the world but not of it, crucified but refreshed, a lover of men but first a lover of God,~ beautifully plain without but even more beautifully charming within, busy at work but intent on contemplation, occupied on earth but orientated to heaven. For she bears heaven in her breast. (to be continued) ~ Col 3:1-2. ~o 1 Cor 7:30.-I. lox Ps 41:2-3. .4" + + Virginal Temples VOLUME 27, 1968 JAMES I. O'CONNOR, S.J. Alienation of Manuscripts and Works of Art James I. O'Con-nor, $.J., is professor. of canon law at Bel-larmine $chool of Theology; 230 South Lincoln Way; North Aurora, Illi-nois 60542. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS Teilhard de Chardin's writings have been receiving considerable attention and study in recent years. Very naturally, this interest in his works has spread to the man himsel[ and his life. Among the events reported about his life is that he consulted two canonists as to whether or not he as a professed religious could lawfully appoint a literary executor to whom he would bequeath his manuscripts and whom he would leave free to dis-pose of them as he saw fit. The report never indicates who the canonists were. Neither is any reason or justifi-cation given for their alleged affirmative reply to Teil-hard's question. Whether or not this story about Teilhard de Chardin has been the occasion, if not the cause, of other re-ligious raising the same or a related question, the fact remains that the issue of the'right of a professed re-ligious to alienate manuscripts he has written is being asked frequently. From this question it is an easy step to another question: May a professed religious alienate works of art created by the religious? Alienation is any act whereby the right of ownership, in whole or in part, is transferred to another person. Thus, alienation is had, for example, by selling the property in question, or by giving it away, or by ex-changing it for another piece of property of like or dif-ferent nature. In all tl~ese instances, the owner has com-pletely surrendered his title or ownership of the original property, whether or not he received anything in re-turn. The basic issue in the question of alienation of manu- \ scripts or works of art produced by a professed religious is whether such an act falls under his vow of poverty or, on the contrary, is it outside the scope of the vow of poverty. Before attempting to answer this question, yet an-other question must be posed: Do the manuscripts or works of art have a money value? For the present, only manuscripts will be considered; works of art will be discussed aRerwards. Manuscripts To the final question above, the Salamanca theolo-gians equivalently gave a very definite negative reply and very strongly defended complete ownership by a religious of his manuscripts. They expressed themselves in this fashion: You will ask whether a professed religious has real control over his manuscripts to such an extent that he can carry them with him wherever he goes, give them away, burn them, or exercise in their regard any other act which are functions characteristic of a proprietor? The reply is in the affirmative, whether the manuscripts are his own or given him by some-body else, whether the result of his own work or that of some-body else. Further, without permission of his prelate, he may dispose of them in view. of.his own death. This is true because manuscripts, inasmuch as they are the ideas of his mind, are something spiritual. Moreover, since the accessory partakes of the nature of the primary, and since manuscripts are acces-sories to knowledge as flowing from it and begotten by it, hnd are an aid to it, therefore, lust as knowledge does not fall under the vow of poverty, neither do manuscripts. As a result, a re-ligious can become their owner. Furthermore and finally, this is true because this is the [~ractice, common usage, and custom even of reformed religious institutes.1 St. Alphonsus Liguori also gave a negative reply to that final question above. He defended his opinion because manuscripts are something spiritual since they are products of one's genius, ,e, ven though elaborated by outside endeavor; and because the3 pertain to the field of knowledge, which does not come under the vow of poverty; and because this is the common practice.--This explains the brief of Benedict XIII that religious who have been promoted to the episcopacy must turn over to their superiors all their prop.ert.y except their manuscripts. Moreover, in Sporer's work, it is stated that Clement VIII expressly declared that religious may, of their own volition, alienate their manuscripts, even without permission. [Contin.] Tournely believes the same thing pro-vided that--in this he agrees with others--other provision is not set down in the constitutions of the order."~ Sporer was a Franciscan Recollect who wrote a work a Collegii Salmanticensis Cursus theologiae moralis (Venice: Pez-zana, 1764), tract. XII, cap. II, punct. XII, n. 195. Note: All translations in this article are those of the author ex-cept translations of canons; these are taken from the authorized English version (Rome: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1919). = Theologia moralis (Rome: Typographia Vaticana, 1907), ed. Gaud~, tom. 2, lib. IV, cap. 1, n. 14. Alienation VOLUME 27, ~.968 ÷ ÷ ÷ lames I. O'Connor, $.1. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS also entitled Theologia moralis. To Sporer's writings a supplement to his treatment of the matter of the Ten Commandments was added by Kilian Kazenberger, also a Franciscan Recollect. It is in this supplement that is found the reference made by St: Alphonsus and it reads as follows: It is a highly probable opinion that a religious is master of his manuscripts and that he can dispose of them at will. Writ-ings are, as it were, part of his knowledge and acquired learn-ing. Therefore, just as the religious can take along with him his knowledge and learning or can communicate it to another, so also can he do it with his own writings. These are nothing more than the ideas of a man philosoph!z!ng. As a result, the religious has direct control over his wnungs themselves but only indirect control over the paper, because control over the writings cannot be exercised without paper. And this is why, on the word of Corolianus, Tract. de Casious Resets., p. 2, casu 16, num. 19, Clement VIII declared that religious can alienate their manuscripts without p~rmission, notwithstanding his own bulla on Bestowal oI Properties? The bulla or constitution of Clement VIII referred to is that beginning with the words Religiosae congrega-tiones, 4 dated 19 June, 1594. In it the pope had pro-hibited donations of any kind by reiigious to any per-son outside the religious order and no exception was anywhere made in it for manuscripts written by a re-ligious. While a number of writers state that Clement VIII said that religious retain full ownership over their man-uscripts even to the extent that they also possess the right to alienate them,-nobody, as many later com-mentators point out, offers any proof that Clement VIII ever said what is ascribed to him. One author just re-fers to another author, for example, St. Alphonsus re-fers to the Sporer supplement, which, in turn, refers to Corolianus, but no one gives any data to prove Cle-ment VIII said or wrote anything other than what he set forth in his constitution Religiosae congregationes. The reference to Benedict XIII in St. Alphonsus' commentary cited above does not prove that the manu-scripts of a religious do not fall under the vow of poverty. So far from proving St. Alphonsus' poin.t is the document of Benedict XIII that it proves the con-trary, namely, that manuscripts per se do fall under the vow of poverty. In § 5 of the document, Postulat humili-tati nostrae,5 the pope prohibits any religious promoted ~Patritius Sporer, Theologia moralis: Supplementum theologiae moralis decalogalis (Venice: Pezzana, 1731), cap. II, .sect. III, n. 149. 4 Bullarium Romanum, ed. Taurinensis, tom. 10, pp. 146-50; ed. Mainardi, tom. 5, pars 2, pp. ~I-3. ~St. Alphonsus identifies the document of Benedict XIiI in the place cited in Iootnote 2 in n. 15 in the paragraph beginning "Praefatam autem." The document itself, dated 7 March, 1725, is to the episcopacy or other ecclesiastical dignity from taking with him "books, money, goods entrusted to them or deposited with them, and any kind whatever of movable or immovable goods, except his writings, clothing, and breviary." e The writings or manuscripts of the religious are excepted from all the previous items, all of which certainly pertain to the vow of poverty as do also the other two exceptions, namely, his clothing and his breviary. Furthermore, no authorization is given by Benedict XIII to a religious to alienate his manu-scripts. While, according to the Salamanca theologians and St. Alphonsus, it was the common opinion of the time that manuscripts did not come within the scope of the vow of poverty, there were prominent authors defending the opposite side of the question. Thus Peter M. Pas-serinus de Sextula, O.P., writing in 1663, holds that a religious has no ownership over his manuscripts as far as alienation of them is concerned, although the re-ligious does have the right to use his own manuscripts and to carry them away with him. There were also some commentators who distin-guished between manuscripts which had a money value and those which had no money value but simply served as aids to memory for their authorY The latter type of manuscripts would not form matter of the vow of pov-erty. The dispute as to whether the manuscripts of a re-ligious come under his vow of poverty, especially as regards alienation of them, remained, until the present century, practically as it was at the time of St. A1phon-sus. s In 1911, an indication of the Holy See's viewpoint in the matter appeared in the reply to a question proposed to the Sacred Congregation for Religious: "II, If superiors have forbidden the publication of some manuscript, or if the imprimatur has been denied, may religious turn over the said manuscript to some publisher who will publish it with the imprimatur of his [the publisher's] local ordinary and suppress the author's name?" The re-ply given on 15 June, 1911 was: "In the negative." 9 found in Bullarium Romanum, ed. Taurinensis, tom. 22, pp. 129-33; ed. Mainardi, tom. 11, pp. 377-80. ~ Italics are in the original document. 7 De hominum statibus el ol~iciis, q. 186, a. 7, n. 412, referred to in Franciscus X. Wernz, S.J., and Petrus Vidal, S.J., lus canonicum (Rome: Gregorian University, 1933), tom. III, n, 349, b). s A. Vermeersch, S.J., De religiosis institutis et personis (Bruges: Beyaert, 1907), tom. 1, n. 254. ~Acta Apostolicae Sedis, v. 3 (1911), pp. 270-1; also in Fontes Codicis iuris canonici, n. 4410. Question I of this inquiry had asked if religious in simple vows needed an imprimatur to publish their 4, 4, 4, Al~natlon VOLUME 27, 1968 47 ÷ ÷ lames I. O'Co~nor~ S.I. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS Slightly over two years later, another question was submitted to the Sacred Congregation for Religious: "Do religious, whether in solemn vows or in simple vows, who have produced a manuscript during the dme of their vows, have ownership of it to such an extent that they can give it away or alienate it by any title whatever?" The full assembly of the cardinals of the Sacred Congregation discussed the question and finally decided: "In the negative." This decision was reported to and confirmed by Pope Pius X on 13 July, 1913.l° Thereafter all commentators maintained that no re-ligious, whether he has solemn vows or simple vows, may perform any act of alienation of his manuscripts if those manuscripts have a money value. On the other hand, the common opinion was that all religious, even those in solemn vows, may retain their own manuscripts for their own intellectual or spiritual life.ix That 1913 decision was embodied in canon 580, § 2 of the Code of Canon Law in the following terms: "What-ever the religious acquires by his own industry., be-longs to the institute." Moreover, the sources of that section of that canon explicitly cite the 1913 decision. As a result, the ownership of manuscripts produced by professed religious and having a money value belong to his community. Consequently, he may not dispose of them without authorization from a superior competent to grant such authorization. A few authors raise some related issues. Thus Coro-nata12 observes and cites a number of other authors as also noting that a religious has no form of ownership over manuscripts which he produced by order of his su-perior and for whose production the community sus-tained special expenses. Another allied question treats of the religious who, when he is near death, pel~onally or through others burns or otherwise destroys his manuscripts. He may be moti-vated to such action by a sense of humility lest his memory be held in honor. Nevertheless, in the objective order, works just as religious in solemn vows. An affirmative answer was returned. l°/lcta ,,lpostolicae Sedis, v. 5 (1913), p. $66; Fontes Codicis itzris canonici, n. 4417. 11Jules Besson, ~'Les religieux et la propri~t~ des manuscrits," Nouvelle revue thdologique, v. 45 (1913), pp. 709-15; Matthaeus Conte a Coronata, O.F.M.Cap., Imtitutiones iuris canonici, 2d ed., v. I (Turin: Marietti, 19~9), p. 764, note 5; Dominicus M. PrOmmer, O.P., Manuale iuri~ canonici (Freiburg: Herder, 1933), 6th ed., p. 297, q. 223.1; I. Salsmans, S.J., "Annotationes in dubium circa manu-scripta religiosorum," Periodica, v. 7 (1913), pp. 165-8, especially n. 4; Timotheus Schaefer, O.F.M.Cap., De ,,eligiosis (Rome: Vatican Press, 1947), 4th ed., nn. 1114-5; Wernz-Vidai, Ius canonicum, n. ~50. ~ In the place noted in footnote 11. commentatorsl~ accuse him of acting badly and of sin-ning. They a/so point out that he shows himself quite un-grateful to his community which provided him with the opportunity and the means to carry on his studies. There also arises the question about manuscripts which were produced by a person before he pro-nounced his religious vows and which have a money value. In the case of solemnly professed religious, these, like other properties, would have to be provided for in his renunciation before his solemn profession (c. 581, § I). Religious with simple vows would retain the sim-ple owners.hip or title to them (c. 580, § 1). Furthermore, if they derive royalties or other form of monetary re-turn from their manuscripts, such monies would belong to the religious and not to the community. This solution follows that given by the Sacred Congregation for Re-ligious in the case of persons who are now professed religious in simple vows but who become beneficiaries of monetary compensations for military service rendered before their religious profession,x4 As for the disposal of such monies, the norms set down in canon 569 would obtain,~5 that is: § I. Before the profession of simple vows, whether temporary or perpetual, the novice must cede, for the whole period during which he will be bound by simple vows, the administration of his property to whomsoever he wishes, and dispose freely of its use and usufruct, except the constitutions determine otherwise. § 2. If the novice, because he possessed no property, omitted to make this cession, and if subsequently property come into his possession, or if, after making the provision, he becomes under whatever title the possessor of other property, he must make provision, according to the regulations of § 1, for the newly acquired property, even if he has already made simple pro-fession. A final question regarding manuscripts by professed religious and the 1913 decision is: Did that decision defin-itively settle the initial question as to whether manu-scripts with a monetary value may not be alienated without due authorization by superiors, because such action would violate the vow of poverty, or, rather, would it violate simply the vow of obedience as being placed against an ecclesiastical law? Some authors point out that the scope of the vow of poverty at times varies somewhat from community to community. Consequently, while manuscripts with a XaF. Plat, O.F.M.Cap., Praelectiones iuris regularis (Tournai: Casterman, 1888), 2d ed., v. 1, p. 242,2; Priimmer, Manuale, p. 297, q.223.1. 2, T. Lincoln Bouscaren, S.J., and James I. O'Connor, S.J., Canon Law Digest ]or Religious (Milwaukee: Bruce, 1964), v. 1, pp. 311-2, questions V and VL 26 Schaefer, De religiosis, n. 1115. Alienation VOLUME 27, 1968 d9 + lames I. O'Connor, Sdo REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS money value may be included under the vow of poverty in one community because of the wording of the con-stitutions, they may not in another community. As a result, these authors believe that the 1913 reply did not definitely decide whether such manuscripts are included under the vow of poverty. Nevertheless, all such com-mentators maintain that the authors of such manu-scripts may not alienate them, whether the root of the prohibition is found in the vow of poverty or in the vow of obedience.1~; As a last word about religious authors and their manuscripts, it may be worth noting that, while this study has been primarily concerned with the surrender of ownership of manuscripts to persons outside the re-ligious institute to which the author belongs, a much milder form of alienation may also be prohibited by constitutions, customs, or superiors even between mem-bers of the same religious body. Consequently, it is not unheard of that between religious of the same institute or even of the same house, general or particular per-mission is required for the donation, loan; or exchange of certain items among which manuscripts may be in-cluded. If there is such a restriction in a given institute, that restriction continues in force until and unless it is duly changed or modified. Works ot Art Under this heading is included everthing which is usually classi

Issue 23.3 of the Review for Religious, 1964. ; PAHL VI On Seminaries APOSTOLIC .EPISTLE To THE PATRIARCHS, PRIMATES, ARCHBISHOPS, AND BISHOPS OF THE CATHOLIC WORLD ON THE FOUR HUNDREDTH ANNIVERS~,RY OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SEMINARIES BY THE ECUMENICAL COUNCIL OF TRENT. Venerable brothers, greetings and Our apostolic blessing. The Word of the sovereign God,* who is "the true light that enlightens every man coming into this world,".1 decided to put on human nature for the sake of our eternal salvation and to spend a lifetime among us to show us "the kind of glory that belongs to the only begotten Son Of the Father, full of grace and truth.''~ In the same way He did not con-sider it unimportant to remain hidden for almost thirty years in a simple little dwelling of Nazareth in order that by His prayers to God and by His labor He might fittingly prepare for His apostolic work and give an example of all the virtues. Under 'the loving gaze of Joseph, His putative father, and that of His holy Mother Mary, the boy Jesus "grew in wisdom and age and grace before God and man.''8 Now if all the followers of Christ are obliged to imitate the Word become man, then surely a greater obligation to do so rests on those who someday will. "represent to men the person of Christ Himself both through their manifest per-sonal holiness and through their preaching of the law of the Gospel and their dispensation of the sacraments. The Church is aware that it is the duty of the ministers of Christ Jesus to show themselves as teachers of virtue first of all by their own public example and then by their spoken word; it is in this way that they truly become the salt of the earth and the light of the world.4 Accordingly, from the earliest centuries of her existence, she has taken special pain.s * The official Latin text, entitled Surami Dei V~rburn, is to be found in Acta Apostolirae Sedis, v. 55 (1963), pp. 979-95. IJn 1:9. ~ Ibid., 1:14. ~ Lk 3:52. 4 Mt 5:13-4. VOLUME 23, 1964 257 ÷ ÷ ÷ Paul VI REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 258 to see that the young men preparing for the priesthood should be well trained and educated. An important witness to this fact is to be found in the person Of St. Leo the Great, among whose writings is found the following remark: "When the directives of the blessed fathers treated of the choice of priests, they rightly asserted that only those were fit for the sacred ministry who over a long period of time had advanced through each grade of [sacred] duties and who had thereby proved themselves in an acceptable manner; in this way each man's conduct was a testimonial to his life.''~ Afterwards both ecumenical and regional councils gave a certain stability to the ancient customs in the matter; gradually they passed laws and established practices which afterwards the entire Church acknowledged as sacred pre-scriptions. In this connection it is sufficient to recall the sharply delineated decrees of the Third and the Fourth Lateran Councils.6 Unfortunately, however, the evil of worldliness made a continual and deep penetration even into ecclesiastical circles; and the spirit of paganism seemed to revive to a cer-tain extent in the academic world in which the young were educated. For these reasons, the norms previously.laid down by the Church for the training of candidates for the priest-hood were thought to be no longer adequate for the situa-tion. Accordingly, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries many thought it absolutely necessary that there should be a reform of morals in the entire Church of Christ and that at one and the same time the candidates for orders should be protected from the dangers threatening them. and that their personalities should be correctly shaped by the efforts of judicious educators and teachers in places adapted to this purpose. At Kome in the fifteenth century Cardinals Domenico Capranica and Stefano Nardini made wholehearted efforts to meet this urgent and pressing need by founding the colleges named after them. In the. sixteenth century St. Ignatius Loyola established in Rome the Roman and Ger-man Colleges, the former for the training of teachers, the other for that of students for the priesthood. At the same time Cardinai Reginald Pole, archbishop of Canterbury, urged the bishops of Cambrai and Tournai to follow the example of ,St. Ignatius; and he himself prepared for Eng-land a decree on seminaries which was confirmed in 1556 by the synod of London and which was published on February 10 of the same year. A few years later, a law composed on the model of this decree was enacted for the whole Church by the Council of Trent. This law was contained in Chapter 18 of the reform decree approved on July 15, 1563.7 ~ Epistola 12, Patrologia latina, v. 54, col. 650-1. ~ Mansi, Amplissima Conciliorum collectio, v. 22, pp. 227, 999, 1013. ~ See G. Rocaberti, Bibliotheca maxima pontificia, v. 18, p. 362; and L. yon Pastor, Storia dei Papi (Rome: 1944), v. 6, p. 569; v. 7, p. 329. Since this year is the four hundredth anniversary of that important decree, the memoryof the event should be all the more carefully brought to mind given ~he fact that the an-niversary year coincides with the holding of Vatican COuncil II. For by convening t~he Council, the Church is primarily concerned with"b~tte~ihg the live~ 0f-the Christian faithful by the enactment of suitable directives; accordingly she will. not neglect to give special attention to that area which is of the greatest importance in the life of the entire Mystical Body" of Christ--the area concerned with the for-mation of those who are preparing themselves for the priest-hood in seminaries. We do not intend to describe here.the procegdings that took place before the confirmation of the decree on the establishment of seminaries, nor do We intend to delay on a Consideration of the. individual prescriptions of the decree. Rather, We are of the opinion that the commemoration of the decree will produce greater good if We emphasize the benefits" that have accrued from it for the Catholic Church and for human society and if We briefly recall to memory some of the principal points which concern the spiritual, intellectual, and apostolic formation of candidates for the priesthood and which, today as never before, require a diligent consideration. That seminaries would be of the greatest benefit to the individual dioceses of the Church was clearly foreseen by the members of the Council of Trent since in their thirteenth session they gave a unanimous vote to the document dealing with them. On this matter Cardinal Sforza Pallavicino wrote the following: "The chief matter approved was the establishment of seminaries. Many did not hesitate to assert that even if no other benefit resulted from the Council this alone would adequately repay all their painstaking labor. For this was considered the most effective means available for restoring lost discipline since it is a rule that the members of any society will bethe type they are brought up to be." 8 The extent of the confidence Which the leaders of the Church had in seminaries as a means to prepare for the renewal of the Church and for the increased holiness of priests can be seen from the fact that soon after the.Council strenuous efforts were made to carry out the prescriptions of the decree in spite of difficulties of every kind. Our prede-cessor of happy memory, Plus IV, gave a foremost example of this when on February 1, 1665, he established a seminary for his diocese of Rome; and in this he had been preceded by St. Charles Borromeo who established a seminary in Milan in the year 1664 and, on a more modest scale, by the bishops ofRieti, Larino, Camerino, and Montepulciano. Afterwards, other bishops, zealous for the renewal of their dioceses See P. Sforza Pallavicino, lstoria del Con~ilio di Trento, A. M. Zaecaria, ed. (Rome: 1833), v. 4, p. 344. + + + Seminaries VOLUME 23, 1964 259 ÷ ÷ ÷ Paul VI REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 260 established seminaries, being aided in this by many out-standing persons who were deeply concerned for the welfare of the Church. Among these were to be found in France Cardinal Pierre de B~rulle, Adrien Bourdoise, St. Vincent de Paul with the priests of his Congregation of the Missions, St. John Eudes, and Jean-Jacques Olier with his Society of Priestsof St. Sulpice. In Italy particular praise must be given to St. Gregory Barbarigo who worked untiringly and cease-lessly at the end of the seventeenth century to reorganize the seminaries of Bergamo and Padua; in doing this, he not only took into account the norms laid down by the Council of Trent as well as the example of St. Charles Borromeo, but he also took into consideration the pastoral and cultural needs of the time. The example given by this tireless pastor. to the other bishops of Italy is still vibrantly alive even in our own day, forhe had the ability to combine fidelity to tradi-tional norms with the introduction of innovations. An example of this was his insistence on the study of Eastern languages, since he felt that this contributed greatly to the better knowledge of the Eastern fathers and ecclesiastical writers and thereby to the eventual reconciliation with the Catholic Church of the separated Eastern communities. It was such achievements of the great bishop of Padua that John XXIII, Our predecessor of happy memory, recalled in his homily given on the day Gregory Barbarigo was sol-emnly inscribed in the lists ot the saints. 9 A person has every right to think that from the seed sown in the fertile field of the Church by the decree of the Council of Trent there also flowered forth those seminaries and colleges that exist for special purposes. Such are the College of Propaganda Fide in Rome and the Seminary for Foreign Missions at Paris; such also are ~he various national colleges in Rome, Spain, and Belgium. Accordingly, all the places which, like so many cenacles, exist today in the entire Church for the formation of candidates for the priesthood can be compared with the tree in the Gospel parable which, though originating from a tiny seed, nevertheless grew and increased in size. to such an extent that it could give shelter in its branches to innumerable birds of the air.x° Unceasing thanks, therefore, should be given to God that the following centuries, during which in many countries there were ideologies and practices opposed to the doctrine and to the ~aving ministry of the Church, did not see a cessa-tion in the establishment of seminaries but rather a wider and a larger growth of them. This was true not .only in Europe but also in both the Americas; it was also true in mission countries still to be enlightened by the light of the Gospel: as soon as the Catholic faith struck root~ seminaries were likewise founded. Moreover, the Apostolic See has See Acta Apostolica¢ Sedis, v. 52 (1960), pp. 458-9. x°See Mt 13:31-2. always multiplied its efforts to give to seminaries directives needed to fit in with the pastoral and cultural requirements of different times and places. This area, .which requires great discretion, is onewhich the Holy Spirit, the heavenly source of all the beneficial decrees of the councils, has especially entrusted to th~ suCre/he pastor 6f ~the ;Church.n Hence, while we are treating of this matter, We cannot forget to praise the distinguished work done by Our prede-cessors; among whom the following are pre-eminent: Gregory XIII, Sixtus V,. Clement VIII, Urban VIII, ¯ Innocent XI, Innocent XIII, Benedict XIII, Benedict XIV, Clement XIII, Plus VI, Gregory XV!, Plus IX, Leo XIII, St. Plus X, Benedict XV, pius XI, Pius XII, and John XXIII. Since seminaries have been the object of such great con-cern on the part of the Apostolic See and of zealous bishops throughout the world, it is not surprising that they have greatl~ prospefed, ~hereby effecting the greatest benefits for the Church and for the civil community. It was this matter of the great and outstanding advantages produced by seminaries in the course of time that Our predecessor of happy memory, Plus IX, wished to recall on June 28, 1853, in his apostolic letter Cura Romani Pontifices by which he established the Pio Seminary. In this letter he pointed out to rulers of states as well as to everyone inte(ested in the public welfare that "the correct and careful training of the clergy is greatly conduc!ve to the preservation and pros-perity of religion and of human society and to the defense of truly sound doctrine.''12 This same dose and beneficial link between the religious, moral, and cultural progress of peoples and the existence of a sufficient number of sacred ministers conspicuous for holiness. and learning was reiterated by Pius XI in this important statement: "The matter is the kind of thing that is closely connected with the Church's dignity and effectiveness and even with her very life. It is a matter of the greatest impor-tance for the salvation of the human race since the immense benefits which have been won by Christ our Redeemer are not communicated to men except by the ministers of Christ and the dispensers of the mysteries of God.''~3 Hence We gladly follow the example 0f Our predecessor Pius XII in making use of the apt remark uttered by Leo XIII of im-mortal memory on the subject of seminaries: "The welfare of the Church is intimately linked with their condition.''14 Hence it is that We ask all Our venerable brothers in the u See Acts 15:28. ~ See Pii IX Pontifids Maximi acta, v. 1 (1846-1854), p. 473. ~a The apostolic epistle Off~iorum omnium, Acta Apostolica¢ &dis, v. 14 (1922), p. 4-49. t~The epistle Paternae providaeque, Acta Leonis XIII, 1899, p. 194; and see Plus XII's Per hos postremos annos, an epistle to the bishops of Poland, Acta Apostolicat Sedis, v. 37 (1945), p. 207. Seminaries VOLUME 23, 1964 261 Paul REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 262 episcopate, all priests, and all the faithful to express their gratitude to almighty God, the giver of all good things, for the great benefits which have come to the Church from the providential establishment of seminaries. At the same time, We gladly take the occasion of this anniversary to give to all a fatherly exhortation. We wish to remind all the members of. the Catholic Church to be aware of the common obliga-tion they have tobe zealous in giving to seminaries whatever assistance is needed by them. Undoubtedly, the bishops of dioceses, the rectors and spiritual directors of seminaries, and the teachers of the various subjects have the greatest obligation to be concerned for the Complex work of support-ing, forming, protecting, and educating candidates for the priesthood. Nevertheless, their work would be nullified or at least would be mo~e difficult and less effective if it were notpreceded and accompanied by a ready and continual cooperation on the part of pastors and their assistants, of religious and lay persons charged with the education of the young, and especially of Christian parents. In all seriousness, how is it possible to observe the priestly vocation from its first beginnings to its full maturity and not see that, although it is principally a gift of God, it still re-quires the generous cooperation of many persons, clerical and lay alike? Since today's civilization has greatly increased among Christians the esteem and desire for the good things of this world, there has arisen in the hearts of many a less-ened esteem for the things which will not perish and which pertain to the realm of the supernatural. Since this is the case, how will it ever happen that many young men will make a rightly motivated decision for the priesthood if in the homes and the schools where they. grow up they hear the praises only of the greatness and the achievements of worldly pursuits? Few, unfortunately, are the Christians who reflect earnestly on the warning of our Savior: "What profit does a man make if he gains the entire world while losing his soul?''1~ In the midst of the delights and the attractions of this world, it is undoubtedly difficult to apply to one's own way of living the words otthe Apostle: "We do not fix our gaze on the things that are seen but on those which are not seen; for the things that are seen last but for a time while those which are not seen are eternal,''16 Moreover, when the Lord Christ summoned His poor fishermen of Galilee, did He not raise their minds to the contemplation and desire of heavenly rewards? When He saw the two brothers Simon and Andrew busy at their fishing, he said to them: "Come after me and I shall make you fishers .of men.''~v Furthermore, when Peter, acting in the name of the rest of the apostles, asked Him what reward Mk 8:36. See 2 Cor 4:18. xTSee Mt 4:19. they would receive for having left all things for His sake, Christ gave them a definite promise: "I assure you that in the new generation when the Son of Man sits on the throne of his majesty you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones to judge the t~4elve ti-ibes of Israel.''~s Accordingly, if boys.and youfig men are to gain and keep an adequate esteem of the priestly life and if their hearts are to have an ardent desire to follow that way of life, it is necessary that an atmosphere conducive to this be created both in the home and in the school. Although only a few of the faithful are called by God to the priesthood ~r to reli-gious life, still all are bound to a life of convinced commit-ment that closely corr.esporids to the norms of supernatural faith,x9 They must, therefore, show the greatest honor and respect for .those who devote their entire lives to their own~ sanctification, the spiritual good of the human race, and the increase of God's glory. It is only m th~s way that the mind of Christ2° will eventually come to permeate the! Christian people and that the number of candidates for the priesthood will have a favorable growth. It is true that the first duty of the faithful withI regard to the increase of the number of priests is prayer to G~d accord-mg to the command of Christ: ~ The harvest xs plentiful, but the workers are few; pray, therefore, to the Lo.rd of the harvest that he send workers into his harvest.''2x F~rom these Words of our divine Redeemer, it is clearly to be Seen that the merciful and sovereignly free will of God is ~o be con-sidered as the primary source from which flows t~e inclina-tion of soul to undertake the sacred ministries. ,It was for this reason that Christ gave the following warn!ng to His apostles: "You have not chosen me but I have chosen you and have appointed yqu to go out and bring f~rth much fruit, and your fruit will endure.''~2 So also St. Piaul, while insisting that the priesthood of Jesus Christ was [greater in dignity than the priesthood of the Old Testament, never-theless taught that every genuine priest depends principally on the divine will, since a priest is constituted by[his nature mediator between God and men: "Every hig~ priest is chosen from among men and represents men in the things which pertain to God . No one takes this honor on him-self but only the one who hke Aaron ~s called ~y lGOd. Much more excellent and much more freely best.owed must we consider the divine vocation to share in the priesthood of Christ, for the same Apostle says: "So also Christ did not raise himself to the dignity of the priesthood., having x8 Mt 19:28. a9 See Heb 10:38. 80 See 1 Cor 2:16. 2x Mt 9:37-8. ~Jn 15:16. 29 Heb 5:1-4. + ÷ + VOLUME 23, 1964 ' Paul REVIEW' FOR RELIGIOUS been perfected, he became the cause of eternal salvation for all those who obey him, having been called by God to be a high priest acco(ding to the order of Melchizedek.''~4 It is with good reason, then, that St. John Chrysostom, when writing of the priesthood, says: "The priesthood is exercised on earth but it rightly belongs to the realm Of heavenly things. For this office was created neither by man nor by angel nor by archangel nor by any created power, but by the Paraclete Himself. He it also is who is the cause why those who are still in the flesh aspire to the ministry of angels."~ It is important, however, to observe that the divine voca-tion to undertake the work of a priest is concerned not only with the candidates' spiritual faculties of intellect and will but also with their sense faculties and with their bodies. This is so in order that the entire person should be fitted for the unde.rtaking of the arduous duties of the sacred ministry. These duties are often joined to hardship; and at times, after the example of Christ the Good Shepherd, they require the laying down of one's life. Boys and youths, therefore, are never to be considered as called by God to the priesthood if, because of insufficient gifts of mind and will or because of innate psychological weakness or bodily defect, they are judged not to be fitted to 9arry out worthily the many duties of that function and to bear up under the burdens of ecclesiastical life. On the contrary, there is a consoling doc-trine in the Angelic Doctor who maintains that what the Apostle said of the first preachers of the Gospel is applicable to every priest. The words of St. Thomas are: "When God chooses persons for some task, He prepares and disposes them in such a way that they are found fitted for that which they are called to do; this is in accord with the statement of 2 Corinthians 3:6: 'He .made us fit ministers of the New Testament.' It is for this reason that parents~ pastors, and all those in-volved in the duty of educating boys and youths must not only create conditions favorable to those who are called to the priesthood and beseech God for the heavenly graces that will increase the number of such; they must also earnestly do what they can to see to it that youths enter a seminary or a religious institute as soon as they clearly manifest and show their real desire to be a priest and their capability for it. Only when this happens will the youths be preserved more securely from worldly attractions and be able to cultivate the seed of their divine vocation in a suitable surrounding. It is then that superiors, spiritual fathers, and teachers--each in his Own way--will begin their work. First of all, they will make a more careful exami- Ibid., 5:5-9. On the Priesthood, bk. 3, n. 4, Patrologiagraeca, v. 48, col. 642. Summa theologiae, 3, q.27, a.4, c. nation of the signs by which it is made apparent that Christ has really chosen these youths as His ministers; secondly, they will help the candidates to the priesthood to make themselves worthy of their lofty task. The educational task to be done in the seminary, directed as it is to the bodily, spiritual, moral, and intellectua~ training of tl~ ~ndidates, is a lofty and a difficult one which is splendidly expressed by the decree of the Council of Trent in these word~: "Nurture them, educate them religiously, and instruct them in ecclesiastical studies.''27 But here there arises a matter of the greatest importance: By what special and indispensable sign is a divine vocation to be recognized? What sign is the principal criterion to be followed in the seminary by those, especially the spiritual director, in charge of educating and training the candidates? Without a doubt this sign is to be found in the candidates' right intention; that is, in the manifest and firm decision by which one earnestly desires to give himself entirely to the divine service. This sign is derived from the prescription of the Council of Trent which decrees that only those youths should be received into a seminary "whose character and will power give hope that they will always be devoted to ecclesiastical service."2s It was for this reason that Our predecessor of happy memory, Pius XI, when he treated of the matter of this right intention in his encyclical Ad catholici sacerdotii, did not hesitate to state: "One who strives for the sacred priesthood for the one noble reason of devoting himself to the divine service and to the salvation of souls and who at the same time has achieved or is in process of achieving a solid spirituality, a tested chastity, and sufficient knowledge---such a one, as is clear, is truly called by God to the priestly ministry.''29 For receiving youths into the seminary, it is sufficient that they show at least the first beginnings of a right intention and of the character required for the priestly role and its duties. But in order that seminarians be rightly promoted to sacred orders and especially to the priesthood, they must give evidence to the bishop or to the religious superior of such maturity in their holy purposes that the latter can come to a certain judgment that before them are persons whom God has chosen.3° From this it follows that an awesome and serious responsi-bility and decision rests on ordinaries since it is their duty to make the final judgment on the indications of divine choice IT Mansi, Amplissiraa Conciliorum collectio, v. 23, p. 147. ~s Conciliorum oecumeni~orum decreta, issued by the Centro di Docu-mentazione, Istituto per le Scienze Religiose (Rome: Herder, 1962), p. 726, 11. 38-9. ~ The encyclical Ad catholici sacerdotii, Acta Apostolicae Sedis, v. 28 (1936), p. 40. 8o See I Sam 16:6. ÷ Semirmries ~OLUME 23, 1964 + ÷ ÷ Paul Vl .REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 266 in the candidates for holy orders and since it is their right to call them to the priesthood and thereby ratify before the Church and bring to an effective termination the divine vocation to the priesthood which had gradually come to full growth in the youthful candidates. This power is indi-cated by the following words of the Catechism of the Council of Trent: "Those are said to be called by God who are called by the legitimate ministers of the Church.''31 In our own time it has been a cause of sorrow to Us that some ministers of the Church have defected from their state; this is a calamity that a stricter carefulness in choosing and training candidates for the priesthood might perhaps have avoided. Hence it is that bishops of dioceses should take this oppor-tunity to weigh in their minds the words of warning directed by St. Paul to Timothy: "Do not hastily impose your hands on anyone and do not be a partner in the sins of others.''32 In the preceding we have briefly recalled what is required in those who are called by divine impulse to the priesthood. This is a clear, ready, and stable decision to take up the sacred ministry based especially on the desire to increase the glory of God and to seek the salvation of one's self, of one's brethren, and of all who have been redeemed by the pre-cious Blood of our Savior. It will not be out of place if We now briefly treat of the things which are useful for a perfect and complete training of candidates for the priesthood. Since these matters are of the utmost importance in the life of the Church, they have been frequently considered by Our predecessors. Itwill be worthwhile here to list their more recent writings even though they are known to all: Plus XI's encyclical Ad catholid sacerdotii;83 Plus XII's apostolic exhor-tation' Menti Nostrae;~4 and John XXIII's encyclical Sacer-dotii Nostrl primordia.~ Moreover, there has been submitted to the Second Vatican Council a constitution entitled The Formation of Seminarians. When this is approved, it will com-plete the berieficial decrees of the Council of Trent and the later prescriptions of the Apostolic See. Beyond any doubt it will give a notable impetus to the work of recruiting candi-dates for the priesthood; but more importantly it will con-tribute to the formation of those candidates by the love and exercise of priestly virtue, by the study of the sacred cere-monies, by intellectual development, and by pastoral train-ing. While the norms on seminaries to be issued by the Council are awaited, We think it a duty of Our supreme office to exhort all those engaged in the training of seminar-ians to give keen consideration to the dangers which can Catechism of the Council o.[ Trent, pt. 3, De Ordine, 3. 1 Tim 5:22. Acta Apostolicae Sedis, v. 28 (1936), pp. 5-53. Acta Apostolicae Sedis, v. 42 (1950), pp. 657-702. Acta A#ostolicae Sedito v. 51 (1959), pp. 545-79. diminish the efficacy of the system of training now used in seminaries; they should likewise consider what matters in the training of seminarians should be given greater care. Just as weeds creep into a field that is exposed to every kind of seed, sb there is a danger which seems to threaten the minds of youth more than formerly; this danger is the desire to censure everyone and to criticize everything. What is even more deplorable is the fact that even the youngest are unwilling to bear any restraint whether from natural law or from civil and ecclesiastical authorities; they accordingly strive for unlimited freedom of action. It is not suprising, then, that since the forces of their character are weakened and their aspirations for the true and the g~od are stifled, their sense faculties, both external and internal, reject the needed control of right reason and good will; for they have cut themselves off from the constant and efficacious power of grace and supernatural virtue. From this it naturally follows that young people frequently permit themselves a way of talking.and acting which is inconsistent With those norms of humility, obedience, modesty, and chastity which befit the dignity of a reasonable creature and aboqe all of a Christian person whose very body has become b~ the aid of heavenly grace a member of Christ and a temple of the Holy Spirit. From these indications of youthful superficiality and lack of self-control, who is not able to foresee that in the future these same young people will demand many rights but accept few obligations? Who does not fear that because of these reasons there will be a decrease in the number.of young men who .knowingly and generously desire the priest-hood? Consequently, everything must be combated which is in opposition to a healthy education of youth especially of those who are called by Christ to continue His work of redemption. But what are the means of achieving this? The principal one is that parents and teachers must strive that their sons and pupils, especially those of the more docile and generous nature that is fitted for the priesthood, should be imbued with humility, obedience, and the desire for prayer and sacrifice. Moreover, it is the duty of seminary superiors and teachers not only to protect and increase in their youthful subjects the virtues that have just been mentioned; they must also take care that as the seminarians progress in age there should appear the other qualities of character that are absolutely necessary for a solid and complete moral forma-tion. Among these qualities the principal ones are the inclina-tion to reflection, right motivation in action, the power to make a free and personal choice of the good and even o.f the better, and personal control of one's will and one's body. This serf-control will enable a person to conquer the ira-÷ ÷ ÷ Seminaries VOLUME 23, 1964 267 ÷ ÷ ÷ Paul VI REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS moderation of self-love, to resist the evil example of others, ~nd to win out over the inclination to evil which arises from human nature with its heritage of original sin or from con-tact with evil human beings or from that malicious and lost spirit who in our times seems to be increasing the fury of his attacks to conquer, if possible, those whom God loves in a special way. With regard to their dealings with their fellow man, those who--with Christ and for Christ--desire to be witnesses before men of the truth of the Gospel which sets men free and saves them,86 should be trained to the desire for truth in word and action; hence they must be trained to the sincerity, honesty, constancy, and loyalty to which St. Paul exhorted his beloved Timothy: "Do not engage in wordy arguments; they achieve nothing except to upset those who are listening. Let your first care be to make yourself acceptable to God as a laborer not ashamed of his work but rightly handling the word of truth.''a~ In order that the personalities of the young be effectively (grrected, that the evil seed of faults and vices be kept out of ~hem, and that the good seed sown in them may grow into health3/trees, it is necessary that due attention be given to. the good qualities which are found in the nature of man so that the work of priestly perfection may rest on the foun-dation of natural virtue. In this donnection the wise words of the Angelic Doctor seem to be especially appropriate: "Since grace does not destroy nature but perfects it, it is necessary that the natural inclination of the intellect should be subject to faith just as the natural inclination of the will is guided by charity.''~8 Still, the good qualities and natural virtues of man are not to be extolled beyond measure as though the true and lasting fruits of apostolic generosity are to be chiefly attrib-uted to human effort. It is also necessary to note that if use is made only of the principles of right reason and of the norms of human knowledge such as those of experimental psy-chology and educational theory, then it will be impossible to educate and form the personalities of youth to the natural virtues of prudence, justice, courage, temperance, modesty, meekness, and the other related virtues. For we are taught by Catholic doctrine that without the healing grace of our Savior no one can keep all the precepts of the natural law and hence cannot attain the possession of perfect and solid virtues.39 From this undeniable principle it follows that in the con-duct of ecclesiastical life it is highly important that human education progress step by step with the education which ~6Jn 18:37; 8132. 2 Tim 2:14-5. Summa theologiae, 1, q. I, a.8, c. s~Summa theologiae, 1-2, q.109, a.4, c. befits the Christian man and the priest in order that the powers of human nature may be enhanced and strengthened by prayer, by the supernatural grace given in the sacraments of penance and of the Eucharist, and by the influence of the supernatural virtues for the.exercise of which the natural virtues serve as a protection and a help. But even this is not enough. As the Apostle warns us, it is also necessary that man's power of intellect and will be subject to the norms of faith and the impulse of charity so that our actions, being performed out of love for our Lord Jesus Christ, may deserve to merit an everlasting reward.4° It is clear that what We have said must be carefully con-sidered by those who are called to be victims of love and obedience with our divine Redeemer for the salvation of mankind and to lead a life of virginal chastity and of external and internal detachment from the passing good~ of this world.In this way their sacred ministry will gain in worth and will become more fruitful. For this reason it will some-day be demanded of them not only to place all their best abilities at the service of their sacred ministry but also to forego even legitimate needs of nature and to endure hard-ship and persecution in order to be faithful and generous in carrying out their share in the role of the Good Shepherd. For it is only right that what St. Paul said of himself should also be said of every faithful minister of Christ: "'To the weak I became weak in order to win the weak; I have be-come ev.erything in turn to men of every kind so that I might save them all. All of this I do for the sake of the gospel that I might bear my share in proclaiming it."4~ This was the way of acting which was observed by the many bishops and priests whom the Church by her canoni-zation of them proposes as examples to all clerics. These, then, are the chief and principal points of training and of ~he spiritual life which outline the important educa-tional work which is entrusted to the superior and the spiritual director of seminaries under the ultimate guidance of the bishop. But added to this must be the conscientious cooperation of the teachers of the various courses who should seek the full development and perfecting of the intellectual powers of the seminarians. From such a cooperative and harmonious endeavor intel-ligently carried out by the superiors and the teachers of a seminary, there will follow the great benefit of a complete education for the seminarians. In this way seminarians will achieve a level of attainment that will not only develop them as human beings and as Christians but specifically as priests who must be completely imbued with the light of revelation, 40See Col 3:17; 1 Cor 13:1-3. 41 1 Cor 9:22-3. ÷ ÷ ÷ VOLUME 23, 1964 ,?.69 Paul VI REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS the special work of which is to see to it that the priest "is a perfect, man of God ready for every good work.''e It is good here to recall the statement of St. John Ghrysostom: "It is necessary that the character of a priest be like the light that brightens the entire world.''~8 With regard to the intellectual attainments of the clergy, there must be had a competent knowledge of languages, especially of Latin particularly in the case of those who be-long to the Latin rite. History, the physical sciences, mathe-matics, gedgraphy, and the arts should be known by clerics to the same extent as they are known by educated persons of the nation in which they live. But the greatest intellectual riches of the priest are to be found in the human and Christian wisdom that results from a solid and clear training in philosophy and theology according to the spirit, doctrine, and principles of St. Thomas and in a careful and complete. accord with divinely revealed truth and the directives of the Church's teaching. Such a training is given or comple-mented by the following subjects: scriptural exegesis accord-ing to the methods and norms of Catholic interpretation, the sacred liturgy, sacred music, canon law, Church history, archaeology, patrology, the history of dogma, ascetical and mystical theology, hagiography, sacred eloquence, the fine arts, and so forth. As the seminarian comes closer to major orders and in the first years after his ordination to the priesthood, emphasis should be placed on that part of theology which is called pastoral. Every care should be taken that he have an ever more active part in the life of his diocese including divine worship, catechetical teaching, and the stimulation and con-tinuance of apostolic work. In this way the future pastor of souls will gradually come to an early knowledge of his role and duties and will be able to equip himself for it in an adequate and fitting way. And in this matter it will be a great advantage to him to. have a knowledge and training in Gregoiian chant and in sacred polyphony. Then he will be able to give all his studies a single purpose and to direct. all his activity to the salvation of souls in the conviction that all his effort Should aim at .the coming of the kingdom of Christ and of God according to the advice of St. Paul: "All things are yours, you are Christ's, and Christ is God's.''~4 The more that the men of today seem to forget that all things belong to God, so much the more must the priest shine forth in the world as "another Christ"and as "a man of God.''~5 Holiness, then, and knowledge must be the marks of the one who is called by God to be the preacher and the minister of the Word of God, the Redeemer of all men. This holiness, Tim 3:17. On the Priesthood, bk. 6, n. 4, Patrologia graeca, v. 48, col. 681. Cot 3:22-3. Tim 6:11. We insist, must be outstanding, excelling that of the laity and of non-clerical religious; for the Angelic Doctor tells us: "If a religious is without orders," then it is clear that the pre-eminence of orders excels, in point of digni~y, because by holy orders a person is deputed for th~ highest service in which Christ Himself is served in the sacrament of the altar.''46 Accordingly, the life of a seminarian must be distinguished by a fervent devotion to the Holy Eucharist since he hopes one day to be the consecrator and the dis-penser of this sacrament. To this devotion to the Body and Blood of Christ it is proper to add the other forms of devo-tion that are especially consonant with it; namely, devotion to the Holy Name of Christ and to His Sacred Heart. As We come to the end of Our exhortation, We wish in a spirit of fatherly charity to extend Our congratulations to all of both clergies whowork zealously and generously for the recruitment and training of candidates for the priesthood. Our special praise goes out to those who perform these duties in regions where there is a serious lack of priests and where those who prepare candidates for the priesthood must undergo great difficulties and frequently expose themselves to danger. We also wish to congratulate those who, following the exhortations and directives of the Sacred Congregation of Seminaries, strive through writing and through meetings to bring the training of seminarians into closer accord with the needs of various times and places and with the progress that has been made in the field of education, while always respecting the purpose and nature of the sacred priesthood. This way of acting is a significant contribution to the welfare and honor of the Church. At last, beloved sons, We come to you who are living in seminaries under the motherly eyes of the Queen of the Apostles as the Apostles themselves once were in the Cenacle. You are diligently preparing yourselves for the reception of a power that exceeds all human measure~the power to consecrate the Body and Blood of Christ and the power to forgive sins. You are likewise preparing yourselves for the Holy Spirit's abundant outpouring of grace which will make you more ready for a worthy performance of "the ministry of reconciliation.''47 To you We repeat the words of the Apostle: "Let each one persevere in the vocation to which he has been called.''4s Those who wish to work for the salvation of men. in closest union with Christ and who wish to win for themselves a shining crown of eternal glory must respond to the divine call with the fullest docility and the most constant Obedience. Have a heartfelt esteem for the marvelous gift of God to 46 Summa theologiae,'2-2, q.184, a.8, c. 472 Cor. 5:18. ~8 1 Cor 7:20. ÷ ÷ ÷ Seminaries VOLUME 23, 1964 you, and from the days of your youth "serve in joy and exultation.''49 Finally, venerable brethren, We exhort you and express to you Our earnest wish that the suggestions We have set down here out of love of the Church be carried out as far as possible by you in your dioceses, in the flocks entrusted to you, and especially among your seminarians. The witness to Our wish will be Our apostolic blessing which We give in a fatherly spirit to each one of you. Given at Rome at St. Peter's on the feast of St. Charles Borromeo, November 4, 1963, the first year of Our pontifi-cate. PAUL VI See Ps 99 "~. ÷ ÷ ÷ Paul Vl REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS V. WALGRAVE, O.P. The Contemplative Vocation of Active Monastic Orders Introduction The* following considerations had their origin not only in a personal facing of the problem but also in numerous conversations with members of other orders. The author has had the opportunity to ascertain that the problem of the so-called "mixed life" is being raised everywhere and in almost identical terms,r Religious everywhere are looking for * This is a translation of a revision of the article, "L'avenir des ordres actifs A base monastique par rapport A leur vocation contempla-tive," which appeared in Supplement de la vie spirituelle, n. 65, May, 1963, pp. 206-33. It" is translated by Cronan Regan, C.P., lector of dogmatic theology, Saint Ann's Monastery; 1239 Saint Ann Street; Scranton, Pennsylvania 18504. 1Throughout this article the reader will meet the expression, "mixed life," in a sense that is not quite universally accepted. Among orders of the modern type, by the term "mixed life" is meant the state of all those who lead an intense life of prayer and meditation which overflows into an apostolic life strictly ~.o-called (that is, the ministry of the word, administration of the sacraments, and so forth), with no concern for the kind of means used to preserve or express the life of prayer. By this notion they intend to align them-selves with St. Thomas. However, the latter does not use the term "mixed life." He even refuses (and in this he differs from the more recent conception) to consider as a third kind of "life" the combination of the contemplative life and the active life. Among the apostolic orders which have a monastic foundation, almost all born during the Middle Ages, the use of the term, which they actually borrow from the school of Suarez, is ordinarily limited to the kind of life proper to them: an apostolic life emanating from a contemplative life which is organized after the fashion of strictly contemplative orders. And, ordinarily, they do not speak of a third life but only of a combination of two lives, contemplative and active, the former being the foundation and principle of the whole. In practice, the expression "mixed life" has fallen into disuse. If we now avail ourselves of this situation to use the term in our own way, and especially in its second meaning, it is only because ofa terminologi- Father V, Wal-grave, O.P., is prior of the Dominican Community at Ter-urenlaan 221; Brus-sels 15, Belgium. VOLUME 23, 1964 273 a clarification of the principles and a sharper understanding of the specific difficulties caused by the changes which the sudden evolution of our divilization has brought about. We should not be surprised that the crisis of growth presently running through the life of the Church is also affecting the old religious orders. In these orders too we witness a groping like that of an army which has' lost its way, which gradually finds itself placed in an entirely strange climate, having to live on a newnourishment, forced to face practical problems heretofore unknown. Thus, the religious orders, and in particular those whose religious life is con-ceived as basically monastic, feel that they are coming to grips with a mentality which, at first sight, appears in-compatible with their way of life. They have experienced the infiltration of ideas conceived in a perspective which is foreign to their traditional thought. They find themselves confronting problems which were undreamed of in their founders' day. History shows us that, in its first phase, the spontaneous reaction to such a sudden transition always has a somewhat incoherent character. Very quickly, under the pressure of the general unrest which flows from it, there comes to the fore a liberty of thought and expression which is often disconcerting but which nevertheless seems indispensable in order to clarify the situation and find once again unity of direction. These few pages claim to be no more than a modest contribution to the common effort of seeking light. Certainly the theme is a delicate one, and normally we would hesitate to treat it in public. But this problem is like many others that concern the intimate life of the Church : in the atmosphere of the Council it has been carried to the forum of the Christian conscience, becoming the object of public debate. At this moment in history, we can no longer permit ourselves the luxury of a discreet treatment of long duration. We have to face it in all liberty and frankness. And our conviction that the orders in question, have an irreplaceable role in the life of the Church compels us to meet this challenge squarely. L We Must Choose ÷ ÷ V. Walgrave, O.P. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 274 It is undeniable that in spite of the strong tradition which has always animated them, most of the old orders practicing the life which we call mixed at present lack confidence in the contemplative aspect of their vocation. Often the con-cM poverty. As a matter of fact, in spite of its insufficiency, we cannot find a better term to designate this very precise reality: the combina-tion of an apostle's life with a monastic type of life. Let us add that we are abstracting, and we do so designedly, from any discussion of the distinction or the relative dignity of the "states of life" which could influence the use of this expression. Hence, we use the term in a strictly pragmatic way. templative practice is so inferior to the formula which the proposed life promises that the need for honesty and authen-ticity, so pressing in our day, demands that we abandon this fundamental inconsistency as soon as possible. These are our. only choices: either return to an apostolic life t~ruly based on a real contemplative life; or renounce, purely and simply, the pretense of leading a mixed life. This latter action implies the abolition of monastic observance. General Conditions Jor Revival If we really choose an integral return to the mixed life, we must first of all, in view .of the present crisis, clarify the situation in the light of the original end of the order as well as in that of the fundamental ideas of the present evolution of civilization. Thus we will be able to cethink and, if neces-sary, to revise the choice of means. The return to the primi-tive ideal aims, first of all, at the major components of the mixed life and the ideal proper to the individual order; only after that, and in a conditional manner, at the particular details and observances. AdaptatiOn to modern conditions has no value in itself. Its influence will be salutary only in so far as it facilitates a return to the authentic ideal of the order and effectiveness in the accomplishment of its specific mission. All this effort of revival will bear fruit only if it is inspired by a lived experience ~f the mixed life end if it is guided by a concern for keeping an effective apostolate united to a contemplative attitude which is more than just theoretical.2 A Specific Vocation One of the reasons why our contemporaries rarely get deeply involved in the mixed life is that they are too little conscious of the important role that the contemplati+e apostle fills in the total picture of the care of souls. This is why the revitalization of this life must be made on the general level of the Church, particularly by revealing it as one of the very first needs of the Christian community. Whereas the members of active orders often carry on their apostolic activity in the concrete context of secular life, prepared to perform within it their important and very specialized tasks, the religious who live the mixed life (while they too are in direct contact with the world about them) have, before all else, the task of drawing the faithful to a 2 By "contemplative attitude" we mean that psychological attitude of complete receptivity to the word of God which the contemplative life (the organization of a well determined life which finds a communal expression in contemplative orders) seeks to guarantee and whose purpose is to open the soul to the graces of prayer. Among these graces we single out contemplation strictly so-called: that prayerful and simplified gaze which rests in the loving contemplation of God through His mysteries and in His works. ÷ ÷ ÷ Active Monastic Orders VOLUME 23, 1964 275 spiritual recollection in the world of faith. By their study, by their apostolate, they are to strive, above all else, to safeguard the gospe! inspiration of the Christian life in all its intensity. By their contemplative spirit they are to radiate in the world an atmosphere ~f spiritual, peace Which allows a man to disengage himself from his extreme activism and the "cult of efficiency" which so often affects religion. Based on a Paradox The mixed life is founded on a paradox. As St. Thomas shows in his Treatise on the States of L~e, it is precisely because of a concern for the apostolic end that one takes care of the contemplative life above all. This means that the community life itself must be conceived of in such a way that the apostle, coming home from a very intense ministry, will return each time into an atmosphefe which easily leads him to dwell in mind and heart in the realities of faith. In addition to the vows of religion, this atmosphere results especially from the following elements: the symbolic and rhythmic expression Of communal prayer, a style of life motivated by the desire of living consciously in the presence of God (that is, religious customs, architecture and decor, ~lothing, and so forth), a horarium dominated by this same concern, continual silence and the practice of private prayer which is not prescribed, exterior and interior distance (relative, it is true) from what is current and passing, a certain austerity of life which tends to free the soul for divine things. In brief, this mixed life involves a measure of monastic life.3 A person can hardly maintain this mixed life and its monastic elements for very long nor live it in a fruitful manner unless he really believes that this formula of life has an immediate practical value. At present it is precisely this belief that is missing. We find a magnificent theory (conteraplari et contemplata aliis tradere), but too often the practice is sterile and without conviction. V. Walgrave, O.P. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS Ambivalence of the Monastic Element Like the vows of religion and the forms of austerity, the different elements of the monastic life reveal an important ambivalence. Choral prayer, strict silence, a symbolic style of expression, and so on contribute to the flowering of the Christian life and the apostolate only to the degree that they 3 The expression "monastic life" is taken here in the broad sense. That is to say, it does not refer exclusively to monks strictly so-called but to all religious who have in common with them their traditional forms of life, such as we have just enumerated. In this sense one can say that the canons regular and the members of the so-called mendicant orders lead a monastic life, though simplified. However, apart from the Carmelites and in some degree the Hermits of St. Augustine also, none of these orders is really born from monasticism. have been assimilated in a spirit of humble love, completely free from any naturalistic compromise. If observed only in their externals and without a respectful submission, they will hinder spiritual development. On the other hand, a fidelity that is egocentric and perfectionist will seriously threaten the authenticity of this spiritual development and, at the same time, the psychic balance of the person. In each of these cases, the practice of the mixed life will be really disadvantageous to the apostolate: it will limit its quantity without increasing its value. Consequently, we should not be surprised if, in our day, we often find that the renunciation of the effective practice of the mixed life and of the practices of austerity which it implies renders the spiritual life more vibrant and the apostolate more fruitful. But the cause of the spiritual slackening which was experienced earlier is to be found not in the monastic life as such but in the way in which it was undertaken, in the lack of receptivity and of humble respect for those things that are ritual or for observance. Ambivalence of the Apostolic Element A similar ambivalence affects the apostolate with regard to its bearing on the contemplative life, If the apostolate of a religious is animated primarily by his need for activity and personal fulfillment .or if it is dictated almost wholly by a secular messianism (whether or not associated with Christian dogma), it will inevitably end by making his return to the monastic atmosphere unbearable. On the contrary, any apostolate worthy of the name will ultimately lead the soul of the apostle into intimacy with God. His return to the monastery will be experienced as a return into a world conformed to his proper state of soul, and hence as a refreshment. It is understandable that at the same time as the mixed orders are searching for a new equilibrium within a civiliza-tion which has profoundly changed, the superiors are particularly concerned with safeguarding the atmosphere of the monastery and the recollection of the religious from an unbridled activism. But the fear of a committed and intense apostolate indicates just as basic a misunde~:standing of the mixed life. For it is an oversimplification to consider that those religious who very rarely leave the confines of their cloister are better religious. If the religious return spiritually weakened by their contact with the world, it means that their formation in the life of prayer and monastic practice was miscarried. This unfortunate development explains a good number of conflicts which find the superior, who is concerned with guaranteeing the authenticity of the conventual life, in opposition to religious who are animated with a sincere apostolic zeal. 4- 4- 4- Active Monastic Orders VOLUME 23, 1964 ÷ ÷ V. Walgrove, O.P. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 278 The Monastic Renaissance osf the Nineteenth Century We cannot understand the roots, of the present crisis unless we consider the renaissance of monastic life in the last centm'y. Indeed, it is in studying the nineteenth centu.ry that one finds that the causes we have just enumerated are already at work. An egocentric and subjective sensibility inherited from the. proud humanism of the l~enaissance continued to determine the cultural climate of this century. Even the monks, in spite of ~he thoroughly dogmatic em-phasis which characterizes their liturgical piety, in .spite of their expressed desire to deliver themse!ves unreservedly to the influences of grace, were not able sufficiently to avoid being contaminated by this tendency toward serf-fulfill-ment-- ordinarily, of course, under the form of a religious perfectionism. Now, an egocentricity of self-fulfillment easily leads to a fundamental cleavage in the way we experience reality: on the one hand there is an exclusively rational and artificial taking over of elements that can hardly succeed in giving flesh to the original vital movement; and on the other hand there is a pampered sentimentalism (?eligious romanti-cism!) which keeps affectivity and feeling from really becoming interior and personal. It follows from all this. that the religious orientation' was able only feebly to express itself in the symbolic language of the monastic structure, Also, the combination of a cult of the medieval past with the perfectionism already mentioned led the restoration to embrace the conventual observances of the preceding periods in a manner that was too rigid. Hence, despite the Christian grandeur of the renewal of the old orders, despite the holiness and magnanimity of the restorers, the latter were not able to prevent the slide towards a practice of monastic prescriptions that was too little authentic, and hence formalistic. One became very "observant," but rarely contemplative. Distance from the world brought with it an apostolic absence from the world. And, .alongside a way of life that was obviously severe there was often pro-vision for a number of bourgeois satisfactions. In these conditions, it is understandable that sometimes fidelity to the constitutions had already been very hesitant and defective.This would be the case especially in the outlying provinces or among peoples whose thinking lends itself less readily to formalism or to an ideal tinged with romanticism and conceived apart from real needs. This artificiality will have as its consequence that at a given moment many elements of monastic life, and even the very ideal of it, will be experienced as alien elements, as con-tinually burdensome. A crisis manifests itself, one that brings the very existence of the order itseff into question. The Contemporary Reaction The reaction against the exaggerations and illusions of this preceding period, has led us. to an ambiguous position, one from which we must ha~en to free ourselves. The resolute character of this 'reaction is explained by the fact that it is the fruit of a real life experience. This is the case not only among the young who, because of the coinci-deiace of several factors, have never had the opportunity of identifying themselves very deeply with the traditional observances but also among a number of older men who are still conscious of that period when traditions were. never questioned in a critical manner. Indeed, among the spokes-men for the "modernizing" trend we find some religious who were first generously engaged in the way of the "strict .observance." But, not having been able to escape from the influence of a climate of observance which is perfectionist and consequently formalistic, they have experienced in themselves all the narrow-mindedness and all the danger of lack of balance that this sort of thing can bring with it. In the end, it is the desire for a truer Christianity and a freer apostolic spirit which leads them to reject expressly several elements which .are indispensable to a contemplative way of life. But, what is more important, this same trend has plainly been influenced by deviations characteristic of our age: whereas formerly the temper of the age affected religious life only in an unconscious or unacknowledged way, the contemporary generation tends consciously to identify itself with modern aspirations, espousing them even in those things which are incompatible and unassimilable from the religious point of view. Thus, in appealing to the essential (the end), to the functional (the means), and to the authentic (the intention), it turns back on the recent past as ,bearing in itself the proof of the ineffectiveness, religious or apostolic, of much of the traditional "media" of the mixed life, How-ever, this generation does not note that the partial failure of the restoration is bound up with the precise fact that there was too much of a concession to the unrecognized influence of those same too-human evaluations which, in our day, are drivingus to eliminate essential elements of the mixed life. (It is true that since then important changes have been produced in western humanism: thus communal anthropocentrism has replaced individualistic anthro-pocentrism.) The conditioning of a person by the temper of his age leads to another regrettable consequence: that is, an inability to be mov(d by strictly ~eligious values and to be resonant to their proper modes of expression. This phenomenon springs in part from a too earthbound humanism, with which so many persons who desire to belong to God are ÷ ÷ ÷ Active Monastic Orders VOLUME 23, 1964 279 imbued--at least on the level of their automatic and un-controlled keactions. On the level of affectivity, these persons are in a "closed" situation which, in great part, paralyzes in advance every self-offering movement towards the trans-cendent world of the divine and, by the same token, all commitment. A Contemplative Renewal? For some time now a general trend in favor of the con-templative spirit and life has manifested itself almost all over the world. Not on!y do the multiplication of contempla-tive monasteries (especially in countries which are better off materially) or the monastic revival which is springing up in every diverse Protestant milieu bear witness to this, but also the ever increasing number of studies on the subject :. biblical, historical, and theological studies which treat especially the .essence of the religious life, the original con-ception of monastic life, and its function in the ChmZch. + 4- 4- V. Walgrave, O.P. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 280 After the Wave of "Liberation" It is true that up to now a general movement of liberation and of return to authenticity dominates the forward moving wing of the Church to the practical exclusion of every other consideration. It is true that this same movement very much holds the attention of the old orders, which are also preoc-cupied with freeing themselves from all formalism and with not living shut up within themselves. But, once this move-ment has achieved a certain level of maturity, the contem-plative or mixed life will very quickly appear to the Christian elite as an ecclesial task of the.highest importance, In fact, when one stops to consider the very secular perspective in which a number of Christians grasp the great ideas of our epoch (such as: authenticity of life, the reasser-tion of effective values, the communal ideal, "cosmic prog-ress"), we must indeed conclude that rarely before in history has it been so necessary to reaffirm the transcendence of the divine and the folly of the cross. Indeed, it is only in the light of these fundamental truths that we can integrate those modern values with the work of redemption. That is to say that at the very center of Christianity we must encounter men who are manifestly living in the grip of God's reality-- contemplatives. II. Primordial Condition: Grasp the Ideal Later on we will treat some of the methods of self-ap-praisal that have become indispensable for a proper func-tioning of the mixed life. But these subjective means have value only to the extent that they can assure a free flowing of the mystical springs of the religious life, that they can help us realize the primordial condition: a firm grasp of the ideal. What good is it to free the gaze of the heart if it lack a world vision, a great cause capable of raising us beyond our limitations? Indeed, such a vision must become, so to speak, a part of one's psychological structure in such a way that it shapes and gives direction to all of a person's spon-taneous reactions. We are thus led to present two theses: 1. The regenerative role of theology. This global vision which absorbs our attention ever more and more will direct our gaze first of all to the reality of God our Creator and Savior. That is to say, the religious will be penetrated by a theologi-cal total view of the meaning and structure of the Christian life. In it will be integrated the results of the biblical, his-torical, and speculative researches that recent generations have produced. We are convinced, furthermore, that this consciousness of the worth and requirements of the mixed life will emerge only in the framework of a renewed theologi-cal perspective. Hence, a theological emphasis must be present in our religious formation and in our religious consciousness. This dimension must be given in a way adapted to the subject from the very beginning of religious life. 2. Continuity with thefou~nder. The particular order to which a person belongs must be understood in this same global perspective. In spite of its obsession with progress and its constant preoccupation with the future, our own age loves to search history. In view of this, the young ought to be presented with the origins of their order, with the master ideas which, from the beginning, have established its voca-tion in the Church and which are expressed in a certain number of its traditional elements. Thanks to this confronta-tion with living history, the master ideas will come through in their vision of the future as a truly contemporary call. Revision of Observances: Return to the Sources or Adaptation? The return to the sources of the mixed life implies a reflection on the profound meaning of usages and customs, of different forms of traditional expression. An eventual reworking will be constructive only if the following conditions are observed : a) One must know how to distinguish judiciously between the difficulty of application stemming from the fact that a prescription takes its obvious meaning from circumstances that are strictly historical and that no longer obtain, and the difficulty which originates either in the passing insuffi-ciencies of modern man himself or in the present make-up of the order, province, or abbey. In this last case, the question to be asked is not, "How can we modify this prescription? What is there which the present group is right now capable of assimilating?" It is rather, "How can we get candidates better adapted; how can we form the members of the order 4- 4- OArcdti~veers Monastic VOLUME 2~, 1964 28! V. Walg~ave, O.P. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 282 to understand customs of this nature and to have the spir-itual attitude which corresponds to them?" b) The second condition is that the judgment must pro-ceed not only from an historical or psychological knowledge of the factors in question but also from a lived experience of the mixed life that is penetrated with a concern to safe-guard it. This experience can be incomplete on the active side as well as on the contemplative side. In fact, the judg-ment on an aspect of the mixed life can be just as much falsified by an exclusive preference for the elements of the monastic life as by a one-sided orientation towards activity. Once these principles are applied, however numerous the modifications proposed, even if they eliminate some usage dear to traditionalist sentiment, they will not cause any injury to the order as such. Rather, the result will be just the opposite since these changes will be inspired by a sense of the specific purpose of the order and a concern for apos-tolic or monastic effectiveness. As long as these two conditions are not met with, one will argue off the point and will judge to be outmoded or ineffective that which really corresponds with an eternal need of the contemplative soul. This mistake at present threatens in a most serious way the right evolution of several orders with a monastic foundation. Biblical Existence and Monastic Life Among the elements of spirituality which attract the attention of modern man in a special way, corresponding as it does to his own temperament, there is none able to exercise as favorable an influence on the contemplative. renewal as the tendency towards an "existential" attitude conceived within the biblical perspective. Understood in a superficial way, this attitude could easily lead to a militant anti-formalism or to an opposition to every kind of norm or usage imposed in common. Taken in its real meaning (that is, conceiving the order of nature as well as that of revelation as an historic action of the living God who calls me to respond), the biblical attitude of dialogud favors the total absorption of the soul by a personal God, by the living Christ. This personalization of attention and intention signifies at the same time the personalization of the monastic life, of recollection, and of asceticism, constituting by that very fact the best remedy against the subjectivism of every kind which has brought so much harm to the spiritual development of religious milieux. Liturgical Requirements The second element of modern spirituality which brings the contemplative attitude closer to us is the liturgical renewal. The "existential" encounter with the redeeming God is achieved in the liturgy. Now, the contemplative community presents itself as a liturgical community par excellence. The monastic life asks to be nothing else but a continuation of the liturgical action which embraces the whole of life, just as the conventual day should live by the ideas and sentiments brought to it by the Divine Office. It follows that the liturgical~ renewal presently taking place will be decisive in great part for the monastic renewal which is manifesting itself in the old orders. It is, then, of the utmost importance that the liturgy be able to present itself to the religious in a form apt to be lived by them in a personal way. To attain this end it is necessary: (a) that the work of accommodating ceremonial on certain points continue judiciously; (b) that the Breviary be thoroughly revised with an eye to increasing the directly religious value of the texts (that is, Lessons, choice of Psalms and Canticles) ; (c) that, with regard to the Psalms to be recited, we come up with, finally and' in spite of everything, a version that is at once faithful and drawn up in a simple and rhythmic Latin, the Latin of the fathers. Finally, we think it is probable that in order to assure the pastoral efficacy of the choral Office (in mixed orders) it will be necessary one day to adapt part of the Office so as to permit the faithful to participate in it in a direct manner. The "Conventual Brotherhood" As a third element of the contemporary renewal whose conscious engrafting will be of decisive import for the future of that religious life which has a monastic foundation we propose the reinvigoration of the dimension of community. The monastery constitutes par excellence a "brother-hood" united by the bond of charity. The sense of "brother-hood" is the more necessary according as the life of the members is lived in greater silence and solitude. It is a fact that the subjectivism of times past has led us to an individu-alism in thought and feeling so as greatly to diminish aware-ness of the normal connotation of this brotherhood. Also, a stern perfectionism often favored an affective harshness which stripped the common life of its note of spontaneity and cheerfulness. The present reaction against this climate of spiritual individualism is animated, no doubt, by a need for affective liberation. But it borrows its significance above all from the profound need of "socialization" that marks modern man. He wants to live his vocation and fulfill his primary tasks with his brethren beside him in a communion that is really experienced. Of course there are risks. A superficial conception can lead to an absolute "horizontalism," to the detriment of every purely religious value lived prior to the encounter with one's neighbor: a life of adoration and sacrifice lived in silence and solitude. At the same time it can endanger the ÷ ÷ ÷ Active Monastic Orders VOLUME 23, 1964 283 4. ÷ 4. V. Walgrave, O.P. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 284 original meaning of the vows of religion, especially that of obedience. But, understood as it ought to be, this re,empha-sis of fraternal charity w!ll provide a guarantee of authen-ticity for our personal relations with God. Besides, it will favor a conception of the vows that is more complete, more in conformity with the full intention of the counsels of Christ as we find them in the Gospel. The re-enrichment of the vows of religion with a communitarian dimension is an urgent matter. Authority and the Attitude oAr Dialogue Among the direct consequences of accenting the social dimension, a more communitarian exercise of authority should especially be mentioned. This exercise will be based on an attitude of dialogue, a prolongation of that attitude adopted toward God. The conventual "brotherhood" constitutes at the same time a community of endeavor, united especially in a com-mon prayer and work. The superior is above all the repre-sentative of the common ideal of service of God, as the members have freely chosen it and to which they have bound themselves unconditionally. If the religious has bound himself by his profession to a total obedience to the "orders of his superior, this in no wise diminishes the supe-rior's duty of safeguarding and promoting the communal character of the religious undertaking. Thanks to the social orientation of our age, it has become possible to improve yet more the communal dimension of the regime of obedience. This improvement implies, first of all, a more personalized acceptance of the subject just as he is, in a spirit of under-standing and respect, allowing him to express his point of view frankly. This acceptance will correspond moreover to the present tendency of the young to show their superiors a greater openness of soul and a more filial confidence. Secondly, the evolution we have noted will require opportunities for an exchange of ideas on the level of the group as such in preparation for the making of decisions. Whereas up to now authority has ordinarily confined itself to imposing or determining a multitude of individual tasks as though from the outside, it now tends more and more to become the directing principle of a common task, supported by a common thought and activity. The sense of initiative is seeking to find its place in the life of the group as such. This new orientation is fitted to purify the exercise of authority from every egocentric identification of the person of the superior with his power--though it be often uncon-scious. In consequence it will make obedience easier and more authentic, immunizing it from the spirit of servility or shabby calculation. The unavoidable transition in which we are engaged will be favorable to religious renewal only in so far as the superiors do not give in to the current of a false democrati-zation or of a leveling of the transcendent character of authority and its appropriate expressions. The just mean is the more difficult to find as the problem is rather new. There is the risk of improvising, of going beyond that which is compatible with the rule of religious 01~'edidnce: "as a democratic equality in accordance with which a subject would discuss a matter with his superior until they arrive at a solution pleasing to.them both.''4 But, besides that, an even more fundamental condition is only rarely fulfilled. Dialogue within the framework of religious obedience pre-supposes as a common basis for exchanges of opinion a com-mon conception of the ideal and of its elementary require-ments. Now it must be admitted that in active orders that have a monastic foundation this unity of conception is lacking2 The superior who is desirous of preserving essential traditions in the face of changes that are imposed and enters onto the path of dialogue quickly finds himself confronted with an impossible task: he must raise the discussion of a number of delicate questions concerning the religious life which are, .for the most part, based upon a lack of under-standing of the contemplative element and its monastic expressions. Since these problems are very complicated and since there is generally a lack of a clear and firm interven-tion on the part of the legislator and the major superiors, l~e quickly finds himself compelled to be content with a more traditional exercise of power, thus increasing the unrest of his subordinates. From all this, two points clearly emerge: (I) in general, the coincidence of the crisis of the mixed life with the break-through of the spirit of dialogue has much to do with the precipitancy with which the dismantling of the contempla-tive and monastic regimes is being accomplished in the orders in question; (2) the reassuring or reform of this regime must begin with a renewed insight into the very idea of the mixed life and a renewed recognition of the internal coher-ence of its essential elements. In Quest of Evangelical Poverty The renewal of the mixed life is inconceivable without a rediscovery of poverty. This is the case primarily because the contemplative attitude is essentially oblative, and thus it is in contradiction to our possessive instincts. The purifica-tion of these instincts presupposes a detachment which is not simply one in principIe but one that is sensibly felt. The problem becomes especially disturbing when we view it from the ecclesial angle. Our witness to God's tran-scendence loses a great deal of its force as long as we do not 4 Plus XII, Altocution to 30th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus, September 10, 1957, The Pope Speaks, v. 4 (1957-1958), p. 449. ÷ ÷ ÷ Active Monastic Orders VOLUME 2~, 1964 285 ÷ ÷ ÷ V. Walgrave, o.P. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 286 clearly appear freed from the tyranny of material wants and the cult of security which characterizes our age. Our better Christians sense this connection vividly, If they suffer from their submersion in material needs, it is often because they recognize therein a lack of faith in God and in the message of Christ. And it is in vain that they seek in us, through our effective detachment, an indisputable expres-sion of this faith. The question is urgent: how can we conceive for religious life an expression of evangelical poverty that is appropriate for our age? How can a real sense of Christian risk be joined with the functional realism we must have? This inquiry, and it is becoming more and more lively, will not cease until the adequate answer has been fofind. Finally, we cannot close our eyes to the destructive misery of the underdeveloped world which is aggravated in propor-tion to the development of our wealth. In our era, when man's awareness has acquired a "planetary" dimension, the desire to live in conformity with the poor and suffering Christ--an essential trait of religious life--seeks inevitably to incarnate itself in a style of life which, by solidarity with His disinherited brethren, leaves flatly behind the arrogant abundance which surrounds us on all sides. Remoteness from the World Among the modern currents Which have a rather negative signification for the mixed life, special mention should be given to the tendency to exteriorization and immersion in contemporary affairs. Now, ih an apostolic community with a contemplative foundation, one must always maintain, in spite of the lively attention he gives to the evolution of this world, a relative, but quite apparent, distance .from things of present interest. This distance finds expression in the cloister, a material and spiritual partition which moderates com-munication with the world outside. For the moment, the preoccupation with an apostolate adapted to the style and rhythm of our civilization tends to neutralize completely this function of the cloister. The principal objection to the traditional viewpoint is that the modern apostle must keep up with the political, social, and cultural events of the day, just as his hearers do, by the many means of communication: radio, television, films, magazines, and so on. Such a conclusion is precipitate and rests upon a funda-mental confusion. The unlimited multiplication of contacts with present-day happenings is not the means that will bring us an understanding of modern man. By modelling our life on that of a Christian in the world, by introducing the mass media of communication indiscriminately as habitual elements in our life, we destroy that very perspec-tive which is so important for judging the true direction of current events. Moreover, we make too difficult the attitude of recollection and searching for God; and this is the very raison d'etre of the whole monastic apparatus. Nor should one imagine that intensive contact with the world will favor the efficacy of. our specific, mission. For the word which takes its il~sp~ration from this'contact only rarely communicates the Gospel message to the deepest aspirations of the modern soul. The resulting presentation may indeed be more "striking," but it will always be too facile as well. The primary conditions for a true understanding of and fruitful approach to modern society are of quite a different nature. What we must have are, first of all, a knowledge of human nature, just that, acquired through a humble self-knowledge as well a~ by other means; an authentic esteem for earthly values which will permit us to be in empathy (free from all religious smugness) with the man of-today as he is; and an extensive understanding bf the formation of contemporary civilization and its in.n.er logic. However, along with all this it would be highly desirable not only to initiate the young religious methodically into the world that the communications media evoke but also-- parallel to what will be said on the matter of formation for the mixed life--to arrange intensive contacts with certain representative milieux of present-day society. Thus, the approach to the modern world will be prepared not by a process of lowering the plane of conventual life to the level of the world but by a better general formation and a conscious and well-guided initiation. Reinvigoration of Monastic Initiation If the mixed life is to be more than a formula and if the contemplative element is to maintain its elementary solidity at the heart of the .apostolic life, a solid initiation to the monastic manner of living has to be provided. Among other things, such an initiation will demand: a) That young religious be taught to avoid all confusion between end and means, between .the essential and the accidental. Let us add that the "functional" or practical mentality, which is characteristic of the new generation, will for its part be able to exert a tonic influence on the spirit which animates observance and worship, b) That the young also be taught to respect the necessity of using means as well as their proper finality and to be attentive to details. This attitude presupposes, first of all, an understanding of different observances and forms of expression; more than ever before it must be shown (in a solid and carefully studied way) how these different practices correspond on the one hand to what is eternal in the needs of man and on the other to what is of positive value in modern aspirations. Further-more, it presupposes an awareness that the assimilation of ÷ ÷ ÷ Active Monastic Orders VOLUME 23, 1964 + ÷ V. Walgrave, O.P. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 988 rites and observances, of chant and psaimody demand-_ - precise knowledge of various details and an unreserve~l commitment to their practice just as mastering a modern technique does;in fact, in both cases it is "virtuosity" which will permit a person to handle the "technical" means in a way so fluent that his mind, freed by this from all serf-conscious hesitation, will easily be able to turn toward the essential (in the case that concerns us: to aim at spiritual realities through the external "media," to integrate these "media" ever more and more into the spiritual movement of the soul towards God). This line of thinking leads us to formulate two theses in a more explicit manner, which once admitted will profoundly modify the pedagogical perspec-tive of the old orders. Integration of Personal Self-Awareness Very often the old orders consider it an element of their ascetical excellence that,, simply by the fact of their com-munal liturgical and monastic framework, they lead their members to an attitude of religious "objectivity," permitting them to go beyond a subjectivist self-awareness. It would be enough to hand oneself over unreservedly to this framework. This optimistic point of view seems to us completely outmoded in view of the psychological evolution that .is presently at work in mankind. With Rfgamey we posit the thesis that, for the self-aware type of person which modern man often is, a return to a "naive" attitude before the invitation of the transcendent is no longer possible. It is hardly a matter of adopting an attitude of pure objectivity and simply leaving the subjective aside. Many times one can conquer subjectivism only by going to the end of the road of self-awareness. III. Psychological Methods It follows that the renewal of the contemplative and mixed life---forms of life which, more than any other, require an objective attitude of soul--will be greatly assisted by in-troducing modern psychological methods in the formation and direction of the individual as well as in group work both within and outside the monastery.5 It is a question here of methods, basically very simple and human, which are more and more leaving their mark on the dynamic structure of the new society: methods of adapting to the social milieu and the mechanical aspects of our civili-zation, methods of individual and public relations, and so on, The younger generation accepts this very readily, moved as it is by that realism which accepts the complexity of 5 To avoid any confusion, let us say in advance that by the term "psychological method" and others like it we never envision psycho-analysis, which will always be a matter for specialists and which should be used with the greatest prudence. psychological facts, even blazing a trail through this como plexity to a new kind of simplicity, a simplicity that is arrived at by conscious, technical analysis. When secular businesses and organizations are profiting extensively and in a very concrete way from these multiple insights into the nature of maii~ it is unthinkable that we who are engaged in an enterprise much more important should neglect appealing to these same means--and that sometimes for lack of simplicity. For a Better Self-Knowledge As a first result of adopting modern psychological meth-ods, we would mention a Serf-knowledge that is more pro-found and better assimilated. In fact, contemporary psy-chology offers us an analgsi~s of the very depths bf the soul, that is to say, of those unconscious or barely conscious motivations which determine the. worth of a subject's involvement in an ideal. It makes us see the different types or psychological structures which can result from these motivations, the direction that the person's evolution receives from them, and the symptoms whose recognition will permit us to adjust these structures. The initiation into this "motivational" knowledge of oneself presupposes the' elaboration, based on what is called depth psychology, first, of a typology of the motiva-tion which dominates the commitment in question (here, in religious life), and secondly, of a method of individual formation with a view to acquiring a like serf-knowledge. This kind of self-knowledge will make it possible for the reflexive man to rediscover the attitude of spirit, feeling, and body that is called "objective." This attitude will mean for him a psychological facility in leaving the self behind and so arriving at a truly contemplative orientation. Psychosomatic Problems and the Contemplative Attitude Modern psychology has also served to draw our attention to the meaning of a certain number of psychosomatic phenomena.We have not hitherto taken sufficiently into account the fact that they are the symptoms of a psychic (if not moral) selfishness and that they also constitute a serious obstacle to the normal development of the contem-plative attitude and, consequently, of the apostolate it ought to inspire. Of these we may mention: general unrest of mind and body, an always hasty manner of acting, a yen for activity and change, impatience, certain forms of ennui-- understanding each of these traits as a permanent disposition which clearly dominates the psychological make-up of the subject. Indeed, the psychosomatic disturbances in question will often be largely the effect of contamination by the modern ÷ ÷ ÷ Active Monastic Orders VOLUME 23~ 1964 289 ÷ ÷ V. Walgrave, O.P. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 290 environment. But the mentality and patterns thus trans-mitted grat't themselves very naturally onto the seN-centered elements we always have within us. It is from these thht they receive their stability, while keeping their own form of expression. Hence, to avoid these disturbances or to prevent their growth, we must, before all else, call upon this self-knowl-edge which we have just sketched. The lived discovery of their ~elf-centered roots and the humble acknowledgment of the voluntary element which can be mixed in there will be decisive in the transformation of the personality in depth. In the second place (and only in the second place), there is the question of influencing the psychosomatic dynamism by methods which approach it directly on its own ground. The modern world, suffering so much from nervous over-stimulation, appears to be turning more and more toward a number of related techniques (Zen Buddhism, Yoga, etc.), seeking there, in an atmosphere of quasi-religion and mysticism, for definitive deliverance from its anguish. Everywhere one comes across religious who are seeking in some of these means a tonic for personal dynamism. It remains to be seen how far these techniques will be useful in the spiritual ascent of the Christian--the authentic fruit of grace. Classic Laws o3r Spiritual Evolution The renewal of methods of formation and direction should be accompanied by a restoration of the classic doctrine of the fundamental laws that govern the evolution of the interior life. At present, this doctrine is neglected almost everywhere or-is even unknown. The teachings of a Saint Thomas Aquinas or a Saint John of the Cross on this subject would seem to most people to be of little more than theoretical interest, treating of things which undoubtedly happen somewhere in the Church but which it would be dangerous to try to situate in our everyday lives. Now, it is necessary to bring clearly to. the fore the truth 'that the laws in question' truly dominate the evolution, the success or failure, of life in religion. Monastic life is only a .particular area of application of this same process of as-similation. This means that, just as it is true of the life of prayer in general, so also the regimen of monastic observ-ances and the following of the evangelical counsels can obtain value as an authentically religious expression only through a period of aridity and trial during which a humble perseverance assures us of the purification of our profound automatic responses and desires. Without passing that way, one cannot judge the Christian value of the elements which make up this life. Where, for example~and it is so often the case~monastic prescriptions are assumed only as a social arrangement that is the obiect of a critical regard or a playful benevolence, then they will become in fact, and very quickly; a useless piece of baggage. "Inevitable Crises Sincere personal ihvolvement' in the religiogs life and its process of evolution will inevitably lead a person through one or several cri~es of alienation and interior solitude. In fact, life in a re.ligious house, above all where that life is fundamentally monastic,'makes us enter upon a Christian perspective that is very clear, even radical. Everything there expresses the Christian'.s conversion to God. Intimate identification.with its specific forms of expression obliges us to a theocentric rearrangement of our spontaneous judg-ments, to a conscious revision of our earthly and culpable self-centeredness, a real "metanoia" of soul. This transition involves a man in a kind of migration. For, while advancing into this new country, we are leaving to that extent an old land so close to our heart. The feelings of strangeness and loneliness are only the expression on a psychological level of this spiritual exodus of the soul. "The resoluteness and perseverance with which we go through these often difficult periods express in a normal way the Christian commitment which inspires our presence in the religious house. Thus it is evident that these difficult passages are of extreme importance. Often, unfortunately, spiritual di-rectors seek only to "cover up" these crises, preoccupied as they are with avoiding all discouragement or nervous tension. Now, it is only by penetrating and making one's own the inner meaning of this situation while carrying on a dialogue of love with God that one will come to the point of a definitive entry onto the path of religious or monastic life. Only in this way can the nearness of God and the symbolic world of the religious house (above all, if it be basically contemplative) become for this person a place where he is truly at home. This means that the spiritual attitudes which correspond connaturally to this milieu have drawn to themselves and thoroughly assimilated the pro-fotind forces of our spontaneity. Formation to the Mixed Life It is characteristic of the mixed life, as we have said, that the apostolate, the end of the order, is intimately bound up with the contemplative form of life. Evidently, the harmoni-zation of these two attitudes, contemplative and active, is not easy for anyone. From the viewpoint of formation, it requires not only a preparation for a contemplative attitude (all the more explicit as it will have to be able to witl~stand the skirmishes and shocks of an intense activity) but also a formation to the mixed life as such. This seems to us to imply that the young religious be given + + + Active Monastic VOLUME 23, 1964 291 V. Walgrave, O.P. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS brief and well-defined apostolic tasks even .before the end of ¯ their theoretical education. This formation should be completed later, during the first period of the apostolate, by a kind of guidance not unlike the "supervision" used in the formation of social workers. It will be aimed not only at the strictly technical aspects of the apostolate and its religious efficacy in souls but also fat the personal problems posed by the attempt to reconcile action with the requirements of the contemplative life. The method of "supervision" is basically simple and .natural, but it requires a technical preparation. Its practice takes much time, requires great effort and a perfectly com-mitted interest on the part of the '~supervisor," Let us repeat here that the functional simplicity which it supposes cor-responds perfectly to the spiritual .orientation of the new generation. Taking into account the daring nature of the enterprise, one might finally ask if the formation to the mixed life, in order to be sufficiently efficacious, ought not to be completed near the end of the first active period (33-35 years of age?) by a return of several months duration to a way of life more " clearly contemplative. This period of "retreat" would per-mit a reappraisal in depth of the genekal direction that one has taken in his life as well as of the various notions that have been the basis of his spontaneous action. In this way could be prevented certain fixations in the realm of our judgments and inner attitudes which often seriously hinder the progress of the soul as well as the fruitfulness of the apostolate. Besides, this period.would make available the time necessary to fill up those gaps in one's knowledge (Sacred Scripture, dogma, or moral) theology which he has felt to exist during the course of his ministry. In general, when in the milieu of the ancient orders such an idea is easily rejected, this is not because (as is usually pretended) a return to an intensified recollection would be something superfluous for us who lead a partly contempla-tive life. On the contrary, if the very idea of such a return is enough to cause an unpleasant chili (another novitiate D, it is because we have never deeply assimilated the con-templative part of our life. Another indication of this situation can be seen in the many mitigations made for some time now in the arrange-ment of the annual retreat. It is true that these mitigations often increase the spiritual yield of the retreat. But this comes simply from the fact that the subject himself has become incapable of giving himself profoundly to a.re°re exacting regimen. Such a program represents an ideal from which he feels too far removed and in which he hardly believes any more. His need for authenticity impels him to reject it. IV. True Religious Houses If an order of mixed life is to be able to live up to its vocation, it is necessary that the majority of its members really participate in this type of life by residing in a "nor-mal" religious house; that.is to say one in which,the monastic prescriptions of the particular order are honored. In many countries the number of these houses is limited to the houses 'of formation. This amounts to saying that in practic~e the "mixed life" is conceived of in two successive stages: a contemplative regime, preparing for a life that is merely active. Even more complicated is the question of determining how large a house should be in Order that'it can provide the minimum requisite for monastic life and atmosphere while at the same time giving its members the freedom necessary for an active ministry. This will depend very much on the general conception of the particular order: 1. In an order whose tradition has always placed the accent upon a retired life in a strongly contemplative environment and that has conformed its methods of aposto-late to that, the number could be smaller than in another which conceives of its apostolate as a vanguard dialogue with the world on the mov, e. 2. In a mixed order where the contemplative life is founded moreover on the communal framework of choral office and monastic observances (such are the orders that are heirs of the canons), it would be very difficult to preserve its proper life without a system of large religious houses (about twenty persons in the Case of a very active order). The Choice o j: Tasks For the mixed life to be the rule rather than the exception, it will be necessary clearly to distinguish between the tasks that are reconcilable with this life and those which are not, whether by their nature or in the conditions of their exercise. In general, the acceptable tasks will be ones that have a directly religious meaning and that can be arranged in such a way as tb permit those engaged in them enough time for periodic and sufficiently prolonged stays within the religious house. From this it follows that the taking on of parish work ought to be exceptional. The repeated appeals on the part of certain dioceses or centers of pastoral studies to enlist the mixed orders into the pafochial framework imply a mis-understanding of the nature of their vocation. In the long run, the Christian life of a particular region, will not be enriched by taking religious away from a form of life that has an authentically contemplative orientation. Entirely other is the question of knowing whether the ÷ ÷ Active Monastic Orders VOLUME 2,~1 1964 293 rather large number of pi'iests living in the religious houses of these orders really means a sterile hoarding of elements that would be very useful f~r the apostolate~if, in fact, their monastic activity constitutes a waste of precious capital. Indeed, even if there is question of fervent priests, the result of their affiliation to a religious house will be rather negative if, psychologically speaking, they have not really entered into this monastic framework, making their own its proper orientation. If this is the case, would it not have been pref-erable forthem to have entered a diocese or a congregation with purely active g~als? This being the situation, if one wants to make it evolve in a direction more 'invglved in pasto(al work, he runs the risk of eventually compromising the future of a form of religious life that is extiemely impor-tant for the Church. Finally, we call attention to the fact that it is easier than it used to be for a mixed order to limit itseff to its specific vocation. The existence of.a number of "active" orders and congregations frees us from having to handle, many apostolic functions for which, in the past, we were the only ones available. A More Specialized Recruiting A profound unawareness concerning 'the ultimate objec-tive and the requirements of the mixed life reigns almost everywhere in the orders in question. As an inevitable consequence, a great number of people have beenallowed to. enter who are incapable of living the life in its specific sense or who are little inclined to do so. The presence 0f.these members is undoubtedly one of the greatest obstacles to the restoration of a mixed life worthy of the name. A more realistic and stricter recruiting of candidates is necessary. It is not enough that the candidates be truly interested in the specifically aPOstolic end and works of the order. Too often the monastic element and the contemplative orienta-tion are seen as secondary to the apostolic element and accepted only as something "thrown in for good measure." Enr611ment under this condition is devoid of meaning. In view of the present need for authenticity, the presence of a number of subjects so disposed must lead to an ever more radical dismantling of the monastic character of these orders. V. Walgrave, O.P. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 29,1 The Drive to Power and Fidelity to Vocation A group's attachment to its own influence in the Church is bne of the most frequent causes of an order's estrangement from its primitive vocation. Social psychology has convincingly shown how the drive to power can unconsciously inspire even altruistic and well-intentioned plans. It is this same process which is more or less at work in every society, not excluding the most sacred, and it constitutes that "too human" aspect of it which we must understand but never approve. Orders of-mixed life are especially, vulnerable to this tendency because they have to .defend their clearly contem-plative attitude against the pressure of an apostolic posture which is very conspicuous in the Church. The presence.of this danger is seen in the following practices: taking on tasks that are too numerous or unsuitable to the specific vocation; a view of the apostolate that is spontaneously in a spirit of competition; multiplication of small houses; lack of discretion in admitting 9andidates for the sake of numeri-cal success; a distorted presentation ofthe order's ideals, and so forth. The Christian world is less and less inclined tO accept in the Church and in the religious orders this com-promise between moral authority and the drive--whether conscious or unconscious !o domination. Consequently, the orders will see themselves obliged to conceive of their corporate orientation in a more spiritualized, more evangeli-cal manner so that the sense of their size and concern for their influence will no longer exert such pressure on fidelity to their ideal. The future of the mixed life can only gain from this. Are the Mixed Orders Too Numerous? Once we admit the ideal and logic of the mixed life in all their intransigence, we can no longer keep from asking whether the number of these orders is not too great to allow each to respond fully to its vocation. For the person who attaches more importance to spiritual fecundity than to the natural tendency to survival, the question is only too serious. Let us add two points which throw light on the import Of the problem. On the one hand there is the already wide-spread difficulty the contemplative life experiences in supporting itself in the midst of the contemporary world. On the other, it must be remembered that almost all the great orders of the Middle Ages have taken new life while a considerable number of new congregations have arisen by their side, each of them seeking to attract the necessary candidates. ÷ ÷ ÷ Acti~ Monasti~ Orders VOLUME 23s 1964 THOMAS DHBAY, S.M. Updating Puzzlements Thoma~ Duba]~, S~M., is spiritual dr-rector at Notre Dame Seminary; 2901 South Carroll-ton Avenue; New Orleans 18, Louisi-ana. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS Anyone even mildly acquaintedwith the thinking of our American sisters in these mid-sixties is aware that there is.a steadily increasing and animated discussion among them dealing with projected apostolic changes in the life of religious women. And as his acquaintance is deepened, he becomes aware that the sisters'-reaction spectrum to the current theory and practice of apostolic adaptation ranges all the way from an eager, impatient enthusiasm through a wait and see interest to a fearful apprehension that the new is going to swamp the old. In our view the overall situation is healthy and the discus-sion beneficial; but, as is commonly the case, not everything that fs being said is of equal value. Some of it is occasioning pet~plexity--and, in a few instances, we think anxiety not too strong a word--among a significant number of our sisters. Even though disturbance is not absent among older religious, we are particularly concerned with the yotinger. Despite their great good will and partially because of it, these latter are especially susceptible to harm resulting from uncertainties in their formation and clashing theories in their reading. Our purpose here is threefold. We wish first of all to suggest two or three formulations of the updating adaptation problem, not merely in. general but as it affects the typical individual religious. Then we propose to set down as .we understand them the causes of the impatience of one group of sisters and the reasons for the fears of a second group. Finally we shall trace out the general lines of procedure which Sacred Scripture and the magisterium of the Church present as guides to religious communities in their actual efforts at aggiornamento. Formulations of the Problem In its popular form our puzzlement may be said to con-sist in conflict between the new and the old in contemporary religious life. Constitutions are currently being modified by general chapters. Some religious feel that the changes are not drastic enough; others are persuaded that they are too drastic. Some have no set opinion but simply wonder what is essential and what is not. This popular perplexity is sharpened by newly appearing books and articles and addresses that recommend apostolic practices at variance with traditional approaches. Many sisters could hardly be more wholehearted in their agreement with the recommen-dations, while others wonder whether they will work with women. The tension is heightened when in a given congrega-tion the difference in apostolic viewpoint (or 15erhaps it is occasionally more a difference in judgments of feasibility) takes the shape of superiors on one side and subjects on the other. A more basic formulation of our problem is rooted in two distinct scriptural streams of spirituality which for our purposes we may style individualistic-contemplative and social-active. The first current lays great stress on the soul's inner life with God, solitary, sheltered, intense, delightful. There are many more instances of this thought pattern :in the Old Testament than we may easily instance here. "One thing I ask of the Lord; this I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, that I may gaze on the loveliness of .the Lord . Of you my heart speaks. [The new Latin for verse 8 is clearer than the English: "Tibi loquitur cot meum."] . How precious is your k.indness, O God ] The children of men take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They have their fill 6f the prime gifts of your house. ¯. Only in God be at rest, my soul. When I am with you, the earth delights me not . For indeed, they who withdraw from you perish .But for me, to be near God is my good; to make the Lord God my refuge.''1 This hid-denness- individualist current is, if anything, even more pronounced in the New Testament. The thirty-year example of the eternal Word is vastly impressive, to say nothing of His forty-day retreat and His habit of spending whole nights on the mountain during His public apostolate. What He did in His life He taught in His words, for He judged Mary who merely sat and drank of His wisdom better off than the busy Martha. And St. John tells us, "Do not love the world, or the things that are in theworld" (1 Jn 2:15), while St. Paul admonishes us not to have a taste for this world but rather to seek what is above and thus be hidden with Christ in God." "Therefore, if you have risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Mind the things that are above, not the things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God" (Col 3:1-3). The second stream of scriptural spirituality is found especially in the New Testament and its emphasis is on the kerygmatic proclamation of the word to the whole of man- ~ Ps 26:4,8; 35:8-9; 61:6; 72:25,27-8. ÷ ÷ ÷ U~dating Pu=lements VOLUME 2~, 1964 297 ÷ ÷ ÷ Thomas Dubay, S.M. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS kind. The precept was given by the eternal Word Himself: "Go into the whole world and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mk 16:15). Its seriousness was more than once underlined by Paul in his words as well as in his life. "How then are they to call upon him in whom they have not believed? But how are they to believe him whom they have not heard? And how are they to hear, if no one preaches?" (Rom 10:14). "For woe to me if I do not preach the gospel !" (1 Cor 9:16). "I charge thee, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead b~i his coming and by his kingdom, preach the word, be urgent in season, out of season; reprove, entreat, rebuke with all patience and teaching" (2 Tim 4:1-2). Brought up to date, this formulation of our sisters' apos-tolic puzzlement bears on the relative positions of prayer and work in the contemporary setting. And the pat answer, "a due time for both," does not answer all the sub-questions : Do religious women spend too much time in mental prayer? Is there such a thing as "apostolic mental prayer"? Should active communities still say the Office in choir? If so, how much of it? If not, what shall supply for the nourishment the Office formerly gave their souls? The third formulation of our perplexity centers on the actual mission state of the world today. In this shape the problem may be presented as a comparison between a single verse of Scripture and a few hard facts of twentieth century reality. The scriptural aspect of this formulation is the unvarnished divine precept that the glad tidings be preached to every creature: "Go into the whole world and preach the gospel to every creature," The hard facts which, seen under the light of this verse, should cause a keen discomfort are, first of all, that two thousand years later less than twenty percent of the world has so far accepted the full message. And secondly, the non-Catholic world, we are told, is in-creasing more rapidly than the Catholic. Still more, we have nowhere in sight a number of religious and priestly vocations. sufficient to cope either with 500 million faithful or the over two billion still outside the Mystical Body. To compound a nightmarish situation is the fourth fact of an appalling apathy on the part of the .majority of our Catholic laymen and laywomen. Now the comparison between the divine precept and the human facts sets in bold relief the final formulation of our puzzlement: Given the staggering situation of our missionary condition, how can we rightly continue to emphasize the cozy, contemplative, self-contained elements in the religious life? Should not the sister's dominating passion be the proclamation of the word? Does not aggiornamento demand that religious face the contemporary scene as it exists? Causes of Impatience We can perhaps trace out the reasons for a certam unrest among many religious women according to th~ three ways we have formulated the problem. It seems t~ us that a noteworthy number of sisters are dissatisfied ~ith some of the prescriptions of their ~onstitutions and Customs. Some feel that their religio~s habit is archaic and th.at even as it has been modified it remains an impediment to attaining an easy rapport with modern men and women, especially non-Catholic men and women. To many sisters the rule that they go out only two by two is consonant neither with the much freer status of contemporary woman nor with the actual .needs of the apostolate. The many permissions re-quired in convent life seem to be out of harmony both with the greater independence of women in our day and with like situations among religious men. These causes ofim-patience and others like them are sharpened when the sister subject not only sees no adequate adaptation in her com-munity but no great inclination in the administratiOn to initiate steps to attain it. Tl~e second type of reason for disquiet is a discontent with the present allocations to prayer and work in active congre-gations. We do not mean that religious are uninterested in prayer; but we do mean that some of them feel that the amount of time to be given to prayer, and especially vocal prayer, needs to be cut down. Many would like to pare down community vocal prayers, and some would extend the paring process also to the DiVine Office and even perhaps to mental prayer. The final reasons for impatience cluster about the manner in which religious women are as a matter of fact carrying out the gospel command to preach the word to every crea-ture, including the billions of souls still outside the Mystical Body. While we are confident that many sisters decidedly desire to work with children and would feel both uncomfort-able and inept with adults, there are others who prefer to work with mature people and thus get to "every creature" more directly. We think, too, that a large number of reli-gious are unsatisfied with the indirect apostolate of teaching English and arithmetic, of keeping hospital records and supervising nurses, and rather wish to spend themselves in an immediate apostolate of supernatural contact with souls. These sisters feel that they and their companions could be used more effectively by leaving the indirect apostolate to laywomen and rather engaging themselves in reaching directly the vast populations of adult women still little touched by the Church. The impatience here is rooted in what appears to be an obsolete and ineffective use of the apostolic resources of our consecrated women. ÷ ÷ ÷ Updating Pu~lements VOLUME 23~ 1964 299 ÷ Thomas Duba~, S.M. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS Causes of Fear At the opposite end of what we have called the reaction spectrum to apostolic aggiornamento lie varying degrees of fear regarding adaptations that have already occurred or, perhaps more frequently, regarding others that are merely being proposed and discussed. We may note in passing that sisters who entertain these fears are by no means unsym-pathetic as a group either to the theory or the fact of adapta-tion. They see the likely good but are also concerned about the likely harm. What are these fears? We would distinguish three main bases for apprehension concerning current developments in updating approaches to the apostolate of religious women. The first of these bases is the simple fact that many sisters are not capable either natively or by training background to work effectively with adult women. The apprehension arises from the suspicion that religious now working fruitfully with children would perhaps be transferred to occupations for which they are prepared neither by disposition nor by education. The second cause of updating anxiety centers on the alleged inability of women to live holy religious lives without the safeguards with which their, rules have traditionally surrounded them. Without taking a position regarding this fear, we can say at least this much that not all sisters are convinced of the advisability of rule modifications which open the way to considerably more and longer contacts with the world. One might object that even sisters have to take risks, but this would be met with the rejoinder, "Yes, but how many? When do we reach the point where contacts in the world will do more harm than good to religious and their work?" At least some sisters see a problem here. Perhaps the most frequently occurring and the deepest reason for disquiet lies in the area of mental prayer and the need for solitude. Despite verbal assurances to the contrary, both formation and inservice policy recommendations by the mounting attention they give to a tension and time packed apostolate seem to these religious to be making slow inroads on a calm prayer life with the indwelling Trinity. There seems to be a clash between new apostolic emphases and the age-old Catholic insistence just recently reiterated that the first duty for a religious, even for a religious belonging to an Institute of active life or of mixed life is then to give himself to God in contemplation and out of love for him. Service of the neighbor" comes second only, in so far as he needs it and as the re-ligious is in fact entrusted with it by his Superiors? 2 Archbishop Paul Philippe, The Ends of the Religious Life according to Saint Thomas Aquinas (Athens: Fraternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 1962), p. 72. Archbishop Philippe is secretary of the Sacred Congrega-tion of Religions. Some of our ~isters are wondering why, if contemplative love is primary in the religious state, the contemporary trend is toward reducing rather than increasing the time available for its peaceful practice. Or to ask an allied question, if as Plus XI declared, a hidden life of prayer, love, and suffering is a more fruitful apostolate for souls than active works are, why are we meeting our apostolic challenges with a greater emphasis on action than on contemplation? Such, then, are the causes of impatience on the one hand and fear on the other that we have found among American sisters. We propose now to suggest some general norms of procedure which according to Sacred Scripture and the teaching Church are sound guides for resolving in broad outline some of the questions we have raised. Guides for Apostolic Updating First principle: the Trinity is the source oaf apostolate. The re-ligious who steps into a classroom or a hospital ward does not enter her working domain as a private person, as. the former Mary Jones or even as the present Sister Mary Teresa. She enters as a member of a supernatural team, a religious community on which the Church has bestowed a mandate. She is a sent person, a commissioned person. Im-mediately she is sent by her major superior, intermediately by the Roman Pontiff and the local ordinary, ultimately by God Himself. Her religious superiors have the. authority to mission her because they have received a share in the pope's universal jurisdiction, and th~ pope has his authority from Christ Himself, and Christ has it from the Father. "As the Father has sent me, I also send you" ~Jn 20:21). The sister; therefore, engages in her apostolate as one sent by the very Trinity abiding in her heart through supernatural knowl-edge and love. It is highly fitting, then, that she live in close union with the abiding fountain of all apostolic fecundity. Our first principle for solving our apostolic problems is, consequently, that the indwelling Trinity is the starting point of external works. Second pdndple: the sisters' apostolic methods must meet con-temporary needs as they actually are. It is axiomatic in scholastic philosophy that whatever is received is received after the matter of the receiver. A man who tries to cut a sheet of steel as though he were dealing with paper is going to have his problems. A religious community which operates in the mid-twentieth century as though it were working in the mid-nineteenth is going to run into some dead-end streets. The Gospels themselves were written differently according to the manner of the receivers. Matthew wrote in one fashion for his fellow countrymen in Palestine, Mark and Luke tailored their approaches to Gentile converts, while John proposed to write a theologically orientated account against the Docetists and styled his Gospel accordingly. Religious ÷ ÷ ÷ opaating Puzzleracnts VOLUME 23, 1964 301 + ÷ ÷ Thomas Dubay, S.M. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS ~0~ communities surely cannot afford to do less in meeting contemporary needs in a contemporary manner. The Holy See itself has said so much in the last two decades about the need for adaptation in the religious life that for us to say more would be to labor the point. Hence, our second prin-ciple is patent: however we are to meet updating tensions, our solutions will have to face and answer real problems as they now exist. Thirdprinciple." prayer, love, and suffering are the most Jruitful apostolate. This third guide to unraveling unrest and ap-prehension in adapting to modern needs is taken bodily from the teaching of Pope Pius XI. Speaking on the occasion of the canonization of a religious whose community neither teaches nor nurses, the Discaleed Carmelite nuns, tl-ie Holy Father remarked: "These are the most pure an~l the most lofty souls in the Church, who by suffering, loving and praying in a hidden apostolate hold the first place in bene-fiting all men.''3 Approving the Carthusian statutes a decade earlier in 1924, the same pontiffhad said perhaps even more strikingly that it is "easy to understand how they who assiduously fulfil the duty of prayer and penance contribute much more to the increase of the Church and the welfare of mankind than those who labor in tilling the .Master's field.''4 Several centuries earlier St. John of the Cross had taught the same truth in his own limpid manner: "A very little of this pure love is more precious in the eyes of God and the soul, and of greater profit to the Church, even though the soul appear to be doing nothing, than are all. these works t0gether,''~ Now if we pay this teaching more than lip service, we must in the actual ordering of the contemplative and work-ing aspects of active religious congregations recognize the primacy of the former not only in the sanctification of the individual religious but even in the sanctification ~ the souls . committed to her care. We have got to work, to be sure, and work hard. Woe to us if we do not preach the Gospel. But all the same, if praying, loving, and suffering are the most fruitful apostolate in the Church, we religious have got to be before all else contemplative sufferers or suffering con-templatives. Hence, to aim at updating constitutions, rules, and horaria on any other basis is simply to miss the point. If getting our religious women to mix more with the world is going to damage their love and prayer, the mixing must yield, not the love and prayer. If newly undertaken activi-ties are going to so wear a sister out t

Issue 17.2 of the Review for Religious, 1958. ; A. M. D. G. Review for Religious MARCH 15, 1958 Teaching Brothers . Pope Plus XII Religious and Psychotherapy . Richard P. Vaughan A Sense of Balance . Robert W. Gleason Pattern for Religious Life . Da.ie~ J. M. Ca~aha. The Might of ~ood . c. A. I-lerbst Summer Sessions Book Reviews Communications (~uestions and Answers Roman Documents about: Movies, Radio, Television Seminarians and Religious The Role of the Laity VOLUME 17 NUMBER 2 RI::VII:::W FOR RI::LIGIOUS VOLUME 17 MARCH, 1958 NUMBER 2 CONTI::NTS THE HOLY SEE AND TEACHING BROTHERS . 65 SUMMER SESSIONS . 72 RELIGIOUS AND PSYCHOTHERAPY-- Richard P. Vaughan, S.J . 73 A SENSE OF BALANCE~Robert W. Gleason, S.J . 83 COMMUNICATIONS . 90 OUR CONTRIBUTORS . 90 THE PERFECT PATTERN FOR RELIGIOUS LIFEm Daniel J. M. Callahan, s.J . ' . 91 THE MIGHT OF GOD--C. A. Herbst, S.J . 97 SURVEY OF ROMAN DOCUMENTS~R. lq. Smith, S.J . 101 BOOK REVIEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS: Editor: Bernard A. Hausmann, S.J. West Baden College West Baden Springs, Indiana . 112 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS: 7. Sisters Overworked . 121 8. Elimination of Silence .¯ . 122 9. Illegitimacy and the Office of Local Superior . 123 10. True Meaning of Tradition in the Religious Life .124 11. General Councilor as Treasurer General . 126 12. Unsuitable Spiritual Reading . 127 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, March, 1958. Vol. 17, No. 2. Published bi-monthly by The Queen's Work, 3115 South Grand Blvd., St. Louis 18, Mo. Edited by the Jesuit Fathers of St. Mary's College, St. Marys, Kansas, with ecclesiastical approval. Second class mail privilege authorized at St. Louis, Mo. Editorial Board: Augustine G. Ellard, S.J.; Gerald Kelly, S.J.; Henry Willmering, S.J. Literary Editor: Robert F. Weiss, S.J. Copyright, 1958, by The Queen's Work. Subscription price in U.S.A. and Canada: 3 dollars a year; 50 cents a copy. Printed in U.S.A. Please send all renewals and new subscriptions to: Review for Religious, 3115 South Grand Boulevard. St. Louis 18. Missouri. The Holy See and Teaching Bro!:hers A LETTER BY Pope Plus XII, dated March 31, 1954, and addressed to Cardizial Valeri, prefect of the Sacred Congre-gation of Religious, discussed the nature and dignity of the teaching brothers' vocation. The official Latin text of this letter is in Acta Apostolicae Sedis, 46 (1954), 202-5. Several English translations have appeared in our country. C, ornmen-tarium .pro religiosis, 33 (1954), 150-61, published the Latin text, with some annotations by Father A. Guti~rrez, C.M.F., and some interesting background. According to the Commentariurn, the procurators general of~i~!ght institutes of teaching brothers have the custom of meet-ing.~.' in Rome and discussing their mutual problems. The insti-tutes are: Christian Brothers; Christian Brothers of Ireland; Marists; Marianists; Brothers of Christian Instruction mel; Brothers of the Sacred Heart; Brothers of St. Gabriel; and the Xaverian Brothers. The main point discussed in their meeting in the spring of 1953 was the problem of vocations to their institutes, and especially the very delicate problem of mis-understanding by the clergy. Deeply concerned about this prob-lem, the procurators general de.cided to ask His Holiness for an official statement concerning the nature, .dignity, and value the teaching brothers' vocation and apostolate. Thus, with the approval of their own superiors and of the Sacred Congregation of Religious, they addressed a letter to the Pope. The French text of their letter, dated October 15, 1953, is given, in. the Commentarium /~ro religiosis. The Annotations Since Father Guti~rrez' remarks serve as a so~rt of brief commentary on the papal letter, the Gommenlarium publishes them immediately after the letter. It seems better for our 65 TEACHING BROTHERS Review for Religious purpose, however, to incorporate his principal points into this introductory background material because this will help to appre-ciate the' content of the papal letter, as well as of the letter addressed to the Pope by the procurators general. The principal points stressed by Father Guti~rrez are these: (1) The teaching brothers are religious in the full sense of canon law. (2) They have a special divine vocation, which is approved and specially protected by the Church. (3) Their apostolate of teaching is given to them by the Church itself; and the Church recognizes this apostolate as a higher call than Catholic Action. (4) The object of this apostolate is to form good men, good Catholics, and leaders; and this is accomplished not only by having excellent schools and teaching methods, but also and especially by teaching Christian doctrine and morality. (5) Since the pontifical institutes of brothers have received from the Holy See a commission to teach religion, they have a .right to exercise this apostolate within the limits of canon law. (6) One sign of the fruitfulness of the brothers' apostolate of teach-ing is the number oi: ecclesiastical vocations among their alumni. On the last point, Father Guti~rrez gives some interesting statistics concerning seven it~stitutes of teaching brothers with a total professed membeiship of 31,006. Of their former pupils who were still living in 19~3, there were 10 cardinals, 218 bishops, 31,938 priests, and 11,398 seminarians. I. Letter of the Procurators General Most Holy Father: The undersigned procurators general of eight institutes of teaching brothers lay at the feet of Your Holiness their respect-ful homage as loyal and obedient sons; and, in full agreement with the officials of the Sacred Congregation of Religious, they beg you graciously to consider a problem which their superiors are now making efforts to solve, that is, the misunderstanding by certain members of the clergy of the usefulness and canonical 66 TEACHING BROTHERS status of our vocation as lay religious men engaged in the teach-ing apostolate. Recalling the provisions of canon law (c. 107), Your Holi-ness declared to the religious' assembled in an international congress at the end of the Holy Year, I950, that "Between the two states--clerical and lay--which .constitute the Church, there falls the religious state." As religious with simple vows, our profession places us in the humblest category of the religious state. We are religious in so ~ar as we tend toward the perfection of charity by the practice of the ~three vows of the state of per-fection; we are laymen inasmuch as we have deliberately offered to God our sacrifice of~th_e priestly dignity and of the spiritual privileges which priests enjoy in order to concentrate all our activity on one apostolate alone: the Christian education of youth. This apostolate wa~ entrusted to us by the Holy Church. It is "a tedious work and a thankless task,''~ as Your Holiness pointed out when speaking to the m~sters of the French uni-versities on April 10, 1950; -But divine Providence. has con-tinually blessed such work and has rewarded it with the most noble of harvests through the priestly and religious vocations which spring up in our schools. "It is an unassailable fact that the number of p~iestly voca-tions is, if not the only criterion, at least one of the surest criterions for measuring the strength and fruitfulness of a Catholic school or of any Catholic educational institution." This is the judgment Your Holiness pronounced on May 28, 1951, at an audience marking the fifth centenary of the College Marc-antonio Colonna. The statistics on this subject which we have. the honor submitting to Your Holiness are based on the most recent research and are of such a nature as to console the heart of the Holy Father by showing in just what proportion the labors 6¸7 TEACHING BROTHERS Review for R~ligious teaching brothers contribute to the increase of the clergy through-ou~. the entire world. These results would be even more noteworthy if the nu-merical growth of our own institutes permitted us to answer all the appeals we are constantly receiving for the further expan-sion of our present works and for ventures into new fields of apostolic endeavor. We here touch upon the unfortunate problem which we wish to bring to the attention of Your Holiness. In many places our recruiting is hindered and the perseverance of those whom we do recruit is jeopardized by the misunderstanding or the opposition of certain members of the clergy. These ecclesi-astics are ignorant, or appear to be ignorant, of the canonical status of our vocation as well as of the mission which the Church, by its approbation of our institutes, has confided to us. In Appendix No. 2 0f this petition, we recount to Your Holiness some of the fallacious arguments disseminated against ui and some of the methods used in certain regions to turn young men away from our novitiates or to direct toward the clerical state some of our own religious even though already bound by perpetual profession. We thought, Most Holy Father, that a word from the Chair of Truth would-be most helpful to us in our efforts to refute these fallacies, to break down the prejudices which they engender, to encourage and guide souls of good will somewhat confused by these false ideas. The recent yearly congress of the Union of Teaching Brothers held at Paris--the report of which we beg you to receive as a humble testimony of our loyalty--seemed an appro-priate occasion for addressing the present petition to Your Holiness. Confident of the gracious welcome it will receive from the head of Christendom and the father of all religious and implor-ing your blessing, very respectfully we profess ourselves once 68 March, 1958 TEACHING BROTHERS more Your Holiness's most humble and obedient sonsR. ome, October 15, 1953. II. Letter of Pius XlI to Cardinal Valeri Beloved Son, Health and Apostolic Benediction: The procurators general of eight religious institutes of brothers, whose special mission is the instruction and education of youth, have presented Us with an official report of the annual meeting of the French provinces of their institutes, held last year at Paris, in order to inform Us of what had been accom-plished there and what they hope to accomplish in the future. At the same time, they besought Us in a submissive and respect-ful spirit to give them paternal instruction and to point out to them the best means to increase their numbers and to achieve the happiest results in their recruitment of vocations. That is what We gladly do in succinct form by means of this letter. And in the first place, We congratulate them very much, because We know with what zealous and untiring will these brothers are fulfilling the mission confided to them, a mission that can be of the greatest assistance to the Church, to the family, and to civil society itself. Indeed, their work is of great importance. Boys and young men are the blossoming hope of the future. And the course of events in the years ahead will depend especially upon those young men who are.instructed in the liberal arts and every type of discipline, so that they may assume the direction not only of their private affairs but also of public matters. If their minds are illumined by the light of the gospel, if their wills are formed by Christian principles and fortified by divine grace, then we may hope that a new gen-eration of youth will era"" t, appily triumph over the difficulties, beil -esently assail us a:ad which by its I e can establish a better and health. It is Our grent c~. ~nat these religious institutes are laboring to that end, guided by those wise rules 69 TEACHING BROTHERS Review for Religious which their founders have bequeathed to their respective insti-tutes as a sacred inheritance. We desire that they perform this task not only ~vith the greatest alertness, diligence, and devotion, but also animated by ~that supernatural spirit by which human efforts can flourish and bring forth salutary fruits. And specif-ically We wish that they strive to imbue the youth confided to them with a doctrine that is not only certain and free from all error, but which also takes account of those special arts and prodesses which the present age has introduced into each of the disciplines. But what is most !mportant is this, that they draw super-natural strength from their religious life, which they ought most intensively to live, by which they may form to Christian virtue the students committed to their care, as the mission confided to them by the Church demands. For if this virtue were relegated to a subordinate position or neglected entirely, 'neitl~er literary nor any other type of human knowledge would be able to estab-lish their lives in rectitude. In fact, these merely human attain-ments° can become effective instruments of "evil and unhappiness, especially at the age "which~ is as wax, so easily can it be fashioned to evil" (Horace, De arte l~Oetlca, 163). Therefore, let them watch over the minds and souls of their pupils; let them have a profound understanding of youth-ful indifference, of its hidden motivations, of its deep-seated drives, of its inner unrest and distress, and let them wisely guide them. Let them act with vigor to drive away at once and with the utmost determination, those false principles which are a threat to virtue, to avert every dange~ that-can tarnish the brightness of- their souls, and to so order all things about them that while the mind is being illumined by truth, the will may be tightly and courageously controlled and moved to embrace all that is good. While these religious brothers know that the education of youth is the art of arts and the science of sciences, they know, 70 March, 1958 TEACHING BROTHERS too, that they can do all these things with the divine aid, for which they pray, mindful of the word of the Apostle of the Gentiles: "I can do all things in Him who strengthenth Me" (Phil. 4:13). Therefore, let them cultivate their own piety as much as they can, as is only right for those who, although not called to the religious priesthood, yet have been admitted to the lay form of the religious life (c. 488, 4). Such a religious institute, although~ composed almost entirely of those who by God's special calling have renounced the dignity of the priest-hood and the consolations that flow therefrom, is all the same held in high honor by 'the Church and is of the gr.eatest assist-ance to the sacred ministry by the Christian formation of youth. On a previous occasion we turned our attention to this subject, saying: "The religious state is in no sense reserved to either the one or the other of the two types which by divine right exist in the Church, since not only the clergy but likewise the laity can be religious" (Allocution to the meeting of re-ligious orders held at Rome, AAS, 1951, p. 28). And by the very fact that the Church has endowed laymen with this dignity and status, it is quite plainly signified to all that each part this holy militia can labor, and very ~ffectively, both for its own salvation and that of others, according to the special canonical rules and norms by which each is regulated. Wherefore, let no one lack esteem for the members these institutes because they do rmt embrace the priesthood, or think that their apostolate is less fruitful. Moreover, it is afact well known to Us that they gladly encourage the youths com-mitted to their care for instruction and education to embrace the priesthood when it seems that" divine, grace is calling them. Nor is there any lack of instances of their former pupils who now adorn the ranks of the episcopate and even the Sacred College of Cardinals. These religious institutes merit and de-serve Our praise and that of the whole Church; they deserve, also, the good will of the bishops ~and" the ~ clergy, since they give them their fullest support, not o.nly in providing a fitting 71 TEACHING BROTHERS education for youth, but also in cultivating the vocations oi~ those students whom divine grace attracts to the sacred priest-hood. Therefore, let them hold to the way upon whichthey have entered, their vigor increasing day by day; and one with the other religious orders and congregations to whom this work has been confided, let them devote themselves to the instructior~ and education of youth with peaceful an~d willing souls. As a pledge of the divine help, which" we implore for them with earnest prayer, and as a testimony of Our personal benevo-lence, we lovingly impart the apostolic blessing to you, Our beloved son, and to each of the superiors of these institutes, to their subjects and to their pupils. Given at Rome, at St. Peter's, on the 31st day of the month of March, of the year 1954, the sixteenth year of Our pontificate. SUMMER SESSIONS [EDITORS' NOTE: The deadlinefor summer-session announcements to be included in our May number was March 1. Since the May number is the last one to be published before the summer sessions begin, it will be useless to send us further announcements for 1958. We wish to take this occasion to make one candid remark. In our November, 1957, number, page 32~, we outlined several specifications to be observed in draw-ing up summer-session announcements. Most deans who sent us announcements either completely or partially ignored these specifications. May we suggest that someone who reads this magazine might call his or her dean's attention to this?] St. Louis University will feature an institute in liturgical music: Gre~gorian Chant and Polyphony, June 9-13. During the six-week summer session, June 17 to July 25, there will be graduate courses .in the Theology .of the Mystical Body and in Moral and Ascetical Theology, together with undergraduate courses in Sacred Scripture, Divine Grace and Corporate Christianity, and in other topics. For further details write to: Department of Religion, St. Louis University, St. Louis 3, Missouri. Registration for the summer session at St. Bonaventure Uni-versity will take place on June 30. Classes will extend from July 1 until August 7. Special attention is called to the School of Sacred Services for the sisters. The purpose of this program is to afford teaching sisterhoods an opportunity of broaderiing and deepening their knowledge of religion and of acquiring a scientific and scholarly (Continued on page 81 ) 72 Religious and Psycho!:herapy Richard P. Vaughan, ~.J. THE PAST TWO decades have seen an ever-increasing awareness of the p~esence of mental illness in our midst. Newspapers and magazines have served as media to educate the public. As a result, the person who previously had been ac-cepted by his family and friends as "just naturally odd" is looked upon as mentally disturbed and in need of psychiatric care. The usual treatment of twenty or thirty years ago, which consisted of relegating the peculiar member of the family to the back of the house or excusing his presence by an embarrassing wink, has to a great extent given way to the realization that the emotion-ally and mentally ill can be helped only by adequate psychiatric treatment: Within the cloister and the convent, however, this changing attitude has been slow to make its appearance. Many superiors recognize signs of mental disorder in one or more ot: ¯ their subjects, but they are hesitant even to consider the pos-sibility of psychiatric aid. In general, they will exhaust every other possible source-of assistance before they will send the subject to a psychiatrist. If one stops to analyze this distrust, a number of reasons come to mind. Sources of Negative Attitudes In the first place, this negative attitude toward psychiatry is partially due to the historic role of the priest. From the earliest days of the Church, the clergy have been the accepted pastors of souls. The very notion of pastor implies a duty to guide and direct. Since there was no other source of profes-sional guidance until quite recently, the full burden of this duty fell upon the shoulders of the priest. It became the accepted practice for the faithful to seek his help when confronted with the vexing problems of phobias or compulsions as well as in their strivings toward spiritual perfection. As a matter of fact, many looked upon these purely psychological disorders as spiri-tual difficulties. 73 RICHARD P. VAUGHAN Review [or Religious This attitude has persisted uniil our own day. It is espe-cially prevalent among priests, brothers, and sisters. Even though experiende has shown that most prie.sts are not equipped to deal with pathological emotional disturbances, many religious cling to the outdated view that the priest should be the sole ~source of assistance. They are convinced that spiritual guidance and the frequent reception of the sacraments are the best remedies for neurotic disordeks. Psychiatric care is deemed necessary only in those cases where the individual can no longer live in the religious community. A further source of antagonism is tl~e materialistic and anti-religious philosophy held by some of the most important psy-chiatrists. Foremost among these is Sigrnund Freud, who. has done more to shape psychiatric thought than any other individual. Unfortunately, most rdligious have heard only of Freud's errors. They have made no attempt to understand his valuable contribu-tions to the science of treating the mentally ill or to sort out his scientific findings from a biased and i'rreligious philosophy, which came as an after-thought. They summarily dismiss Freud's works on the false assumption that their sole topic is sex in its basest form. This view has led to a condemnation of the scien-tific as well as the philosophical teachings of Freud. Since most psychiatrists are Freudian to a degree, a distrust for the whole profession has resulted. Finally, there are the often-quoted examples of seemingly immoral advice given by some psychiatrists. One of the traits of the mentally ill is a resistance to treatment. It sometimes hap-pens that this resistance takes the form of trying to undermine the reputation ot~ the therapist. If this can be successfully ac-complished, the neurotic feels justified in discontinuing treatment. Thus, he sometimes either consciously or unconsciously misin-terprets the words of the psychotherapist. This misinterpreta-tion gives rise to some of the stories of immoral suggestions offered during 'the sessions ot: therapy. Of course, it cannot be 0 74 Marck, 1958 RELIGIOUS AND PSYCHOTHERAPY said that this is true in every instance.~ Undoubtedly, thereare genuine cases of psychiatrists advocating sinful actions. Such advice does not, however, constitute good therapy. It is not the function 0~ the psychotherapist to make moral judgments 'for his patients. It is rather a sign of incompetence. However, just as there is a certain amount of incompetence in the other branches of medicine, so too we should expect it in psychiatry. We do not condone such incompetence, but look forward to the day when it will be eliminated. The s01ution to the problem is not to ~ondemn the whole .profession, but to know the qualifications of the psychotherapist to whom we refer a patient. Church's Position As can r~eadily be seen, the three above-mentioned sources of hostility toward psychiatry as a medium for treating mental illness are the product of personal attitudes and personal ex-perience. They in no way express the official view of the Church. Up to a few y~ars ago, the Church had not as yet officially indicated her position in regard ~o psychiatry. She prudently and cautiously waited before making any statement. The nega-tive views that were prevalent among Catholics some ten or fifteen years ago simpIy reflected the personal attitudes of a large percentage of the clergy. In 1953 th~ Holy Father, Pius XI.I, at the Fifth Congress of Psyhotherapy and Clinical Psychology concluded his address to the delegates with these words: "Further-more, be assured that the Church follows your research and your medical practice with warm interest and best wishes. You work on a terrain that is very difficult. Your activity, however, is capable of achieving precious results .for medicine, for the~ knowledge of souls in general, for the religious dispositions of man and for their development. May providence and divine grace light your path!" These words represent an official statement of the Church. They certainly indidate anything but a negative and hostile attitude toward the arduous work oi: the psycho.therapist. 75 RICHARD P. VAUGHAN Review for Religious Types of Psychiatry In general, therapy for the mentally ill takes two forms: one which is strictly medical and one which is psychological. The medical approach makes use of such means as brain surgery, electric shock tre~i~ment, and the use of drugs. This approach is entirely in the hands of medical specialists. The second ap-proach, which is called psychotherapy, makes use of a continuing series of interviews. This latter approach is not limited exclu-sively to the medical profession. At present, not only psychia-trists but also psychologists and psychiatric social workers are practicing psychotherapy. In a number 0f instances, the mem-bers of the latter two professions practice psychotherapy under the supervision of a psychiatrist, because of the physical impli-cations involved in many cases of mental illness. With those who are so seriously ill that little personal con-tact can be established, the purely medical techniques are used until such a time as psychotherapy can be profitable. With the less seriously disturbed, some psychiatrists make use of a com-bination of psychotherapy anddrugs, while others look upon drugs as a crutch and prefer to depend entirely upon psycho-therapy. It is this latter type of treatment toward which numer-ous religious are so antagonistic. If the only technique used by psychiatry were the administration of drugs or surgery, there would probably be much less oppogition to it. Psychotherapy If one surveys the history of mankind, it becomes apparent that a type of psychotherapy has been practiced for centuries. It seems safe to say that people have always had problems that they were unable to solve without the help of others, and these problems disturbed their emotional equilibrium in" varying de-grees of seriousness. The writings of ancient Greece and Rome tell of troubled individuals seeking advice and aid from the wise and learned. From the very beginnings of the Church, people brought their troubles and problems to the priest. In past 76 RELIGIOUS AND PSYCHOTHERAPY generations, most had a dlose friend with whom they could dis-cuss their most intimate affairs. The help derived from these above-mentioned sources came not only from the advice given by the friend, priest, or learned counselor, but also from the relationship that was established through numerous sessions of conversation and from the insight into the problem that the disturbed party g~ined through the very act of talking about it. However, because of a lack of knowledge and skill in deal-ing with human emotions and feelings, those consulted fre-quently found themseives at a loss to help those who sought their assistance. With the development of scientific methods in psychiatry, men discovered that they could apply the results of their in-vestigations to the emotionally and mentally ill and thus aid those who had previously been immune to all known sources of help. In this manner, psychotherapy, as it is known today, was born. One practices scientific psychotherapy when he car~ analyze an emotional disorder and then during the course of his dealings with the afflicted person apply the psychological techniques that are the product of fifty years of clinical experi-ence and research. The good therapist must have learning, skill, and experience. Basically, therefore, psychotherapy is nothing more than the age-old practice of aiding others through communication, but now built upon a scientific foundation. It has the added factor that the therapist has a psychological knowledge and skill which his predecessor lacked. Morality and Psychotherapy Since religious men and women are by no means free from emotional and mental disorders, the development of psycho-therapy should have offered a welcome solution to a very vexing and persistent problem. However, owing to the previously mentioned factors, a negative and hostile attitude arose among religious toward the whole movement. As a result of this at-titude, today when a religious superior is faced with the necessity of seeking psychiatric help for a subject, he frequently hesitates 77 RICHARD P. VAUGHAN Review for Religious for a "considerable length of time, questioning the advisability of such a step. Because of the seemingly close connection between religion, morality, and psychiatry, the superior sees in psycho-therapy a potential danger to the faith and religious vocation of the subject. Psychiatric aid has, therefore, become in most instances a last resort. For the most part, this attitude is built upon a false notion of the nature of psychiatric treatment. The treatment of mental illness pertains to the science of medidine. Just as there are specialists in the fields of surgery, obstetrics, and internal medicine, so too there are specialists in the area of mental disease. The specialist in this branch of medicine is the psychiatrist. His training, which consists of three years of concentrated study and work with the mentally ill over and beyond his general course in medicine, adequately equips the psychiatrist to treat the mentally ill. His auxiliaries, the psychologiit and psychiatric social worker, likewise have an in- ¯ tensive training; but the orientation of their studies restricts their activity to psychotherapy and diagnostic testing. The religious who .is psychotic or neurotic is just as sick as the religious with a heart or stomach disorder. And he is just as much in need of treatment. He, therefore, has an equal righ~ to the specialized services of those who have been trained to treat his particular disorder. In all probability, unless he does obtain this specialized care, his condition will grow progressively worse. In view of this fact, the emotionally afflicted priest, brother, or sister is certainly justified in making a request for psychiatric care. And in those cases where the mentally ill are unable to make such a request because of their disorder, superiors have the obligation to see that these sick religious obtain specialized treatment. We are all bound to preserve our life and health. Severe mental diseases sometimes hasten death, and in almost every instance undermine physical health. More-over, mental health is equally as important as physical health for happy and efficient living. The superior, therefore, who disregards the condition of a severely neurotic or psychotic sub- 78 March, 1958 RELIGIOUS AND PSYCHOTHERAPY ject because of an erroneous prejudice against psychiatric treat-ment works a gross injustice upon the afflicted religious. Any Psychiatrist? Granted that a religious is given permission to seek psy-chiatric treatme.nt, the next problem that presents itself deals with the particular therapist to whom the religious is sent. In brief, should a priest, brother, or sister seek the services of any psychiatrist? Obviously, some psychiatrists have a'better reputa-tion than others, just as some heart specialists have a better repu-tation than others. Thus, it seems needless to say that religious should seek out the best possible psychiatric treatment available in the area. This means that the therapist should be competent in his profession.One of the foremost characteristics of a com-petent psychiatrist, in addition to knowledge and skill, is a deep understanding and respect for the person of his patient. These two factors result in a relationship between the patient and the therapist that becomes the cornerstone of successful treatment. Understanding and respect naturally include an appreciation of the religious and moral convictions of the patient, since these are an integral part of'his ipersonality. Thus, contrary to the thinking of a number of priests and sisters, the competent psychiatrist does not try to undermine the faith and moral principles of his patient but rather accepts these convictions. He knows that he has had no specialized training in religion and morality which would qualify him as an authority in these areas, Furthermore, he looks upon these areas as foreign to his "function as a professional man. Should a religious problem arise with a patient, he sends the patient to a specialist; namely, the priest who is a trained theologian. Thus, any conflict that might arise between morality and psychiatry is the product of incompetency rather than the natural outcome of the psychotherapeutic process. A Catholic Psychiatrist? One of the questions which is most frequently asked is whether a Catholic should seek the services of a Catholic psy- 79 RICHARD P. VAUGHAN Review for Religious chiatrist in preference to those of a non-Catholic. This question is especially pertinent when one is dealing with a religious who is in. need of psychotherapy. If there is a choice between two psychiatrists who are equally skilled, but one is a Catholic and the other is notl then it would seem that the better choice would be ~he Catholic. The reason for such a choice does not rest upon moral issues, but rather upon the need for full under-standing of the patient. A Catholic psychiatrist is in a much 'better position to understand the religious life and all its implications than the non-Catholic. Thus he is more likely to be able to offer greater assistance to the mentally-ill religious. However, it sometimes happens that a particular non-Catholic psychiatrist has a deep interest in priests, brothers, and nuns and, as a result, has spent considerable time and effort in trying to gain an appreciation of the religious life. In such instances, it may well be that the non-Catholic psychiatrist is equally as well equipped to treat the religious as the Catholic psychiatrist. It should also be noted that the fact that a psychiatrist is a Catholic does not mean that he is a good psychiatrist and capable of treating religious. Some Catholics have little understanding of or sym-pathy for the religious life. In those few cases where religious and moral problems are deeply interwoven with the neurotic co.ndition, the Catholic psychiatrist who is well versed in his faith is in a considerably better position to help the religious patient than the non-Catholic, because he has a better understanding of what his patient is trying to convey to him. It is needless to say that in these instances the priest with training in psychotherapy is in a unique position. Unfortunately, however, there are very few priests who have sufficient skill and experience in psychotherapy. In the majority of psychological problems found among religious, however, faith and mo.rality play a relatively minor role. Generally speaking, the roots of the disorder spring from those periods of life which preceded entrance into the convent 80 March, 1958 RELIGIOUS AND PSYCHOTHERAPY or cloister. The conflicts" and problems that have to be faced are of such a nature as to be experienced by any patient, re-gardless of faith or walk of life. In these instances, psycho-therapy aims at helping religious get at the source of the neurosis and then change the patterns of thinking and feeling that pro-duce the condition. Thus, for many emotionally disturbed religious the non-Catholic psychiatrist who has some under-standing of the religious life is adequately equipped to handle treatment. Conclusion The pr~actice of psychotherapy is a rapidly developing method of treating mental illness. Because of certain negative attitudes and a lack of understanding, many religious hesitate to make use of it or turn to ~t only as a last resort. As a result, numerous priests, brothers, and sisters needlessly continue to suffer untold anguish from the various forms of mental and emotional illness. In as much as mental and emotional dis-turbances disrupt the whole personality and hinder advance in the spiritual life, this usually unfounded distrust of psychiatry is in all likelihood damaging the growth of the religious 'spit:it in our country. Summer Sessions (Continued from page 72) understanding of the teaching of the Church. Further information will be gladly supplied by the Director of Admissions, St. Bona-venture University, Olean, New York. The Theology Department of Mai'quette University will offer two non-credit summer institdtes from June 30 to July 12. An institute on canon law for religious will be conducted by Father Francis N. Korth, S.J., J,C.D., a specialized lecturer and consultant in canon law. The institute will provid~ a thorough course in the current church law for religious. Although the lectures are designed especially for superiors, mistresses of novices, councilors, bursars, and others engaged in administrative or governing functions," other religious would profit from the course. These lectures will be held in the mornings. In the afternoons an institute on prayer will be 81 SUMMER SESSIONS conducted by Father Vincent P. McCorry, s.J, author, professor, and spiritual director. The purpose of the institute is strictly prac-tical: to provide for an interested group such exposition and direction as will enable the individual religious to practice mental prayer with greater fidelity and profit. Campus housing for the institute par-tidipants will be the new Schroeder Hall. For further information write: Director of Summer Institutes, Marquette University, Mil-waukee 3, Wisconsin. Graduate courses in theology leading to the Master of Arts degree will also be offered. The two introductory courses i:or those students entering the graduate theology program are: Fundamental Theology which will be taught by Father Bernard .L Cooke, S.J'., S.T.D., of Marquette University, and the Church of Christ to be conducted by Father Cyril O. Vollert, s.J., S.T.D., professor of theology at St. Mary's, Kansas. For advanced students, The Unity and Trinity of God will 'be taught by Father John J. Walsh, s.J., S~T.D., of Weston College, Weston, Massachusetts; and Father R. A. F. MacKenzie, S.J., S.S.D., of the Jesuit Seminary, Toronto, Canada, will conduct the course on Special Topics in Scripture. For further information about the program write to: The Graduate School, Marquette University, Milwaukee 3, Wisconsin. In the Canadian capital, the Pontifical Catholic University of Ottawa offers courses in its summer school, July 2 to August 6, leadin~ to the degree of Master of Arts in Sacred Studies. The curriculum stresses the kerygmatic presentation ot: theology. It is planned particularly to meet the needs of sisters and brothers teach-ing religion, and of novice mistresses or others giving religious or spiritual instrudtion. These courses are also open to students work-ing toward other degrees. The summer school offers a separate series of courses in sacred studies in which the language of instruc-tion is French. For the sacred studies prospectus and the complete summer school announcement, write: Reverend Gerard Cloutier, O.M.I., Director of the Summer School, or Reverend Maurice Giroux, O.M.I., Head of the Department of Sacred Studies, University of Ottawa, Ottawa 2, Canada. Immaculate Heart College, Los Angeles, California, will open a iix-week summer session on June 24. An extensive liberal arts program leading to the Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees will be supplemented by workshops in art, drama, language arts, and library science. T[fe curriculum of undergraduate courses lead-ing to a Certificate in Theology will be continued this summer. The Immaculate" Heart Graduate School will ina~ugurate a new depart-ment of religious education, offering a major ia theology and minors in Sacred Scripture or church history. Elective courses will be given in Catholic Social Thought and Liturgy. Designed especially to prepare teachers of religion ~•or high school and college, this program .is open to those who hold a Bachelor of Arts degree from an accredited college (with a major in any field) and. have sufficient (Continued on page 128) 82 A Sense Balance Robert ~X/. Gleasonr S.J. IT IS CHARACTERISTIC of Christian doctrine to maintain the delicate balance between extremes. Moreover, without los-ing hold of any aspect of a" complex truth, the Church unites all its elements in a synthesis that throws light on each of them. And the Christian himself is often called upon to do something of the same sort in his spiritual life. He has to tread a careful path between attitudes which are apparently opposed, though each of them reflects some truth. This di~i-culty is sometimes experienced when the Christian soul ap-proaches the antinomy between the natural and the supernatural or between what we migh't call the accent of optimism and the accent of pessimism in Christianity. For both currents, opti-mism and pessimism, have played an historic role in Christian thinking; and both seem destined to be with us for ~quite awhile. Each of these perspectives is capable of dangerous exaggeration', ~for Pelagianism is an overblown optimism and Jansenism is pessimism run riot. As an examl61e of a thoroughly unchristian pessimism, we might point to those words of the French novelist Andr~ Gide: "Commandments of God you have embittered my soul; com-mandments of God you have rendered my soul sick; will you never draw a limit? Will you go on forever forbidding new things? Is all that I have thirsted for as beautiful on earth, forbidden, punishable? Commandments of God you have poisone.d my soul." Gide was a tortured personality, even to the end of his life; and in these lines we can perhaps glimpse a reason for his unhappiness. For they reveal a fundamentally unchristian point of view, a thoroughly pessimistic point of view that perfectly reflects his Calvinistic background. In striking contrast to those lines are two sentences from St. John's Gospel which are almost startling in their optimism. 83 ROBERT W. GLEASON Review for Religious In the tenth chapter of that Gospel, Christ the Lord, the Alpha and Omega of truth, gives us a summary of His plat-form. "I am come that you may have life and have it more abundantly." In this direct utterance Christ enuntiates a posi-tion of relative optimism. He explains the purpose of His existence as Incarnate Word, both God and Man, and He explains it in terms of an increase of life---an optimistic point 'of view, surely. He put it in other words at other times, but they all come down to the same thing in the end. He also said: "Those who are well have no need of a doctor; I am come to the sick." And He said: "I am come to rescue all that which was in the act of perishing." But perhaps the clearest expression of His purpose is that simple declaration: am come that you may have life and have more of it." In that one line Christ compressed the whole spirit of what we might call Christian optimism. It has taken philosophers and theologians a good many years to unravel some of the implica-tions of the program summed up in these few words. God has planned a new life for us; He has planned to expand, to increase our capacity for living beyond any capacity we might have dreamed of. In fact, He has planned for us an entirely new grade of life~-known as the life of sanctifying grace. The story of Christ's coming we usually call the Gospels; and the Gospels, the e.vangels,are the great and good news, the announcement of the definitive victory of this new life over death, over sin, and over Satan. As the whole of human history unfolds before us centered in this momentous figure of Christ in whom God wrote the definitive chapter of the history of our salvation, we cannot but feel the optimistic position in which we Christians of these latter days find ourselves. The victory belongs to the Christian; that is the meaning of Christ. The victory over death, sin, and Satan is ours. Is ours, we must say, not will be ours, for Christ, our Victory, already exists. We have conquered in Him; and 84 Ma~'ch, 1958 A SENSE OF BALANCE the victory is ours for we ,are not separated from the conquering hero, rather we are closely united by physico-mystical ~bonds to Him who has the victory, who won it on Calvary. There is one of our race and family, one of .us, crowned with victory in the glory of the Trinity in heaven. And His victory i.s ours for He did not enter into it as an isolated individual alone, but as the Head of the Body, His Church, .of which we are mem-bers. The Head of the great column o.f humanity to which we belong has already entered upon His triumph; and, if we but remain united to Him, our victory too is assured and inevitable. After the conquest which was Calvary, then, there is really no place in the Christian life for a depressed pessimism. There is no place for a spirit of defeatism. There is no place for a small-spirited, mean-spirited mentality. We are the victors al-ready, and ours is a ~spirit of optimism. Despite this, life still has its dangers and its difficulties. The roses did not lose their thorns on Easter day. Because this is true, the Christian must be realistic about the dangers ~nd the difficulties of life. His traditional asceticism, maintained in a spirit of optimism, will preserve him from both'. But at bottom there still remain two fundamentally opposed ways of looking at life. One we have labeled pessimistic, and Gide's words exemplify it. The other we may call optimistic, and the words of St. John are its charter. The pessimistic attitude is negative. It is a depressed view 6f things ifi wh~ich the vic-torious Redemption which has already taken place appears to be forgotten. It might seem a~ though such an attitude could never creep into authentically Christian li~es, yet, since error is al-ways possible, even for the well-intentioned, such negati~,e at-titudes have not been entirely unknown even among earne'st Christians. It is surprisingly easy t6 drift into these" dangerous waters, particularly if one's theological perspectives are' awry. This will be clear if we think for a moment on the rigfi't and the wro_ng understandings of certain religious realities. 85 ROBERT W. GLEASON Review fo~" Religious Consider, for example, the way in which these two classes of souls, the negative and the positive, approach the great mystery of God. The negative ~oul will light at once upon certain isolated texts from Scripture and come up with a picture of God as a hard Master who reaps where He did not sow, who lies hidden in the shadows of our life, always prepared to fall upon us in a moment of surprise and seize us in some misdoing or sin. The God of these people is a hard God, ready at any moment to drag out the account books and show us our deficits, not omitting the idle words. Alas, if God takes to playing the mathematician, how few of us can endure. For as the De Pro/undis puts it: "Lord, if you take to numbering our in-iquities, who ot: us shall survive?" ,. The attitude of the op.timistic Christian, on the other hand, is quite different. He knows that God is the absolute Lord and Master, the unapproachably holy and just one, the transcendent, the totally.other. But He also recalls God's recorded definition of Himself, "For God is love." St. John gives Us this phrase, and St. John was neither pietistic nor particularly poetic. He was an excellent theologian, the best in this respect of all the evangelists; and his definition is inspired. God' is indeed a just God, but He is als0 a justifying God. He justifies us irz His sight by the free, undeserved gift of His grace. He is indeed a demanding God--"I am a jealous God"--but He is never hard, uncomprehending, or cruel. He is very demanding, and His demands are ever-increasing. But they all go in the same direction. For they all rgquire us to accept more from Him. God insists that we prepare ourselves, with His help, to receive His floods of generosity. He asks us, to be sure, for ~more--more acceptance, more readiness to receive the new gifts He has laid up for us. His demaads are the demands of one who loves, not the demands of a suspicious bank auditor. We see somewhat the same contrasts if we look at the way these two classes of souls regard man himself. For ~he 86 March, 1958 A SENSE OF BALANCE pessimistic soul, man is essentially/ a spoiled creature, a ruined, unbalanced creature all too heavily laden with the effects of original sin. Evil seems so often triumphant in him. Hell is always just around the corner. Satan appears to 'be the real victor in this world, and man is his victim. Man is a poor thing; his nature is fallen. The phrase "fallen human nature" is repeated even with a certain relish. Fallen indeed, but fallen and redeemed, replies the Christian soul. We cannot underrate the Redemption of Christ our God. Satan is not triumphant. His back was broken on a certain hill outside Jerusalem, and the victory of Christ is written large for all to see who have eyes to.look upon a crusifix. Man is no .ruined, spoiled .creature, half-demon and victim of his own determinisms. He is the spoils of the victory of Christ. He is the prize of the Redemption, won in the sweat and the blood and the tears of Calvary and valued at a great price, bought with no blood of oxen or goats, but with the blood of Him who is God. In. the center of :all creation stands Jesus Christ, and with Him stands man. We two, He and I, are members of the same race, members of the same family. Where sin did abound now grace does superabound. Grace it is which replaces sin at baptism and raises us to the heights of quasi-equality, where we can claim the friendship of the God of the Old and the New Testaments. We Christians are a family with a great tradition. We are wounded but remade and more marvelously remade, for God does not do a poor patchwork job when He repairs us. In our family we have legions of martyrs, men like us. We have legions of virgins, men like us. We have legions of con-lessors in our family, and t.hey have all put their merits at our disposal for this is only normal in a loving family. When we turn trrom the question of the meaning of God and of man to the third great problem of the spiritual life, the 87 ROBERT W. GLEASON Review for Religion,s meaning of creatures, we find the same two contrasting attitudes. For the negative, pessimistic soul creatures are all deformed, twisted beings with little value or meaning in themselves. They are only tenuous beings serving us as instruments. In general they are things to be feared, for they are all traps for the unwary soul. They all conspire to ensnare man and to destroy him. But the genuine Christian insight discovers in creatures.a meaning, and a dignity of their own; for they, too, are mirrors of God. The sacred humanity of our Lord is a creature; and, if it is a net, it is a net designed to catch and save us--that I may be caught by Christ, says St. Paul. The wine at Mass and the water at baptism and the oi! of 'confirmation . . . all are creatures. We live in a sacramental universe in which all crea-tures speak of God. For they are the means God has given us to form us as His children. They are called by" a wise and ancient writer "our viaticum," our sustenance during this period when we are on the way. It is on creatures that we practice our apprenticeship in the art of loving God. They do demand of us a wise, lucid, and generous choice; but they 'are not evil. We learn much about loving God from our use of them--a use that can take many forms from contemplation to absention. Creatures always have a role to play in our lives, and we cannot forget that we too have a role to play in theirs. We have to reconsecrate them to God and rededicate them to Christ, the Center and Owner of all cre~turedom. We have to bless them by our use and stamp them with the image of the risen Lord. Does not the Church write special blessings for such shiny new creatures as typewriters and fountain pens? In doing so she resp'onds to the age-old appeal of creaturedom for its redemption. For the very material world about us groans for the day of its liberation, and we are called upon to extend to it the effects of the Redemption.~ 88 March, 1958 ASENSE OF BALANCE Of course, with such different conceptions of the world, the two classes of souls we have been envisaging will regard the moral or spiritual life in very different lights. For the negative soul the moral life is a long battle, a series of prohibitions, an ever-expanding Decalogue that is purely negative. Above all, one must be on his guard to do nothing to .anger a God who is always ready for anger. Do nothing that can be punished . . and there is almost nothing that is not tainted in some fashion, and so punishable. Such a view, replies the truer Christian, is essentially in. adequate. The moral life consists above all in living, in doing something, in being something. It consists in life and an expansion of our divinized life so that we may live for God and gro.w in love and make our talents fructify. Virtues ire not negative dispositions but positive .dispositions. And prime among all the don'ts on that list is the one great and transcendently great do. "Thou shalt Love the Lord thy God." The spiritual life is not one long escapism. It is not a flight from life. It is a positive living of love for God and my neighbor. The Christian soul's apostrophe would run quite differently from Gide's. "Commandments of God," the Christian would say, "you are all so many-signposts on 'the road toward the lasting city; you point out the road to love and of developing life to foolish humanity. And if I but read you right, you are all so many declarations of love on the part of God for me. Commandments of God, you indicate and you preserve all that life has to offer that is beautiful and worthy of search. Without you beauty would dry up from the face of a scorched earth." The pessimist has an unrealistic view of God and the world, for he lives as though the Redemption had an incomplete efficacy. The realism of the Christian's optimism takes into account both his own weakness and the power of God who has conquered the world. The pessimist's view is an incomplete view and an incomplete truth; it needs to be completed with 89 COMMUNICATIONS a real assent to the truth of the Redemption, gloriously accom-plished. For an incomplete truth is a half-truth, and a half-truth is nearly as dangerous as a lie. Communica!:ions More on Delayed Vocations (See REVIEW Fog RELIGIOUS, May', 1957, page 154) Reveiend Fathers: The Congregation of Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus professes a special worship of reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, above all in the Blessed Sacrament. This spirit of reparation is concentrated in daily adoration before the Blessed Sacrament exposed, and offered in an active apostolate in the education of youth, retreat work, catechetical instruction, and foreign missions. The spiritual training is based on the rules of St. Ignatius. The Handmaids have some sixty houses throughout the world. The mother house is in Rome. Mission work has taken 'root both in South America and in Japan. A future field of work is opening up in India. The foundress of the congregation, Blessed Raphaela Mary oic the Sacred Heart, was beatified in 1952, only twenty-seven years after her death. Her process of canonization is now,going on. Candidates are accepted up to the age of thirty. Those who wish to dedicate themselv'es to domestic work are accepted up to the age of thirty-eight. We accept widows. Our novitiate is located in Haverford, Pennsylvania. Private retreats, may be made there by a candidate to decide her vocation. Mother Maria Angelica Iq'an, A.C~J. Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus 700 East Church Lan~ Philadelphia 44, Pennsylvania OUR CONTRIBUTORS RICHARD P. VAUGHAN, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of San Francisdo and a staff member of the McAuley Clinic, St. Mary's Hospital, is currently engaged, in psychotherapy with religious men and women. ROBERT W. GLEASON is a professor of dogmatic theology in the Graduate School of Fordham University, New York. DANIEL J. M. CALLAHAN is professor of ascetical and mystical theology at Woodstock College, Woodstock, Maryland. C. A, HERBST is now a missionary in Seoul, Korea. 9O The Pert:ec(: Pa!:l:ern t:or Religious Lit:e Daniel J. M. Callahan, S.J. DIVINE REVELATION assures us of our elevation to the supernatural state and of'the o.rganism which equips us for life and action on that superhuman level. The question immediately presents itself: Who will inspire us to respond to God's .beneficence and supply the pattern for such a life? God predestines us to be, not creatures only, but His children through adoption and heirs of His beatitude. ~Voblesse oblige; rank has its obligations; nobility of station demands nobility of con-duct. As God's children we should resemble our Father in our conduct no less than in our nature, and such is the injunction placed on us by Christ: "~ou therefore are to be perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matt. 5:48) and resumed by St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians (5:1): "Be you, there-fore, imitators of God, as very dear children and walk in love, as Christ also loved us." To imitate God we must first know Him, and this is one reason why He has manifested I-Iimself to us. in His Son and through His Son. It is by means of the Incarnation that the Son has revealed to us the Father. Christ, the incarnate Son of the Father, is God brought within human reach under a human expression, and in Him and through Him we know the Father. In reply to Philip's request: "Lord, show us the Father and it is enough for us," Jesus said to him, "Have I been so l~ng a time with you, and you have riot knowa Me? t~hilip, he who sees Me, sees also the Father . . . I am in the Fathe.r and the Father in Me" (John 14:8 ft.). To know and imitate God, we have only to know and imitate H~s Son, who i~ the expression at once divine and human of the perfec-tions of the Father. Jesus is perfect God and perfect, man, and under both aspects He is the ideal for every one, for religious most of all. 91 DANIEL J. M. CALLAHAN Review for Religio~ts He is the natural Son of Go,d, and it is His divine sonship that is the primary type or pattern of our divine adoption. Our filiation is a participation of His eternal filiation; through Him and from Him we share in divine grace, are in reality God's children and partake of His life. Such is to be the fundamental characteristic of our likeness to Jesus, the indispensable requisite for our sanctity. Unless we possess sanctifying grace, we are dead spiritually; and all that we can do is of no strict merit entitling us to our everlasting inheritance. We shall be coheirs with Christ only if we are His brethren through habitual grace. Here it may not be amiss to examine our appraisement of sanctifying grace, our prudence in safeguarding it, and our diligencd in its increment in our souls. Do we ~ippreciate its embellishing effects and how unlovely and helpless we are with-out it? Mortal sin alone despoils us of this precious treasure; and, because we are subject to temptation from within and from without, it is expedient, at least occasionally, to probe our atti-tude to sin, to the frailties and perhaps unmortified passions that induce it, and to the constructive measures to be adopted. Growth is the law of life, and it is through the cultivation of the theological and moral virtues that we are to fortify and expand our supernatural life. . Every least good action per-formed with the requisite intention by one in the state of grace, as well as every sacrament worthily received, effects in us an iricrease in grace and in all the infused virtues. Christ is in truth a perfect man, and in this He is for us the attractive and accessible model of all holiness. In an in-comparable degree" He practiced all the virtues compatible with His condition. He did not have faith in God, for this theo-logcal virtue exists only in a soul which does not enjoy the immediate vision of God, a vision that was Christ's privilege from the mbment of the Incarnation. He did, however, have that submission of will inherent in faith, that reverence and adoration of God the supreme truth that imparts to faith its excellence. Neither did Christ possess the virtue of hope in the proper sense, 92 March, 1958 PATTERN FOR RELIGIOUS LIFE since the function of this 'virtue is to enable us to ddsire and'to expect the possession of God and the means necessary for its attainment. Only in the sense that Christ could desire and expect the glorification of His body and the accidental honor that would accrue to Him after the Resurrection, could He have hope. Charity He possessed and practiced to a supreme degree: the purest love of the Father and of His adopted children in-undated His soul and motivated His activities. Love unites the wills of the lovers, fusing them into oneness of desire and con-duct. Christ's first act in entering into the world was one of ardent love: "Behold I come . . . to do Thy will, O God" (Matt. 10:7), and His subsequent life was the prolongation of His initial sacrifice: "Of Myself I do nothing He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, because I do always the things that are pleasing to Him" (John 8:26 ft.). Our Blessed Lord's soul was adorned with all the moral vir-tues: humility, meekness, kindness, patience, prudence, jus-tice, temperance, chastity, fortitude, zeal, each in its own per-fection. His every least action glorified and eulogized His Father, and was the object of the latter's complacency, as voiced by Himself: "This is My beloved Son in whom I am ~ell pleased" (Matt. 3:17), a proclamation which covered everymome.nt and every deed of Christ's life. His actions as man, while in them-selves human, were divine in their principle, for there was in Him only one person, a divine person, performing all in union with the Father and in the most complete dependence on the divinity and therefore confdrring on the Father infinite glory. Religious, obligated by their state to strive for perfection, have need of an ideal, of a perfect pattern to be realized in their lives. Mere human beings are too imperfect. God in His divine nature seems too distant from us and beyond our repro-duction. The God-man is the consummate ideal for all, at all times, for childhood, youth, maturity; for the hidden, public, apostolic, and suffering life. There is no phase of human life' which He does not exemplify, illustrate, adorn, and enoble. 93 DANIEL J. i~I. CALLAHAN Review fo~" Religious Far from resembling the cold blueprint of the architect or the lifeless page of our favorite author, Jesus is always the most attractive and appealing man who lived in circumstances similar to our own; and, while He enlightens our mind, He awakens love and emulation in the will, meanwhile offering the necessary strength and the assurance of ultimate success. In our endeavor to fashion a Christlike character, obviously there is need of intelligent interpretation. As we turn over the pages of our New Testament, often we read of deeds that were the outcome of superhuman power and clearly beyond us. However, even in such instances we can fall back on the spirit and motive of these achievements. Christ used His infinite ¯ power, not for His selfish aggrandizement, but for the honor of the Father and the benefit of souls--a procedure within our finite reach and sedulously to be duplicaked. In our attempt to imitate Christ we are constrained by the nature of the case to reduce His traits to terms of human capability. We cannot, for instance, forgive sins against God; but we can pardon offences against self. We are unable immediately to cure the sick, but we can alleviate their sufferings by sympathy and kind-ness. We may not be permitted to spend the night on the mountain in prayer with Jesus, but we can cultivate the spirit of communion with God amidst our activities throughout the day and pray with attention when we do pray. We may not be in a position to teach with authority, but we can say a salutary word of instruction and counsel when occasion offers. We may not hope to die for mankind, but we can sacrifice our-selves for the convenience and happiness of our fellow religious. 'We are not called on to undergo the scourging and the crown-ing with thorns, but we are expected to endure a little pain or accept a humiliation without becoming ill-tempered and render-ing others miserable. We cannot redeem the world from sin, but we can exercise zeal in promoting the fruits of the redemp-tion by shunning sins ourselves and prudently doing what may be feasible to draw our neighbor to a better life. Thus, every- 94 March, 1958 PATTERN FOR RELIGIOUS LIFE where we can reduce our Lord's example to the humbler terms of ordinary life; and, out of the result, together with appropriate precepts from His moral teaching, we can construct for our-selves an ideal which, ever haunting our minds, is to be pon-dered and realized, or at least aspired to systematically in shap-ing our lives. "A Christian is another Christ" applies with' additional force to every religious. These have dedicated their lives to Jesus in order to share through sanctifying grace in His divine filiation and to reproduce by their virtues the features of His asceticism. To ambition a career so sublime, far frora being presumption, is God's eternal design for them and His sincere will Jesus said: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me" (John 14:6). Such is the pattern faith proposes to us, truly transcendent and yet easy of access, since through grace we share in the divine filiation of Christ and our activity is supernaturalized. Clearly we keep our personality, remaining by nature merely human creatures. Our union with God, however intimate, is accidental, not substantial; but it in-creases in perfection the more the autonomy of our personality, in the order of activity, is effaced before the divine. If we "desire to intensify our intimacy to the extent that nothing interposes between God and us, we are to renounce not only sin and willfdl imperfection, but moreover we are to despoil ourselves of our personality in so far as it obstructs perfect union. It is such an obstacle when our self-will, our inordinate self-love, our suscepti-bilities lead us to think and to behave otherwise than in accord-ance with the divine will. The habitual attitude of soul which wills to keep in everything the proprietorship of its activities seri-ously hampers familiarity with God. We must, therefore, bring our personality to a complete capitulation before Him and make Him the supreme, mover of our thoughts, volitions, words, and actions, entire life. Only when we have divested ourselves of our excessive attachment to self and to other creatures, in order to surrender ourselves to God in absolute dependence on His good 95 DANIEL J. M. CA~LAHAN pleasure, shall we have attained to the perfect imitation of Christ and be able to say with St. Paul: "It is now no longer I that live, but Chrisf lives in me. And the life that I now live in the flesh, I live in the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself up for me. I do not cast away the grace of God" (Gal. 2:20-21). And we should apply to ourselves his plea to the Romans (12:.I): "I exhort you therefore brethren, by the mercy of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice, living, holy, pleasing to God, your spiritual se~rvice. And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed in the newness of your mind, that you may discern what is the good and the acceptable and the perfect will of God." Christ is the head of the Mystical Body of which we are the members, and there should be identity of life and conduct in both. He has merited for us the courage and strength ¯ requisite; and divine revelation assures us that with Him, in Him, and through Him we are competent to travel the one and only way to the Father. Our persevering endeavor consequently should be to know Christ more thoroughly and more intimately through prayer, study, and our manner of life: "He who has My command-ments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me. But he who loves Me will be loved by My Father and I will love him and manifest Myself to him" (John 14:21). Love issues from knowledge, and love adjusts our daily conduct to that of Jesus. This was the mind of St. Paul when he reminded his converts of Ephesus that they were to be: "No longer children, tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine devised in the wicked-ness of men, in craftiness, according to the wiles of error. Rather are we to practice the truth in love and to grow up in all things in Him who is the head, Christ . Be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man which has been created acdording to God in justice and holiness of truth" (Eph. 4:14- 24). To accomplish in us this transformation is the precise pur-pose for which Jesus comes to us in Holy Communion. 96 The MighI: o1: C. A. I-.lerberI:, S.J. A meditation made at sea enroute to the Korean missions AS THE S. S. Fair/~ort plows her way through the wild Pacific a few thousand miles out of San Francisco, the thought that strikes one forcefully is the thought of the might of God. Religious seem not to emphasize this attribute of God so much, seem almost to de-emphasize it, in fact. It is rather God's love and mercy that occupy their thoughts and prayers. Yet in God's mind and in that of His Church, His almighty power stands out. "I believe in God, the Father. al-mighty, Creator of heaven and earth." The creator-creature relationship is most fundamental to all religion. Only the Al-mighty can create. In the creed, both in and outside of Mass, "almighty" is the only attribute of God mentioned at all. And how often the official prayer of the Church begins with "al-mighty!" The Old Testament is full of almighty God, the God of armies, and very, very often the God of the sea. As I sit here on the boat-deck reading the Invitatorium of the Office I pray: "His is the sea: for He made it" (Ps. 94:5). Only He could. One realizes that more and more as one looks out or~ the vast circle of water stretching away to the horizon in every direction. Yet those are only a few of the seventy million square miles of the Pacific. God reaches from end to end of it mightily, up-holding every particle of it by the word of His power. A great artist works miracles with his brush and a little pair~t. He tries to imitate nature. What a masterpiece the almighty Artist creates in each sunset at sea! Tonight, Hallo-ween, I watch the sun sink into mountains of gold and silver clouds and make the whole ocean a cauldron of blazing gold. There is no imitation of nature by this Artist; He is at play 97 C. A. HF_~BST Review for Religious creating the most exquisite origina!. The more delicate shades and colors come. as the evening deepens. This is the time for the most loving and awesome thoughts of God. Somehow, on this particular night, I cannot help thinking of the little lights flickering on each grave in southern Austria on All Souls' eve. As the last rich violet cloud is absorbed into the night up north toward Siberia, I think of the suffering, silenced Church behind the iron curtain. The moon is high in the east now, building a silvery bridge to the Philippines three thousand' miles from here. The shep-herdess of the night is queen over her flock of woolpack clouds. She is a type of Mary, our queen, reflecting the light of her Son as the moon does. The stars seem so near and companion-able out here so far away from home and everyone. The big-gest and brightest are the ones we long to see in the crown encircling the head of the Artist's virgin mother. We constantly hear of the power and destructive force of typhoons. We are running into the typhoon area now. Again, we are reminded of the might of God: God of old came in the whirlwind. We struck south several hundred miles in order to get away from the wild weather the equinox brings to the north Pacific but ran into a gale. As the wind thunders through the gear fore and howls through the rigging aft and one sees the angry ocean all around, one feels very small and helpless. The largest ship is a tiny toy in an angry ocean. It is good to be at peace with the Almighty out here. I think of the heavy toll the ocean has taken. How many a guardian angel has had to plead the cause of his charge in these depths! Perhaps the angel of the Pacific helped him. Countries have their angels to watch over them, the Scripture says. Should not these boundless waters have one, too? The Far East radio network out of Tokyo is telling us these days of the troubles in Egypt and the sinking of ships in the Suez Canal. Their number is zero compared with the burden 98 Marck, 1958 THE MIGHT OF GOD this north Pacific bears. What are the secrets of the sea? They have always enticed man. But to them again only the almighty mind of God can reach. One of the mates says there are eight thousand feet of water under this ship; ahead of us there are forty thousand and more. What lies down there and what goes on down there only God knows. Uncounted ships and men have perished here. Here the almighty Judge sat enthroned to pass the sentence of justice and mercy on many a lonely,child of God since Pearl Harbo.r struck. Only He and this restless, silent ocean know the anguish of those-days. Time means nothing to the great timeless One. But its mystery, too, confuses us. We have just crossed the one hundred and eightieth meridian and passed from Monday to Wednesday. There will be no Tuesday for us this week. But for us time is the stuff of which we make our eternity. God gave it to us for that and it goes by quickly. For wasted time and every idle thought we shall have to give an account. Such an occasion as this is like the year's ending. It gives us pause for some serious thinking on the value of time. Here one is impressed by almighty God's providence, too. Large albatross-like birds, "gooney birds" the seamen call them, have been following the ship since San Francisco. For hundreds, even thousands of miles now, they have been following: soaring, soaring all the while, never flying or exerting themselves. Beauti-fully colored little birds appear, too, just out of nowhere, catch-ing insects and feeding, then resting on the water. They are very content ' and carefree. ~At night they sleep on the sea. Naturally there come to mind some of the most consoling words the almighty Christ spoke in the Magna Carta He gave His Church: "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow, or reap, or gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of much more value than they?" (Matt. 6:26). A school of porpoises went sporting by today. Their omnipotent Father has given them a happy disposition. They 99 C. A. HERBST are playful and friendly to men, yet are one of the few watery creatures a shark holds in dread. Then a whale went spouting by: big, showy, always attracting attention, but terrible, too, in his way, and almost the hero of the sea since Moby Dick. How big the Almighty has made him, the largest of all known animals, to supply so many products for man! In the evening, as I say the fifth glorious mystery, the Coronation of Offr Blessed Mother Queen,of Heaven, I look up into the big comfortable-looking clouds "over the East China Sea towards Nanking and Shanghai. I wonder what our Lady of China is thinking about tonight. A missionary to China wrote: "Our men are still rotting in Shanghai. They really must be suffering now because the winters in Shanghai are grim." Mary was assumed and crowned for China, too, even for today's China. This evening we are slipping through the East China Sea toward Korea. Off to the right over fifty miles of beautiful blue water to the northe~tst lie Nagasaki and Nagasaki Hill, the hill of the martyrs. Again I think ~f the might of God: how these poor frail men needed His .almighty arm to support them in the terrible torment they had to undergo. Three hundred years later came to the same spot a manifestation of might of another kind; August, 1945, brought the atom bomb that smashed this same Nagasaki to pieces. The power of God, at work in the death of the martyrs and the fissure of the atom, is also bringing a second spring to the Church in Japan. As we pass among the countless rocky islands along the west coast of Korea, mighty China lies four hundred miles to the west over the Yellow Sea. Its iron curtain closes her to Christ toda~ as her exclusiveness made her impenetrable to St. Francis Xavier four hundred years ago. But all things are pos-' sible to almighty God. The length of His arm is not shortened. The exquisite sunrise over the hills around Inchon Bay at the end of this voyage seems like a promise that in these Far Eastern lands the might of God will bring forth a rich harvest. I00 Survey oJ: Roman Document:s R. F. Smlth~ S.J. IN THE FOLLOWING pages there will be given a survey of the documents which appeared in the ~cta /Ipostolicae Se~/z's (AAS) during the months of October and Novem-ber, 1957. Throughout the article all page references will be. to the 1957 AAS (v. 49). Motion Pictures, Radio, and Television Under the date of September 8, 1957 (AAS, pp. 765-805), the Holy Father issued a lengthy encyclical which, is entitled IVIiranda/~r~rsus and which treats of the mass communication arts of the contemporary world. After an introduction wherein he gives the reasons why the Church must be interested in the matter of movies, radio, and television and outlines a brief history of previous papal documents on the subject, Pius XII begins the main body of the encyclical, dividing it into four principal parts which treat in succession the following topics: general norms for the movies, radio, and television; the movies; the radio; television. In developing the first principal part of the encyclical, the ViCar of Christ points out that God who communicates all good things to men has also. desired that men themselves share in the power of communication; human communication, therefore, is an activity which of its very nature possesses nobility and if evil is found in it, that evil can come only from the" misuse of human freedom. Because true human freedom demands that men use for themselves and communicate to others whatever augments vir-tue and perfection, it follows that the Church, the state, and the private individual have the right to use the communication arts for their differing purposes. It is blameworthy, however, to maintain that these arts may be utilized for the dissemination 101 R. F. SMITH Review for Religious of matter that is contrary to sound~mora!ity, provided only ~hat the laws of art are observed. Human art, the Pontiff remarks, need not perform a specifically ethical or religious function; nevertheless, if it leads men to evil, then it corrupts its own nobility and departs from its first and necessary principle. To avoid such evils the Church, the state, and the communication industries should cooperate with each other in working for the attainment of the legitimate goals of the communication arts; this is particularly necessary in the case of the cinema, the radio, the television, for each of these arts is a remarkably effective way of large scale communication. Motion pictures, radio, and television, the Pontiff points out, must first bf all serve the truth by. avoiding the false and the erroneous; they must also aim at the moral p'erfecting of their audience, and this especially in th~ case of those enter-tainment programs where vivid scenes, dramatic dialogue, and music are united and which, by appealing to the whole man, induce him to identify himself with the scene being presented. The power of these communication arts to affect the whole man together with the fact that these arts are destined not for a select audience but foi ~he great masses of the people leads the Holy Father to consider solutionsto the moral problems connected with these arts. He accordingly proposes three practical means by which the mass audience can be led to pass a mature judgment on the products of the communication arts and to escape being carried away uncritically by their superficial attractiveness. The first of these means is that of education, whereby men will be given the artistic and moral norms by which the products of communication arts can be ~orrectly evaluated. Accordingly, the Holy Father expresses the desire that training in the right .appreciation of motion pictures, radio, and television be in-cluded in schools of every kind, in associations of Catholic Action, and in parish activities. The second means is that care be taken that young people should not be exposed to programs 102 March, .I958 ROMAN DOCUMENTS which can harm them psychologically and morally. The third means is that in each country the bishops should set up a na~ tional office for the supervision of motion pictures, radio, and television. The second principal part of the encyclical then considers the problems of motion pictures in particular. The bishops should see. to it that the national office of supervision imparts needed advice and information concerning the movies and moral evaluations of current films should be published. The faithful should be reminded of their obligations to inform themselves of the decisions of ecclesiastical authorities ~ith re-gard to films. All those connected with the movie industry, from the exhibitor to the director and the producer, must be mindful of their duty of fostering morally wholesome produc-tions. Finally, the Holy Father urges that the approval and t.he applause of the. general public be generously given as a reward to those motion pictures that are really worthwhile. The third principal part of the encyclical concerns the radio. Listeners should admit into their homes, only programs which encourage truth and goodness. National Catholic offices for radio should attempt to keep the public informed of the nature of radio programs, and listeners should make known to radio stations and chains their preferences and criticisms. The bishops are encouraged by the Holy Father to increase the use of radio for apostolic and doctrinal purpose~, taking care, however, that such programs meet the highest artistic and technical, standards. The fourth part of the encyclical concerns itself with tele-vision which, among other advantages, has that of inducing members of the family to stay at home together. The obliga-tions with regard to television are the same as for the movies and for radio. In the conclusion to his encyclical the Holy Father encour-ages priests to acquire a sound knowledge of all questions per-taining to motion pictures, radio, and television; moreover, as 103 R. F. SMITH Review for Religious far as it is possible and usefu!, they should utilize these aids for their pastoral work. The same subject matter of the communication arts was the topic of the Pontiff's talk on October 27, 1957 (AAS, pp. 961-65), on the occasion of the blessing of the new quarters for the Vatican radio. In the course of his talk the Vicar of Christ pointed out that radio furnishes Christians a new means' for the better fulfillment of the command to preach the gospel to every creature; and he expressed the hope that the new and more powerful.radio station of the Vatican will prove a new bond of unity among the Christian community, since by its aid more peoples will be able to hear the voice of the Vicar of Christ. To Seminarians and Religious On September 5, 1957 (AAS, pp. 845-49), the Pope addressed a group of students from the minor seminaries of France. After encouraging them to look forward to their priesthood with the greatest of eagerness, he praised their clas- " sical studies as an unrivaled means of' developing penetration of judgment, largeness of outlook, and keenness of analysis. The Pontiff concluded his talk to the seminarians by extolling the value of minor seminaries for the good of the whole Church. On July 30, 1957 (AAS, pp. 871-74), the Sacred Con-gregation of Religious published an important decree, M'ilitare servitium, which henceforth will be the controlling legislation in the matter of religious who must undergo military service for at least six months. Full and exact knowledge of all the provisions of the decree can be obtained only by a direct study of the docu-ment, and no more than the principal points of the legislation will be noted here. According to the decree perpetual vows may not be taken unless a religious has already served his required time in the armed forces or unless it is certain that a given religious is immune from such service. During milit.ary sekvice temporary vows are suspended, though in given-cases the major superior can allow a religious to retain his vow~ during such service. 104 March, 1958 ROMAN DOCUMENTS In either case, however, the person involved remains a member of his religio~s institute and under the authority of its superiors. One whose vows are suspended during the period of mili-tary service may leave religion •luring that time according to the norms of canon 637, provided that he has declared his intention of leaving to superiors either in writing or orally in the presence of witnesses. The decree also gives directives concerning temporal possessions acquired during the time of military service and stipulates that between the conclusion of military service and the taking'of perpetual vows there must be a probation period which generally should not be less than three months. The final provision of the decree is to extend the above legislation, where applicable, to all societies liging in common, but without vows. The same Congregation of Religious issued on March 12, 1957 (AAS, pp. 869-71), a decree giving the norms for aggre-gation to the pontifical institute Re~ina 2V~undi. (For the nature and purpose of this institute, see REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, January, 1957, p. 25.) Aggregation places a house of studies of religious women under the patronage of the institute Regina Mun~/~" and allows the house the right to confer pontifical diplomas, with the reservation that the highest diploma can be granted only to those students who have studied at least one year at Regina 2"V~unc/i. The decree concludes by noting that a house of studies may acquire a special relationship to Regina 2V~unc/i by reason of a special act of recognition, which, how-ever, does not give the house the right to confer pontifical diplomas. By an apostolic letter dated December 27, 1956 (AAS, pp. 889-94), the Holy Father united the two parts of the Order of the Daughters of Mary Our Lady' under the new title, Order of the Company of the Daughters of Mary Our Lady. Two documents of the period surveyed were addressed to religious orders of men. The first was a letter from His 105 SMITH Review fo~" Religfous Holiness to Very Reverend Michael Browne, Master General of the Order of Preachers. Written on the occasion of the seven hundreth anniversary of the death of St. Hyacinth, the letter proposes the saint as a clear image of the apostolic work entrusted to the Dominican order. On September 10, 1957 (AAS, pp. 806-12), the Pope addressed the members of the general congregation of the Society of Jesus, recalling to their attention their ideals of loyalty and obedience to the Holy See. He urged superiors to be vigilant in their care for re-ligious observance and discipline. The Pontiff insisted on the need for austerity of life to be manifested especially by an observance of poverty involving not only a dependance upon superiors but a moderate use of temporal things and the priva-tion of many comforts. In conclusion the Vicar of Christ insisted, to his listeners upon the need to retain the Society's traditional monarchical form of government. For Laymen and Laywomen A large number of the documents published in AAS during October-November, 1957, were devoted to the role of the laity in the .life of the Church today. In a radio message deliv-ered September 15, 1957 (AAS, pp. 854-57), to the faithful present at the Marian shrine of Mariazell in Austria, the Holy Father touched briefly on the subject of the urgenc.y of the lay apostolate in the Church today; three weeks later on Oc-tober 5, 1957 (AAS, pp. 922-39), th.e same topic formed the subject matter of the long and important allocution which the Pope delivered to the Second World Congress for the Lay. Apostolate. The Pontiff began his allocution by framing and answering the question whether a layman who has an ecclesi-astical mandate to teach religion, and whose professional work is almost exclusively such teaching does not therefore pass from the lay apostolate to the "hierarchical" apostolate. The Holy Father replies to the query in the negative, for the layman possesses neither the power of orders 'nor that of jurisdiction. It is interesting to note that at the end of this part of the allocu- 106 Marck, 1958 .ROMAN DOCUMENTS tion the Holy Father refers to the possibility of re:establishing in the Church deacons who would have no intention of going on for the priesthood. His Holiness does not show himself unsympathetic to this idea, but nevertheless notes that the times are not yet ready for such a practice. The Pontiff continues by noting that it is wrong to dis-tinguish in the Church a purely active element (ecclesiastical authorities) and a p.urely passive element (the laity), for all the members of the Church are called to collaborate in the building up of the Mystical Body of Christ. Even apart from a scarcity of priests, the work of the laity is necessary, for the task of the "consecration of the world" is essentially the work of laymen, intimately associated as they are with the economic, social, political, and industrial life of the world. In showing the relations between the lay apostolate and Catholic Action the Pontiff begins by saying that the lay apostolate is the performance by the laity of tasks which derive from the mission given the Church by Christ. Accordingly, the apostolat~ of prayer and personal example and the Christian practice of one's profession are lay apostolates only in a wide sense of that word; the Pontiff emphasizes, however, that lay Christians who exercise their professions in an exemplary fashion perform an activity that is comparable to the best kind of lay apostolate in the stric~ sense of the word. Catholic Action, the Pope remarks, always bears the char-acter of an official apostolate of laymen. It cannot, however, claim for itself a monopoly of the lay apostolate, for alongside of Catholic Action there always remains the free lay apostolate. In this connection the Holy Father discusses a possible change in terminology and structure which may eventually be put into effect. According to this plan the term. "Catholic Action" would be used only in a generic, sense to signify the sum of organized lay apostolates recognized on the national level by the bishops or by the Holy See on the international level. Each individual movement would then be designated by its own proper and 107 R. F. SM~ Review for Religious specific name and not by the generic term "Catholic Action.;' Each bishop would remain free to admit or reject such or such an individual movement, but he would not be free to reject it on the grounds that of its nature it Was not Catholic Action. Observing that not all Christians are called to the lay apos-tolate in the strict sense of the word, the Pope then notes that the lay apostles will always form an elite, not indeed because they stand apart from others, but precisely because they can influence others. As such, they need to be given a serious formation; and this training of lay apostles should be taken care of by organizations within the lay apostolate itself, though diocesan and religious priests, secular institutes, and women religious should assist in this formation. The final part of the allocution is devoted to a detailed consideration of the many areas where lay apostles are urgently needed today; and the Roman Pontiff concludes his allocution by urging his listeners to conquer the world, but only by the weapons of Christ. On ~ugust 25, 1957 (AAS, pp. 837-45), His Holiness addressed thirty thousand members of the Young Catholic Workers. He spoke of his audience as a great hope for the Christian regeneration of the world and urged them to re-establish the Christian notion of work as the personal act of a son of God and of a brother of Christ for the service of God and of the human community. On September 29, 1957 (AAS, pp. 906-22), the Holy Father addressed the Fourteenth International Congress of the World Union of Catholic Organizations of Women, speaking on the mission and apostolate of women. Women's apostolate, he notes, must be rooted in the tru.th, that she comes from God; that she is an image of God;" and that h'er everlasting destiny is God. Not only has God created woman, He has also given her her proper physical and psych!cal structure. 108 March, 1958 ROMAN DOCUMENTS She has been given the gifts which permit her to transmit not only physical life, but also qualities of a spiritual and moral nature---and this not only to the children she bears, but to social and cultural life in general. In married life woman expresses the gift of oneself; this symbolization, however, of self-giving receives a higher form in consecrated virginity, for there her giving is more total, more pure, and more generous. Moreover, the Pope continues, woman belongs to Christ; accordingly no form of heroism or sanctity is inaccessible to her. This belonging of woman to Christ attains its perfect realization in the Blessed Virgin. If actual life sometimes reveals to what depths of evil woman can descend, Mary shows how woman in and through Christ can be raised above all .created things. In the exercise of the apostolate, says the Pontiff, woman finds herself in a welter of ideas, opinions, tendencies, and systems. She needs, therefore, a guide and a norm of judg-ment and action; and this she will find in the Church which is the guardian and interpreter of divine revelation. The aposto-late of woman, concludes the Holy Father, even when rooted in the above truths, will remain largely ineffective, unless it is inspired by a deep love of God that flows over into a universal and fruitful activity which seeks to bring all men into one fold under one pastor. In an allocution given on September 16, 1957 (AAS, pp. 898-904), the Vicar of Christ gave a moving allocution on the nature of Christian widowhood. The Church, he ob-served, does not condemn second marriages; neve~rtheless she has a special love for those who remain faithful to their spouses and to the perfect symbolism of marriage. Christian widow-hood is based on the conviction that death does not destroy the human and supernatural love of marriage, but rather per-fects and strengthens it. Doubtless after~death the juridical institution of marriage does not exist;¢~but that which con- 109 R. F. SMITH Review for Religious situted the soul of the marriage--conjugal love--still continues in existence, for it is a spiritual reality. If the sacrament of marriage is a symbol of the redemptive love of Christ for the Church, it may be said that widowhood is a symbol of the Church militant deprived of the visible presence of Christ, but nevertheless indefectibly united to Him. Socially too the widow has a definite mission to perform, for she participates in the mystery of the cross and the gravity of her comportment should show the message she carries: she is one who has through sorrow gained entrance to a more serene and supernatural world. "In times of trial and discourage-ment the Christian widow should strengthen herself by the thought of the Blessed Virgin who lived as a widow during the early years of Christianity and who by her prayer, interior life, and devotion called down divine blessings on the infant com-munity. Miscellaneous Matters By a decree of July 1, 1957 (AAS, pp.'943-44), the Sacred Congregation of the Sacraments announced that local ordinaries need no longe~ send an annual report to the congre-gation concerning the number of confirmations conferred in their territories by extraordinary ministers of that sacrament. On October 7, 1957 (AAS, pp. 954-58), the Holy Father spoke to a group of sick persons reminding them that they do not suffer alone, for Christ lives in them and makes of them in a real but mysterious sense tabernacles of His presence; moreover, they must complete the Passion of Christ by their suffering and the offering of their pain can preserve the in-nocence of many, recall sinners to the right path, assist the indecisive, and reassure the troubled. In a message dated August 5, 1957 (AAS, pp. 857-61), His Holiness wrote to a group of teachers meeting at Vienna that the Catholic teacher who perfectly exercises his profession I10 March, 1958 ROMAN DOCUMENTS performs an activity which is equal to the best lay apostolate', adding that this is true of those who teach in Catholic schools and almost more so of those teaching in non-Catholic schools. In a later letter dated September 18, 1957 (AAS, pp. 830-36), and directed to Cardinal Siri, President of the Italian Council of Social Weeks, the Pope urged the necessity of protecting the human values of rural life and stressed the need for an increase of faith in agricultural areas. On November 4, 1957 (AAS, pp. 966-69), the Holy Father addressed the parliamen-tary representatives of the European Coal and Steel Authority, congratulating them on the success of their work and expressing the wish that their accomplishments may lead to a greater federation ofEurope. On September 8, 1957 (ASS, pp. 849- 53), His Holiness addressed a group of dentists, showing a competent grasp of the latest phases of dentistry and manifest-ing a delightfully human side of his personality by his solicitude for children who suck their thumbs or bite their nails and by' his hope that the newly discovered method of painless drill-ing of teeth may prove to be really effective. The Sacred Consistorial Congregation issued three decrees by which it canonically established military xiicariates in Argen-tina (AAS, pp. 866-68), in Belgium (AAS, pp. 940-43), and in the United States (AAS, pp. 970-73). The Sacred Con- ¯ gregation of Seminaries and Uni~iersities by a decree of July 28, 1957 (AAS, pp. 975-77), canonically erected De Paul University, Chicago, as a Catholic University according to the norm of canon 1376; moreover, the faculty of music of the same institution was a~liated to the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music in Rome. Finally, by the same decree the metropolitan archbishop of Chicago was made grand chancellor of De. Paul Catholic University. In the last document to be noted, an apostolic letter of May 9, 1957 (AAS, p. 823), the Holy Father announced the inauguration of an apostolic internhntia-ture for the country of Ethiopia. 111 Book Reviews [Material for this department should be sent to Book Review Editor, REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, West Baden College, West Baden Springs, Indiana.] MARIOLOGY, VOL. II. Edited by Juniper B. Carol, O.F.M. Pp. 606. The Bruce Publishing Company, 400 North Broadway, Milwaukee 1. 1957. $9.50. This second volume of a most ambitious trilogy on Marian theology contains fourteen articles by some of America's leading theologians. The treatment is scholarly; the articles are well docu-mented; proofs are advanced soberly in an attempt to shed light, not generate heat. . Primarily a reference work, Mariology, Vol. II, covers the major fea'tures of Marian dogma: Mary s-- predestination, divine maternity, perpetual virginity, fullness of grace, knowledge, universal queenship, etc. Among the better parts of the volume are Father Cyril Vollert's two introductory essays, "The Scientific Structure of Mariology" and "The Fundamental Principle of Mariology." The latter serves as a natural basis for some of the articles that follow. Father John Bonnefoy's article "The Predestination of Our Blessed Lady" and Father Gerald Van Ackeren's "The Divine Mother-hood" should provoke discussion and stimulate theological specula-tion among readers of the book. The latter article contains a brief interesting account of modern Protestantism's attitude toward the Mother of God which is worthy of study. Since the volume's bent is less devotional than scientific, the reader should not expect from it what the editor and his contributors did by no means intend. This second volume offers the reader considerable insight into the past progress and present status of the science of Mariology; it makes a distinct, and quite co~ivincing, apology for Mariology's place in the traditional theological dis-ciplines. Religious and priests will especially profit from a thoughtful reading of the book. Seminarians and teachers will find in it a concise and ready reference work on the more important tenets of Marian dogma as it has developed to this day. But for the study of Marian devotion we must await Volume III. To prove the numerous theses presented in Mariology, Vol. II, the individual authors invoke the Church's magisterium, Scripture, tradition, and theological reasoning--the traditional approach. The 112 BOOK REVIEWS general method of presentation is excellent; it is orderly and clear. If there be a flaw in this mode of argumentation, it will probably be found in the scriptural interpretations advanced by some of the theo~ logians in this volume. Quite briefly, they fail to convince. This is especially true of the treatment given the oft-invoked text of Genesis 3:15, which, according to Father Wenceslaus Sebastian, refers to Mary alone "and that in the strict literal sense" (p. 355). The case for Mary's prerogatives as found in the Old Testament seems in this article--fis well as in some others--to be somewhat overstated. But these are slight blemishes on the canvas. No better reason for this entire series can be assigned than that employed in a more specific context by Father Francis Connell. At the conclusion" of his article on Mary's knowledge, he asserts: "And so it is not unprofitable to seek some definite ideas on Mary's knowledge, since a study of this kind helps us to understand the sub-lime dignity of the Mother of God and inspires us to be more ready to seek through her intercession the wisdom and the understanding that we need in the journey of life" (p. 324). What Father Connell remarks about Mary's knowledge may legitimately be predicated of the other facets of her unique personality and character, about which a volume such as this affords us all the opportunity to learn more and more.--THo.x~AS G. SAVAGE, S.J. MANUAL FOR NOVICES. By Felix D. Duffey, C.S.C. Pp. 232. B. Herder Book Company, 15 South Broadway, St. Louis 2. 1957. $3.50. Father Duffey is to be congratulated on his book Manual for Novices. As the title indicates, the book is written primarily for novices and those who have the care of novices; but it is pertinent, profitable, and of interest even to those formed religious who have been away from the novitiate training for a number of years. Is not a good treatment of the vows always a welcome book for our spiritual reading! Manual for Novices is geared to a better understanding of the three vows and their corresponding virtues, which we know to be the essence of the religious life. Father Duffey's thesis is that novices should be carefully schooled in the science of the vows; they should know what the vows entail, what is demanded by the rules and con-stitutions that they might enter the life of the vows with "minds pre-pared." Thus the novitiate is a place where the novice is to form 113 BOOK REVIEWS Review for Religious the proper religious attitudes, where each novice has ample time to test himself and to be tested to see if he can live the life of the vows. It is a time to consider and pray over the great privileges and duties of being a vowed laborer with Christ; /~ time to examine his intention and motives and even to purify them if necessary; the novitiate is a time to understand himself as he has never understood himself before and establish a correct hierarchy of valui~s based on Christ, the model of the vows. Father Duffey tries to give, and quite successfully too, the moral and canonical demands of the vows together with a doctrinal back-ground and ascetical incentive for the faithful living out of the vows. He emphasizes over and over again that the vows are a supernatural way of life led in imitation of Christ; they are something positive, and not a series of "suffocating denials" nor a legalistic ladder to heaven. The living of the vows gives the religious freedom from creatures to do God's will. It is on this positive character of the vows that novices should fix their minds and hearts, for it is the vows that permeate the whole day of the religious! The-book is well planned. There are twelve interesting chapters dealing" with such subjects as: The Novitiate, The Religious Life, Perfection, The Meaning of a Vow; two chapters on each of the three vows; one on Authority and Obedience, which is a very fine treatment of the duties of superiors; and a final chapter on Religious Profession. As the book stands it is broad enough to embrace all spiritualities. It is not meant to be a substitute for the instruction that the master or mistress is accustomed to give, but rather a complement to that instruction. The novice has a source to which he can go if he wishes to refresh his knowledge. The great insistance on the dynamism of the vows as the religious way of living in imitation of Christ is to be commended. "The chap-ters on chastity and obedience are especially well done and bring out the positive character of the vows exceptionally well. However,' the chapters on poverty fall short when compared with the treat-ment of the other two vows. In general the book is instructignal, motivational, full of good common, as well as supernatural, sense. It will be easily understood by the novices. Like a good teacher, Father Duffey repeats his key ideas throughout the book and frequently makes a summary of what has been seen in various chapters. In all the book is most worth-while, highly recommended, and will repay with. interest the time one spends reading it.--RALPH H. T~.LK~N, S.J." 114 March, 1958 BOOK REVIEWS THE YOKE OF DIVINE LOVE. By Dom Hubert Van Zeller, ¯ O.S.B. Pp. 238. Templegate, Springfield, Illinois, 1957. $3.75. The tireless pen of Dom Hubert has, in this small volume, pre-sented another challenge to comfort-loving nature, this time taking for his audience the seekers after conventual perfection. He makes it clear from the outset that he is not writing merely for monks, and certainly not exclusively for those of Benedictine Rule, but for all religious, men and women, though the medium through which he aptly chooses to impart his lessons and deliver his frank and kindly blows is Benedictine vocabulary culled from the wisdom of St. Benedict and his greatest interpreter St. Bernard, The whole concern of his book, as he tells us in the preface, is to show how to work up from the fundamentals of religion, prayer, reading, silence, labor, and enclosure to God and not inward toward self. Such a caution is of vital interest to all religious; and they will eagerly submit to Dom Hubert's admoni-tions, delivered with a freshness and candid realism not too often encountered in spiritual treatises. The volume might almbst be ~ermed a "Book of Sentences," or another version of The Following of Christ, with its many incisive, diminutive paragraphs. Thus the first chapter on Supernatural Motive of less than nine pages is presented in gixty-two thought-packed para-graphs. Any one of them might serve as an outline for a more pro-found meditation. And almost a good third of them would present the thesis of the book, the yoke of divin~ love, in a nutshell. There is always love in the background to give light and warmth whenever it does not appear explicitly or at the head. But it is not an easy doctrine of love the book preaches. It can and does issue startling warnings. "The heart of the monk, if it deviates from the love of God alone, can become an unquiet evil. It wanders, looking for rest and finding none. It fastens on other hearts and drains them of the love of God. If it shrivelled up in solitude it would be a waste enough, but the heart that has tired of the love of God and that hungers still for love is a menace." Dom Hubert tells us exactly what his method in writing the book will be. "What we have to do is to find principles common to most religious orders and examine them in the light of love, prayer, and faith. To agree on foundations is at least a start." From' this humble beginning he develops a gripping code of religious life as he finds it substantially presented by all religious founders. The Yoke of 115 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS Review for Religious Divine Love, a clever title for the book that follows, is broken down into three minor "books" treating of the religious life, prayer, and community life. Each of these essential constituents of religious life is reviewed with a freshness and vigor that opens the eyes of the reader to a number of surprising subterfuges and alibis that even sincere religious may construct for themselves to escape the more exacting pressures of the yoke of love. One might cite countless instances of plain-spoken axioms of religious living which in one form or another bear out the author's verdict: "The trouble about renouncing the world is that it comes back in another form. You bar the windows of your cell against it, and it comes up through the boards of the floor. You throw it out by the door, and it comes in through the ventilator." It appears that this candid volume to be truly appreciated had better be read first cursorily, with many a smile and more than one mea cull~a, and henceforth be left on the desk or priedieu as a vade mecum for the purpose of snatching now and then tiny crumbs from its pages to be refreshed by its invigorating frankness. More than one reader will be disappointed at the lack of definite references to the many scripture passages cited. St. Thomas, too, St. Benedict, and the Fathers are frequently quoted by name only. ~ALoYSIUS C. KEMPER, S.J. BOOK ANNOUNCI:MI:NTS THE BRUCE PUBLISHING COMPANY, 400 North Broadway, Milwaukee 1, Wisconsin. Conferences on the Religious Life. By Aloysius Biskupek, S.V.D. You will find these conferences refreshing and original both as .re-gards the topics chosen and as to the treatment accorded them. Some of the unusual topics are: The Religious Habit, Patrons, The Refectory, Living the Mass, Sick Religious. The author is forthright in his treatment. Part of his answer to those who say that they cannot meditate reads as follows: "Meditation requires the exercise of memory, mind, and will; the use of these faculties is wholly or partially impossible in the case of infants, mental defectives, and insane persons. Does any one who claims he cannot meditate classify himself as belonging to these categories?" Pp. 204. $3.50. Live in the Holy Spirit.By Bruno M. Hagspiel, S.V.D: This is a book" of conferences onthe religious life written for religious 116 l~larch, 1958 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS women. The author speaks with the authority 6f one who has done much work for religious women and knows their virtues as well as their faults. It is a modern book and does not omit to discuss modern topics such as motion pictures, radio, television. Pp. 170. $3.50. You. By Father M. Raymond O.C.S.O. Living in an age that looks on the individual as expendable and negligible, we have great need to realize anew the dignity, sublimity, exalted vocation, and priceless character of even the least of the children of men. Father Raymond emphasizes these truths not in the abstract but in the concrete; not as applied to some one else but to you. His exhortations, . each chapter is a fervent exhortation, are addressed to both religious and lay people. There are no chapters applicable only to religious, and only one (14) intended specifically for parents. It makes encouraging spiritual reading. Pp. 301. $4.50. My Sunday Reading. A Popular Explanation and Application of the Sunday Epistles and Gospels. By Kevin O'Sullivan, O.F.M. We have all heard the Sunday Epistles and Gospels oftener than we care to admit. Do we understand them? This .book serves as an excellent introduction to such understanding. It is written primarily for the layman, but even the religious can profit by a study of this volume. Pp. 345. $5.00. A Christian Philosophy of Life. By Bernard J. Wuellner, S.J. We are guided on our journey through life on earth by the light of reason and by the light of faith. Both are necessary, and both should come into play many times each day. Both also need to be developed. As we may grow in faith by the study of revela-tion, so we perfect reason by the study of philosophy. If you have had the advantages of a college education, you will find Father Wuellner's book an excellent refresher course in philosophy; if you have not, it will give you a brief introduction to the most significant course a Catholic college has to offer. A great merit of the book is that the author does not hesitate to appeal to revelation to supplement the findings of reason. Here is a book which a religious can afford not only to read but to study. Pp. 278. $4.25. Angels Under Wraps. By Edward. Vincent Dailey. A book of stories, all about angels. They are interesting and enjoyable, and it would be surprising if they did not increase your devotion to your own guardian angel. Pp. 149. $2.95. 117 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS .Review for Religious FIDES PUBLISHERS, 744 East 79th Street, Chicago 19, Illinois. One in Christ. By Illtud Evans, O.P. The author accurately describes this collection of essays in these words: "The purpose of these pages is not to argue or to prove. It is simply to say that the life of the Church is the life of Christ continued in time and place, made available to men. The truths we believe are declared every day and the prayer of the Church (which is the prayer of Christ) exists to express them. The life of charity exists to make them incarnate here and now." Pp. 82. Paper $0.95. The Modern Apostle. By Louis J. Putz, C.S.C: Priests and religious will be interested in this book as a means to learn more about the modern lay apostolate and to help to spread this move-ment among the laity. It was written by a priest who has probably done more for this movement in America than any other. The material in the book first appeared as a series of articles in Our Sunday Visitor. Pp. 148. $2.95. Key. to the Psalms. By Mary Perkins Ryan. More and more lay people are beginning to discover the treasure of the Psalms. To help them Mary Perkins Ryan has written this book. She has made her own all the latest findings of the scripture scholars and has written a book that is both authoritative and popular. The translations of the Psalms are particularly excellent. Read this book and discover for yourself why the Church has always made the Psalms such a large part of her liturgical prayer. Pp. 187. $3.50. Together in Marriage. By John J. Kane. This i~ another volume in the "Fides Family Readers Series." It is of special interest to priests who are engaged in Cana Conference work and very suitable for the libraries of 'all houses for lay retreats. Pp. 154. $2.95, The Meaning Of Christmas. By A. M. Avril, O.P. Translated by S. D. Palleske. This is a volume of sermons that were orig-inally broadcast on the National "French Chain. Their subject matter is the Christmas cycle, from the first Sunday of Advent to the sixth Sunday after Epiphany. Pp. 153. $2.75. Going to God. By Sister Jane Marie" Murray, O.P. This is the first volume of a four-year series of textbooks in religion for high schools. The series bears the title "The Christian Life." These books are the product of much thought, study, planning, and con-sultation with fifteen experts in the fields of theology, Sacred Scrip- 118 March, 1958 ~BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS ture, education, the apostolate, and art. All four of the volumes are to be available by the summer of 1958. Before adopting a new set of texts for the religion classes in high school~ be sure that you examine these new books. Pp. 430. GRAIL PUBLICATIONS, St. Meinrad, Indiana. Pope Plus XII and Catholic Education. Edited by Vincent A. Yzermans. We owe a debt of gratitude both tb the editor and to the publishers for collecting in d single volume twenty-two addresses of Pope Plus XII on Catholic education. Teachers will find in them encouragement, wise directives, and much matter for fruitful examination of conscience. Pp. "180. Paper $1.00. B. HERDER BOOK COMPANY, 15-17 South Broadway, St. Louis 2, Missouri. The Sacred Canons. A Concise Presentation of the Current Disciplinary Norms of the Church. Volume I, Canons 1-869; Vol. II, Canons 870.2~14. Revised Edition. By John A. Abbo and Jerome D. Hannan. The purpose of this commentary on the Code of Canon Law is explained in the preface: "The work was begun to answer in some degree the spontaneous demand for a better knowledge of ecclesiastical law that has arisen in~ English-speaking countries among religious who are not clerics and among laymen, especially those engaged in the professions." Vol. I, pp. 871; Vol. II, pp. 936. $19.00 the set. P. J. KENEDY & SONS, 12 Barclay Street, New York 8, New York. Handbook of Moral Theology. By Dominic M. Priimmer, O,P. Translated by Gerald Shelton. Adapted for American usage by John Gavin Nolan. This is0 an English compendium of the justly celebrated four-volume Latin edition. It requires no gift of proph-ecy to predict that it will prove very popular with priesis, sem-inarians, and any who have frequent occasion to familiarize them-selves with the moral teachings of the Church. Pp. 496. $4.00. Maryknoll Missal. If you are looking for an English missal, you will want to examine this one, the first to be published since the recent decrees simplifying the rubrics. It is dom. pletely up-to- . date, and the translation is in modern English. References have been reduced to a minimum. It is a very handsome and convenient missal. Pp. 1699. 119 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS Review ]or Religious LONGMANS, GREEN & COMPANY, INCORPORATED, 55 Fifth Avenue, New York 3, New York. Catholicism and the Ecumenical Movement. By John M. Todd. Introduction by the Abbot of Downside. Mr. Todd, author, as-sistant editor of the Downside Review, and radio commentator, writes for both Catholics and non-Catholics. His aim is: "(1) To inform Catholics of the nature of the ecumenical problem and of the solu-tions that are offered by the non-Catholic world; (2) To inform non-Catholics of the reasons for the contemporary (Roman) Catholic attitude to the problem, and to show how a Catholic layman ap-proaches the situation today." Pp. 111. Paper $1.50. THE NEWMAN PRESS, Westminster, Maryland. God's Bandit. The Story of Don Orione, Father of the Poor. By Douglas Hyde. The author, a newspaper reporter by training and temperament, writes the dramatic story of a priest possessed of an immense love of the poor and unfortunate. To promote his work he founded four religious congregations, of which the principal one is the Sons of Divine Providence. As a boy he spent two years with St. Don Bosco. As a priest he was on intimate termswith St. Plus X. He died in 1940 and already many legends have grown up around his memory. It is probable that we shali one day honor him as a saint, for the causeof his beatification has been introduced in Rome. Pp. 208. $3.50. New Life in Christ. By Ludwig Esch, S.J. Translated from the German by W. T. Swain. The author spent forty years working for youth and in' this very comprehensive book gathers together what he has learned so that others may profit by his experience. There are four main divisions. ¯ The Fundamental Principles Gov-erning Our Growing Up in Christ, Our Life in Christ, The Growth of Life in Christ, and Maturing in Christ. Any of the problems that youth must meet today you will find treated in these pages. The book will be useful not only for youth but also for all those who have to assist in their training and education. Pp. 294. $4.50. SHEED & WARD, 840 Broadway, New York 3, New York. Martyrs from St. Stephen to John Tung. By Donald Attwater. Here are fifty-eight graphic and gripping accounts of martyrdom. They will make many a saint you know only as a name come to life for you and, as a result, become a real influence in your life. Pp. 236. $4.00. 120 March, 1958 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS The Roots of the Reformation by" Karl Adam; Marriage and the Family by F. J. Sheed; Confession by John C. Heenan; The Rosary by Maisie Ward; The Devil by' WC'a[ter lCarreI[, O.P., and Bernard Leeming, S,J. These are the first five books of a new series called "Canterbury Books." They are paper-covered books that average one hundred pages and sell for seventy-five cents. They treat their subject matter in greater detail than is possible in a pamphlet but more concisely than a full-length book. They are to be on religious topics and are intended for both Catholics and inquiring non-Catholics. The Making of Church' Vestments. By Graham Jenkins. Part One details the history of the liturgical vestments. Part Two gives easy-to-follow instructions abundantly illustrated on how ~o make church vestments. Pp. 32. $0.95. The New Guest Room Book. Assembled by F. J. Sheed. Illus-trated by Enrico Arno. Here we have a miniature library guaranteed to contain something to please any taste. Pp. 448. $7.50. ( ues ions and Answers [The following answers are given by'Father Joseph F. Gallen, S.J., professor canon law at Woodstock College, Woodstock, Maryland.] When you repeatedly state that sisters are overworked, don't you realize that almost universally the blame is cast on their superiors? And yet what can the superiors do? Are they to blame for the num-ber of Catholic children to be educated? for the opening of new schools? for the vacation schools? for the added demands of modern education? The fact that sisters are overworked is an evident and incontro-vertible fact, and the harmful effects are equally evident. The sense of the remarks on this point has never been that superiors are wholly to blame but that they can do something to lighten the burden. This thought is also completely evident and has been expressed by many others. "In my opinion, a policy almost heroic adopted by certain superiors is deserving of signal praise, that is, the refusal to accept 121 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Review for Religious new works, certainly useful, but which would overwhelm their religious men or women. A more cogent reason is that these religious are already overburdened as they become too few to accomplish the works already accepted which become progressively more compli-cated. The religious who is overburdened, exhausted, iaervous is in danger not only of doing his work poorly but, what is more serious, of being unable to draw spiritual profit from the time of prayer pre-scribed by the constitutions. He thus falls into activism, and there is no need to demonstrate here that this is the contradiction of the . primary and common purpose of the state of perfection" (Reverend A. Pl~, O.P., ztcta et Documenta Congressus Generalis de Statibus Per-fectionis, II, 146). "Superiors should be forbidden to accept new foundations unless they are able to staff them in such a way that their subjects are given the leisure needed for their own souls. What 'is needed are fervent foundations, not mere physical buildings in which a few religious, overwrought and exhausted, live and work in a frenzied round of activity. I believe that the cause of the Church would prosper far more with fewer buildings and projects, erected at the cost of the religious spirit, and with more prayerful religious" (Reverend F. Rice, C.P., ibid., III, 517). "Overwork will inevitably pull down the sl~iritual life. It is al-most impossible to live up to the ideals of the religious life when we are launched upon a troublesome sea ill-prepared and ill-equipped. Careful training and a good, broad education will do much to obviate this and so help considerably in preserving the religious spirit" (Brother P. C. Curran, F.S.C.H., Religious Life Today, 181). Since we are not contemplative, couldn't we dispense with the rule of silence? You are partially contemplative. The mixed religious life is the harmonious union of the contemplative life with apostolic activity. Every religious is supposed to attain a deep spirit of prayer and interior life. Neither of these is possible without recollection

Issue 12.5 of the Review for Religious, 1953. ; A.M.D.G. Review for Religious SEPTEMBER 15, 1953 Pleasure and Ascetical Life . Joseph P. Fisher intergroup Relations " Wiiliam H. Gremley The Religion Teacher . Sls~er M. Acjneslne Practice of the Holy See ¯ Joseph F. Gallen Discipline . c.A. Herbst Questions and Answers Rural Parish Wo~'kers VOLUME XII NUMBER RI VII:::W FOR RI::LI IOUS VOLUME XlI SEPTEMBER, 15, 1953 NUMBER 5 CONTENTS SOME THOUGHTS ON PLEASURE AND THE ASCETICAL LIFE-- Joseph P, Fisher, S.J . 225 OUR CONTRIBUTORS . 230 ABOUT BOOKS . 230 SOME DEVELOPMENTS IN INTERGROUP RELATIONS-- William H. Gremley . . . . . 231 A YEAR WITH THE RURAL PARISH WORKERS . 242 PAGING THE RELIGION "TEACHER--Sister M. Agnesine, S.S.N.D. 248 PRACTICE OF THE HOLY SEE--Joseph F. Gallen, S.J .2.5.2 DISCIPLINE--C. A. Herbst, S.J . 272 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS-- 25. Second Year of Novitiate . 276 26. Authority of Superior and Novice Master . 278 27. Sleeping Quarters of Novices . 279 28. Fugitive Religious and Dowry . 280 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, September, 1953, Vol. XII, 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, Topeka, Kansas, under the act of March 3, 1879. Editorial Board: Jerome Breunig, S.J., Augustine G. Ellard, S.J., Adam C. Ellis, S.J., Gerald Kelly, s.,j., Francis N. Korth, S.J. Copyright 1953, by Adam C. Ellis, S.J. Permission is her.eby gra,nted for quota-tions of reasonable length, provided due credit be given this review and the author. Subscription price: 3 dollars a year; 50 cents a copy. Printed in U. S. A. Before wrlt;ncj to us, please consult notice on inside back cover. Some Thought:s on Pleasure and !:he Ascet:ical Life Joseph P. Fisher, S.J. ¯|T IS ALMOST INEVITABLE that a good many young reli- | gious, especially among the more fervent, run into certain difficul-ties in squaring their attitude toward pleasure and their acceptance of it with certain ascetical ideals. Practically all ascetical literature, as in a certain sense it must, enlarges on the danger of pleasure and sometimes almost gives the idea to inexperienced minds that pleasure is evil in itself. Likewise there is the insistence that the harder, the more painful, a thing is, the better. While this is true ~rightly under-stood, . young minds frequently make. no qualifications and hence fall into error. Often enough the lives of the saints seem to confirm their exaggerations. The, attitude of mind engendered by such misunder-standings makes for certain practical difficulties in the conduct of these young religious. They are constantly ill-at-ease when faced with pleasure. They feel their ascetical ideals conflict with the mode of action encouraged by customs, by more experienced religious, friends, or relatives. On certain occasions, for instance, feast days, picnics, visiting, it seems they are expected t~o enjoy food, entertain-ment, comforts of various kinds. But they feel that to do so means they must go back on the truest ascetical principles. Or it may be that they are encouraged to enjoy literature but feel that to do so would be. to lessen their ideals. As a matter of fact in the more. ex-treme cases a young religious may have his or her outlook so shaped by the conviction that pleasure is evil (or at least always very. sus-pect) and pain always good that the whole spiritual life is nothing but a kind of self-torture. As is evident, all religious should know the truth about this mat-ter. In general it may be said that not only is it no sin ~o enjoy moderate pleasure but it can easily be an act of virtue. And the goodness of the act can be indefinitely increased by the inte.ntion of directing it to a higher and nobler end, and even actually and ex-plicitly to our ultimate end. For example, a religious who likes honey may eat it with relish and glorify God by so doing. The religious knows there is no sin in such an action and implicitly understands that the action is in accord with God's designs for human life. As a 225 JOSEPH P. FISHER Reoiew ~or Religious matter of fact, the religious could make this an act of the love of God by quietly considering the Wisdom and Goodness of God manifested in this expe.rience of human life. And so with the various simple pleasures that might conceivably, come into an ordinary day. Thdre is a field of pleasure that may well call for special atten-tion. Nowadays many religious are called upon to teach the fine arts, whose whole purpose is to please. This does not mean of.course that this pleasure may be regarded as man's absolutely last end, but it is a relatively ultimate end. Unlike "practical" arts, the fine arts are not aimed at producing something useful, but something beautiful, which causes pleasure. Now if what w,e said above about the possibility of elevating the goodness of sensible pleasures is true, this possibility is even truer in regard to the pleasures of art. For the pleasure of art is a nobler pleasure than that of eating, for instance. Accordingly, it ought to be easier to sublimate the "good" present in an aesthetic ex-perience. Some may doubt this, recalling what they have heard about the immorality of artists of various kinds a~id the. warnings against being a vapid aesthete. And it must be admitted that for certain temperaments there is a danger. Father Graham, in his book, The Looe of God, puts !t stronglywhen.he says: "Artistic sensibility can and should, when controlled by prudence, lend grace and attractive-ness to the moral life. But it frequently happens that the allure-ments of beauty prove so strong that the response to them tends to degenerate into mere aesthetic indulgence. The lover of beauty is con-cerned above all else with the joyous experience of what is pleasing; when unchecked by other considerations he seeks logically an ecstatic existence of perpetual intoxication, through eye and ear and mind, with beautiful objects." It may be added that if a person is of such a temperament and gives in to it, he will undoubtedly do it to the neglect of duty. Even those who are not especially sensitive to beauty can at times be drawn from stern duty by the siren of pleasure. However, it seems that among Catholics and certainly among religious such aesthetes are rather rare. The difficulty is oftentimes the other way about. Even those whose duty it is to study literature and other works of art try to do so without apprec,iating and enjoying the beauty of them. Such an approach is obviously wrong, for unless literature and the other works of art are enjoyed, they are not correctly comprehended. And one who himself does not comprehend can hardly expect to teach others with any success. So it comes about that some rather fail in 226 September, 1953 PLEASURE AND ASCETICAL LIFE their du~;y by not enjoying what is God's Will that theyshould enjoy than by over-indulgence. For example, if Brother Aquinas is pre-paring to teach English and fears to allow himself aesthetic pleasure in reading Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, he certainly will fail to a great extent in both his studies and his teaching. Moreover, it would be well for men if the right kind of people created and appreciated beauty. Too often the enjoyment of beauty appears to be the monopoly of sentimental, anti-intellectual, or at least non-intellectual, and irreligious escapists. "All things are yours" (I Cor. 3/33) but they won't be if we fear immod'~rately, unreasonably, the enjoyment of the beautiful. Since there is an intimate relationship between nature ahd art. it will help to see first something about the enjoyment of nature. Ac-cording to St. Paul, "All the creatures of God are good and nothing is to be rejected that is received with thanksgiving . " (I. Tim. 4/4). And "From the foundations of the world men have caught sight of his invisible nature, his eternal power and his divinity, as they are knowri through his creatures" (Romans, 1/20). The beau-ties of nature ought to lead us to God, Who is reflected in nature, the work of His bands. Many misunderstand the place of "creatures" in God'splan for men. They are normally the means by which man rises to a knowledge and love of the Creator. Too many look upon them as "absolutes," things apart from God, things which, if appre-ciated, draw us to themselves and away from God. Such a view is based upon a n.isunderstandlng of. their true nature. Creatures, finite beings, are of their very nature dependent beings, relative beings, not absolutes. They must, if properly understood, be related to the In-finite; they point to the Infinite; their participated qualities are finite reflections of the infinite attributes and should more than remind us of their prototype. For one who understands the truth about the nature of finite beings, they ought to be stepping stones or rather springboards by Which he rises to that full Being Who is the ever-active cause of their ever-dependent existence. "The Contemplation for Obtaining L6ve," which crowns the Exercises of St. Ignatius, tries to impress men with this truth, but many, satisfied with a super-ficial approach, never really understand it. But the saints have understood it. It is a commonplace that St. Francis of Assisi made much of the sacrament of nature. A biographer relates "the following of St. Francis during his last days. "Meanwhile Francis was suffering greatly. Yet amidst his bodily 227 JOSEPH P. FISHEI~ agonies .be continued to find a~ absorbing sweetness in meditating upon the be.auty of God ifiHis creationl All the.crea'tion seemed to sing of the glory of its Creator to his pain-racked senses: and this is the more wonderful when w~ rememb& ho'~ 'pain is 'apt to turn all sensible comfort into bitterness. One day,' when he was suffering more than u~ual in eyes ~ifid head, he had a great desire to hear the viol. One of the brothers attending him, had been a violist in the world. Francis called for him and said: 'Biother, th~ children of th~ world do not understand divine sacraments: and musical instru-ments, which in former times were set apart for. the praise of God, man's wantonness has converted to the mere delight of the ear. Now I would hav~ you go secretly and borrow a vi01 and bring comfort with some honest melody to Brother Body who is so full of pains.' " Now without entering into controversy about the relationship between nature and art, we can certainly transfer 'much 6f what we have said about nature and God to art and God. Whether you say that art copies nature, perfects or .sublimates nature, or helps one ap-preciate nature, in any case, artistic works ~re finite participations of Infinite Beauty an'd, if appreciated as such, can and should aid one to appreciate this Infinite Beauty. In o{her words, art ~can help one use creatures for "contemplation." A man who is impressed by finite beauty can thereby be better prepared to appreciate the Source of all beauty. One may, for instance, never have realized how a cloud re-flects God's beauty Until he has read and appreciated Shelley's poem, ."The Cloud." Pleasure, though an end in its own o~der, may, if handled prop-erly, be a means of drawing closer to God. A certain puritanical bent of mind prevents many from appreciating this fact. This is not to deny that one can practice virtue" by foregoing the enjoyment of l~gitimate pleasure. It is often said that such abstinence from legiti-mate pleasure strengthens the will so,that it wili be strong in temp-tation. There is certainly much truth in this statement, but it is well to rememberthat motivation rather than exercise is the best means of strengthening the will. However, it is clear that a religious would scarcely be imitating Christ very seriously if he endeavored to fill life with every legitimate pleasure. Christ being rich became poor for us. All who are in the way of the love of Christ know that they can manifest and add to their love by sacrifice. Even here it is well to remember that' ChriSt made use of at least some.pleasures of Ills, ¯ such as the enjoyment of friendship and of.natur~al beauty. And 228 September, 19~ 3 PLEASURE AND ASCETICAL LIFE theology will not allow us to forget the fact that all His life Christ enjoyed the Beatific Vision, even though it is true at least at times the proper effects were divinely withheld. As to whether Christ enjoyed the beauty of human art, we do not have much evidence. If he did not, it would seem that was Simply due to circumstances; cer-tainly the enjoyment of finite beauty is a very worthy human ex-perience, and Christ was a complete man. God it is who has given the artistic urge and God it is Who has created the arts in which man "imitates" the Creator. The artist, even though unconsciously, casts an illuminating light on some facet of a created good, and aids us to appreciate more fully, the beauty .of God's handiwork. Of course Christ did not need this aid, but there were many things Christ did not need that He made His own to be like us and give us an example. The question as to how far an individual religious ought togo in the renouncemen(' of even legitimate pleasure is a very personal question. Even one who wishes to go far in this regard ought to understand the truth of the matter, so that he knows to what he is bound and where he begins to practice supererogation. It is likewise well to remember that what may be or appear objectively best is not always subjectively so. An individual's nature, vocation, training, ¯ and the grace of God must always be considered in settling such questions. What is good for one may be bad for another. A novice in the spiritual life cannot do what a tried religious can do; an active religious cannot do what a contemplative can. It dbes seem that most active religious, at least in the early years of their religious life, may well use pleasure, the higher pleasur.es and even moderate sensible pleasures, to help them rise to the knowledge and love of their Cre-ator. In doing this they should not feel that they are turning their backs on Christ, for as they 'get to know His "mind" better and begin to love Him more, they will spontaneously and with peace.and equanimity begin to give themselves to what St. Ignatius styles the Third Degree of Humility, the imitation of Christ in s~ffering and humiliations through love. Certain young religious seem to think that what is really the strong meat of the mystic way is already for them early in their reli-gious lives, for they try to get to God without the use of creatures. Cardinal Bellarinine points them the way quite clearly: "But we mortal men (as it seemeth) can find no other ladder whereby to ascend unto God, but by the works of God. For those who by the singular gift of God have (by another way) been admitted into 2.29 ~JoSEPH P. FISHER Paradise to hear God's secrets, which it is not lawful for a man to speak, and are not said to have a'scended, 13ut to have been wrapt.". At death some religious who have been striving to fly without wings will agree v~itb this statement of Father Martindale: "But may not one of the great 'difficulties' of dying be this--not that yo~u. have worshipped idols--loved created things ~oo much--but that you have not loved them nearly enough? What suddenly appals one is,' that God surrc~unded one with a myriad things of unbeliev-able beauty--like butterflies, or the sea, or uneducated p, eople--and that one has allowed them to slip by almost unnoticed." Certainly one reason many do not get more out of life is that they fail to make Christlike use of one of God's good creatures-- pleasure. "For all things are yours, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas; or the world, or life, or death; or things present, or things to cg.me--all are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's" (I Cor. 3/22:23). OU R CONTRIBUTORS ¯ "JOSEPH P. FISHER is master of novices at the Jesuit novitiate, Florissant, Mo." WILLIAM H. GREMLEY is Executive Secretary for the. Commission on Human Rela-tions, Kansas City, Mo. SISTER M. AGNESINE is nationally known as an expert on methods of teaching religion. JOSEPH F. GALLEN is professor of canon law at Woodstock Coll~ge, Woodstock, Md. C. A. HERBST is on the faculty of the Jesuit juniorate .at Florissant, Mo. ABOUT BOOKS It will be noticed that in this number of the REVIEW; book reviews, book. notices, and book announcements are conspicuous by their absence. The' reason for this is that the varied summer assignments of the editors made it impossible to do the ol~ice work necessary for organizing reviews, notices, etc. The deficiency will be remedied in the November number. 230 Some Developments in Intergroup Relations William H. Gremley IT IS almost anti-climactic these, days to dwell at length on the importance of social and political problems in America occasioned by intergroup relationships. The volume of press stories and magazine articles on the subject,, such as Supreme Court decisions, legislative action of one kind or another or "incidents," either posi-tive or negative in nature, increases daily and 'has come to be almost routine. Scarcely a Week passes without some high official, go+tern-ment or civic, making a major address regarding the international aspects of this issue. That it may be one of the most important topics of our day can-not be denied since, in degree, it permeates almost all other major nation~il concerns, yet, like all social or political issues, it must have proper perspective to be abso'rbed and understood. Unfortunately, the drama and emotion inherent in the problem is a barrier to this perspective. All ioo often the negative--the headlines on race-riots, the grim warnings that we are losing overseas allies, the economic loss from discrimination--dominates the over-all picture with scant emphasis on the positive. And, all too often, the positive is usu~illy limited to gome assertion that "ihe Negro has come a long way since slavery." A brief analysis of some developments in intergroup relations over the past ten years will disclose some positive aspects of far more importance and profundity than the latter remark. The objectives of this article will be to present some analysis of those developments, primarily as they relate to daily situations familiar to most readers. and to attempt a balance of both fiegative and pgsitive aspects so as to present a proper over-all perspecttive. " I Initially, some definitions may be of value as follows: t) The terminology of the problem has, in the past, often been misunderstood. To call it a "Negro problem" is a. misnomer for, in actuality, there is no such thing as a. N, eoro problem in the. United ~tates--nor,.for that matter, a ,Jewish, Mexi.c.o.n, or Puerto Rican .231 X~qlLLIAM H. GREMLEY Review/:or Religious problem or any other issue involving people of one race, .religion, or national origin. The problem, in. terms of a situation demanding attention or correction, is one involving re[ationsfiips between mem-bers of different groups. It is, thus, more accurate to define it as a Negro-white, Jewisb-Gentilel etc., relationship problem. Nothing in the entire range of group discrimination or prejudice has roots solely in one group. A sub-problem, for example, of employment discrimination against Jews or Negroes is dynamically related to the fears, myths, and prejudices of the white Gentile em-ployer. Moreover,. defining the issue as a "Negro problem"-implies a detached and overly-objective attitude toward 15,000,000 people that is quite unrelated to the facts of group discrimination. 2) The term, "intergroup relations" is replacing, in g~neral, such terms as "race-relations" or "human relations." The word "intergroup" obviously pinpoints the is~sue far more than either a phrase excluding religious or nationality conflicts or one embracing all personal relationships, both "inter" a'nd "intra." 3) "Minority groups," as a phrase, is confined solely to a group that, because of some facet of assumed ~roup identity--skin color, religion, language, or group, custom--suffers social, economic, or political discrimination against it. Actually, however, i'minority group" is divisive in itself since it segments people from others and should be used with caution and clarity. 4) " The phrase "civil rights" is distinct from "civil liberties" in that the latter refers to the political or quasi-political freedoms guar-anteed to all by Constitutional safeguards. These would include freedom of speech, press, assembly, religion, or right to petition or bear arms. On the other hand, "civil rights" ~ire much rffore social in nature, referring to rights involving places of piablic accommoda-tion, public or privately owned, employment, housing, health and welfare facilities, recreation or education. Somewhere in between the two terms would come rights concerning voting and police pro-tection. II. Perhaps tb~ most important single,development in intergroup relations in the last decade has been th~ establishment of official city agencies to deal with urban problems of this type. Known, for the most part, as "commissions" or "councils" followed by the words "on civic unity," "community relations," or "human relations," they represent a significant phase in the over-all advancement toward September, 1953 INTERGROUP RELATIONS solutions of these problems. In essence,, such, city agencies mean a full realization of and acknowledgement by city authorities that in-tergroup relationships in the diverse populations making up most of America's urban areas can no longer be left to chance or haphazard methods. Just as in decades past, public health, transportation, wa-ter supply, street maintenance, and a host of other various civic con-cerns have been progressively added to the functions of American city government, so too the concerns of intergroup violence, dis-crimination, and individual civil rights are now the official tax- " supported duties of more than 60 American cities. The origins of such city agendes, most of which are goyerned by city ordinance, date from the Detroit race riots of 1943. Shortly after that catast~rophe, a group of Chicago citizens, headed by the late Edwin Embree, then head of the Rosenwald Fund, persuaded the late Mayor Edward Kelly to establish the first such agency. In time, other cities followed suit ~nd today the list includes such arras as Detroit, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Buffalo, Toledo, Kansas City (Mo.), St. Louis, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Denver. Seattle, and scores of others. In addition, many cities, both North and South. lacking a tax-supported agency, have privately supported groups working to-ward similar ends. Basically, these agencies, composed, for the most part, of mayoral appointees serving without salary but with a paid professional staff, have three aims: 1) To prevent or lessen intergroup violence~ u~hether of the col-lective mob type or as an isolated action (i.e., a bombing or an indi-vidual attack). The most singular success in this regard has taken place in Chicago where the police force, after utilizing the guidance and resources of the Chicago Commission on Human Relations, has achieved a high degree of efficiency in the prevention of intergroup mob violence. (The Cicero riot of 1951 is a case in point. So strict and effective were police measures taken to prevent a "spilling"'over Of ¯ this affair into Chicago that, while law and order broke down com-pletely in Cicero--adjacent to Chicago-the prevalent tensions in the latter city were kept completely in check.) 2) To d~oelop harmonious relationships bettveen all groups And eliminate the causes of group friction and. prejudice. In this regard, such~ city~ag.encies have,available.,a vast.amount of resource material built up over the last ten years. The material available to schools of 233 WILLIAM H. GREMLEY Review for Religious all type~ and a~ all levels will illustrate. Audio-visual aids, teacher training workshops, and curriculum and school-community relation-ship material are some of the areas where resources may be obtained. In addition, ~xtensive tl~eoretical and practical research has been ac-complisbed regarding such problem areas a~ community organization, employment, housing, health, welfare, recreatiom and civil rights. 3) To safeguard and protect the ci~)il rights" of all groups. A greater divergence among such agencies is found in this objective th~an in the other two for an obvious reason~ The degree of civil rights legally accorded to citizens, for the most part, depends on the local or state laws on the subject. Many states, like New York and Rhode Island, have effective Fair Employment PracticeLaws. In addition, New York has a Fair Education Practice Law that prohibits school "quotas" based on group differences. Conversely the s~gregation laws of the South deny civil rights to manycitizens. Thus an inter-group city agericy relies on laws if they exist and persuasion to pro-tect such rights. In "border" states like Missouri, the agency must depend on persuasion alone to accomplish this objective. In general, the types of intergroup probiems faced by a city agency will depend on the population make-up of the city itself. In cities like Chicago, Detroit, and Kansas City, perhaps 90% of such problems spring from Negro-white relationships. New York City with a Puerto-Rican population of.some 500,000 must consider this particular problem along with Negro-white and Jewish-Gentile con-cerns. West Coast cities with people of Japanese descent comprising large .segments of the Ipopulation, Texas urban areas containing sig-nificant percentages of Mexican-Americans, and Rocky-Mountain or North Mid-West states with American Indian reservations, all have different kinds of problem areas sometim_es calling for different kinds of treatment techniques or materi~ils. III An inevitableconsequehce or ,concomitant.of the growth of both" intergroup city agencies and the extensive resource material men-tioned has beeh the development of the 'intergroup relations "pro-fessioni" For the most part, the usual frame ofreference associated with any profession--research material, academic courses and,degrees, job personnel standards, establishment of a national organization (in this case the National Association of Intergroup Relations,Offi-cials)--- characterize intergroup, relations. Over and above these cri- 234 Sgptember, 1953 teria, however, certain premises exist regarding this'field Which have strong foundation~ not only in law where the c'ase may be but, in all cases, in democratic and religious principles as well. -It may be un-necessars; to ~dd that such principles are wholly consonant with those of the two major religious traditions in America. Both Judaic and Christian concepts of individual dignity, of course, are clear and defined. Man is an individual with God-given rights as well as .God-given responsibilities. In addition, it is inher-ent in his nature to mingle and commune.with his fellowmen. Both singly and collectively, he has rights and responsibilities to others and to himself in'a social sense. It ,is thus essential to th~ nature and work of these city agencies that the premise of natural rights for all should underscore and per-meate their functions and programs. The assumption that the hu-man family is one under God, that variations between peoples of genes or customs do not detract from this assumption., and that, in keeping with this "oneness" under God, all are equally entitled, to basic rights, are fundamental four~ations for inte, rgroup wozk' not only of.the "official" city agency type but in the private an'd volun-teer area as well. Some exa.mples may help, to illustrate these concepts. Labor 1) The dignity of labor, exalted by Christ and sustained by the Popes through encyclicals, certainly means the right to fully utilize one's skills. Yet the record ~f denial ofthis righ[ by r~fusals to hire or to upgrade extends back to the mid~lle 19th Century when (and continuing almost to the 20th Century) such denial to Irish Cath-olics was illustrated by factory signs--"Help Wanted--No Irish Need Apply." Tod~y, through cultural assimilation, neither the Irish immigrant nor those of Irish descent suffer this indignity. In their place, the Negro or those of Jewish. faith.are the major victims of job discrimination. It may be said that, to some extent, every racial, religious, or nationality group whether indigenous or not to America has suffered this type of injustice. Recent advances, however, in this problem 'area give hope for the future. The numerous state and city FEPC laws, the changing atti-tude of many industries, aware of the great economic loss in wasted skills, the strong stand of the American Catholic hierarchy as well as other religious bodies against job discriminatioh--all developments INTERGROUP RELATIONS 235 WILLIAM H. GRE/vlLEY Review/:or ReligiOus for the most part of just the "past decade--indicate .a point in time when this problem will no longer be major. Health 2) Perhaps no area of life involves more compassion or human feelings than suffering brought about by sickness or accident, and in this area, perhaps above all others, divine precepts of mercy and brotherly .love should prevail. Yet, this compassion is, strangely lacking in many American cities when hospital facilities for Negroes are considered. Segregation, even in many Northern cities is the rule despite worthy exceptions and it would be impossible to estimate the amount of loss of life or unnecessary pain caused by refusals of hos-pitals to admit Negro patients. 'For example, in the Kansas City area recently, a young Negro woman, injured in an auto accident, was refused admittance to or hastily transferred from four different hospitals because of her color. Eventually taken to her home, she died shortly after. Competent medical authorities definitely asserted that, with prompt and adequate attention, she might well have survived. ' Adding to this problem is the inability of qualified minority-groups doctors, nurses, and medical technicians to obtain staff ap-pointments to hospitals practicing discrimination. Thus the ,hos-pital rationalizes--"We have no Negro doctors so we don't have Negro patients." In this aria as well as employment, however, encouraging prog-ress has been made in ~ecent years. Laws in many states have been .passed prohibiting hospitals from refusing emergency patients Because of race, color, creed, or national origin. Many single hospitals in ~ities like Chicago, New York, Kansas City, and others have taken the initiative in eliminating color bars and given Negro or Jewish doctors and nurses staff appointments. The number of Negro medi-cal students in formerly all-white attended schools is on the increase, and Negro graduates are finding it easier to obtain interr;ships, par-ticularly in municipal hospitals. Education 3) In the, field of education as well, divine concepts of justice and decency to all mankind are just as strong as the above, but school segregation, with its foolish emphasis on the "separate but'~qual" tbegry, at a time when equal facilitiesAor .minority grqups i.s .p.hy.~si.-~ cally and economically t;nfeasible, continues as a burning, national 236 September, 1953 INTERGROUP RELATIONS issue. The waste, not only in dollars but in imperfect or thwarted personal development because of these barriers amohg children is in-calculable. To fully equalize, for example, the separate public schools of the State of Missouri alone wduld cost $20,000,000 according to a re-cent surveyl--without counting the cost of continuing extra trans-portation for Negro pupils. 'On the other hand, it was estimated that approximately $.1,150.000 a year of tax-monies could be saved by integrating the Missouri public school system. It is in the field of education, however, that the record of ad-vancement in the last decade is brightest. U.S. Supreme Court deci-sions have opened ~graduate schools in the South to all applicants. (Those in the North, for the most part, have been integrated sinc'e the 19th Century.) The forthcoming Supreme Court decision on public school segregati.on may well mean thd eventual end of this-anomaly on American democracy. The record of Catholic school authorities in school segregation matters is most significant. In community after community, in-cluding' Kansas City and St. Louis and even in Deep South areas where school segregation was deep-rooted custom, boId and cou-rageous action by diocesan' or arch-diocesan officials have integrated Catholic schools at all l~vels. Jesuit colleges and high schools, in particular, have a record of many "firsts'" in this respect, welcoming all stu~tents in communities otherwise strongly segregated. " IV Despite the. admirable record of Catholic schools in eliminating school segregation, many serious problems still remain to be faced. Perhaps chief among these is that regarding the efficacy of teachers as well as curriculum material in instilling sound intergroup attitudes among pupils. Chiefly. because of existing residential segregation of minority groups in most American cities, the elimination of segregation in Catholic schools where ~t has been.accomplished does not always mean extensive integration. As a rule, a school attended wholly by white pupils remained white-attended With the reverse true for schools Wholly attended by Negroes or children of Mexican descent. It has been usually in the "fringe" areas--where the population was 1"The Cost of Segregated Schools"--Study by Stuart A. Queen, Washi~gtoa Uni-. versity. Available from Missouri Association for Social Welfare, 113 ~ West High Street, Jefferson City, Missouri. " " 237 WILLIAM H. GREMLEY mixed racially or ethnically--that significant integration of different groups took place. Such "fringe" schools are usually in a minority compared to the total number in any given urban community. Ex-ceptions should be made with reference to any isolated Negro-occupied areas outside .the main such area in an urban center. Even in those cases, however, usually not more than a handful of new Negro pupils were registered after the integration order. This residential segregation has, in some areas where the popu-lation is predominantly Catholic, stimulated several situations of racial violence in which the role of the Catholic school has severely been called into question. Following the Cicero anti-Negro riot of 1951, which occurred in a community estimated to be 65 % Cath-olic, the writer interviewed an official of a local Catholic ~chool. In response to questions concerning the use of curriculum material pro-moting positive intergroup attitudes, it" was indicated, that the teaching of such attitudes was confined to the history classes. Worthy as such teaching may be, it was hardly sufficient to relate present-day intergroup problems to the pupils. Since many of the youthful par-ticipants in that affair were observed wearing Catholic insignia of some type, such limitations were not effective as a deterrent to vio-lence. The Peoria Street violehce of 1949 in Chicago, in which extreme ¯ anti-Semitism as well as anti-Negro prejudice took the form of severe assaults and beatings on bystanders allegedly "3ewish-looking," oc-curred in an area estimated to be 90% Catholic. Teen-agers in both incidents played a predominant role in the violence. It is true, of course, that such incidents of racial and religious violence are by no means confined to areas predominantly or heavily Catholic in population. Numerous other disturbances equally or even more severe than those cited have occurred in urban localities pr(~dominantly non-Catholic. The immediate concern, however, is with the role of the local Catholic school, in social situations involv-ing pre.judice and intergroup violence and in localities where ~ignifi-cant portions of the population¯ are of the Catholic faith. Something Lacking? The percentage figures and role of teenagers in the above two af-fairs pose an important question--what was lacking in the teaching techniques of the local Catholic school that could have prevented such expressions of violence and prejudice at least by participants who 238 September, 1955 INTERGROUP RELATIONS may have been Catholic? That something was--perhaps is-- lacking is obvious. While it may be that such a lack is due to com-munity pressures and mores hostile toward p~ople of different color or religion, it is possible that lack of awareness by teachers of the problem coupled with teaching materials that possibly create disre-spect and prejudice for different groups, may also account for this deficiency. For example, in one type of reader used in Catholic ele-mentary schools, the following quotation is f6und: (The reference is to the American Indian.) "Hello, Mother," cried Tom, as he ran into the apartment house where he lived. On the table in the kitchen Tom saw a large white cake. 'Tm glad that I'm an American boy tonight," he said. "Indians never had cake for supper, did they. Mother?" "I'm afraid not, Tom," answered his mother. "They didn't wash their faces before supper, either, but American boys do that.''2 Apart from the "1o, the poor Indian" attitude implied, it is manifestly unfair to deprive tbe native American of his nationality. The matter of bodily cleanliness, of course, varied in custom among the numerous Indian tribes. It is hardly possible that- respect and dignity for the American Indian as an individual created by God could be implanted in children's minds from this passage. On the other hand, an example of the type of curriculum material that can advance positive attitudes in a realistic social situation sense is found in another reader containing the story, "Toward a Promised Land.''3 Dealin~ with effort~, based on race prejudice; to oust a competent Negro doctor from a hospital, the tale. resolves the situa-tion satisfactorily from both a moral and practical viewpoint. The efforts fail, the ~doctor is retained, and his little son sees another ad-vance toward "a promised land." Both examples above perhaps will illustrate the social impor-tance of developing proper intergroup attitudes among children, ad-mittedly often a difficult task in the face of possible parental prejudice and objections. This social importance, however, is far overshadowed by the spiritual importance. To permit or ignore the development in children of prejudiced attitudes, unchecked or not counteracted in 2"This is Our Town," Faith ~ Freedom Series, Book 3, by Sr. M. Marguerite, 'Ginn E4 Company, 1952, p. 46~ 3"These Are Our Horizons," Faith ~3 Freedom Series, Book 7, by Sr. M. Charlotte, and Mary Syron, LL.D. Ginn E4 Company, 1945, p. 136. 239 WILLIAM H. GREMLEY Review for Religious the school, may be almost as much a negation of. ~hrist'~ ~eaching.as the actual encouragement of group prejudice or bigotry. The re-sponsibility, ofcourse, is no less in the home than in.the school, but in the Catholic school the duty to ~each the'ethics of the brotherhood of man unde~ the Fatherhood of God seems of particular concern. The concern is that of Christ. In her excellent study4 on attitudes towards Jews~ by .Catholic school children, Sr. Mary Jeanine Gruesser states: "Interest in the social attitudes of Catholic children is bound up with Catholic belief and practice. Today the. tremendous~octrine of the Mystical Body of Christ is being .preached and taught with new stress and emphasis. In language that he can understand, the youngest Catholic school child is learning to live the fact that all are members, one of another, in Christ. But the teacher who is really concerned that the child take this lesson away from the classroom and back to his play group in the neighborhood, rnus~ know some-thing about the situations and conditions of intergroup interaction of which the child is.a part, of the attitudes toward other people, other religious and nationality groups, that be has already formed. These are the realities to which the doctrine' must be applied, but the two must be related t:or th~ child." Having stated and, it is hoped, adequately illustrated the prob-lem, some positive resources may be listed that may be of value. Available Resources 1) As indicated, a local city intergroup agency can be of as-sistance in suggesting acceptable audio-visual and curriculum ma-terial designed to counteract prejudice and develop healthy and wholesome attitudes in children regarding people of different groups. ~2) Private agencies such as local community relations bureaus,. some school or teacher associations or local offices of the National, Conference of Christians and Jews also have resources ~eadily avail-able for this purpose. 3) Teacher workshop~ in intergroup r61ations are now available each summer in practically every section of the country. For tb~ most part, these workshops are given at local universities and colleges. A lis[ of them may be secured from the office of the National Associa- 4"Categorical Valuations of Jews Among Catholic Parochial School Children," St. Mary Jeanine Gruesser. Dissertation, Catholic University of America Press, Washington, D. C., 1950, p. 8. 240 September, 1953 INTERGRouP RELATIONS tion of Intergroup Relations Offici'als.s Most of these institutes are secular in nature and sponsorship. They are open to all applicants and usually held during the day. A special workshop designed for Catholic religious teachers has been instituted in the Shell School 6f" Social Studies in Chicago. 4) Competent rating scales for determining children's attitudes toward members of other groups are available. Examples are the "Wrightstone Scale of Civic Beliefs," the "Bogardus Social Distance Scale," and the "Grice Scale for.Measuring Attitudes Toward Races and Nationalities." (The latter is available in Sr. 3eanine's study.) As initial steps, such s~ales are extremely valuable in determining an inventory of such .attitudes and measuring the extent of such prob-lems existing in any school. V In conclusion, the international significance of official city agen-cies as resources leading to solutions of group problems of education, employment, health, or welfare facilities is manifest. In essence, they indicatd a "coming of age" for America, a growing realization that America must and can fight its own dilemma on its own grounds. For too long the Communists have pointed a distorted finger of shame at this dilemma in our democracy withoutwas is natural for them--mention of the earnest and valiant efforts made to work 6ut these problems within the framework of our democratic tr'aditions. That we can and will continue to do so, that all group~ and re-ligious bodies, Catholic and 'iaon-Catholic alike, will strive to give substance and body to our great political and religious heritage, is inevitable. Despite the discordancies, whether of violence, discrim-inations, or prejudice, the record of progress in the over-all march of American democracy toward its fulfillment for all, is clear and pro-. found. SNational Association of Intergroup Relations Officials, 565 North Erie Street, Toledo 2, Ohio. "'Opposed to all of these and a billion times rhore powerful is that Love repre-sented by the Sacred pierced Heart of Christ. It is the love for all men, who have equal opportunity tOoshare that tremendous Love, and to return it according as they will, for it has "first loved them and gone down to death for them singly and col-lec/ tively. Such a Lo~,e, even more than the common hand of the Creator unites all men before God. Can men be so callous as to remember race-hatred while kneeling around the Cross of the Crucifie~[ Christ?" '(The Most Rev. Vincent S. Waters, 'Bishop of Raleigh, in his Pastoral Letter of June 12, 1953.) 241 A Year wit:h the Rural Parish Workers [EDITORS' NOTE: The Rural Parish Workers of Christ the King are laywomen de-voted to works oi~ the apostolate in rural areas. Father Edward A. Bruemmer, in whose parish they bare worked for several years, says of them: "[ am convinced that theE are as essential to the welfare of a rural parish as the teaching sisters in the parish school. Perform!ng the corporal and spiritual works" of mercy on a scal~ hitherto undreamed of, they have renovated the face of the earth here." We had planned to give a rather complete sketch of the beginning and growth~ of this work but it is impossible to do that in our present issue. We hope however, to give it later, because we believe it is very important for our readers to know about the va-rious possibilities ot: the lay apostolate. For the present, we content ourselves with printing this informal article written by a Rural Parish Worker who signs herself, Miss Mary. The material in this article can be obtained in brochure form from: The Rural Parish Wokers of Christ the King, Route 1, Box 194, Cadet, Mis-souri.] THE residence and center of the Rural Parish Workers of Christ the King (laywomen dedicated to the service of their neighbors in rural areas) is at Fertile.in the large rural parish of St. ,Joa-chim, Washington County, Missouri'. This is picturesque with its rolling hills, great trees and valleys, but there is evidence of poverty everywhere to mar its beauty. The inhabitanl~s for the most part are a poor, uneducated, generous, loving, and appreciative people. The Rural Parish Workers, cooperating with the pastor, do much to edu-cate, see social justice done, relieve want, spread Catholic Action in the area. I'm spending a year with the Rural Parish Workers, participating in their work and sharing in all their activities. This means sharing in the spiritual life also . . . daily Mass, Prime and Compline or Lauds and Vespers in English, individual recitation ot: the. Rosary, reading and study. This summer when I first arrived, along with two other volun-teers, Miss Pat and Miss Christina, plans for the Open House were already under way. This project is given yearly under the sponsor-ship of a group of men to make new friends for the Parish Workers and spread word of their work. We three pitched right in, helping clean up house and grounds with the neighbors and others who came to help. A week later the big day came. So did 1000 visitors. About the middle of the afternoon Mol~her .Nature came along with the 242 RURAL PARISH WORKERS biggest rain of the season! Many persgns hurried home, but many stayed, so we served food all over the house and on the porches until everyone was happily fed. That night we washed up the biggest gobs of mud and thanked God for a very wonderful day in spite of the rain. Not long after Open House we had a Clothing Giveaway for the needy people. Several times we went on visits in different parts of the parish which is 150 square miles in size. Can you imagine people who live only 50 miles from St. Louis being so isolated as not to see other human beings for weeks at a time? Well, I can state this is the truth. In 3uly a neighbor took us to visit such a family. You can imagine how glad the old couple were to see us. Even though we had been jostled around on the back of a truck (the only way we could get through the woods) and then soaked in a sudden down-pour of rain! Baptisms During another visit a littl~ girl came running across the road. "Could we come over right" away?" A neighbor's new-born baby was dying and the parents wanted Miss LaDonna or Miss Alice to baptize it. So we thankfully watched another child added to God's family in the car of the doctor who was taking the baby to the hos- ¯ pithl. We were present for many weddings in the parish church this summer. But one morning the celebration was for a different reason ¯ . . the baptism of an entire family instructed by Miss LaDonna. We volunteers were happy to witness the event and to take part in 'their joy. Although life with the Parish Workers is anything but routine, there are some things that must be done regularly. Each of us kept her own room neat and clean, and helped with the thorough weekly cleaning. We took turns, two together, in preparing meals and washing the dishes. Each evening one of us volunteers got to milk the goat. This was quite a thrill for us city girls. We volunteers helped Miss Alice with the outside work such as tying up grape vines, wa-tering trees, pulling weeds, raking gravel in the newly-made drive, etc. The Parish Workers' clean-up activities aren't limited t6 their own home, however. One afternoon we all went to watch the completing of the purifi-cation of the spring used by the people of the immediate area. The 243 RURAL PARISH WORKERS Reoieu) for Religious Parish Workers had had the spring cleaned and enclosed in 'concrete with a pipefor'tbe water to run through. This prevents people from dipping their buckets into the .waterand has greatly improved the health of the children in the neighborhood. After an especially b,u~y week we were all preparing for a day of rest when an elderly man came to the door. He bad walked several miles to tell us that his grandson was suffering from a brain tumor and must be rushed to the hospital ira.mediately. Could we get him in? So, this ended our day of rest and sent us on an errand of mercy. Several times this summer Father Bede, O.S.B., spiritual director of the Rural Parish Workers, visited us and gave us many interesting and enlightening talks which broadened our knowledge of the lay ¯ apostolate and helped our spiritual growth. Seven Weeks for doing something you thoroughly enjoy are too short as we three volunteers discovered when the Summer Session came to an end. We all left with heavy hearts. Miss Pat had to re-turn to school. Miss Christina was needed at borne. And I went borne to prepare my winter clothing and tell my family that I in-tended to return in September for a year.of service. Instructions Upon my return [ entered more fuIly into the life of a Parish Worker. Activities began with the start of weekly religious instruc-tions for the public scl~ool children. My class of twenty youngsters is made up of 2nd to 4th graders who have received their First Holy Communion. I find them very attentive and well-behaved with a thirst for knowledge. I had returned to Fertile when the country was most beautiful and the large pears on our tree were ready for picking. I donned a ¯ pair of blue jeans and an old shirt and had the time of my life climbing the tree and shaking down the pears, using the garden rake for the hi~hest branches. Seven bushels of delicious fruit were added to our pantry and shared with our neighbors. In October we entertained the members of the Parish Workers' Advisor~ Board and their wives ata buffet supper. Miss Par'and Miss Christina came to help with this gala affair., We all had so much fun together they were reluctant to leave. But plans were made to get together again when time came for selecting and packing Christmas gifts for.the 250 children in the families we assist during the year. 244 September, 1953 RURAL PARISH WORKERS Travel The distribution and sorting of clothes for these families has been given me as my special project, and I must admit I find it both interesting and helpful. Interesting because of a natural woman's instinct wondering what I will discover in each box I open, for these boxes and packages come to Fertile from all over, sometifnes from as far away as NeW York. And helpful, for in this exploited area wages are very low. Many times we bear of a child out of school bedause of no shoes or other clothing. And for many families the only new baby clothes are those we are able to supply in the layettes generously donated by women and college girls interested in this apostolate I am learning to drive. " If you ask'the Parish Workers how I am doing they ~vill answer, "Wonderfully well." But if.y6u put the question to me ~ am afraid you would receive a different answer. However, I shall keep on-, for often I could help out if I were able to drive the station wagon myself. We travel many miles,each month. Over two thousand is the average now. A number of trips are made to St. Louis, eSl~ecially to clinics and hospitals. One such trip concerned my special ,family. While visiting them one day I noticed the baby looked ill. He was terribly undernourished anyway, and I was truly worried about him. We telephoned a St. Louis hospital and the Sister told us a bed'would be available as soon as we could get.him there. The familywere un-able to pay anything but the baby remained in the hospital seven weeks and is now doing wonderfully. From.time to time I ~ake visits with ~ne of thd Parish Workers. One morning it was necessary to make a trip to the courthouse to see the judge about a f~imily we were helping. I was more than giad to be risked to go along as I would get the opportunity to meet some of the civic officials and learn how,they and the Parish Workers work together to help others. Since I have been here I have learned much about Secularigm and Communism and the inroads tb~y baremade in our country. I am also learning how to detect their prop~an~la in radio programs, newspaper articles, etc. Accompanying Miss LaDonna to the Well-Baby Clinic was al-ways a pleasure., until one day she pulled a fastone and asked the County nurse to give me a typhoid shot. Of course I knew about"it beforehand, but being a city girl I really h~d.~'tthought, much about it., We take pure drinking, water, for gr~inted' in the city, but out here 245 RURAL PARISH WORKERS Review for Religious it's different. All the water is from creel~s and springs like the one the Parish Workers fixed up last summer. The home of the Parish Workers is an old brick house. Major remodeling has made it into a modern home with many conveniences so that they may devote as, much time as possible to their apostolate of serving others. Minor work in the house proceeds slowly, one room at a time, and furniture is supplied by donations. Most of it we repair or repaint, but recently a women's group brought out a complete flew bedroom outfit which the Parish Workers placed in .my room. "Harmonious surroundings help in the development of a Christian home'," they always say. I know for sure they are relaxing at the end of a busy day. The apostolate of the Rural Parish Workers is not well known, although for several years, under the patronage of the Most Reverend Archbishop of St. Louis, they have been quietly working among the poor and downtrodden. So now we send out a monthly memo of recent news to The King's Men, an auxiliary of the Parish Workers. This and other secretarial work enables me to make good use of my typing learned in high school. Christmas There is always activity here at Fertile, but preparations for Christmas are something to behold. First, making of the Advent wreath. Three days before Advent we gathered pine from a large pine forest nearby. I had the pleasure of helping make thewreath, which we hung from the living room ceiling. ¯ With its four candles. magenta-colored ribbons and fresh green l~ine it was a beautiful re-minder of the season of preparation for the great Feast of the Nativ-ity as well as of the long period of waiting for the first "coming .of Christ over 1900 years ago. Decorations in the house were c.hanged to conform with the spirit of the season, and each evening after sup-per, as we lit the candles, one the first week, two the second, and so on, and asked God's help and blessing, we seemed to come closer to the Divine Infant soon to be born again in our hearts on Christmas Day. It was during one of these evenings when all felt in a gay and joyous mood that we selected the °"jewels" for our decorated cross. We finally all agreed on the selection and then could hardly wait for Christmas to hang the beautiful cross with its sparkling stones of red, yellow and blue. Several trips were made to St. Louis and near- 246 September, 1953 RURAL PARISH WORKERS by towns for Christmas shoppi.ng ~and to pick up clothes, canned goods, toys and candy donated by generous friends for "the needy. Also to distribute gifts to our families and friends~ Miss Pat and Miss Christina returned for a week-e.nd to help with the toys, sacramentals, and candy for the children. We were all busily engaged in this task when the Auxiliary Bishop, Most Reverend Charles H. Helrrising, arrived for a short visit with the ¯ Parish Workers. He .gave us his blessing and told us to tell others ot the need for volunteers in this rural apostolate. The following week we packed food for all the needy people of the area. We could gix;e large boxes, due to the generosity of our friends. Gifts and candy were also prepared for our children in the Sunday classes. Several trips were made to the parish church with the station wagon full of people. We live eight miles from church and "many neighbors .would have no way to get to. confession or Holy Mass if it were not for the Parish Workers. Even on the day before Christmas as we worked on the Crib and tree, time was taken so that no one would miss the opportunity to receive Holy Communion on the great feast. As we finished trimming the tree we realized the season of prepa-ration bad ended. Gifts had been hung on the tree ready for the children when they came to visit during Christmas week. They would come with hearts full 6f joyand expectancy to receive their gifts. And we were ready, too . . ." for the greatest Gift of all, ~he Son of God Himself. At Vespers on Christmas Eve the lights from the four candles of the wreath flickered and caught in the jeWels of the decorated cross. A feel!ng of peace and joy filled each of us. Later when we drove with our neighbors to Midnight Mass we could almost hear the Angels singing, "Glory to God in the.highest . . ." And afterwards the gently falling snow seemed to enhance the feeling of peace and love as all exchanged the Merry Christmas greeting. I have written of many things during my first six months with the Rural Parish Workers. There are many more, all pointed to the development of Christian homes, wi~:h interest in government, edu-cation, culture and religious welfarel But you have not the time, ¯ nor I the space to include them here. UPon reading this you may. ti~ink all is Work and no play. But that is not true. Recreation is impor~tar~t in the life of a Parish. Worker. And in the evening you may find us reading, listening to. 247 SISTER M. AGNESINE, Review [or Religious the radio, playing cards, doing hand work according to one's inte~- "ests, and occasionally going to a movie. This summer we even took time out to, go swimming, hiking, picnicking, or for an evening drive. You see, we are just one happy family and all share in one another's joys or" sorrows, working, praying and p, laying together for the glory of God and the service, of.our neighbors. " If I intend becoming a Rural Parish Worker I must spend a pe-riod of reading and instruction, and learning what my duties would be in this area or any area to which I may be sent. Already I have seen the need of the work and the good the Parish Workers are doing. So I say, "God bless them and all their under-takings, and please send more workers for this vineyard." Paging !:he Religion Teacher Sister M. Agnesine, S.S.N.D. " " THE story is told of a prosperous business man who claimed that allMs success was due to a single statement left him as a legacy by his father: "My son, when everything goes wrong with you and ill luck seems to pursue you, then look around and see where you are mismanaging things." Instead of throwing up our hands in despair, as we realize the cryi~ag needs of a world strayed far from its. Maker, suppose that we, too, look around to see whether by any chance we religion teachers might be mismanaging things. Making Religion a Living Reality Granted that we are thoroughly equipped, theologically and in-tellectually, what else is required to assure our success? Let us as-sume that we teach our religion classes regularly and cgnscientiously. We may even boast that our pupils know all the answers. But have we any assurance that they also accept these truths and are prepared to live them? In other words, have we set their hearts on fire with love and motivated their wills with .a strong determination to live their religion intelligently and consistently all th'rough life? Their words alone are not sutticient assurance: neither is their more or less praiseworthy conduct in school. Their religion must be a-living re-ality. It must be~:gme so much a part, of their being that they can- 248 SeptemSer, 1953 PAGING THE RELIGION TEACHER not. lose it without losing life itself. To imbue children with such. a living faith means more than merely teaching Christian Doctrine. It means keeping in mind the fundamental needs of our times and directing pupils to meet these needs according to God's plan. It means, therefore, to help them un~derstand and appreciate God's complete ownership of the world and all it holds, and instilling in them a deep reverence for His au-thority. ,It means helping them to evaluate the things of time in the light of eternity; of making them seeall of life from God's point of view. It means preparing them to meet the problems of life, whether as humble employees, as members of a Christian family, or as leaders of a nation. It means impressing them with a sense of responsibility not only toward God but toward their fellowmen, whom they must recognize as members of the My.stical Body of Christ. It means, finally, giving them a sense of direction, so that they will always and above all things keep clearly in view their eternal destiny. Knou)ing Not Onlg What But Also Hou) to Teach How can the religion teacher,acco, mplisb so tremendous a task? He dare not excuse himself by saying that it is primarily the function of the home to train theyoung for Christian living. For, while he cannot, exempt parents from their duties, the wise teacher will first re-establish Christian ideals in the home through the boys and girls in his classes by teaching them to understand and accept the responsi-bilities of Christian marriage and Christian family life. All of this means more than imparting knowledge. It is not the printed or spoken word alone, no matter bow important in itself, that is necessarily convincing. If the teacher is to gain the desired effect, be must know not only u)bat to teach but how to teach. He must not only inform the pupil's mind but also aim to arouse his emotions to love the faith and to move his will to accept and live it. "Religion is no use" says Father Drinkwater, "until it is accepted and" lived." Teaching b~j Example To teach religion for Christian li~ing, therefore, we must pene-trate the thick shell of modern materialism which surrounds the n~en-tality of even our Catholic pupils. But to be able to do so, we must first of all be living examples of the truths we teach. To the young--. and to the old as well--we are the Church, ~ve are religion, we are 249 SISTER M. AGNESINE Review [or Religious Christ. And unless we outrival in all that is ¯good and true,.in all that is. noble and beautiful in the highest sense Of tl~e ~word, those who, knowingly or otherwise, contrive to shape .the aims, the atti-tudes, and the ideals of the young, we cannot hope to influence them for life. If we.teach that religion must take prec.edence over all other values in life and that therefore the religion lesson is the most imPor-tant of all subjects on the program, then we ourselves ¯will have to put first things first and prove by our regularity and zeal that we mean what we say. Then, too, we will quite naturally do all in our power to make the lesson the most fascinating and interesting sub-ject taught in the school. That means, ir~ the second place, that the teacher must have some knowledge of the techniques of teaching. All too many instructors of religion are still under the impression that all they need to do is to explain the subject ~ind that the child will naturally imbibe what is being said. They do not realize that in spite of a seemingly atten-tive attitude, the pupil is often miles ~way during the religion period : like the boy who, after hearing a long explanation of what it means to be selfish and unselfish, innocently asked the teacher what kind of fish that was. Making the Lesson Purposeful and Effectit)e The following questions may help the teacher to see more clearly whether the proper means are being used to make the lesson effective. Do I know how best to appeal to the child's heart, in language adapted to his age and ability? Do I strive not only to teach the Catechism lesson but more particularly to give children a lasting love and appreciation of those sacred truths? If they are leaving the Cath-olic school or study group shortly after these instructions, am I rea-sonably sure that I have instilled into their hearts the desire to grow in the knowledge and love of their faith, through the grace of the sacraments and also through a desire for further study and readir~g? Do I have a fund of convincing illustrations and stories, prefer-ably out of everyday life, that come close to the experience and un-derstanding of my pupils, so that they will the more' readily retain what I have tried to impress upon. them? Do I giye my students an opportunity to do things for them-selves, to ask questions, and think things througb.? Or do I do all the talking myself and take it for granted that th~ pupils are thinking and learning? 250 SISTER M. AGNESlNE, Review for Religious Do I know how to motivate their wills to action so that th~ knowledge of the truths they have learned will carry over to future years? When I teach the Mass, for example, do my pupils giadually learn to live and apply its beautiful prayers and lessons to themselves, not only for the present but especially for th~ years to come? Do I aim to bridge the gap between the day's seemingly unrelated lesson to tomorrow's realities? The sacrament of matrimony with all its implications is a case in point. How well do I prepare espe-cially those pupils who are about to leave the Catholic school, to ac-cept and appreciate the Church's teachings on the subject, and to lay firm hold on high ideals of Christian family life for future use? Am I familiar with the many teaching aids that are at my dis-posal to make my work more interesting and to help deepen the im-pression? Do I know how to use them to the best advantage? There are charts and pictures, fil~ns and slides in abundance. Can I distin-guish between what is most helpful and what is merely ~ntertaining? Do I realize the importance of making careful preparation for the daily.lesson? To outline my objectives? To divide the subject mat-ter according to its imporian~e and time allotment? To test pupil knowledge and particularly to evaluate my own teaching? reading By wrong, things. Acquiring Skill in Techniques How can the religion teacher acquire a fuller knowledge of those procedures that will best insure success? Here are a few suggestions: By accepting wholeheartedly the~ responsibility to teach ~eligion for living, that is, in a manner that will help those whom he teaches to lead fully integrated Christian lives. By keeping an open mind and realizing that no matter how ex-perienced or learned he may become, there is always room for im-- provement. " By prayerfully and conscientiously preparing the daily lessons and by carefully thinking the subject matter through himself, so that he may present it most effectively. .By keeping in touch with modern methods of teaching, through and lectures, and by observing experts in the field. looking around occasionally, especially when things go to see whether by any chance he might be mismanaging If, then, we are willing to face our problems and to set about en-thusiastically learning how to meet them, we may hope to add our little share in the great work of restoring 'all things in Christ. 251 Prac :ice: ot: !:he I-Ioly . ee Joseph F. Gallen, S.J. ~ T IS both profitable and commendable for religious to study the ~ d0~uments of the Holy See that affec~ their state of life., .This is particularly true at present, when the Sacred Congregation of Religious is exercising a more .positive and directive influence on the lives of religious. This article is devoted prin~ipally to' documents addr,essed to individual religious institutes. These are evidently not a matter of general knowledge but they are of general utility, since they reveal the practice and thee principles of the Holy See. I. ERECTION AND PONTIFICAL. APPROVAL OF CONGREGATIONS 1.Constituti.ons of. a new diocesan congregation. For at least the licit erection of a new diocesan congregation, the local Ordinary must first consult the Sacred ,Congregation of Religious.1 This. con-sultation is to be addressed to the S. C. of the Propagation of the Faith for the .erection of native congregations in missionary countries. Diocesafi constitutions should be compiled in conformity with the Code of Canon Law and the practice of the Holy See as found in the approved constitutions of pontifical congregations. They ate to dif-fer from pontifical constitutions only in the matters proper to dioce- .san congregations. For the attainment of this end the practice of the S. C. of the Propagati~'n of the Faith had already commanded that after the erection of the new congregation: "The Constitutions of the new congregation, in Latin and in the vernacular (at least six copies), must as soon as possible be submitted to this Sacred Congregation so that they may be duly examined, amended, and returned with suit-able remarks to the Ordinary, to be approved by him.''2 The S. C. of Religious now follows the same practice and demands that the local Ordinary present the complete text of the 'constitutions with the con-sultation for the erection of the new diocesan congregation.3 At least one author had previously recommended such a practice to local Or-dinaries.~ The fear, already expressed by some authors, that this oractice 1Can. 492. § 1. 2Bouscaren, II, 158, n. 10. 3Larraona, CpR, XXVIII (1949), 228, nota ). 4Muzzarelli, n. 53. 252 PRACTICE OF THE HOLY SEE will ~ause an excessive similarity in the constitutions of various insti-tutes can be avoided by greater care in the. compil~tion of the spir-itual, as distinct from the canonical, ~rticles of the constitutions. The practice will also preclu,de the opposition that often arises when the ihstitute wishes to become pontifical. This opposition is usually con-cerned" with matters that are thought to be new but which should have been contained in the diocesan constitutions of the congregation, for example,~e system of delegates for the. general chapter and the six-year term~'Bf the superior general. 2. Mbtters to be presented fora decree of praise. A diocesan con-gregat! on ordinarily becomes pontifical by a decree of praise, With which the Holy See practically always now grants an experimental approval of the constitutions for seven years. The conditions neces-sary for pontifical approval are: the congregation by a sufficient test~ of time should have given proof of stability, religious observance, and of spirituai profit in its work; it is sufficient that the congregation number one hundred and fifty ~nembers and.is not necessary that the congregation have houses in more than one diocese. These facts are established primarily from the testimonial letters of the local Ordi-naries. To obtain a decree of praise the following matters are to be sent to the S. C. of Religious: a) A petition for the decree, of praise addressed to the Ron~an Pontiff and signed by the superior general and his or her c~uncillors. b) The testimonial letters of all the local Ordinaries in whose dioceses or territories the congregation has houses. Each local Ordi-nary is to send his letter directly to the S. Congregation. c) The"number of religious and houses. The S. Congregation will be aided in its judgment on the system of delegates for the gen-eral chapter !f the houses are listed in a tabular form that gives sepa-rarely the number of professed of perpetual and temporary vows in each house. d) The name in religion, full name in the world, and a brief biography of the founder or foundress and of the first superior of the congregation. e) The S. Congregation is to be informed of any extraordinary facts, such as visions and the like, .that occurred at the foundation of the congregation or thereafte~ and also of the special devotions and special and. favored religious exercises of the congregation. f) A copy of any special book of prayers in use in the congrega-tion. 253 ,JOSEPH F. GALLEN Review for Religious g) A colored picture of the habit of the professed and of the novices. h) 30 typed copies of the constitutions. These should prefer-ably be in Latin, but French or Italian is admissible. The constitu-tions should have been revised, for the new pontifical status and have been previously examined and approved by the local Ordinary of the motherhouse. They are to conform to the Code of Canon Law and the practice .of FheHoly See, and are to contain the norms and safe-guards necessary for attaining the special end of the c~regation. A recent form letter of the S. Congregati6n appears to demand only two copies of the constitutions, but it is not certain that the former num-ber of thirty is no longer obligatory,s i) Information is to be given as to the number of members who were formerly in other religious institutes. j) An historico-juridical account of the congregation from its beginning. k) A quinquennial report, which may be in the vernacular, for the five years immediately preceding the petition and compiled ac-cording to the questions of the new quinquennial report for pontifical institutes. 'A question that can apply only. to a pontifical institute will obviously not be pertinent. ¯ l) It is to be stated whether there are other religious institutes in the diocese with the same special purpose. m) If the congregation is a third order, an attestation of aggre-gation from the superior general of the first order must accompany the petition. n) The. superior general, with the consent of the local Ordinary of the motherhouse, is to designate a secular or religious priest resident in Rome to act as agent for the matter with the S. Congregation. 3. Miscellaneous details. The expense incurred at Rome for the de:- cree of praise is to be classed as insignificant. The. process can be quite slow. One American congregation mailed the necessary mat-ters to Rome in June, 1950, and received the reply in March, i953. During the pontificate of Pius XII (1939-1952) the decree of praise has been obtained by ninety-two congregations; the highest number in any one year was twelve;" and eight of the congregations listed have their motherbouses in the United States.6 4. Continuance of superiors in ottice. Muzzarelli states that on the scf. Guti,%rez, CpR, XXXIV (1953), 129. 6Cf.Guti~rrez, ibid., 130-138. 254 September, 1953 PRACTICE OF THE HOLY SEE occasion of obtaining pontifical approval .or of a new approbation of the constitutions the general, provincial, and local superiors.remain in office but only for the time for which they had been elected or ap-pointed. At the expiration of this period a new election or appoint-ment is necessary. The ~ame principle is to be applied to general, provincial, and local councillors and officials. Canon la.w regulate.s precisely the duration in office of a local su-perior, who may not have more than two successive full three-year terms in the sam~ house inclusive of the time in office hnder the for-mer and the new constitutions. However, in the case of higher su-periors the Code merely.prescribes that they are to be temporary and leaves the determined legislation on the duration.and re-election or re-appointment to the constitutions. The almost universal practice of the Holy See in approving constitutions now gives the superior gen-eral a term of six years and permits an immediate re-election only for a second ttrm. A mother general who had two full six-year terms expiring after the approval of the new constitutions is fully eligible for a six-year term, and even for immediate re-election on the expira-tion of this term, under the newly approved constitutions. The time spent in office under the former constitutions is not to be computed, since these have now lost all force.7 II. LAW 1, Observance ot: laud. It is evidently the duty of superiors to en-force the exact observance of all the pertinent laws of the Church on religious, the Rule, and the constitutions. Negligence in the observ-ance of inual[dating laws on religious can have most serious conse-quences, and this is especially true of invalidating laws on the novice-. ship and professions. The S. C. of Religious gently admonished the superiors of one institute to be more diligent in the future in com-plying with all the laws on the noviceship and the professions. 2. Exaggerated custom books. Customs are necessary for order, effi-ciency, and reasonable uniformity, but some custom books have been too minute and oppressive. From unofficial reports and summaries this appears to have been the thought at the meeting of superioresses general of pontifical institutes held at Rome in September, 1952. Greater attention is to be given to the spirit of the law, since the law of any institute should be the incarnation of its spirit. Not many prayers, but prayer is what is necessary. Formalism, legalism, and ;Muzzarelli, pp. 206-207. 255 JOSgPH F. GALLEN ' Revietv for Religious externalism are to be avoided. The centering of the religious life in the fulfillment of innumerable details, formalities, and observances should be abandoned. Religious are magnanimgus souls who have sacrificed everything to attain and intensify the love of God, not fussy externalists. III. HABIT OF RELIGIOUS WOMEN 1. Form o~ the "~abit. Pius XII expressed the. general principle on the habit of religious women when he state~l that it should manifest the consecration to Christ, religious simplicity and modesty, and be in conformity with time, place, work, and hygiene.8 This norm does not demand any universal and fundamental change in the traditional habit of religious women. Furthermore, the prin, ciple is not new in the practice of the Holy See. The Normae of 1901 stated that the habit in material, form, arrangement, and color~ should conform to religious dignity, gravity, modesty, and poverty, and that "it should exclude any adornment that was apt to l~rovoke adverse comment or ridicule.9 In its typical constitutions for diocesan missio.nary con-gregations the S. C. of tl~e Propagation of the' Faith enjoined: "The habit is to be simple, accommodated to the usages of the people and the climate and not to European customs.''1° In the Statutes for Ex-tern Sisters the S. C. of Religious cdmmanded that the habit of these sisters was to be suitably adapted to their external work and also to external and local circumstances.1~ Sincere reverence for the religio~s habit does not exclude neces-sary modifications. The more practical doubts that arise about some habits seem to be of the following nature: Is sufficient allowance made in .the habit as a whole for the heat of summer and the cgld of winter? The cove~ing of tl~e head and face often causes a questiQn in the chance observer by its stiffness, closeness, ornateness, the time evi-dently necessary for laundering, the extension of the covering beyond the face, and in a.few cases this part of the habit appears to be pro-vocative of adverse comment. We may be permitted one illustration of these observations. The extension beyond the, face does not con-tribute to safety in driving an au.tomobile, frequently makes conver-sation somewhat unnatural, and ~nust be an obstacle in such cases as working on .a patient with a doctor. This is not the most serious SAAS, 43 (1951), 741; 44 (1952),.825. . 9Normae of 1901, nn. 66-67. ' lONormae pro Constitutionibus" Cong(egationum luris Dioecesani, n. 19. IIStatuta a Sororibus Externis Seruanda, n. 26. 256 September, 1953 PRACTICE OF THE HOLY SEE defect that has b~en noted in some religious habits. The sane and practical principles of the Holy See are clear in themselves. Each habit should be sincerely examined on its conformity with these prin-ciples. 2. White habit. The Holy See has f~equently approved in constitu'- tions an ;irticl~ permitting the use of the white habit to hospital sis-ters and to those for whom such dress is necessitated or counselled by other duties or the climate. This habit is accordingly in use in sev-" eral institutes in the infirmary, kitchen, in teaching home economics, and. in similar duties. We can argue safely from the practic~ of the Holy See that such a use of th~ white habit is permitted in all insti-tutes of religious women. The white habit should be as similar as possibl'e to the ordinary habit within the demands of hospital effi-ciency, which is its primary use. The ordinary habit does not have. to be worn under the white habit. 3. Change in the habit. A change in the habit of a pontifical insti-tute or of a diocesan congregation whose habit had been submitted to the judgment of the Holy See may not be made wit,ho,ut the permis-sion of the Holy See; in other diocesan congregations the permissior{ of all the Ordinaries in whose dioceses the congregation has houses is necessary and sufficient.12 Since the habit ik prescribed by the consti-tutions, a change must also have been previously approved by the general chapter. It can be safely held that only a change in the ex-ternal appearance of the habit demands these formalities. The Nor-mae of 1901 required the permission of the S. Congregation only for a change in the appearance (t:orrna) of the habit,13 and the Holy See approves constitutions that demand the permission of the S. Congre-gation only for a change-in the form or color. These constitutions. permit the mother general with at least the advice of her council to, make other changes in the habit, for example, in the material, and this norm should be followed by all institutes for a change that does hot affect the externa! appearance of the habit. IV. DOWRY AND RENUNCIATION OF PATRIMONY IN CONGREGATIONS l. Dowrg. The dowry'is and always has been proper to institutes of women. An amount larger than the one prescribed may be re-ceived as a dowry. An institute that does not exact a dowry may ~2Can. 495, '§ 2. 13Normae of 1901, n. 70; cf. n. 69. 257 JOSEPH F. GALLEN Reviev2/:or Religious receive a dowry that is f~eely offered as such. A subject may give, comple'te, or augment a dowry during the novic~ship and after first or final simple profession. In all the cases listed above the amount that may be given is unlimited, but any amount accepted as a dowry is subject to the laws on the dowry. ' These statements are accepted canonical doctrine.14 2. Renunciation of patrimong in'a congregation of women. The point here can be more clearly proposed in the form of a case. Sister M. Anita, a professed sister in a congregation, has a patrimony of $50,000. She wishes to give the entire amount to her institute, but can. 583, 1°, forbids her, whether her congregation is pontifical or diocesan, to give away this money during her life without a _dispensa-tion from the Holy See. When asked recently for such a dispensa-tion, the S. Congregation replied that the sister, without any permis-sion. of the Holy See~ could give the money to her institute as a dowry or as an increase in her dowry. If the institute wishes to spend any part of the $50,000, permission of the Holy See will be necessary, because can. 549 forbids the expenditure of the dowry. This per-missio, n will be given if the. institute furnishes satisfactory guarantee of returning the capital sum to the sister in the event of her departure from the institute. The interest on the $50,000 is acquired abso-lutely by the institute, but the capital sum must be restored to Sister M. Anita if she definitively leaves the institute, licitly or illicitly, whether her vows have been dispensed or not,15 This is the prefer-able solution of the case, since it was proposed by the S. Congrega-tion itself. The same solution may be followed in any congregation of reli-gious women for either a professed or a novice. A dowry given during the noviceship passes into the revocable proprietorship of the institute only at first profession and thus is not a violation of can. 568, which invalidates any renunciation or obligation that a novice places on his or her patrimony during the noviceship.16 The institute is the mere depositary of the dowry, without p~oprietorship, use, or usufruct during the postulancy and noviceship. 3. Renunciation of patrimonV in a congregation of men or women. The prohibitior~ of can. 583, 1°, quoted above, applies to all congre-gations of men Or women. However, according to the common in- 14Cf. q. 194 of the Quinquennial Report [or Pontifical Institutes. 1SCan. 551, § I. 16Cf. Larraona, CpR, XIX (1938), nora 17. 258 September, 1953 PRACTICE OF THE HOLY SEE terpretation, this prohibition does not ~xtend to the case in which t'he patrimony is given away, wholly or partially, on the agreement and with secure guarantee that it will be restored if- the religious should leave the institute or be dismissed. Professed religious in congrega-tions of men may thus follow this solution, for example, to give their patrimony to their institute. If this solution is follbwed, no law of the Code obliges the institute to secure the permission of the Holy See for the spending of the money. 4. Partial renunciation of patrimony in a congregation of men or women. Without any permission .of the Holy See, professed reli-gious iri congregations of men or women may with safe pr6bability give away absolutely to anyone even a large part of their patrimony provided the amount retained is sufficient to take care of the support of the religious in the event of departure from the.institute. A patri-mony that is. so small as to be entirely inadequate for such support does not fall under the prohibition of can. 583, 1% and may be given away absolutely to anyone,a7 5. New tendency in povert~l of congregations. There are indications that some wish the poverty arising from the simple vow in congre-gations to be made the same or at least to approach more closely the poverty effected by solemn profession, for example, by permitting the professed of simple perpetual vows in congregations to give away all their patrimony.~8 Only one known concession has thus far been granted by the Holy See in this matter. An institflte of religious women of simple vows obtained the following indult from the Holy See in February, 1951: "With the consent of the Prioress General and of bet Council, and upon a favourable report from the Mother .I_n_st_ructor, the religiou.s __m_a.y.at. tb.e _e.n_~ of .tb_e!_r tert.ianship, that is, about ten years after their first profession in the Institute, and pro-vided they have made perpetual vows, renounce their personal prop-erty present and future in favour of the persons or institutions whom they judge before God to merit their preference." V. ADMISSION OF ASPIRANTS The following articles, found in some constitutions recently ap-proved by the Holy See, will be of interest to other institutes. The candidate is obliged to present a testimonial of her free state, that is, lvCf. Bastien, n. 543, 3; Larraona. CpR, II (1921), 71-76. lSCf. Acta et Documenta Congressus Generalis de Statibus Perfectionis, I, 377,429- 431. 259 3OSEPH'F. GALLEN " Ret~ietu for .Religious ¯ of her freedom from impediments. The testimonial of good character is to ,be obtained from the pastor or another known priest. ,The S. Congregation inserted the following article in one set of' constitu-tions: "The Mother General is to interrogate accuratgly on the mat-ter of health, especially concerning diseases that are classed as heredi-tary, and she is to record in writing the replies of both the aspirant and her.parents or guardians." VI. P0STULANCY Although the practice of the Holy See was said to demand that the time of the postul~ncy be accurately determined in the constitu-tions, thre'e sets of constitutions recently approved for congregations of sisters state this time only indefinitely, that is, "for .at least six months," and "not less than six months." A. congregation 6f sisters, whose postulancy is six months, re-quested and,received from the Holy See an indult for fivel years to prolong the postulancy two and a half months for all. This pro-longation will make it possible to complet~ a full coll~ge year during the postulancy. The Apostolic Delegate possesses the faculty of shortening or prolonging the postulancy prescribed by canon law.19 VII. SECOND YEAR OF NOVICESHIP 1. Dispensation. Canon law commands only one year of novice-ship, but many institutes prescribe a second year by the law of their own constitutions. The Holy See evidently does not wish an insti-tute to make a ~practice of asking dispensations from this second year. One pontifical congregation added the second year only recently, and {he Holy See granted an indult for three yeats to one of its provinces to have only. one year of noviceship. The province was.in extra-ordinary and urge.nt need of personnel. 2. Ernptogment in external" works. On November 3, 1921, the "S. C. of Religious issued an Instruction for all congregations, pon-tifical and diocesan, on the employment of novices in the external works of the institute during the second year of noviceship. " The Holy See inserts the principles of this Instruction in the constitutions of pontifical congregations. They should, therefore, be contained also in'diocesan constitutions, either approved 6riginally or revised after the promulgation of the Instruction.' These princil~!es are: (a) The spiritual formation proper to the noviceship.must be pri- 19Bouscaren, 1948 Supplement, 131. 260 September, 1953 PRACTICE OF THE HOLY SEE mary in the second year, employment in external works secondary. (b) This employment is allowable only if permitted by the consti- . tutions, custom, or usage of the congregation. (c) The only licit motive for such employment is the instruction of the novices, never th,e utility or advantage of the congregaiion. (d) The employment is to be carried out witb.~ruderice and moderation. Novices are never to have the sole charge of any external employment but are to work under the direction and supervision of an experienced and exemMary religious. (e) Novices may not be sent out of the novitiate house for such employment unless this is permitted by the constitutions, custom, or usage and the motive is exceptional, extraordinary, seri-otis, and based solely on ~be requirements of the. novice's t~aining, never on the necessity or advantage of the congregation. (F) All such employments must be given up for the two full months pre-ceding first profession, and this time is to be devoted wholly to svir-itual formation and to preparation for profession in the novitiate house?0 A congregation of sisters stated simply in a quinq.uennial report that i~ employed the second-year novices in external works. The reply of the Holy See contained the statement that the Instruction quoted above was to be observed.21 An unofficial summary of the Roman meeting of superioresses general quotes the Secretary of the S. Congregation, Father Larraona, as having r~asserted the principles of the Instruction. He is also reported as having stated that there are always dangers attendant upon this work outside the novitiate. The motive for a second year of noviceship has b~en the necessity of a deeper spiritual formation in institutes, devoted to a very active life. This motive is verified in practically all modern congre, gations. No one experienced in the training of young religious will deny that two years are too brief a period for a proper spiritual formation. It is not very reasonable to prescribe prudently a second year of novice-ship in law and then imprudently overturn the law in fact. This is the reason why the S. Congregation insists on the fundamental prin-ciple that the second year must be maintained as a year of novicesbip. Employment outside the novitiate house should be even mor~ care-fully avoided. The practical consequence of separation from the master or mistress o'f novices is almost always'the lack of any spir-itual formation proper to a noviceship. A sincere examination of the ~°Bouscaren I, 302-304. ¯ 21Cf. q. 176 of the Quinquenn:,al Ro~ort for Pontifical Institutes. 261 JOSEPH F. (3ALLEN ReOiew for Religio,,s effects of employing the second-yehr novices in external works will lead to a more universal observance of this most important Instruc-tion of the Holy See. VIII. PROFESSION I. Dispensation from longer period of temporary vows. The Code of Canon Law prescribes that a perpetual profession, solemn or simple, is invalid unless preceded by three full years of temporary vows.zz Only the Holy See may wholly or partially abbreviate this triennium in any institute; since the abbreviation would be a dispen-sation from the law of the Roman Pontiff. The same principle and reason are true with regard to permitting perpetual profession before the completion of the twenty-first year.23 Some institutes impose a longer period of temporary vows by the law of tfieir own constitutions. This period is usually five, much more rarely six, years. These added years are required only for the liceity o~ perpetual profession unless the constitutions certainly de~ mand them for validity. The latter is practically never permitted by the Holy See in approving constitutions. The constitutions of one pontifical congregation of brothers state that the prescribed five years of temporary .vows are required for the validity of its simple per-petual profession. ¯ In diocesan congregations the local Ordinary may dispense from the entir~ added duration of temporary vows if it is required only for the liceity of perpetual profession24 and probably also when it is demanded for the validity of the latter,25 since he is the legislator for such congregations.~6 Many canonis~s would very likely demand that the dispensation be secured from the Holy See in the latter case, if we mawr argue from their similar doctrine on a dispensation from the second.year of noviceship. The local Ordinary has no power to dispense in this matter in pontifical congregations. Some authors .permitted the religious superior who admits to perpetual profession to abbreviate briefly the added duration of tem-porary vows, for example, to dispense from three months of a six-year period, but they restricted this faculty to the case. in which the 2ZCan. 572, § 2; 574, § 1. ~Can. 572, § 1, I°;. 573; 574, § 1. z4Cf. Bouscaren, II, 167. 25Cf. Regatillo," Interpretatio et lurisprudentia, 172; Instituti'ones furls Canonici, I, n. 698. Z6Can. 492, § 2: 495, § 2; 80. 262 September, 1953 PRACTICE OF THE HOLY SEE added duration was required only for the liceity of perpetual pro-fession. 27 However, in the constitutions of pontifical congregations recently approved, the S. C. of Religious ,has been adding the clause that the Holy Seealone may dispense wholly or partially from the added duration, even when required only for the liceity of perpetual profession. Therefore, the faculty of abbreviation given to religious superiors in the doctrine of authors quoted above is more probably not true. The better doctrine is that they possess this power only if it is expressly granted to them by a general or. particular principle of their law. Otherwise any dispensation from the added duration in pontifical congregations should be secured from the Holy See .and in diocesan congregations from the local Ordinary. 2. Prolongation of temporary prot:ession beyond six years forbidden. The point here also can be more clearly proposed in a case. Brotl~er Francis Joseph made his temporary profession at the age of seven-teen. His profession extended to the completion of his twenty-first ~'ear. At the latter time and after the brother has spent four years in temporary vows, his higher superior is doubtful of his suitability for perpetual profession. May this superior prolong the temporary vows for another three years? Tlhe source of the difficulty is can. 574, § 2, which states: "The legitimate superior may prolong this period but not beyond a second term of three years . " The more probable interpretation of this canon has been that a pro.longation is illicit if thereby the entire pe-riod of temporary vows exceeds six years. The. contrary opinion was admitted to be probable and safe. One of the arguments for the first opi.nion has been the practice of the Holy See. The S. C. of Religious has constantly admitted a prolongation of only one year when the constitutions prescribed five years of temporary vows and has excluded any prolongation when the constitutions imposed six years of temporary vows. It was con-cluded that the S. Congregation did not wish the period of temporary vows to exceed six years. This argument is strengthened by the cur-rent practice of the S. Congregation, since recently approved consti-tutions contain the explicit statement that the entire period of tem-porary vows may not exceed six years. Furthermore, Larraona states that the 1)emporary profession may never be prolonged beyond six years without violating the Code and affirms that this has been de- 27Cervia, 128; Goyeneche, CpR, IX (1928), 325; Schafer, n. 973. 263 J(~SEPH F. G?~LLEN for Religious tided in plenary sessions of the S. Congregation and in audiences.28 He and Guti~rrez state that this same doctrine is based on a reply of the Code~ Commission, has been the constant in(erpretation and prac-tice of the S. CongrFgation, and conclude that a prolongation beyond six years in any institute demands an indult of the Holy See?9 This conclusion is justified by the arguments, even though the reply of the Code Commission has not been published. The solution of the case given at the beginning of t.bis number is accordingly that the vows of Brother Francis Joseph may be pro-longed for two years but a prolo,ngation beyond the six years de-mands an indult from the Holy See, whether the institute is pontifical or diocesan. 3. Place of first ternporar~lprofession. Can. 574, § 1, commands for liceity that the first temporary profession be made in the novitiate house. The Code prescribes nothing concerning the place of sub'se-quent temporary professions nor of perpetual profession, solemn or . simple. Constitutions frequently explicitly state that these may be made in" any house of the institute. For a proportionate reason, the S. C. of Religious.will grant a dispensation permitting the first temporary profession to be m~ide outside the novitiate house. If a motherhouse is under the authority of the one local superior and consists of a novitiate, juniorate, ter-tianship, and an academy for girls, the first profession may be made in any part of such a motberhous~ without a dispen.sation from the Holy See. The canon does not demand that the first profession be made within the part of the house reserved for or used by the novices but in the novitiate bourse. Th.erefore, a first profession m~ide any- .where in the latter satisfies the prescription of this canon. 4. Private devotional renetoal of vows. Constitutions approved by the Holy See often counsel th~ freqiient private .renewal of vows, especially after the reception of Holy Communion. Such constitu-tions usually add that special indulgences are attached t'o the latter ¯ practice. It is true that an indulgence, of three years is attached to such a renewal after the celebration of Mass or the reception of Holy Communion,3° but it is difficult to see why such a fact should be men-tioned in the constitutions, which are to contain.the more funda-mental laws of the institute. ,- 2SLarraona, CpR, XXVIII (1949), 196, nota 17. ~Larraona-Guti~rrez, ibid., 332~ .nota 42. 3ORaccolta, n. 695. 264 September, 1953 5. Special vows. The Holy~ See manifested from at least 1892 that it would no longer approve special vows in new institutes.31 The -same principle has been reaffirmed on more than one occasion. congregation of sisters, approved by the Holy See before 1850, re-cently asked the S. Congregation of Religious for an authentic inter-pretation of its constitutions on the. existence of a fourth and fifth vow. The S. Congregation in its first reply affirmed the existence of ¯ both vows, since the language of the formula of profession and the history of the matter clearly indicated that these were intended as special vows. The fourth vow was the ser'~ice of the poor, sick, and ignorant. This is especially the 'type of vow'that the Holy See will not ~dmit in new institutes, since it constitutes the special end of the institute, is already an obligation of the constitutions, and is accordingly pri-mary remot~ matter of the vow of obedience. The fifth vow, taken also in temporary profession, was that ofperseverance. A. second reply of the S. Congregation clarified this fifth vow: "The fifth vow of persevering in the same vows is to be understood in the following sense. The obligation of persevering temporarily or perpetually, ac-cording to the mind and practice of this Sacred Congregation, is in-cluded in the temporary or perpetual profession. Accordingly the words of the formula of profession on perseverance are not to be ¯ understood in th~ sense of another vow." The Holy See and authors have also defined the special vow of stability, taken in imitation of the Benedictine vow, as being con-tained in the obligation of perpetual profession,aa The vow of s~a-bility of Benedictine Sisters is defined: "By the vow of stability the Sisters attach themselves to the hbuse of their profession and ufiite themselves with the religious family there existing, and promise never to 'wrest their necks from under the yoke of the Rule.' " It is not impossible to find different and approved definitions of these special vows in theconstitutions of pon.tifical institutes, for example, that of stability. IX. TELEPHONE AND RADIO In a recent approval of the constitutions of a congregation of sis-ters, the H01y See inserted the.article: "The use of the telephone and alBattandier, n. 186¯ 32Normae'of 1901, n. 102¯ 33Bastien, n. 481. 2: Battandier, n. 187. 265 ,JOSEPH F. (3ALLEN ,Review [or Religious radio is to be regulated by the superior." In its reply to the quin-quennial report of the same type of congregation, the Holy See stated: "Listening to the radio in private does not appear becoming; therefore it would be better to forbid it." X. WORKS OF THE INSTITUTE § 1 Teaching Sisters and School~ 1. duniorates. This section on the works of the institute contains the most practical matter of this article. Unless otherwise noted, the articles quoted in this section have been inserted by the Holy See in constitutions approved during the past two or three years. The articles on the juniorate are: "After their profes,sion the Mother General shall assemble the junior professed in houses of formation, where, under the direction of a competent, l~Iistress, they shall attend Catholic schools, if. such exist. They shall be supplied with all m~ans necessary' for the pur-pose and shall apply themselves diligently to the attainment of diplo-mas that will be recognized also civilly." ¯ "During this time of formation it will be profitable to supple-ment the classes with lectures and instructions by learned Catholics, who shall emphasize the relation of teaching with Catholic faith and morals." The question of juniorates was discussed at the meeting o~ the superioresses general in Rome. The value and necessity of juniorates were clearly seen, but their immediate initiation, program, extension, and duration were left. to the individual institutes. The necessity of appointing a special Mistress of Junior Professed, distinct from the local superior, . was stated more categorically. It is to be noted that the article quoted above is far more absolute than the unofficial ,re-ports of the Roman meeting. I doubt that any experienced higher superior of congregatio,ns of brothers or sisters denies the necessity of juniorates for the proper spiritual formation and education of subjects. I personally believe that the necessity of juniorates has passed the point of discussion and opinion; it is now a matter of conviction and urgency. Congrega-tions of brothers and sisters should immediately institute a juniorate. This means that the junior professed will not be applied to the ex-ternal works of the institute until they. have completed their under-graduate studies. Extyerience proves that there is only one way of attaining this supremely important object: the superior general must 266 September, PRACTICE OF THE HOLY rise to his or her strongest moment and command it. Let no one swell the low notes of those who chant mournfully that it cannot be done: whaf has been done can be done. If the argument is proposed that the junior professed should be tested in the external works and life of the institute before perpetual profession, the answer is easy. The institute can study the expediency of increasing, with proper permission, the prescribed period of temporary vows to five or six years. The juniorate for those destined to be nurses will require study and investigation for the attainment of a suitable program. 2. Preparation for perpetual profession. This number and the pre-. ceding apply equally to brotbe~s and sisters destined for works other than teaching. At the Roman meeting of superioresses general the withdrawal of the junior professed from the ordinary life of the in-stitute for one or several months of renovation of spirit and of deeper and more mature spiritual formation before perpetual profession ap-pears to have been authoritatively favored. However, this can scarcely be held as necessary if the institute has an-adequate junior-ate. It will also be very close to the noviceship, since most institutes have only three years of temporary vows. While I do not deny the merit of this suggestion, it seems to me to be far more necessary for institutes of brothers and sisters to study the initiation of such a program several years after perpetual profession, when the religious has spent more years in the ordinary life and works of the institute and is in the age group of thirty to thirty-five. This is the critical age for religious. The vision and heart of spiritual youth have often suffered a slow death from worldliness, selfishness, the gradual e'xclu-sion of mortification, the abandonment of real prayer, and the de-structive, disillusioning, and even embittering example of others. It is. the age that needs spiritual revivification and rejuvenation. If this is not had, the soul can readily grow old with the body and crawl into eternity as enfeebled by mediocrity as the body is by age. A longer period is desirable, but it would be sufficient to devote one full summer to such a renovation. This plan does not exclude the advisability of the renovation before perpetual profession, but the necessity, value, intensity, and duration of such a renovation would depend on the length of the noviceship, the existence of a juniorate, the number of years spent in the active life, and the adop-tion of the later renovation here recommended. 3. Continuation of studies after the junforate. "After they have received their diplomas, it is the duty of the 267 JOSEPH F.'GAIzLEN Rebiew For Religious Sisters t6 advance their k~towledge by unremitting study anal reading of the books that are constantly being published." Th~ sense of this article admits no doubt, but its present observ-ance is more than doubtful; It is safe to assert that the daily average time granted to sisters for preparation for class and advancement is about an hour. If this is sufficient for preparation for class and ad-vancement, it seems equally safe to hold that only a genius may am-bition the life of a sister. ¯ The article is merely a dictate of common sense for instittites de-voted, to teaching. It will never be properly observed unless careful thought is given to such headings¯ as the following: learning is not incompatible with true piety: a solid and inspiring education in the juni0rate; the elimination of interminable vocal prayers in common: the realization tbat some spiritual duties may be made privately; the quick and painless death of the restlesshorarium that finds peace only in the clangor of. the bell; peaceful acquiescence in the fact that study in'one's room or cell is not forbidden by the natural'or canon law:~ sufficient sleep, holidays, and vacations; .a notable lessening of the time given to domestic work; the employment of more lay teachers and more secular help for domestic work; finally and especially; the elimination of the present totally unreasonable overwork. We can aptly add the admonition given by the Holy See in its reply to the quinquennial report of one institute. There are very few institutes of brothers and sisters that cannot profit by. this ~idmoniti6n: "If possible, something should be done to correct the situation whereby the' sisters, exhausted by excessive labor, are apparently exposed to many difficulties and dangers and consequently fail in carrying out, the religious life." An unofficial summary of the Roman meeting ~f superioresses general contains some very pertinent thoughts on this heading. Let us hope that the superiors subscribed .to these thoughts as actualities to be attained and not as 'the dreams of a waning summer. These thoughts are: "Maternai care must be taken of the health of the religious; the work of each must be orderly and moderate; each religious must have time for her exercises of piety." "The schedules must always be reasonable and adapted to the various regions and apostolic ministries today confided to religious." "In their individual houses, the Superiors General will provide for all the Religious the possibility and facility; 'of a Christian life 268 September, 1953 PRACTICE OF: THE HOLY SEE (with the Sacraments, the Word of God, Spiritual Direction, etc.) and of Religious life with the posiibility of carrying out the duties imposed on them by their consecration to God (day~ of Retreat, Spir-itual Exercises, and spiritual practices common to the individual In-stitute) ." "It must be remembered that the a~ostolate is also a science and an art and that the Holy See insists on the elevation of the literary. technical and professional culture of the Religious, on the absolute necessity of degrees required for the exercise of the various profes-sions: on the necessity of aspirin~ to a greater degree of proficiency, never thinking that one's culture is adequate f9r the present need." 4. Progress and annual meeting. "The Congregation is to adopt, the prhisewortby custom of an annual meeting of all the Sister teachers, under the presidency of the Mother General. for a discussion of methods of teaching and of the traditional pedagogy of the Congregation, in order that the schools of the Congregation may not only equal but surpass secular schools." 5. Subjects at~o to be studied. The following article will encourage those who are promoting courses of theology for brothers or sisters. Such a course should be partially completed in the juniorate. "They ar~ to study also dogmatic and moral theology, ecclesiasti-cal history, sociology, liturgy, Gregorian chant, and similar matters. For all of these studies the Sisters are to be" supplied with books for their individual and constant use." 6. Library. The community library, especially in small religious houses, can readily be neglected. If we had the pen and unction of Kempis, we would lament that the food of the modern monk is more abundant than his books. The library should be augmented con-stantly with books appert~aining to the subjects taught in the school and also with newly published spiritual and cultural books. The article of the Holy See On the library is: "Each house shall have a library containing Catholic books on the entire field of pedagogy." 7. Teaching of Christian doctrine. "The Sisters shall not forget that they must be approved by the local Ordinary for the teaching of Christian doctrine." "In explaining Christian doctrine, the Sisters .shall proceed gradually and, as far as possible, they shall aim to instill into the minds ,of their, pupils a thorough knowl~edge of the tt, u_ths of o~faith rather than to have them commit to memory a series of formulas." 269 JOSI~PH F. GALLEN Review For Religious The following articles were inserted' by the Holy See in the con-stitutions of a congregation especially dedicated to the teaching of Christian doctrin~ and approved finally by the Holy See in 1949. "Since the sacred sciences are especially helpful to an' understand-ing of Christian doctrine, the Sisters shall place great emphasis on the .study bf dogmatic, moral, and pastoral theology, eccl~siastical history, and similar subjects. A collection of books on Christian doctrine, especially ~f recent worthwhile publications, is to be ac-cessible to the Sisters and others who devote themselves to the teaching of Christian doctrine." ""It will be very advantageous for the Sisters, with the proper authorization', to publish and distribut~ printed works on Christian doctrine." 8. Some norms of teachin~l. , "The Sisters. shall take care that order and cleanliness are ob-served in the classroom." "They should stu.dy the character and disposition of mind of all their pupils and are to unite a certain gentleness of treatment with strictness, when/he latter is necessary." "The 'inordinate inclinations oi the children are to be corrected gradually, and they are to be aided in the acquisition of good habits by the stimulus of admdnition, opportune advice, and by bringing to light the law Of conscience, which,'as is well known, appears from the earliest years." "Offensive speech~ blows, and intemperate anger are to be avoided in punishments. A moral sense of responsibility for theii actions rather than servile fear is to be inculcated in the minds of the chil-dren." "The Sisters are to refrain absolutely from partiality and prefer-ence in their relations with the children. The deportment and coun-tenance of the.Sisters should manifest an evenness of disposition and kind.heSS united with something of reverence." "" "Experience proves that the fostering of the interior life, which is developed by good actions, faith in God, and self-sacrifice, appears even in young children as the right and safe path along which life is to be guided." "A love of modesty is to be developed in girls with regard to dress, deportment and their conduct with others." 270 " September, 1953 .PRACTICE OF THE HOLY SEE § 2 Sister Nurses arid Hospitals 9. Training and.continued pr6gress. "['he problem of overwork is particularly acute in the case of brothers and sisters applied to hos-pitals. In some religious hospitals a weekly holiday is apparently unknown. The continuation of this practice is unthinkable. Every brother and sister nurse should have at least one day a week that is completely free from hqspital duties, and it would contribute' much to 'their health, quiet of mind, and spirituality to spend as often as possiblea notable part of this weekly holiday awa.y from the hos-pital environment. Overwork will not facilitate the continued study and progress demanded by th~ following article that is inserted in constitutions by .the Holy See: "The Sister nurse must strive to increase her knowledge after she has secured a diploma valid also according to civil law." I0. Medical ethics. "A Sister is to refrain from administering medicines or assisting at Operations that are forbidden by the Church. In cases of doubt she is to consult the Superior." "Especially in extraordinary and important cases where there are at stake .the preservation of a human life, reverence for the human person, and care for the conscience of the patient, even if it is a case of extreme pain and gi.ves rise to such questions as euthanasia and others of similar nature,, the Sister shall be careful to give no help to an ac-tion that is contrary to Catholic principles." 11. Mod~stg¢. The Holy See has been inserting the following article in constitutions for several years past: "In certain cases where the care to be given is Of a particularly delicate nature, the Sisters shall dvail themselves, if possible, of the services of .the secular personnel or of the members of the sick per-son's family; for extraordinary cases the Superior should designate Sisters of proven piety and mature age who are williog to perform such works of chhrity. It is the duty of the General Chapter or Council to enact measures in this regard, to which the Sisters must con form." 12. Education as doctors. The following article, proposed to the Holy See in the genera] revision of the constitutions of two. congrega-tions, was approved by the S. C. of Religibus: "The Sisters assigned to the hospitals must be thoroughly pre-pared for the efficient discharge oftheir duties. There should be some Sisters educated as doctors and qualified for th6 various .departments 271 , C. A. HERBST Review for Religious ¯ of the hospital." Canon law does not forbid clerics or religious to study medicine or surgery. Canons 139, § 2, and 592 forl~id clerics and religious of both sexes to devote themselves avowedly, habitually, and for profit to the practice of medicine or surgery. Religious institutes devoted to nursing have by their approbation as such permission to practice the medicine and slight surgery demanded of nurses. Local Ordinaries in missionary countries may permit their missionaries, priests and re-ligious men or women, to practice medicine and surgery provided they are skilled in these arts, demand no payment, and observe rood-esty intreating the opposite sex. In other countries clerics, brothers, and sisters Who wish to i~ractice medicine or surgery must secure an indult from the Holy See. The article quoted above and approved by the Holy See implicitly grants to the two congregations a dispen-sation from th~ canonical prohibition of the practice of medicine and surgery for those qualified as doctors. Care is always to be taken to secure prbper civil authorization for the practice of these arts. [EDITORS' NOTE: Father Gallen's article will be concluded in November.] Discipline C. A. Herbst, S.J. It"I"HE very first step towards wisdom is the desire for discipline, .,| .and how should a man care for discipline without loving ~t, or love it without heeding its laws, or heed its laws with-out winning immortality, or .win immortality without drawing nearer to God" (Wis. 6:18, 19) ? Who could explain more clear!y or_show more beautifully than the Holy Spirit Himself does the place of discipline in the life of one who really wants to love God? "Order is heaven's first law" the proverb says. ¯ This conformity to law comes from discipline. Discipline in the passive sense is con-trol gained by enforcing obedience or order. There is order even in heaven, where God is supreme and the angels are ministering spirits. Where there is disorder chaos soon appears and it is impossible to at-tain the end of any organized society, which is the common good. The modern "autonomous man" is a law unto himself, a tyrant, an outlaw. Were the order established by discipline removed, "the bounded waters would lift higher than the shores," as Shakespeare says~ ?and make,a sop bf, all this.solid globe.';o ~ Then might, is right, "and the rude son should strike his father dead." Unleashed from 272 September, 1953 DISCIPLINE discipline, power obtained by our modern Hitlers and Stalins whets the appetite for more power. "And appetite, an universal wolf, must make perforce an universal prey, and last eat up himself." (Troilus and Cressida, I, iii.) Discipline corrects. This is its first function: a negative one, surely, but basic and important ever since the beginning when man short-circuited his powers through original sin and "to err is human" became a proverb. It is only too clear that in younger religious fre-quent correction is necessary. It helps to make away with the "old man," and who can put on the "new man" before putting off the old? The ways of the world (and they are gaining mightily with each decade) are not God's ways. In men of good will. which we presume aspirants to the religious life to be, correction should lead to prompt reform, or at least to a prompt attempt at reform. In those. who have already spent some time in religion it should lead not only to prompt but to thorougl~ and lasting reform. ReForm. That is a distasteful word to the worldling but opens up a vast field white for the harvest for the ease-loving religious. And we need not look across the table and plan reform for him. As Father said: "If ever you want to start a reform, start on yourself." "Charity begins at home" is true even in this negative aspect. Reform is the correlative and result of correction, and d'iscipline's first work is to correct. Discipline molds. It forms a religious after thi~ likeness of Christ. It shapes him. A character, a soul, is like clay in the hands of the p.otter. As defects are removed by correction the new man takes form under the interior influence of grace and the external influence of dis-cipline. It is exhilarating to see the young religious grow. That an earnest and fervent religious does grow even those who live with him can see. Those, however, who had known him i'n the world and after a few years see him as a religious are the ones who are really amazed at the change. The religious life is a school of perfection. One ex-pects a school to teach and mold and form and change and enlighten. ¯ .Discipline educates a soul, "leads out" its powers, the mind and the will, and induces them to make the most of the wonderful gifts God has given to each one of His children. Discipline strengthens. It gives one moral and spiritual power to act, live, and carry on enduringly and vigorously. This is conspicu-ous in the athletic world. Those who achieve fame in the field of sports do so because they have acquired physical strength, speed, and" accuracy of sense and muscle through long and severe disciplinary 273 C. A. HEI~BST Review for Religious train!ng. This extended and careful practice, their abstinence from food and luxuries and entertainment, is more rigorous than most re-ligious have to submit to. ."And they for a corruptibl( crown, but we for an incorruptible one." ~ Through discipline we store up resources of moral and spiritual strength whict~ we may draw upon in times of trial and temptation. A well-trained sc~ldier will come through many a difficult'and dang(r- ~ ous battle where an undisciplined one will succumb, as we found out in World War II. Through'discipline one acquires a great power of resistance. Discipline causes a soul to become effective and efficient in the direction~ of spiritual achievement, and to be foiceful in its life and work. A strong soul is ardent and zealous, too, and enthusiastic for, the things of God. Neither is a well-disciplined soul easily injured, subdued, or taken in. He is like a fortress, strong and firm. It is vigorous, healthy~ and tough, like an oak. Discipline makes a soul sturdy and unyielding. In the religious life we consider religious discipline in connection v~ith obedience. From an analysis of the word itself, discipline means teaching, training. "Considered in the authority which governs, re-ligious discipline is the sum total' of the rules with their ~anction. By the rules superiors teach the way which is to be followed; by pen- "ances in ~ase of infraction they bring back those who have strayed and repair the scandal given. Considered in inferiors, discipline is also c~lled regular observance, and is the ,faithful observance of the rules, in which observance all the members of the community unite in holy harmony. So important is religious discipline that it must be con-sidered as morally necessary for the conservation of the order as a whole, for that of.the religious life in a community, and for that of the spiritual life in each individual. According to what has been said, it is easy to see that superiors are under grave obligation to maintain religious discipline in the community; and in this regard, "connivance. on their part can easily become a consideiable sin" (Cotel, Catechism of the Vows, 137- 140.), In this connection we might note Canon 593: "Each and every religious, superiors as well as. subjects, must not only keep faithfully and completely'the vows they have taken, but also lead a life in conformity with the rules and constitutions of their own in-stitute and thus strive ~fter the perfection of their state." The rule of each religi0us.institute urges regular observance on ¯ all Each institute must first and foremost, of course, observe the law 274 ' September, 1953 D~SCIPLINE of the Church for religious. In Canons 594-612 we have mentioned especially the careful observance by all of th~ common llfe with re-gard to food, dress, and furniture; the careful performance of gpir-itual exercises; the wearing of the religious habit;

Issue 11.5 of the Review for Religious, 1952. ; A. M. D.G. ' ' Review for Religious SEPTEMBER i5, 1952 Congress of Religious . The Editors Towards Continual Prayer . Pa.I DeJaegher Cases o~ Illegitimacy . Joseph F. Gallen ' "~ . Pius XII and Our Lady . JohnA. Hardon "Meaning" of A.M.D.G . Walter ~J. Ong Q, uesfions and Answers Book No÷ices VOLUME XI NUMBER 5 REVIEW FOR. RELIGIOUS VOLUME XI SEPTEMBER, 1952 NUMBER 5 CONTENTS CONGRESS OF RELIGIOUS~The Editors . 225 TOWARDS CONTINUAL PRAYER--Paul De Jaegher, S.J . 231 OUR CONTRIBUTORS . ¯ . 241 PRACTICAL AND PASTORAL C/(SES ON ILLEGITIMACY~ Joseph F. Gallen, S.J . " . 242 COMMUNION CARD FOR HOSPITALS . 248 COMPLETE TEXT OF SPONSA CHRIST1 IN ENGLISH . 248 LEGISLATION OF SPON,$A CHRI,~TI . 248 POPE PIUS XII AND OUR LADY---3ohn A. Hardon. S.J . 249 "A.M.D.G.": DEDICATION OR DIRECTIVE~Waher J. Ong, S.J. 257 TEN-YEAR INDEX--LIMITED SUPPLY . 264 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERSm 21. Moral Obligation of Voting . 265 22. Boundary of Novitiate . 269 23. On Reading Rodriguez . 269 24. Change in the Habit . 270. 25. Applying Indulgences to Souls in Purgatory . 270 26. Honoring'Bequests for Masses . . . '. . 270 27. Unrealizable Desires for Sanctification . 271 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS . 272 BOOK NOTICES . 274 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, September, 1952. Vol. XL No. 4. Published bi-monthly: January, March, May, July, September, and November at the Colleg.e Press, 606 Harrison Street, Topeka, Kansas, by Sty Mary's College, St. Marys, Kansas, with ecclesiastical approbation. Entered as second class matteb ,January 15, 1942, at the Post Office, Topeka, Kansas, under the a~t of March 3, 1879. Editorial Board: Jerome Breunig, S.J.; Augustine G. Ellard, S.J.; Adam C. Ellis, S.J.; Gerald Kelly, S.3.; Francis N. Korth, S.3. Copyright, 1952, by Adam C. Ellis, S.J. Permission is hereby granted for quota- ~ions of reasonable le.ngth; provided due credit be given this review and the author. Subscription price: 3 dollars a year; 50 cents a copy. Printed in U. S. A. Before writing to us, please consult notice on inside back cover. Congress ot: Religious The Editors ~"HE first National Congress of Religious of'the United States w.as .| held at "th~ University of Notre Dame, August 9 to 12, 1952. Three members of our editorial staff attended as delegates. At the various sessions we tried to note points that would be bf special interest to our readers: and, since it was impossible for us tobe per-sonally present at ail the different sectional, meetings, we asked many friends t~ make similar n6tes. ,The present report is made up from these notes "jottings" might be a better word. .Regarding our report, let us make two observations. First, it is not intended to be a complete a&ount of the Congress. Official Proceedings of the Congress will be published soon and will give this complete accountl ' Secondly, even as an incomplete account, our re-port is not adequate; it represents merely what a comparatively tiny number of de'legates considered point.s of spedal interest. It would .help us greatly if other delegates who read this rePort would Suppl~- ¯ ment (or~ correct, if need be) this material by sending us communi-cations containing their own impressions: And it would also ,help if any r.eaders, whether delegates or not, w, ould send their observations on the points recorded her~. This "request for commtinications r~eeds emp,hasis. The Congress opened up for discussion many vital points concerning our religious life; but because of lack of time it could do,no more than start the discussion. Readers' of this Review would do a great service to the ~ellgious life in this country if they would continue this discussion. by the frank and constructive expression of theii own observations-on these ~;ital points. Purposes of Congress " The Congress was summonedby the Sacred Congre~gfition of Religious, as a mean~ of intensifying and. strengthe.ning the religious life in the United States, of givii~g religious of all institutes an op-portunity to exchange ideas and particularly to discuss the problems ~ertaining to the adjustment of the religious life to ~onditions, pie- ¯ vailing in our land without compromising the principles on which the religious life is based. We believe that the. first purpose of.the Cbngress the intensi- ' ,225 THE EDITOP~ Review f6r, Retigious lying ~nd strengtt~ening of. our own. r~eligious life--~as. easily .the central point of the meetings andthat' ~ good start was m~de towards its accomplishment.~ C~rtainly all of us were~ inspire~d with-the de'sire of becoming better religious arid of making our" institutes more.effec-tive means in the great work of the Church. As c~n'e Sisterwho helped us p~epare?these notes put it:. "Probabl~ among the fi, nest outcomes of the First National .Congress of Religio,us of the Ufiited States will be a'faller.realization'on the.part ofeach community, whether large or ~all, of iis.actual, p~iticipation and impqrtance.in i~he Mystical -Body. of ~hrist; a deeper feeling of p~rspnal love for our Holy Father' and an appreciation Of his interest in our spiritual and temporal well- .,being; an~under.standila~g of the ,eagerness,. of the members 6f the Sacred Congregation of Religiou~ to serve our need~s and tO assist us to b~come holy, saintly' religious; and finally, a cloker bond among th( religious communities'of the United States, with e~ich ~roup cor~: scious of its imp6rtance to the good of the whole 'and, ready to assist in furthering the 'apostolic endeavors of every, other institute:" ¯ The other purposeF-~-the ekchange of ideas and the consideration of nece~sary adjustment~--also received their due attention" at both the scheduled sessiofis and the informal meetings of smaller groupL The on.e flaw in the plaorfing of the Congress, if there was 0ily fl~w,. was that there were so many.papers that the.re was not sufficient time for discussion°fr0m the floi3r. Nevertheless, a fine beginning was made, and w,e hope that what was begun at Notre Dame can be car- ¯ tied on much further in' the discussi6ns in this R~view and in smaller meetings that can be arranged from time ~o time. . Organization .The Sacred Congregation of." Rhligioussent. f~ur representatives to theCongress: .The Most Reverend Atcadio LarraonL C.MIF., Secretary of the Congregation: the Very Reverend Giuseppe\Gi.am- ~pietro, S.J., the assistant to Father Larraona i~ the organization of regional "meetings of religious; the .Very Reverend Elio Gambari, S.M.M'., .whose specihl duty is-to handlethe affairs of refigious :in the United States; and the ~i~y Re;gerend Edward 'L. Heston, C.S.C:, the Secretary G~ner~l for, the Congress in the United States. ¯ The Congress was divided into two sections, for religious n~dn and religious women respective.ly. The Very-P(everend John ~J. Cavanaugh, C.S.C., who was President of the University of Notre .Dame atthe time the C6ngress was.plhnned, wasHonora.ry~Chair- 226 ~September, 1952 , (~ONGRESS OF RELI,.GIOUS manfor both groups. Executiye Chairman for Religious Men was. the "Very Reverend FranCis J.Connell, C.SS.R.; and for Religious W~men, the_Reverend Mother Mary. Gerald Barry,. O.P., the Supe-rior, General 6f the.Domlnican Sisters of Adrian; Michigan. Co- - ordinato.r of the. Congress'was the Re~'e~end Alfred F: .Mendez. C.S.C. The work done by Fathers Connell and Mendez and Mother " Mary Geriild in preparing for th~ Congress "was little shdrt of miraculous. They had only al~out three months tb make their pre-parati6ns, yet every detail, both Of the preparations and Of the'actual carrying out of the"Congre.ss,: was S~l~erbfy:planned and executed. As one small sample.migh~ l~e instanced the plans for daily Masses: there, were seven hur~dred Masses.each day; yet there was not the 'slightest -c~nfusion or difficulty in getting, iri ~he Masses. ~ ¯ Other members of the Committee for the sectlon of Rehgmus ¯Men were: theVery Rev~:end Godf.rey Diekmann, O.S.B.; the Very Reverend Philip F. Mulhern, O.P.: the,.Very Reverend'Thomas .~. Plas'smann, O.F.M.: the Ve~y Reverend Adam C. Ellis, "S.J.: the Very Reverend Basil Frison, C.M.F.; Venerable Brother Alexis Vic-.- tor, F.S~C.; Venerable Brother Ephrern O'Dwyer, C.S.C.; Vener-able Brother William, ~.F.X. O~her members of the committee .for Religious Women were: the Re~,erend .Mother M. Catherine Sullivan, D.C.: the Reverend'. Mother-M. Rose Elizabeth, C.S.C." the Reverend Mother M. li~n, C.S.J.; the Reverend 'Mother M. Joan 0t: Arc Cronin, O.S.U. the Reverend. Mot'her Mari~Helene,. S.P.: and Sister M. Madeleva.;" Spiritual Ideals In one wa.y'or anothe'r many. of the discussions at the C~ngr~ss centered on the clarification of the spiritual ideals common to reli-gious. ins~itfltes and on the .means. of¯ attaining these ideals., Particu-larly stressed was.~he fact that religious.need a deep pers'orial devo~ tion to Christ. Basic to such a devotion is the knowledge of.Christ; iand the young r~llg~ous must be.helped ~o get th~s knowledge, partly through Well-planned reading, and~mostly through prayer--for it is ~i knowledge.of the heart, and it is given by the Holy Ghost to ~hose " who humbly and perse~'erifigly seek it. ¯The fervent-reception of. Holy Communion-is a great help to.the atta!ning of this interior -knowledge and devotion. Incidentally, in. the men:s discussion 6f this tiepin, it was poin~e~, out that here, as i~ Other aspec~so,of their religious training, youri~ religious are inspired.by the goqd example ¯ 227 THE EDITOR,S " Review/:or Religigus of thei~ elders-and are proportib.nate!y harmed by thelack of such example. Several discussions also emphasized the need of a sense of per, sor~al responsibility. For. instance, one danger oK the religious life, with its many exercises in common, is .what migl~t be called "~herd-spirituality": one goes to the exercise automatically and takes.part with a sort, of detached numbness, ,as though ¯partially anesthetized. The chief wa~ to counteract this is the constant striving on the part of the individual to make the exercls~ personal. Also, some religious who lead an active aposl~olate, especially in small houses, .are fre-quently unable to have common exercises. They can lose the rell-gious spirit completely Unless through their own personal efforts they try to form a plan for making their various spiritual exercises in private. " The same idea of personal responsibility, under the formality of per_sonal initiative, was prominent in the men's discussion of religious obedience. It was pointed out,that apostolic initiative is n6t stifled by obedience, though it must often be controlled for the common good, as well as for the good of the individual. The rel, igious who always waits to be told what to do. is by no. means the model of perfect obedience, and the superior who requires this of his subjects is by no,means the perf.ect superior. , In a paper t, bat all will read With interest and profit, the Very Reverend Giles Staab, O.F.M.C~'p., reduced the moral qualifications of candida.tes to the religious life to the)four virtues of generosity, docility, prudence,~and loyalty. The generous candidate will¯have the r~quisite piety, the fight intention,' the chastity, and the zeal. The docile candidate will be obedient and thus further the Work of the i.nstitute. The prudent candidate will have good jiadgment and emotional control. And ~he candidat~ imbued with a spirit Of loya[t~t.will, be ready to subordinate his own interests to thqse of the community and will, as a natural consequence, b~e a, gobd communi@ man: a religious withsocial 'balanch, cgurtesy, and considerateness." Conte~ptative Life The .Right Reverend Abbot M. James Fox, O.C.S.O., gave' an interesting and informative talk about the contemplative life in gen-eral and the Trappists' life inparticular. He said that there is.a great hunger for thec0ntemplative life in modern America, . and he illustrated this statement.by quotin~ excerpts from man'y letters'that h'e has received from applicants to the' Trappi~ts. The Trappists,., 228 " ' v Sep~ei'hber~ 1952.- " CONGRESS OF RELIGIOUS he said, have about ~700' novices in their varigus" houses ~throu.ghmit the world';" ,approximately half:of these novices ,are, in the' United State~.'In less than ten years the" Trappist monasteries in 'this country have increased from three' to ten.," °, "'- .~, Why the attraction to "contemplative orders?.+. At one of Sisters' sessions it was suggested that yout.h are attracted to the co.n= templative life because they,feel that in this life they can

Issue 6.1 of the Review for Religious, 1947. ; Review for Religious 3ANUARY 15; 1947 °YouIdre as ony Pe r?a r . ~ . ~The Editors On Difficulties in Meditation . ' . G. Augustine Ellard The Little Office of Our Lady . : . . Adam C. Living in Christ . Charles F. D(~novan "Open My Mouth, O Lord!" . Richard L. Roo~ey Oualifications of Pos÷ula nts Sister of'the Precious Blood Recruiting for the. Brotherhoods . Brother Placidus The Cl~urch Unity Octave .~ . . Father Bartholomew Communications Book Reviews Ouesfion~s Answered Decisions of the Holy See "VOLUME VI NUMBER 1 REVIEW FOR . RELIG, IOUS VOLUME VI JANUARY, 11947 NUMBER , cONTENTS YOUR IDEAS ON PRAYER~-~The Editor~ . . . ON DIFFICULTIES IN MEDITATION" G. Augustine Ellard, S.J; COMMUNICATIONS . 16 OUR CONTRIBUTORS '~ . . : . : . . 1 THE LITTLE OFFICE oF OUR LADY--Adam C. °Ellis, S.J, 18 DECISIONS OF THE HOLY SEE . 24 LIVING IN CHRIST'--Charles F. Donovan, S.J . 28 CONCERNING COMMUNICATIONS ON PRAYER . 32 "OPEN MY MOUTH, O LORD !"--Richard L. Rooney, S.J . 33 BOOKS~,FOR HOSPITALS . . . ¯ . 36 QUALIFICATIONS OF A GOOD POSTULANT-~Sister of Preciotis Blood 37 CHURCH UNITY OCTAVE .INDULGENCES . . RECRUITING FOR THE BROTHERHOODS--Brottier Placidus, C.F.X. 45 THE CHURCH UNITY OCTAVE--Father Bartholomew, S.A. 50 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS-- .1. Absencd from Novitiate during Second Year . 53 2. Reappointment of Local Superiors . 53 3. Pd'wer to Prescribe Community Prayers; Imprimatur . 54 4. Meaning of Spiritual Re.lationship 54 5. Mism Recitata Permitted under Certain Conditions . ~.~ 55 6. Absence from Postulancy . ~ 55 7. Superior Appointed for Unexpired Term . 56 FLOUR FOR ALTAR" BREAD,S . ~ BOOK REVIEWS~ ~ A Bedside Book of.Saints; Extraordinary Life of Marie Louise Brault; ¯ Lumen, Vitae; The Index to American Catholic Pamphlets; The Systematic Teaching of Religion: Ancient, Christian Writers . 58 BOOK NOTICES . . .~ . : . °. 63 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, January, 1947.~ Vol. VI. No. 1. Published bi-monthly; January, March, May, Ju!~, 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, Topeka, Kan.sas, 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, 1947, by Adam C. Ellis. Permission is hereby granted for quotations of reasonable length, provided due credit be given this review and the author. Subscription p~ice: 2 dollars a year. Printed in U. S, A. Before writing to us, please consult notice on Inside beck cover. Review ~or Reli gio'us Volume VI ~January--December, 1947 Published at THE COLLEGE PRESS Topeka, Kensas Edited by THE JESUI~T FATHERS SAI¯NT MARY'S COLLEGE St. Man/s, Kansas " REV~IEW FOR RELIGIOUS is indexed in the CATHOLIC PERIbDICAL iNDEX. Yobr. J Jeas on Pray6r? The Editors. VARIO S TIMES in the p~st, the editors of thi.~" EVIEW. have suggested some definite topic to be dis-cussed in the Communications Department with th~ intention of pooling useful ideas and informatioh." For example, we have had communications on spirithal direc-tion, on formalism in religion, .and On vocations. Of all _the discussions, by far. the most interesting and profitable was the one concerning spiritual direction. This discussiofi" "'o ran through an entire year; and when it was complete&we Were able to publish a very helpful su.rvey of all the articles and commu,.nications. . Why was~spiritual direction such a frutifui .topic for discussion? The reason seems to be thatTM the topic has a definite persor~al meaning to most religious. They have "id~as and ideals ~r~.the subject; and they. can and'will express themselves. It is all but inevitable that communi- ~ation~'which touch upoh matters that are concrete and that are of personal significance-will be successful. We should like to start another series of communica-tignsi" and we think we have a,subject that should vie.with. spiritual direc~iori in its personal appeM to.religious. The Subject we wish to suggest is Pra~jer. Here'is our plan. During the present year, beginnin~ with this issue, we hope to publish a number of. articles prayer. In these, attention will be drawn to many of the "difficulties.ordinarily met with in prayer and. an attempt will be made to indicate ways and means of overcoming them, Thui we hope to give our real:ldrs,suggestio,ns, that will be of ,great constructive value. Yet our purpose can 3 THE EDITORS '~" - ha, rdly b.e.attained ~erely by, formal articles. We need the informal, perso~ial t6uch of communications. Prayer is somethin.g,that pertains intimately to the life of a religious. E~ry religiouS, we su~,pose, has at least tried mental prayer, and has met with success or failure. We think that all reli- '~gi~,us Ould gain mu~h by an interchange of Views on these failures and succeSSeS. Hence, we ask fo~ communicatiohs to supplement or if need be--tocorrect our articles. What should be included in these communications? It .is hard to give a Comprehensive answer to thi~iq~estion. Here.are ~ome suggestions~: You have read or heard some-thing '~about prayer;~ you have .tried it and founfl it either ~.helpful or useless. You have .experienced di~culfies-~-or discovered methods and h~lps that the ordiffary books do notmention.~ Others would like to hear about ~uch things. Why not tell them? These are but priming suggestions;. they are not intended tolimit'th~ ~scope of your communi-c_ a~ions. The importfint thin~'is_that you tell about pr~yer,. ~/our ideas concerning, prayer, and so forth. It seems that the s.ubject should be limited, for the most partl to mental prayer;, however, we certainly do not wisl"i to exclude correspondence on vocal pi:ayer. , Who should write these communications? Anyone Who i~ intdrested;, anyone who .has somethinl~ to say. Whethei ~rofi aie'a superior ora Sub~ject; a sPkrituai ~direc~orI h~ retreat master,-a priest, a Sister, ,a Brother; whether your irocatidn stresses the acti~ce or the contern-plh~ive-iife you :can hace~something worth while tO say on this important subject. If we can cbmbine our articles and communica'- tions in such a way as to give us 'a practical- suivey of.all the' real difficulties and real helps to prayer, we shall have accomplished something truly worth while. [ NOTE: Please see. p, 3 2 for directions concerning cdramunications.] On Difl:icul ies G. Augustine Ella~rd, S.J. |~ ET US .take meditation~ to be a heart2to-h~ar~t confer- I~ ence with God upon one's spiritual problems. .Th~ -intellectual moment is expressed by "conference,'~ in ~he sense of consultation or discussion; the affective moment by "heart-to-heart"; and-the element of prayey. 'is. implied' in the words "v~ith Gsd." Moreover let us take the term meditation both in the narrower acceptation of discursive mental prayer and in the broai:ter use as men.t~l prayer. general, except of.course infused contemplation. The diffi') culties are encountered primarily in meditation in the former sense, but in diminishingdegrees, they occur also in those forms.of mental prayer that are commonly called affective or contemplative. The purpose of these remarks is purely practical. And it would seem that not many-efforts in the spiritual life ~ould be more practical than endeavoring to make medita-tlon le~s sterile and more effective. A. TheFacts I cannot imagine that anybody who has tried over a ldng period of time to pray mentally would ~leny that there are difficulties imit. Even'St. Teresa, that, soaring eagle of " Avila, who must have found about as much facility and delight in it .as anyone, at a certain stage in thedevelop-ment 6f her prayer-life used to shake the hourglass because it was too slow to her tas,te in measuring the hour for medi-tation. Yet there are ascetical writers, carried away appar-ently by zeal and forgetful of experience, who assert that "mental. prayer is not difIiculU' As a.matter of fact, it seems quite certain that the diffi-culty bf meditation ranges" all the way from sheer impbssi- ,G. AUGUSTINE ELLARD "" Review for Religious bilit_-y, to,no.difficulty at all. There ar_.e.some people'who are ~h~si~aii~ and }imply'i~capabi~ Of itl .and tl~ere are others "~ho diari.ng .long periods of time find only e?ase and delight in it. These represent the two extremes. If we consider the generality of per~gn~who apply thedas~lves 'to addita-ti0n, m~impression-is that th~ difficulty is both c6mmon and gre~t. In any case, whate;cer the f~cts be, let us acknowledge them candidly 'without exa'~g~ration or diminfition: "~ ° Ess_e_ntially the difficulty Of meditation seems'to consist in a cert~iin darkness of mind and'a certain apathy of soul. It kvill be noticed that. these two conditions are precisidy the" contrary Of w.hat constitutes actual grace, namely} illumina-tion of the intelligence and movement or irispiration Of the will. "A~ all~ven(s when one finds 'medit~ition hard, it seems scarcely possiblTto go on in it; or at least it seems that to proceed would be laborious and painful." ~ B. Causes o~ th~oD~gi~ultg. ~I. P~ray~r~ in general is difficult to human natureqn v,~ri-ous degrees ~because of its supern, atural c~aracter; ~because the senses find little therein to occupy themselves, w~tla: because, if it ~s a conversation~with God, it is really .rathel a mont~logtie'thafi a dmlo~ue; ~because oftetitirfie~ itdbes not fit-,qn comf0r[ably~'With one's moral habits;, and finally~ because it tends to become too monotonous and staid': '~ The difficulties of.mental prayer'm6re particularly~ma'~r be external or ,internal; and, if external, they' may be eitl'i~r inevitable 6r~avoidable.~', Where~ meditation must bemade in com.mon; s~m~ persons may unavoidably or not' annoy and disturb others.Perhaps there are. distractihg noises from "the neighborhoo~t that one cannot get .away fr0rfi. ¯ Examples of trouble from within an~ of a physical natU're would be ill health, fatigue, and that old besetting weak-ness, ~som~ol~nce, ~. "~ ,Januar~t, 1947 ON DIFFICULTIES II~°MEDITATION Psychological difficulties may be hardly r~mediable or fairly remediable: Some people are. congenitally and intel~: lectually incapable ofo meditatiom except perhaps on ~pec'ial occasions, just as some y&~ng people cannot assimilate a higher educati6n. There is no use in dodging this fi~ct. Such people must seek their sanctificati6n by other means. Other persons are~more or less unfit because of an imagination thht~is either° too torpid, or too flighty. The temperament of some is too nervous a~d unstable. A high-degree of extraversion, that ~is, the tendency to be preoccupied with external interests, is a distinct impediment to mental prayer. Deficiencies that are more ~asily remedied are the fol-lowing. One may be too ignorant of God and divine trutlfs; of the doctrine of prayer itself, and of its importance. Then there is the old 4~aunting specter of distractions, voluntary or in~coluntary. _-Distractions coming from one's duties or~ work are a special probl.em all by themselves. There is a whole series of difficulties stemming fiom moral origins: general negligence or tepidity in the spiritual life, some particular faulty hab'it, neglect of recollection, half-hearted applicationto mental prayer, carelessness in-preparing for it, .resistance to grace'calling in times of prayer for some specific sacrifice,- and finally the discouragement due to repeated past failures in cultivating meditation. The' author of a redent work entitled Di~cuttfe.s ot: Mental Prager, (Boylan) fihds the moral difficulty to be the greatest of all (p. 41). II. If we mak~ the rather obvious comparison ofmedi-tation with the recitation of the Divine Office (each is nor-maliy about an hour of prayer), in meditation we n0ti~e that what is to be done is-not so definite, there is less activity for the sens_es, ~and the sanction for acting is far less.com-pelling. In the Office there is less liberty to do this or that, there is more-monotony and repetition,- and oftentime's \ 7 G. AUGUSTINE ELLARD ~ Reviet~, ~or Religious there is less harmony between wl~at One says and what one~/ feels. " " _This suggests another comparison. We observe that in reading some things .we must plougl5 ahead laboriously and toilsomely and only under pressure of some necessity ~or gther.' Contrarily some books are so interesting that they may tempt us not to put them aside even to the neglect of our duties. Again a little knowledge of haman nature reveals that it is easy and pleasant for, say, 3~oung men to carry on long conversations or even reveries by themselves on athletics, for businessmen to discuss or think about ventures that promise money-profits, and for arl~ists and Sscientists to occupy themselves with their chosen specialties. Lastly did anybody ever hear a lover complain that it was tedious and boring to busy himself mentally and.emo-. tionally, even for.protracted periods, with his beloved, and even if she were absent? "For where your treasure is, there will ~rour heart be also" (Luke 12:34). III. From the causes indicated above and from these comparisons, the conclusion seems to be that the~.primary source of difficulty in mental pra.yer is none other'~than tack o1: interest. Interest would not remove all ~ifficulties--a pursuit can be interesting and still be hard--but with it one would be glad to make the'effort. Interest v,;ould, unless this ~analysis_be wrong,~take away the principal and characteristic difficulty in meditati_on-.~ People are not dis-tracted from that in which prevailing interest lies. Nor do they go to ~leep when. they have an opportunity to occupy themselves with it. They can never feel bored with it, .nor complain that it is'dull. ~ ~Another conclusion is that this lack of interest cannot be due to a deficiency of interest-evoking .qualities in the objects dealt with, e.g., God,~ life-eternal, and so fortl~- rather i~ must be attributed to some inadequacy in the sub~, 8 danuar~t, 1947 ON DIFFICULTIES IN .MEDITATION ject~'h{ms~lf, in t,he :person, prayin~ ax:d eyperiencin~g the ennui. He is like a' child who is being introduced to some-thing that in" itself is re;illy:ver~y interesting; but as yet, the child does not realize the fact, and consequentl~ .it easy.to direc~ 0rhold its attention. He may be compared to a man who !s b~eginning to read a b6"ok that:on the: whole is~ ir~deed thrilling ;, and hbsorbing, but not in the first chal~ter, or two: '.Many studies and investigations are not in~ter~sting hntil,one gets fairl~ far into them; thin'they may~ become all-engrossing. So~it~, seems to be with'mental prayer. In the case ih.which a,person's troubles With meditation,are mor:il rather than psychological there is a doubledeficiency ~f.interest: t6o little appreciation of the. values of'the good life, and too little ,insight into %hat meditation should mean to him. . C. WhatIs to Bb Done? ~ I. Clearly the. fi~st thing to do is to remove the obstacles that can be got rid 'of. A change of place could in some cases put'an end:?o many disturbing circumstances. If one's external posture is~ not quite reverent, and one is not lazy,; that at least can be remedied with comparative facil-ity. Much of. the trouble i!hat: m~ny people h~ve with meditation could and should be handled by takihg another ~and better time "for.it. I'refer to the early morning ~ind sleepiness. Phy°sically and psychologically meditation is a more difficult form of work than, say, an hohr of study, Therefore one ought to be physically fit for it.~ /ks a ma't~- ter of fact in the quiet and dhrk hours of early morning many are not. If the hour for praye.r cannot be changed. possibly the time _for retiring could .be advanced. Certain bodi!y ppsitions, for example, kneeling, star~ding, or walking, espedally in the fresh air, are less conducive to somnolence and more helpful to 9ttention and devotion.¯ It would-be infinitely better merel~r to read than to sleep away G. AUGUSTINE ELLARD the ~ime of prayer. "Writing too can be an aid. At all events there is. no use in torturing oneself and racking one:s n.e.rves and getting into a condition in which, " although awake indeed, one is unfit for any~_serious mental effort. II. Now let,us see what we can do positively, espe-cially with regard to building up interest. Since the objects with which we occupy ourselves inmeditation are in them-selves~ interdsting, in" fact incomparably more apt to capri- 0 vate attention than the trivial-things that come. into compe-- tition with them and distract us away from them, to becomd interested we need to kno~¢ them better and underthe appropriate°aspects. Admittedly- this is no.t easy. Since those objects are spiritual or supernatural and since all our knowledge comes through the senses orat least must follow the. analogy df sensible things, to know and evaluate super-sensible things well and adequately may require much effort and exertion. In proportion as the-realities anal values, that we hav~ to deal with are high above the mate-rial level, to reach that height and main'tain our heavy and earth-bound selves there we may need powerful and con-tinuous operation on the part.of our two spiritual motors, namely, the intellect and the will. 1. We may need more knowledge about God, the Bles-sddTrinity, the Word Incarnate, and indeed about all the ! sacred truths; at least wd may be deficient in the right kind" of. knowledge of them, that.is,~ that which is realistic, thor-bughly assimilated, personal, and effective. Certainly we need to find these doctrines interesting. This is true in gen-eral and for everybddy, but especially for one who would" be something of a contempl.ative.- The great majority, of people can hardly hope to discover.many new truths' for themselvds; the most that t~hey, can. expect to accomplish, is to review and reclarify this knowledge by .furthe.r residing, ¯ listening, or reflection. It is now a lawof, the Church that i0 Januar~o l P4 7 .ON'D.IFI~kCULTIES-IN MEDITATION' the-following, wOrds of Pope Pius XI should be read to young religious clerics at the beginning of each year: For since the sole or at least the chief function of those who have consedrated themselves ~to God is prayer, and the contemplation or meditation of divine things, how will they perform that most sacred _ duty Unless they be thoroughly and intimately versed in the doctrine of faith? " W~ wish,first of all, to call this to the attenti6n of those who lead a retired life in the contemplation of heavenly things; for " they err if ~hey i_magine that after havii~g either ~eglected_in the beginning or'later" abandoned their theological studies, they will be able without that abundant knowledge of God and of the mysteries of faith which is drav~n'from sacred studies, to go along easily in the. higher spiritual life and .to be lifted up to intimate union with God. As regards others whether they be engaged in" teaching ~. or in dail~ o in'tercourse with people, will" not that varied ac~vity'in the sa~red ministry be the stronger and more efficacious, the more brilliant and replete'they ;ire with the fulness of learning? (Pius XI. AAS 214.81.) A" particular field of s/acred doctrine that is most,useful for meditation and that'is susceptible of cultivation indef-initely is the life ofChrist. The more one knows about,it, the more realistic will one's knowledge and apprechtion of the God-man be. ~[t is always possible to learn something more and. thus add a bit of freshness and novelty to one's ac.quaintance with it. In this connection it may. be .men-tioned that viewifig suitable pictures of the Holy Land ani:l 'of the life of Christ would contribfite an additional touch of realism to one's imagery and~nowledge of Him. These suggestio~ns ark not to be taken to imply that the kind of kno-,kledge which an archeologist or historian seeks is just .the same as that which makes for a greater love and imita-tion of Christ. Theology may be definedas faith ~seeking "under~- standing, that is, a scientific, theoretical knowledge of revealed truth. Similarly mental prayer may be described as faith seeking understanding, but now an insight that is dynamic, practical, and vital. ._ 11 G. AUGUSTINE ELLARD Review for Religious 2. After learning more about the sacred truths, one should make a special effort to see them as interesting. ¯ At least in three~vcays they are'interesting in themselves: (1) in~ asmuch a~ they~ answer the most fundament~il questions that we can ask; (2) in that they are singularly- fitted to excite the emotions of fear, pity, hope, and love; and (3) they disclose tremendous dangers andopportunities for each one of us personally. 0 The first and most fundamental need of any personas sore( sort of philosoph.y of life; giving a solution to s'~ch problems as what he is, whence he is, why he is, what is the sighificahce of the things about him, and so on. To such queries. Catholic doctrine supplies answers at once simple enough to satisfy average rfiinds and profound and sublime enough tb keep the best minds investigating them indef-initely a~d profitably.They are like rich mines that can ne~er become quite exhausted. Thus Catholic doctriffe gives the best available satisfac.ti6nto our deep instinct for truth and knowle~lge. - . ~ Ingeneral it seems quite correct to say that whatever is fit to excite fear ot hope or love in men'shearts will interest them. The experience of all,"writers, ~peakers, and story- ~elle~s woul~d.seem tocorroborate 'that S'tat~ment~ - .Now there are no facts, or for,.that matter, no creations of fiction either, that ~re,so apt to arouse men'to fear or sti.mulate thereto h6pe' or inflame them tb love as just those doctrines which commonly form thei themefor meditation.: Objec-tively this is so true. that no beiiev'er w6uld hesitate for an instant to"affirm it. But subjectively? There's the rub. These-fact,:are not known so as t6 be excitingly inter-esting. We need to become more keenly and vividly a~are-bf ~11 that these truths mean for fear and hope and love~ Of themselves they are great~,enough to give th~ human heart the most thrilling expefience's,rthat it c~n. possibl~; 12 'danuary,, 1947 ON DIFFICULTIES'IN MEDITA]HON have; but first they must be apprehended clearly eho~gh and under the appropriate as.pegt. , It is natural for ~en to be interested in whatever they perceive'to contain uncommon opportunities or dan~ers for themselves personally. If a.stranger at the other extremity Of the 'block is ill, it may be immaterial to me. But if learn that he has infantile paralysis and may pass the infec-tion on to me, that is a very different matter. Similarly if read that Mr. So and So a t.housand mile,s'away has dis-covered oil on his property, what is tffat to me? If however oil is found or~ the property adjacent to mine, why, it would be folly not to take notice, and promptly too. Now the ~ruths of faith disclgse to us g.reater dangers and oppor-tunities for our own dear selves than any that the~world can-offer. If men were only sufficiently and properly acquainted with them and their tremendous significance for them personally, nothing would be more. natural than to be interested and eagerly alert about the matter. 3. In the case of some religious there "would be less diffi-culty and distress in mental prayer if they hr~eto more" about it. Perhaps they have hardly added to their knowledge of it.since they left the novitiate; possibly_even What they learned then has become dim and vague. But even if they remembered it all, mature religious could scarcely consider themselves well-informed on prayer and well-prepared to cultivate it if they had only a novice's acqu~aintance with the theory and practice of it. This is all" the more'.true inasmuch ~ls for obvious reasons it would be indiscreet for novice masters to give more than introductory instructions on prayer. ]~f more were given, some novices would mis-understand arid mi~app!y it. CFully trained religious should be conversant with the principal points in the theory and practice of meditation° or discursive mental prayer, of affective prayer, and contemplation'._ ,Many would add now 13 G; AUGUSTINE El;LARD ~ Reolew [or Religious that they should" have an experimental as well as a specu÷ lativeknov~ledge of mystical or infiased contemplation;" '- _which, they maintain,, is quite'necessary, for the normal development of the interior life and for the perfection of charity. At the very minimum religious should ~not ti~e ignorant of the fact that if they exercise themselves in medi-tation well and earnestly for a sufficient period of time. ,usually it is to be expected that they will pass on .to higher forms of prayer that are both easier and more fruitful. Orie - shbuld not countupon remaining in the freshman~ class, so to speak, with all its drawbacks, forever.- Greater familiarity with the theory and practice of mental p~ayer should naturally issue in greater interest in it. This interest may be increased~also by striving-to see and.fed,what a difference it makes to be proficient in it: first, the fact that it really does make ~/ difference; second, what kind Of difference; and third, how much difference. The differences are .to a great extent the same a's those between ~he good and the bad life, be, tween devotion to God and relative neglect of Him, between heaven and hell.- Hence al'l"tfie reasons that %e have'to be good, all thev~lues ofGod Himself, all the advantages of His blessed plan. for us, may .be urged as so.many motives for striving to medita.te well. " Our final destination is the beatific vision and love of the Infinite. Is. there,an.y activity possible on the way that is more closely akin to it or a bettdr help" to it than the con-templative:' considerati0n and love of God? If we take the - practical i~roximate aim of our existence here to be keeping the precepts and counsels of God, then in general and nor-mally the most effective means of achieving that purpose , seems to be precisely mental prayer. And that from the very nature of things. Keeping the divine precepts and counsels requites a certain disposition of n~ind and will, a- , .14 dahu~ir~/, 1947 ON'DIFFICULTIES IN MEDITATION certain .vision and inclination that is the_natural result of m~ntal prayer more.than of anything"else. All the active [life of ~any spirit consists in thi~nking andwilling, rand .where there is no thinking and w~illing there is no-spiritual life. Iri mental prayer the human.spirit normally reaches its summit in religious' thought and volition. When b,! means of grace God. leads one t6. do some good or avoid some evil, He enlightens the mind ahd moves the will accordingly. Is there any exercise so closely related to this divine illumination and.inspiration or so,,apt to further the process as meditation or contemplation? Again, our super-natural life and perfectiofi consisl~ in thinking and willing. like God; in mental prayer very especially we do just that. Probably no one would deny that in all our spiritual armory there is no more'telling weapon than the' retreat. Retreats are so effective.partly because under favorable ~ir-cumstances they bring to° bear upon one the whole battery. of s[firitual arums at one and the sam~ time, but partly also ' becfiuse the most essential and fundamental actix~ity involved in'making a_retreat is skrious and practical reflec-tion on eternal tri~ths. It is this that makes those truths seem real enough to stir one's emotions and change One's ways of living. One might object that to feel much interest in the dogrfias of religion and particuJarl~.y in the prayerful consideration of them it is necessary that a person should already have mad~ great progress in meditation., In oiher words, the remedy suggested presupposes that the malady has been cured. The fact is tha.t, there is an ascending spiral of inter-est and progres_s, and that o~ne must break into it where best one caw. At the very minimum a man who has some appreciation of the value 8f mental pr.ayer can begin'; a little p~oficiency will give greater interest, and that in turn COMMUNICATIONS Review for Religious greaterprofictency, and so on indefinitely. - Similarly prayer and good living constantly interact one~,up.onthe other in a sort oF virtuous spiral. In a subsequent ,paper it is hoped to propose certain, other aids to combating the difficulties of meditation. Reverend Fathers: In compliance with the request in ~the November j.ssue of REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS that readers send in information in regard to the interruption of the choral recitation of the Divine Office, I am sub-mitting the following~ data: About twenty years ago we ~ent a similar question to our Gen-eralate in Rome: "Is there any regulation that .the Divine Office mfist be interrupted when, during its recitation, the tabernacle is.opened and Holy oC.o m m u n i 6 n i s b r o u g h t t osi tchKe . The answer we received was: "No, the Divine Office should be continued standing." From L.iturgical Law by Rev. P. Chas. Augustine, O.S.B., D.D:, B. Herder Book Co., p. 149, I quote the following: ". each canonical Hbur (public recitation.) should be recited without inter-ruption." Since the Divine Office~s a "public prayer" (Augustine, p. 101) and "is recited in the'name of the Church" (A~ugustine, p. 17-3). is it not "in accord with respect for our. Sacramental Lord, who is passing by," to continue its recitation instead of stopping "and thus allow 'all the individual members to greet Him as each one's devotion may suggest" ? One other passage from the Dominican Ceremonial, I would like t to quote: "Non fiat pulsatio Campanulae in alia parte Missae, neque alibi, nisi notetur. Item non est pulsdnda ad Missas privatas celebratas e conspectu Chori, tempore O~cii aut Missae. Conventualis." (S.R.C. 5. Martii 1767. 1,4. Mail 1856.) 16 January, 1947 COMMUNICATIONS From the above does it not follow that private Masses,~maY be celebrated and Holy C~mmunion be distributed during the recitation of the Divine Office? Dominican ,Sister. Reverend Fathers: Three times, weekly our chaplain carries Holy Communion to the sick while the choir is chanting the Little Hours before Mass." "Apart . from the fact that it is very difficult to hav.'e a-choir stop and start .duling a Psalm or other prayer without considerable disturbance find ~ annoyance, I fail to see why one's private devotions are considered superior to or should take precedence over the liturgical prayers of the Church. I have noticed that frequently when Our Sacramental Lord is pa.ssing through our choir, we are chanting the Gloria Patri or similar words of praise. What could be more fitting than such a greeting? If we are chanting our Office in union with that divine intention with which Christ praised God on earth as set forth in tl~e Aperi Domine, why should we substitute our owri private devotions, however sub-lime, for these prayers of the Church when Christ Himself enters our midst? This would seem to'imply that our minds and hearts are not, and should not be, so closely united to God in liturgical prayer as in private devotions, Ghich would be a lowering 6f ideals arid an unnecessary concession to-human weakness. We have better order and much less disturbance by simply kneding during the time the priest is preparing and carrying the -Blessed Sacrament through the chapel while the chdir continues without interruption. ,And we take it for granted that ,the minds and hearts of the choir members are United to their Sacramental Lord whether He is hidden in the tabernacle or passing through their midst, and that they are adoring Him "in spirit and in truth." A Superior. ouR CONTRIBUTORS ~ FATHER BARTHOLOMEW is director of the Church Unity Octave. BROTHER PLACIDUS is vocation director for the American Province of the Xaverian Brothers. CHARLES F. DONOVAN is studying education at Yale University. RICHARD L. ROONEY is on the staff of The Queen's Wor/~. G. AUGUSTINE ELLARD and ADAM C. ELLIS are members of our editorial board. 17 The Li!:t:Je Off:ice ot: Our Lady Adam C: Ellis, S.3. .C~T. BENEDICT, the founder of the religious life in iiae -~, West, ,perfected the Divine Office by instituting Prime and Compline as the morning and night piayers of his monks. In the early centuries after Benedict, when most of the monks-were still engaged to a great extent in manual labor, the Divifie Office remained rather fixed. Each mon-astery, as well as eac~h cathedral chapter, had its own cus-. toms regarding details, but the substantial elements re-mained the same for all. In the course of time "more of the monks took up the , study of l~tters and gradually confined themsel~es to the recitation of the Divine Office and to study, thus giving rise to the distinction between choir monks and ttie conversi or lay Brothers, who continued to carry on, the manual labors nec,essa,ry for the sustenance of the monastery. In the various ref6"rms which took place in monastic circles from the ninth to the thirteenth centuries nufnerous devo-tional practices were gradually added to the recitation of the Divine Office, since the choir monks now had more leisure for such devotions. Thus, in the 'course of time the, fifteen gradual psalms, the seven penitentiil psalms together with " the Litany, the Office of the Dead, an Office of All Saints/ (Vespers and Lauds only, late~: shortened to our present commemoration of All Saints), and finally the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin, c~ime to be recited-in conjunction _with the Divine Office, which was then called the Great ONce to distinguish it from these minor additions. From the monks these devotional additions passed to th'e cathe- THE LITTLE OFFICE O~ OUR LAD~ dral chapters arid t~the diocesan clergy.1 ° While there W~is a certain degree of general conformity in, the West by the end of the thirteenth century, there also existed an infinite variety of minute and indifferent details i~ these liturgical prayers. The Council of Trent felt the ~need of curtailing these devotional additions tothe I~ivine Office and" of introducing uniformity "regarding details. Hence' it requested the Pope to ,work out such a, reform, materials for which had already been collected by Pope Paul IV. Thelreform was completed l~y,Pope St. Pius V, who in 1568 by the bull Quod-a Nobis published the "reformed ~Ro~nan Breviary for the Western Church, making it obliga-tory on all religious orders, monasteries, dioceses, and churches which did not possess a l~iturgy, of their own extending back over two hundred years. In this reform the Pope released both religious and diocesan clergy from the" obligation of reciting any of the devotional additions men-tioned above, but he highly recommended them as forms of private devotion for all, and enriched their recital with indulgences. Hence they are still printed iia the Roman Breviary as appendi~es to the Divine Off=ice. The Little ONce of the BleSsed Virgin appeared' fi~rst as a private devotio~ in certain Benedictine monasteries. "ir~ Italy, Peter the Deacon, the chronicler of Monte Cassino, informs us that its recitation in that monastery w, as a cus-tom of long standing begun by. ~:eason of a command of Pope Zachar'y (died 75~2). However-that may be, the cusr tom had ~ertainly been in vogue at Monte Cassino for a very long time when Petdr wrote his chrbnicle~ in the early ye~ars of the twelfth kentury, 'and by that time it had pi~ssed to other Benedictine monasteries of Italy. The use of the XThose who.,_are interested in ~earning more about this developme_nt of devotional" additions to.the Divine Office will find a detailed accent of it in Bishop: Liturt~ica ttistorica, chapter ix, pp. 21 I- 2 3 7. 19 ADAM C. ELLIS Revieu~ for Religious Little Office of the Blessed Virgin~ was customary ~in the monasteries of England b~fore the coming of the Norman conquerors in 1066. Records from the tenth= and eleventh centuries in France and Germany sh6w that i~ was~in use in individual monasteries and cathedral churches such as "Augsburg, V~erdun, and Einsiedeln. Cluny introduced but restricted its recitation to the monks in the infirmary~ since the ~nfirmary chapel was dedicated to-the Blessed Vir-gin. Finally it was through the Black Canons (of St. Au-_ gustine) that the Littl~ Offifice passed into common use among the diocesan clergy. By the end of the thirteenth cent.ury it was recited both by religious and by cathedral and other chapters of canons throughout Western Europe. After the reform of Plus V some of the older orders retained the Little Office as an addition to the Divine Office~ . to.be recited on certain days, or in some cases as the official ot~ice'of their lay Brothers. S(. Francis de Sales prescribed°° ,it for his Order of the Visitation in place of the Greater Off~e.and stated that "the Office of Our Lady is the soul of "- devotion in convents of the Visitation." Many of the new congreqations of religious "founded during the nineteenth century have adopted ~he Little Office and recite it daily in w~hole'or in part (Vespers and Compline) or at least.on Sundays and holydays. Others who are prevented by the nature of their,work from assembling together at a fixed hour, have.to content themselves with a private recitation as time_permits~ keeping choir with their guardian angels.- TileLittle Office of the Blessed Virgin was long a favor-ite de~;otion of pious.layfolk, especially in England, where '- there were two versions of "Mary's Hours". current as far back as thee eleventh century. In a report ,to his govern-.~ ment about 1496 the Venetian Ambassador to England related of the Catholics of that day,: "Th_~y all attend Mass. every day and say many toaternoster.s in public the women 20 ,lanuaGI, 1947 ~- THE LI ,TTLE OFFICE OF OUR LADY carrying long rosaries in their hands, and any that can read taking the Office of. Our Lady with them, _and with some corhpanion reciting it in the church Verse by verse after the manner of dhurchmen." Nowadays many of the laity use the Little Office as their. dail.y prayer. It is part of the rule for Dominican, Carme-lite, and Augustinian Tertiaries, and Franciscan ~Tertiaries are exhorted although not obliged to say it. '- , Obligation [of Religious, Cdngregatiobs T.he obligation of reciting the Little Office. of the Blessed Virgin in ~rel.igious con, gregations arises entirely from the constitutions. Generally speaking the obligation falls upon the communit__y as a whole, so that the superior has the responsibility'to" see thilt the Little Office is recited as prescribed by the constitutions.-- This obligation; however, does not bind under sin, as was expressly stated in the Norrnae of 1901, article 156. What is the obligation of th~ individual religious with regard to the Little Office? Generally speaking, there is no obligation for the individual religious, since, as was sfgted above, the obligation rests on the.community as a whole, Hence an. individual'religious who has been excused from' attending the common recitation of the Little Office has no obligation to recite it privately unless the Constitutions expressly require this. ~ ~Reciting the Little ONce in the Vernacular "" Must the Little Office of th_e Blessed Virgin be said in .I2afin~ or may it be recited in the vernacular? We are dis, cussing here merely the law of the Church, leavin~ the° question of indulgences aside for the moment. Unless the-constitutions prescribe that the Little Office must be said in Latin, it ,may be recited in. the vernacular, that. is, in am" language, provided the translation used has the approval bf 21 ADAM C. ELLIS ' --' R¢Oie~o for Reffgious " ~a local ordinary. This opinion .of reliable post,Code authors is based fipon several answers of t~e~ Sacred Con-gregation of Rites (Decrees 3221, 3897, and 3945). - Even though the constitutions require that the I~ittle Office must be, recited by the community in Latin, the indi., vidual religious who have been absent from choir, and who are obliged by the constitutions to recite priyately the parts of the office which they missed, may recite those parts in the vernacula~ unless the constitutions expressly state that even in such a private recitation the Latin lan.guage must be used. ,Indulgences We hav, e seen above that Pope St. Plus V had already 'granted indulgences for the recitation of the Little' Office on the occasion of his reform of the Roman Breviary. Pope Leo XIII revised and increased these indulgences. The official manual 6f indulgences, Preces et Pia Opera, published by t~he Holy See in 1938, gives the following under N. 289: ~ "To the faithful who have devoutly recited the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary, even~ though_they are ob!iged to do so, are granted: "An indulgence of 500 days for each hour of the same Office; an indulgenc~ of ten yea,rs for the "entire Office; a plenary indulgence¯ under the usual c~nditions, provided they" have recited the entire Office daily for a full month." When Pope Leo XlII revised and increa~sed the indul-gence~ granted for. the recitation of the Little Office, in 188 7; :the Sacred ~ Congregation of Indulgences was asked whether these indulgences could be gained by the recitatiori of the Little Office in thel vernacular, or whether the Latin form had to be used. On September 13, 1888,~the Sacred Con-gregation replied that the. Little Office must be recited in Latin in order, to°g~iin the indulgences. .~his rigorous reply was~ mitigated bya later:decree of August 28, 1.903~ :22 January, 1947 ~. THE LITTLE OFFICE OF OUR LADY approved on the same day by Pope Plus X, which allowed the indulgences-to be gained for the private recitation.of the. Little Office in the ~ernacular, provided the.translation used had be~n.checked and approved by a local ordinary in' whose territory that language is current. In a later answer given to Cardinal Mercier on December 18, 1906, the same Sacred Congregation replied by explaining that the recita-tion of the Little Office was still t6 be considered private even tho~ugh it was said in common within the religious house, or even in the church or public oratory attached to the religious house, provided that the faithful are not allowed in the church or public oratory while the religibus community is. reciting the Little Office in common. Method of Recital The official text of the Little Office to which the iiadul-gences are attached is the Latin text which is printed in the back of the.Roman Breviary. Any translation used must be a faithful version of this text, approved by the Sacred Penitentiary, or by a local ordinar~r in whose territory the language used is current (canon 934). It is nb longer necessary that the Latin text be printed along with the translation, as was formerly the case, but the translation used should be complete, that is, it should c0ntatin the rubrics as well as the text. The rubrics are Sufficiently clea~ and need no explanation. Two points, however, may be mentioned here in answer t6 questions received. The Te Deum is said at the end of the third lesson of Matins .throughout the year,-except during. Advent, .and from Septuagesirna Sunday, to Holy Saturda~r_inclusive. But even during these periods it is said on all feasts of the Blessed Virgin, as Well as on the feast of St. ,Joseph which occurs during Lent. .The Final Antiphon of the Blessed Virgin 'is always DECISIONS OF THE HOLY SEE ¯ -said after Compline, and after Lauds if the offee is inter-rupted then: otherwise after the last hour immedihtely-fol-lowing upon Lauds. In the common recitation this final antiphon must likewise be said at the end of any redtation, for instance, at the end of the litt.le hours (Nones), if these - be said separately. Conctusion Religious should c.herish the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin and make frequent use of it. It,,is theoldest offdal prayer of th~ Church in hon~ar of Our Lady. If obliged by rule to rec¯ite the Little Office, religious will do well to avoid being absent from the common recitation, or from asking to be excused for slight reasons. 'They may rest" assured that Our Lady will not. be outdone in generosity, and will reward them bountifully for the devout and fervent recital of "Mary's Hours." Decisions Of e Holy See [EDITORS' NOTE: Inthe past .it has been our policy to publish only recent Deci-- si0ns of the Holy See which might be, of interest to religious. However, it fre-quently happens that there Were no such decisions; and consequently this depart'. merit "had to be omitted. To avoid such a ¢onting.ency in the. future, we have itiMded on the new polic~ of-puNishing both recent and old decisions. The latter will gather under one heading the various pronouncements that ,pertain to the canons governing religious, ] Old Decisions Regarding Impediments to Entrance (c. ~42) ' 1. The first among the diriment impediments listed in this canon enacts that "'those who have belonged to a non-Catholic sect" cannot validly be admitted to the novitiate. As soon as the Code was pub-lished, these words gave rise to the notion that converts coultt not be receivedinto the.religious life without a dispensation from'the Holy See. To dispel this false notion one of the first answers given by the Cqd~ Commission, October 16, 1919, declared that these words of 24 Ja~uar~., 1947 -,~, DECISlOIq8 OF THE-HOLY SEE 'ca'non, 542:did.'not a~6ply. ~i(o~tho~e wh~o, moved by ~the ~g~ace 6f .God, camednto~be Church from~ h~resy, or ~chism in which they ,were .born,, 'but~ rather to ~thbse .~ho fell away frbm the faith arid joined a non- Catholik . ' A 'lattr,an~ei give~- by' the same Gommission.~Jnly{ 30, ,.19,34, interprets~the~'wbrds "non-~atholic sect" to include ~"as regains all 1{~1 e~ects : ~. persdds w~o~belong or ,bav~ belonged'tot an atBeisti~ ~:-'Id:view of these answers, the S.~ Congregatmn' of Religiou~ now ~p~roves-tbe following text for new constitutions: "Those whohave fallen away fro~ the Catholic faith and have joined a non-Catholic or atheistic sect." :: ,.~., ~The .l~st,,of the.impedi~nt impediments .to entrance into reli-gion ,.(.canon -542, ,2 o ~ excludes '-'Ori~ntal~:. in institutes ~of,~ the Latin rite~ithout,thee,written permission of t~e~Sacred gongregation:for .t~e East~rn~Church." ~owever, according to anl answe~ given by,the ~ode Commissi6fi,ofl. November 10 ,q 925,.~VOrientals who, without changihg their rite,~ are*being ~r~pa~ed to ~establish .religious houses and'provinces of.the':Ofiental rit4; ma~ be,licitly, admitted td the nov-" iceship imreligious~institutes of the Latin rite, without, the permission ~dntioned in canon 542, 20." The r~ason for the seeming'exception "is obvious, Ordinarily the Oriental who joins ~ Latin institute~must-change his rit~. Hence the ~eed of~spe~ial p~r~ission from th~ S. Congregation of the Eastern Church. Hoyever, after the first world ,war s~me re~jgious orders of.men ;beg~n to ~receive candida.tes belong-ing to an Eastern rite with a, view to the establishment of, houses~ of s~ch a rite, and eventu~11,y eyen of provinces. _Sinqe these novices did not change their rite.,during the course o~t.he novitiate, thg Code ~9mm{~sion'~eclared thug ~t~erg ~as no need to obtai~ermissiqn to admit them'kto the novitiate, of the Latin ,rite. ~. . . 3. A joint decree issued by the S. Congregatipn of:Religious and ~y .:the. S.~gongreggtion of Seminaries ~n&,Studies, dated. J~ly, 25 !941, cofitains, the ~following part ,of interest ,to ,religious~ "Before a person who.for any .reason~ ha~.qeft a geminaryr,is~ admitted .:to a~ reli- "gi0us fami.lg,,,the religious.:s~perior.,must have recourse to the.,S: Con~ gregatiqn o~ Rdigious,. which will inform .superiors of~jts ,dgdsion after .having,.con~idered-all the circumstances of the cas~.'~ ,.This decree was. appgoved, confirmed, and ord~re~ published by.His Holi- ,, ~'When, a_we, first p'rinted ;this ,decree in~ ~VIEW,, FOR, ~EEIGIOUS 25 DECISIONS O~ THE~HOLY ~SEE r Reoietu for Religiotts ' (v~l. I, p. 71) we expressed the opinion that 'qf a'seminarian applied for entrance into a religious institute and was accepted by the religious superior before, he left the se?ninary, the case would not have to be referred to the S. Congr.egation of, Religious.". This opinion was ¯ confirmed by a private answer of the S. Congregation, dated May 11, 1942, and sent to th~ procurators general of several religious orders. It reads as follows: "The Decree of the SS. Congregations of Reli-gious and'of Seminaries does not apply to those who leave a seminary or coll~ge in order to embrace a life of perfection in some religious institute, as sufficient provision is made for them in canon 54.4, § 3." New Decisions September 14. 1946: The Sacred Congregation of the Sacraments issued a lengthy decree of great interest and importance. It grants to pastors~the faculty of administering the sacrainent of confirmation to dying persons-under certain circumstances. After-recalling l~he teaching of the Church regarding the nature and effects of this sacra-ment, the decree recalls that only bishops are its ordinary ministers ¯ but that to provide ~r the needs of the faithful the Church sometimes confers this faculty upon priests as extraordinary ministers. Since these needs have increased grea, tly because of the war. the decree makes the following provisions: 1. By a general ir~dult of the Holy See. the faculty to confer the sacrament of confirmation as extraordinary ministers (can. 782, § 2) and limithd by the conditions liste~l below is granted, to the following priests: (a) to pastors who have their own proper'territory; ('b) to the vicars mentioned in canon 471 (practically, to religious who are pastors) and to vicars econorne (administrators Of parishes) ; (c) to priests who have the permanent and exclusive care' of souls in a certain territory .with a determined church, provided they have all the rights and duties of pastors. It is important to note that the decree grants this faculty 0nly to priests who have parochial rights and duties in a determined terrffory. Therefore it does not grant the faculty to assistant pastors, nor to chaplains of hospitals even thoffgh they be exempted from the juris-diction of the pastor. Furthermore, pastors can'not delegate this faC-ulty to other priests since, as will be seen below, it is granted to them for their personal use only. 2. The above-mentioned ministers may personally, administer confirmation validly and licitly only to the faithful who~are actually 26 danuary, 1947 DECISIONS OF THE HOLY SEE ~within their territory, ,including persons who ~ir~ there temporari)y. Therefore they may administer the sacrament to persons in semi; naries, hospices, hospitals, and all other institutions inclu.ding those cared for by exempt religious. However, the faculty, may be used only when the faithful in question are in danger of death from a seri-ous illness from which it is foreseen that they will die.- 3. They may use this "faculty even in the episcopal city, provided the bishop cannot be called or, is legitimately impeded from confer-ring the sacrament personally, and pr.ovided further that there is no other bishop (.for example, a titular bishop) who could act as a sub-stitute without grave ihconvenience. 4. Confirmation should be administered according to the disci-pline 6f the Code of Canon Law as adapted-to the circumstances: and °the rite,prescribed by the Roman Ritual should, be used as gix;en in detail'in the decree. Furthermore, the sacrament must be conferred gratis: that is, no stipend may be. demanded under any circumstances. 5. The sick person should be instructed as well as circumstances per.mit so that he may receive the sacrament fruitfully. If he recover.~, ,the instruction is to,be continued. , (Cf. can. 786.) °6.' The pastor mus.t enter the name of the person confirmed, together with" his own ,name and those of the parents and sponsors, in the confirmation record book according to the prescriptions Of canon 798~, With this addition: "Confirmation was administered,by reason of the apostolic indult because of the serious illness of the perso.n confirmed, which put him in danger of death." It must also be entered in the baptismal record (can. 470, § 2). If the person confirmed belongs to another parish, his pastor is to be informed and SUlSplied with all the necessary data. 7. The pastor must s~nd an authentic 'notice to the diocesan ordinary each time. he confirms a'sick person in danger of death. In Part II, the decree repeats the provisions of the Code of Canon Law concerning the sacrament of confirmation; and in Part III, the form to'be used in administering the sacrament. It began to have the force of law on.January I, 1947. / In conclusion it should be" n6ted t1~at this decree also applies to infants @ho are in danger of death from a serious illness from which :it is foreseen that they will die. (Cf. can. 788.) :Living in Chris!: CharIes,F. Donovan, S.J. AS LONG as we are conscious, the powers of our soul are bu~y doing o,ne of three things: they are absorbing _and assimilating facts, pictures, impressions, stories, sounds from the wo~ld around us thrbugh the co~muni,ca=" tion line of the senses; or they are woi~king on data already" assi.mila_ted '-reflecting, loving, hoping, fearing, desiring, planning; or they are communicating our personaliz.ed reaction to our environment---our ideas, affections, hol~es, fears, and plans to the world .outside. While we are fully conscious; the soul is active, incr, easing its ,store o~ material for cognition and volition, acting upon the existing store through ~eflecting and willing, or giving outward expression to its thought~ and desires._ If it is our" °conCern t6-subject the total activity of our soul, ~t0 the domination of Chris~; we must see to it that Ch'rist enters into and olors each of these rational processes, the assimi-lat~ ive, the menta,l, .and the expressive process. We must 'make sure that Christ is th~ standard and sharer of every- ~hing that enters our soul, of everything that transpires within the soul, and of everything.that, the soul transmits to the world. Th'is care for the complete Cbris.tianizing of our~soul~s activities may be summed up in the prayer: "Let everything that enters my soul be Jesus;sifted; ~let~every-thing that is in my soul be Jesus;ste~ped: let everything that ;leaves my soul be Jesus-laden." It:is important" in the first plac~-to be careful about what we allow into our hallowed' inner sanctum. We ~ire to a large _~ktent determined in character and cast of mind by the impressibns from the world that pass through the LIVING IN (~HRIST gales of the senses;-and so we must make Christ our gate~ keeper'so that all undesirables will be excluded. All ,of us ,have an enemy within, a fifth column--the°drag of con-cup'iscence and the fuse of pride. But tlfe unruly~elements inside can best be controlled if they are not supplied and atigmented from-without. The world bristles with sights, @ords, actions, ideas, emotions which are unholy;~a'nd it is _wise to Use Our Lord as a sort of screen through which every applicant for admission to our soul must pass ir~ order that unworthy and un~-Christlike applicants may be screened off and rejected. If a visitor enters the contagious ward of a hospital, he is given a mask to wear to keep from inhaling lethal germs. There are germs lethal to our soul. everywhere _about us, not isolated in a single spot as in a ward. ,,We are not being prudish when we are on our guard against them~ °There: are books not necessarily vicious books, but sophisticated, cynical books which we will not read if Christlike sim-plicity is important to us. There are topics which we will not discuss, pictures we will not entertain, tastes and atti-tudes we will not imitate if Christ's friendship is precious to us. It is not a sign of weakness or immaturity to guard one's treasures: anyone knows that. And the common-sense concl-usion is that if we leave something unguarded-it is because we do not treasure it. Since Christ is our treasure, let Him also be the norm for deciding what is fit for entrance into our soul and what is not. It is foolhardy, if not insin-. cere, to say, "I can stand this book or this conversation or this luxury even though it isn't quite Christlike.", What Our Lord can't stand, I can't stand. And therefore our avowed program must be "Let everything that enters my soul be Jesus-sifted." But the world outside, is static and tame compared-to the world in our soul-~--,the world of imagination, of con- CH/(RIIE$ F. DONOVAN Review for Religious science; of memory,mind, and will; the woridof worries, affections, regreys, daydreams, aversions,,and joys. Human iife, rationai,lifel is essentially interior. We may ~xternalize some of it in speech or act, but.only a fraction of it. There are th6ughts too deep for words; there ~are secrets of the heart, there are feelings, reflections, and desirestoo swift and profuse for expression. It is this inner universe, this realm oflour own making, this life Within a life, that'we most particularly want dedicated to God. The exclusion of worldly influences from the soul guar-antees a Christlike inner life no more than precaution against .germs guarantees bodily vigor. Beyond and deeper than the question, "What goes into. the soul?" is the ques-tion, "What goes on in the soul?" Are the manifold activi-ties that add up to the self I have made and am making out of the self God gave me the int,erests, efforts, and attitudes that constitute my truest life are these uniformly inspired and guided by Christ? Suppose, for instance, I like my current assignment. Is this liking merely personal and subjective? or has the satisfaction something to do with Christ? And what of the hobbies, friendships, and arribi-tions I find most zestful? They may be wholesome in themselves, but they should not be left unrelated to Our Lord. The sanctification of our inner life, as far as it depends upon us, consists in subjecting all "affections, thoughts., attachments, and dreams, all passing reflections and lasting ideals to the sweet yoke of Christ. There should be no region of the soul that is neutral, no enthusi-asm that is merely natural. The process of baptizing all the innocent and spontaneous activity of °the soul, of extendi.ng and.intensifying the sway of Christ in ou~ heart, is the lifelong business of growth in holiness. It is a hori-zontal and a vertical growth: more. of our life ismore deeply saturated with the spirit and influence of Christ. 30 danuar~t, 1947 LIVING IN CHRIST That is what we 'mean when we say, "Let everything in my soul be Jesus-steeped." Finally, the inner self is not hermetically sealed. It is constantly pouring out through the communication lines of the body and asserting itself before the world. Whether we think of it or not, by merely living with people, by .the most casual association, we have some influence 6n them, because ~ impressions from us--words, attitudes, demeano~ ---enter, thiough their senses and register, however slightly" and evanescently, on their souls. Herein lies outsocial opportunity and responsibility. Some part.of us is going to alter the people we meet. What part is it going to be? We imagined a screen at the entrance to our souls, sifting out and discarding un-Christlike elements. We do not want a similar screen at the exit so that everything Christ-like is separated and hel~l within. If we have anything worth communicating to the world, it is not our ego: it is Our Lord. We aim at a s,anctity that is not purely self-contained, but. outflowing and apostoli, c. " , The apostolic ideal-is summed up perfectly in the~ prayer said at Mass while the missal is being changed for the reading of the gospel: "May the Lord be in my heart and on ~y tips, that I may announce His holy gospel worthily and well." Note the twofold presence of Christ that makes one an apostle Christ in the heart and Christ. on the lips. ~To have Our Lord on the lips and not in the heart is hypocrisy. To have Him in the heart and not on the lips is selfish, perhaps cowardly. Not just our words. but our whole conduct, our patience and sympathy, our expression and gestures, can be me.ssengers of Christ, the true and enduring good ne ~ws, sent out-from our souls to ourfellowmen. We want nothing to go Out into the world, as.representative of us.that is not also representative of Christ. And so With a sense ofurgency and .responsibility 31 CHARL]~S F. DONOVAN we,resolve, "Let everything that leaves ,my soul be Jesus-laden." ' 0 ~ It is almost a spiritual, bromide that sanctity is not something for only a segment of our lives, whether it be a segment, of time or a segment of interest or activity. The ideal is to have no piece-work or paff,time holiness. The ideal is for sanctity to suffuse and interpenetrate the total life in all its areas and at all its levels. And this means a threefold co-operation with Christ, Christlike in learning, Christlike in being, Christlike in doing. A .prayer com-prehensive enough to embrace all conscious aqtivity, yet which includes life's complexity and richness in a broad three-part formula is the one recommended here: Let everything that enters my soul be Jesus-sifted. Let everything that is in my soul be Jesus-steeped. Let everything that leaves my soul be Jesus-laden. COMMUNICATIONS ON PRAYER In our editorial (pp. 3-4) v~e ask for communications on prayer. It will help us greatly if the following points are observed by those .who send such communications: 1. If at all p.ossible, type your letter, double-spaced, and leave at l~ast an inch margin on each side of the page. 2. Make the letter as brief as you reasonably can, withoflt hbw-ever sacrificing'ideas ~or the sake of brevity. 3. Address your letter to: Communications Deparfmenf, ~ Revlew For Religious St. Mary's College, St. Marys, Kansas. 4. Names will not be published,with these ie~t~rs unless the senders explicity ask" for this. However, if you do not object to doing so, please'enclose your name, so that the ~ditors can get in touch with you if this is necessary. ' 32 "Open My Moul:h, 0 ,Lord!" Richard L. Rooney,.-$,.~,-~ ~UR vocal prayers are quite likely to be unsatisfactory to our; ~ selves, and, eve are afraid, to God. One of tl~e chief causes of. this condition comes from the fact that frequently they art too" superficial. How many of us religious find, for example, our best, most meaningful prayer in the daily r~citation of the Office? We say. the familiar words. We know what we are saying; but, do we not stop on the 'surface of them? Does the real depth and the beauty and the energy embodied in them penetrate our souls? We recite those prayers. Do we really pray them? Since we are asking a number of questions, may we add one more?: How many times in the past year have you taken the prayers of the Office as subject matter for your meditations? It is this very prac-. rice that we would urge upon anyone who wants to change the daily recitation from an onus to a real opus. Let a religious take time out regularly, to meditate on these ~surface-worn and apparently well, known prayers and he (or she) will experience a doubly surlSrisinlg benefit. He will find a real spiritual treasure hidden in the ~rayers be has so long taken for granted. He will go back to choir and find that the prayers which he has recited for years have taken on a new. life and warmth. He will no longer find himself "saying'" the office but actually pra~.tinq it !. The use of books which deal with the Our Father, the Hail Mary, the Creed, the Psalms will demonstrate the truth of these statements to anyone who gives them an honest trial. The present article, and future articles that We offer here, will a~tempt a like demonstration for the shorter or rfilnor pr~ayers scattered throughout the breviary. They are the prayers which are most likely to slip°off our tongues with ~the greatest dispatch. Again, the prayers selected for these pages Will be such as are cbmmon to both the full Divine Office and the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The~" are offered here in the hope that they will enrich our readers' prayer life in general and in particular will give new light, arid life~'~b thei~ Offi&-worship. The "'Aperi'" Having made the sign of the cross, the religious or priest begins RICHARD L. ROONEY Reofew for Religious .the recitation of his Office with a prayer which sl~ould be committed to mem0ry~.~ If. it is, it can be made to'serve as an introductory prayer for any and all other prayers and works, from a visit to the chapel to a trip to the laundry. It will help to make of everything that one does a canticle of praise to the Lord in fair weather or foul. The Aped is, in fact, a brief but pregnant instruction in the whole science of prayer, of conversation with God. o Think and pray Over it .fin your own gray, or consider prayerfully the following ideas: "Open my mouth, 0 Lord." How often we forget that we cannot so much as begin to p~ay unles~ God Himself inspires and aids us! We cannot so much as say. ."Abba" (Fad:her) unless the Holy Spirit gives us to say it, unldss He opens our mouths and looses our tongues. True here especially are the Lord's words, "Without me you can do nothing!" We cannot even ~peak to God by ourselves alone: we cannot name the Lord Jesus without His help[- i "to bless thy Holy Name" That is one beautiful thing about the Office, it stresses our own blessing of God rather, than seeking further blessings for ourselves from Him. It takes us away from our selves. Perhaps that is one reason" why "objective" prayer is less popular than more personal ¢ffu_sions ! Let me pause a moment and look at my own prayers. Which pl~edominates in them? Praise? ot petition? .Why? How.much more we would grow in divine life if we looked out and up at Him rather than in and down at ourselves, if we sang God's blessings instead of crying our own woes. "cleanse as well my heart from all empty, evil and distracting thoughts." A peasant going to an audience with a king dons his best raiment. It may be poor, but it will certainly be clean. Our own souls may not be rich with the thoughts of an Aquinas or glowing with the love of a Bonaventure but they can at least be clean when we gd to talk with God. " Being poor and weak we need God's help here again to second our efforts to dust away thoughts, which are empty, to wash away thoughts which are evil, to banish thoughts which would intrude themselves to Blur our converse V~ith the Divine Majesty. ,Our thoughts are~ empty when they are not filled with God or :.34 danuar~, 194Z ~'OPEN .MY MOUTH, 0 LORDt'~ things divine~ or His interests in ourselves and. others, They are evil, when they are proud, vengeful, bitter, impure, hateful, discgura.ged; despairful, small, petty, mean. They are distracting When they would lead, our minds away frorfi God even to things good in them-selves but out of place here in this wondrous hour of communion with Him. "Enlighten my mlnd." How much this dim little intellect of mine needs the casting into it of light divine~! How much I need to see in the darkness that.sur-rounds and sometimes fills me! But I cannot see unless God gives me light. I can take courage, for the good God hhs this light. He can, He will share it with me~ Torpid, cold, inert, its embers dying, my will need~ to be stirred up into active, flaming love. Oh, not the love of feeling, but the white-hot love of~ faithfulness to my state, to my fellows; the love that shows itself in little, hidden sacrifices, rule-observance, kindness; understanding, sympathy. I have not the strength nor the courage to stir it up myself. Do you then, dear God, enliven it and set it afire. "to the end that I may recite this Office worthily, with attention and devotion." Our preceding petitions have not been sent to the heart of God for anything that we might get out of them; but to the end that God may be better praised and served: to the end that we may give Him a gift, a gift of love, a tiny love-gift-offering of praise; to the end that this praise may be less unworthy of Him than it ever would be with~ out His help, without the touch of His grace:to the end, finally, that it may not be marred by any inattention, any niggardliness, any holdin'g back of love, ,any willful imperfection. "and that I may deserve to be heard in the presence of thy D;vlne Majesty through Christ our Lord. Amen." Who am I to stand before God, even to praise Him? Of myself deserve nothing save exclusion from the divine presence. I deserv~ only ieprobation. If God will hear this my initial petition, however, which,I offer through His divine Son, then by His grace I shall merit to bd heard. My feeble voice shall be joined toall the voices of the other members of~His Mystical Body. All of ours in turn shall be blended into Christ's. We shall then be heard everi in the presence of the all-august God, not for ourselves, but for His reverence. "RICHARD L. ROONEY "0 Lord, in union with that divine intention with which thou didst praise God on earth, I offer thee these hours." -. O Lord Jesus Christ who are also lover, friend, savior, and ~rbt~er, I-Tinsignifi_cant, of little worth, sinful, on occasion Your .c.rucifier--I offer Thee these hours: Hours? Nay, technically they'are ['hours": actually they are but a few minutes. Yet despite their brevity and my littleness I offer these prayers to You. I offer them through YOU to the Father. ° -':Takethem, then. U/rite them to that intention by whicl~ You di'rected Your Own praise to God while You were here on earth, tha~ intention th~t~You still have in.the tabernacle and in You/ place in l~e~aven. Then, lo, out of that union my poor pri~yers shall be t~rans-formed. ¯ The Father will look and see not me but You praying again 'in me. ~ He will be as delighted today as He was yesterday when You offered Him the sacrifice of praise on the night:shrouded hilltop or at "th~candle-lit supper table. He will not see'the soilurebf my selfish-~ heSS .nor hear the dissonance of my inconstancy but only the blazing beautyoof Your divine voice! BOOKS FOR HOSPITALS Religious who conduct hospitals, especially With nurses' training schools, will be interested in these books: Medical Ethics/:or Nurses. by Father Charles 3. McFadden. O.S.A., and Professional Adjust-ments, by Sister Mary Isidore Lennon, R.S.M. Father McFadden'~ is the best book on medical ethics we have yet seen. The material~is carefully selected, arranged with a fine sense of proportion, and helpfully illustrated by numerous practical Cases. Published by F. A. Davis Co., Philadelphia. Pp. xv + 356. $3.00. Prot:essional Adjustments presents a well-rounded plan for intro- ~iucing the student nurse into her newly-embraced professiorial life. it shows her the entire life (interior, social and strictly prdfessional) bf the "nurse from entrance into training school to finial achievement. ~ke Father McFadden's book, it is eminently practical. Published by C. V. Mosby Co., 3207 Washington Ave., St. Louis 3, Mo. pp.~299., $3.00. 36 Qualifications a ,ood Pos!:ulant: Sister of the p~:~cious Bloo~l- [EDITORS' NOTE:'W~ are printing this article and the one which,follows.because we think that religious will find in~thefa much helpful material for Vocation Week. "The author, of the prese'nt article prefers to remain unknown, [t is substantially the samd as a paper read at the Vocational Institute 'held at St. Francis College, Quincy, Illinois. June 30, 1946, under the auspices of. the Franciscan Fathers. For' a treatmen~ of this same sufiject from the canonical point of view, see the article,. ~"Admissio~ to the Religious Life," by Father James E. Risk. S.J., REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, Volume II, p. 25.] ~E ALL AGREE that there is an imperative need. of ~ ,~ vocations to our Sisterhoods today. -We are keenly aware of the~acute shortage corrfmunities are,suffer-. i,ng in the numberof vocatioris, and as a cons4quence we are putting forth every effort to increase them. Bht in doing ,this we must not forget that the candidate who seeks admid2 sion must be p.roperly~,,qualified, for the 0life she wants to. lead. Therefore an inv.estiigation as to th~ fitness o'f the possible member is of first importance; and in our eagerness to get recruits, we must be on our guard lest we, sacrifice qu'ality for quantity. ¯ When a young, girl, plans her life and ~he question of a possible call to the reli.gious state arises, .sh~ will naturally ask l~rself,-"Have I a true vocation?:' Before she Can answer that question intelligently, a serious c0nsider_ation ofthe nature of re.ligious vocation and an examination of her qualifications for the religious life are of fun&imentdI importance, both to her and to the community ~she °may desire to join. What is a vocation to the religious life? "It is a call that proceeds from God to serve Him-and to seek perfection by faithfully following the three evangelical counsels. " ~ SISTER OF THE PRECIOUS BLOOD Review for Religious According to canon law: "Eve~:y Catholic who is not debarred by any'legitimate ithpediment, and is inspired, bv .a'. right intention, and is fit to bear the burdens of the reli-giou's life cap be admitted into religion" (Canon 538). , Given that there are no legitimate 'impediments,. our first-duty is to ascertain whether the applica_nt is motivated by.the right intention. In Chapter 58 of. The Rule of St. Beffedict; the saint instructs the novice master to ~'watch over 'the newly admitted postulant with .the utmost care and to see whether he is truly seeking God,_ and is fervent in the Work of God, in obedience and in humiliations." Our next step is to consider the essential qualific~itions that will make toward "fitness to bear the ,burdens of the religious life." ,These qualifications can be summed up under three main headings. Acc, ording to Reverend B. Strittmater, O.S.B., "a true vocation rrianifests itself in the" necessary~fitness; namely, "the candidate must be endowed. -with physical health, he must be able to acquire, sufficient kriowledl~e, and he must possess adequate sanctity o(life.''1 To face ,the difficulties and to carry on the apostolic" Work of our various communities, one' needs physical strength and fitness. The life of a religipus is a strenuous -one that taxes the strength day after day, with f~w reprieves. It does .not take a .gigantic nor a herculg.an strength, but it does.demand a normally healthy body to, e.ndure~l~he strain of working through the'day plus the addi-. tional duties demanded by the rule and customs of the respective congregation or order to Which a Sister.belongs.- , This is true of every type of active life, be it nursing, social work, teaching, cat.echizing, caring for the orphan .or the-old folks,'and so on. 'A normally healthy person is more likel~ to maint~in,a IRev. B. Strittmater. O.S.B., "On Vocation. What It Is~" Journal of Religious ln-structi. on, XVI (~April, 1946), 719. Januar~], 1947 QUALIFICATIONS OF A GOOD POSTUL_ANT well-balanced emotional.and mental life. We can expect" such a candidate, .under proper guidance, more easily'to develop,th'e emotional maturity which is an essential requi-site in working for and with souls. We know, too, that child-adults, can accomplish littlethat is of lasting value, Finally, as ~he Scholastics say: "Grade is built on nature."_ It is frequently in a "healthy body that we find the healthy soul." It is true that a number of religious; many of whom .the Church has crowned with the halo of sanctity, were ph.ysically weak and performed great works in spite of these handicaps. Ho-weve_r, few of them wi~re thus handicapped when, they sought admission to the con-vent. .The vocation to physical suffering when.given tO .religious usually comes after the novitiate days,-after tFie soul has been formed and tested. I~t is all-important, there-. fore, that our candidates .possess energetic, healthy bodies, .capable of physical endurance,~free from physical, deformi-ties, and vibrant~with the vitalit3~ of youth. - The applicant must, of course, have soundness of mind: there must be no strain of insanity and no highly emotional ,traits; and it is well to ascertain these facts in reghrd to every applicant. It is evident that such persons are not. desirable for religious life, since they will never be able to make themselves one with the heterogeneous group that lives together in a convent. But mere soundness of mind is not sufficient. The can-didate must be able to gr~asp the meaning of religious lif~ and understand its obligations. This is essential because, if the religious life is not understood, the subject will be car-ried onward by emotionalism which will manifest it.~elf ii~ a crisis. Such a person might remain normal if she were in the lay state, but in the religious state she easily becomes neurotic. Moreover, she must-,ha~e sufficient intellectual' ability to make herself useful in such a way that her supe- 39 A~.SISTER:OF TI'~E PRE¢IO~US "BLOOD ~riors .know~sh~e will ~carry.thelresp0nsibility j6f. the~p0sition or W~ork,given fier,~.be.,,it ~high or low':. ~,_~In~a ~6r~d,~.oher intel-lectuababilit. y, must be ~u~ient to~make her.,a responsible, dependable ~r~ligio~s. ~. ~ ~.~ ~ L~, ~ ',,~ ~ ~ ~ ~. Be~jd~s~aving sufficient, intellectual ability.~t6,gra~p the ,mea.fiivg of religi0us:life and,of .ac~ui~ting:herself. bf the ~0rk assigned h~r, ~tbe applkant ~mus~also~ poss~s~ those q,al.~fies. ~f chhracter, which. ~are .requi~ed,,,for~ the: s0cihl "[~spects of common life:~ By this.,I,~mean~that.~he,must.~have .ability ~an~. the[ disposition, to react~tO her environment ~consistent, effective, :afidqnt~rated-~ann~r~. A~:religious.,.~oes .npt, liye ,~¢i~h~one;.: t~o,.~or, eve~.thre~ people; ~but ,~ith ,Ja.rge :g~.pup.that may .humber ~fr6m ten ~t6 a~hundr~d~ or.more-. .persons~of~alLcha#ac.ters, .ages; temperamen~;~and~ di~posi- .ti0n~. She must' p.ut aside h~r o~fi,tastes;her o~n~likes' and ,g.js!~ikes, inxorder, to:live the co~munity or~family' life in peace:?nd harm6oy.~,. It is ~important.~therefo~e:tliat "didate possess ~ ~ealthy S0dal attitude., ~he .following. statement,, made b.yz a ~n~ted ~psychiatrist, ~ seems ,.to., me to q~r~y.~a~special message to~feligiousdn regard to this~point. .He~said:~"I much prefer t0 see a, young~ girI whb has lived the normal social life of an ~ adolescent having~tasted- its .innP~nt.~njoyments to the full.enter a convent thanAhe gir!~ ~.ho~seeks,to isolate h~rself an~.spend mffch- ti~e avher , .devotions ~n preference to social inter~ourse~it~:others. ~It has been my~e~perience~ that, ~any~religious, ~wh~ are s~kjng v0cations~f0r thei~ ord~rs,~have m~de~jfist this~error ~of e~gouraging the~girl ~who.isolhtes he~self :in,preference to the~one who enj0~s having a good~time:~ ,;Later,. time proves that the isolationist loses h~r-e~0tional,~ evefi'mental bal-ance, and.becomes unfit to carry on,.her duties as.a religious.~' This[needs~.~o further~comment, ,~hefefor~ the :candidate ought: t0 give.s~me assurance, that,she possesse~in a. measure the~ fol!o~ing charicteristici She sbguld ~sh0~,that'~ She danuar~], 1947 QUALIFICATIONS OF A GOOD POSTULANT recognizes, her own~ assets and limitations; knows enough about human beings not~to exp"ect too much from them; is .adaptable and open-minded; enjoys her work; sleepswell: is interested in the common good; has a sense of humor; ap-pears calm, happy, sereneY - Possessed df such characteristics the applicant will be enabled to adapt and adjust herself to the mln~r different situations she will meet, and will the more easily learn the~ art of becoming "all things to all men." Such a healthy -social attitude arms the candidate to meet and overcome the problems .that. will arise; at the s;ime time, it helps her to appreciate the opportunity community life. offers that her iridividual life might be a fuller and.richer one.8 The third qualification required of the candidate is that "she possess adequate holiness of life." We are not looking for perf.ection, but there must be a foundation upon which the structure of Christian perfection can be built if the~.can-didate i~ to reach the goal of religious life which is the seeking of God through charity. Therefore it is .not suffi-cient for a young girl merely to appear pious; something farmore genuine must be manifested. "Briefly, she should sho¢ a real interest in things religious, such as the glory of God, the welfare of the Church of God, and the salvation of souls. She will recognize that she has her own limi~a2 tions and consequently needs guidance and help; this. is another mark of a practical Christian spirit. Most essential, "however, is the spirit of prayer. This can be determini~d especially by frequent.attendance at Holy Mass and the fre-quent reception of the sacraments. '~ ¯ ' The fundamental prerequisites for religious vocation are charity and sincerity. The more fully charity is devel- ~Cf. Carl H. With;rington, Educational Psychology (New York: Ginn and Cdm-pariy, 1'946), p. 8Cf. Walter Farrell, O.P., 2t Companion r~ the Summa, Vol. Ill--The Fullnes, of Life (New York: Sheed and W, ard,. 1940), p. 5 I1 ft. 41 A SISTER OF ~HH PRECIOUS BLOOD Reuieu) fo~ Religious oped the more vital will b~e the growth of the religious in the Christian life, the more far-reaching the work fo~ souls. Therefore, love for Christ, love for Holy Mother Church, and love for one's fellowmen, and all three in a more than an average~measure, are the root and heart of a vocation and constitute the fundamental and indispensable motivation in every call to the higher 'life. Evidences of such a charity - should-be noted in the conduct of the candidate before she is accepted intothe postulancy. Charit~ alonewill not suffice; the'candidate's seeking for God must be sincere. The determination she shows in ogercoming inevitable difficulties and obstacles, her candor and'frankness in'her ~elatiofis with stiperiqrs and com-panions, these are manifestations, of the sincerity of "her intentions and-the integrity of her motives. Without this sincerity all efforts on the p:irt'of superiors to form and, guide the future religious will be more or less wasted; hence the importance of te,sti,n~ this virtue of the applicant. Humili}y and obedience, reverence and willing submis- Sion to superiors are essential. A proud disposition Under-mines the spirit of humble andvoluntary'obedience, hn. obedience that should be. p)ompted by ~onscience and a ~re, spect for authority. The applicant who has a proud and insubordinate character is not suited for the religious life and should not beehcouraged. OI~ the other hand, the soul with a humble disposition, who-is convinced of her own limitations and consequent dependence,on God, who is con-vinced too of-tl~e need of prayer, of the necessity for suf-fering, and of the usefulness of correcti6ns, shows great promise. Such a soul will easily be led to realize~the impor-tance and value of obedience, the necessity of renouncing self-wi,ll, and the need of following the directions of a supe~ riot. Patience and generosity should be manifested to some 42 January, 1947 QUALIFICATIONS OF'A GOOD POSTULANT degree, but if the candidate has true charity and'is sincere and ob~di~n.t these virtues will gradually be-developed under the proper direction. Finally she must have the cou.r.age and determination to follow through, to persevere no matter what obstacles confront her, to push on without ever resting on past laurels, and to do this every day of her life. A further important consideration is the family back-ground of the Calididate. This is a real necessity, today, when Our family life has in so many, instances become cor-rupted by broken homes, infidelity to the marriage vows, mixed .marriages, birth control, and other prevalent social evils. Other things being equal, th6se candidates who come from Catholic families where the faith has been cher-ished and made the guiding principle of life more readily develop into promising religious embued with a holy enthusiasm for their vocation than candidates who com¢ from families where an atmosphere of genuine faith and sound morality ~1o not prevail. Special consideration should also be given to the recent convert, who seeks admission while yet in the first fervor of ber ne~v-found faith. Is'it not, better for her to spendzsome time in the world, con-scientiously fulfilling her duty as a,zealous Catholic before she takes on the additional burdens of religious life? Ought she not first learn to fight in the ranks before she enters the vanguard? I have tried to outline in some manner the desirable qualifications of those who would seek admission to the. , religious life. While no sing!e applicant Will possess these ifi their fullness, nevertheless there should be definite indi-cations that she possesses them in some degree and that with the help of God's grace and the proper guidance and direc-tion she will 15e able to reach that peifection her vocation -demands of he~. .- 43 SISTER OF THE PRECIOUS BLOOD It is most essential for the healthy growth of our reli-gious communities that we bear .in mind the fact that no~- every one wh~ knocks at the convent door is called to be a religious. It is the sacred duty of any Sister, be she supe~- "rior, novice mistress, or the'influential friend, to conscien-~ tiously investigate the qualification of any possible mem-ber before she encourages her to enter the convent. During the recent war, our young men an[l women were subjected to detailed ,physical and psychological examin'ations, and ~e were appalledat the number declared ,unfit to fight for tlae protection.of our country. The officers w~o conducted these examinations could not, and would'not admit those who were physically.and mentally unfit. We are recruiting forces to carry~on the work,,of Christ. We need women who measure up to standards. Religious ~ave always been honored in the Church of God, and it is essen-tial that we strive to keep Christ's Vanguard true to the title St. Cyprian has given it, "the claoi~e portion of Christ's~ flodk." If we admii: girls.to our postulancies and juniorates without using the proper discretion and prudence, we can-not expect our religious of the coming generation to main:- rain this standard. And only if we maintain it can Christ's~ -command, "Go ye forth into the whole world and preach the gospel to every creature," be fulfilledin that part of the apostoli~ field it is~given us. by the Church to cultivate. CHURCH UNITY OCTAVE INDULGENCES On, February 12, 1946, Pope Pius XII increased the indulgendes originally given to.the Octave observance. A plenary indulgence may be gained once a month by each of the faithful who recite the authorized prayers every day provided the usual ~onditions requisite for gaining a plenary indulgence are fulfilled. "'A plenary in-dulgence is also granted each .time during the Octave that the faithful shall recite the prayers for unity. In acJdition, on each day of the Octave a partial indulgence of 300 days may be gained provided that the same prayers are said with at least a contrite heart." (Cf. Church Unity Octave leaflet.) I cruifing for :he Bro :herhoods Brother Placidus, C.F.X. RECRUITERS for the various teaching orders encounter many obstacles in their zealous work, but the teaching o" Brother seems ~0-me~t more than his share~ In ad-dressing groups of grade and high,school pupils, he at once becomes aware of a towering barrier--the present-day world. The decline of home life, indifference to religious vocations among Catholic parents, separations ~ind vorces, lack df Catholic educational facilities for" all our Catholic youth, and the unreligious atmosphere in secular educational institutions--theie are~ some of the initial hindrances to the Brother recruiter. Such influences naturally narrow the recruiter's inter-ested audience. A further handicap may be added, namely, the general unpopularity of the teaching vocation. 'How-ever, the recruiter on his round accepts these hindrances as unavoidable evils bat finds it hard to meet a more intangible difficulty, which may be termed an attitude. He "tries to make excuse for it on the ground of lack of understanding about the importance of the teaching Brother in the teaching apostolate of the Holy Catholic Church. True, the teaching Brother is better understood and appreciated today than he was in past years; but there is still enough active misunderstandi~ng about him to deserve comment here. Except among boys who have come in contact with teaching Brothers in their schogls, there is a woeful laek0f information on the subject. ~hotlsands of boys in Catholic schools are fully aware of the-work of the priests and Sis-ters, but have never heard of a teaching Brother. " They can 45 BROTHER PI~ACIDUS , ~ ~, Retffe~v [or Religious distinguish the work ofdioceSan priests ffofn that of reli-~. gious, or the work o~ these tw6 from that ~f missionaries, but are completely unaware of the existence of men who have a God-given ~rocation to a consecrated, life in the class-" room. Pa_rents are equally uninformed. Even many who have boys under the care of the Brothers seem a bit confused as to ~_wh.at the vocation to the BrotherhOod really is. They believe "Brother" applies only tb candidates for the priest-, hood at a certain stage of preparation.~ But the almost general belief is that it applies only" to a member of a reli~ gious order who takes care of the temporal affairs of the monastery, that is, the lay Brother, ._ That the last-mentioned idea is in many boys' minds is apparent. frorri their openihg words to the recruiter in an interview. The boys obviously, feel that they h~ive a_cail. ~ from God, but realize that they lack the talent necessary"~ to'become priest.s. Since the recruiter-is interested only in ¯ candidates for classroom te_aching, he" has to direct such \ boys to orders which receive lay Brothers. He is forcedto " Lhis decision by the ever improving ~tandards required for diocesan and state certification of teachers. Gone are-the days when young men who lack the ment~al'ability to study for:.the priesthood-may be accepted into the ranks of the teaching Brothers. , Pastors Where Brothers teaqh insist rightly .tha't'only teachers Of recognized fibility be placed'on the staffs of their schools, but often, with strange: .inconsistency, they urge. that some boy of good character~but of limited mental capacity be giyen a chance to enter the ranks of th~ teaching Brothers. Where this attitude exists, its corollary.~is, also present, that anyone of except.ional ability, even though dra, wn'toward the life Of a ~teaching Brothe,r, must be oma_rk~d f6r the priesthood. Discussion of the possibility 46 ,lanuary; 1947 / RECRUITING FOR THE BROTHERHooDs of the priesthood for such a boy is certainly in order; but tha~ the' amount of intelligence should be the determinant is inadmissible. The late Rev. Felix Kirsch, O.F.M.Cap'., said on the subjecl~: Still an indulgent pastor may often come forth with this objec-tion: "But this particular boy is too intelligent to become a t~aching Brother." I should hardly think such an objection possible were it not for the fact that I recently heard a plea made against a boy's vocation on ~hls ground: How could any human intelligence be too" fine to b~e consecrated to God in the noble work of making men of our boys! Is any ability too fine for the work that we expe~t of the teachers in our high schools an.d colleges?.1 Another strange attitude all too frequently, confronts the Brother recruiter, that becoming a Brother is a half-way step in the service of God. Even many pr!ests and Sisters share this convictior~, s~tirely not through any lack of esteem for the Brothers, but most.ly from thoughtlessness or lack of understanding of the need and'importance of male religious teachers in the present working of the teaching aposto.late of the Church. The story of one Brother, new prominent in his con-gregation, illustrates the "half-Step" attitude quite clearly. While attending a high school conducted by" an 6rder of religious priests, he made known to his spiritual adviser his intention of becoming a teaching Brother. He was sur-prised to hear i~mediately, and on subsequent visits, a talk on the priesthood. He listened with attention to these talks and accepted them up to a certain poin.t. Af.ter se.veral ses-sions, when he still insisted, that he felt drawn to be a teaching Brother, his adviser said: "Bill, it's like ,this: Become a Brother, and you're serving God 50 per cent: become a priest, and you're serving Him 100 ~er ~ent." This per cent business set the boy to thinking. He 1The American Ecclesiastical Review, LXXVII (1927), p. 16. 47 BROTHER PLAcIDUS Review ~of Religio~s wondered what per cent his go.od mother w~s.earning in the service of Christ. And how. about the Sisters who had. taugh.t him in the elementary schools--they couldn't become priests what per cent for them? His: thinking~ became more int~eresting--if somewhat more confusedm during a-retreat which he made shortly afterwards. In bne 0f the talks,, defending the nobility of the.contemplative life; the retreat master said: "When,all is said and done, those heroic souls who enter the contemplative orders have gone all out in their zeal for God, and really, serve him 100 per cent." This made him wonder then whetlSer priests who-were not conte.mplatives were really serving God 100 per cent! The whole series of incidents dealing with the business 6f per-cents finally brought him. t6 thinking of God with a marking book in His hand, a.Divine Teacher g.rading all His children; and the picture likely brought him back t6 his original intention of becoming a te_aching Brothe~. It is perfectly natural that a zealous priest, interested in an increase in the number of pries, ts, be on the lookout for fitting candidateS. However, it would be helpful for him sometimes to take the long range view whenever he feels that he is losing a priestly vocation to the Brothers. ~Appropria.te' to this subject, one priest had this to say: It may seem paradoxical to contend, that the very dearth of priests should' urge ~s to encourage vocations t6 tff~ teaching Brother: hoods. Yet a venerable ecclesiastic, closely connected with elementary education for many years, has been quoted recently to the effect that. wherever the Br6thers are in charge of the seventh and e'ighth grades vocations to tl~e sacerdotal and the religious life are numerous, and that vocatlonsdecrease when the Brothers are replaced by the Sister~; The same authority went on to explain that boys oi: that age revere the Sisters, but are not so apt'to confide: in them.2 Any of the Brotherhoods can substantiate this sthte- ZKirsch, op. cit.o p. 15. ~ 48 Januarg, 1947 RECRUITING FOR THE BRO'rHERHOODS ment with statistics. A cer_tain Brothers' high~.s, cho61,~ opened only in ~1930, h~s affeady thirty-.two of its. gradu-ates ordained priests. Another, opened in 189~4, has sent two l~undred hnd twenty-two to become recipients of the sacrament of h0!y.orders. The conclusion then must be hpparent, tha~ morse Brot.bers means more priests. The tendency: t'o regard the Brother's vocation as a halfway measure is-very confusing tb an honest applicant. He has been told that the Church recognizes the vocation of a teacl'iing ~r.other as a special call. Then he finds some members of the Chfirch t~eating him to the prospect of not being able to serve God perfectly as a teaching Brother. Father. Claude- Kean,~ O.F.M. treats the matter poignantly in a recent article: This vocation [the teaching Brother's] is as distinct as our own [the Priest's]. Men do not choose to be Brothers: they are chosen by God for that role. Frequently from their earliest ,years, the Brotherhood attracts .them. They do, indeed, possess the physical, mental, and' moral fitness for ,the priesthood--as, for that matter, do many layfolk; but they lack that first of all vocational, d.eterminants, tho'desire, for the priesthood. (Italics mine.) Their articulate in-sistent call is not to the sanctuary, but to the Catholic sch0ol-room. They would imitate not the Christ of the Upper Room, offering mys-tical, Sacrifice, but the Christ of the Temple Portico, teaching daiiy.~ Although _tl~e picture presented ~bove may look pretty~ dark for the Brother recruiter, it actually .has its brighter aspects, not the least of which is the uniformly courteous welcome accorded him on his rounds by both pastors and Sister principals." Still'there is enough need for clarifying the rol'e of the te~aching Brother in the Church militant to justify what has been said above. oCf. The Priest, January, 1946, p. 25. The . u Unit:y THE Church Unity Octa~ce has as'its object the return of the Straying anderring'children of be'rest; schism, hnd i~fidelity to the true f~ld of their for"effathers. Our"Lord has said, ~-'Other sheep Iohave that ire, n0t0of this fold, them a~l~o must I bring. ~ There shall be one fold and 6he shepherd." (qohn. 10, 16:) There is but .ohe true fold. The sheel5 in other folds are'stray sheep, led by-wan: dering shepherds away fr6m their true home. It is the purpose of the Church Unity Octav~ to promote prayer, and work for thd benefit of these stray sheep that th.ey may qtiickly find their Father's home. TlSat tl'ie Church was always one and has ever existed as the true fold set.up by Christ is the.Catholic belief based upon the teach!ng of her Divine Founder Himself and upon,khe fact of her apostolic ~uc-cession. The Protestant notion that unity probably never existed. but that it might be realized by a compromise amongst the con-tending and bpposite opinions of the various religious bodies, is cer- -tainl'y untenable. Jesus Christ founded His one Church. That Church h~s.remained ~uch as He founded it in its visible, organic, and divinely constituted uniter with the divine protection promised to it~and,preserving it inviola'ble in its purpose and doctrine. The late Pius XI wrote in his encyclical, Mortalium Animos: '"There is but one way in which the unity of Christians may be. fos-tered, and that is by furthering the return to the one trueChurch of Christ of those who are separated fio~ it." ~ T~ent~r years before Pi.us XI wrote this, an Episcopalian minis-ter, fir~d with.thd ideal of unity and sighing for the reunion of all Christians founded an octave og.pra~rer as a means of fostering Chris-tian unity. This octave was ~o begin on the Feast of St. Peter's, Chair at Rome and to end with the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. The Octave was to be used also fo.r studyipg the question of ,unity, especially, the doctrine involved ~nd' methods of attaining it and of acquiring a deeper U'nderstan~ing of thd~ problems that were ~re~ented by the many religious~bodi,es s~eparated fromo that -unity for which Christ had prayed. There are many reasons why we should pray and work earnestly for Church unity; but let us be content here to consider a few that are "basic and of special interest to us: God in His essence is perfectly one. All His qualities and~ftri- 50 THE CHURCH UNITY OCTAVE butes are cer~te~ed in Himself, so that 'qHe"who is" is the Truth, He.i~ Holiness, He is Supreme Goodness, and He is Infinite Perfec-tion. Alth~.ugh in God there is a distinction of Persons--the Father" who begets the Son, the Son who proceeds from,the Father,-and the Holy Spirit who proceeds from both the'Father and the Son--these three Persons all have tile same Divine Nature and are equally God. They are Perfect Unity. Christ based His prayer for unity on the oneness of the Father in Him, and of, Himself in the Father. And the Church Unity Octavel regardinff this:as the greatest motive for unity, has,adopted Christ's words as the antiphon to the petitio~n for unity: "That,they all may be one, even as :thou, Father; in'me and I in thee; that they also ma',~ be one in us, that the world may believe that thou" hast sent-me" (John 17, 21). , ./ust as God is one and all truth,is in Him, so truth is one, "Thi~ truth is centered in one authority, by which God has ordained that all men should come to Him. Ther~ i~ only one way that leads to Go'd, and that is the Church which Christ has set up to teach men the truth and to leadthem to their God-given destiny. If there were a multiplicity of ways, then there would be a multiplicityof yarying doctrines: and truth would be divided. This would be contrary to the unity of the Godhead and the unifying order of creation, It would mean that God is not one and that chaos would eventually reign. But the Triune God in His infinite wisdom has revealed to us how the m~ny may be one in their lives.and, moreover, how they must believe and work as one if they would become united with Him in His Godhead, not only in this life, but also in the world to come.~ Another motive for,unity is the King~l~ip of Jesus Christ. Our Lord was sent down upon the earth_, to set up a. kingdom in which all' men might' make their peace with His heavenly Father. By reason_of the Hypostatic'Union, whereby the humanity of Jesus is united to, His divinity, Jesus is the most excellent of the works of God and has .b~en given ~lominion over all creatures. AsKing bf heaven and earth, He has a right°to the service and obedience of all men. He has established" one rule, which all must'follow if they are to serve Him faithfully. This kingdom cannot be divided since it is most perfect. It has God for its author and for its ruler: and a visible authority has been appointed by the Divine King to rule in His name, to teach" His laws to all men, and to minister justice and peace by His powder. ~_ A powerful motive for.faithfully observing the Church Unity 51 ~'F/~THER BARTHOLOME'W Octave is that of atonement. By. the Fall o'f ~dam we xvere. separated from God a~ad deprivedt of everlasting hnioh with Him,. Reparati6n was n~eded in order to restore the supernatural, grace and gifts "that had been lost. The Son of God willed to come. down upon the earth to. make adequate atonement fo~ the infinite offense lagainst~His Father. And the effect of this~atonement was' unity. Atonement means "to make one." By His whole life and Lspecially by. the shedding of His Blood upon the Cross, Jesus reconciled us to His Father and made us one in Him. Thi~ motive should .appe~l" to religious~i.n a sp.ecial ~ay0 for their lives of prayer and self-denial offer them many opportunities for~.the practice of atonement. We have outlined some of the principhl motives., which should urg'e religious and others to 'obserVe the Church Unity Octave witl~ all possible fervor and devotion. Religious may co-operate in a sp cial way by instructing lay people--their pupils, their patients, and others with whom they come in contact teaching them the -meaning and the.purpose of the Octav~ and u~rging them to join wholeheartedly in .the work. But above ~all else religious should co-operate by .their pra$~er, for prayer is the primary means by which. the purpose of the Octave is to be attained. If daily ~hroughout the Octave all rehgmus spend some t~me praying for the part,cular reten-tion of the day., their prayers will not go unanswered. "In union there is strength." If all join together to petition for the fulfillment of Our Lord's own .prayer, "that all may be one." they may be sure/ that He .will be in the midst of them to hear and answer them. A striking example of Christ's readiness to respond to our peti-tions may be seen in the conversion of that small Anglican band of Franc.iscans founded by Father Phul James Francis. Less than two~ years after he had inaugurated the Chu~rchUhity Octave, Father Paul and his sixteen associates, comprising the Society ,of the Atonement, recognized t_he cla,ms of'the*successor of St. Peter, made their submis-sion to his autl~ority, and were received into the true fold. Similar if less striking answers to our own prayers may confi-dently be expected. ~Ignorance, here~sy, and schism will be dispelled in time and all men will become one in the love and service of God. And it is the duty of all, whether they already be. within the one'." true fold or outside it, by the love they bear for one another and by the uprightness of their lives, to hasten the d.aywhen there shall be "one fold and one shepherd." FATHER BARTHOLOMEW, S.A. 52 Our consfitu~fions prescribe a two-year nov;flare. OnE of our novices completed her canonical.year on December 8, 1945. Because of 'illness she missed 32 ~ays during her second y.ear novff;ate. Does she have to make up these 32 days before she ;s permiffed to take her f;;St vows, or m.ay she pronou~nce her first vows on December 8, 19467~ i " Whether absence from the novitiate during the second year must be. made UP or not will depend entirely u.pon the constitutions and the-will of superigrs~ The general law of the Churc~requi~ing that an absence of more than fifteen days must be made up, and that an a.blsence of more thai1 thirty days interrupts the novitiate so that it must be begun over again (canon 556) applies only to tile canonical or t~rst yea, r of novitiate. Hence your constitutions must be. con~- suited. If they say nothing on this subject, then the second year., of novitiate is not required for the validity of the~ subsequent profession ~(canon 5551 § 2), but.only for its licitness, and days df absence would not have to be made ,up, unless super!0rs think it well to require that this should be done . k4a~/a local superior who has served two ~erms.of ~hree years each and then was out of office for one term of three years be now a ppolnted ~s~ super;or of the same community in Which she already served for six years? ¯ ~Canoh 505 i~f' ~he Code of. Cation Law prescribes that "local superiors are not to hold office for more than,three years; on the i~xpi-ration, of thi~ ~rm they can be reappoin[ed ~o th~ Same office if the constitutions ~6ermi.t' it, but not immediatelyfor 'a third term in tl'i~. Sa~ne, religi~sus£h0use.'' From this textit is cl~r that ~o local sui~e~io/ may remain SUl3erior 0f the same religious house for more thim six Vears without ~ special permissibn of ~the Hdly See. Nextl~he word "immediately" must~be considered. It means ,the local superior'wh5 has served ,tWO terms must be removed from office in that community for the time being, but it does not forbid tile reappoin~ment of that superibr to the same community after the lapse of three years. Henc'e~ the answer (o our question is thi~t the local superior.who has served,, two terms of three.years each and then was ou~ of otfice for one term 53 QUESTIONS AND ANSV~ER~ Review [or Religious of three years may, now be appointed again ,asolocal superior of that s~a~e community. ,,~ ,. , " Do the delegates at a general c~hapter have the right and the .power o prescribe, that the piqus exhortatlon, of a,founder or foundress, which I~h~' nelth~er an ~rhpkima~tur nor an indulgence, be mad6 ? ~'art of the com- ~unity.prayers? ifis, nqtla prayer, but a pious.exhortatlon. Do not all prayers~sald in common call for the imprimatur of the lochl Ordinary? The general chapter in a religious c.ongregation has dominative power'over the members (canOn 501, § 1) and can, therefbie, issue 6rdinations or dtcrees which are binding upon all until revoked by a .ft;fure thapter. There seems to he no objection to the reading of a ¯ pt0us exhortation.by the founder or foundress du~ing the recitation 0.f tlde communit~r prayers,. While it istrue that canon 1259 requires the Ioc~il or~in~ary's approvai for prayers and pious exercises ~or us~ ~n churches and oratories, this is commonly ~interpreted to apply to /~ew prayers and devotions rather than' to prayers once apRro~red~ by any local ordinary, 6r to such as .haVe the equivalent approval of :i'oiig Usage. ~ " "" Furthermore, community prayers said in a convent ~chapel When ~hefaithful' are notpresent are not ~ubli~ but pri~ate pra~l~e~s, and therefore would nor come under the regu~lation .of canon' 1259: Hence the pious exhort~ition in question would not need an imprima-tur in order that it may be read during community prayer.s_ , Kindly ~explain what is meant by "spiritual-relationship" .and how it is determined. ~ : Spiritual relationship is a supernatural bond which arises from the 's.acramen_ts of baptism and.confirmation. ,It unites the person :baptized with the m~nister of baptism as well as with l~is sponsors ~(cahon' 76~), and the person confirmed with .hi~ sponsor only .(cangn 797). .This spiritual, bond imposes upon.sponsors the obli, .gation of having a perpetuai interest in their spiritual child (hence~ ~ the name "godfather"), and. of seeing to it that the childreceives~.~a proper Christian. education and lives up,to the promises they made in-his n~ame,during the baptismal ceremony (canons 769 and 797). -,While they should always retain an interest in, their spiritual child, sponsqrs should, not interfere in its Christian education as. long as the "Januarv, "1947 . QUESTIONS AND'ANSWERS parents' of the child are doing their duty. Because of this close spiritual union between sponsor, and child,. the Church has made this bond a diriment impediment to marriage, but only in the case' of spiritual relationship arising from baptism-". (canon 1079). Has the Holy See published, or in any other w.ay made known, an-official disapproval, of.th~ manner of assisting at Mass that is known as the Missa Recifafa? Father Bouscaren's Canon Law Di'~est, II (ed. 1943), pp. 198~ 200, gives five replies of the Congregation of-Rites concerning the Dialogue Mass. From these replies it .is clear that the Holy See wil'l: no~ tolerate some forms of the Dia.logue Mass. but that, with certain. r~strictions and under certain Conditions, individual bishops" and other local ordinaries may permit this form of piety in their ryspectik,¢ ter-ritories if they deem_it advisable. Though there appears to be some. difference of opinion concerning' the limitations, it seems to us tha~. they may be summarized as follows: 1. The faithful may. recite the server's responses'in union with-. the server; and the Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei with the priest. 2. The practice is to be allowed only to those who can carry it -on in ~an orderly ahd dignified manner. 3. It should not cause disturbance to ~.he celebrant or to other-priests celebrating in the church. Such are the limitations as we understand the matter. In prac'- rice, since those who ~ish to have the'Dial6gue 'Mass must get the. permission, of their own local ordinary, they should also have a clear understa.nding with him as to just what conditions {hey are to observe. A day student at one of bur colleges wishes to enter the novitiate-in time to receive the habit on July .IS. She will not finish her semester. studies' and examinations until the end' Of January( Would it be"permis-silble for her to.walt until after~the examinations and enter then, probably 0n.February 2? or may she enter on January 15, take up her resid.ence at the college until after the examinations, and then return to the,novitiate? ¯ Reliable commentators on the canons 6f the Code regarding reli, 55 -QbE~TISNS AND ANSWERS R~oieto Io[" Religious gious hold as probable th( opinion~ that if' the su~n ~of all absences from tile postulancy does not exceed fifteen days,, sfich absen~es-;:need n0t°be supplied provided the~e are good beasons for, them. Hence it- ~-ould ~eem better to have.th~ st.udentin.question go to the novitiat~ on January 15 to be admitted with her class, and then at the proper time return to the college to take her semester "examinations. She should go back to the novitiate as~soon as the examinations are oger. ~[~ @0uld ~unwise tO let her remain at the college for fifteen full days unl.ess, that is unav6idable. Later absences fr6m the postulancy may be necessary, and if the total absence exceeds, fifteen days, such days o~ al~s~nce should be made up before the p~stulant is. all6wed ~p~ receive the habit" and to begin her novitiate. The local superior of the mother.house died recently. Her term of offlceWould not have e~plred till the fall of 1948. May .a Sister be #ppolnted %fill out the unexpired term, or must the appolritment be for-three years? ¯ Canon 505 forbids local superiors to holdoffice for more than three years. It does'not forbid a te~m of less" than three years, ,althOugh that is the nobmal term. Hence, unless_the Constitutions require a full term of three years, a Sister may be appointed to fill out the ianexpired term of the deceased local superior. This would be rea~ sonhble in case it is customary to change all local superiorsat the sametime, but it should be made clear to the Siste~ appointed that she is merely to complete th~¯ unexpi.red term so that possible misunder-standings may be avoided later on. If ~t is not tustomary-to change all local¯ superiors at the same time, it would geem advisable to appoint the new superior for three years, unless special circumstances, make it advisable to appgint her for the unexpired term only. Flour for Altar Broads ' " In our September, 1946, number (Vol. V, p. 338), We gave the principles to be followed in getting flour for altar breads; and we" asked, if our readers could supply any information that might' help' in the actual app!ication of these principles, ~v*e have received, several ¯ infor'~native communications~ and we subjoin the: main points. -Needless to say, we are not a~tempting to give final directions in" this QUESTIONS_AND ANSWERS matter. Nor are we mentioning individual' dealers or brands of flour for the purpose of recommending one more than another. 1. A priest referred us to two articles published in The American Ecclesiastical Revtew. (Vol. 35, 1906, p. 579; and Vol. 73, 1925'; p. 397). These articles show the great difficulty of being assured of unadulterated wheaten flour when buying from commercial dealers, and they strongly recommend that those who make altar breads secure their flour from religious communities that make such flour. 2. A commun,ity of Sisters notified us that they had a chemist analyze the commercial flour they use for making altar breads, ~init the chemist pronounced it pure wheat. When we requested more-pa~ rticular information concerning this flour, the Sisters replied: "The flour we use is Pillsbury Best, or Pillsbury 4X, or Pillsbury AA Cake flour. All these are pure wheat. We do not use any family flour, as they Have vitamins added." - 3. Another community of Sisters sent an interesting communi-cation, the pertinent sections of which run as follows: "In answer to your request . . for information from youb readers who make altar breads, we are embodying in this letter an exact, copy of the statement received from our flo~r mill which describes very fully their method of insuring 100% pure. wheat~ flour: " 'It is quite evident that extreme caution must be exercised t6 insure an unadulterated 100% wheat flour. The first step, before milling starts, is to insure that all foreign seeds, dust, and other mat-ter be removed from the wheat before milling. Choice wheat is set aside, cleaned as it would be for milling ordinary flour, and' then sub-jected to an aspirator cleaning (air suction for removing dust and light foreign particles) plus an additional processing through another disc cleaned, and the mill thoroughl}; cleaned from grinding rolls on through the packing machineby. During the process of m.illing, all bleaching processes are tut oiat as are also the malt flour feeders. With these steps kaken, one can be positively certain that the final prod'uct is as pure and unadulterated as it is humanly possibl~ to make. With the grinding ot: flour automatic as it is, not even human hands come in contact with it." (Belgrade Flour Mill Co., Belgrade. Minnesota.) "The managers of this Milling Company are Catholic and trust-worth~,. They have assured us that they follow this procedure in .making Altar Bread flour for us." 4. We close these communications with ~in interesting NCWC 57 BOOK REVIEWS " , . ° Review for Religious" news,release that refers particularly, to the new "80-per-cent" flour: The news release was .clipped,from a diocesa_n paper and sent to us by 'one of-:our readers.Weoinclude only the'points that bear directly on the information we bare been geeking: " ~'T~oge Catholics who have fdlt a.nxiety and uncerfainty about the validi~y.,of '80-per-cent' flour if used in making hosts for Con-_ secration may cease to worry. ,So says the Rev. F~ancis, 3. Con-nell, C.SS.R., associate professor 0f moral theology at the Catholic University of America. "Father Connell~has learned from government officials that '80- per-cent' ~our~ is actually composed wholl~r of genuine wheat. The phrase merely, means that nowadays 80 per cent of.the bulk of the wheat u~ed for flour is°retained in the finished productl with 20 per cent becoming a b~y-prodia'ct. Formerly:pnly 72 per cent of the wheat was used for the flour's comp~0sition. The new flour contains a larger ¯ amount of the wheat berries' husk and is richer in food value, despite its darker hue. , "In_ addition, the fact that hosts made from the '80-per-cent' flour are a shade darker than those used heretofoie is no impediment to their~valid-and lawful use for the Holy Eucharist. " '~'Oh.the Otherliand, Fa~her.Connell declares,, an effort should be made to obtain for altar breads flour that has not been "enriched" .by' the inclusion" of small amounts of iron, calcium, and-barley flour. O.nly pure wheat and water are supposed to be use,d. 1.Difficulty' in ge.tting unenriched flour, however, allows perfectly lawful use of the ~-nriched variety." [NOTE: A somewhat similar statement by Father Connell may be found m The Ecclesiastical Review, CX (Feb., 1944), 145-46.] :Book Reviews A BEDSIDE BoOK OF SAINTS. By the Reve_rend Aloysh~s Roche. "Pp.,xl °'~ '-I-145. The Bruce Publlshin~ Cornpany~, Milwaukee, 1946.- $1.75. The title of this book hits off the book itself apt.ly eno.ugh. From the lives of saints, Father Roche has with remarkable industry pieced together al!. sorts of interesting items under'such headings.a~ "The Human Nature of the Saints,'~ ".The Common Sense of the Sain.ts," "The Wit and Humour of the Saints,'-' and st) on. The resulting book, 'in which, the material from the different saints', lives is spuzi~ 58 danuar~. 1947 BOOK REVIEWS .- out into a continuous narrative, isthe iort of fhing one welcomes. " for occasi0nal readiiag. It can be dipped into at any time, and even for:very short periods, with interest ,and satisfaction.' - -F~ither Roche emphasizes not onlywhat is interesting .about. saints but what is normal as well. It is characteristic of our'tim~s that we I/ave some sort of psychological need f6~ telling ou'rde!ves how normal the .saints are--they[re just like everybody- else--- although other ages .seem to have derived their chief satisfaction con-cerning the saints from noticing how different they are" from. ordina.ry persons. Of course the saints are both normal and different. Aware-ness of the normali,.ty which Father R6che stresses should not make the reader complacent--the saints were just like me, after alll so all right; but it shouldxshow~him tl4at the .world of thd saints'is not some sort o~ fairyland but quite like his own-~-a world not readily analyzed and e, asily fitted into little formula's, as the world in most ' biographies turns out to be, but a world concrete and mysterious, - often puzzling and confusing enough, a world with-a good many loose ends, so far as .we can see. This is the world we know, the , , world the saints knew, the world in whicl~ God dwells, the world in ~ which sanctity grows;. Tfiis book, now published for the first time in the United States, , was originally published in .England by Burns~ Oates, and Wash-bourne, Ltd., in 1934.W. 3. ONG, S.,J. EXTRAORDINARY LIFE OF MARIE LOUISE BRAULT. By Lohis hier, S:S. Tr~n~la÷ed from ÷he French by W. S. 'Reilly, S.S. Pi~. 306. The Newman"Bool~ Shop, Westmlnsfe~, Maryland;q946.$3.50'. Spiritual dividends and a good deal of amazement are in store for the'~readers" of Madaine Brault's definitely extraordinary life. we ~re ;iot ac~ust0fiaed to associate such, happeni_hgs .with the twentietfi tury; T~ Catholic~ ands, religious, who'like the Master are con~emned for their belief in the supernatural, such remarkable confirmati6n of all their cherished beliefs, brings welcome comfb-rt. But of even greate~ worth is the~in~pact of one's own. soul from meeting a personality " , like Madarhe Brault. Dutiful'wife, arid mother of eleven childrefi, heroically cbaritable to the'sick and suffering,, afire with zeal for.her neighbors' salvation and .the reliet:,of the ~so~ls in purgatory, she ~" responded to grace as the finely tuned instrument to the least touch of the Master, ,Her love for God and particularly, for the God-man makes the passion of earthly lover~ a'sorry rival, This .obscure 59 R~view ~or.Religious Canadian~woman, who died in' 1910, is referred to as a "star of the /~rst magnitude in the skT of mysticism." Her letters," which reveal the astonishing events of her inner life and which were written under obedience, are said to recall the &ritings ofoTeresa of Avilaoand Catharine of Siena. Where We only a~spire, Madame Brault .has accomplished: -Per-haps the m6st valuable part of this book is the second, in which eighty of her letters are repro'di~ced. There her personality is lumi-nousl~ r .portrayed. 'We see a very human, sensitive, affectionate soul, keenly'~susceptible to pain and humiliation, yet under the strong sup- 130rt of God's grace undergoing unbelievable suffering for her love: Apparently the greatest was the furious cruelty with which the dem6ns visibly afflicted her. They beat her like brutal thugs, flung h~'r.around even in the church of Pointe-Claire, and worked endless mischief within the wails of her home. They were also the agents of untold interior pain. An intimat~ friend of Madame Brault, Father Bouhier is cer-tainly .in possession of the facts. He has related them clearly and well: For making his sim, ply-told story available in English, we are g~eatly indebted to Father Reilly. There is perhaps too little artistry in the.composition. ~ind gt times a tendency so to stress_th~ superlative virttle of MadameBrauh that she seems not one: of our race. This impression, however, is removed by her letters. Her life merits further and more complete biographical presenta-tion. Particularly ~for religious and priests she has many definite messages, and we cannot help thinking that God wants us to know ,well this modern triumph'of His grace. R.D. HUBER,. S.J. LUMEN VITAE: International Review of Religious Education. Vol. I, No. I (January-March, 1946). Pp. 200. Centre International d'Etudes de la Formation Refigieuse, BrusSels. $4.00 per year; this issue, $1.00. ~The International Center for Studies~ in Religious Education launches herewith a challenging hi-lingual review addressed to all who are in any way interested ih religious education. The goal aimed, at is "tb take modern life as a starting point, and give a living religious training suitable to the contemporary, generation, so as to prepare it to fulfill its particular'mission." This envisages a twofold task. The one is to discover in contemporary society its particular mentality, or its "psychology," that may serve as a stepping-stone t6wards-Christ. The other is. thedirect j~b of imparting religious 60 ,lan~,ary, 1947 - ~ instruction at all levels in all milieu. ~BooK REVIEWS It is hoped to coordinaterill- ._ferent spheres of educatiori,' different academic levels; to infl'uence differing media of instruction and diversion. ' .Editorials will" be bi-lingual, French and English'throughout. " Erticles ih French will have an ~English summary; those in English, ~a suha.mary in F.r~ncb: "and articles in other languages will have both F~'e'nch and English resumes. ~Believing that Lumen Vitae will beof ,~iery special interest to hosts of religious teachers, we subjoin.a'survey bf its first issue. " , What precisely out of. all contained .in. seminary courses can.:b~ squeezed into college courses, and in what proportions? Msgr. J. M Cooper argues .for this division: Of the total content of class-hours, dogma should have 25 per cent, moral, 25 per cent, worship, 25 per cent, and the remaini,ng 25. per cent should be about ~evenly. divided among Scripture; apologetics; ritual, Church history/and ascetics. If this statement seems cut and dried, the article is not. woman'~ apprlo,ach to the same basic prdblem is mirrdred in Ma"~leleine Dani~lou's account of the courses.she h~s instituted in the Salute: Marie colleges in France. In instituting her .important work, she. was following ,the diredtion of FatherL. de Grandmai~on, whose :'large spirit lives on in it . , o .- "Catholics in German-speaking countries have been .grappling for - years, under the. heading-Of catechism revisiorl, with the deepyr. ~i.nd more importaht subject of ca.techism cdntent an,d .ar#a-ngement, So as to bring out .more clearly the essentially joyo

Issue 6.4 of the Review for Religious, 1947. ; JULY i5, 1947 Theolocji~ns and Mary's Assumption ¯ ¯ . ¯ .', Cyril VOl_lerf "Thou Sl~alt T~e Duty of Open My Lips" " ~Richard L. Rooney Hearlncj Mass .¯ . ". . Gerald Kelly Silence. C.A. Herbsf The Will ÷o Perfection . Augustine Klaas Book Reviews Communications Questions Answered Decisions of the Holy See VOLUME Vl NUMBER REVIEW FOR,, REL! IOUS VOLUME Vl JULY, 1947 NUMBER 4 CONTENTS THE THEOLOGIAN AND MARY'S ASSUMPTION~Cyril Vollert, S.J.~ .1,93 OUR CONTRIBUTORS . ' 202 "THOU SHALT OPEN MY LIPS"mRichard L. Rooney, S.J . 203 BROTHERS' VOCATIONS . 206 CONCERNING COMMUNICATIONS . , . 206 GENERAL ASPECTS~OF THE DUTY OF HEARING MASS-- Gerald Kelly, S.J. . .x, . 207 SILENCEmC. A.' HerbSt, S.2 . 217 COMMUNICATIONS .0. ! . 222 THE WILL TO PERFECTION--Augustine Klaas, S.J .227 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERSM " 16, "Tiny Particle" Falls on,Communicant, , .". . 239 17. Annual Vacation for Sisters . 239 18. Obligation of Superior and Subject when 'Change Seems Desirable ¯for Reasons of Conscience . : . 242 19.-Disposing of Amputated Limbs ' 247 20. Term of Office of Mother Superior .i. . - ., . 247 21. Informing Bishop of Confessor's Absence . 248 22. Application for Faculties for Retreat . 248 23. "Singular" or "Plural" in Prayers for Deceased Sister . 248 BOOK REVIEWS-- The Three Ages.of the Interior Life: Teresa, 2ohn, and Theresa: Reflec-tions on the Sunday Collects of the Roman Missal . 249 BOOK NOTICES . . 252 DECISIONS OF THE HOLY SEE . 254 THE WORKS OF ST. JOHN EUDES . 255 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, Jul'y, 1947. Vol. VI, No. 4. ~ublished bi-monthly: January, March. May, .~uly, September, and November at the College Press, 606 Harrison Street, Topeka, Kansas, .by St. Mary's College, St. Marys,Kansas, ~ith ecclesiastical approbation. Entered as second class matter January 15, 1942; at the Post Office, 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: Alfzed F. Schneider, S.J. , Copyright, 1947, by Adam C. Ellis. Permission is hereby granted for quotations of reasonable length, provided due credit be given this review and the autho£ Subscription~price: 2 dollars a year. Printed in U; S. A, Before writing to us, please consult notice oh Inside back cover. ¯ h oloc i n ary s:Assu .,- .,, ,- ~ 'o. ~ Cyril' Volleft, S:J. WHEN Christ °likened the kingdo~ of God to a graifi ~ o'f mustard, se~d -that eventually produces an. .~ ~mens~ tree, He was~undoubtedly foretelling the future,growthof ~His:.Church: The comparison, may algo serve to illhstrate the ever-increasing knowledge of divine revelation given to. the ~Church by Christ. Revelation,.as. Catholics well understand, came to an end with the death of the last apostle. But the rich treasure of divine truth was not fully grasped from,, the. beginning and is far. from being exhausti;cely~ comprehended today. This is the case espekially with those truths of faith that are not revealed in manifest terms but are couched obscurely in what is explicitly revealed~' With the aid of improved telescopes, astronomers are, constantly discovering "new" stars. The stars are not really new. They have been the~?e a long time. Only our knowledge ~of them is new,. In somewhat the sarfle~ way, ~';new~.- ~ truths' Of revelation: are proposed for belief'from time to time. SuCh truths ar~ not new: in. themselves;, they are only ne~ .to us. ~,They haYe been present in the deposit of ~evelation right aldrig; ~btit ,we get ¢o know some~ of them ofily by degrees as a, restilt, of theological' investigati6n~carried on ~for fnafiy ~centu~ries under the. guidance.of .the Holy Spirit, ~who ~i~ gradually leading 'the Church to ~ fuller understanding. of ~God's truth.,'., ', ¢ . oo~ ¯ ',- ,~,,'°° '~ That a truth may be believed with divifie faith; it need not, have alwa)is beefi,recogniked ,as distinctly revealed. striking iffstante: is .the Immaculate Conception,,,~ which iS CYRIL VOLLERT Review for Religious not expressly attested by ancient tradition and was not kriown:tb,be~ia re~e~led,:i~th until fairly modern tim~s. It was only ~n 1854 that Pius IX, exercising his full teaching authority, declared by an mfalhble, ex catbedra definition th~it thd do~trin~ of Our Lady's Immaculate Conception was revealed by God and that all the faithful must believe it. A' similak event may take place in our own day with regard to Ma~y's Assumption into heaven. Several dear signs point to this. One of them is the~ublication, in 1942, of a mammoth, two-voIume work, Petitiones de Assurnp-tione corporea B. ~. Mariae in coetum delinienda ad Sanc-tam Sedern delatae, by W. Hentrich and R. de Moos, S.J. These two scholars have brought~together and classified the hundieds of° thousands of petitions addressed to the Holy See sinc~ the time of thk Vatican ~Council all begging the Supreme ~Pontiff, to define that the doctrineof the Asstimp-tion. is a dogma of faith'. ~ Without°a very:speci~aI authoriza~ tion the compilers dould not haf, ehad a~c'ess to, the archives iSf the Holy'Office, where most of the documents they pub~ lish are eserved. .' ,; ~,o~ : .~,~ o~, o,~, . ~ Even more~sigfiifica~nt,is ~the~ letter Pope Pius XI,I.has written~'to~all the:,,bisholS~:~of the world~ inviting them~to send to, the~Holy,~See their ,view, si, and those of~,the fait~bful of~ their,~i:lioceses, regardinl~ the, ,Blessed .Virgin(s ~Assump~ tioh. The P6pe wishes~to-khow whether in the opinion, of the~bishops,the:.d0ctrine is capable of~ ,being~,~declared an article ~;of faith and whether~ such a ~,pronouncemei~t is desirdd.,~ E~cide'ntly:~the Holy Fatherc~aas t~ken: the, matter to heart ,a~d is serioi~sly enqisaging a~dogmatic'definitiori of this privilege of Mary's. Pius IX had acted in a similar way before-defiiaiiig the oImma~ulat~ ConcCption. :, ,, ~ " In2such, cases ,,bishops, who, are~ the~ 6fti~ial., teacheks'~of ~hti~t;s: truth~in,~o,their.6wn~odi6cese~s, 6rdinarily c6nlult :,194 .dul~l, 19'47 ~ MARY'S ASSUMP~ION theologians before gi~qr~g an. answer.° ~'The ~Clfiu'rch~, bf course, is iiifMlible v~hen it~ proclaims that i~,~'doctrine '~is an article of fairlY. But infallibility, though it is a'g.uar:inty of. preservat~on from error through ~h~ specia'l "fissistance Of the Holy Spirit',' ~is not a power of giving "f~rth new reve-lations. Therefore, when the question arises of'defining a truth.that may be'obscurely or implicitly revealed, l~ng ~nd careful study must precede to ascertain whether that-triath is actually ~ontained in the deposit of revelation. Is the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin such a truth?° Was it revealed by God, at least implicitly, .so that it may be imposed by the Ch~arch for the belief of the~ faithful, although is yet it has not been thus imposed? If a bishop of a diocese, before answering the Holy Father's letter, were to request a theologian to conduct an investigation into this matter, how would 'the theologian proceed? Theologians vary in knowledge and ability and also in their study habits and modes of thinking. ~ But perhaps most of them would set about their inquiry in more or less the way that is out' lined in this article . To make the ~matter clear, let us 4magine a theologian who has .never had occasion to make a detailed .study of the Assumption in his teaching or writing. He, is not a specialist on this subject. He is, however, fully capable of investigating the problem and has access to an adequate library. Beqirmino the Investiqar~or~ The first thing to do, he d~cides, is to acquaint himself with the present state of the question in theological discus-sion. He has known since his childhood that the Assump-tion has some connection with the Catholic religion, for it., is ndmbered among*the mysteries of the Rosary and is cele-brated with more.than ord.inary liturgical ceremony, on the CYRIL VOLLERT Reoiew for Religious 15th of August, as a holy day of obligation. ~ But just what is the relation of Mary's Assumption to Catholic faith? An obvious way to begin the research is to consult some of the more recent theologicaI manuals or textbooks which the inquirer has in his library. These will indicate the sources of knowledge about the Assumption and will refer to important monographs and to major articles in periodicals. As soon as he starts looking into theological journals of the past several years he will discover a book that is hailed as the greatest work ever written on the Assumption, ,Martin Jugie's La mort et l'assomption de la sainte Viecge, published in 1944. He will find that this book lists nearly every item of testimony on the Assumption_ know to schol-arship. Every text from Sacred Scripture that might have some bearing on the question, every reference in the ancient Fathers of the Church, and many of the most important statements of the great theologians are reviewed and sub-ijected to criticism. With this volume as a guide, the inves-tigator may set to work. To avoid the danger of ov.erlooking some sources, a theologian .would utilize many of the other specialized studies, which abound in our day. Examples are. C. Balic, O~F.M., "De definibilitate assumptionis B. 'Virginis Mariae in caelum,"Antonianurn (1946), 3-67,and O. Faller, S.J., De priorum saeculorum silentio circa Assumptionem B. Mariae Virginis, Rome, 1946. A detail thfit would have to be present to the mind of the theologian inquiring into this doctrine concerns .the very meaning of the Assumption as understood by the Church. Ordinarily, Catholics take it for granted that Mary died, so as tb resemble her divine Son even in His death, and that shortly 'thereafter she whs raised from the dead by divine power and transferred, as a complete person with glorified 196 Jul~l, 1947 MARY'S ASSUMPTION body~dnd,sou~l, to the eternal ,beatitude of heaven. That this~rv, i~w is traditional, dating back at least ~to thUsixth century, cannot be doubted. Nevertheless *Jugie thinks that the question-of Mary's death~ is not established with certainty. ~rhat has to be affirmed; he says, is that, if Mary died,:h~r body was preserved from corruption and then was raised tO glorious life. The essential thing is her p~ivilege that goes under the name of Assumption, namely, her living presence ir~ heaven with body and Soul after her departure from this earth. Jugie does not assert that Mary did not die; but he declares that the'matter is doubtful and that the question of death is separable from the question of a'ssumpti~on. In ~other words, she may have been taken up to heaven, bodyand soul, without dying. He believes tha~ the Church could define the Assumption w~thout com-mitting itself on Mary's death. In h~s examination of sources, a theologian would have to watch for evidence on th~s point. Present Mind of the Church on the Assumption The results of the questionnaire sent by Plus XII to the bishops are not 'yet available. However the study ,of the petitionisk movement from 1869 to 1941 made by Fathers Hentrich and de Moos presents an imposing tabulation of views on Mary's Assumption Petitions favoring a dogmatic definition were sent in by 113 cardinals, by over 3,000 archbishops, bishops, and other prelates, by many theological faculties, by 32,000 priests and religious men, by 50,000 religious women, and by'over 8,000,000 of the laity. Most impressive is the number of petitions ~addressed to the Holy See by bishops. They ~epresent some 73 per cent of the dioceses of 'the world, and of these almost 97 per cent request the definition of the Assumption as an article of faith. 197 CYRIL VOLLERT " Re~ieto [or'Rellglo.u.~ .:r. The rfact~that s0me~2:7~.iper~ ~ent of the dig.ce~s~e~. ~re~!.~o~t ihclhded in these figur~s~do~s not mean that their b, iskdps d6 nbt favor the definitibh. ~e~must. remember that the bishops had'not been o~ially asked to submit their views: the petitions were Sent to Rome as a resul~ ofspon~ngo~ desires for the solemn .definition of the Assumption or in c0ns~quen~e of movements privately inaugurated. The .theologian who reflects on these petitions will be aware that they constitute a strong argument in favor of the tenet that the Assumption is a revealed truth. They show that the Church spread throughout the world firmly holds the doctrine; and the whole Church cannot err in matters pertaining to faith. ~The living .~presence of,~ the Blessed Virgin in heaven with gloried body and soul is not a truth that can be known by natural means; the only way it can come to our knowledge is thorough divine reve, lation. ~- Henc~ the ~Ch~rch must have, drawn, it:,f~o~ Sacred Scripture or from a perpetual tradition or frgm;;both these sou~es.~ ~ Witness of the _~i~urgg., ~,,~,., ~ ,.~ One.of the, most~tellin~ items of testimony to ,the, ex.istz ~nce of an~ ancient :tradition 0n the .Assumption is,:the fae~ "that it,has,.been solemnly; ~elebrat~d int~e~ Church ~0e m~n~ centuries. The beginning off,this .annual~cele~ration~,~canr not be.determined;,~,I~, t~e eighth cg~u~y~the !itu~gic~l fes- ;tival ~as" tefer~ed~t~ .by Saints ~obn .Damascene and :~Anz dre~ of Crete~s .ancient. Toward the end ~of~ the sixth Century- the Assumption,: under the~ name of the" Dormitio> ~e~th~ ','gbing to~sl~eff,''' of t~e ~,Blessed, Virgin, ~as assigned to~ Au~st~ 1.~5.th by~ ~a, decree" of, t~ Emp~ror,~Mauri~e~ for celebration, t~rougb6ut .the~ Byzantine Empire., ~ The e~z" peror~di~ not,~of; course, in~gurate~ the ~f~a~t~ but m~rely settled the day for its~obser~a~ce:. ~,~. ~.;. :~ ~,, : -~,~, ~. ~ ~,~ .i98 July. 19~ 7 . MARY'S ASSUMETION, - ~'~ A,?fragment ~of ~a S~riane,~b6~k, ~lating~.~fr&m,the ~fiftl~ ¢@ntur¥;,~)n~,the trar2si~.or transferenc~ of Our I~ad¥ from earth to heaven clearly supposes belief in the.Assumpti6n, of th~Ble~sed:,Virg~n into .heaven with;bodyi~and soul~ 'fol-lo~ vmg-her death. Several other'references to a liturgical ~elebratic~n'~of the '~'M@mory-of the~ Blessed Virgin," apparen'~ly~ commen~orating her death°~nd resurrect~on~ may carry down into the end of the fourth°century. How.-~ ev~r,~scholafs are not iri" complete agreement on theib inter~ pretation. At any rate, .the liturgical celebration of the Assump- .tion, which beg~n !n the ~East, soon made~ its way into Gaul and Spain, and in ~50 was introduced ifi Rome. The Testimony of Tradition The theologian who undertal~es t.o study the sources of our knowledge concernin.g Mary's Assumption, will have to devote most of his time and gnergies to. a direct examina-tion., of tradition. At the end of,his lengthy researches" he will find that his conclusions may:be s.ummarized some .w.hat as follows, During the earliest ages, up to about the fifth century, definite references to,the Assumption are rare. The truth is .hidden and awaits the theological .~enetratiOn of future generations f0r-its 0unfol4ing.~ t~eginning with the sixth century explicit statements a.ppear; by the following century the Assumption is attested throughout the East and the West, The great Fathers. and .theologians _of this period, such as St. Germain of Constantinople, St. Andrew~ of Crete, and St. John Damasdene, a~rm the.Assump.tion serenely and'without,hesitation or extenuation. Th~ way they express themselves shows that they are not deffending a thesis opposed by adversaries but are discoursing on a truth admittedby all their hearers and. readers. The eminent Scholastics~ of the Middle Ages, St. Bernard, ~199 CYRIL VOLLERT Reolew for Relig[ou~ St.:i~lbert.the.Great, St. Thomas, St. Bonaver~ture,.'Scotus, and others teach ~the doctrine of the.Assumption with absolute confidence. From the sixteenth century on, the fact of the. Assump-tion is universally held; theologians are concerned only with the question of determining its degree of certitude and its connection with revelation. Finally, during the nine-teenth and twentieth centuries, the conviction has gained ground that the Assumption is actually a revealed truth capable of being defined as an article of faith. The silence of the early centuries is not nearly as deep as was forrfierly thought. Recent studies, especially that of Fa!ler, have brought out the full meaning of declarations made by two fourth-century writers, Timothy, a priest of Jerusalem, and St. Epiphanius, bishop of Salamis in Cyprus. Moreover, that silence is not extraordinary but is rather to be expected; the theolqgical writings of the early Fathers were almost wholly "devoted to explaining and d~fending the truths~of the Trinity and of-the God-man in an.environment.of heretical 'attack. -Inquirg into:Scripture . After Christ's Ascension into heaven, Scripl~ure relates ¯ that His Mother, the apostles, and~isome of the holy ~c~men were present in an upper room "persevering with bne mind in prayer" (Acts 1.: 13 f.). The New Testament gives us no information about Mary's remaining years on earth or her death, and tells us nothing directly' of her Assumption. ' " ~" ~ Nevertheless, we. may not asse'rt outright th~it the Bible is Silent about the Assumption. Most theologians and scripture,scholars see a solid theological argument in the woids spoken by God to the devil in Genesis 3 : 15 : " I will put enmities between thee and the woman,, and thy seed hnd 200 July, 1947 MARY'S ASSUMPTION her seed;, she shall crush thy head." According to the tra-ditional interpretation of this text, Mary, who is at least typified by the "woman" if she is not directly meant, is associated with Christ in His victory over Satan. Since Christ's victory includes His triumph over death, Mary's identical victory must include a similar conquest of death. Christ died, rose from the tomb, and ascended gloriously into heaven; the parallel between the Savior and His Mother requires a like climax to her earthly life. Furthermore the Blessed Virgin, who was "full of grace" and "blessed among women," was exempt from the universal law of original sin and escaped the doom decreed against Eve and her daughters in Genesis 3:16 about the pains of childbirth. The inference suggests itself that Mary was likewise exempt from the dread punishment: "Dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return." That is, although Mary was apparently to die so as to be conformed to her divine Son in His death, she was never to be sub-jected to the corruption of the grave. Thus Mary's Assumption would crown her other privileges, which are definitely dogmas of faith: her divine maternity, her immaculate conception, and her perpetual virginity. This last, especially, seems to indicate God's will that she should forever be preserved from bodily cor-ruption of any sort. As the insight which theologians gradually gain into the truths of revelation becomes keener, . they are seeing more and more clearly that the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin may well be implicitly contained in those, three glorious dogmas. Conclusion When the investigator eventually reaches the ~nd of his prolonged researches, he will ma.rvel at the d~velopment of the doctrine of the Assumption--a development not of 20i CYRIL VOLLERT the truth ~tsdf but of the understanding of the truth. The general outline sketched in this article, confined as it is to generalities imposed by brevity, can give no hint of the cumulative effect of the detailed evidence amassed century after century. Moreover, no theologian has ever denied the Assumption. A few minor voices have occasionally been raised in doubt; but though they are off key, they are too feeble to mar the splendid symphony of universal tradition. At the time of the Vatican Council, some two hundred of the attending bishops and theologians signed a docu-ment which, in part, was phrased as follows: Most ancient and constant is the conviction 9f the pastor.s and faithful of the Church in the East ~nd the West concerning the bodily Assumption of God's Mother. This fact, that a person's body is alive in heaven prior to the final day of judgment, cannot be perceived by the senses or be attested by human authority . Unless, therefore, the tenacious faith of the Church re~gaiding the bodily Assumption: of ~the Blessed Virgin Mary is to be dismissed as unfounded credulity--the very thought is impious--we must un-questionably hold, with utmost firmness, thai it derives from divine-apostolic tradition, that is, from rdvelation. In the seventy-five years that have elapsed Siiace this i~mphatic declaration, the persuasion of the Church's ~eachers and taught has been. grgwing steadily stronger. If bur ~theologian r~orts to his bishop that, in his view, the dbctrine of the 'Assumption is ripe for defifiition as an article of faith, his vote will accord with the verdict already turned in by a vast majority. OUR CONTRIBUTORS RICHARD L. ROONEY is Editor of Queen's Work publications. C. A. HERBST, ~UGUSTINE KLAA$, GERALD KELLY, and CYRIL VOLLERT are members of the FacultF of St. Maryrs College, St, Marys0 Kansas. ~ 202 -=nou Shalt: Open. My LIpS,,,"~ °" ~ ~° Richard L.~Rooney, "]"HE Aperi having been said,arid the Our Father, Hail /1: " MarY, and C~eed h~ving0 been devouilypra ed, the ~ Divine'Office again picks Up the ideas of that .intro-ductory prfiyer.~ There we. petitioned~' now we state con'- fidehtly: Thou shatt open m~/ lips; OLbrd, And m~/ mouth shall annou'nc~ Th~/ praiset. Because it is so contrary t~; our own Us~al etti£ient~;~ ind~ependent American way of thinking and doing even in our prayer life, it is well. for us to recall again a basic idea of the Aperi. We cannot, remember, so much as think of thinking to pray unless.God gives.us the initial impulse to call on His name. We cannot so much as open these lips of ours, so.busy, with their worldly speaking, so slow to pray; unless God Himself opefis them for us. It is amazing that. we forget so easily how utterly, helpless we are~ in ~the realm of God and grace if we are left to' ourselves. On thd other hand, I wonder if we ever pause to think how eager, God toopen ,our lips that.,He ,may hear them. hymning His praises. . ~ ~ . If we realized the first of these facts, we. would utter often the verses we are considering here.~ We would not rush into prayer without preparing our souls. If we rea!iz3d,the .second, we would be alert at all times and in all places to God's impulses to pray, to lift our. minds a~nd hearts in canticles of.praise of Him. How well w~,,wguld d~on tthoe m weamy otori Mzea t~hse~sse, bveefrosre.se! ~Hoourw.: ~wreegllu w!aer" c soeut lpdr au.syee ~thrse,m ~alking ,or riding, or whiling the tim~eo.away waiting for a 203 RICHARD L. ROONEY Rev~eu~ [oroReligious bus, or in a doctor's office, or before dropping off to sleep! We co~Id'~profitably'make them the'object of our moments, of mental prayer also. Pondering over them slowly, we might reflect as follows:° "Thou, 0 Lord" God is the Lord and Master of all things. He brought them all out of nothingness. It is He who has given me these lips, and He wh6 must give me the power to open them. in His praise. He is my God; and of Him I can state this simple, tremendous fact: that He will open my lips, will give me the .grace to spiak t,o Him, will prompt me to speak about.Him, will allow me to hymn His praises. Hence I say, "Thou shalt" open my llps" He will open these lips from which so many millions of words have come, these lips which have been worldly, pro-fane, unkind, ~untruthful, mean, sullied.° He will open these lips that have uttered so much nonsense, from which bare tumbled so many idle words---:qips that were given me for praising Him, but which have been so often used to~sin' against Him. These are the lips which now at last He, is going to open and to make fulfill their d~stiny: the praise of Himself. ¯ ,, What joy is mine--that for this time of prayer at least, my lips will be healed, cleansed, and set to work to do the most, ~the best they can do, .They will be busy, not with vanity, but with God. "And my mou+h shall announce Thy praise" When I open my mouth it is likely togive out anything but the praise of God. From it issue forth bits of news, pfoclamfitions of self-praise, my more-than-half-share of c6nversations about all sorts of things, long and stupid tirades, long and often ~stupid lectures aad advi~e. "Forbid-den words come out,~ too: vulgar, worldly, idle, harsh, 204 July, 1947 "THOU SHALT OPEN MY LIPS" discouraging, sarcastic words. Charity is killed; characters are torn~ Help and harm,, all heedlessly-~'intermingled,.c0me pouring out. ~ But when God opens my lips, my tongue will speak as He would.have it; my tongue will speak His praise~' my tongue~ will speak His praise even as did the tongues of Moses, of David, of the prophets; my tongue will speak today as it will speak in heaven announcing, singing, crying out, that God and men may hear the praise, i'n~ praise, of the Most High God! When I ~raise a good man sincerely, my tongue is at its best use on a human level. When I praise the good God, my tongue is being used at its best on a divinely hum,an plane. How seldom my mouth announces any praise, save of myself. I speak of others, either not at all or with cold indifference, bitter criticism, mild interest, jealousy. Now and again, if it serves rn~/ interest,'I praise another. Less often still do I praise God without any trace of selfishness. I ~speak to Him or of Him in tedium, carelessly, liitlessly; in petition, asking mostly for something I want, only occa-sionally for others. But how infrequently do I burst out with praise just to tell Him how wonderful He is! 'Why is this? Praise is the outward speaking of an inward recogni-tion' of the value, the excellence of someone or something. Instinctively on seeing a beautiful sunset or a beautiful per-son we cry, "How beautiful!" Why do we so seldom deliberately praise God or men? Because we are too busy to look at them, too distorted in vision to see all that is good, true, and beautiful either in the All-High God or in the lowly creature, man. When we state that God will open our lips, we are also implicitly stating that He will open oui eyes. We are 2O5 RICHARD L. ROONEY , implicitly saying ,,that Hd will "let .us see Him, His power; His beauty,'His mercy: His lb~e, everywhere, and in .every: thing, so that we shall gladly cry out His praise:i implicitly hope that He will reveal HihYself,.yet more ~o us so that we may begin here the praise that we shrill announce forever in heaven, We are hoping that He will train:our lips to speak.now as they shall when He grants ~.us the face-to- face visioh of Himself, and we shall cry in ecst~isy: "Holy! Holy! Holy! Lord God of Hosts! °The heavens and the earth are full of Thy Glory!" ~ * * * Ves, Lord;Thou shalt open my lips here now, and tl~rd then; and My modth, frded from its habit of self~ interested prayer, shall announce joyously, contin,uall~r~ ~ti~relessly; endlessl~, its praise of Thee, our Go'd!" BROTHERS~ VOCATIONS " There are m':~'ny vocational needs* in~he ChurCh, bti~ pe~rhaEs none as more pressing:than,the need ,for la)~ Brothers. The' assistance'thi:y lend to priest~ who are more directly engaged i~ apostolic labors is~of inestimable value: To egcourage Brothers vocattons, the Soctety of the D,wne Word is Mow publishing aK~httra&ive and informative ~booklet ~entitled ~The M~ssionarg Brother. ~C0ptes of t~e 'booklet can be,obtained from the Novice Master, St. ,Mary's Mission House, Techny. ill~nbis.'~.~ ~ ~ :~ ~ ,~-" ,~. . ~ . ~,, Another i~ter~sting folder on~ the life of a Brother can be :~btained~fro~ the Missionary Servants of the'Most Holy Trinity, Box 30. Silver Sp~ngs. Maryland. This booklet is entitled Spotlight on the Missionary Brotber~" " A. third '~ffective folder 0n this 'same iub~ect is entitled "Behidd the~ S~enes at Notre Dame: The Part of the La~ Brother~ of the Hol~ Cro~#. ~ The, Congregation of"the H~'~Cro~S ~w ~'tWO p;o~ifi~S in- [he United' State~ [he province Priests~and'~the~province of Brothers~ This:folder describes the Brotheri' life. '.It may be obtained from the Reverend Oohn H. Wilson, C.S.C:; Holy Cross Seminary. Ndre Dame, ~ndiana. ' CONCERNIN~ CoMMUNICAtIONS" " ~ The next number "of t~e REVIEW will contain a digest 0f the communications on praydr that hhve note, get been published. ,With~hat; number we shall close the communications on the subject. Communications on other subjects that are of ~n~d~asfti ~. H.elp'r ~ ~o '~religi0hs" are alwhgs~elc~me. , Some of~the c0mmdnications 'on prgyer have been.ratherflong: and the ~itors would appreciate it if those who, send communications would., make them brief and pointed. -It also'helps if'the manuscript ~s typed and double'spaced; 206 ~enera[ Aspects oF ¯ Duty of I-learin9 Mass ~erald Kdly, $.~T. ONLY three of the ~414 cai~ons of the Codeof Canon Law deal explicitly with the° general! law of assisting at Mass. Canon ~1247 lists.the feasts of ~ obligation in the universal Ghurch; canon 1248 prescribes that:.Mass must be heard on these days;0and canon 1249 enumerates the places in wl6ich the faithful may fulfill this obligation.,. Three other ,canons (1244-46)'~1a~ down certain general, rulks :that are applicable not only°to feast days but also to days of fast and abstinence. Pbobably no other law of the Church is as import~int for the ordinary Catholic as this precept of hearing Mass. Every question pertaining to its correct observance is of unFcersal interest; and some of the questions are extremely provocative, not to say irritating, because of the difficulty in"solving them satisfactorily. These intriguing problems are foundiander all the various aspects of the law--general aspects,° the manner of fulfilling the law, and .reasons excusing~from the obligation. Since it w6uld be-impossible t6 treat all these points in a single article in the REVIEW, I am .limiting the present article to a consideration of those points usually explained by moral theologians when they treat of the'general aspects of the law of feast-day obserw ance. The article will deal with all the questions ordinarily discussed under this head, and it "will .lay,, special stress~ on the points that are apt to present sp~ecial difficulties for catechists It helps much to the ,proper understanding and appli= cation~ of°a law to know its origin, ;namely whether it is 207 GERALD KELLY Review/:or Religious divine or human; for different rules of interpretation apply to each. With'regar~l .to th~ duty of feast-day observance a consideration of both kinds of laws is pertinent; and great confusion can result from a failure to make. clear distinc-tions. Not a Dioine Law The divine law, according to accepted terminology, is either natural or positioe. By natural law is meant the law of God as manifested in human nature itself--"written in the human heart," as the saying goes. Granted appro-priate conditions, men with sufficiently 'developed mental powers could know this law, ~it least as regards its main points, just by using their reason--that is, by considering the fundamental relationships existing between man and G6d and between man and his fellowmen, and by drawing logical conclusions from these. This natural law, since it flows from human nature itself, binds all menat all times. The divine positive law includes duties imposed by God through the medium of revelation. In making such reve-lation God 'might merely confirm the already-existing iaatural law, as He does, for example, in the. First Com-mandment of the Decalogue; or He might, add obligations not already contained in the natural law, as He does in pre-icribing the confession of all mortal sins committed after baptism. LUnlike the naturallaw, the divine positive law cannotobe k.nown merely by reason;faith is required. Also unlike the natural law, the divine positive law is not neces-sarily for all men at all times; but such conditions depend entirely on God's own will., in giving these commands. In general, the Church's power concerning law~ is twofold. She can otticially interpret the divine law, as she has done with regard to such things as artificial birth con-t~ ol, divorce, mutilation of the "unfit," and so forth. In 208 Jul~t~ 1947 THE DUTY OF HEARING MASS such cases the' bindihg force of the law is not from tl~e Church but: directly from God. BUt the: Church can also mate laws in the proper and full sense of the:term. ~Thesd laws, made by the Church, are called ecclesiastical 1~iws. They,are human taws, not divirle; and they are to be 'inter-preted ~according to the rules that pertain ~to human l~ws, Applying this discussion of th~ various types of laws to the matter of feast-day worship, the following obierva-tions are in order, o Since men are social beings and since they depend on God not merely as individuals but as a group, the law of nature itself demands that they render to God some kind of social worship. But this law of nature is very vague, It does not prescribe certain days for such worship; it does not clearly indicate how often the worshi~ should be offered; and it does not tell us categorically what religious acts should characterize our social worship, although it cer-tainly seems appropriate that: sacrifice should be one of the community tributes to God.~ From the very nature of the case there is need of some more accurate determination of these points if men are to act in harmony, and obviously this more accurate determination should be made by the existing religious authority. In the Old Testament God Himself sanctioned the religious observance of the Sabbath and of certain special feast days. It is well to note here a great difference between the Third Commandment of the Decalogue and the other nine. The entire Decalogue is revealed; and in this sense all the precepts belong to the divine positive law. In the Third Commandment, however, God went beyond the natural'law, whereas in the other nine Commandments He simply confirmed and stated clearly certain duties "that already existed by reason of the natural law. The Third C0mmaildment; therefore, in its prescriptions concerning 209 GERALD KELLY ~- , Review [or Religio.us the frequency of worship (once a week) and ,the exact day for worship ,(the,Sabba'th)o is entirely divihe positive law, given by God,to' the chosen people and obliging them until. such time as He, would withdraw or change it. Did God withdraw these positive precepts with the promulgation,,of the New Testament? With regard to the special feasts~prescribed for the Jews there is :no difficulty: the duty of observing them certainly ceased; in fact, it Would be a form of superstition to observe them today. But with regard, to the weekly observance there is some obscurity even in theological literature. One view is that the divine law of sanctifying every seventh day.remained in force and that God Himself transferred the obligation from Saturday to Sunday. This opinion has but slight authority to uphold it, and we may safely call it improb-al~ le. Acco[ding, to a second opinion the divine law ,of sanc-tifying one day out of seven remained in existence, but the specification of the Sabbath day was simply withdrawn, and in its place not God, but the Church, assigned Sunday as the day for worship. This view has much more authority than the firsf; yet it is far from being, a common opinion. A third explanation, sponsored by the majority of eminent theologians, is .that with° the promulgation of the NeW Testament God simply withdrew the positive pre-cepts contained ,in the Third Commahdment anti" left it to the Church tO make appropriate legislation. According to this view,, the precept of hearing Mass, as we now have it, is a merely ecclesiastical law in all its particular aspects-- the frequency~ .the exact days, the method of worship. This last is by far the best opinion and the only~ofie that seems in~, perfect'harmony with.the mind of "the Church as expressed in. the~ ~ode:. ~ For the Holy :See claims~ f6r itself~the duly; 1947. THE DUTY OF: HEARING MASS' p0wer.tb 'constitu~e, transfer," and abblish these feast :days. and to dispe'nse~,from their, o.bservance ;(c.f. cations 1244-" 45) : It could not do this ina matter of~divine law. ~, . ~,~ It seems khat .in ~the.early. cefituries,of~ Christiani.t~r thdre~ was. no general l~gislation cbncerning the observanc~ of feast~ days~ : Rather, the faithful, themselves spontaneously' assumed~certainpractices, and thdse practices ~raduaHy acquired ~he force bf law and were'confirmed and crystal-lized by written'~legislation. Sunday was chosen as the. Lord's day, principally because it was the day of the Resur, rection and of ~the coming of the. Holy Ghost. Gradually other special, festivals came to be observed to commemorate special blessings, to recall the victories of the saints, and so forth. In fact, the tendency to add feast days of obliga-tion was so common that much bf the Church's legislation in recent times has been to restrict the obligation lather than to add to it. A ,catalogue of feasts of 6bligation in ~:he univer~gl Church in the time of Pope Urban. VIII, in 1642, lists thirty-five such feasts; b~sides Sundays. Today v~e have' only ten special feasts of' precept! for the" universal Church: Irnmaculai~e CodcelStidn,"~ Christrnds~ Ci~cum, cisi~n, Epip'hany,'St. Joseph; Asc~hsion Thursd~'~, Corpui Christi: Sts. Peter and Paul, Assumption, and All Saints. ° F6r some~cbuntries"the Holy See has ri~duced the number: f6r. exhmple,'in"~he United°State~ g'e a~e obliged to observe onI~r the six itMicized feasts. ' ~ I have gone to ~some length ifi-consiii~i~g the origin bf the precept of .hearing Mass because ~I think ~that :the ordinary way of~explaining the: matter in catechisms and even in moral treatises tei~ds to be~,misleadihg~,, .T, he duty of hearing Mass is" almost invariably~explhined iia~ connec-tion with~the Third Commandment of"the D~calogue; and this leads readily to the.inference that;~like~:the~othero pre-cepts of the~,D&~logue; it is'a divine" hlW,, ~wo serious 211 GERALD KELLY Review for Religious errors are occasioned by this inference. People of lax con~ sdences and weak faith, seeing that the Church can change this precept of feast-day observance, easily conclude that the other Commandments can be changed too and that it will ¯ not be long before the Church mitigates her rigid stand on such things as therapeutic abortion and artificial birth con-trol. These people confuse the human with the divine by reducing the divine to a human level. On the other hand, genuinely conscientious people raise the human to the divine. Finding the law of feast-day observance explained under the Third Commandment, they infer that it is a divine law and thus form exaggerated ideas of its binding A Serious Obligation ~ A young man once came to me with the following difficulty: ~"Father, a group of us werediscussing these laws like going to Mass on Sundays and fasting and abstaining, and we came to a dead stop over the idea ~that breaking .these laws is a mortal sin. You go to hell for a mortal sin, you know. We couldn't figure out why the Church should be so strict about these things; so we decided to ask So-and-So.: He just brushed us aside. He said all we had to do was to keep ~the laws; we needn't worry about the wbgs and the wherefores. It isn't wrong to want to l(now such thin~s, is it? We're not rebelling against the Church; we'd just like to know why she does this." The answer to the young man's question is obvious. It is highly desirable that adult Catholics should know the whg of their obligations. Itincreases their own apprecia-tion of the laws that govern them and enables them to explain them reasonably to others. Ecclesiastical laws are not made arbitrarily; we are 212 July, 1947 THE DUTY OF HEARING MASS not commanded to do certain things under pain of mortal sin merely because some Pope wants to sat.isfy a personal whim. These laws are formed according to certain eminently reasonable principles. For instance, a serious obligation is not usually imposed on the faithful in general unless-these three conditions are verified: (1) there is ques-tion of attaining some very important purpose; (2) the thing commanded is either necessary or highly useful for attaining this purpose; (3) the thing commanded would very likely not be done by the majority of people (the ordinary people, not the saints) unless they were obliged under pain of mortal sin. It is not difficult to see how these conditions are verified with regard to the precept of hearing Mass. (1) The principal purpose of the law is to see that the members of the true Church of God render fitting social worship to God. That this is a purpose of the highest importance seems evident. Moreover, a secondary but very significant purpose of the law is the spiritual good of the worshippers themselves. (2) That the sanctification of one day a week and of certain feast days is eminently useful, if not neces-sary, for attaining these purposes is clear from the fact that God Himself made similar prescriptions in the Old Testa-ment. As for the secondary purpose, in particular, experi-ence confirms the fact that those who do not set aside some time for the worship of God readily fall into temptation and sin. And with regard to the method prescribed by the Church, namely, the Mass--surely no one who realizes the meaning of the Mass will question the fact that it is the best possible expression of social worship. (3) Finally, it is ¯ not hard to imagine how empty our churches would become if this were not.a serious obligation. The Church makes her laws for the ordinary peo~01e, not the saints; and it is simply a fact that most ordinary people are not sufficiently 213 GEI~ALD'KELLY moved by the thoi~ght of "venihl sin" or "counsel" to make the sacrifices ~iecessary for assisting at Mass on ther, days assigned. o Who Must Hear Mass? To be obliged by this law one must (a) be baptized, (b) have completed his seventh year, and (c) have attained the use of reason. All three conditions .must be verified. The Church claims no power to legislate for the unbaptized except indirectly, for example, in the case of a marriage between a baptized and an unbaptized person. The com-. pletion of the seventh year is normally required for subjec-tion to an ecclesiastical law unless the law makes some other express provision. For example, the law of fasting does not bind one until one has completed the twenty-first year; on the other hand, yearly confession and Communion can be obligatory before the age of s~even. "In the present law no special provision is made; hence children under seven, even though quite precocious, are not obliged to hear Mass on Sundays,and holydays.~ It. is praiseworthy to accustom them to attend Mass at an earlier.age; but it is .not obligatory, Finally, even those who .are baptized and are seven years old are not obliged ,to hear Ma~ss if they have not yet attained the use of. reason. The normal .presumption is that those who have completed their ~sevent.h year have sufficient use of reason; but this presumption admit~ of exceptions. However, the mere fact that a child is. "back-ward" is not necessarily a sign that he does not have the use of reason. The ultimate test is his appreciation of :moral right and wrong. , A question of some delicacy in this matter concerns baptized non-Catholics. Strictly speaking, since they are bapt!zedl they are subject to.the laws of the Church unless the Church herself exempts them. Theoretically~, there- July, 1947- THE DUTY OF HEARING MASS foie, it seems ~.tl-iat they ~re obliged.by .this l~w Because the' Church~ ddes not exPlicitly exempt them. Some, theologians and canonists, however, hold that even though no explicik exemption is declared, the Church cannot reasonably be considered to hold them to the law, for she knows that they. will not observe it. This dispute is of .little practical value since the non-Catholics do not know of the obligation, even if it does exist; hence they cannot sin by failing, to fulfill it. 'A iomewhat similar difference of opinion concerns the duty of excommunicated persons. By reason of their excommunication they'are deprived of their right to assist at Mass; hence some moralists argue that they. cannot have a duty to do so. In practice, they may be considered as excused from the obligation; but they certainly hax;e a duty to do what is necessary to be absolved from the excom-munication. Where to Hear Mass We may conclude these genelal remarks about the pre-cept of hearing Mass with a word a;bout the place for ful-filling the obligation. Canon 12'~9 enumerates these places, and in that canon the only explicit restriction has to do with what is termed a private or~atbry. A private or domestic oratory is ushally a chapel in a private housd where Mass may be celebrated for the benefit of an indi'- vidual or his family. Permission to have such oratories with the privilege of having Mass said there habitually can be granted only by the Holy See; and in granting th~s permission the Holy See specifies who may satisfy the pre-cept of hearing Mass there and the days on which it is allowed. Occasionally private chapels are erected in cemeteries. The faithful may satisfy their feast-day obligation by 215 GERALD KELLY hearing Mass in 'these cemetery chapels~ They may also fulfill their obligation, in any church or chapel which is not private in the technical sense explained above; also by hearing a Mass which is said in the open air. All these ,points are explicitly covered by canon 1249. It not infrequently happens tl~at priests get permission to say Mass iia a cabin aboard ship, or in the parlor of a private home, or in some other building or room which is not a chapel in the sense of canon 1249. Can the faithful, fulfill their feast-day obligation by hearing Mass in such places, or is this privilege implicitly excluded by canon 12497 Here again we are in the realm of controversy: some authorities say "yes"; and some say "no." In practice, therefore, liberty prevails: the faithful may satisfy their obligation in these places if they wish to do so. What is to be said of Catholics of the Latin rite who wish to attend Mass celebrated according to the Easterv, rite? The Code explicitly allows this, provided the Eastern Church is truly Catholic, that is, in union with ROme. One concluding remark: the Church does' not i,mpose a strict duty'to hear Mass in one's ownparish church. We should not argue from t~ais, hbwever, that the Church is indifferent in this rfiatter. Certainly the whole spirit of ecclesiastical organization arid' legislation favors an intense parochial life;, and part of.this life is the regular attendance at Mass in one's own parish church. It is not in.accordance with tl~is spirit to encourage the faithful to, attend Sunday Mass habitually in a school or .hospital chapel unless there is some special reason for doing so: 216 Silence C. A. Herbst, S.J. 441~OLITUDE is the home of the saints and silence is ~ their language." I read these simple and beautiful words years ago in a religious house in a great Midwestern city. The place, the time, the room have somehow stuck in my memory. Perhaps it is because the great truth they express has been dear to the beloved in Christ's church for almost two thousand years. The soli-tude of the deserts of Syria and Egypt was the home of those giants in the Christian way of life, the Fathers of the Desert, and they founded there great cities where silence was the language of them all. Surely this was because "Jesus was led by the spirit intothe desert" (Matthew 4:1). He, too, "retired into the desert, and prayed',' (Luke 5:16). From the very first years of the religious life the observance of silence is insisted upon. "The practice of silence is useful for novices," says St. Basil in his Regulae Fusius Tractatae. And he continues, "Unless some special business, or the care of one's soul, or some pressing work, or a question demands it, one should live in silence except for the chanting of the psalms" (Patrologia Graeca. XXXI, 950). Accordingly, as novices we were expected to refrain from unnecessary speaking and from noise; for example, to avoid slamming doors, moving up and down stairs or about the corridor or room noisily, loud talking, and the like. Many a good young religious has had to be given a penance for breaking silence. Perhaps we were told one needs a reason to speak but none to keep silent, and heard quoted the proverb, "Speaking is silver, silence is gold." We read with some humor in Rodriguez: "When 217 C .A. HERBST Reaiew/oc Religious there is no lock to a chest, we thereby understand that there is ~9~hing.valuable inside. When a nut is very light and . bounces, it is a sign tha~ it has no kernel." (Practice of Per-fecffor~, II, "123~)~ Silence may have been a matter of dis° dpline, a thing imposed from without~ but the mechanics of a profes'sion~have fo be learned that way. A disdpl~ine; an external, a mecbani~ Perhaps. And ~mall?~ I am afraid' to apply this word to things'intimately connected with the spiritual l~fe, to ~hings so intimately connected with love for God and with eternal glory in heaven. .At any rate, silence is a challenge to even a brave and mortified man. Let the heroes step forth" gnd accept the challenge of St. Jame's, "But the tongue no man can tame" .(J. ames 3:8). As far as I have observed, the rule of silence is the most consistently and universally violated rule in the religious !ife. I even make bold fo say that experience showsus'eIess talking is not'confined to'women'~a~d chil-dren. It is a man-sized job to "h0id one's tongue:" Nay, more than a man-sized job for the natural man; ~"But the tongue no can can tame:" Who is not so human as. not to have experienced the urge to ask curious and pr,yirig ques-kions? It is hard t6 repres~ the itch for gossip, to-hold back the smart remark, to abstain from criticism: ' It is,hard to wait till the .time for recreation, hard to, breakoff:when.the bell rings. And it is only the strong man. who will crush human respect and remain .silent i.n~the midst of those who will not. This is no longer a small thing, the task of a novice. "But the tongue no man can tame." Speech is a most common, :spontaneous, and "self-full" "expression of the natural man. .A child is born into the f~imily, given a name, and ta.ught with endless pains to speak, o Thereafter one of the most demanding urges of his human nature is to express itself in words. His language ii full of his personality. But tainted as he is by original sin, 218 dulg, 19 4 ~ SILENCE his speech betkays that, too. A man is born again into a religious;~famil#, oftefi takes a new name, and must be taught again .to speak, to express.a personality renewed in Christ. Silence is theschool and the teacher. Advising the ~rbung monk, the Abbot Cassian says,~ "Be careful before all.else ¯ ¯ ¯ to impose the strictest silence on 3~our lips. Thi~ is the first real entrance to an ordered life" (Coltationes, XIV, 9). ~ One must now.unlearn one's evil ways and learn again to speak in God. "And if any man think him-self to be religious, not bridling his tongue, but deceiving his own heart, this man's religion is vain" (James 1:26). Arsenius, preceptor of empero.rs, is said to have heard an _angel say to him, "Arsenius, flee, keep silence, rest: these are the principles of salvation" (a Lapide, Commentaria in Scripturarn Sacram, XX, 137). To preserve exterior silence for the loire of God is a praiseworthy practice and an exc~llent beginning to a reli-gi. ous life. But its higher value lies in this: it prepares and leads the earnest seeker after God to interior silence, to the silence of the imagination, of the mind, of the soul. It is indispensable to recollection. "He, therefore, who.aims at inward and spiritual things, must, with Jesus, turn aside from the crowd" (Imitation of Christ, I, 20). Od enter.ing a religioushouse wheresilence is carefully kept one cannot help feeling that God is very near. There is~an atmosphere ,of prayer. The place seems to "breathe the Divine Presence. "Silence, prayer, charity, and contineficy are the ho~rses of the chariot drawing the mind toheaven," said th~ Abbot Thalassius (Rouet de Journel, Encbiridion Asceticum, 1315). "In silence and quiet the devout soul maketh progress, and learneth the hidden things of Scrip-ture" (.Imitation, I, ~0). We must shut out the noises~of this wo~ld if we would hea¥ the gentle whisperings ofthe Holy Spirit. A noisy interior is ~ miserable thing. If a 219 C .A. HERBST Review for Religious restless imagination is encouraged by much ~alk to go thumping about within us recollection will be impossible. There is a close and intimate connection between speech and the imagination. Idle and vain words call up idle and vain images in the imagination. These images summon others of a kindred sort, in virtue of what is called the law of the association of ideas. In this way a train of flattering, useless, and egoistic images is started. Thought follows imagination and partitipates in its self-gratifying tendencies. Speech follows thoughts and words flow that do not bear on subjects that have a tendency to supernaturalize the soul either of speaker or listener. In conversation words are interchanged and mul-tiplied; corresponding images are called up; and thoughts follow all the time the direction set by the vocal and mental images. (Leen, Progress Through Mental Prayer, p. 266.) " And so on and on, until we realize how spritually wise we should be were we to follow the old Italian proverb, "'Odi, vedi, et taci, si voi vivere in pace." (Listen,-look, and be silent, if you want to live in peace.) When we read the startling and thought-provoking words in St. James's Epistle, "If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man" (3 "2), our first inclination might be to explain away the exaggeration. But there is no explaining away to be done. There is no exaggeration. "Out of the abundance of the heart tl~e mouth speaketh" (Matthew 1.2:34). A man says.what he thinks and what he feels. The thought is father to the word as well as to the deed. If his words are good, his thoughts are good; his emotioris, his passions are under control. For a while one might sometimes think one thing, feel one thing, and say anotheri but that would not be common for long in most things. If any man offends not in word he has acquired self-mastery, he has perfect control over his interior. This control is an important aim of as fine a SyS-tem of spirituality as the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola: "Spiritual Exercises to conquer oneself and regu- 220 dul~l, 1947 SILENCE la~te one"s life withou't determining oneself through any tendency that is disordered,", the title reads. Words tha~ are charitable, patient, obedient, humble, mortified, well up from a heart that is charitable, patierit~ obedient, humble, mortified. When we meet this happy child of God we shall gladly agree with St. James that "the same is a perfect man." But let it be a woman first, "A Woman Wrapped in Silence," Mary, God's mother, of .whom John W. Lynch wrote so beautifully. Her words were few but very pre-cious. Countless generations have cherished them and pondered them and have seen mirrored in them the Immacu~ late Heart of Mary. "But Mary kept all these words, pon-dering them in her heart" (Luke 2: 19). The Blessed Virgin did not speak many words: filled with grace and light from on high, inundated with the gifts of the Spirit,. she remained, 'silent, in the adoration of her Son: she lived on the contemplation of the ineffable mystery wrought in her and through her: and from the sanctuary of her immaculate heart ~ hymn of praise and thanksgiving rose up unceasingly to God. (Marmion, Chcist, the Ideal ot: the Monk, 3 6 3.) And then a Man, the Lamb of God led to th~ slaughter, "and he opened not his mouth" (Isaias ~3:7). In His lifetime "He retired into the desert and prayed" so that the Christian centuries after Him might understand that "he who aims at inward and spiritual things must, with Jesus, turn aside from the crowd." The Son of God spent thirty years of His short life, that carried within it the salvatiori of the world, in silence. Yet how he must have longed to speak, who was so marvellously eloquent! Must he not have yearned to give forth light, in whom the whole communicative wisdom of the Godhead was compiised? When he was so full to overflowing of beautiful wisdom and ravishing intelligence, must not silence have burned in his Heart like a coal of fire? Must there not have been something in his being the 221 COMMUNICATIONS Reoieto [or Religi6us Father,s '~Wor~d, Ghich,-~wguld" .make" him exult ~in .s'peaking~ of ,. the ~Fath.er, with'his human to~gue.g' ('Foa.ber, ,Beth~lefiera, 0332.) '°~ ~, "But 3.esus h£1d his peac.e,"~ (Matt.hew 26;63). The W,o~ Himself did not'speak he.cause the Word, is Wisdom, Incarnate ommunicaEions ¯ Reverend Fathers: ' A little dose of dissatisfaction with one's own achievements in mental prayer is a necessary.condition of progress. But when the complaints about "bad meditations" extend for years and years, we must asl~ ourselves whether we know what a "good meditation" is? At least fbr ~yselL I have discovered'that ~it the very bottom of these complaints l~es a good measure of selfishness. An analysis of our complaints reveals the causes of our d~ssiatlS~ factioq. They~are: distractions; ar~idity of mind; lack of sehsible joy,~onsolation, and spiritual comfort; lack of taste for ~13rayers.;*s'the lives of.saints tell us that they had. We are satisfied When we e~xperi~ e.n~cre 'jo: yi,r t~ealrs;'conso~atlon, a 1 these ca~es we find OURSELVI~S as the c~nter:of interes~tin p~dyei~ ~-W~ ar~ seekirig personal Satisfaction. !Thi~" is especiall~ trt~e if,,after sbm~e :efforts'~w.e'qui~ making !meditations; because .we, do~ nbt find: ~ezgxpect~d personal satisfaction., This,~ naturally, generates a ~ense of frustration, of guilt,.~nd a certain nervousness about the whole business of meditation. °" The ~medy fo~ this lies in ;realization ~f, the primary ehd of every prayer which is: praise, adoration, admiration of God; thanks2 givin~ for His supernatural and natural, gifts; atonemerit for sins and,. finally, p~etitions for .newl graces. ' aeAs long"as one does make efforts to elicit some of the afore-haention~ d acts, his mental, prayer i~ good, In such a prayer we seek only'God, His gl0~y; His will; He is the center of our prayer, n6t:our own gratification. ' . 222 Julg, 1947 o., :/ .' COMMUNICA,~IONS~ ~I.t'is.always.possiBle to praiseo:God, ~ven in the midsv:of., grea't distractions. (Who could not fill the gaps between invbltintary: dis.tractions~ with praise of God?) It is ~possible to thank Him, exen for~His crosse~s.~ .,~even for the distraction° and aridity themselves;. as~ far.,~,asothey are of ,His make, and not the fruit of our negl.ect of: spiritual~life. It,is possible to expose our wretchedness and misery, a~nd .cry for His help . Should, however, once in a while even that ~be impossible, then it remains possible just to keep oneself respectfully and humbly in His holy presence an'd let the .gaze of:His mercy fall' upon our misery. Once we grasp this, once we sacrifice,our ow~n pleasure in prayers; all anxiety .disappears, peace returns to. one's heart. We know-then when our prayer is good, namely, when we make °efforts to please God, not to satisfy our own selfishness.--A Jesuit Father. Reverend Fathers: 'It seems to me that the follow!ng are among the principal reasons for the:difficulties and the neglect of~mental prayer: ,, 1. Failure to Realize Its lmportance,,~That one's prayer .life is synonymous with one's interior life; that it is the source of real growth in the love of God, by disposing our souls to r.eceive and to profit more fully from the grates 'of ~the sacraments; that it is the. greatest help to purity of soul and to an ever greater hunger and thirst after God. St. Teresa of Avila said: "There is but one road that reaches God., and that is prayer: if anyone s~hows you' anotheri.you ~ire b.ejn~ de~elv'ed." " ~ " 2: Di'sc?uragement. Du~. p~r(nci15al'iy- ~o "judging° by,'Bhd's feehngs. 'We-cannot judgebur praTe~ by our feelings nor by "th~ arhounf,of'dryness or desolfi~ion v~e experience it/ pbayer. As long as~ ~ve' tr~ to make our prayer well,'it is "alt~a(/s pldasing t~5 God ~nd prpfita~ble to us, even though,' at ti~e~s, we seem to do little inor~ t~han siinply fight distractions or temptations! 0 God Uses th~se ;tria~s for'our advancement. ~: . ~ " " 3. Lack of Proper li~struction.~--Sou~Isshould be t.au~h~" to pa~s on (th6ugh,not hurriedly.), from discui:sive n~editation to the ~nore simplified'arid richer forms of prayer. ;To try to keep to dis'cursive meditati6n ,wl~en that no q6nger :sUits the' needs df one's, soul i~harrfi-ful;' as ~ell' as difficult~and r~pugnant: ."In this regard, "I,.heartil~ aplSr~ove of all-ileal, y~oi~r fi~st.~correspO~ld~nt-"in the-,March ~ilsue (pp: 109! ft.). °.said' bfi" th~i~subject.'.- '.H~re0 is :wherh°- dire~tion-~e~en " .-223 C~OMMUNICATIONS Ret~ew for Religious though-just occasional, perhaps just two or three times a year---is a great help. " 4. Failure to Lead an "'All Around" Spiritual Life, Proportioned to Our Prayer,--We cannot expect to make great~ progress in our prayer life and the love of God, unless we are s~riving generously to please God during the other hours of the day. There is much tha~ could be said here, but I can think of_no better way of summing up what I would like to say, than to quote from the regulations that St. Paul of the Cross gave to. his religious. He ends his chapter on prayer by saying: "In fine, let all remember that they will never suc-ceed in the exercise of prayer; nor will it produce in them any satis-factory fruit, unless they endeavor with all diligence to be recollected during the day in the presence of God, to be lovers of solitude, to practice mortification, interior as well as exterior, and to observe with fidelity and exactness even the. smallest precepts of the Holy Rule." The first time we read this quotation, it looks discouraging: it seems like we have to be almost saints before we can begin to make progress in prayer and the love of God. But if we re-read it, we see that all he asks is that we try, though diligently, to practice recollection, to love solitude (i.e. to be detached from the world), to practice morti-fication, and to observe the rule. But I do believe that these admoni-tions are very important.--A Passionist Father. Reverend Fathers: .~ The very word religious, it seems to me, suggests~ a d.aily program of prayer more extensive than Catholics. in general adopt. Every religious enters on her career with her eyes open., if she firm,ly believes she is personally called, not only to her holy state, but also to her particular Congregation or Society, and is instructed during. her novitiate in all her obligations, why not always keep it at heart that in the important matter of her daily program of prayer, He who called her will assist her to fulfill that duty to His satisfaction aiad her merit, if not always to her enjoyment? Itomust be remembered, too, that prayer is first of all for God's sake, then for ours. It may be likened to the incensations during the Hole Sacrifice of the Mass,, acording to, the liturgical versicles, "'Dirigatur, Domine, oratio mea, sicut incensum in conspectu tuo,'" and "'Vespertina oratio ascendet ad te Domine et descender super nos misericordia tua.'" How con.soling to reflect that as the Holy Sacri- 224 1947 COMMUNICATIONS /ice is celebrated around the world, our prayer rises as clouds of incense and, in return, there falls the dew of God's blessings upon our lives! In regard to the formal hour of prayer that begins the day of most religious, it goes without saying that unless the highlights of the subject have been tucked into the mind beforehand, little focussing will-be possible on the subject. Who would think of going into the presence of a dignitary or a professional man without knowing what h~ is going to do or say? St. Ignatius Loyola has given us admirable indications on how to use the time of meditation to the greatest profit. I recall how the list of these directives appalled a young reli-gious I know. She intimated that she felt sure they would ruin her prayer. Rising, however, to intellectual considerations, she decided to analyze an hour of prayer just completed. To h~r joyful amaze-ment, she found tbat she had followed them largely as if pressed by logic. Inflamed with this encouragement, she began accordingly, day 15y day to build up her med{tations synthetically according to the methods of St. I~natius. Her. own words: "I knew that reflection clarified the mind." Al-though unaware of the manner of the op.erations of the Holy Spirit, I realized from time to time that certain thoughts stood out very clearly among others in a Scripture text or a rule, or persuaded me very gently to a higher way of action. Yet something, on my part, seemed deficient. I Wrestled again with the analysis, of my medita-tion, to admit tO myself tha~ I was using 'the three powers of my soul' for a meditation, and my senses for the active contemplations of the mysteries of Christ, but I was not making much of the col-loquy. The next day I wrestled again with the though~t content. Then I put down reasoning, put away reflection, and just knelt before God waiting for a thought to come spontaneously. No books ever printed words like those I spoke to God, but I knew I shouId certain~y have spoken them to those I loved~ my people, my friends-- so why not to God, the Supreme Being? The official Our Father sealed my prayer and obtained its last blessing. "Soon I realized that it was the colloquy that made the difference in my morning prayer. I had tasted~something I had never experi-- ended before. God had made me understand the words of the psalm: '0 taste and see that the Lord is sweet.' " Prayer unites us to God. We must keep that union through a busy day. It may be kept active through the day by ejaculations-- 225 I~oMMuNICATIONS "' ~' "' ~ ,.~,! ,. grains:of, incense again, ~thrown~on°.the.,fir~ dr: chari~y in/the s0ul'. Ejadulations first,in, h'0n6r 6f 7God.,° Bht,~the .background 'of the enti[e:mind, too,.m.ust'be kept fqr God,, filled tho.ugh it mu.st.often be with.:a.,t:hous.and .t_hings call.e~t for. by .duty: ~ An-intruder. ,of high r.ank: is ,the gra~tification, of curiosity.¯ Here iLmust be noted,that $3: Ignatius will not dispense from the examens;of his daily program of prayer. It is .the moment' of detecting intruders into God's kingdom and banishing them,, and Of resolving ~o make ~room for His'allies, one of whiqh is spir4tual readigg. Without this first step in prayer, aqcording to St. Bernard, we~ cannot'expec[ t~he second that rest.s upgn it meditatio.n. In o_ur s.torehouse of the mind, we should keep~ not only choice thoughts from this reading, but also tidbits from conferences heard, direction given-,, holy conversations held. And regarding these, is there any-thing that mak~so earth more like heaven than conv.ersations about God and His ways? A~suredly, the mind must be kept free for God. Clogged with useless matter, it is not receptiv.e when'the hour comes for morn.ing prayer, to the things of heaven, nor is it, if the body is ~rah'ted all its desires during" the day and indulged in every whim. HOwever. it may happen that even with the utmost care expended !n~ p~p~ratio.n,, our morning prayer can seem a failure. St. Paul ~¢:ogni.~ed_sucl~'a situation: "To will is present'with me: but to accbmplish that ~hich is good I find' not.", Again, concentration of in!fi'~:s~em~ i;np~ssible. I~ may be ~s. Our Lord said of confusion of another kind, An enemy hath done thts. Or. the mind seems _'~o~. ;o. . I~ . . ." , ¯ ~, . -, inoperative. , If the trouble continues for an apprectable txme, the remedy wdl come w~th a d~rector s counsel. Hts mtssxon an~ studtes prep~ire him to disc.ern ,wheth,er the s~tuation at'hand ts sloth or "the prayer of faith." the means of sanctifitatio9 of So ,many, saints: :- Moreovdr,,it is .well to re~alI, that~artists work years before they mas.tqr ,,their art. And,-,~he i~sue of ~hei~ lifework is so precarious. But ~e.~vho are called by God Himself to a life of pra, y~r know that while He will never fail to i~elp'us, Who "works both to will and accomplish" in us. we can never fail if we do our part. Whether or n.dt"Go~l calls us_f~om discursive to°higfi~.r_forms~of prayer, we shall not .be h~i~led in persevering, however little or great the relish-our pFaydi: may a~ord us: Fo.r. linked with the Hbl'y: Sacrifice of the Mass, it will be acceptable unto'Go~l's praise'and glory, to out'own ~obd'.afid that 6f the entire~ Church.' " .-~" .: ~ - - 226 Tt e ,.Will t:6, Perrrecfion ' " ~AugustineKlraas: S.J. ~IV]HILE recupera, tmg at hls ancestral castle of Loyola ~ from a serious wound received in the battle of Pam-o ploga, Ignatius, to "while .aw~r the lag~iqg hours, reluctantly took to red&rig the lives of the saints. Grace was at x~ork in his s0ul as he b~an to rep~eat over andover to himself: "Suppose I should do. what Saint Francis did, and what Saint Dominic did? Shint Dominic did it, I should do it too; Saint Francis did it, I should do it too." The will to pe_rf~&ioq, already s~t~ong at the beginn~ing of h!s. cgnv.ersi0.h,,.Ignatitis fostered~and de~elbped throughout° his subsequent life; unfalteringly h~ put it into practice.~ It b~tlght him.t9 th'e 16fty heights" of ~anctity, to the summit of spiritual perfe~ctign, to fellowship with Franc'is, Dgminic, and man,.y ~ore. ~" "° "8piritudl p~rfectioti is'a':rfiatte~bf co-'6perating with" the. graee of G6d Whi&i is~alW~ly~ given hbundantl 9 when. asked for in hOmble prayer. We[wh6:pro~ess to sei~k'p{~ife&ioh ari~ somewtJat like"gai~den plants that receive glorious ~un= light ~ind reftesfiing'&v~ from ~ibove. Biai~ these gra~ious gifts Of G6dare'n6t enough~foiSlift! and growth to matu'r- .ity. The robts'df the'~i~lant ~ust' also go down ~eeP irito the soil to draw from it adequate nourishme'nt. That is the constant co-operation witch grace demands of us, and to achieve it, a strong initial impulse must be given and sus-tained. This 'startirig~ p{ash that. goes on:" developi.ng momeritum is the '~ill~t~o~perfection.~ W~ must will, we m~i~t eaffiesti~; d&ir~i .[w~m.ust~ be ~letermined that at an'~r 0~t we ~a~e going"t8 accumhi~it4 al'l the ~a'nctifying grace we 227 AUGUSTINE KLAAS Reuieu~ [or Religious can and also'acquire the highest activity of the love of God and the nelghbor~ posslble.ln ,the particular circumstances of nature and grace allotted to each one individually by an all-wise Providence. The will to perfection is not something physical, as the knit brow, grim jaw, and taut herves of certain mistaken young religious would have us believe; it is not sentiment or feeling though these are frequently present as by-products; it is essentially something in the spiritual nature of man: in his mind which evaluates perfection as a very great good, and above all in his spiritual will. It is not a mere velleity, a "Lord, Lord . . " and nothing more, a willing and no doing; rather it is an effective willing, a resolve that ei~ds in action. Father Le Gaudier likens per-sons who merely will and do not act to ostriches, which sometimes flap their wings ostentatiously as though about to fly away into the air. But nothing.happens, nothing ever happens: the silly birds remain grounded. Out Lord said to the rich young man, "If thou u;ilt be perfect." (Matthew 19:21 ) .~ The first thing to do then is to will perfection, and-to keep on willing it ever more and more, and then to follow through with steadfast, pru-dent action every day. That is precisely what the young man in the Gospel was not prepared to do. He just did n~t have the efficacious will to perfection; hence he did not co-operate with the special grace given him, and conse-quently he missed his great chance, his call to close intimacy with the Savior. II Holy Scripture in many places recommends the will to perfection indirectly, since it is .included in the prayers; aspirations, and good deeds of all God's holy ones. But also directly, especially in David's Psalms: "My soul bath 228 J-l~t, 1947 THE WILL TO PERFECTION cove~ed to long for thy justificationsat all times" (Psalm 118). "As the hart panteth after the fountains of water; so my soul panteth after thee, O God. My soul hath thirsted after the strong living God." (Psalm 41). Did not Solomon receive spiritual wisdom mainly because of his ardent desires for it (Wisdom 7:7)? The prophet Daniel was the "man of desires" of the Old Testament (Daniel 9:23), not so much perhaps because he was beloved of God, but because he wanted so earnestly that God's glory be revealed fully in himself and in others. It can rightly be said that the whole of the Old Testament was one great longing for perfection, since it was a longing for Christ, the Savior, the source and model of all spiritual perfection. This yearning for the more perfect life is the insistent motif of the Church's magnificent Advent liturgy. The New Testament confirms the old. "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after justness, for they shall have their fill" (Matthew 5:6). "If any man thirst, let him come to me, and let him drink" (John 7:37). And Mary. said: "He hath filled the hungry with good things ¯ . ." (Luke 1:53). Who is the "man of desires" of the New Testament? I thinlY it is St. Paul, that courageous athlete of Christ, and it is manifested on almost every page of his Epistles, for example (Philippians 3: 12-14): Not that I have already secured this, or am already made perfect. Rather I press on, in the hope that I may lay hold of that for which Christ hath laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not. count myself ~o have laid hold of it already. Yet one thing I do; I forget what is behind, and strain forward to what is before, and press on towards the goal, to gain the reward of God's heavenly call in Christ Jesus. Like a runner in a close race Paul "strains forward" to reach the goal of his whole Christian life, world, and suffering. Saint John Chrysostom, commenting on this text, says that not the least of the runner's straining forward is his 229 AUGUSTINE KL/kAS ,' ' ,~ Review for :Religious will: ~and dete~niination to reach the'goal, in this case, the goal .of spiritual perfection. ;Saint Augustine shrewdly remarks that the sum-total of Christian.life is fundamen-tally a matter of holy desires for advancement in perfection: The early ,religious of the primitive deserts were wont to have the aspirant to perfection repeat over and over to him-. self, day and night, for weeks on end this little question: "Why did you come here?" This is what Sai:nt Bernard says (Epistle 341): Did you ever meet with an ambitious man, who, after attaining to one dignity, did not hanker after one of a higher grade? . . . What shall I say of the covetous, are they not ever thirsting after increase of gain? Are dissipated men ever sated with their illicit sex-pleasures? Do not the vainglorious ever go in quest of new honors? If, therefore, the desire of persons who are bent on obtaining the trifles of earth 13e thus insatiable, should we not blush to be less eager after spiritual goods, less eager after perfection? In another letter (Epistle 253) he gives a paradoxical definition: "True perfectidn consists in an unrelenting de-sire of it and assiduous effort to achieve it." Saint Thomas Aquinas' sister, who was a religious, once asked him what she must do to reach perfection. "You must will it," replied the l(arned Doctor of the Church. When with feminine insistence she pressed him with further detailed questions, his only answer was: "You muse will it." And in the Summa (I,.q. 12, a. 6), does he not teach that "desires predispose and render a person apt to receive what he desires"? He writes in his commentary on the text of St.-Matthew (5:6) : " "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after jti~tice: for they shall have their fill.'" The Lord wishes us to thirst fif'ter ~that justice which consists in rendering to every man arid to God first of all what is his due. He wishes us never to be satiated on earth., but rather that our desire,s, bould grow Mw.ays . Blessed are they that bare this insatiable ,desire. , 230 July, 1947 THE WILL TO PERFECTION . Such-is the~.unanim6us verdict~ of the spiritual masters, put into.practice by ~/11 the saints, who valued it highly and even considered it a necessity for advancemqnt~ along the path to perfection; " Let us close this testimony with that remarkable psychologist0 Saint Teresa of Avila; who writes in her Autobiographtj (Chapter 13) : We must have great confidence, for it is most important that we should ngt cramp our good desires, but should believe that, with God's help, if we make continual efforts to do so, we shall attain, though perhaps not at once, to that which many saints have reached through His favor. If they had never resolved to desire to attain this and to carry ~heir desires continually into effect, they' would never have risen to ashigh a state as they did. Against this solid teaching of tradition and experience stands alone the seventeenth century Spanish Quietist, Molinos, who was condemned by Pope Innocent XI for instructing his followers to have ."no desire for their own perfection, nor for virtues, nor for their own sanctity . " III There are certain qualities which the will to perfection shpuld possess. First of all, it-must be supernaturally mo.tivated. God's glory, our own sanctification, the spir-ithal good of the neighbor, these must b.e.the fundamental reasons why we desire to be more perfect in the spiritual lii~e. All-too-human ambition and foolish .vanity are to be excluded. However, a reasonable desire to succeed, to win the esteem of our fellow-religious, to be in the good graces of superiors, and other such merely natural motives, may be profitably utilized in a supplementary way: but the main stress must always be on supernatural motives if our desire for perfection is to be solid and free from illusions. Then it is more apt to be prudent, humble, apd sincere. It must, too, be all-embracing, like perfection itself. It has to include great things and small, hard things and easy, 231 AUGUSTINE KLAAS " Review for "Religio~is the pleasant and the pain'ful; with a special inclination toward the more difficult, and even the heroic, seeing that our actions generally fall short of our laudable ideals. Hence, we may not pick and choose, ~desiring to be perfect in prayer but not in obedience, perfect in our work but not in our play, perfect in pursuing the hobbies andside issues of life we love so much but not in doing our main tasks, perfect in dealing with externs but not with our fellow religious. The list could be considerably lengthened. At the same time, it must be practical, that is, adapted to our particular condition and state of life, in accord with bodily health, mental capacity, and spiritual strength. The universality of our desire for perfection is thus limited, made definite, concretized by our practicality. A teaching religious may have a strong desire to make a holy pilgrim-age on foot to ,Jerusalem--and no doubt his students would approve it, too~but such a desire is normally out of place, at least during the school year. It just is not prac-tical. Another religiou~ may be wanting to lead a more contemplative life by spending a great deal' of time in the chapel, but meanwhile the orphans are creating pandemo-nium, the pupils are hurling erasers, the sick are getting sicker, and the soup is boiling over. It isn't practical. This practicality will be particularly in evidence when we are choosing the means to perfection; and here let me recall that it is not so much the number of actions nor their greatness in the eyes of the world that counts for advancement in per-fection, but rather the more perfect manner of doing a few well-chosen ones. The saints have done nothing if they have not taught us that lesson, namely, that it.doesn't matter so much to/~at we do as bow we do it. Hence, our desire for perfection must take in the whole concrete situa-tion and be eminently realistic; it cannot afford to chase il!usive spiritual butterflies. 232 July, 19 4 7 THE WILL TO.PERFECtION Furthermoie, the desire forperfection must be effective at all times and in all ptaces~ Here the present moment is all-important. -We must desire to be perfect not only when we have taken our first vows, or our final vows, or when we are thirty years old, or forty, or fifty--but now, at the present moment. "'Nunc coepi.'" (Now I have begun.) Like the saints we must learn to value what has been called "the sacrament of the present moment." Nor must the will to perfection be effective just on certain days, on feast-days and not on fast-days, on Sundays and not on Mon-days. The present moment is every moment. No place must be left out: the desire for perfection must be activated in the chapel as well as in the laundry, the classroom, the hospital, the kitchen, the orphanage, the recreation room, everywhere. I like to recall how the sainf of Lisieux struggled With her dislike of that malodorous cheese in the dining room as well as with her annoyance at her neighbor's rattling beads in the chapel. Always and everywhere must the desire of perfection be efficacious, in a simple, .~natural, and balanced way, with no tensefiess, wor.ry, or constraint. Otherwise it can happen, as Holy Scripture sa3is, that "desires kill the ~slothfu1: for his hands have refused to work at all. He longeth and desireth all the day! but he that is just will give, and will not cease" (Proverbs 2:1~:25-26). "Do what you do" is a maxim, which, if followed faithfully, will go a long way towards m~king ~our will to perfection something more than a mere velleity, something more than a will erratically effective only at certain times and places. Finally, the will to perfection must be persevering, so much so that gradually it becomes the dominating desire to which all others are subordinated. "Seek ye first the king-dom of God and His justice . " No more powerful means to .perfection exists than the habitual hunger and 233 thirst-for the higher life of the soul. 2 Indeed, it is an .excel-lent gauge of the degree of perfection a religious has already attained since the desire increases' in ,proportion[ toe his progress in virtue. - IV There are some obstacles to the acquirement and fos-tering, of the will to perfection. Indifference to spiritual perfection itself is, of course, a great hindrance to culti-vating a desire for it. We do not desire whai: we are not interested in. May we lawfully.-adopt.a "don't care" atti-tude of mind towards our own spiritual perfection and consequently neglect to desire and will it? Certainly we may not, and the reason is simply that our greater, perfec-tion is bouiad up with God's greater glory, and no one may b~ wholly indifferent about that: True, one may be of equal mind regarding the various means conducive to per-fection-- riches or poverty, honor~ or dishonor, health or illness, .and the like--since any of them can advance one to perfection and promote God's greater glory. But it is otherwise with perfection itself. God's greater glory, can never demand that we do not seek our own perfection, much less contemn it; hence, we must in some way strive for and desire perfection. " o~ ~ ¯ Perhaps one may admit theoretically what has just been stated, but deny it practically by the tepidity oflone's life. This spiritual torpor, lukewarmness, and Carelessness in the service of God is doubtless the deadliest enemy of perfection and its desire. It warps the judgment; it makes the wiII fickle and inconstant. It is a creeping pa'}alysis which gradually chokes off and Stifles all will to advance in .the 1ore of God and the neighbor, the esSenCe of perfection. It must be resolutely combated;~ it nius~ be replaced by its 0pposit~e, :Which is devotedness, fervor of" sl~iritual life, a 234 Jul~;o~19 4 7 THE WILLTO PERFECTION synonym for the desire of perfection. ",~ ~ . Anothe~r obstacle is what spiritual writers call rnoratism. This is the baneful tendency to be content with the practice of. the moral virtues and with doing only what is strictly obligatoty. The desire for perfection is thus shoit-circuited, human means are relied on rather than divine, our own little schemes and devices are preferred to a generous trust in the grace of God. In a word, it is a kind of naturalism in the spiritual life which reduces the desire of perfection to an ignoble minimum. The remedy, of course, is, a stronger emphasis on the supernatural in our lives and, while not neglecting the moral virtues, a greater insistence on the theolog.ical virtues of faith, hope, and charity, a more determined practice of the counsels. By our desires we must "hitch our wagon to a star."' After all, a Chris-tian should desire to be eery much more than the equiva-lent of a good.pagan, whose ideal of perfection is the golden mean of the natural moral qirtues. Plus XI points to the objective of.Catholic education a's being "thd supernatural man. who thinks, judges and acts consistently in accordance with right reason illumined by t~he supernatural ligh~t of the example and teaching of Christ." If that is applicable to layfolk, how much more so. to religious? There must be no deliberate limiting of ,the desire for perfection, to the lower level of moralism; the desire must surely transcend the minimum observance-of the Ten Commandinents. Similhrly the will to perfection is hobbled by a pre-dominantly negative concept of ~erfection. If we are wholly taken up with avoiding sin and impe'rfection rather than with cultivating the mote positive aspects of spiritual-ity, such as the acquiring of the virtues and the doing of meritorious works, particularly those of supererogation, it is easy to see how this will curtail our desire for perfec-tion. "Accentuate the positive" is an excellent rule to gov-. 235 AUGUSTINE KLAAS Review for Religious ern our spiritual desires and ideals. Finally, the desire bf one's own perfection, if not rightly m'anaged and ~controlled, can make one self-centered, self-complacent,, spiritually~egotistic. Too much concern with knowing down to the last detail where one stands on the ladder of perfection, just how much one is advancing from day to day, from hour to hour, by doing this or not doing that, does not make for a healthy spirituality, because this attitude often leads to excessive introspection, exaggerat~ed solicitude for minutiae and the relatively unimportant, uneasiness, preoccupation of mind, destruction of internal peace, and loss of true resignation and conformity to the will of God. All these things will hamper a true desire for progress in virtue. This evidence of a subtle pride and selfishness must be cast out of the soul, especially by puri-fying the motives for seeking perfection. It is good to know in a general way where one stands on the road to perfection, but it does no. good and can be very harmful to go too much into detail about it. Let God and His loving. Providence take care of the precise degree of perfection reached. A good principle here is not to look backward too much but rather by our desires to keep looking forward and upward to the summit of the mountain of Christian perfection. Eyes on God., rather than on one's own petty self! V To awaken and augment a real desire for perfection we must have a deep appreciation of the value of perfection itself. To this it will contribute to have a correct estima-tion of the worth of earthly things as Solomon had when he exclaimed "vanity of vanities," and also to be thor-oughly convinced of the importance of the "one thing necessary" spoken of in the Gospels. From this will flow a clear understanding that in the scale of values the desire of 236 ,I~l~1, 1947 " THE WILL TO PERFECTION perfection, when tightly comprehended, is .above all other desires. : The grace of God is needed to make this desire habitual and ever more fruitful; hence, for this grace, we must humbly pray. Can there be any more l~recious thing to pray for? Meditations, examens of conscience, spiritual reading, monthly recollections, retreats, all should be directed to arousing and stimulating the will to perfection, ~specially by proposing tO the mind the correct and most effective motives for will-action: God's glory, our own per-sonal sanctification, the spiritual good of the neighbor. Another help to foster and a~tivate the desire ~for per-fection is to study the lives of. Our Lord, of His Blessed Mother, of the saints, and .of other holy persons. Example always has the effect of engendering a desire to emulate. Saint Ignatius Loyola. is not the only saint who found example a powerful stimulus to the perfect life. It will also aid us to be on the alert to take advantage of the various circumstances of time and place to increase our desire for perfection. In this way, our trials, sufferings, failures, even our sins and imperfections, if rightly used, as well as our successes and triumphs, can be made into steppingstones to greater perfection, if only we seize upon these golden opportunities to whet our appetite for God and His love. Lastly, if we now have no real desire for perfection, or only a very feeble one, let us desire to have that desire and pray for it perseveringly. Spiritual writers say that such a manifestation of good will is almost always rewarded by .a gift from God. VI If the desire for perfection becomes the one, all-consuming, all-pervading passion of the religious, if 237 AUGUSTINE KLAAS' de.spising thethings bf earth:,heconq'uers human ,resp'ect;and_ can honestly say with David: "For what have I in heaven?: and besides thee what do l'desire~ upon, earth?, ¯ For thee my flesh and heart hath fainted awaY/:, thou, oart the God of m~ heart, and the'God thatis my portion'forever'', .('Psalm then there willl come into hisAife a~deeposense'of personal freedom, detachment from transitory created~ al,lurements, a"growing generosity in God's service, and an unexpected happiness. For wherever there is generosity of will and intention, there is spiritual joy: And God in His turri will not be outdone. He will pour out His gracesandfavors on the largehearted religiouso as He did of old on Daniel, on Paul, and on all those other men and women~of consuming desire for perfection. He will satisfy.that hunger and slake that. thirst.with His celestial gifts. Hol,y. desires are very meritorious in the sight of God~ even though some particular longings are not realized because oof circumstances beyond the .contro.1 of the reli-gious.~ Sb6uld fiecessity or:~obedience thwart ;i particular desir~e t~o do something .generous for God's gl6ry, that desire .will receiv:e :its .full-reward an~rway, as Saint Bernard cor-rectly notes. (Epistle 77) : .',The. desire is reckoned as the, deed itself by God,,when the deed is hind~ered by necessity." Hence~ it isono~illusion to desire to do great and~ even heroic things for Christ, such as going on the foreign missions, or undergoing martyrdom, and the; like, even, if there,,is little possibility of their, realization. Ir~ a particular case, God may. really want.only the d~sire~ and hence He will reward it as though it had been fulfilled. , ~ . The fruitful desire of perfection is of immense benefit, not only to ourselves, but to the neighbor also. It will blossom into a zealous apost01at.e, it will add honor and splendor to the w, bole' cburcbof G0d) and ~best ofall it will give grea~"glory, t6 God~ not 6ia]~r~in~ this w6rld, -but' 238. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS through6ut eternity. ' ' " ~' To conclu~te With Clement: Of "Alexa~drih, cgmm~nting on Christ's offer of the p~fect life. tb the rich young~ man (Migne, Patr~logid Graeca, IX, 613) : ° "If thou u~ilt~ be perfectly! Therefore he was not yet perfect . . , and the words if thou wilt divinely show the liberty of the soul which is dealing,with the Lord. ¯ It was in the power of the man, who was free, to choose.; to give was the prerogative of God, as being the Lord. He gives to those who will, to those who make an effort, to those,who pray . God after all, does.not force anyone . He gives to those who ask, He opehs to those who knock. Let us then with God's grace will, and do, and pray; and spiritual perfectionwill surelybe ours to God's greater glory andour own everlasting happiness. Quesffons ncl Answers . What should be the conduct "of the r.ec~pient.of Ho|y Communion should a tiny particle of the Host, unnoticed by the priest, fall.upon his person?, " ~ .Because of the words "tiny particle" this question needs cautious answering. Some people are prone to see "tiny particles" everywhere. For them, the only prudent course of ~action is to ignore what they think are "tiny particles." Putting aside, therefore, the question of imaginary particles, the communicant who notices that a Host or a real particle of a Host has fallen upon his person should .wait at the communion rail and call the priest's attention to the fact. --17- Is" there anything in the Code which mlcjhf be construed as; an obliga-tion on the part of higher superiors to give Sisters a one- or two-week vacation annually? ¯ ~ The Code makes no explicit provision for an annual vacation for Sisters--but:we are inclined to wish that it did. Moreover, since some kind 6f vacation appears to be a normal requisite for preserving 239 QUESTI~)NS AND ANSWERS Reoieto for ~Religious good health and for fostering a wholesome,, c'ommu~ity .~pirit, it seems "that superiors have an implicit duty o~f trying .to provide such a vacation. This statement may call for some further explanation, for there seems to be much confusion concerning what constitutes a vaca-tion for Sisters. In some cases "vacation" app~ar~s to be synonymous with "annual retreat." This is particularly the case with regard to hospital Sisters; but it is not uncommonly verified in many teaching institutes in which the yearly round 'of activities may be 'summed up thus: teachm summer school--retreat---clean house--teach. In view of the fact that Sisters commonly make a fervent retreat, it is nothing less I~han fantastic to consider their retreat as a vacation. In other cases the Sisters' vacations consist in visiting their parents for several days. Of course, this is a "break," and in that sense it is a vacation. But it is not a vacation in the true, and par-ticularly the religious, sense of the word. Often enough these visits are characterized by strenuous activity and loss of sleep, and are therefore not even physically relaxing. However, even if in some cases they provide physical rest and release of mental strain, they are hardly a religious vacation. A vacation f0~religious should serve the purpose of intensifying the community spirit: and this purpose is cer.tainly not achieved b~y going off'for a time with one other Sister tO live ampng seculars, even though the~e seculars be relatives and very saintly persons. Still another misnomer for a vacation is teaching in a vacation school. This too may be a "break." The Sisters get away from strict community life for a time; and some find the novelty, very enjoyable, even though the' work may be hard. Nevertheless, though novel, though enjoyable, though mentally relaxing, it is not what we mean by a religious ,vacation. What do we mean by a vacation? Perhaps the following ~tory will illustrate what we mean: A certain mother general who was keenly interested in the spiritual progressl of her subjects, was thinking of having an inten-siv6, spiritual program that would last about thirty days; and she asked a priest friend what he ~thought of the idea. This priest happened to be a man who leans strongly towards what might be called a practical view of life . "Well, Mother,'Y he replied, after having considered the idea, "'if you can spare your Sisters from their duties for thirty° days, I 240 July, 1947 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS think the best thing to do would be to give them an eight-day retreat and three weeks' vacation." "A vacation!" she exclaimed in astonishment~ "ddst what would they do with a vacation? They're often here at the mother-house. It's a lovely, s~0acious place. Isn't that. vacation enough?" "I agree with you~it is a nice place. Nevertheless, a mother-house is a motherhouse. It has an atmosphere of strict discipline and constant occupation. I suppose you could plan for a vacation here; but you would really have to plan it, or you might run into diffi, culties. When I speak of giving Sisters a vacation, I am thinking of your getting a pla~e away from your regular houses--a place that's private, where many Sisters could go together and rest and play games and, above all, get to know one another. Religious can go through the stress and strain of ordinary duties, and scarcely get to know one another. In fact, when they are always under strain, they can build up mutual dislikes that grow through the years to vast proportions. This can be largely offset by a good community vaca-tion. In relaxation and recreation the religious see one another in a new light, and often discover remarkably fine qualities that they never knew existed. In my opinion, there's nothing like a good com-munity vacation for fostering a good community spirit." She thought over his suggestion for a time, and then asked him: "In-this ideal vacation of yours what happens to the spiritual exercises ? "There's an old maxim to the effect that there's no vacation from the spiritual life. I won't deny that; hence I make allowance for spiritual e~ercises in my plan for the ideal religious vacation. But let's confine it to the ordinary exercises and not use this vacation as a time for adding more and more prayers to the usual ones." Thus far the story. Readers may agree or disagree with the priest, as they see fit. For ourselves, we believe that his idea is worth considering a.nd developing. W~e realize, of course, that many superiors who agree wholeheartedly with the idea are handicapped by tre-mendous difficulties, especially financial, in carrying it out. Nevertheless, difficulties are not always as insuperable as they first appear. We believe that some institutes of Sisters have already worked out satisfactory vacation plans. From practical experience these Sisters may have suggestions that would be profitable to others. If they wish to send these suggestions to us, we will gladly publish them in the REVIEW. 241 QUESTI.ONS~ AND ANSWER,S I) Are superiors required by canon law t6 comply with the wishes of a subject who for a worthy cause asks for a change 6f residence? (2) If the subiect!s reason for inak[ng, the ~request is a'problem of conscience,° is, he obli~jed to reveal to the superio'r the nature of this problem? °~Fh'ese. two questions, alth(~ugh'~oming from different sources, are intirrhitely connected. Arid since they,deal with a matter of th~ high~st importance in the religious life, an unusually detailed answer seen~s called for. Ca~on law contains no specific provision concerning the assign-men~ of religious, The first question, therefore, must rather be answered in the'light of the principles concerning"the government of religious. Sir~c~ this government ofight to be paternal, it seems to follow logically that superiors are obliged to grant reasonable requests of subjects unless the superiors have equally good reasons for refusing them. To apply.this principle in a concrete case a religious superior must consider not only the request of the individual subject but also factors that pertain to other individual religious and to the ihstitute as a whole. The individual who asks for a change of residence is quite, naturally looking at the matter from his own point of view; and from this point of view he may have one or more of many good reasons fbr requesting the change. Forinstance: one's health is poor anti'would probably be greatly benefited by a change; there is strife in the present community, and great peace can be expected from a chari'ge;' a~ teacher is doing poorly in his present assignment 'and feels that if. he could go elsewhere and get'a new start all wotild be well an occasion of sin has'developed, and it seems that~the most efficacious means of avoiding sin is to get away from the pre,sent circumstances.', These are dxamples of good reasons for asking for a change., Some are n/ore serious than others; .yet a stibjec't who~for any oneof'these reasons, or for some similar reason, requests a change of residence is certainly asking "for a worthy cause,'Liis the question puts it. The superior who receives such a~request is bound in conscience to give it prudent consideratibn. The first step .in this prude.nt con-siddration is to weigh the reason itself. If the. superior honestly judges that the subject'would not reap ,the expected benefit from the,requested change, he can hardly have an obligation to.grant it. The obligation in this case is rather on the subject; ~he should either appeal, his case to a ihigher superior, if he thinks it. sufficiently serious, or accept this particular disposition of Divine Providence and.~do the best he can 242 duly, 1947 , QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS under the circumstances. Obviously it is possible for the superior to be mistaken in his judgn~ent, for t~e has no charism of infallibility; yet, granted that he has acted prudently and sincerely, he has nothing with which to reproach himself if subsequent events ifidicate th;it he was unwise in denying the request. Even when the superior'judges that th~ requested change~would be beneficial, it is not always obligatory, .or even permissible, to grant it. For, although patebnal government implies an intimate familial relationship between the superior and the individfial subject, it does not° change tl~e fact that the superior's primary~ duty is to seek~ the common good. He must view the individual's need in the light of the needs of otl~ers and particularly of the entire community.or eritire instittite; ~nd he can reasonably grant requests of.individuals only when they do not Conflict with the greater good. That such conflicts can easily arise" seei~S~ obvious, sirice, ~:he reassigning ~f oile religious usfially involves at least one'other chfing~, and frequently it cannot be accomplished without many changes. ~As one example of~, a" Worthy caule for requestii~g a ch,~ange,,~of residence we mentioned the necessity of avoiding an occasion "dr 'sift: A consideration of' this and of othel reasons of co~iscien~e leads'logi-cally to the very delicate problem indic~tei:l by the second question." namely, how much information must be given the superiol Whe~ change is requested for sfich personal rehsons? There seem~ ~obe a difference of opinion here. As' a clear expression of one ~Vie~, ~ve quote the foll6wing from a letter ient to our editorial board by a priest who is much ihterested in this problem. " "The Code," he wrot~, "forbids a'~onfessor to interfere With the internal government of any religious con~munity. Yet very often matters pertaining to commiinity life also pertain t6 the forum of conscience. Mindful of the Code"and mifidful also of the spi/itual welfare of a religious, the confessor may deem it ne~ces~ry o.r veiy imperative that there b'e a change of ~esidence, 6f.assignmfint, of the community doctor or dentist to be visited for professional purposes, and so forth. ThUd advice ~iven us during our cdurse in p~astoral' theology was to study well the case and then to say to t~e/eligious: 'Tell your provincial or local superior that your confessor adviies.you to ask for a change of residence, of assignment, and so forth.' In the estimation of the confessor tha~t_ should be sufficient: a prbble~ of consci~nce'~exists, and a changeowould be definifeiy helpful in sol'ving it. The superiors a're thus° made aware of theproblei6 basefi"6n QUESTIONS AND ANSWER,S Revie~u [or Religious reasons,of conscience (reasons ,which no religious is bound to reveal to the superior). And yet, strange to say, the request has been turned down ! , "How such a refusal can be justified is beyond me. The confessor can err, but he is in possession of knowledge which the superior has not. The reason of exterior regularity cannot outweigh the'spiritual needs of an individual. Is not the spiritual betterment of each reli. gi6us the first concern of superiors? And is there not for the superior who may judge that ~a confessor has been 'taken in' by religious a means to have the confessor changed, i.e.~ by asking the removal of the confessor from the local ordinary, who can change the confessor without giving the reason? Hence it would seem that a request such as was,stated above should be granted by the superior of the religious who forwards it. The superior may have ~doubts, but the doubt should ordinarily favor the religious and especially the confessor of the xeligious. Personally, I cannot see how any superior can pit his or her judgment against a request that is advised or approved by the confessor, especially w.hen abuses can be stopped by a recourse to the bishop." This is one view .of the matter, strongly and clearly expressed. But it seems to us that there is another side, and we should like to indic~ate it. Let us suppose that a religious has a real difficulty of conscience: for example, an occasion of serious sin: and he goes to his superior with a request for a change of residence. He tells the superior that his confessor told him to ask for the change; he does nQ~t reveal in any way the specific nature of his difficulty. Everyone would agree, no doubt, 'that the superior may take a prudent confessor's word con-cerning the spiritual need of his penitent: and if this were the only factor to be considered in making a chlnge of assignment the superior would not need more definite information. But can this question of reassigning a religious always be so utterly simplified? For instance, how is the superior who is ignor-ant of the nature of the subj ct's difficulty to know that the new assignment will not be more dangerous than the present one? And how is the superior to judge who can be safely called upon to replace the religious in his present assignment?. And since changes like this not infrequently in;colve inconveniences for communities, how is the superior to judge whether the subject's need is sufficient to offset these inconveniences? After all, even conscience problems vary greatly in 244 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS degree; and we doubt if it can be stated as an absolutely generalprln-ciple that all conscience problems must take precedence over the external needs of the community or institute. It depends on what these conscience problems are and what these community needs are~ The superior may be well aware of the needs of the community, but he Can hardly make the necessary comparison if the subject withholds all information concerning the precise nature of his personal diffi-culty. W'e wonder sometimes if the view that the superior has no right to know the nature of a conscience problem is not closely connected with a misinterpretation of ~the canonical legislation concerning mani-festation of conscience. From the fact that the Church forbids superiors to exact a manifestation of conscience, many seem to con-clude that a superior never has a.right to know a subject's conscience problem and that the subject r~eve~" has a duty to make known the nature of his problem. It seems to us that these r~ever's are too abso-lute. Taken at their face value and applied universally, they mean that in many instances the Church wishes to sacrifice prudent govern-ment in order to preserve a so-called liberty of conscience even when this might be harmful to the individual. Even i~ we suppose that a subject never has a strict obligation to reveal the nature of a cohscience difficulty to a superior, a good reli-gious': would not be justified in translating this into an attitude .which amounts'to, "My conscience is none of the superlor's business~" The canon law defiiaitely encourages the practice of ~voluntary manifesta-tion of conscience to priest superiors; and if this is encouraged as a normal practice, it is certainly advisable at a time of special n'eed. ~ With r.egard, to manifestation of conscience to lay superiors (for example, to Sisters), we have often heard it said that the Church p~sitively disdourages the manifestation of conscience difficukies .to them. Perhaps this notion is traceable to the Index to the Code; and it may be well to call attention to the fact that this Index is a private document, not officially promulgated by the .Church. Both Father Creusen and Father Schaefer, who are certainly among the best authorities on the canon law for religious, say that the Church neither encourages nor forbids the voluntary manifestation of conscience difficulties to lay superiors: In this opinion, which seems to squar~ perfectly with the wording of canon 530, § 2, the Church simply leaves the matter of voluntary manifestation" of conscience problems to lay superiors to be solved in' individual Cases according to sound 245 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS pastoral principles. ~ ' It is clearl'y contrary to soundp~storal principles to open one's conscience .to a lay superior,°for the purpose, of getting advice that the superior is n0tcompetent to give. But itis quite in ac'cord with these .principles to reveal one'~ conscience difficulties to a lay superior ~in order to get encoura~einent and especially to get the help required for putting a director's or confesso£s advice intd effect. Those who shy that the Church positively discourages the manifestation of conscience difficulties t6 laysuperiors seem to be unaware of this very important distinction between expert advice on the one hand, and such things as sympathy, encourageinent, and practical help on the other. We have g6ne to some length in treating this matter of manifes-tation of conscience because many of the questions and suggestions that we have received in recent years indicate that subjects often lack filial confidence in their superiors; and this deplorable condition seems to exist among both religious men and religious women. And the fault is by no means all on the side 6f the subject. Some superiors give their subjects the impression that they are not interested in the personal, affairs of individuals: they want only efficiency, external achievement, financial success. Othe/ superiors, after listening willinglyto the subject's diffigulties, appear to be unconscious of the grave obligation of secrecy that the very nature of such communica-tions demands. There is need, it seems, of sincere self-examination on both sides.~::superiors and subjects--ifothe ideals.of paternal, gov~ ern_men.t_and filial confiden_ce are to be adequately attained. We conclude with the following direct answers to the questions. proposed : , ~ ~. 1) The superior is obliged to comply with the request'of the subject if,.after having prudently weighed al~l pertinent circumstances (namely,,.the need of the one making the request, the needs of other r.eligious, of the community, and so f0rth),~ he judges that the reassignment is necessary . 2) In general, it may be said that a superior is entitled to all the information he needs in order to make a prudent decision' of a case. It follows from this that a superior who judges that further informa-tion is necessary before making a change is not violating the rights of the_ subje.ct by refusing to make the change without such informa-tion; and in this case of justifiable refusal a subject who is conscious of, a serious need Of. a change in order to. avoid ,a proximate occasion of morta'l sin seems to. have a strict obllgatio.n to reveal the n~ture of 246 JuI~,1947 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS his problem, at. least to the extent required for prudent consideration by the superior. If, on the other hand, the superior is satisfied with such'general statements as "I would like a reassignment as a matter of conscience--because my confessor, or spiritual director, advises it," , the subject is nor strictly obliged to volunteer further information. So much for the obligation, The ideal solution is that such familial confidence prevail between superior and subject that the latter can readily explain the nature of his problem to the superior and thus get the maximum of prudent co-operation. We think that this applie~ to all religious institutes, wl'iether clerical or lay, whether of men or of women. 19 What is the proper method of disposing of an amputated llmb? According to a reply of the Holy Office given on August 3, 1897, the amputated limbs of Catholics should, if possible, be buried in a sacred place. The Holy Office suggested that hospitals have a small plot of blessed ground for this precise purpose. The amputated limbs of non-Catholics should be buried in unblessed ground. In b'oth cases--namely, of Catholics and non-Catholics--if the doctors insist on it, the Sisters may burn the amputated limbs. This reply of fifty years ago is still, taken as the norm for the proper disposal of amputated limbs. It should be noted that the reply" is quitemoderate in tone. It makes allowan& for difficult "cir-cumstafi~ es: *for exampld, in many plades it might be impbssible to have the "small pldt of blessed ground in the garden of the hos- ¯ pital"; in fact, this might be contrary to civil law. According to a quite reasonable interpretation, it also allows for the burning of limbs that are dangerously diseased, and for the saving of amputated" parts for, examination purposes. We suggest that, if there are any special difficulties in this matter, the local chancery ~office be consulted.Circumstances may call for different policies in different places. m20-- Who is the proper authority to decide the term of office of a mother superior? How long may she remain in office? With regard to local superiors, the Code itself is quite explicit, They are "not to bold office for more than three years; on the expira-tion "of 'this term they can be reappointed to the same offices if the constitutions permit it, but not immediately for a third term in the 247 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS same religious house," The term of office of higher superiors is to be determined by the duly approved constitutions. The usual policy of the Congregation of Religious, in ap~proving congregations of Sisters, is to limit the mother general to two successive terms of six year§ each. She may not be immediately re-elected to a third term. ~2 Im If the ordinary confessor frequently fails fo make an appearance and there should be a real need of informing the bishop, who makes the report Ethe superior of the convent or institution? or the chaplain? In the case of a convent connected with a parish, is it the superior or the pastor who makes the report? Whenever there is real need of informing the bishop of the failure of a confessor to make his appearance, the superior should make the report. Neither the chaplain nor the pastor has anything to do with such matters. ~22m In convents, who applies for faculties for retreatsmthe local superior or the chaplain? The practice varies in different dioceses. In some the locai superior requests the faculties; in others, the chaplain; in still others, the retreat master himself; and finally some r~quire that the retreat master's religious superior make the application. The bishop of the diocese should be consulted and his wishes followed. Our constitutions prescribe that for each deceased Sister we say, as soon as possible, the Office of the Dead, or fifty Our Fathers, adding after each Our Father: "Eternal rest grant unto her, 0 Lord," and so forth. Now the rubric in the Office of the Dead prescribes that after every psalm the following be said: "Requiem aeternam dona els . . . E'f lux perpetua luceat els." even if the Office is recited for only one person. If the fifty Our Fathers are said instead of the Office, which is more properly used, the singular or the plural form of the pronoun? While it is true that when reciting the Office of the Dead the plural form is always used, it is also true that the liturgical form for the absolution recited over the corpse after the funeral Mass.uses the singular. Hence it seems quite proper to use the singular when saying the Our Fathers and Hail Marys for a specific deceased Sister. 248 Book Reviews THE THREE AGES OF THE INTERIOR LIFE: Prelude of Eternal Life. By the Rev. R. Garrlg~u-Lagrange, O.P. Volume One. Translated by Sister M. Timoth'ea Doyle, O.P., Rosary Collecje, River Forest, lll;no~s. Pp. xxiv -f- 494." B. Herder Book Company, St. Louis, Missouri, 1947. Ss.o0. For many years Father Garrigou-Lagrange, the distinguished professor of the Angelicum, Rome, and one of the most eminent of contemporary Dominicans, has been writing on ascetical and mystical themes. Besides many articles in various periodicals, he has to his credit several volumes on spiritual subjects. Some years ago he pub-lished a systematic and formal treatise on the whole field, thus giving a unified, balanced, and complete expression to his ideas on the spir-itual life. Now the first volume of this work appears in English. Perhaps the salient feature of this study is the preoccupation of the author with his thesis that infused contemplation comes within the normal development of the interior life. For a generation and more there has been a great debate over "the question. Father Gar-rigou- Lagrange has been one of the leaders in it, and evidently he is still waging a vigorous battle in defense of his doctrine: "When we' say, in short, that infused contemplation of the mysteries of faith is necessary for sanctity, we mean morally necessary; that is, in the majority of cases a soul could not reach sanctity without,it, We.shall add that without it a soul will not in reality possess the full perfec. tion of Christian life, which implies the eminent exercise of~.the theological virtues and of the gifts of the Holy Ghost which accom-pany them. The purpose of this book is to establish this thesis" (page 23). The whole work is divided into five parts, only two of them being contained in this volume. The first part deals with "the sources of the interior life and its end." It explains certain of the great Christian dogmas that have special relevance to the super-natural life: Thus there are chapters.~on the life of grace, the super-natural organism, the virtues--theological and moral, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the indwelling of the Blessed Trinity, the Mys.tical Body of Christ, the mediation of 'the Blessed Virgin Mary, and so on. After'this dogmatic section comes a discussion of the primary ascetical questions: for instarice, the nature of perfection, the gran- 249 ¯ BOOK REVIEWS Reoiew [or Religious deurs of it, heroism .in. virtue, the passive purgations, the love of God, t~ae,'evangellcat counse!,s?'t~ae special obligations of priests and reli-gious to, pursue perfection, and other such matters. The second, rd, and fourth parts correspond to the tradtttonal three' ways m the spmtual~hfe' ~purgat~ve, ~llummat~ve, and umt~ve. Fmally~ the fi~th ~ar¢ ~i]l'~eal with ~extr~0rdinar~- graces, such as visions', ieve-lations, stigmatlzation,.and oth'e# unusuat ~henome~a. This work, like a much smaller one published some year'~ ago by the sam~ afithor (Les Trois Co~oecsions et les Trois Voles, r932), takes iks name ~om an interesting analogy between the natural and supernatural lives. Both lives consist of three periods or stag~s, and each 0f these three is ushered in by a crisis. Naturally, birth is the fiist crisis and introduces one to childhood. To birth corresponds the 'beginning of One's spiritual life a~ about the seventh year, or wfien~wr one is converted to a really interior life. Beginners are children in spiritual matters: their virtues will not be well devel-oped; their form of mental prayer is rather discursive; special inspi-rations of the Holy Spirit will be latent; there is no great degree of docility to Him; and they will be conscious of self-activity rather than of beifig moved from above. The second crisis in the natural life is pubec&, leading to the age of adolescence, with its~psych~logical as well as physical character-istics. The supernatural correlatives, are the "night of sense" (St. John of the Cross), the" initial forms of in~used (ontemplation passively" purifying the inferior faculties and subjecting them' to the spirit, arid the condition of ~roficientsTgrowing and advancing in-the illuminativ~ way. Now one's virtues become solid, the operaSions of the ~iftS become more manifest, and one assumes more or less the disposition of tile counshls: But if the ~aithful soul keeps striving earnestly and long enough, it will reach and successfully undergo a third crisis answering to "that of first liberty," attaining one's majodtq about the age of twenty-one and'eKtering upon full adulthood. Thd "night of the spirit," a sort of purgatory upon earth, will put one through a most thorough-going and painful purification and will prepare one to ascend th~ highest rungs of the mystical ladder. Then one is~ num-bered among the perfect and is in the uniti#e way. At any point in this supernatural evolution a person may fa~l to go on as he should; if so, he becomes something of a spiritual dwarf or midget. ~. AUG. E~A~, S.J. 250 dul~l, "! 947 BOO.K REVIEWS TERESA, JOHN, AND THERESE:.A Family Portralf of Thr~ee Great Car-melltes: Teresa of Avila, Jbhn of the Cross,~Therese ;f Li'sleu,x.-:o By the Reverend Father Brice, ~C.P. PFi. 336. Frederi¢~ ,Pusfef C6~,mPa~y: New York and Cindnnatl, 1946. $4.00. Few saints are as competent~to, i~spir.e us, to restore and elevate our supernatural vision, to inflame our affections for divine realities, as the Carmelite eagles Teresa, John, and Therese. Each one familiarly known and loved is a powerful aid to sanctity. But a comparative study of the three is .particularly enlightening and fruit-ful. For instance, how many are aware that God's principal tool in fashioning the sanctity of the lovable Therese was the austere John of the Cross? Father Bri& brings competent knowledge to his wel-come study of this spiritual trio; and though his love for all three is deep and sincere, the little Therese is plainly his favorite. Teresa, John/and Therese is adapted to the comprehension qf any intelligent Catholic, religious or.lay. In the mind of the author the three saints exemplify not merely the religious but the Christian way of life. Particular profit, however, is in store for religious and priests who read these pages reflectively. M~ny a brief chapter is fine'matter for meditation, though the work as a whole is perhaps too demanding for table reading. TWo' themes intedbck throughbut; the a~tivity and virtues~of¯ ,, each of th~ thre,e,~ ~ an°d~ ti~ inteyplay. ~ o ,0, of Te'res~i~ ~;nd John. on each. other and of both on Therese. Incident. and quotation, with which'the book abounds,~ are selected car'efully to,give us an ~x~ct and mo~cin~ family portrait. "~ ¯ ~ ~:'~" ~ As~Father Brice intended, we~ leave° Teresa, dohn, oa~t:d Thecese with a keen desire to deepen our acquaintance by firsthand contact. We fiave learnei:I l~d kno~ our ~uides'~eJl eriotigh to entrusl3 ourselves gladly t? i~i~m in the a~c~e~ot~, the' hi~her peaks. R. ~D. Hu8~, ~s~.2-. REFLECTIONS ,ON, THE SUNDAY,COLLECTS ~OF THE~ ROMAN MIS,,SAL. ,~By Sister ¯ Mary, G;nzaga~,Haessly. :' P~p; i32. 'The,Grail: St." Melnradl Ind. 19~,~>. "$~;00: " ' This book brings together, some of the best commentary on the Sunday collects in convenient and usable form. For each of the collects the~e ~s gtven the Latin text with a modern English translation f0ilowed b~ two pages of explan-';tion of the gist of the prayer. Since the collect of each Mass often summarizes the teachihff o~ the Epistle'and the Gosp_el, the bookfis in effect an excellent source for meditation matter reflecting the thoughts and petitions voiced by,the Church during .Sunday Mass from the time of St. Augustine to the present day. Simple re.adingof the explanation of the collect for one,Sunday will sometimes render all °the proper prayers of the Mass for that day vastly, more intelligible. Once in possession of the meaning of. the prayers a religious can more eas!ly make ,their.expres_sion his~o~wn and more fervently lift up mind and heart in union with the Church Universal. 251 BOOK REVIEWS Reoieto for Religio~s In recommending this book we mus( remark ~fia~ the lar~er work of which this is a part was originally written as a doctoral dissertation on the rhetoric of the Sunday collects. In revising the manuscript and adapting it for popular use the au(hor has sacrificed the discourses 9n rhetoric without sacrificing scholarship. roT, L. MACNAIR, S.J. BOOK NOTICES From fragments of letters, diaries, and narratives of Mar~'knoll Sisters in the Far Eastern war areas, Siste~ Mary de Paul Cogan in SISTERS OF MARYKiqOLL: THROUGH TROUBLED WATERS has woven an inspiring account of the war years. There is something about letters