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The focus of this volume is on essential themes, images and generic patterns, beginning with a Talmudic legend about four scholars. They, by means of daring mystical interpretations of Scripture, entered a Paradise, representing different means of imaginative reading, perception, memory and application of the law. One of them died, one went mad, another became a heretic and the other came back as a traditional exegete and teacher. Based on that legend, this book examines a small group of late 19th and early 20th century European Jewish intellectuals and artists in the light of their dreams, writings, and moments of crisis. These men and women, comedians in both the sense of stage actors and clowns or witty performers, believed they had entered a new secular and tolerant society, but discovered that there was no escape from their Jewish heritage and way of seeing the world. This monograph looks into the imperfect mirror of cultural experience, discovers a hazy world of illusions, dreams and nightmares on the other side of the looking glass, and sometimes constructs a midrashic conceit of the comical and grotesque screen between them.

Musician Josh Groban claims that he is not Jewish because of his paternal lineage. Contrariwise, Comedian Tiffany Haddish claims Jewish identity specifically because of similar lineage. Using this contrast as a jumping off point, this book explores how Judaism and Jewishness represent themselves in popular culture.

During the Second World War, the BBC operated a German Service, which was tasked with broadcasting propaganda programs into Nazi Germany and occupied Europe. Psychological warfare was transmitted through radio waves to spread defeatism on the fighting front and amongst civilians, and to convince the German people that there was no future for the Third Reich. Dozens of German-speaking Jews who fled Central Europe and arrived in England as refugees found employment in the German Service. Many of these individuals worked as journalists, actors, comedians or authors in their previous homelands, some had even earned a degree of fame and recognition before the persecutory policies of National Socialism restricted their lives and forced them into exile. From the perspective of BBC officials, these refugees' experience in the press and in the performing arts, as well as their intimate knowledge of German society and culture, set them in a unique position to create effective and powerful propaganda. This paper explores how, branded as unwelcome outsiders by their native societies, it was precisely their familiarity as 'insiders' that paradoxically primed them to perform the task.

I want to start with a joke, which I believe should be attributed to the Jewish Italian comedian Moni Ovadia. A Jew tries to convince a gentile friend to buy a barrel of tuna fish from him. The friend is reluctant - what can he do with a barrel of fish? - but the Jew keeps nagging until he succumbs. A few days later the two meet, and the Jew notices his friend's fallen face. "What happened, is everything alright?" he inquires. "Don't ask", the friend answers. "I opened the barrel and it was awful. The fish was all rotten". "Have you gone out of your mind?!" the Jew replies. "It is not for eating! It is for buying and selling!"

"Ukraine's most popular comedic actor was an unlikely president of his country. And now, even more improbably, Volodymyr Zelensky has become the world's most celebrated statesman. Who is he? How did he become the international hero of our time? Zelensky: The Unlikely Ukrainian Hero Who Defied Putin and United the World is a compelling account of this fascinating, enigmatic leader. Covering Zelensky's childhood, family history, and astonishing transformation from TV celebrity to first Jewish president of Ukraine, this book tells you what you need to know about the newest star of the world stage. No one has been more surprised by Zelensky's power to inspire and mobilize his countrymen and the world than Vladimir Putin, who expected Russia's conquest of its beleaguered neighbor to be the work of an afternoon. Outfoxed and isolated, Putin is not the first person to have underestimated the former comedian with a spine of steel."--Page 4 of cover

In the turbulent context of interwar Polish politics, a period bookended by the right-wing nationalists' repression of an ethnically heterogeneous state, several popular high-quality cabarets persisted in Warsaw even as they provoked and defied the nationalists' harsh criticism. In their best, most influential incarnation, Qui pro Quo (1919–1932) and its successors, these literary cabarets violated the right's value system through their shows' insistent metropolitan focus, their stars' role-modeling of immoral behavior and parodic impersonation, and their companies' explicitly Jewish–Gentile collaboration. In the community of the cabaret, which was even more bohemian and déclassé than that of the legitimate theater, the social and ethnic antagonisms of everyday Warsaw society mattered relatively little. Writers and players bonded with each other, above all, in furious pursuit of fun, fortune, celebrity, artistic kudos, and putting on a hit show. This analysis details how the contents and stars of Qui pro Quo challenged right-wing values. Its shows advertised the capital as a sumptuous metropolis as well as a home to an eccentric array of plebeian and underworld types, including variations on the cwaniak warszawski enacted by comedian Adolf Dymsza. Its chief female stars—Zula Pogorzelska, Mira Zimińska, and Hanna Ordonówna—incarnated big-city glamour and sexual emancipation. Its recurring Jewish characters—Józef Urstein's Pikuś and Kazimierz Krukowski's Lopek—functioned as modern-day Warsaw's everymen, beleaguered and bedazzled as they assimilated to city life. Qui pro Quo's popular defense against an exclusionary nationalism showcased collaborative artistry and diverse, charismatic stars.

This in-depth look at a controversial faction of American Zionism fills a void in the story of American Zionism--and in the story of American Judaism. This book recounts the fascinating and little-known story of the militant American Zionists who lobbied Congress, rallied American public opinion, and influenced British-American relations in their campaign for Jewish statehood in the 1930s and 1940s. Although these activists have been dismissed as fanatics who fragmented the American Zionist movement, Rafael Medoff reveals that the faction--which included an Academy Award-winning screenwriter and several future members of the Israeli parliament--was more influential than has been previously acknowledged. These militants stirred America's conscience by placing controversial newspaper ads, lobbying conservative as well as liberal members of Congress, and staging dramatic protest rallies. Through these tactics, Medoff shows, they attracted a wave of support from an extraordinary cross-section of leading Americans, including comedians Harpo Marx and Carl Reiner, actors Vincent Price, Marlon Brando, and Jane Wyatt, musician Leonard Bernstein, and rising young politicians Jacob Javits and Hubert Humphrey. Medoff also describes the shadowy underground division that smuggled weapons to the Holy Land in caskets, naming and interviewing for the first time members of this gunrunning network. Based on years of archival research and interviews and written in a compelling style, Militant Zionism in America documents events that reshaped the American Jewish community, influenced American foreign policy, and contributed to one of the most extraordinary events of modern history: the creation of the State of Israel. Rafael Medoff is a Visiting Scholar at the State University of New York -- Purchase College.

In the turbulent context of interwar Polish politics, a period bookended by the right-wing nationalists' repression of an ethnically heterogeneous state, several popular high-quality cabarets persisted in Warsaw even as they provoked and defied the nationalists' harsh criticism. In their best, most influential incarnation, Qui pro Quo (1919-1932) and its successors, these literary cabarets violated the right's value system through their shows' insistent metropolitan focus, their stars' role-modeling of immoral behavior and parodic impersonation, and their companies' explicitly Jewish-Gentile collaboration. In the community of the cabaret, which was even more bohemian and declasse than that of the legitimate theater, the social and ethnic antagonisms of everyday Warsaw society mattered relatively little. Writers and players bonded with each other, above all, in furious pursuit of fun, fortune, celebrity, artistic kudos, and putting on a hit show. This analysis details how the contents and stars of Qui pro Quo challenged right-wing values. Its shows advertised the capital as a sumptuous metropolis as well as a home to an eccentric array of plebeian and underworld types, including variations on the cwaniak warszawski enacted by comedian Adolf Dymsza. Its chief female stars-Zula Pogorzelska, Mira Zimiska, and Hanna Ordonowna-incarnated big-city glamour and sexual emancipation. Its recurring Jewish characters-Jozef Urstein's Piku and Kazimierz Krukowski's Lopek-functioned as modern-day Warsaw's everymen, beleaguered and bedazzled as they assimilated to city life. Qui pro Quo's popular defense against an exclusionary nationalism showcased collaborative artistry and diverse, charismatic stars. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Inc., copyright the American Council of Learned Societies.]

Sycoanalysis : an introduction -- Jew envy -- Petrified laughter : Jews in pictures, 1947 -- Collaborators : Schulberg, Kazan, and a face in the crowd -- Comicosmopolitanism : behind television -- Bringing down the house : the blacklist musical -- Coda : cosmopolitan states.

Issue 15.3 of the Review for Religious, 1956. ; A. M. D. G. Review for Religious MAY 15, 1956 Mofher Xavier Ross . Sister Julia Gilmore Sis÷ers' Retrea~s--III . Thomas Dubay Our Lady and ~he Apos÷ola~e . EIIwood E. Kieser Communffy C;rosses . Wlnfrld Herbst Devotion ÷o fhe Sacred Hear÷ . c:. A. Herbsf Book Reviews Questions and Answers Summer Schools VOLUME XV No. 3 RI:::VII:::W FOR RI:::LIGIOUS VOLUME XV MAY, 1956 NUMBER CONTENTS MOTHER XAVIER ROSS --- Sister Julia Gilmore, S.C.L . 113 SISTERS' RETREATS-~III Thomas Dubay, S.M . 128 SOME BOOKS RECEIVED . 134 OUR LADY AND THE APOSTOLATE--Ellwood E. Kieser, C.S.P. . 135 COMMUNITY CROSSES--Winfrid Herbst, S.D.S. : . 141 DEVOTION TO THE SACRED HEART--C. A. Herbst, S.J . 145 FOR YOUR INFORMATION . 152 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS-- 17. Quinquennial Report . . 0 . 156 18. Offering Holy Communion for Others . 157 19. Exempt Religious Obliged to Say Orationes Irnperatae . 158 20. Obligation of Religious to Make Will . ; . 159 21. Computation of Time for Profession . 160 22. Impediment for Renouncing the Catholic Faith . 161 23. Meaning of Patrimony . 162 REPRINT SERIES NOT AVAILABLE . 162 OUR CONTRIBUTORS . 162 BOOK REVIEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTSI Editor: Bernard A. Hausmann, S.J. West Baden College West Baden Springs, Indiana . 163 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, May, 1956. Vol. XV, No. 3. 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 approb.ation. Entered as second class matter, January 15, 1942, at the Post Office, Topeka, Kansas, under the act of March 3, 1879. Editorial Board: Augustine G. Ellard, S.J., Geriild Kelly, S.J., Henry Willmering, S.3. Literary Editor: Edwin F. Falteisek, S.J. Publishing rights reserved by R-EVIEW FOR: RELIGIOUS. Permission is hereby granted for quotations 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 writing to us, please consult notice on inside back cover. fl ot:her Xavier Ross Sister Julia Gilmore, S.C.L. [Editors' Note: This account of the foundress of the Sisters of Charity of Leaven-worth is adapted from Sister Julia's book, Come Northt.] TO the first call of the West, many of the Pennsylvania settlers responded, following the turnpike surfaced by the new bound-stone method inventedin England by John McAdam, driv-ing their Conestoga wagons on. through Indiana over its corduroy roads; others drifted their keelboats down the Ohio and Mississippi, breaking them up later and rebuilding them into settlers' cabins; others went no farther than Cincinnati, which was already calling itself "The Queen City of the West." Ann Ross was born there on November 17, 1813, the fourth of five children in the family of Richard Ross, a Methodist preacher, and his wife Elizabeth Taylor ROSS. Cincinnati at heart and in spirit was a frontier town built by pioneers, and Ann caught their spirit and courage early. Even in childhood she showed qualities of leadership as she decided the games for her playmates and captained every undertaking. Attractive, though never considered beautiful, she drew atten-tion unconsciously through her physical appearance as well as through her personality. Small, scarcely five feet, she was graceful in her movements, quick in perception and response, her dark wide-set eyes glowing with alertness. Her father's favorite always, he delighted in having her waiting for him after the evening meeting, when he came home with nerves so taut he had to let himself "run down" before he could attempt to sleep. His long discourses drilled his children in close listening and logical thinking--a boon to Ann all her life. Little is known of her early schooling or companionship; but, when she was about fifteen, she became acquainted with a convert, Victoria Robinson, a young girl of very decided character. As the friendship grew, Ann asked to accompany her on~ day to a church service. Although she knew nothing of Catholic devotion, at Bene-diction she knelt when Victoria knelt and stood when Victoria stood, yet for some unsurmised reason burst into tears during the service, but wisely said nothing about it when the girls left the church. The Rosses hearing of this visit made no effort to hide their displeasure, telling Ann that under no condition was she to repeat 113 SISTER JULIA GILMORE Reoieua for Religious the offense. However, this admonition seems to have made little impression upon Ann; for, in less than a year, she insisted upon at-tending Mass one Sunday with Victoria. During the Mass Ann felt coming over her the sweet sense of well-being until the Com-munion when she knew he'rself to be definitely outside the pale. She tried to conceal her tears while insisting after Mass that she be introduced to the priest who had said the Mass. Reluctantly, Victoria yielded to Ann's persuasion; and, when Father Mullin heard her expression of desire to be instructed in the Faith, he ac-quiesced and not too long after baptised her. As on previous occasions the Rosses were vociferous in their disapproval. Her approach to her father in his study tl~e afternoon of her baptism was direct and determined. The ensuing conversa-tion resulted in Richard Ross' mounting anger causing him to forbid Ann not only attendance at Catholic services but also the very men-tion of the name of Catholicism. His sneering abuse changed his house that evening from a haven of peace to a veritable cave of Aeolus full of storm. However, Ann showed her heritage of will power. Regretting as she did the breach in family relations, she, nevertheless, slipped out of the house regularly on Sundays to hear Mass. From her position as loved daughter of the house she soon became an outcast; even her picture was removed from the family group. This strained situation continued about a year; yet Ann seems to have been permitted (at least she continued) her friendship with Victoria. During the following summer Victoria told her she had learned about religious life as lived in communities and that she had decided upon such a life .as she felt a strong desire to turn all her efforts toward helping others. Ann knew nothing of sisterhoods, but in her quiet persevering way learned more of them after that conversation. The day she saw Victoria off at the wharf for her admission into a novitiate, Ann said in farewell, "But it won't be for long; I, too, have applied and have been accepted' for the convent at Nazareth." With her customary directness she approached her father when she returned home that morning and told him of her intention to become a Sister of Charity. His derision and rising temper did not deter her from following her set purpose. Hard as it was to separate herself from the family she loved so deeply, that very night she packed in her old-fashioned suitcase, called 114 May, 1956 MOTHER XAVIER ROSS~ a telescope, the few things she thought might be of use to her in a convent; and, in the early morning before anyone knew she was up, she slipped out of the house, heard Mass, then purcha, sed at the wharf her passage to Louisville from where she would go by stage the remainder of the journey to Nazareth, Kentucky. As she stepped over the threshold of the mother house of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth that August 22, 1832, she felt neither sense of fear nor strange exaltation. She was being led a willing follower to some great untried destiny. What it was she did not know, but she was content to feel that she was cooperating in every way she could. The scene changes now. Up to this moment her life had been as simple, as free from adventures, as uneventful as a girl's life could be. If no.thing .had occurred to alter it, she might have con-tinued to be a rather lively versatile young person of uncatalogued tendencies. Her potentialities were unknown to others, whatever she felt ~ within herself. What she sought was a work or a calling in which life would yield its maximum possibilities, bringing into fullest play latent faculties. She had never complained about the loss of friends and com-panionship which her conversion to Catholicism had brought her. But it must have been very hard for her to leave the old environ-ment and come to live as she did among strangers. She accepted it all willingly, even joyfully, and certainly with tranquility. The evening of her arrival at Nazareth she was received into the novitiate: and, as was the custom at that time, she received a religious name as a postulant by drawing a slip of paper from among several held in the apron of the mother superior. As she looked at the paper her face expressed bewilderment. She had never seen the name Xavier before. (In various documents her name is spelled Xavia and in her own handwriting can be seen La Soeur Xavia written on the flyleaf of her old French reader.) Getting acquainted took little time; for the new postulant, Sister Xavier, adjusted readily. Nothing seemed strange to her. She rose at four-thirty with the others for the morning prayers said in common, followed through the prayers and work of the day, enjoying the routine of learning how to work on. the farm, in the dairy, the kitchen, the chapel. Under Bishop Flaget and Father David, her religious training and her secular studies progressed. Christmas of 1832 came and went: New Year's, 1833, was unmarked save by the cold and raw- 115 SISTER JULIA GILMORE Review [or Religious ness of winter. February held a great deal for the new postulant as the community council met and approved her for the habit which she received on the twenty-fourth of the month. With black curls gone, but with the same sparkling dark eyes flashing from under the white cap, Sister Xavier may have been less captivating in appearance; but she was nonetheless attractive. There was something compelling about her that obliged the casual observer to closer scrutiny. Her novitiate continued to be interesting to herl although it had its hard moments when the command "Possess your soul in peace and true humility" seemed to her an impossible counsel of perfection. Occasions had come, too, when the thought of home called so imperiously that it was all but impossible not to go back. Whether she heard from her parents during her first six months at Nazareth is not known. That she wrote at rather r~gfilar inter-vals may be presumed, for the custom of writing to parents seems always to have been part of the rule of the novitiate of the Sisters of Charity. She had not been a novice very long, however, when one day she was called to the parlor. Her joy was made poignant by the thought that at last her mother and father had forgiven her and had come to see her habited as a Sister of Charity. But the thought need never have formed; for as she stepped over the threshold of the parlor, her mother rushed toward her screa'ming in tears, "Oh, my poor disfigured child!" Taken aback Sister Xavier turned hope-fully to her father only to see his rude gesture and hear ugliness of tone as he said, "Take off that hideous cap!" at the same time removing it himself. With confidence gone, she stood bewildered for the moment. Then dashing from the room, she ran to Mother Frances' office where sobs had to subside' before her explanations took on coher-ence. Mother Frances' mind was made up' instantly and together they drove the three miles to Bardstown to consult with Bishop Flaget. He listened attentively and compassionately 6nly to say at the end, "You are under age, so you will have to return with your parents." So Ann put on the secular clothes brought by her parents; and the Rosses with their recovered treasure set out as soon as possible for Louisville by stage, only to be thwarted when they tried to purchase tickets there for the upriver trip to Cincinnati as the cap-tain at the wharf told them cholera was raging along the river. 116 May, 1956 MOTHER XAVIER ROSS, Frustrated, Mr. Ross took his family to the Galt House,. leaving them while he went about town on other business. A friend of Mrs. Ross', noting Ann's tears, said in the course of conversation, Ylsn't it a pity to pluck this young flower from the hand of God?" No reply was made, but Ann followed up her advantage; and, when they were alone in their room, she said to her mother, "How can you see me suffer so and make no effort to make me happy?" Her mother's reply was like blinding sunlight bursting through storm clouds, "Well, Ann, my dear child, if you can get away without your father seeing you, you may go with my blessing." In a flash Ann kissed her mother, ran down the stairs, across the lobby and up the street, fearful every moment of meeting her father. She went to the Infirmary of the Sisters of Charity, ex~ plained her being there, waited a few days, and, when her parents did not come for her, returned to Nazareth, resumed her novitiate and upon taking her vows the following February was sent to be a member of the staff of the Orphan Asylum in Louisville. She seemed particularly adapted to the routine of the orphanage and showed in many ways her enjoyment of working with the children. After several years she was appointed the sister servant of this same orphanage (the term then used to designate a sister superior). Whatever time she could afford away from the children, she spent in a little unheated dormitory alcove, planning lessons, doing mend-ing, making up accounts. During the winters, and these can be very severe in Kentucky, an actual poverty demanded heat be pro-vided only' in that part of the house occupied by the children. This took a toll of Sister Xavier, as one winter she contracted a heavy cold" that settled in her ears and resulted ultimately in her total deafness. But nothing deterred her from continuing her work., : Following the Louisville assignment came appointment as sister servant of the academy in Nashville, Tennessee. Her itiitial moiathd there began propitiously, but. in the springof 1848 cholera broke out:; the academy:dosed, and Sister Xavier,with the other teachers joined the si~ters at the.hospital caring for .qictims of the plague. Ofteri' she went about the streets of Nashville'~fom house"to house doing" everything possible for the sick and giv;ing whatever 'con-solation she could to the stricken, many ofwh6m hard made s~afit preparation .for death that was so imminent. A tardy f~ll followed a long,i.hdt surhmer"bef0re"the scourge abated ~and teaching.w~s:~resum~d: ?'(That yhar~.fini~fied," Si~te~ Xax;ier,. 1i7, SISTER JULIA GILMORE Reoiew for Religious .much weakened by :her experience, . was .reassigned as sister servant of the orphanage in Louisville. Some few letters still extant describe the times with their anxi-eties and reveal, as letters do, the characteristics of the writer. One of these in a significant way points up Sister Xavier's simplicity and loyalty at the same time that it makes a reader aware of her out-bursts of temper. The fact is that many who knew her, loved her, and admired her greatly never denied nor tried to conceal what ap-parently was a source of grief and embarrassment to her. Her tem-per, however, seems matched by her humility as she invariably sin-cerely and with simplicity asked pardon for her outbursts. The early and middle nineteenth century was an era of new modes. These were transitional years; changes came in ways un-expected; and customs of long years' standing were being laid aside to give place to the demands of a new and more progressive era. Among other things the administration of schools felt these modi-fications. Bishop Richard Pius Miles, O.P., of Nashville was not com-pletely satisfied with changes made in his staff by the mother house at Nazareth and a prohibition of the sisters' singing in the parish choir. Wishing to retain some as permanent members of his faculty and have a purely diocesan religious order, free from outside author-ity, he petitioned the mother house at Nazareth for a group of its sisters to establish such a community in Nashville. A tradition exists in the Nazareth community that the con-templation of this diocesan foundation in Nashville was generally known for quite some time. In the summer of 1851, Mother Cath-erine Spalding officially made Bishop Miles' request known to her entire community. Since this would mean the loss of some sisters to the still young Nazareth organization; and, as she knew well the countless dangers and hardships which confront communities in their initial stages, Mother Catherine wisely attempted to dis-suade from any precipitancy. She feared that courage might lead to peril. However, in due course, she gave full permission to any member who wished to form the nucleus of the new diocesan foun-dation. The very kindliest of feelings were distinctly manifest .as she made it clear that any sister wishing to remain in or go to Nashville was free to do so. The matter of this proposal was considered seriously, and none of those who accepted it arrived at her decision without thought and meditation. Many nights, lying awake hour after hour, Sister I'18 May, 1956 MOTHER XAVIER ROSS Xavier deliberated upon the proposition before she saw the step that she must take; and the grace came to take it. A new sphere of activity was opening; she was asked to fill it; she determined to lay personal considerations aside and follow the Master with im-plicit confidence in His providence. It was not, however, until the end of ,June that she was able to say t6 herself, "I will cleave to His command, 'Leave all and follow me.' " Not only for her, but also for each one in the group going to Nashville, there was a "giving Up," an "acting against self." Their sorrow was perceptible and deep. They were giving up forever their convent home and life-long friends in Kentucky. Such action brought grief of a nature fully understandable only to those who have had a like experience, but the urgent request they had received could not be lightly disregarded. For Sister Xavier and her five companions there was, along with other ties, the severance of companionship that had grown very close during nineteen years of religious life. She was endeared to the sisters of Nazareth and they were endeared to her. But now, in response to Bishop Miles' persistent request, they withdrew from the Nazareth community in the summer of 1851. Though the Sis-ters of Charity at Nazareth looked upon the separation in varied wa);s, in the years to come they would say of Sister Xavier with unanimous sincerity, "She was a heroine!" Others making the Nashville foundation were Sisters 3oanna Bruner, 3ane Francis 3ones and Ellen Davis (both of whom died in Nashville in 1854), Mary Vincent Kearney, and BaptistaCarney (who returned to Nazareth to be with her own sister in that com-munity). Two others, from Nazareth joined the Nashville group the next year: Sisters Pauline Gibson and Dorothy Villeneuve. All the members retained the religious names they had received upon their entrance into the Nazareth community. Not until 1895 were any alterations made in the habit they wore. Trials were not wanting to Sister Xavier and her valiant band; and, humanly speaking, it was hard for her to realize during these days the truth which she expressed so emphatically: "One finds God everywhere one seeks I~im; He alone is all one needs." But there were compensations, too. The number of sisters was not diminished but augmented, for several young girls sought da - m~sslon to.the new community as postulants as soon as the s~sters would receive them. The beginnings in Nashville were meager; the teaching sisters 1 19 SISTER JULIA GILMORE stayed at the hospital with the nursing sisters until an orphanage for boys was opened. This was followed in rapid succession by a school for girls and an orphanage for girls which also served as a boarding school. Within a year Sister Xavier had been elected the mother superior. Under her guidance the institutions grew, and work awaited the sisters on all sides. Mother Xavier apparently acted as mistress of novices as well as superior of the growing community. Some few 6f her instructions to members of the novitiate are still extant. Be-cause she knew the value of discipline and had learned God's ways with the soul, she could personally share such counsels as these: "Instead of reviewing in a too self-satisfied manner whatever you may have done well, cherish and improve every day the spirit of prayer and habitual recollection, obedience, humility, charity, sim-plicity, modesty, and fidelity. Then Christ will be with you and His presence is the only thing in which to take satisfaction . The conventions and courtesies of social intercouse should not be neglected nor disdained, as they are the natural aids to the promo-tion of God's work . Refinement of manner and virile spiritual life are close companions. They are essential to the keeping of the Rule . Every act of obedience is an act of faith, and the just man lives by faith .Divine love and humble prayer must animate you." Father Ivo Schacht (pronounced Scat), a zealous.Belgian priest, was appointed by Bishop Miles spiritual director of the community. He worked constantly toward the spiritual development of the sisters as well as the expansion of facilities in order to. care for more and more children.- .=. With this endin view, late in 1856, heobegan the construction of an academy and mother house on a part of farm grounds on which he had previously built an orphanage. To finance these buildings he used with the permissibn of his.bishop deposits re-ceived from members of the Nashville: congregation. The construc-tion was completed; the sisters, :no~cices, arid.postulants were living in the part to be used as a mother house; the academy had promise of a full enrollment. It would be but a short time before the debt on the building would be paid. Then, early in 1857, clouds began to appear on the horizon, small at first and not much noticed; but with the months they increased in size and proportion, throwing deep shadows upon the .young Nashville community. A misunderstanding .that had.lbeen brewing between Bishop 120 May, 1956 MOTHER XAVIER ROSS Miles and Father Schacht resulted in the latter's, withdrawal from the diocese. Whatever the difficulty between the two, certainly it should never have affected the sisters. But it did. Father Schacht deeply regretted the complicated situation in which he would be obliged to leave this group of Sisters of Charity, but he was power-less to assist them further. About July or August of 1858 when the depositors learned of Father Schacht's departure, they grew clamorous for their money. Had they but consented to wait, the debt in due time would have been liquidated; but they would not. Mother Xavier finding that the Bishop refused to assume the responsibility of payment took counsel with the sisters, and "the group resolved to sell everything they had in the world and pay those to whom money was due. Another Via Crucis had begun. All the institutions were flourish-ing; all would have to suffer. Mother Xavier was filled with so-licitude for the sisters, patients, orphans, and students. She had always regarded the bishop as a very pious man prompted by the best motives. Never, even in this trial, did an expression of bitterness or lack of reverence escape her in speaking of him. Invariably she said, "He means well." She understood how, without malice on either side, misunderstandings happen and cause very keen suffering to those whose aim is to make others happy. During this period of insecurity and anxiety, she made ac-quaintance with distress of mind, human weakness, misunderstand-ing-- all a part of the apostolate. The future appeared to her a maelstrom of black emptiness. As she said years later, it was this tribulation that taught her that "each loss is truest gain, if day by day Christ fills the place of all He took away." One consolation alone remained: the sisters were in agreement that whatever Mother Xavier undertook they would stand by her. Their one definite, expressed wish was to stay together as a com-munity. Previous to this, only flitting thoughts had come of ever leav-ing Nashville where they found themselves hemmed in on all sides by older communities; now the thoughts took deeper hold. As a metropolitan co.uncil would open early in September of that year, 1858, it was suggested that Mother Xavier make a trip to St. Louis to see if a new home could be found for the entire community. After much serious thought and 15efore reaching a decision, she urged the commu'nity, "Let us pray over the matter 121 SISTER ,JULIA GILMORE Reuiew for Religious first. Divine Providence has never failed us. It won't now. 13ut, Sisters, pray! We have come upon a crucial time; prayer alone will help us in this trial, and let your prayers brim over with faith!" Had she been made of less durable stuff, her interview with Archbishop Kenrick of St. Louis would have been most discourag-ing; for, although he gave close and sympathetic attention to her presentation of the situation, even asking an occasional question, his comment was terse: "I know of no bishop who wishes sisters." But Mother Xavier's faith and hope led her to ask, "Most Rev-erend Archbishop, if anyone of the bishops belonging to your prov-ince were willing to receive us into his diocese, would your Grace prevent him ?" A ring of admiration and honest sincerity shot tiarough his reply, "No, my child, I would not." When 13ishop 3ohn 13. Mieg~, S.3., from Indian Territory heard the facts the next day, he not only signified willingness to receive the community, but also radiated enthusiasm in his urgent "Come north as soon as possible!" The night Mother Xavier left Nashville for St. Louis, she and the sisters promised that should a home be found for them as a community, in gratitude to our Lady a novena in her honor would be said in perpetuity in all houses of l~he order daily. This novena begun in Nashville has continued down the years as the community made its foundation in Leavenworth and established houses in ten different states. With auctioning off re.al and movable properties, packing, find-ing homes for orphans, closing up houses, days passed rapidly: and by November, 1858, the first group of sisters left for Leaven-worth City, Indian Territory. In December the remainder of the community followed with the exception of Mother Xavier and Sister ,Joanna who remained behind to conclude all business trans-actions. This they accomplished by the end of 3anuary, 1859; and left the South with a balance of $9.00 to join the other members in Leavenworth City. Ability to endure hardship, coupled with foresight and perse-verance, had enabled the sisters to begin at once a day school and a boarding school. Cramped quarters constantly called for expan-sion; and with expansion came the work dearest of all to Mother Xavier--an orphanage. From the beginning of the new foundation, candidates joined the community; more could be accomplished as numbers increased, but with the increase other trials came. With 122 May, 1956 MOTHER XAVIEI~ ROSS the opening of the orphanage, adverse opinions arose; criticism came from within--the kind hardest to bear. But Mother Xavier con-stantly kept the supernatural motive before her saying, "Let the joy be in the doing, not in the end. If the Work succeeds we will know it is God's will." The sisters realized, of course, that in the mighty drama of " human living there was nothing less than a supernatural goal to attain. Education was simply too broad a term for them; there was more to the formation of their students than that "their minds be instructed, their hearts and heads be cultivated" as the Leaven-worth reporters penned in grateful tribute at the end of the first school year in Indian Territory. There was, rather, an ideal to be embodied in their students' lives: the ideal of the Maid of Naz-areth. To make this ideal a vibrant reality in the hearts and minds of their charges, the sisters toiled consistently, unfolding behind the curtain of daily living the drama of true advancement. In all ways the community toiled. The regular routine of domestic work included the gathering of wild fruit and nuts, for the sisters needed every bit they could garner; they planted, har-vested, canned, preserved, fished in the streams along with the other townsfolk, made their candles and soap as 'all pioneer women did. Wherever the sisters worked, Mother Xavier worked with them. Manual labor was a part of her day the same as her teaching of French and English composition, literature, music and art, manag-ing the household and going into the homes to nurse the sick until a hospital could be established. ,Her participation~ in all community activity was a transparency through which can be seen her charity and deep concern for the sisters, and the joy it gave her to be with them. As acquaintance with the sisters grew so did applications for membership. Accommodations were so meager that the time came when prospective members had to be refused for lack of space. This led to the planning and construction of a building outside the city limits that would serve both students and sisters. But, before the place was finished, it had to be boarded up for lack of funds. Never a financial wizard,, Mother Xavier had been unable to .do more than care for running expenses at the same time that the community lived in real poverty. When a loan was suggested as a means of getting the new academy finished and ready for occupancy, she was appalled by the idea. Debt w, as the nemesis that had dogged her footsteps before; 123 :SISTER JULIA GILMORE Review [or Religious now ag~iiilit was to pursue her. Raffles were resorted to, and for at least-six years two sisters and sometimes four went from coast to coast begging for funds .to pay off the debt. When Mother Xavier sent them "on the road" to "Trust in God and beg for funds," she had no way of knowing the humiliations that would come to them through sus-picion of being imposters, having all their luggage stolen, and the .refusals of bishops and pastors to permit them to solicit. When she .heard of these trials, she suffered with the sisters through-their hard-ships and anxieties but never lost hope. In one of her letters she said, "We. must put our shoulders to the wheel, and pratt, too, without ceasing." Through the united efforts of all the sisters, two years after the boarding-up, the new building was finished and opened, filled to capacity. Every. waking minute was taken up for the sisters with routine duties and spiritual exercises. Much of the time out: side of class went.to "being with the girls," conversing while busy with sewing or other needlework; for the foundress felt that her ,responsibility was to teach Catholic girls to take their place in so-ciety and to be a part of the world they lived in. She believed that all the ends she proposed could be gained by showing interest and trust in the students, and this she wished all the members of the community to show. She maintained that the best opportunities for association came during the free time when classroom formality ceased. Much as the future looked glowing for the young community and their charges, respite from anguish was short-lived for them. ~Tbe new academy was not open six months when, one cold Janu-ary day, the contractor called upon Mother Xavier demanding im-mediate payment of notes with 12% interest. Both she and the treasurer, Sister Joanna, begged for tim~; the notes were not due; and not a cent of money was available. It took an amount of per- .suasion to induce the contractor, James McGonigle, to wait; he was reluctant even to leave the building, threatening to put the place up for auction if payment were not made immediately. Again the sisters .faced the possibility of being made homeless. Calling together the entire community, novices and postulants as well as professed, Mother Xavier laid before them the circum-stances saying, "We .have no recourse except God; I tell you we have. nothing earthly :to. depend upon. You will have to pray hard. God will not forsake us in this our hour of need." 124 May, 1956 MOTHER XAVIER ROSS It was then she asked the sisters to form bands of three and rotate hours of petition before the Blessed Sacrament. The greater part of the next three days and nights found her keeping the vigil of petition, kneeling upright, her eyes closed, her hands clasped. She was oblivious of time. Grhdually the hope faded that .Mr. Mc- Gonigle would relent and withdraw his demands. The community council met and authorized Sister 3oanna to try to negotiate a loan in St. Louis for the required $27,000: During her absence the most severe of fasts was observed at the mother house while the prayers of petition continued strong and unabated. Weeks passed; weeks of hope. and faith and peni-tential prayer on the part of each one in the community. Not until five months had elapsed, however; did the answer come in the form of a telegram from Sister 3oanna urging Mother Xavier to come to St. Louis immediately as a loan could be negotiated. This was but a part of the answer to the petition. When the sisters returned from St. Louis, they were hurrying in to Leaven-worth to pay Mr. McGonigle when a gentleman, a Mr. 3ohn F. Lee, who had met Mother Xavier previously in St. Louis called at the mother house to tell her he had already paid the contractor. There was no way, naturally speaking, to express adequate gratitude for such magnanimity. As long as Mother Xavier lived, she used to say to the sisters, "Pray for him, for it is the only way we can-show our appreciation to him. Had it not been for his kindness and indulgence, Mount St. Mary's would long since have gone under the hammer of the auctioneer." In spite of those years of trial, the community grew and ex-panded, opening schools, orphanages, hospitals, foundling homes, from Missouri west to Montana and New Mexico. Mother Xavier continued to govern the community, although handicapped by deafness that first caused her to use a trumpet, then a dentiphone, until finally no sound of a~y kind penetrated from the outside although within her head constant pain was accompanied by a noise that seemed like huge slabs of stone knocking against each other. She continued helping with all tasks, gave conferences, and visited the houses of the community showing interest in every-thing, done by the sisters, admonishing, praising as the need might be. Through dispensation she had guided the community since its inception as Bishop Midge had thought it wisdom for her to do so; 125 SISTER ,JULIA GILMORE Reuiew for Religious in 1877 she asked to be relieved of the responsibility of office. With hearing completely gone and ravages of age making inroads, she asked that someone else take up the burden. ~Election resulted 'in Mother 3osephine Cantwell being placed in office; immediately she asked Mother Xavier to assume the spir-itual training of the members of the novitiate. For this position she was apt, as she possessed a particular gift in character discernment. She could hold up a very unprepossessing person in a certain light. and immediately that person seemed to take on new and unseen qualities: When asked her secret, she insisted she had none. Ob-viously she had; obviously, too, she interested herself in each indi-vidual .m~mber, learned the names of her family, her likes and dis-likes-- these gave the clue to abilities that once developed could make fo~ ha~opy and satisfying placement. All this taken together helped make Mother Xavier a contemporary of everyone, and an absolute absence of partiality gained the novices' confidence. " Mother Xavier's instructions to the novices, which fortunately are extant in part, brimmed with practical application. In these conferences she often repeated that the poor were to be treated with the same courtesy and respect as those abundantly blessed with the comforts and luxuries of life: "Be respectful to strangers; treat them with courtesy and kindness in order to draw them to God through yourself . Meet guests in a quiet dignified manner and. with a quiet cheerfdl look. Never go before externs with a dark gloomy.expression or in a frivolous manner . The Lord loveth a cheerful giver--then give cheerfully!" Invariably her instruc-tions closed with" "And, Sisters, be kind to the orphan; be good to the" poor." Busy herself always, she decried idleness in anyone, a fact which probably gave voice to these admonitions: "Always do what is expected of you, and more, much more: Do .not wait to be asked or told to do something. If there is a task to be done, do' it---quickly, quietly. The feet will go to the place the heart "is. Do .not boast either about doing extra work. In fact, nothing" is extra. As long as it remains to be done, it is your work . If we.have confidence inGod, we will have'cbniidence in ourselves. ¯ . . Be able to do things alon~! It is pitiful.to see Sisters unable to. do chores; study, go to prayers without ~eeking companionship:' Remember-~crows and sparrows flock together; eagles fly alone i"" Filled as her life was with the serious purpose of religion, Mother Xavier .still found ~ime for' much ~fun.She loved .drama, 1'26 Ma~, 1956 MOTHER XAVIER ROSS charades, pantomimes, and wrote and .t~ugb~t more than'one script for the novices or professed. He hearty laugh, spontaneous response to enjoyment, led one novice to write to her "father, "If you want to learn to laugh, come to our novitiate and we'll show you how." Gloominess had no part in her. She often said, "The sovereign remedy for mental agitation is prayer; we carl be bothered only if we let ourselves be bothered.". Through the years, she lived what she taught. Her words were not without example when she cautioned, "If you love God 'you will be courteous to each other . Guard your tongues, when a hasty thought would express itself. And remember, a witty person must be most careful, for often wit stings, and we never know how a word said in jest might wound severely a sensitive nature . Warm yourselves at the tabernacle fires. Love the Blessed Sacra-ment! There is no need of books when we speak to our friends; neither is there any need of books when we speak to our Great Friend." On the occasion of a community jubile.e when asked about the seeming length of years and community growth, she answered, "During the years I have watched our community grow, I have thanked Godfor the increase, it is true; but mostly I thanked Him for the spirit that makes our members practice virtue. I have noted, too, the development of ingenuity and a certain practical philosophy. This we need together with faith in God and the propensity 'to pull on through.' " When death came she had definitely left an impress on the community she had established. Hers was a vast life; sixty-three years of it were spent in re-ligion. During those years Mother Xavier's companions consciously or unconsciously imbibed her spirit which has become the heritage of the order. Her place in the hearts of the sisters can be estimated through a tribute given by one member at the time of Mother Xavier's death and which seems representative: "She was always solicitous for. our welfare and gave less heed to her own comforts than to ours. She encouraged us in every undertaking, consoled us in our troubles, nursed us in our sickness and advised us on all occasions. " : ;'She was mother to the poor and suffering, for no one enter[ ing her door to ask for help ever was turned away. Her helping hand banished poverty from many a pioneer home and. s.ent re.any a traveler on his way.rejoicing. No small, numb.e.L.oJ: orpha.n chil-drei~ found shelter,.food, care, and love under h~rroof '~. 127 Sisters' Ret:rea!:s--III Thomas Dubay, $.M. IN this present article of our retreat study, we shall consider three disconnected problems: the meditation expose, the use of humor, and the private conference with the retreat master. MEDITATION EXPOSI~--TIME LENGTH The first question to which we shall turn our attention deals with the length of the ordinary meditation expos~ given by the retreat master. The item was worded as follows: What time length do you ordinarily prefer for a meditation expose? __15 min. __20 min. __30 min. __45 min. __60 min. Further com-ment: (space provided) Table I gives the distribution of the sisters' answers to this query. Table I Meditation Expose--Time Length 15 min . 17 (2.5%) 20 min . 64 (9.3%) 30 min . " . 380 (55.1%) 45 min . 208 (30,1%) 60 min . 21 (3.0%) As would be expected, the majority selected a middle course of thirty minutes~ while the two extremes of 15 and 60 minutes are rather sparsely represented. It may be surprising to some that so large a number of sisters prefer the somewhat long expos4 time of 45 minutes, while relatively few favor the 20-minute meditation outline. More interesting than mere figures are the sisters' reasons for their choices. These we will consider under the heading of each time bracket and apportion according to the number of votes in each category. 15 minutes: Leave some of the period, especially thefirst period, for meditating by the sisters. Short--concise. 20 minutes: It should give the sisters sufficient time to develop the ideas or points exposed. It is not up to the retreat master to make the retreat for the sisters. 128 SISTERS" RETREATS--III . If the expos~ is longer, it usually is due to poor organization or needless repetition. No matter how good the speaker, ~ long expos~ tends to make listeners restless, especially in summer. Retreat masters seem to lack faith in sisters' poweb to meditate and weary them with too much talk. No energy left for meditation. 30 minutes: This would vary depending on the subject matter. Some 15 minute conferences seem more like 60 minutes and sometimes the reverse is true. There is a limit as to the amount one can take at one time. This seems relative to the amoun't of time provided for meditation following the expose. Our retreat meditations average I~ hours. Were less time provided, I would want less than 30 minute expose. This gives us 30 minutes for reflection and, therefore, would give a good balance to the meditation. I think usually some of the meditation lectures are too long, thereby not providing enough time for reflection. I have indicated the maximum. We are not permitted to leave the chapel until the full hour is completed. We need time to do a little thinking and praying for ourselves. If sisters spend free time in sewing, orifice work, etc., then it would be better to have longer medi-tations. If the retreat master has well chosen material and really gives it even 45 minutes is short. But if he has to read--well--let's make it 15! 45 minutes: I'm generally too tired mentally to meditate long myself because of going directly to retreat from school. It depends on the speaker. If he is really saying something, all right; but if not, cut it short. It is too hard to fill in the time when the retreat master makes it so short. Some conferences and meditations are entirely too short and I'm not contemplative enough. During retreat there is always plenty of time to think over all that has been given during the periods between talks. If the retreat master devotes less time all angles are not attacked. 60 minutes: Sixty minutes if it's stimulating. I admit I'm one of those rare creatures who likes instructions. Perhaps some mental laziness is implied in the fact that the time taken by the retreat master does not have to be occupied in personal reflection. All of which, of course, leaves the poor retreat master in a quan- 129 THOMAS DUBAY Review for Religious dary. He cannot possibly satisfy everybody. On the bright side, however, he can cgnsole himself that somebody is likely to be pleased no matter how briefly or protractedly he speaks. . . In a practical vein we may conclude that the whole picture sug-gests that most sisters would be pleased and fewest displeased by a meditation expos~ in the neighborhood of 30 minutes. In view of the sisters' remarks it may often be wise for the retreat master to consider varying this figure accbrding to subject, temperature, and an honest estimate of his own ability. HUMOR We next take up the question of intentional humor, in a medi-tation expose. It is of set purpose that we mention intentional humor (usually in the form of jokes), for, while the sisters universally like a sense of humor in the retreat master, not all of them desire jokes in the meditation expos& T16e' present item was worded as follows : Do you like jokes in a meditation expose? __.I prefer none at all ___It depends on the subject --_I enjoy a few Further comment : In this survey sisters who prefer no jokes at all in the medita-tion expos4 formed a small minority of 49 (7.1%); those who enjoy a fewnumbered 285 (41.4%); and those who specified that joke-telling must depend on the subject of the meditation numbered 355 (51.5%). Several sisters pointed out that the answer would depend also on the fitness of the joke, the manner of telling;-etc. One mentioned that she always enjoys a joke, while only one stated that she likes many. ~., Excerpt,s from the sisters' written comments follow: Just enough to break the tension which ordinarily comes durin'g retreat. Maybe three or four, but at.retreat [ really want to make a retreat. If it is a real meditation exposd I prefer none; in a conference on.ly a few. Most sisters really serious about the business of sanctity do not come" to retreat to be entertained. .'. . 'Jokes for.the most'part are out of place. On the other, hand a greatness of faith brings with it a delicateness and. lighm~ss .of touch that/sees the'bt~.m~r ir~.'our seriousness, ¯ .'" ' ::.d ¯ " I never enjoy a joke during retreat if it is obviously told just to be clever. If it makes a'poinr it "is appreciated. " " , ¯ 130 May, 1956 SISTERS' RETREATS--III If they are real incidents or experiences, they are.good. Sisters are not so stupid as to enjoy stale old jokes. It depends on the fitness and the manner of telling as well as on the subject. Distinguish anecdot~tge and jokes from the wit and humor which flow out naturally and relax tension without distracting attention. Personal memoirs are rarely wel-come in quantity. These often bring home the point, and'it lessens the tension. Making a good retreat is hard work, and nerves get taut. Jokes help! There are some people--myself included--who can't really tell them. If one can't it is better to skip it. Be natural. I think most sisters are eager to hear more about our Lord and the spiritual life. In themselves these are serious subjects and do not call for joking as a rule. We don't have to make a retreat to hear jokes. There are sut~icient'magazines,'etc., that can supply us with jokes. Not standard jokes, but a real sense of humor that sees through things, to what makes them really, funny, or unimportant, or ridiculous, or sublimely delightfu.1. The "Jokers" usually "give the impression that they missed their calling. A stage might better be their proper place. What sister wants jokes brought into a" medi-tation on the Passion? Yet I have heard such. And some jokes are just a trifle risque--a serious, saintly priest doesn't need such "props." I do not like too rriuch joking and funny stories. Nor do I prefer someone who seems to lack a sense of humor. I like,.to !augh ,once in a while! Sometimes meditation exposds are awfully long and dr'y, or they.are deep. A joke helps and relaxes you so you can benefit from the rest of the meditation. Or maybe one is just tired before starting retreat. A'man.who knows and enjoys life and people cannot help being amused at the in-congruit. y he finds. I like to share his amusement, but I do not like "planted" jokes put in to get us in a good mood and least of all "corn." (T.V. comedian type of joke) I prefer a humorous aside when the occasion fits rather than formal jokes of the story type. To my mind, holy things should never be the subject of jokes: at times I have heard them lightly treated by priests who do not seem to. be sensitiv~e on this subject. I enjoy a f.ew jokes, .definitely yes, and I think they are ggod tension, breakers and interest revivers. And I want to put in a vote for well told anecdotes, pithy well-turned phrases, and apt short quotations. Not only do they make for interest and easier listening, but, even more important, they lodge in the memory, perhaps for years. From the above statistical breakdown and the. sisters', expressed opinions one conclusion towers above any othdr: while the sisters appre.ciate humor in gogd taste, they decidedly dislike jokes for the sake of jokes. Or to put.the matter in.othei.words, they want the jokes used ~O'fit the subject, to be well selected; .to have a worth-while purpbse,." and to be gomparatively few. in number. . THOMAS "]~UBAY Reoiew t~or Religious PRIVATE CONFERENCE The soul in its efforts to win the heights of holiness oftenfeels the need of. personalized counsel and guidance from a spiritual di-rector in some sort of situation or other. In our survey the sisters were asked ~vhether or not they thought a private conference with the retreat master and on the occasion of the annual retreat is a de-sirable answer to this need. The exact wording of the question is here given: Would you consider a private conference with the retreat master quite desirable? __.yes, sometimes __no Further comment" A majority, 436 (66.2 %), of the sisters favor the availabilit'y of a private conference: These religious do not think that such a cbnference need be frequent, but rather that it should be available for those who on occasion could benefit from it. A strong minority, 223 (33.8%), fed that the need and advisability of a private in-terview with the retreat master are either non-existent or almost so. These latter universally feel that the sister can and should get her prbblems settled in the confessional. The excerpts that follow give a representative picture of the views of the sisters who would find the private conference desir~ible. At times a private conference may be in order. During the whole year in some mis-sions there is no opportunity to get advice or help from a religious priest. Prob-lems do arise. For obvious reasons one does not wish to detain the retreat master in the confessional. Sometimes that is very beneficial. At one time I had a confessor when out on the missions who did not understand me. He got me all muddled. I was in agony. The retreat master straightened me out. Many times I would like to discuss some problems with the retreat master, but being a proud human being, I always find excuses for not doing, so and hence go on being bothered. It would be good if he were available without any red tape about getting to see him. One doesn't care to have many "women" know that one did so. What. they don't know does not create comment. It is impossible for every sister to talk with the retreat master, but sometimes it is essential to do so. In rare instances. Usually the retreat masters don't want them. They feel confes-sion is su$cient. Yet, I think here is a great lack of understanding. This, too. should be explained. When can a religious go with her problems to a priest? Why are higher superiors reluctant to see her do so? Why should the attitude be taken, that one will immediately degrade her community, etc.? If a religious doesn't 132 May, 1956 SISTERS' RETREATS~--III feel she has that freedom, she Will look for oth(r means to ~olve her problems, or just drop them and give up . . . I have been a superior . Sometimes the conferences, would have never cleared up my dit~cultieS, but a private conference where I can ask. questions did. I don't mean being a nuisahce. Let it be brief as possible and to the point. Let it not be of a nature which concerns your superior and yourself. Some do not seem to know how to draw the line between what should be discussed or what [not]. I have never had one so I do not know. It would be awfully nice to be able to ask questions sometimes. I have only taken the opportunity once, but it was a marvelous help and brought very lasting, peace and understanding of some questions. Not often, but some few times a conference would be definitely desirable. Again, private conferences are something else that some sisters have, perhaps, abused; but for the sister, say, with grave temptations against her vocation or perplexed by some moral problem, or the like, such a conference could be a golden opportunity. Per-haps, retreat masters do not realize how often sisters may be _extremely limited in their opportunities for such help during the year. It would have saved me worlds of worry in the past, but it is not the custom in our order, and so I've done without. There are some matters one simply can't get straight in the confessional. I have always been afraid to ask for one. It is much frowned upon. I feel it would be a great help. Not often, but it would be a big help if such an opportunity were provided. I know several sisters who actually need this help, and if it were offered to everyone, these would not feel embarrassed. In many cases it is necessary. The mission life presents many difficult problems. I know that I often long for a spiritual advisor and I am disappointed when I find that the retreat master has no time for me. Typical of those who oppose the private interview are these opinions: All the advice I need can be gotten in the confessional where ple.nty of time is given and personal satisfaction is not sought. There is such ,a thing as community loyalty and one way in which a disloyal member could prove herself so would be this. If a conferencd is needed, I think the confessional would be more suitable and proper. Nol because I have seen that they have brought discontent and envy among the religious themselves. if a retreat master is generous with his time and a competent advisor in confession, it so far has solv, ed all troubles. I can't see'how a retreat master in one private konferen~e c6uld possibly help one --~esp. when two or three hundred people are making the re.treat that usually lasts 5 or 8 days. I realize that there are exceptions, but my ow~ .feeling is that it is the "oddities" that usually ask private conferences. 133 THOMAS DUBAY ,.,'" I think you.can settle most questions in the confessional. You should go to your own superior for a privat~ conference. I think for a time this was overdone and it took time from retreat priest [sic] he should have spent.in preparation. The confessional at retreat'tim~ is a good place to settle problems. The Holy Spirit is more likely to be in on it too. One sister made an interestihg distinction: I think it depends on the individual. If she ii seeking attention"and sympathy, NO. If she is seeking higher heights of sanctity, YES. In accord with our expressed policy of not stating a p~eference for either opinion, we will allow the reader to evaluate the sisters' reasonings for himself. It seems compatible with this policy, how-ever, to point out that religious superiors and retreat masters should consider seriously the request of so many sisters for the availability of a private interview. Whether their decision be affirmative or nega-tive, the above discussion seems to demand a thoughtful examina-tion of the problem and a solution that will do the greatest'good to the greatest number. " SOME BOOKS RECEIVED " Only books sent directly to our book-review editor (see address on inside front cover or on p. 163) are included in our "Reviews and .AnnounCements." The fol-lowing books were sent to St. Marys: ~'., :. Index of The American Ecclesiastical Review, Volumes 10 i- 130 (July, 19392- dune, 1954). The Catholic University of America ",Press ~.620. Michigan Ave.,.N.E., Washington 17, D. C. $3.75. . ~ :.,, The Catholic Booklist, 1956. St. Cattiarind 2unior,~College,.St. Catharine, Ky. $.75. Salt It With Stories. By Cyprian Truss, O.F.M.Cap.JQseph F, Wagner., Inc., 33 Park Place, New York 7, N. Y. $3.95. There's More to Life than Living It. By Albert J. Nimeth. O.F.M. FranciScan Herald Press, 1434 W. 51st St., Chicago 9, II1. $.95. . ; , . The Eternal Shepherd-~4th Series. By.Thqmas H. Moore.S:4., Apostle.ship of Prayer, 515 East Fordham Road, New Ybrk 58, N. Y. $2.00. No Cross No C?'owfi." By Rev. Clement H. Ci'ock. Societ.y of St. patli, .2.1.8~ Victory Blvd., State~ Ikland 14, N. Y. $2'.50. " John Duns Scotus, A Teach& for~ Our T~rnes. B;/ ]3~ra'ud de Saint-Maurid~i Franciscan Institute,.St. Bonaventure; N.:¯.Y~-;,.~" -/." .~,: . : ¯ " Works of Saint Bonaventure: I. De Reductlone Artium ad Theologlarm "A° co'm-mentary with an introduction and translation by Sister Emma Therese Healy. ,Fr.an- ,Ciscan Instithte, St~ Bon~(,~iu're, N. Y. ' "" '" Maqt in the Franciscan Order. Proceedings of the Third Naticmal Meetin~ of Franciscan Teaching Sisterhoods. "Franciscan', Institute, St. Bonaventure," N. Y. "" M.aq¢ in Historg,i'n"~Fi~ith;, imd fn Devotiod. By Rev. "Anselm Burke, O. Carm: :Scapular Press, 329'E. 28thSt., New Y6rk',16,N. Y. $3.50. . (Continued bh "i~ge 162) " 134 Our Lady and t:he ,Apost:olat:e Ellwood E. Kieser, C.S.P. IN the year 747 of the city of Rome, a Jewish girl made a decision which completely changed the course of human history. She un-loosed a tidal wave which will forever break against the shores of time, washing with its current the souls, of all mankind. The girl in question: Mary of Nazareth. Her decision: to be the Mother of God, the first and greatest of all Christl~earers. Why her impact on history? Because the fate of mankind de-pended upon that decision. Mary spoke for humanity. Her consent was our consent. The consequences of her decision intimately effect our lives. 1-°op~ Plus puts it this way: "In the name of the whole human race, she gave her consent for a spiritual marriage between the Son of God" and human nature." Mankind, until this time separated from.God and condemne'd to frustration, Was rejoined to the divinity in the person of God's own Son. Infinite God was clad in finite flesh. Eternity entered time. Omnipotence became child. The source of all truth, goodness, and beauty dwelt among us in the womb of this girl. The drama of redemption has begun, and Mary con~ents to play the supporting role. Mary knew the implications of her rolel the price she would be required to pay,"its'effects upon millions of human lives. She faced her destiny. She adcepted it. She gave herself to its fulfillment with all the ardour and courage of her grace-filled soul. This destiny meant two thing's. She must possess Christ. She must give Christ. These are ihe two'poles of Mary's mentality to-w~ ird which all else converge. Without possession, without giving, Mary's life would have been incomplete. The~e two poles are found in every Christian who wants to give Christ to" others. He possesses and he gives. Both are absolutely necessary. He cannot give Christ to others if he does ~o~i. first possess Him by l~nciwledge and love. He cannot be a vehicle for Christ's grace if his soul has not been chiseled in Christ's likeness. This it is that makes the apdstle: possessing :Christ, he naturally tries to share his happiness. He tries to give Christ to others. In this, as in all else, Mary is both model and helper. Mary possessed Christ vcith an intimacy and completeness un-known to the greateit saints: .From her youth, she lives amid the highest reaches of'the transforming union. Christ identified Hirhself 135 ELLWOOD E. KIESER Reoieto for Religious with her so that she became for Him an alter ego. He made her another Christ. This caused her to project herself into God, who perfected and strengthened her as the vehicle of His love. She found the perfection of her thoughts in His thoughts; the satisfaction of her desires in His desires; her happiness in His happiness. It was God's thoughts that she thought; God's love that she loved; God's happiness that she shared. While retaining her own personality and freedom, she had become one spirit with God. She had put on the mind of Christ. She could say, even more truly than St. Paul, "I live, now not I, but Christ lives within me." This means that she drew God into her own soul, which be-came His temple and dwelling place. The depths of her soul were wrapped in His presence. Whenever her occupation permitted, she folded back within herself to commune with that Person who was closer to her than she was to herself. Her faculties were completely docile to His inspiration. She be-came a perfect instrument for His action. It was not she alone who thought, spoke, and worked. God did these things in and through her. This grace of indwelling is not specially reserved for Mary. Every Christian who is willing to pay the price, who allows the life of grace to flower in his soul, can.enjoy it. The degree of God's indwelling in our souls will never approach that of Mary. It may not become a matter of experience. We m~iy not feel His presence. But the fact of God's presence in the Christian soul remains. This is a matter of faith. God has promised it to us. There is, of course, a grace and a manner of possessing God which is reserved strictly for Mary. She is God's mother. It was in her body and through her cboperation that Jesus came into the world. He received His human nature from her. She gave Christ His human body, the hands to bless us, the tongue to teach us, the blood to redeem us. She is liter-ally, in the strict physical sense, a Christbearer. Their union could not have been more intimate. Their destinies were intertwined. His mission was her mission. He came to restore men to God's friendship, to take up mystical residence in their souls. She was to help him. She was to give Christ to the world. This ¯ is the second pole of Mary's mentality. She was not content with possessing Christ. Neither must any Christian be. Goodness naturally overflows. Sanctity diffuses itselL Christianity is essentially apostolic. Because she had identified her- 136 ,May, 1956 OUR LADY AND THE APOSTOLATE self with Christ and His mission, she bent all her efforts that others might possess Him also. Her love extended to the entire human race. She knew that 3esus was the first born of many children, that His Mystical Body was to reach out and embrace men of all ages. Because she loved Christ, she loved His adopted brothers, who were to continue His presence through history. This is why she tried to serve them. Love shows itself in gifts. Mary's gift was of infinite value-~her own Son. She could not have done us a greater service, for to give Christ is to give everything. He includes all else. Her gift of Christ took two distinct forms~ The one was in-visible and internal. The other was visible and external. Both are of great importance. The first of these is within the interior of Christ's Mystical Bod~. She is not the head of the Mystical Christ. But she is i~s mother. She cannot appeal to the divine justice. Only Christ can do that. But she can appeal to the divine mercy. What Christ mer-ited in justice, Mary merited in mercy. This is whq she is called the mediatrix of all grace, the aquaduct of divine life. It is through her that Christ's merits are applied to our souls. She merited for us through prayer and through sacrifice. Both of these activities are supremely fruitful in Mary, since she is so in-timately united to her divine Son. Her prayer is the prayer of Christ, simple, trustful, loving. She knocked and the door was opened. She asked and her prayer was answered. She sought and always found. The wedding feast of Cana is a good example. She asked 3esus to perform a miracle before His time had come. He seemed reluctant, but how could He refuse His mother? The miracle was worked, not that the hosts might be spared embarrassment, but that Mary's re-quest might be granted. Now she prays for us, that Christ may live in our souls: And she adds to this the merit of her sacrifice, which is that of her Son. He suffered as priest and victim. She suffered as mother. He offered the sufferings of His body and soul. She offered a heart pierced by seven swords. In their sacrifice, as in all else, the mother and Son were intimately united. Hers was the perfect sacrifice. She could have given no more. The victim who was sacrificed was more precious to her than life itself. Perhaps I should say that He was her life. In giving Him, she gave everything. Nothing could have been more pleasing to 137 ELLWOOD E. KIESER Reoiev3 for ReligioUs the Father, nothing more fruitful for our welfare. Her sacrifice was so complet~ely bound up with that of bet Son.that theologians call bet the coredemptix of the world. ¯ The modern apostle can merit as Mary merited. The degree dif-fers, but the fact remains the same. By prayer and sacrifice, we can bring Christ into the souls of men. kVe can earn for them the grace the)~ need so badly. Why is this? Because the Church is an organism, with many tnembers sharing a community of life. The good fortune of on~ member is the good fortune of all. My prayer and sacrifice make you holy, and your sanctity overflows and contributes to mine until we all attain the fullness of grace to which we have been called. In the spiritual economy, a single good act has reverberations through-out the entire universe. One act of charity performed today in Wash-ington, D; C., has immediate consequences for the entire world, for those in Canton and Moscow and Nexv Delhi as well as *those for whom I explicitly make that act. There seems to be a direct connection between the concentration camps of Siberia,. filled with witnesses for Christ, and the crowded seminaries "6f Catholic University', Menlo Park, and Maryknoll. I did not earn my own vocation. My cooperation was slow and halt-ing. Someone else earned that grace for me. Someone else brought Christ's merits down from heaven, that" they might be applied to my soul. Somewhere, todhy, a priest is cleaning a latrine: a Chinese peasant slips away from her neighbors to refresh herself.with the presence of God; an American girl slips an invoice into a. typewriter with the words, "For you, Lord." These are the people who are keeping the v~orld going, who are bringiflg down the grace which is life and strength. They hre Christbearers; they are apostles in the fullest and noblest sense. Th6s~ "whO" pray and make sacrifices giv~ power to the aposto-late, pr6v]de the fuel for those in the market place. They are'doers in the s'upreme' sense, for theirs is.the highest of activities. The world cannot be changed#ithout pr3ye~ and sacrifice. But with prayer and ~acrifice, the w6rld will be chang~d~ Grace will abound. Christ will be brought into the souls of /neff. This is Mary's promise at Fatima. "" But is this enough? Is this all' Mary did? No, this is not all. Contemplation overflows and expresses itseff in-activity. Both ale an int'egral part of the Christian life. i~Both are.flecessary for the 138 Mat!, 1956 OUR LADY AND. THE APOSTOLATE cont:inuadon of Christ in history. Mary prayed for others. Then she went to them, that they might learn to recognize and love ~her Son. This is the visible, external form of Mary's apostolate. She had no sooner pronounced those words, which, changed the ¯ world,, which brought eternity into time and the Infinite 'into finite flesh,' than she hurried off to Ain-Karem to share this joy with an-other. She alone possessed the good news, but she would not keep it to herself. Over the mountains she went and across the plain, that others might know. that the Messiah had come. To Elizabeth, she brought the presence of Christ. To tbe~infant John, still in his mother's womb, she brought the Holy Spirit. To both, she brought the joy of knowing that the kingdom .of God was at hand. To accomplish this, no price was too high, no inconvenience was too gr.eat. Material discomforts, heartaches, and disappoint-ments were all accepted in the spirit of her original, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Be it done unto me according to thy word~" Detached even from success, she had but one desire--to .do. the will of God. Nothing else. mattered. .~. :-,.We must- possess, the .same attitude. W.e. possess Chr.ist.The world .needs Christ. We must give Christ to,.the world. Beca.use we are Christians, we must not rest until society is Christian, .until all those who are looking for Christ have found Him. This will not be easy. World-changing is an expensive voca-tion. It demandstime, ~energy, and sacrifice. Often it means disap-pointment and fatigue, .But it is worth it. These things must.be accepted in Mary's spirit. She did not withdraw her commitment; retract her fiat. Neither must we. . . . The spirit of sacrifice which carried her,up. Calvary'sslopes is t.he same which ought to dominate our lives and make us always available when others are in need. The indifference to human recog-nition which carried Mary to Bethlehem and Egypt will .make us personable and kindly .even with those who .do not. seem to deserve such-treatment. The acceptance of God's will which filled her soul when she watched her neighbors reject Jesus will detach" us from suc~ cess, from" a craving for immediate results. "In ev.ery.way~ she is the model of tbose'.who desire to bear Christ to th~ world. - She possessed all the virtues of. the apostolic life in their fullness. The first of these is alertness--to the voice of God, to.the needs of others. The depths of Maryfs soul were ever wrapped in the divine presence, but the surface of her soul was keenly a.war_e of the desires and needs of those around her. At the marriage 139 ELLWOOD E. KIESER Reoieto for Religious least'of Cana, she quickly sensed the awkward position of her hosts. She felt their need and so went to Jesus that He might help them. She was always.in the right, place at the right time, on the spot when needed. On Calvary, at the crisis of His life, when His redemp-tive activity reached its fruition, Jesu~ wanted Mary nearby. She was there--to be proclaimed the mother of the Mystical Christ. The apostolic spirit is always marked by this alertness. The apostle has a great mission. He must look for opportunities to ful-fill it. This means tact and patience and instant response to the needs of others. It mean~ a constant search for those apostolic occasions --for the substitution of love for hatred, truth for error, decency for indecency. The apostle, like Mary, must be in the right place at the right time, with the needed word or deed. "Optimism is another apostolic virtue which Mary possessed in its plenitudi. Hers was not a superficial rose-tinting, but the pene-tration of reality to its depths, beneath its surface evil to its basic goodness. Mary knew that her mission would be fulfilled, that victory would be hers. God had told the serpent, "I will establish a feud.between thee'andthe woman, between thy offspring and hers; she is to crush thy heat1, while thou doth lie in wait at her heal." This optimism does not exclude suffering. But it does trans-form and give meaning to suffering. Mary's anguish on Calvary can hardly be exaggerated. And yet, amid it all," she knew that this death marked the beginning of a new life for her Son-~His mystical reign in the:souls of men. For~this reason, she could rejoice even on Calvary. The modern apostle should be permeated by the same spirit. His is a joyous life, for he possesses Christ. When met with trying situations, with seeming failure, he can say with that other apostle, "I can do all things in Him who strengthens me." Assured that the truth will out, that the gates of hell shall not prevail, he sings the magnificat with Mary. Victory will be his. But I('Iary has still another lesson to teach the modern apostle. She did not try to do extraordinary things. She took the ordinary; trivial duties of everyday life and made them the raw material for perfect sanctity. How did she do it? By performing these' little actions with great love, with a love which invested these insignificant things with momentous importance. This is the way she ~hanged the worldl. Her impact on history cannot be overestimated. Henry Adams calls her, "The. highest en-ergy ever known to man, the creator of four-fifths of his noblest art, 140 May, 1956 COMMUNITY CROSSES exercising vastly more attraction over the human mind than all the steam engines and dynamos ever dreamed of." He who is mighty has done great things through Mary. He will do the same for us. God does not want us to change our way of life. He wants us to sanctify it.He may not want us to take on additional duties. What He does want is the performance of those duties in the most Christlike way possible. There are plenty of op-portunities for Christbearing, for world-changing" in every walk of life, in every moment of the day and night. By seizing these occa-sions, by doing our job with great love for God and our fellow men, we will sanctify ourselves. We will change the world. It is trite to say that the world is in a frightful mess. But it is true. Men are unhappy as they have seldom been. Two billion peo-ple brood over atomic warfare. Children commit crimes shocking in adults. We grope for a solution, for a means of changing the world. And the solution, the means is given to us. When Christ's vicar on earth declared 1954 a Marian year, a year of special devotion to the Mother of God, he told ug to. go to her, that she might "bend tenderly over our aching wounds, convert the wicked, dry the tears of the afflicted and oppressed, comfort the poor and humble~ quench hatreds, .sweeten harshness, protect the holy Church, make all men feel the attraction of Christian goodness." Though the Marian year is over, Mary's influence has not come to an end. To the apostle, to all those who want to change the world for Christ, she offers strength, .guidance, and love. If we go to her, she~will-form Christ in our souls, that we might make Him incarnate in history. If we study her life, we will find the living blueprint which must become our own. She did what we are try-ing to do. We must walk in bet footsteps. Communit:y Crosses Winfrid Herbst, S.D.S. ONE of St. Bonaventure's helpful "Twenty-five Maxims" is as follows: "Bear all the persecutions of this world for the love of God, with great equanimity of mind; nay, more, accepting in desire all such persecutions were it possible, rejoice only in the sufferings of Christ. Refusing. the joys of this life, make merry in tribulations and be convinced that their purpose is to purify your soul from sin and to enrich it with merit." In this article I am not going to consider the big c~osses that a 141 WINFRID HERBST Reoieu; [or Religious community may have, those of which it seeks,, sometimes in vain, to rid itself because self:preservation is the first law of nature; for, according to the dictum of St. Thomas, every being resists as much as it can what tends to corrupt it. I am merely going to touch upon some of the numerous little crosses that are encountered in the religious life. They make up in number what they lack in size, and it is terrific how they can get on one's nerves. To make merry in these tribulations and to en-. dure them for the love of God, to be more like Christ in His suffer-ings, is indeed an endless source of merit. "Their purpose is to purify your soul from sin and to enrich it with merit," says St. Bonaventure. The crosses I have in mind have their roots in diversities of character. I might call them peculiarities, certain characteristics that one has and another has not.-Generally they are in themselves trifles, little things like the flies of the fourth plague, that finally began to breakthe v~ill of Pharao, as we read in the eighth ch~ipter of Exodus: "And there came a very grievous swarm of flies into the houses of Pharao and of his servants, and into all the land of Egypt: and the land was corrupted by this kind of flies.'" .These bothersome' little things certainly do put one's patience to the test in community life. Often enough one would be justified in, losing his equanimity in the midst of them. As one religious confided to another: "Yes; he is a saint and everybody, admits it; but he is getting to be such a strain on my nerves, that I. cannot stand it much longer!" If one has the saving sense of humor, it is amusingto recall how one aspirant left the religious life because a table companion was so utterly lacking in good manners; another, could hardly endure, it any longer because there was such a slamming of doors all over the pla.ce; and a third became all excited because doors and windows were left 9pen everywhere. One prays in a tone that is much too high; another, in a tone that is much too low. One prays too fast; another, too slow. One talks too much;.anqther,.too little. One laughs too much, too long, and too loud; another is. grim and morose and apparently sunk in the slough of despon.dengy. One is sensitive to a degree tQ ev.erytbing around him; another is so.hardened that be.hardly knows wheat is going on around him,but unconcernedly pursues his way. But let this indication suffice.A complete enumer~. ation, were it possi'ble,: would take too long. Each rFader will have little difficulty in adding to this list peculiarities that he finds in 142 May, 1956 COMMUNITY. CROSSES himself and in others. How should one react to this situation? In the expressive phrase of the day, so what? Well, to all such complaints the answer could be given that these are things from which no man can be entirely free. This is not saying that nothing can be done about it. In the first place e~eryone should honestly examine himself. Those who may or should do so might call the matter to the attention of the thotightless one. But this is not an easy thing to do. For some reason or other, it is easier to call another's attention to a big blunder than to get oneself tocall his attention to some little fault of his. One hesitates to do so; and, meanwhile, the community will have to bear the cross. The best thing is for the educators to take the young people in hand, while they are still pliable and can take it, and get them onto the beaten path. This is. not saying, however, that the educators are always to blame when some of the.ir onetime students give evidence of a lack of. consideration for others. It seems that even stainless steel will rust if for a long time no atten-tion is given to it. So what? Quid ergo? 3ust be patient! Not much consolation, to be sure, but actually the only thing to do. Take the divine Savior Himself; see how He had to bear with the imperfections of those around Him. "What are you arguing about .among your-selves? . . . How long shall I put up with you?" (Mark~ 9:15, 18.) We simply must ,accustom ourselves to bear with equanimity the manifold imperfections of others, to tolerate their ways, even when they are diametrically opposed to our own views and wishes. Cer-tainly no one would venture to look upon himself as a model in these things, for the simple reason that no one is absolutely perfect. In Psalm 90 we read: "You shall tread upon the asp and the viper, you shall trample under foot the lion and the dragon," and we stumble over pebbles and get all excited over little peccadilloes! In this connection a "good resolution might be: to tread manfully upon the asp of peculiarities, the viper of abnormalities, the lion of idio-syncrasies, and the dragon of eccentricities. Plenty of them can be found in religious communities. St[ Paul tells us what to do: "Bear one another's burdens, and so you will fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks himself to be something, whereas he is noth-ing, he deceives himself. But let everyone test his own work, and so he will. have glory in himself only, and not in comparison with another. For each one will bear his own burden" (Gal[ 6:2-5). There are some zealous souls who think that the superior can 143 WINFRID HERBST without more ado, and as a matter of duty must, eliminate all the things that I am calling community crosses. But that is not at all as easy as one might think; moreover, it is often difficult to say who is r!ght. All of us are Wont glibly to say: "'Virtus star in medio.'" But just where is virtue's golden mean to be found~ab, there's the rub! How often we are taken in, cunningly deceived, by our own self-love and our own big or little weaknesses; and we complain about our brethren, and about our surroundings, and almost about Almighty God Himself, when in all truth we should be complain-ing about our own sensitiveness. Quite in place, then, is the ad-monition of the Imitation of Christ: "Try to bear patiently with the defects and infimities of others, whatever they may be, because you also have many a fault which others must endure. If you can-not make yourself what you would wish to be, how can you bend others to your will? We want others to be perfect, yet we do not correct our own faults. We wish them to be severely corrected, yet we will not correct ourselves. Their great liberty displeases us, yet we would not be denied what we ask. We would have them bound by laws, yet we will allow ourselves to be restrained in nothing. Hence, it is clear how seldom we think of others as we do of our-selves. If all were perfect, what should we have to suffer from others for God's sake?" (Bk. I, Ch. 16.) I think it sometimes happens that a religious runs to the superior to complain about these community crosses and, while doing so, mentions apologetically that, of course, they are just little things. If they are just little things, why not practice mortification by en-during them! And if the superior would rebuke for his own faults the complainant and measure the reprimand as he is asked to measure it out to others, what an uproar there would be! Here I cannot help thinking of these words which the ordaining bishop addresses to the clergy and the people with reference to the deacons about to be or-dained to the priesthood: "If anyone has anything against them, before God and for the sake of God let him confidently come for-ward and speak. However, let him be mindful of his condition." Many a complaint we would never make, were we mindful of our own pitiable failings and more concerned about what we our-selves ought to do in order not to lose face in that tremendous day of dread and day of judgment, when we stand before that all-just 3udge who once, as the all-merciful Savior, spokethe words: "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone at her" (3obn 8:7). 144 Devot:ion t:o t:he Sac ;ed I-lead: C. A. Herbst, S.J. DEVOTION to the Sacred Heart is one of the great devotions in the Church. It is most characteristic of Christianity, be-cause it is devotion to Christ, to the whole Christ, represented by the most important organ of His humanity, His heart, which symbolizes His greatest virtue, His love. One can hardly conceive a devotion more proper to.religious whose very purpose is to make their lives as conformed as possible to Christ's through the practice of charity. That it is most fitting for religious to practice the devo-tion appears also from the fact that .our Lord complained expressly and specifically that it is religious who treat Him in shabby fashion, "hearts consecrated to me that treat me thus," that is, with ir-reverence and contempt. 'God became man, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity as-sumed a human nature, so that "we may be made partakers of His divinity, who vouchsafed to become partaker of our humanity," as we pray every day at the Offertory of the Mass. He wanted to be-come one of our human family so that we might with confidence draw close to Him. So in the many devotions to the sacred humanity of Christ which have naturally grown up as a result of the Incarnation there is a certain familiarity, though it be tempered with reverence. "There is a certain boldness of approach, a certain freedom of human lan-guage, a certain deeply reverential familiarity, yet still familiarity,, which distinguishes devotions to the Sacred Humanity. We have a distinct picture of the object of our worship in our minds which affects both our language and our feeling. Our Lord's assumption of our nature is a peculiar approach to us, to which we on our side have to correspond, and we correspond by this familiarity." (Faber, Bethlehem, ch. 4.) Since Christ is God, we offer His sacred humanity hypostatically united to the Word the same kind of worship we offer the Word Himself. This is divine worship, but of a kind "of which neither angels nor men could ever have dreamed without revelation, but which has been invented by God Himself." It has a character of its own, because based on created images and historical facts, and for this reason imprints on the soul a peculiar spiritual character with special force. The chief reason for which we worship Christ 145 C. A. HERBST Review for Religious in His mysteries "is the amount of the living spirit of Jesus which they both contain and communicate, contain in an inexhaustible measure and communicate according to the degree of our purity and fervor: and all holiness is but a transformation of us into the sub-stantial likeness of our Lord" (ibid.). We practice devotion to the various mysteries of Christ's life in order that we may come to know Him better arid love Him more. For the same reason we practice devotion to His sacred wounds, which place before our eyes His external sufferings, and to the Sac-red Heart, which manifests to us His internal sufferings. Such prac-tices are very valuable and help us imbibe the spirit of Christ, put on His virtues, and become inflamed with His affections. When enshrined in the sacred liturgy of the Church they have "no other object than that of acquiring this [true Christian] spirit from its foremost and indispensable fount, which is the active participation in the most holy mysteries and in the public and solemn prayer of the Cbu'r~h" (St. Pius'X, Motu Proprio, Nov. 22, 1903). Devotion to the Sacred Heart is one Of the last and most power-ful means God has given to save and sanctify men. "This devotion is a last effort df His love to save men in these latter days of His loving redemption" (St. Margaret Mary, Letter 133). In one of His apparitions to St. Margaret Mary, Christ said: "My divine Heart is so~ififlamed with love of men . . . that, being unable any longer to contain within Itself the flames of Its burning charity, It must.needs spread-them abroad . and manifest Itself to them [man-kind] in order to enrich them. with the precious treasures . . . which contain graces of sanctification and salvation necessary to withdraw them from the abyss of perdition" (Autobiography, no. 53). "He showed me that the ardent desire He bad of being loved by men and of drawing them from the path of perdition into which Satan was hurrying them in crowds, had caused Him to fix upon this plan of manifesting His Heart to men, together with all Its treasures of love, mercy, grace, sanctification and salvation. This He did in order that those who were willing to do all in their pov~er to render and procure for Him honor, love, and glory might be enriched abund-antly, even profusely, with these divine treasur'es of the Heart of God. It is the source of them all., It must 'be honored under the symbol of this Heart of flesh." (Herbst, The Letters of St. Mar-garet Mar~I Alacoque, 133.) "It must be honored under the symbol of this Heart of flesh." The heart of the God-Man, the ,heart formed by' His mother; the 146 May,. 19.56 DEVOTION TO THE sAcRED HEART "Heart of God," is the. material object of devotion to the Sacred Heart. ""Behold this Heart," our Lord said in the l~ist greag revela-tion He made to St. Margaret Mary. It is a physical heart, wounded and suffering. "After that I saw this divine Heart as on a throne of flames, more brilliant than the sun and transparent as crystal. It had its adorable wound and was encircled with a crown of thorns, which signified the pricks our sins caused Him. It .was sur-mounted by a-cross which signified that, from the first moment of His Incarnation, that is, from the time this Sacred Heart was formed, the cross was planted in It" (Letter ,133). He asked her for her heart "and placed it in His own adorable Heart" (Autobt'ography. no. 53). Of course we do not honor and adore the Sacred Heart of Christ as separated from His divine person. It is an essential part, the center, of the .life of the God-Man. '.'Jesus Christ, my sweet Master, presented Himself to me, all, resplendent with glory; .His five Wounds shining like so many suns. Flames issue from ever~r pair" of His Sacred Humanity, especially from His adorable Bosom, which re-sembled an open furnace and disclosed to me His most loving and most amiable Heart, which was the living source of these-flames" (ibid., no. 55). On December 2-7,. 1673, feast,of St. John, whom pious tradition assumes to have rested his head on our Lord,'s~breast at the Last Supper, "He made me repose for a long time.upon His Sacred Breast, where He disclosed to me the marvels.,.of His love and-the .inexplicable secrets of His .Sacred Heart, which so, .far He had concealed from., me. Then it was that, for the first time,. He opened to me His Divine Heart" (ibid:, no. 53). "~. .: The formal object of this devotion .is the love, of the Sadred Heart for men. "Behold this Heart, which, has loved, men so much, that It has spared, nothing, even to :exhausting and consuming Itself, in order to testify to them Its love'.' (ibid., no. 92): The heart is the natural symbol of love. -TO' it is attributed our love, our affections, Our interior dispositions. We are .said to love One with all our heart:, People are called, good-hearted or kind-hearted or great-hearted.'-We express tenderest affection when we.say: "I give you my heart." "My divine Heart," our. Lord said,. ".is so inflamed with lo.vef0r.men that it is.unable any longer to contain within Itself the flariaes of Its burning,charity.': He."disclosed to me His m6st loving and most ~miable Heart, which was the living source of these flames.It was-then, that He made~known to me the ineffable, marvels of his pure [love] and showed reel.to ,what-an 147 C. A. HERBST Reoiew [or Religious excess He had loved men" (ibid.; no. 55). This heart.is, presented to us as a heart that is wounded and bleed-ing and broken, a love that is unrequited, disregarded, spurned, re-ceived with ingratitude, and that even by religious. "And in return I receive from the greater number nothing but ingratitude by reason of their irreverence and sacrileges, and by the coldness and contempt which they show Me. in this Sacrament of Love. But what I feel the most keenly is that it is hearts which are consecrated to Me that treat Me thus" (ibid., no. 92). His heart, wounded, bleedir~g, encircled with thorns, surmounted with a cross, "was filled, from the'.very first moment, with all the bitterness, humiliation, poverty, sorrow, and contempt His sacred humanity would have to suffer during the whole course~of His life and during His holy Passion" (Letter 133). The natural appeal of a heart that is wounded and of a love that is unrequited is that we love it in return and make reparation to it. To this natural appeal our Lord adds an explicit request. He "showed me to what an excess He had loved men, from whom He received only ingratitude and contempt. 'I feel this more,' He said, 'than all that I suffered in My Passion. If only they would make-me some return for My love, I should think but little of all I have done for them and would wish, were it possible, to suffer still more. But the sole return they make for my eagerness to do them good is to reject Me and treat Me with coldness. Do thou at least console Me by supplying for their ingratitude, as far as thou are able" (Autobiography, no. 55). He asks that on a day espe-' cially set aside we honor His heart "by communicating on that day and making reparati6n to It by a solemn act, in order to make amends for the indignities which It has received during the time It has been exposed on the altars" (ibid., no. 92). Reparation is one of the most outstanding features in devotion to the Sacred Heart. St. Margaret Mary writes: "I think He will be very generous in granting you these [graces] if, by following the lights He gives you, you make reparation for the insults offered His adorable Heart" (Letter 14). Our Lord asks'for someone "who will most humbly ask pardon of God for all the offenses committed against Him in the Holy Sacrament of the altar" (Letter 50). The idea of reparation runs all through the new Mass and Office of the Sa~red Heart; and the Holy Father Pius XI, in.hisletter issued with them, says that "if this same Uncreated Love has either been passed over through forgetfulness or saddened by reason of our sins, then 148 May, 1956 DEVOTION TO THE SACRED HEART we should repair such outrages, no matter in what manner they have occurred . We are held to the duty of making reparation by ,the most powerful motives of justice and of love; of justice, in order to expiate the injury done God by our sins and to rfiestablish, by means of penance, the divine order which has been violated; and of love, in order to suffer together .with Christ, patient and covered ¯ with opprobrium, so that we may bring to Him, in so far as our human weakness permit~, some comfort in His sufferings." (Miser-antissimus Rederoptor, 1928). For this reason we have the feast of the Sacred Heart, the Communion Of reparation, the First Friday, the Holy Hour, even the Morning Offering. In the Act of Repar-ation prescribed for the feast of the Sacred Heart, we are "~eeking ¯ With special tribute ~f honor to atone for the sinful indifference of men and for the outrages heaped from every side upon Thy most Loving Heart." Consecration is important, too. In it "the intention to ex- Change for the love of the Creator the love of us creatures stands out most prominently" (Pius XI). The Holy Father Leo XIII ordered that an act of consecration especially written for the occa-sion be read in all the churches in the world on June I1, 1899. The substance of this consecration, ordered again by Pius XI in 1925 to be recited by all on the feast of Christ the King each year, is contained in the words: "We are Thine, and Thine we wish to be; but, to be more surely united with Thee, behold each one of us freely consecrates himself today to Why most Sacred Heart." This is an ot~icial expression of St. Margaret Mary's "I give and consecrate to the Sacred Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ my per-son and my life, my actions, trials and sufferings," and of Blessed Claude Colombiere's "I give myself entirely to Thee, and henceforth I protest .most sincerely that I desire to forget myself and all that re-lates to me." All the elements of devotion to the Sacred Heart are wonder-fully' summed up in the prayer of the feast in June. "O God, Who dost deign mercifully to bestow upon us infinite treasures of love in the Heart of Thy Son, which was wounded for our sins; grant, we beseech Thee, that we who pay Him the devout homage of our piety, may in like manner show unto Thee our due of worthy satis-faction." It is to the looe for us of the human heart of Jesus wounded for sin that we want to render homage by consecration and make reparation. 149 C. A. HERBST : .': "Re~eu~ for Religious BIBLIOGRAPHY . Note. Thig'is a short, simple bibliography giving a few books written in English from which one can get a g6od, authentic knowledge of de;cot;on to the Sacred Heart. A brief description and app?eciation of each book is given. Autobiogr'alJh~ . Life of Saint Margaret Mar~ Alacoque. Trans-lation of the Authentic French Text by the Sisters of the Visitation. Roselands, Waimer, Kent. Visitation Library. 1952. Hei'der Co., St. Louis. This is an account of her own interior life ~ri~.ten by St. Margaret Mary under obedience about five years before her deash. It contains the great revelations the Sacred Heart made to' her. It is a small book of about 125 pag~ and the most authentic source of the devotion to the Sacred Hear~. He~bst, Clarence A., S.J. (Ed.) The Letters of Saint Margaret MaGI Alacoque. Translated from the French. With an Introduc-tory Essa~ by J. J. Doyle, S.J. Henry Regnery Company, Chicago. 1954. Next to the Autobiograph~t, this is a most authentic source of devotion t6 the Sacred Heart and supplements the Autobfographt.t. There are 142 letters, the most predominant ideas in them being fervent devotedness" to the Sacred Heart and an enthusiastic love of suffering for Him. Letters 130-139 were written to Father Croiset and form the basis for the book bt~ published on devotion to the Sacred Heart immediately after her death. C~oiset, John, S.J. The Deootion to the Sacred Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The Newman Press, Westminster, Md. 1948. This work is based on the letters mentioned above. F~lther Croiset deliberately waited until after the death of St. Margaret Mary to publish his book s0"that h~ could preface it with.a life of her. This life covers some forty pages. After that are explained the disposi-tions and means necessary to acquire the devotion and the obstacles and means to overcome them. Then come motives, and practices for every yeaL month, week, day, and even hour.: The intimate connection betweefi devotion to the Sacred He~l~t"iafid th.e)Hol~r Eucbakist is~ brought out by explaining how to visitS:the Blessed Sacrain~nt,.he'ar M'~iss, and receive Holy Commuhion. MeditatiiJns for Friday "are given. In an appendix are given the complete prayers of St. Margaret Mary and others prayers to the Sacred Hefirt: Gall;fief; .3oseph d~, S.J; The 7~dor~ble Heart of Jesus. "With Preface and'Iiii~roduc'tion by.:Father Richard" Clarke; S.f." Burns and Oates, London. 1887. Father Gall;fret was a spiritual son of 150 May, 1956 DEVOTION TO THE SACRED I-IEART Blessed Claude de la Colombiere, the director of St. Margaret Mary. He wrote this book only thirty-six years after her death and spent his life in promoting devotion to" the Sacred Heart and working for the establishment of a feast in its honor. He explai'ns the origin, progress, and nature of the devotion ~and the excellence of its object and end. He goes on to the interior and exterior workshop of the Sa.cred Heart and to the devotion, feasts, office, and pictures of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary together. He is a theologian of the Sacred Heart. Bainvel, J. V., S.J.Devotion to the Sacred Heart. The Doctrine and Its History. Translated from the Fifth French Edition by E. Leahy. Edited by Reverend George O'Neill, S.J., M.A. Burns Oates and Washbourne, Ltd., London. 1924. This is a classi-cal exposition of the devotion to the Sacred Heart, written by a learned scholar and theologian. He ~first )resentg the devotion as revealed by the Sacred Heart in the great apparitidn.s to St. Margaret Mary, then explains the practices, spirit, and promises: There fol-low. doctrinal explanations on the meaning and object of the de-votion, its historical, dogmatic, and philosophical foundations, and on love as its speciaI act. Its historical development from the be-ginnings through the middle ages to early modern times is given, and the new impetus given by St. Margaret Mary. For the most recent and crowning glory given the devotion by the Holy Father Pius XI we go to a more recent book. McGratty. Arthur R., S.J. The Sacred Heart Yesterday and Today. Benziger. Chicago. 1951. This is the more receht book, written by the national director of the Apostleship of Prayer. It gives the nature of the dbvotion and its bistory tbrou~b tbe Re-formation. After a chapter on St. John Eudes; it explains the de-votion as given to St. Margaret 'Mary in the great app.aritions, Blessed Claude de la Colombiere's connection with it, and the Sac-red Heart Badge. After the defeat of Jansenism and the nineteenth-century advance, we come to the times of Leo XIII and Plus X[ when the whole world is consecrated to the Sacred Hoart and de- ;;;Orion to ti4e Sacred He'art has become the world'~ d'~votidn. At the. end of the book is a select bibliography which wiilriehly sup-plement the meager one given here. 151 For Your Informal:ion Shadowbrook Fire Three priests and a lay brother died in a fire which destroyed Shadowbrook, the 3esuit novitiate and juniorate at Lenox, Mass., in the early morning of March i0. The victims were Fathers Stephen A. Mulcahy, Henry B. Muollo, Arthur B. Tribble, and Brother Henry A. Perry. Among six who were hospitalized with burns and other injuries was Father 3ohn R. Post, master of novices and one of our consistent contributors. The more than one hundred novices and juniors have since been "adopted" temporarily by the Jesuit novitiates in neighboring provinces. Plans for a new Shadowbrook are already under way. Revised Hospital Directives A second, and revised, edition of Ethical and Religious Directioes for Catholic Hospitals was recently published by the Catholic Hos-pital Association of the United States and Canada. The revision in-cludes not only clarification of a few somewhat obscure provisions of the first edition but also new matter concerning professional sec-recy, experimentation, ghost surgery, psychotherapy, shock-therapy, unnecessary procedures, and the spiritual care of non-Catholics. An appendix contains abundant reference material, with apt references to recent statements of the Holy See. There is also a detailed alpha-betical index. An especially useful aspect of the revised edition is that the individual directives are numbered consecutively, thus fa-cilitating reference to the booklet. The price per copy is 25 cents; quantity prices are available. A set of six booklets, including the Directioes and five small volumes of Medico-Moral Problems by Gerald Kelly, S.J., can be obtained for $2.50. Order from: The Catholic Hospital Association, 1438 South Grand Blvd., St. Louis 4, ¯ Missouri. Franciscan Poems The Franciscan Institute, St. Bonaventure, N. Y., has just pub-lished Where Caius Is, a small book of poems by Sister Mary Francis, P.C., who wrote the article on St. Thomas Aquinas, "The Silence and the Song," published in REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, March, 1955. Sister Mary Francis has also published two plays, Counted as Mine and Candle in Umbria, and a smaller book of poems entitled Whom I Have Loved. The new book (Where Caius Is) may be obtained From the Franciscan Institute or from: Rev. Mother M. Immaculata, P.C., Poor Clare Monastery of O.L. of Guadalupe, Route 1, Box 152 FOR YOUR INFORMATION 285-C, Roswell, New Mexico. Price: $1.75. Vocation Insfifutes The tenth annual Vocation Institute will be held at the Uni-versity of Notre Dame, July 12-15. For information, write .to: Rev. John J. Doherty, C.S.C., the Vocation Instituge, Notre Dame, Indiana. On July 25-26, the sixth annual Institute on Religious and Sacerdotal Vocations will be held on the campus of Fordham Uni-versity. Priests, religious, and laity are invited to attend. A special week-long workshop for mistresses of novices is also planned. Ad-dress all communications to: Rev. John F. Gilson, S.J., Fordham University, New York 58, N. Y. Summer Sessions Special courses in the sacred sciences will be offered for religious this summer at St. Bonaventure University. These courses (includ-ing dogma, moral theology, liturgy, ascetics, Sacred Scripture, etc.) will be designed to assist the teacher of religion on the college, high-school, and grade-school level. A course in canon law for religious superiors and directors of religious vocations will include the teach-ing of the Church regarding the reception and profession of religious, the government of religious communities, privileges and obligations of religious. Sisters of Franciscan communities will have the oppor-tunity of taking classes in Franciscan theology and spirituality. Registration will be on June 30. All graduate courses lead to the master's degree. Those who are not qualified for degrees may ob-tain a certificate in theolbgy provided they fulfill the other require-ments. For additional information, write to: Director of Summer School of Theology, St. Bonaventure, N. Y. In its summer session of June 18-July 27, St. Louis University will pioneer in the United States in presenting Kerygmatic Theology as academic courses. Father J. Hofinger, S.J., a noted lecturer in this "new" theology, will teach tWO classes (both 3 credit-hour courses), one on basic doctrine, the other on method and discussion. Other standard religion courses will also be offered. For further informa-tion on this and other summer sessions, write to: Director of the Summer Sessions, St. Louis Uniyersity, St. Louis 3, Missouri. The Creighton University continues with its cycle of graduate-level courses in theology for religious. The offerings this summer include courses on the Incarnation and Redemption, on the New Testament and St. Paul, on principles of moral guidance, and on 153 FOR YOUR INFORMATION Review for Religious fundamental theology. Six h6urs of advanced nursing will be available. Besides these and the standard summer-session courses, there will be many workshops. For the workshop on liturgical music in conjunction with Boys Town, see below. Creight6n'~s summer faculty includes several religious as guest lecturers: from the Bene-dictines, Dominicans, Franciscans, Sisters of Charity of the B.V.M., Sisters of the Humility of Mary, and the Servants of Mary. For a complete list of the workshops and for other information, write to: Director of the Summer Session, Creighton University, Omaha 2, Nebraska. Boys Town will hold its fourth annual workshop in liturgical music, under the director of inusic, Father Francis P. Schmitt. The dates are August 20-31, inclusive. This two-week workshop will include a survey of liturgy and liturgical music, reading and per-formance of materials and chant, polyphonic and modern liturgical music. Rich library facilities and extensive consultant service will be provided. Boys Town conducts this workshop in conjunction with the Creighton University, thus offering an opportunity to quali-fied persons to earn three college credits. Address all inquiries to: Rev. Francis P. Schmitt, Director of Music, Boys Town, Nebraska. A summer school in theology for religious will be;held at the University of Ottawa, July 2--August 7. Courses this year will be on the Triune God, the sacraments, creation and providence, and the Christian virtues. For detailed information, write to: Director of the Summer Scho61, University of Ottawa, Ottawa 2, Canada. The Institute of Theology for Religious Wc~men, offered in co-operation with the. Dominican Fathers, will be held in Immaculata College, Iha~actilata, Pennsylvania, June 27--TAugust 8. A pro-gram of four summer sessions" leads to a certificate in Thomistic Theology, Sacred Scripture, and Canon Law. The presqribed courses in the realm 6f'sacred sciences furnish an excellent background for religious teache~[ " Summer of 1956--the first and ~econd year pro-grams will beoffered.Residence facilities will be available. For further information address: The Director of Summ~'r Session, Im-macfilata Col.lege, Immaculata, Pennsylvania. MidnigM" Mass on Christmas in Religious and P!ous. Houses Can. 821, § 3, ~eads: "But in all religious houses and pious homes,"if "they have an oratory with the right of ~habitual reserva-tion. of the Most Blessed~Eucharist, on Christmas.night one priest may celebrate"the:three Masses of the liturgy.or,, observing the usual 154 Ma~!, 1956 FOR YOUR .|NFORMATION regulations, a single Mass, at which all present can satisfy their obligation of hearing .Mass, and at which the priest may distribute Holy Communion to those who request it." 1. Admitted interpretation in the past. The privilegeof having such Masses is granted by the Code of Canon Law, and no further permission of ecclesiastical authority is required for its use; The privilege extends to all religious houses, formal or non-formal, of any religious institute, whether an order or a congregation, exempt or non-exempt, clerical or lay, pontifical or diocesan, of men or women, and likewise to all houses of societies living in common without public vows and to those of secular institutes. The privi-lege applies equally to all piou~ homes. These areinstitutions de-voted to pious works, especially of mercy and charity, e.g., hospitals, orphanages, homes for the aged, schools, seminaries. Prisons are also included, since the chaplain devotes himself to ~he reform and rehabilitation of the inmates. It is not necessary that these insti-tutions be directed by or depend strictly on ecclesiastical authority nor that they be in the care of religious. The oratory of habitual reservation of the Blessed Sacrament may be semipublic or public. One, two, or three Masses may be celebrated, but by the one priest. Mass may be begun at any time after, but not before, midnight. 2. PractiCal poir~t that was doubtful in the past. On Novem-o bet 26, 1908, the Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office declared that it was not permitted to celebrate such Masses "with the doors of the oratory open." This restriction was not included in can. 821~ ~ 3, and both canonists and moralists have disagreed as to whether the restridtion remained in force after the Code of Canon Law became effective on May 19, 1918. The restriction forbade the admission (;f .tb.e general public but not of a small number of externs nor of invited guests. :.:. 3. Autboritatit~e solution of the doubt. An. apostolic nuncio submitted, the.following q.uestion-to the Pontifical Commission for. the Interpretation of the Code of Canon Law: "After the promul-gation of the CodeofCanon Law, does the declaration .of the Holy OffiCe ~f November. 26, -1908, " .oncerning the first question [cele-. brating with,the doors, open] remain .always .valid with regard to. the use of the faculty authorized by can. 821, § 3;. and if in the. ~ffirmative~ does this imply, the exclusion, of externs from,assistance at: the midnight .Mass bn Christmas?.': His. Eminerice~. th~:;late.Car-. 155 QUESTIONS AND'ANSWERS Review for Religious dinal Massimo Massimi, then president of the Commission, gave the following interpretation on March 5, 1954, Prot. N. 1/54: "One cannot see how it can be maintained that in the sacred func-" tions of which the aforesaid canon speaks externs may not be ad-mitted and still less that the doors may not be kept open, since there is no trace of such a prohibition in this same canon which regulates the matter." This reply, although not as yet officially promulgated, is to be considered as authentic, general, and merely declarative of the sense of the canon, as is obvious from the words of the reply. There-fore, it is now certain that canon law places no restriction whatever on the admission of externs to the Masses in question. Cf. Ochoa, Commentarium Pro Religiosis, 33 ( 1954), 329-52 ; Bergh, Nouvelle Reoue Tb~ologique, 77 (1955), 188-90; Revue des Communaut~s Religieuses, 27 (1955), 111-13; La Vie des Communaut~s Re-ligieuses, 13 (1955), 263-64. ( ues ions and Answers ml7-- Is the quinquennial Repod" fo the Holy See due in 19567 Father Ellis explained this report in the REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, 8 (1949), 234-40; 10 (1951), 20-24. The following is a sum-mary of his articles. 1. Who must make this report in 19567 All congregations of brothers; all superiors general of religious institutes of women in all the countries of North, Central, and South America; and the higher superioresses of independent monasteries or houses of the same countries. The superioresses general of societies of common life, sec-ular institutes, and confederations throughout the world will dis-charge this obligatibn in 1957. 2.Lan. guage in which the report is to be ~vritten. Brothers and religious women may use the vernacular, that is, English, French, German, Italian, or Spanish. 3. May it be typed? The report should be typed if at all pos-sible. If written by hand, the handwriting must be clear and good ink used. Good bond paper, not too heavy, and not translucent should be used. 4. Merely number question. Merely put the number of the question before the answer; db not repeat the question before the 156 Maq, 1956 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS answer. 5.Method of a~swering. Answer the questions with a complete sentence, not with a mere "yes" or "no." . 6. Time of handing in. The report may be handed in any time .during 1956, but it should cover the five-year period from ! 9.51-55, inclusive. 7. Signing the report. The superior general and all the general councilors must sign the report. 8. To wbbm t's report sent? After it has been authenticated b~r the signature of the local ordinary of the mother house, the rep0rt is sent by pontifical institutes directly-to the Rev. Segretario, S.Con: gregazione dei Religiosi, Palazzo delIe Congregazioni, Piazza S. Cal-listo, Roma, Italia. All diocesan institutes and independent monas-terles and houses.are to send their report to the local ordinary of their motlqer house. When he has read it, he will add his comments and S~fid the report to the S. Congregation of Religious. If the diocesan congregation has houses in other dioceses, the local ordinary of the mother house must send copies of the report to these, local-ordinaries and, after receiving their comments, add them to his own before se.nding the report to the S. Congregation. " 9. Where ma~. copies of tbb"report be obtained? Copies may be o~Dined fo, r $1.50 from the Rev. Ar.chlvlsta, S. Congregazmne Rel!giosi, e.tc., as above in n. 8. The questions for pontifical insti-i: utds' are obtainable from this source in Latin, English, French, Ger-man, Italian, and Spanis.h; those for diocesan in'stitu'tes and inde-p~ endent monasteries' and houses only in Latin. 10. In what other sources can.the, r~;vort be found? T'he report for pontifical institutes is found in English in the REVIEW FOR RE-LIGIOUS, 9 (.1950), 52-56: 108-12; 166-68; 209-24; 269-79, and also in'B0uscaren, Canon Law Digest, III, 162-203. The re-port for diocesan institutes in English is found in Creusen, Religious Men and Women in the Code, 5th ed., 278-316, and in French in "La Vie des Communaut& Religieuses, .8. (1950), 257-88. The re-port for .independent monasteries.and houses in E.nglish is found in {he REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, 13 (1954), 251-269, and in French in Revue des Communaut~s Retigieuses, 24 (1952), 3-16. --18- ,,We offer two Holy Communions for any deceased member of our In-stitute. However, Ihave been instructed more than once that no one can offer a Communion for ~no+her. Holy Communion as a suffrage for the. dead is a common and 157 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Re~iew ~or Religious ancient practice in religious institutes and also among the faithful in general. A Communion received for another does not effect grace in the other person ex opere operato. The intention in a Communion received as a suffrage for the dead is to obtain the deliverance of a soul from the pains of purgatory. The influence of Communion to this effect is ex opere operantis, by way of merit de congruo, im-petration,. and satisfaction, and also by the application of any in-dulgences attached to the Communion and applicable to the souls in purgatory. The fervor of prayer and its impetrhtory value are usually greater because of the reception of the Eucharist. The satisfactory value arises from the increase of divine charity effected by Communion and also because Communion contains the note of something diffi-cult and contrary to the inclination of nature. Since the union with God in Holy Communion is highly conducive to the increase of these values, it is evident that Holy Communion as a suffrage for the dead is a most commendable practice. Cf. Van Noort, De Sacra-mentis, I, n. 397; Doronzo, De Sacramentis, I, 733-35: Beraza, De Novissimis, n. 1268. Are exempf religious ob]iged ÷o say 7o Mass collecfs prescribed (ora-flones imperatae) by fhe local ordinary? All priests, diocesan or religious, even if exempt (S. R. C., 2613, ad 1; 3036, ad 5: can. 612), also if they are visiting priests and do not reside in the diocese, are obliged to say the orationes imperatae in any church or oratory, even private,, within the diocese in which it is prescribed. (Cf. J. O'Connell, The Celebration of Mass, 189; Hecht, Rubricae Generales Missalis, 48; Hebert, Lecons de Liturgie, II, 203.) The local ordinary may establish that the irnperata is to be omitted on more days than those stated in the rubrics. (S. R. C. Lauretana, December 14, 1927.) A pad he may also exempt places that are not exempted by the rubrics. If he has not expressly done either, these prayers are to be said according to the norms of the rubrics, which are given above with regard to person and place. While the obligation is clear, it is also a fact that at least very many priests find the orationes imperatae of prolonged duration highly monotonous, annoying, and a complicating factor in Mass. It is frequently stated by commentators that in the spirit o~ the General Decree on the Simplification of the Rubrics of March 23, 1955, orationes imperatae should now be prescribed less frequently and for lesser periods of time. A quick analysis of the general de-cree will reveal that a prolonged imperata is not in keeping With the 158 Ma~ , 1956 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS evident purposes of the decree of decreasing ~omplications, reducing the number of prayers, of lessening monotony, and eliminating ex-traneous elements in both the Mass and the Divine Office. A prolonged oratio imperata pro re gravi also loses its nature of a special petition. 20 In our concjrecjafion no one makes a will. Aren't we oblicjed by canon law to make wills? This is a case of disturbed and even disturbing ignorance of canon law. A will is a disposition in whole or in part of the property that one will own at death by an act that is revocable until death and effective only at death. All novices in all congregations and also in monasteries of nuns of only simp.le vows, whether they actually own property or not, before their first profession and consequently in the last weeks (about the last month) of the noviceship, must make a will for all property that they then actually own and that they may own in the future. If for any reason the will was not made during the noviceship, it is to be made after first profession and as soon as possible. Those who made profession before the Code of Canon Law (May 19, 1918) are not obliged to make a will. At least .if they actually own property, they are to be most strongly urged to do so. The subject is perfectly free in the determination of the dis-positions of the will. Novices in orders (institutes of solemn vows) are not obliged to make a will, but they may do so. They also are to be strongly urged to make a will, at least if they actually own property and especially if the interval between the noviceship and solemn pro-fession is very long. A novice destined for only simple perpetual vows in an order should make a will. The will of novices destined for the solemn or an equivalent simple vow of poverty will be ef-fective only if they die before taking such a vow, since the solemn profession takes away all property rights. The will is to be made even if the novice does not actually own property, i. e., he is then to make the will only for property that he may acquire in the future. Even if they are under age and their wills are invalid by civil law, the novices are to make a will, which will oblige by canon law and in conscience. When they reach the requisite age, they are to make ,the will in a form that is civilly valid: but they are not to change the dispositions without the necessary permission. It is illicit but not invalid to change the dispositions of a will without the permission ordinarily of. the Holy See; but, if the case 159 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Review for Religious is urgent and" there is no time for recourse to the Holy See, without the permission of a higher superior; and, if recourse cannot be made to a higher superior, without that.ofthe local superior. A novice made his temporary profession on August 18, 1953. May he make his perpetual profession on August IS, 19S6, when all the others of his group will be making their perpetual vows.'? If .he does, his perpetual profession, whether solemn or simple, will be .certainly and evidently invalid. Canon law demands three ,full years of temporary vows for the validity of any perpetual pro-fession.~ The time in this case expirep on the anniversary day (August 18, 1953-August 18,¯ 1956). The time in this and all of the fol-lowing cases is computed physically, mathematically, not morally. Therefore, if the perpetual profession in the preceding case is made on August 17 and only an hour or only a minute is lacking to August 18, the perpetual profession is certainly and evidently invalid. ¯ The. time is completed on the day" following in these cases, in all of which the duration is required for validity: the complete year required for the validity of the noviceship (August 1~4, 1955-August 15, 1956) ; 'the fifteen complete years of age required for the validity of the canonical year of no,ciceship (~August 14, 1941-August 15, 1956); the sixteen required for any temporary profession (August 14, 1940-August 15, 1956); the twenty-one for perpetual profes-sion, whether solemn or simple (August 14, 1935-August 15, 19~6) ; the forty required for a superior or superioress general and for a superioress of a monastery of nuns (August 14, 1916-August 15, 1956) ; the thirty for other higher superiors (August 14, 1926- August 15, 1956); the ten complete years from first profession re-quired for any higher superior (August 14, 1946-August 15, 1956). The following are computed in the same way as in the preced-ing paragraph but are required only for liceity: the postulancy (Feb-ruary 14, 1956-August 15, 1956) ; the thirty-five years of age usu-ally required by the constitutions for general officials and" demanded by the Code for'the master or mistress of novices (August 14, 1921- August 15, 1956); the thirty years commonly required by the con-stitutions for local superiors and demanded by the Code for the as-sistant master or mistress of novices (August 14, 1926- August 15., 1956); the ten years from first profession required by the Code for the master or mistress of novices (August 14, 1946-August 15, t956) and the five years also demanded by the Code for the assistant master or mistress of novices (August 14, 1951-August 15, 1956). 160 Mar , 195~ QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Unless the particular law of the institute states otherwise, a noviceship of two years is completed on the second anniversary (August 15, 1954-August. 15, 1956). The'same principle is true ofa noviceship of eighteen months. When the constitutions demand a greater duration than that required by the Code for validity, this added duration is prescribed only for liceity unless the constitutions certainly state that it is necessary for validity. This principle is true of a noviceship of eighteen months or two years, of temporary vows prescribed for four, five, or six years, of a greater age for the profes-sions, for the office of higher superior, or of added years of profession demanded for this same office~ For example, can. 504 requires that the provincial have completed his thirtieth year for the validity of his appointment or election. If the constitutions demand thirty-five years of age, the added five years are required only for liceity. Time is especially to be .watched with regard to the noviceship and temporary profession. The first canonical maxim of the novice-ship is that an invalid noviceship renders any subsequent profession invalid. The first canonical maxim of temporary profession is that a temporary profession of less than three full years renders the per-petual profession invalid. The first canonical maxim of all these cases of time is that time is computed physically, mathematically, not morally. A candidate appl!ed for our institute who had been born of a mixed marriacje and baptized a Catholic in'infancy. The Catholic parent died durincj his infancy, and he was then broucjht up ,~s an Episcopalian. lie was converted to the Catholic Church'at tfi~ ~.cje of fifteen. Is he af-~ fected by the impediment of, "those who have renounced the C;atholio faith and joined a non-C:atholie sect (c. 542; '1 o)?. An impediment is to be strictly interpreted, i. e., its extension is to be confined to the narrowest sense possible within the proper meaning of the wording of the law (c 19).'Therefore, those bap-tized as Catholics, whether their parents were Catholics or non- Catholics, but brought up from irlfar~cy in heresy, schism, infidelity, or without any religion and who were later converted to the Cath-olic Church are not included in this impediment of can. 542, 1", which demands that the subject have. knowi.~gt~ pro~fessed the Cath-