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A major problem in the transition countries of Europe and Central Asia (ECA) during the transition was the breakdown of the relationships of farms with input suppliers and output markets. The simultaneous privatization and restructuring of the farms and of the up- and downstream companies in the agrifood chain has caused major disruptions. The result is that many farms and rural households face serious constraints in accessing essential inputs (feed, fertilizer, seeds, capital, etc.) and in selling their products. The problems are worsened by the lack of public institutions necessary to support market-based transactions, such as for enforcing property rights and contractual agreements. The objective of the study is to analyze Vertical Coordination (VC) in agrifood supply chains in ECA and to identify options for improved policies, institutions, and investments which Governments could make, and which the World Bank could support, in order to improve links in the agricultural marketing and processing chain and increase access of farmers to input and output markets. This is especially important in those countries where contractual arrangements are slow to develop. It is also important if farmers are to be lifted out of subsistence farming and into a modern agrifood economy.

The Philippines has made significant progress in empowering women and in advancing gender equality. The government's policy on gender equality and women's empowerment has prioritized women's economic empowerment, advancing human rights and enhancing gender-responsive local governance. All these priority concerns are integral components of poverty reduction programs in the Philippines. The Philippines has made significant progress in empowering women and in advancing gender equality. Since the government introduced a constitution in 1987 affirming the equality of women, it has pursued a number of initiatives to mainstream gender concerns in national policies and programs. A development plan for women was launched in 1987, followed by a plan for gender-responsive development, 1995-2025, coordinated by the National Commission on the Role of Filipino women. In 2004, the commission drafted a framework plan for women that identify three priority concerns to meet the objectives of gender equality and women's empowerment: economic empowerment of women, protection and fulfillment of women's human rights, and gender-responsive governance. Projects that support these priorities will facilitate more equitable development across the Philippines, including supporting the full participation of women in political processes and governance in the international and national local level, strengthening gender-sensitive and inclusive programs and mechanisms with civil society, and increasing women's access to economic resources such as capital, technology, information, markets, and training.

This paper attempts to use network theory, drawn from recent work in sociology, engineering, and biological systems, to suggest that the current crisis should be viewed as a network crisis. The author surveys the concepts of networks, their defining characteristics, applications to financial markets, and the need for supervision and implications for national and global governance. Then, author briefly examines the current financial crisis in the light of the network analysis and surveys the recent reforms in financial regulation and architecture. The paper concludes with an analysis of the policy implications of network analysis.

Many analysts consider that lack of security is a major obstacle to growth in Colombia. This paper identifies a structural downturn in economic growth-of nearly two percentage points per year-as a result of the increase in illicit crops and crime rates after 1980. A decline in total factor productivity has been the key channel linking crime and economic growth. Political upheavals and high levels of inequality and poverty motivated the adoption of a new constitution in 1991. The constitution mandated additional fiscal expenditures to curb social tensions. Major progress has been made in terms of public safety and, to a lesser extent, in the provision of health and education. However, long?run growth will continue to be constrained by inadequate transport infrastructure and low international trade volumes.

This article reviews the main issues of regulating and supervising banks in emerging markets with a view toward evaluating the long-run options. Particular attention is paid to Latin America and East Asia. These economies face a severe policy commitment problem that leads to excessive bailouts and potential devaluation of claims of foreign investors. This exacerbates moral hazard and makes a case for importing external discipline (for example, acquiring foreign short-term debt). However, external discipline may come at the cost of excessive liquidation of entrepreneurial projects. The article reviews the tradeoffs imposed by external discipline and examines various arrangements, such as narrow banking, foreign banks and foreign regulation, and the potential role for an international agency or international lender of last resort.

Issue 10.3 of the Review for Religious, 1951. ; Blesssed Claude Colombiere and Devotion !:he Sacre bleart: C. A. Herbst, S.d. 44~rHIS is he whom. I send thee." Margaret Mary heard these | words interiorly as she sat listening to the first instruction Father Claude de la Colombi~re gave the Visitandine com-munity at Paray-le-Monial towards the end of February, 1675. Here was the fulfillment of a promise. Our Lord had appeared many times, asking her to promote devotion to His Sacred Heart. Over-whelmed at the thought, "My sovereign Master had promised me shortly after I had consecrated myself to Him that He would send: me one of His servants, to whom He wished me to make known'. according to the knowledge He would give me thereof, all the treas-ures and secrets of His Sacred Heart which He had confided to.me. H~ added that He sent him to reassure me with regard to my interior way, and that He would impart to him signal graces from His Sacred Heart, showering them abundantly over our interviews." (Autobiography of St. Margaret Mary, .Visitation Library, 1930. No. 80.) That the Sacred Heart, the heart of Margaret Mary, and the heart of the young Jesuit should be united in love, Our Lord. showed the Saint in a vision. "As I went up to receive Him in Holy Com-munion, He showed His Sacred Heart as a burning furnace, and two 6ther hearts were on the point of uniting themselves to It, and of being absorbed therein. At the same time He said to me: 'It is thus My pure love unites these three hearts for ever.' He afterwards gave me to understand that this union was all for the glory of Hi,s Sacred Heart, the"treasures of Which He wished me to reveal to him that he might spread them abroad, and make known to others their value and utility. To this end He wished we should be brother and sister, sharing equally these spiritual treasures." (Ibid., No. 82.) The Extraordinary Confessor "'So it was according to a very special providence of God that Father Colombi~re was appointed superior of the small Jesuit com-munity in Paray ~arly in 1675. Our Lord wanted him to bethe sympathetic, enlightened, and fearless director of Margaret Mary and 1'13 C. A. HERBST Review for Religious the first public promoter of devotion to His Sacred Heart. Named extraordinary confessor to the convent, he came on the Lenten Ember Days towards the beginn{ng of March, .1675. Margaret Mary herself relatds what took place on that occasion. "Although .we had never either seen or spoken with each other, the Reverend Father kept me a very long time and spoke with me as though he understood what was passing within me. But I would not in any way ope, n my heart to him just then, and, seeing that I wished to withdraw for fear of. inconveniencing the community, he asked me if I would allow him to come and speak with me again in tl~is same place~ But in my natural timidity which shrank from all such communications, I re- .plied that, not being~ at my own disposal, I would dO whatever obedience ordered me. I'then withdrew having remained with him about an hour and a half." (Ibid., No. 80.) She was still timid, uncertain, afraid. But shortly after, her superior, M~re de Saumaise, "having had him return, ordered our virtuous sister to talk to him, in order to reassure herself as to what was taking place in her" (Gauthey, Vie et Oeuores, ~i, 133). Mar-garet Mary continues: "Before long he again returned, and although I kn~w it to be the Will of God that I should speak with him,, I nevertheless felt an extreme repugnance to be oblig(d.to do so. I'told him so at once. He replied that"he was very pleased to have given me an opportunity of making a sacrifice to God. Then, without trouble~or method, I opened my heart and made known to him my inmost soul, both the good and bad; ,whereupon he greatly consoled me, ~issuring me that there was nothing to fear in, the guidafice~of that Spirit, since It did not withdraw me from obedience; that I ought to follow Its movements, abandoning to It my whole being, sacrificing arid :imhaol~i~ myself according to Its good pleasure . Having mentioned some of the more special favors and .expressions of love which I received from this Beloved of my soul, arid which I refrain from describing here, he said that ~n all ~his, I had great cause to humble .myself and to admire the mercy of God in my regard." (Autobio~rapby~ No. 81.) First Dis'closure This was the first time she had ever told anyone of the revela-tions of the Sacred Heart to her. "I assure you," .she wrote later, "that it was to this good Father that I made the first disclosure. My sovereigri Master ordered m~ to do so. He showered on him on this 114 ' Mag, 1951 BLESSED CLAUDE COLOMBII~RE occasion more graces than He had ever given him before." (Vie et Oeuvres, II, 543.) ~ But humiliations came, too. "The Reverend Father himself had much to suffer on my account. For it was said that I wanted to deceive him and mislead him by my illusions, as I had done others. He was, however, in no way troubled by what was said. but con-tinued none the less to help me, not Only during the short time he remained in this town, but always. Many a time I have been sur-prised that he did not abandon me as others had done, for the way in which I acted towards him v~ould have repulsed any other." (Autobiography, No. 81.) Here indeed was put to the test the promise ~he had made to God of never doing or omitting through human respect anything that he thought to be' for the glory of God. Behold This Heart In June, 1675. during the octave of Corpt~s Christi, Our Lord made the last great revelation of His Sacred Heart to Margaret Mary. "Behold this Heart, Which has loved men so much. that It has spared nothing, even to exhhusting and consuming Itself, in 6rder to testify to ~hem Its love: and in return I receive from the greater ~number nothing but i.ngrati~ude by reason of their irreverence and sacrileges, and by the coldness and contempt which they show Me in this Sacrament of Love. But yghat I feel-the mo~t keenly is that it is hearts which are consecrated to Me that treat Me thus. Therefore, I ask of thee that the Friday after the Octave of Corpus Christi be set apart for a special Feast to honour My Heart, by communikating on that day and making reparation to It by a solemn act, in order to make amends for the indignities which It has received during thb tim~, It has been e~posed on the altars. I promise thee that My Heart shall expand Itself to shed in abundance the influence of Its divine love upon those who Shall thus honour It, and cause It to be honoured." (Autobiography, No. 92.) Here was a clear statement, a bitter complaint, a definite and manifold request,-and a rich promise., And yet, what could a poor timid young nun in the cloister do about it? "'And when I replied that I knew not bow to accomplish what He bad so long desired of me, He told me to address, myself to His servant, .Wh, om He had sent me for the accomplishment of this design. Having done this, he (Father de la Colombi~re)~ ordered me to commit to writing all that I had .made known to him concerning "the Sacred Heart of Jesus, as well as several other thing,s.~whicb referred to It for the greater glory C. A. HERBST Review for Religious of God. This Was a cause of great ~omfor~ to me, as this holy man not only taught me how to correspond to His designs, but also reas-sured me in the great fear I had of being deceived which was a con-stant trouble to me."' (Ibid., No. 92.) The Guide for Falterin~l Steps So Father Colombi~re was ~be answer. He would guide her fab tering steps.and encourage her. T, he Life by' her contemporaries ex-pands the" narrative. "Address yourself to My servant, Father de la Colombi~re, Jesuit, and tell him for Me that he should do all in his power to establish this devotion and give this pleasure to My divine Heart. Let him not be discouraged by the difficulties he will en-counter, for they will not be wanting. But he should know that he is all-powerful who, putting off confidence in self, trusts i,mplicitly in Me." (Vie et Oeuvres, I, 138, 13.9.) It takes great courage and great spiritual insight to guide a mystic soul, especially when a riew devotion is to be introduced into the world through this soul. But "Father de la Colombi~re was a man of fine discernment. 'He was riot a man to g!ve credence to anything easily. But he had too striking proofs of the solid virtue of the per-son who was speaking to him to have the slightest fear of delusion in this matter. He accordingly took' up at once the ministry whikh God had just committed to him. In order to acquit himself of it effectively and perfectly, be decided to begin with himself. He ac-cordingly consecrated himself (together with Margaret Mary and only~ a few days aft+r the great apparition) completely to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. He offered It everything in himself he thought capable of honoring an'd pleasing It. The extraordinary graces Which he received from this practice soon confirmed him in the esteem which he already bad of tbeimp6rtance and solidity of this devotion." (Ibid.) These Three Hearts Thus it was that "My pure love t~nites these three hearts for ever." M~rgaret Mary and Father Colombi~re bad truly become "brother and sister, sharing equally these spiritual treasures." But he must spread tl~e fire, too, as much as his little world and the 'short time allowed. "Though. he remained but a short time in the town, he never ceased inculcating this devotion in all his spiritual daugh-ters. He had them receive holy Communion in honor of the Sacred Heart on the Friday after the Octave of Corpus Christ." (Ibid., 116 Ma~l, 1951 BLESSED CLAUDE COLOMBII~RE 138, 139.) His apostola~te would become more extensive in another land. Late in the summer of 1676 Father Colombi~re was sent by his sunperiors to England to be confessor to th.e eighteen-year-old Mary of Modena, Duchess of York. He 'left Paray towards the latter part of September. Naturally, Margaret Mary.could not but have a sense of foreboding and feel the loss-of him very much, but Christ's "my grace is sufficient for thee" of another day brought her the same courage and strength it did St. Paul. "I received this blow with perfe.ct submission-to the Will of God, Who had allowed him to be of such use to me during the short time he had been here. When I ventured afterwards to reflect upon my loss, my Divine Master forth-with reproved me, saying: 'What! am I not sufficient for thee, I Who am thy beginning ~and thy last end?' This sufficed to make me abandon all to Him, for I was convined that He would not fail to provide me with'everything that was necessary." (Autobiographg, No. 93.) A Threefold Warning Before leaving Paray, a note from her was handed Father Co-" lombi~re. It contained a three-fold warning from heaven for him who was truly going to be a sheep among wolves. "1. Father de la Colombi~re's talent is to lead souls to God; therefore the devils-will do all in their power against him. He will meet with trouble,~ even from persons consecrated to God, who will not approve of what he says in his sermons t"o convert them; but in these crosses the goodness of God will be his support, so .long as he continu,es to trust in Him. 2. He must have a compassionate gentleness for si~nners, and only use severe measures when especially inspired by God to do so. 3. Let him be particularly careful not to separate good,from its source. ~This sentence is shortl but contains much which God will enable him to understand according to the diligence with 'which he applies himself to find its meaning." (Sister Mary Philip,,A Jesuit at the English Court, 115.) J , He accepted this note a~ a message from heaven. Although contained almost as many mysteries as it did words," he would be shown in his London retreat during the second half of January, 1677, its immediate and immensely~practical and detailed usefulness. "Truly," he ~wrote February 7, 1677, "Our Lord left nothing more to be said. There was (in that note) saving advic@ against all the evils that could befall me" (Vie et Oeuvres, I, 142). "These were " 1 17 C. A. HERBSr Review ior Religious counsels to fit p~sent circumstances and°'remedies against thoughts and plans that were troubling me and that were Very much opposed to those of God" (Ibid.). And later: "That helped very much to steady me. For I was tempted to abandon everything for fear of an outburst which might give scandal and wound charity" (Ibid.; 143). "The'note from Sister Alacoque strengthens me very much and gives me reassurance in a thousand doubts which come to me every~day" (Ibid., 144). It is x;ery clear that a few enlightened,words from Margaret Mary were helping her director to make his soul ready to be a great apostle of the Sacred Heart. Colorobi~re's Consecration By the time his retreat of 1677 ended, Father Colombibre was prepared to give himself over' fully and solemnly to the Sacred Heart. Six months before at Paray he had consecrated himself in a simple way to that Heart.' Since then, much light and. many graces had come to him. Under the influence of these he had slowly and care-fully, determined that, from now,on~ his life would be c6mplet'ely "dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. "This offering is made' in order to honour that Divine Heart, 'the seat of all virtues, the source¯ ¯ of all blessings, and the refuge of all holy souls . In reparation 'f~r so many outrages and for such cruel ingratitude, most adorable and amiable Heart of Jesus, and to avoid as far as I can such a mis-fortune, I offer .to Thee my heart, with all its movements. I give myself entirely to Thee, and henceforth I protest most sincerely that I desire to forget myself and all that. relates to me, in order to remove any obstacle which might impede an entrance into this Divine Heart, which Thou hast the goodness to open to me, and into which I hope: to enter, to live. and die there with Thy most faithful servants, penetrated and inflamed with Thy~love. I offer to this H~art all the 'merit and all the satisfaction of all the Masses, pkayers, acts of mortification, religious practices, acts of zeal, of humility, of obedience, and of all the other virtues which I shall practise until the. last moment of my life. I do so not only to honour the Heart'of Jesus and its admirable dispositions, but I also humbly beg Him to accept the entire oblation which I make to Him, to dispose of it ,in the manner which shall please Him, and in favour of whom pleases . " (A Jesuit of the E.nglish Court; 125, 1"26.) His offering and his retreat end with a prayer to the Sacred Heart. "Sacred Heart of Jesus, teach me perfect forgetfulness of self, since 118 M a~ , 1951 BLESSED CLAUDE COLOMBII~RE , this is~the only way one can enter into Thee. Since everyth!ng.I shall do in the future will be Thine. grant that I may do nothing unworthy of Thee. Teach me what I'must do to obtain pule love for Thee. that pure love for which Thou ha~t inspired the desire in me. I feel within me a great desire of pleasing Thee and an even greater powerlessness of doing so without very special light and help. These I can obtain only from Thee. Do all Thy will in me. 0 Lord. I well know that I oppose,It, but I'earnestl~ desire not to do so. "Thou must do everything, divine Heart of Jesus. and oTbou alone shalt have all the glory of my sanctification if I-become holy. That appears to me as clear as day. All this will. bring gr~at glory to Thee, and it is for that alone that I desire to be perfect.Amen." (A. Haman, Histoire de la D~votion au Sacr~ Coeur, III. 296) The apostle was now immolated to the most Sacred Heart of Jesus. The apostle at once set to work. He wrote from London soon after: "I knew that God wanted me to serve Him by obtaining the accomplisbment of His designs with regard to the devotion which He has revealed to a person He communicates with very intimately. For this it has pleased Him to make use of my weakness. I have alreadY, inspired many people in England with it. I have also written of it to France and asked one of my friends to spread it in the place where he is. This devotion will be very useful there, and the great number of chosen souls in this community leads me to think that its practke in that fervent house will be very pleasing to God." (Georges Guit-ton, Le Bienbeureux Claude La Co[ombi~re, 444.) First Sermon on Sacred Heart March 24, 1677, the third Wednesday of. Lent and th%~ve, of the feast of the Annunciation, Father Colombi~re thought the hour bad come for him to speak publicly of devotion to the Sacre, d Heart, In his sermon, On .the Patience of Jesus'Suffering, he invited his hearers in St. James palace: "Let.us enter into the Heart of the Son of God and see what are Its sentiments with regard to His enemies. .They are sentiments of indescribable sweetness. Note their various degrees and effects. All He suffers from His persecutors does not pre-vent Him from excusing them. He knows they are acting through ignorance, and no matter how great .their envy, human respect, self interest, barred, pride, injustice, and the intensity of their wrath, this Heart, full of goodness, is eager rather to excuse and diminish the 'gravity oftheir sin than to make them more guilty . .~. Jesus.not 119 C. A. HERBST Reuieto for Religious only excuses His executioners. He is moved with deep compassion for them. He bewails their blindness and the evils they are drawing on themselves. - He says in His Hearti 'If thou didst but. know in this thy day the things that are to thy peace.' He knows that the evils that befall Him are scarcely evils'at all compared with theirs. 'Weep not over Me ' Jesus is moved with love for His enemies. , He feels a real and efficacious compassion for them. He prays for them, He suffers for them, He suffers for them with tenderness. He wishes to save them, and He does so. His prayer, is not in vain. These same souls are the ones converted by the sermon of St. Peter . Let the Heart of Jesus be our teacher, our school. Let us make our abode in this Heart during this Lent. Let us study Its every movement and endeavor to conform ours to them. Yes, divine Jesus, i want to live in this Heart. I want to pour all my bitterness into It. TlSere it will be consumed. I do not fear that impatience will attack me in this place Of refuge. There in perfect security I shall exercise myself in.silence, in resignation to the divine will, in invin-cible constancy. Every day I shall offer prayers of thanksgiving for the crosses Thou sendest me and ask Thee to give grace to those who persecute me . " (Oeuvres du R. P. Claude de la Cotombi~re, VI, '249-251.) ~ This was the first sermon ever preached on devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in its modern form. It is remarkable how it re-echoes the virtues expressly mentioned by Our Lord as characteristic of His Heart the one and only time He expressly mentions that Heart in the gospels: "Learn of me, because I am meek and humble of heart" (Matt. I 1:29). Around this same theme and these same sweet and consolii~g words ~3f Christ the Church has built one of h~r most. poPular and' practical p~rayers to th,e SaCred Heart: "Jesus, meek and humble of Heart, make my heart like unto Thine." English Queen's Request 4. Father Colombi~re remained two years in London. There he continued, in public and in private, to promote devotion to the Sacred Heart. The prime object of his zeal naturally would be his spiritual child, Mary, Duchess of York, later (1.685-1688) Queen ¯ of England as wife of James II. She was the first royal conquest for the devotion. Exiled after 1688 and living in France, ~he was the first royal personage to petition the Holy Father for the establish-ment of a solemn feast in honor of the Sacred Heart.of Jesus, for 1~20 May, 1951 BLESSED CLAUDE COLOMBII~RE which Our Lord Himself had:asked. A feast'in honor of the Sacred Heart was not granted because of the many difficulties of the times, but on March 30, 1697 "the Sacred Congregation of Rites, in response to the~urgent request of Her Most Serene Maiesty, Mary, Queen of England, has graciously grar~ted the Nuns of the ~Visitation of the Most Blessed ,Virgin of St. Francis de Sales that in their churches each. year on the Friday following the octave of Corpus Christi not only priests attached to their churches but others also coming there on this day may celebrate the Mass of the Five Wounds of Jesus Christ." His Holiness, Innocent XII, approved.this decree April 3, 1697. ( Histoire de la D~votion art Sacr~ Coeur, III, 375.) Not until 1765 was a Mass of the Sacred Heart approved. In 1856 it was extended to'the whole Church and in 1929 raised to the rank - of a feast of the first class. Accused in England of taking part in a conspiracy, the queen's chaplain was arrested and imprisoned about the middle of November, 1678, and "exiled" to France. Ill and very weak from tuberculosis and imprisonment he passed through FranCe in slow stages, arriving in Dijon about the end of January. There his old friend from Paray, M~re de Saumaise, was mistress of the Visitandine novices. He bad to address them, of course. One of them, Sister Jeanne- Madeleine Joly, wbuld one day compose the first collection of prac-tices of piety in honor of the Sacred Heart and make one .of the first images of It. He told ~this Sister: "Anyone striving to spread this devotion will do a wonderful work for the glory of God." Sojourn at Paray Early in January, 1679, he had order0d Margaret Mary by letter to make to the Sacred Heart "a testament or donation without re-serve, in writing, of all that she could do or suffer, of all the prayers and spiritual goods anyone should offer for her during her life and after her ,death" (Vie et Oettt;res, I, 172). Father Colombi~re himsclf was to sign this if her superior refused. Towards the end Of Febru-ary he appeared in Paray in person, and spent ten' happy and fruit-ful days there, reassuring Margaret Mary and her new superior, M~re Greyfi~, with regard to the revelations of the Sac~ed Heart. When he arrived at Lyons March 23, he wrote "Our Lord taught me some days ago to make Him a sacrifice even greater still: to be de-termined to do nothing at all, if that be His will." While. taking his native air in the country at Saint-Symphorien ,121 C;. A. HERBST Review/:or Religious he wrote, as June 1, I679, feast of ~Corpus Christi, approached, to the superioress of the Visitation at.CharoHes: "I am writing you today only to urge you to have your whole commuhity~ make a special Communion, the day after the octave of Corpus Christi, not for my intention, but to make reparation, as far as lies in your power, for all the irreverences committed a.gainst Jesus Christ d_uring the whole octave He is exposed on our altars throughout the Chris-tian world. I assure you that this manifestation of love will draw down great blessings upon you. I advise you to continue this prac-tice all your life." (Le Bienheureux Claude La Colombi&e. 624.) He had hardly returned to Lyons at the end of May when he wrote his sister Elizabeth: "This practice was recommended to me by a persom of extraordinary piety. She assured me that all,those who ,gave Our Lord this mark of love would draw great profit" from it, Try gently to draw your friends to do the same thing. I'hope more communities will begin this devotion this year and continue it . always." (Ibid.) 'His Stairi~ual Son, Father Galliffet Somewhat recovered," Father Colombi~re was made spiritual father to some sixteen young Jesuits studying at Lyons during the two scholastic years 1679-1681. In one of these, Joseph de Galliffet. he,was to llve again. This man's great spiritul influence, knowledge of tbeolbgy, and gentle persevering way in spreading devotion to the Sacred Heart were to overcome many an obstacle put in its way. Half a century later, in the preface to his book, The Excellence of the Devotion to the Adorable Heart of Jesus Christ, he wrote: "In 1680, on leaving the noviciate, I had the good fortune of coming under the spiritual direction of Reverend Father Claude la Colombi~re, the director God had given Mother Margaret, then still living. It is from this servant of God that 'I received my first instructions on the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ. I began then to appre-ciate and love it." F~ther Galliffet's book, still a classic on dev, otion to the Sacred Heart, is the voice of Father Colombi~re coming down to us through the years. He was removed from Lyons, very ill and weak, to Pa.ray in August, 1681. Naturally, he communicated with Margaret Mary. About November first.he writes: "Our Lord told her that, if I were well, I would glorify Him by my zeal, but that now, being ill, He is glorifying Himself in me." But Paray was no place for the sick 122 May, 1951 BLESSED CLAUDE COLOMBII~RE man either, so his brother sent a corn, fortable carriage to remove him to Vienne. It was January 29, the feast of St. Francis de Sales, a day dear to both himself and Sister Margaret. A note came from her: he should not leave Paray if he could remain without being dis-obedient. In writing he asked why: in writing he received an an answer. He stayed. Of what happened the next ten days we know nothing. Febru-ary 15, 1682,'at seven o'clock in the evening, he died of a violent hemorrhage. He was forty-two years of age, had been a Jesuit twenty-two years. At five o'clock next. morning a friend carried the news of his death to Margaret Mary. "Pray for him, and get Others to pray for him," she said. But at ten~o'clock the sarrie morning she sent a note: "Weep no longer. Pray to him. Fear nothing. He is more powerful to help you now than ~ver." Sister Margaret begged her friend to do all in her power to get back the last note she had sent Father Colombi~re. But the Jesuit :superior absolutely refused to surrender it, saying he had rather hand over all the archives of the house. To explain, he read it to her. "He has told me that it is here He wishes the sacrifice of your life," it said (Vie et Oeuores, I, 499). The Sacked Heart wanted His "faithful servant and p,erfect friend" tomremain always in Paray. The Retreat Brings Deootion to the Public The Retreat Father Colombi~re made in London in 1677 was published two years after his death. It became at once the great in-strument for promoting the devotion to the Sacred Heart, as it con-tained the great revelation "Behold this Heart . " and his act of consecration and prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. His sanctity threw a halo around the devotion Sister ,Margaret"was trying to propagate, and his words that the revelatiofl was made "to a person with whom He communicates very intimately" pointed clearly to her. To her great humiliation, the Retreat was read in the dining room at Paray, but that removed prejudice against the devotion there. She concealed herself behind the Retreat. "We found this devotion in the book of the retreat of ReverendFather Colombi~re." she.wrote, "whom everyone venerates as a saint. I do not know whether 'you know him, or if you have the book of which I am speaking. But it would give me great pleasure to send it to you." (Vie et Oeuores, IE 324, 325.) "You would scarcely believe the good effects It (th( Sacred Heart) produces in 'souls who have the good fortune to know of It through this holy man who himself was 123 C. A. HER~3ST Review for Religious altogether devoted to It and lived only to make It loved,, honored, and glorified" (1bid., 328). Devotion to the Sacred Heart "is spreading everywhere through the medium of the Retreat of Rev-erefid Father. Colombi~re (Ibid., 476). Many decades later Father de Galliffet would say of the Retreat: "It was the first means Our Lord used to make public both the .revelation and the devotion to His Sacred Heart." Colombi~re's Intercession in Heathen Father Colombi~re continues ih heaven the mission begun here on earth of propagating devotion to the Sacred Heart~ Consoling his old friend and hers in difficulties she met with in spreading the devotion, Mother Margaret wrote Mother de Saumaise: "It ought to be a great consolation to you to have so close a union with the good Father' de la Colombi~re. For by his intercession in heaven he is re-sponsible for what is being done here on earth for the glory of the Sacred Heart. Bear up courageously, therefore, under all these little contradictions." (Ibid., II., 427.) "We must address,ourselves to His faithful friend, the good Father de la Colombi~re, to whom he has given great power and to whom, so to speak, He has:handed over whatever has to do with this devotion. I assure you in confidence that-I have received great help from him, even more than when he was here on earth. For, if I am not dece!ving myself, this devotion to the Sacred Heart has made him very powerful in heaven, 9nd has raised him higher in glory than everything else he did during his whole life." (Ibid., 551.) The Society of Jesus, Father Colombi~re's order, was to have a special place in promoting devotion to the Sacred Heart. In a vision of July 2, 1688 Margaret Mary saw the Sacred Heart, the Virgin Mother, St. Francis de Sales, the Daughters of the Visitation, and Father Colombi~re. After confiding to the care of the Daughters of' Holy Mary the precious treasure of the Sacred Heart, "turning to the good Father de la Colombi~re, this mother of goodness said: 'As for you, faithful servant of my divine Son," you have a great share in this precious treasure. For if it is granted the Daughters of the. Visita-tion to know and propagate it, it is reserved to the Fathers of your Society to make its utility and value known and understood, so that all may profit by it." (Ibid., 406.) Apostle of the Sacred Heart ¯ The process for the beatification of Father Claude de la Colom-blare, of the Society of-Jesus, was begun in 1874. He was declared 124 May, 1951 BLESSED CLAUDE COLOMBII~RE Blessed in 1929. In the considered judgment of the Church he is "an outstanding champion and promoter of devotion to the most Sacred Heart of Jesus . Given as guide and master to the holy virgin, Margaret Mary Alacoque, he directed her in ,a wise and holy fashion, especially with regard to devotion,to the most august Heart of Jesus, which from the beginning had not a few adversaries. Cham-pioning and defending it, he merited to be numbered among it chief promoters and outstanding apostles." (Acta Apostolicae Sedis, 1929, 505.) Holy Church now prays: "Lord Jesus Christ, Who hast deigned to make Blessed Claude the faithful servant and outstanding lover of Thy Sacrdd Heart, grant us, through his intercession, that we may put on the virtues ~ind be inflamed with the affections of this same Sacred Heart." A prayer Sister Margaret wrote on the back of a picture of Father Claude is not so dissimilar to this. "O blessed Father Claude de la Colombi~re, I take you as my intercessor with ¯ the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ. Obtain for me from His goodness the 'grace not to resist' the designs He has on my soul, and that I may imitate perfectly the virtues of His divine Heart." (~r[e et Oeuvres,, II, 826.) BIBLIOGRAPHY Books are listed in the order in which they are cited in the article. Autobiograph'y. Life of Saint Margare~ Mary Alacoque. Written by" Herself. Translation of the Autentic French Text by the Sisters of the Visitation. Rose-lands, Walmer, Kent. Visitation Library. 1930. A small book written by Sis-ter Margaret Mary with great pain under obedience. Simple, intimate, prayerful. Gauthey, Monseigneur. Ed. Vie et Oeuvres de la Bienheureuse Marguerite Marie Alacoque. Paris. Anclenne Librairie Poussielgue. 1915. 3 volumes. Volume one contains Sister Margaret Mary's Life written by her contemporaries, documents of the process begun in 1715 for her beatification, and some minor let-ters, etc. Volume twocontains her autobiography and 140 letters written by her. Volume three contains documents concerning miracles, archives, her superiors, fam-ily and parish. The three volumes are critically edited. Philip, Sister Mary. A desuit at the English Court. London. Burns, Oates and Washbourne. 1922. An excellent and very readable llfe ot~ Blessed Claude de la Colombi~re. Chapter 17 gives the Retreat he made in London in 1677. an appendix is printed the notes of his long retreat made in his third year of pro-bation after ordination. Hamon, A. Histoire de la Ddt~otion au SacN Coeur. Paris. Beauchesne. 1928 --4 volumes (incomplete). Volume one contains a critical life of St. Margaret Mary. Volume two sketches the history of the devotion to the Sacred Heart till the sixteenth century. Volume three deals with the religious orders and outstanding men and women connected with the devotion in France during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, .especially St. orohn Eudes and St. Margaret Mary. Volume 4 outlines the difficulties the new devotion met with and its progress to 1765, when 125 C. A. HERBST ~: " the Holy See'.approved the first Mass in honor of the Sacred Heart. Volume five, still~in prepar~tlon, will ;aarrate the royal triumph., Guitton, Georges. Le Bienbeureux Claude La Colo.mbi~re. Lyon. Librairie Catholique Emmanuel Vitte. 1943. Quite a long and very critical life: he takes even Hereon to task. Quotes heavily from Blessed Claude's sermons, correspond-ence, the documents of his beatification and the archives of the Society of Jesus. Gives thorough religious and political milieu and background of his life and times. Oeuvres du R.P. Claude de la Colornbi~re de la Compagne de dEsus. Lyon. Librairie Catholique de P~risse Fr~res. 1864. 6 volumes. Contains his sermons, retreat notes, correspondence. This, of course, is the great source on which all writers draw. This is an old edition, with paper turnin~g brown, small print and hard to read, but was the only one at hand. The newer edition is by Chattier, Oeuvres Cornpl&es, Grenoble, 1900-1901, 6 volumes. Volume six of this newer edition contains the Retreat and his letters. Acta Apostolicae Sedis, Rornae, typis polyglottis Vaticanis. In this work are printed the official acts of the Hbly See and the various Roman Congregations dealing with the canonization of saints and the like. It is published serially each year. REPRINTS: SINGLE SETS We are now able to sell sets of our reprint booklets for one dollar per set. The set includes on~ copy each of these bo.~klets~ No. 1: Articles on Prayer by Father Ellard; No. 2: Articles on "Gifts to Re-ligious," by Father Ellis; No. 3: Articles on Emotiotial Maturity, Vocational Counseling and the Particular Friendship., by Father Kelly. To order these single sets, please send one dollar and ask [or one set of reprints. Please address, your. order to: The Editors, Review for Religious, St. Mary's Colle~je, St. Marys, Kansas. PLEASE NOTE CAREFULLY The" subscription price of REVI'EW FOR RELIGIOUS is now: $3.00 per year for Domestic and Canadian subscriptions: $3.35 per year for all foreign subscriptions. For further details-please see inside back cover. ~ 126 Franciscan Spiri ualit:y Alexander Wyse, O.F.M. THE personality of Francis of Assisi was at once so singular, so attractive and so powerful that' today, seven and a quarter cen- " turies after his death, it truthfully is as familiar to the world as that of many living notables. His charm is perennial, his in-fluence seemingly indestructible, his life the subject of an exhaustless series of studies. But this persevering popularity is not merely the result of the unusually felicitous biographies that, even from his very age, have not ceased to paint and interpret his life. While he has indeed had the good fortune of a long train of articulate, admirers --some nai've, others penetrating; some objective, more partisan-- his fame rests clearly on the captivating force of his individual char-acter, on the strength of his personal winsomeness. His clients.may contribute to his undying reputation--but they bare success only because Francis himself is too living a figure ever to die. The Influence of St: Francis This fact is fundamental to a consideration of the specific nature of Franciscan spirituality, because in a sense and a measure perhaps unparalleled in any similar instance the individuality of Francis has founded and oriented the Franciscan school. The venerable Benedictine tradition, as an example, has its own distinctive qualities, deriving from the holy Rule. As the source of Benedictinism, that is a singularly unique document--precise, .mas-terly, definitive as a provision fo~ all possible needs of monasticism: but it is not. in any comparable way, a reflection of the personality of Benedict. By contrast, Franciscan spirituality leans but lightly on the several Rules which the Poverello wrote for his friars,-his nuns, and his followers in the world.1 Rather it looks to the person 1As a matter of fact. while he properly wrote no Rule for either the Second or the Third Order he wrote successively two Rules for the First Order, the Order "of Friars Minor. This fact would bear out the contention that the Rule occupies a relatively secondary place in Franciscan spirituality. It likewise helps to explain the ancient division--whlch in centuries past often amounted to very violent dis-sension-- over the meaning and the force of some of the prescriptions.of the Rule, notabl~; poverty. The Holy See had often to intervene in these disputes, had to promulgate official declarations of the true impbrt of, the disputed points, and has sanctioned three autonomous branches of the Order, each interpreting the mind of the Founder with its own constitutions. Since each of the three families looks with equal devotion to Francis. and with.equal right claims him as Founder and Father, in discussing Franciscan spirituality no distinction is necessary because of these diverse streams. 127 ALEXANDER WYSE Reoiew [or Religious of its founder--which, in his lifetime, was so highly original that it could only with difficulty be confined in the legal" terms' of a rule, and, after his death, has remained singularly fresbl highly distinctive, and extraordinarily fruitful. Rooted thus in the individuafity of the Seraphic Saint, the Franciscan school of spiritual theology has about it many of the features which explain the wide appeal of Francis himself.-° The same qualities that made and make him universally loved, make also the spiritual way that derives from him appealing to a vast army of Christians.~ By imitating his delightfully reasonable and joyfully direct methods of reaching God, countless millions through these seven centuries have grown in spiritual" understanding and advanced in mys, tical union. Cbristocentricisrn of Franciscan Spirituality The basic and most far-reaching quality of Franciscan .spiritual-ity is that it is wholly centered about the Incarnate Son of God.4 The positive and avowed attempt to reproduce ~he life of Christ is the simplest summary of the Franciscan vocation--as.Francis put it, "to obs~erve the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." Though the imitation of Christ is radically the heart and soul of all Christian 2That there is a rich fruitfulness in Franciscanism is seen'in the large number of saints and blessed who have worn the distinctive three-knotted cord. There are 48 Saints of the First Order, 4 of the Second, and 42 of the Third: there are 112 Blessed of" the First Order, 21 of the Second, and 80 of the Third (of. Acta Ordinis Fratrum Minorum, LXIX, iii, pp. 126~135). Excluding the causes of these beati being promoted for canonization, there are pending before the., Sacred Congregation of Rites or Diocesan Courts the causes of more than 203 members of the First Order, 25 of the Second, and a numberless group of the Third (Ibid., "LXIX, i, pp. 20-34). aThe prihciples of Franciscan spirituality have not ceased to attract enormous num-bers of Christians even in our day. In 1950 the First Order had a combined total of more than 42,000 members; the Second Order approximately 2,000: the Third Order Regular, in its various congregations of priests, Brothers and Sisters, at least 70,000; the Third Order Secular an estimated 2,800,000. ~'For a more extensive treatment of Franciscan spirituality the following studies may be consulted: ValentinSM~ Breton, O.F.M, La Spiritualit~ Franciscaine (Paris, 1948); Vitus a Bussum, OIF.M.Cap., De Spiritualitate Franciscana (Rome, 1949); Pacificus M. Perantoni, O.F.M., "De Spiritualitate Franciscana," in Acta Ordinis Fratrum Minorurn, LXIX, v, pp. 214-243: Agostino Gemelli, O.F:M., "La Spiritualit~ Francescana," in Le Scuole Catrolicfie di Spiritualit~ (Milan, 1949) ; Franciscan Educational Conference, Report of the Eighth Annual Meeting, (Washington, 1926); Philibert Ramstetter, OIF.M., "Introduction to a Francis-can Spirituality," in Franciscan Studies, December, 1942; Valentin-M. Breton, O.F.M., Le Christ de L'Arne Franciscaine (Paris, 1927). Additional ligh~t is to be 'had from the reading of such classics" as Hilarin Felder, O.F.M.Cap. Thd 1deals oF St. Francis of Assisi (New York, 1925)~ Agostino Gemelli, O.F.M., The Franciscan Message to the World (London, 1934), as well as the many standard biographies of St. Francis. 128 May, 1951 FRANCISCAN SPIRITUALITY living, about Franciscan asceticism there is a more distinctive desire and a special effort t6 conform the life of the dedicated one to that of the Incarnate Son of God. In ngthing is the influence of the founder's life and personality more discernible than in this. For Francis, Christ was the center of all things--the focus of all thought, the object of all_ striving, the inspiration of all action. Christ, Francis loved with a consuming passion, as the most tangible proof of God's all-pervading goodness. He could never cease marveling at the divine goodness: it was a theme that both fascinated and transformed him. ]ks he reflected on it, he w~ould~ cry out in the rapture of his contemplation: "Thou, Lord, art the highest Good, the Eternal Good; from Thee cometh all good, and there is no good without Thee." It is primarily and eminently in the Incarnation of th~ Eternal Son that God has shown forth t6 the world that infinite love which is His essential perfection; and this, to Francis, became the most profound and, at the same time, the most penetrable of mysteries. His soul found in it the most, exalted of divine revelations, reaching into the very bosom of the Godhead ~nd manifesting in a singular way God's in.finite life of love. That in God there should be an Eternal Son generated by love, and that the Eternal Father should give this only-begotten Son for the world's redemption, was for Francis the climaxing proof of God's goodness. It opened up to him--as nothing else in all reality could--the depth of charity with which the Creator cherishes every last one of His creatures. For him, it explained all of life and creation ; it served as the foundation for all his spiritual action. "O Lord, we thank Thee," he wrote in the First Rule, "because, just as Thou hast created us through Thy Soft, so also through that true and holy charity with which Thou hast loved us, Thou hast caused Him to be born of the glorious and most blessed Mary,' ever Virgin most holy, and Thou hast Willed that through His cross and blood and death we sinners be redeemed." ./kbove all else, the Incarnation proves God's goodness in that it teaches us how we must live. Jesus is our model, "leaving us an example"; and hence--as Francis saw with an enviable directness-- the ideal of all spiritual striving is that we imitate His steps. This was the desire which burned in Francis' heart for himself and which he held up to his followers. Thomas of Celano says: "His supreme endeavor, his most ardent wish and foremost principle was to observe the holy Gospel in all and above all things, and to follow 129 ALEXANDER WYSE Review for Religious perfectl'y, 'with all zeal, with the fullest ardor of his spirit, with all "the love of his heart, the doctrine of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to imitate His example. In constant meditation he reflected on His Words, and with deep.intentness he pondered on His works.''~ So fruitful was this contemplation, and so completely did Fran-dis succeed in this. holy ambition to imitate Christ, that he is gen-erally admitted to have been a humanly perfect copy of the Master. Renan, the great skeptic, called him the only true Christian after ~Jesus; and (at the other pole of orthodoxy) St. Bonaver~ture cites the imprinting on his body of the stigmata,as heaven's seal on the ~onformity of Francis' life with Christ's. Love--the Well of Action His d~sire to imitate the supernal example of the Incarnate Son of God was nurtured by an ardent love for Him which literally surpasses our capacity. The "Three Companions" tell us of this burning devotion as the source of Francisr spirituality: "From the time,of his conversion to his death, he loved Christ with his whole heart, bearing, the memory of Him constantly in his mind, praising ,Him .with his lips, and glorifying Him in good works.''6 And Celano expatiates the theme: "His tongue spoke out of the fullness of his heart, and the stream of enraptured love which filled his soul overflowed outwardly. Always he was occupied with Jesus. Jesus he carried in his heart, Jesus in his mou~th, Jesus in his ears,. Jesus in his eyes, Jesus in his hands, Jesus in all his members.''v This attachment to his Saviour revealed itself by Francis' con-stant- preoccupation with the details of the sacred life of the Lord. He had a wholly special attachment to the. feast of Christmas, observing it with a transporting joy and a moving piety. For him it was the feast of feasts--and, if it has become that also for after-generati. ons, his part in making it such is not inconsiderable. He found a fathomless proof of God's love in His condescending to become Man. That the Incomprehensible, the Unchangeable, the Infinite One should humble Himself so wonderfully for our sakes," demonstrated the measureless extent of God's love for us. Not con-tent with having the vision for himself, he longed to make the whole world aware of it. Whether or not it can be demonstrated his- 5.Thomas de Celano, Legenda Prima (Rome, 1906), n. 84. STies Socii, Legenda (Foligno, 1898), n. 68. ~Op. cir., n. I15. 130 May, 1951 FRANCISCAN SPIRITUALITY torically that he did give us the first Christmas crib, it is certain that he had a leading role in helping to establish the custom,s Perhaps more than any other of our popular Christmas observances, in making visible to us the tenderness of the Birth of Christ the Crib has served to establish in the hearts of Christians a new under-' standing and appreciation of the love of God for the human race; in spirit, at least, it is the product of Francis' intense love of the Christ- Child. At the other terminus of that divine life, the saint likewise found another strong motive to honor the love of God for man. His rever-ence for the Passion of Christ colored his whole think~ing; moulded his whole devotion. From the day when he heard the mysterious voice from the crucifix at San Damiano bidding him repair the Church which was in ruins, to that climax of seraphic love in the Five Wounds of the Redeemer imprinted on his body, the sufferings of 3esus were ever before his eyes. Early in his religious life he was one day walking along the road, bathed in tears, expressions of the most profound sorrow issuing from the depths of his soul. When someone asked" him what he was lamenting, he answered that he was weeping for the sufferings of hi's Lord. Moved by the unction and the sincerity with which the saint uttered these words, the other, too, began to weep and sigh in com-passion for the suffering Son of God. This" is more than an anecdote from his legend--it is a symbol of the vast influence of St. Francis in riveting the attention, first, of his followers, and then of all Chris-tianity, upon the Passion of Christ. For it is true that Francis by his devotion to the sacred sufferings has conferred upon Franciscan spirituality a truly distinctive mark. At the same time, by reason of this new note of tender and human feeling which Francis intro-duced into~or, at least so effectively propagated within--Catholic devotional life, he served to give a new orientation to the spiritual life of the whole Church.9 By stressing, as his own character demanded, the element of love in his approach to God, and by 8Cf. Stephen M. Donovan, O.F.M., The Catholic Encyclopedia (New .York, 1913), sub verbo "Crib," IV, p. 489. 9Francis, of course, did not completely disrupt the traditional lines of devotion in the Church. nor did he accomplish the new orientation singlehandedly. Following by less than a century the age of St. Bernard, he solidified the notable contribu-tions of the great Abbot of Clairvaux toward establishing a love and affection for the humanity of God's Son. For a brief summary of the inter-relation of Bernard and Francis in this" spiritual revival, cf. Philip Hughes, A History of the Church (New York, 1935), II, pp. 306-307, 403-404. 131 ALEXANDER WYSE Review for looking more fixedly upon those aspects of God's relations with men which show forth the divine benignity and condescension, he rekindled in the hearts of men the flame of divine charity. He taught his followers--and the world--to serve God, in a special way, out of regard for the love which God has first shown us. Christocentric Theology/ Francis made the love of God--as proven by the Incarnation of Christ---the basis for his whole system of living. More philo-sophical minds than his would expand this notion into a whole explanation of reality[ The idea which Francis established by his preaching, his prayers, his very act of living, his more learned fol-lowers took and worked into a theology that begins and ends with Christ, the fruit of divine love. The concept of the glorification of the Ingarn~ate Son of God-- which Francis instinctively felt and lived--becomes in Franciscan theology the explanation of all things, the prime motive for the cre-ation of the world. Christ, God made Man, in this system was the First Thought of the Creator; He was destined, before the fall of our first parents, before even the making of the world, to receive the homage, the love, th~ service of the human race. All creatures what-soever enjoy the gift of being in view of the preordained Incarnation of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. The supreme mani-festation of God's love and power in the Person of the God-Man was to raise up to the life of the Trinity the'human brothers of Christ. In an excess of divine benignity, God conferred upon the human race the riches of the supernatural life--but with, in, and thrgugh Christ, the Head of all things. It was thus that human creatures, endowed'with intelligence and free will, were predestined to share in the personal life of God. In Christ they were willed and destined and called to glory.~ In view of that .high vocation they were elevated to a supernatural plane by the foreseen graces merited for them by 3esus Christ. That man should have failed to correspond to God's purpose in creating him does not, in Franciscan theology, militate~ against God's primary motive in decreeing the Incarnation of His Son. True, historically, Christ did not come as the King of Glory to receive in His earthly days the adoration and the homage of the world; He came rather as the Man of Sorrows, the suffering Redeemer, the Messias making satisfaction for our sins. Yet this but further illus-trates and enhances God's love. In permitting His Son thus to come, 132 May, 1951 FRANCISCAN SPIRITUALITY to suffer and die on the cross for our redemption, God showed forth His love in a still more striking fashion. Thus in Franciscan theological speculation, as developed by the masters of the school, St. Bonaventure and especially John Duns Scotus, Christ assumes the central position which He already occu-pied in the thought and the life of the unlettered Poverello. All things depend on Him, all things grow through Him, all gifts come from Him to all beings. There is no merit, no promise of eternal life, no blessedness which does not derive from Him. From the part of God, any offering, any virtue, any prayer, has value only insofar as it reflects Jesus Christ. From the part of man, no one arrives at the divine union, no. one knows God, no one serves or pleases the Creator, except through Christ, the Firstborn, the Center and Head of all things. Franciscan theology furthermore eschews the notion of God as the strict Judge demanding vengeance and satisfaction, and sees in Him rather the loving Father who grahts to the Son the privilege of the Incarnation for His human brethren, together with the right to restore them to supernatural life. The Saviour is not so much the victim of divine justice, as He is the friend who, out of love for His Eternal Father and His brothers in the flesh, sacrifices Himself to atone for men's sins. The Passion and the Cross are, in this view, not so much the price demanded for human redemption as they are the yoluntary outpouring of divine love, setting the tone and the pat-tern of the relations between God and man. Povert~l' For all these reasons, as Francis of Assisi insisted, though with-out himself ever formulating his thoughts in such theological termin-ology, there is need of penance and mortification and a voluntary crucifixion on the part of those who know and would repay God's love. If God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, and if the Son so loved us that He willingly emptied Himself of His glory and became obedient even to the death of the cross," there can be little choice for a creature except to imitate that self-sacrificing love and surpassing abnegation. As a logical cohsequence, therefore, of these considerations the three basic qualities 6f Francis-can ascetiscism are generated: poverty, humility, and mortification. In the sixth chapter of the Second Rule of the Friars Minor, St. Francis' speaks of "the sublimity of the highest poverty which has made you, my dearest brothers, heirs and kings of the kingdom 13~3 ALEXANDER WYSE Reoieto t~or Religious of heaven: poor in goods, but exalted in virtu(." In these few words he succinctly demonstrates the pivotal importance which the Fran-ciscan ideal attaches to the observance of poverty as a means of reaching eternal life. Tl~e voluntary stripping oneself of the things of this earth and all attachment to them predisposes one to the practice of all other virtues which, spelling perfection, infallibly lead to ever-lasting l~appiness. Accepting as the most literal truth the promise of the Beatitudes: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs i~ the king-dom of heaven," the Franciscan world has enthroned Lady Poverty as its queen. She has reigned by the clearest title in the hearts and homes of all those who call Francis "father." St. Clare of Assisi-- that gentle maid who more completely than any other caught Fran- Cis' holy enthusiasm for this Seraphic virtue par excellence--success-fully resisted even the efforts of the Holy See to take away from her what she called "the privilege of poverty." St. Bonaventure refers to poverty as "the sublime prerogative" of the Franciscan Order. A thousand examples might be cited, from the bulging Seraphic chron-icles, of this undying fealty and devotion to poverty, for in a true sense this attachment to Lady Poverty is the history of the order. Her saints have been great, her reformers have been virtuous, .her life has been varied and at time even exuberantly stormy--simply because, in days of fervor as of decadence, the haunting image of "that noble and queenly, that most beautiful of women" whom the Poor Man of Assisi made his bride has never ceased to fascinate the Franciscan soul. If the Order of Friars Minor has been divided into three autonomous groups, this has been because the sons of Francis have never failed to be interested in the question of poverty, and have always wanted to safeguard and the more truly cherish that heritage which is the "'privilegium paupertatis," the "'nostii ordinis praeroga-tioa sublimis." The Franciscan views poverty, as a privilege because it enables him the more perfectly to reproduce ~the life of'the Incarnate Son of God. He was po,or; He deliberately chose the privations of a work-ingman's home for Himself and labored as a carpenter. He had nowhere to lay His head. "Being rich, He became poor" for our sakes. This is the source and the inspiration for the unflinching attachment .to this virtue that Francis conceived: as he is made to say in the hauntingly beautiful Salutation of Poverty, she was with' Christ, God's Son made Man, in all the hours of His life, and when _all other, abandoned Him she mounted the cross with Him, to 134 May, l~51 FRANCISCAN SPIRITUALITY embrace Him as He hung dying.1° Struck with the truth of the sanctifying power of this virtue so closely the companion of Holi-ness Incarnate, St. Bonaventure, expresses the traditional Franciscar~ ideal when he praises poverty as the very source and fountainhead of evangelical perfection, 'and the first ]~oundation of the entire edifice of .spirituality. Humility The abasement of the Incarnation must find its counterphrt in the life of him who would grow up to thd stature of Christ. "Humil-iavit semetipsum," said St. Paul of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity--and the words re-echoed in Francis' heart with a new and challenging meaning. If Christ could deprive Himself of the glory that was His everlasting and inalienable due, Ought nor the creatures "redeemed by His sacrifice at least avoid all vainglory, all frivolous pride, all empty self-seeking? Francis admonishes his friars to .appropriate nothing to themselves; they must even beg for the neces-sities~ o[ life--"noi should they be ashan~ed, because the Lord made Himself poor for us in this world." With a true understanding of human nature, Francis recognized his own sinfulness, his proneness tb evil, and his entire dependence upon God for the grace to save him from eternal damnation. So, likewise, he exhorted his friars to be always mindful of their lowli-ness and nothingness. Especially those constituted in high places-- preachers, superiors, the learned-=-he exhorted to remember that, of themselves, they are nothing, and that any dignity, any influence, any learning they possess is theirs by the donation of God. The superiors of his brotherhood are "ministers and servants of the other friars": the fraternity:itself is the Order of Lesser Brethren. Repeatedly Francis praised and cited poverty ands humility, holding them up as the double cornerstone of the Franciscan life: "Let all the brethren strive to follow the humility and poverty of our Lord 3e~us Christ." Humility is the companion of poverty,, but it is more--it is the perfection of the other virtue in that it reaches into the soul. It strips the mind of all encumbrances of human origin, it cleanses the heart of all man-made ideals and values. It is genuine poverty of the spirit. With a tender tenacity the Francis-can soul holds to this ideal of a humble poverty and a detached 10Though this tender apostrophe to his beloved Lady Poverty" is no longer regarded as a genuine writing of St. Francis, its spirit is certainly authentic. The same thought is expressed by Dante, Dioine Comedy, Paradiso, XI, 64-72. 135 ALEXANDER WYSE Review [or Religious humility. The most learned among the friars have been humble men: St. Anthony in the retirement of the friary at Montepaolo meekly hid' those great resources of theological intuition which lately won for him the title of Doctor of the Universal Church; and St. Bonaventure (at least in the legend which cannot 'have been made up from whole cloth) was discovered washing dishes when the papal envoys came bearing the cardinal's hat. The large number of can-onized Franciscan lay-brothers is assuredly a standing testimonial to the high esteem which the traditions of the order place on humility as a means of perfection: it shows that the life of lowly service of others, so perfect an imitation of Christ's self-emptying, is an inte-gral part of Franciscan spirituality. Mortification The whole idea of Franciscansim being to reproduce the life of the Saviour, positive penance has a palmary place in Franciscan living. The example of the suffering Saviour demands of His fol-lowers mortification and discipline. This universal obligation of Christians is, in Franciscan asceticism, elevated to the status of a positive and primary pursuit, the chief means and the most abiding guarantee of which are '~the poverty and humility of our Lord Jesus Christ." With a holy delight the Seraphic Father embraced this means of becoming more like the Ideal. Frequently he exposed himself to the cold,, simply that he might feel in his members the bitterness of that which nature abhors. In his eating, he refrained from anything over and above what was necessary to sustain life, on at least one occa-sion taking, absolutely nothing for forty days except half a loaf of bread. By the disciplines wherewith he chastised his body he sought to bring into subjection every unruly passion and emotion. If the extreme mortification of the Seraphic Lawgiver ha.s been tempered in the case of his followers (for how many will ever receive the extraordinary inspirations which were his wholly personal gift from the Holy Spirit? or will be called by grace to the degree of poverty and humility and penitential chastisements which have so set him apart?), there is yet incumbent upon all the obligation of a positive mortification in imitation of Christ. His followers have included such paragons of corporal p~nance as St. Peter of Alcantara. who for forty-six years scourged himself twice daily, and St. Felix of Cantalice who took his nightly repose kneeling on the floor after 136 Mag, 1951 FR~kNC[SC~kN SPIRITUALITY his daily rounds of begging in the streets of Rome. Yet, for the most part, a certain mildness (stemming from another no less holy facet of Francis' spirit) pervades the Franciscan concept of discipline. The Saviour Himself bade His disciples not to be sad while the BridegroOm was with them, and Francis instinctively" was one of the most joyous of beings. He arose at midnight to eat with the young friar ,who cried out with pangs of hunger. And he legislated that ordinarily the friars should not be obliged to fast, except on Fridays (a wholly revolutionary concept: for Christian religious), and that .those going through the world might use the Gospel-privilege of eating whatsoever was placed before them. The Noble Function of the Wilt These three qualities of poverty, ,humility, and mortification, constitute what may be termed the negative, the privative (or, in the consecrated terminology, the purgative) steps in Franciscan spiritual-ity. The ascent is completed with the positive and active forces of charity and prayer (which correspond to the unitive and illuminative ways). It is in this phase that Franciscan spirituality attains its perfection and sanctifyihg power. Having learned the boundless extent of divine charity, the Franciscan soul yearns to make a return; in its poverty and humility it has nothing else to give God but a return of love. The next step is the unreserved attachment to God, and limitless devotion to the creatures made by God for Christ. A deep awareness of his adopted sonsbip makes him ready to proclaim wlth,Francis, stripped even of the clothes his earthly father bad given him: "Now I can truly say; 'Our Father Who art in heaven.' " This sense of belonging tb God is fostered and st.rengthened by an ever-deepening devotion to Him in whom and for whom this sonship has been brought about. Thus .Franciscan spirituality, with a new intentnes_s, comes back to Christ, its starting point. Whatever honors, exaltsl and glorifies Christ, that is seen to be a means o~ displaying this charity toward God. Hence the Franciscan emphasis on devotion to the historical Christ-- particularly, as in the piety of Francis himself, to His Incarnation and Passion. Hence also that touching reverence for Christ as He yet lives among us in the Eucharist,11 in the priesthood and tlae- 11Francis' devotion to the Eucharist is one of the most important facets of his spiritual life. Father Felder's treatment of this theme (op. cir., chap. III) is ~specially illuminating. 137 ALEXANDER WYSE Review for Religious Church,12 and in the souls of the redeemed,is The will, the faculty of love, occupies in all Franciscan the- 91ogy, philosophy, and life a unique distinction of I51ace. A l~eritage clearly from Francis himself~with his ardent nature, his impulsive and forthright way of proceeding, his unqiaalified and unlimited dis-play of love for the God-Man--the role of the wilI .is, in the Fran-ciscan tradition, a pivotal one. There is a subtle but profound rela-tion between Franciscan~poverty and the generous use made of the agent of human .choice. Divested of all material things, the Francis-can soul finds itself endowed with "the freedom w.herewith Christ has made us free." No longer tied to the passing things of this earth, neither is it bound to the conventionalities of routine, custom, or society. The Poverello himself was one of the most uninhibited char-acters of history, a man da,ringly original and boldly enterprising. In an ever-expanding resolve to save souls for Christ, his venturesome spirit led him fo distant and dangerous shores, where he fearlessly presented himself to the Sultan before whom all Christendom was quaking. Unashamedly he asked (and obtained!) from the Pope for the little chapel of St: Mary of the Angels that plenary indulgence which had been previously conceded only for a pilgri.mage to the Holy Land. He entered into a holy pact with God Himself, wherein the mortified servant of Christ deserved to feel in his own'~flesh the sufferings of the Crucified. This same quality of directness, of daring, of wilful aiad pur-poseful action is always inherent in genuine Franciscanism, and shows itself no less in Franciscan spirituality. Tamed, modified, kept within reasonable check, it is a characteiistic which eminently befits the ~poor of sp!rit. Stripped of all desire of self-aggrandize-ment, the Franciscan seeks nothing of this world, fears nothing of its powerful ones. He is in a position to use the liberty of the sons of God. In a sort of reeling climax to liberty, he subjects himself to .the most complete obedience to God and God's delegates--for obedience is the ultimate in self-assertion, the wild and r~ckless sac-rificing of the right to self-will. 1-'2Cf. Felder, op. cit., for the testimony of Francis' profound reverence for the Church of Christ (chap. IV). 13Among the outstanding evidences of his zea! for the salvation of souls is the twelfth chapter of the "Regula II." It is one of the chief glories of the Franciscan tradition that Francis was the first founder to propose for his followers the ideal 6f '~going among the Saracens and other infidels." He thus helped to launch the greatest era of missionary activity after the Apostolic Age. 138 May, 1951 FRANCISCAN SPIRITUALITY As the will attains its realization in action, inevitably the Fran- " ciscan vocation is one that stresses the apostolate~ Francis--.t,hough at times his soul craved the sweet delights of withdrawal from the world--discovered that the truest way of imitating the Master was, like Him, to go about, "doing good." In labors for the salvation of others Francis and his order seek to live the GoslSel of our Lord Jesus Christ. "Non sibi soli vivere, sed aliis proficere vult, Dei zelo ductus," the Church sings of him.14 In novel and revolutionary-~often 'in all but unpredictablem ways, the Franciscan spirit uses this liberty to bring all things into the kingdom ~designed, from before the foundation of the earth, for God's Eternal Son. There is indeed a great and challenging diversity of methods in the Franciscan apostolate, just as ,there is a most startling, originality discoverable in the Seraphic hosts. Men and women of rare indiyiduality, of almost unclassifiable "character, ~have pledged themselves to reproduce Christ--in themselves and in the world---by living the Gospel. Can there be in the legends of any othe'r religious institute a man so singular as Brother Juniper? so simple as Brother Giles? so unspoiled as Brother Masseo? Has any" other founder welcomed so enthusiastically into his foundation rob-bers who had infested the countryside? or been succeeded in his very lifetime by one so completely his opposite as Elias of Cortona? The Franciscan spirit can embrace, and Franciscan spiritualit~ does sanctify, with equal impartiality, a Duns Scotus of Oxford Univer-sity and a Benedict the Moor from the scullery of Palermo's dark monas~tery. The royal Louis of Toulouse professed the same Rule as the unlettered Paschal Baylon. The mystical Joseph of Cuper-tino is brother to the energetic Leonard of Port Maurice. It is indeed true that, as has been said, by the variety of its manifestations Fran-ciscanism takes on a character of universality, like Christianity itself, which in the Gospel is likened to a tree to which all the birds of the air may come to make their nests. Prayer ' While stressing apostolic actik, ity as an unceasing tribute to Christ the King, the Franciscart soul does not forget the value of prayer. After the example of the Master, Francis himself often interrupted his apostolic labors to refresh and restore his soul in a period of contemplation. Such contemplation, nonetheless, is 14Breoiariura Rornano-Seraphicurn, In festo S. P. N. Francisci, ad Laudes, Ant. 1. 139 ALEXANDER WYSE designed (as is the poverty and humility of the Gospel) to subserve the apostolic vocation. In contemplation the Franciscan draws "waters with joy out of the Saviour's fountains"-~but only that in his preaching and ministry he may the more efficaciously slake the thirst of those who,~ like the hart panting after the fountains .of water, are thirsting after the strong Living God. Seraphic prayer finds its perfect symbol in the figure of Francis on Mount Alverno, his arms raised in the form of a cross. It finds its truest expression in the fervent and heartfelt prayer of the Poor Man on that mystical height: "Who art Thou, my God most sweet? What am I, Thy unprofitable servant and vilest of worms?''15 In explaining later to Brother Leo, his beloved com-panion, that these words expressed his grasp of the depths of the infinite goodness and wisdom and power of God, and the 'deplorable depths of his own vileness and misery, Francis left a classic outline of Franciscan prayer and meditation. It would, of course, be impossible here to explain the special characteristics of mental prayer and contemplation, as elaborated by the masters of Franciscan spirituality. It must suffice to point out two of its salient points: first, it manifests the common Franciscan dependence on the faculty of the will, being affective rather than intuitive; and, second, in prayer as in all else Christ remains the -center. The subjects of predilection for Franciscan meditation are the various phases of the life of the Incarnate Word, while the affec-tions of the heart are offered to the Eternal Father t~hrough the mediumship of Him who is the Source of all things. The truly Franciscan soul but borrows the words of the Seraphic Father: "Because we all are miserable sinners and are not worthy to call upon Thee, weo humbly.ask our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy beloved Son in whom Thou wast well pleased, together with the Holy Ghost the Paraclete, to thank Thee." lSThe Little Flowers of St. Francis (Everyman's Library), p. 11 1. PLEASE NOTE CAREFULLY The subscription price of REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS is now: $3.00 per year for Domestic and Canadian Subscriptions; $3.35 per year for all foreign subscriptions. For further details please" see inside back cover. 140 Apostolic Constitution Sponsa Christi [EDITORS' NOTE: We present here the positive legislation contained in ,Sponsa Christi, the Apostolic Constitution of Pope Pius XII, given under date of Novem-ber 21, 1950, and published in the Acta Apostolicae 8edis, official publication of the Holy See, under date of January 10, 1951, pp. 15-21. The general statutes from the papal document given below are preceded by a lengthy historical and ex-hortatory introduction on the origin and development of the contemplative life for women consecrated" to God, pp. 5-15. ] GENERAL STATUTES FOR NUNS Article 1 § 1. The term nuns is used in this Apostolic Constitution as it is in the Code (c. 488, 7°). In addition to religious women with solemn vows, it includes those who have pronounced simple vows, perpetual or temporary, in moqasteries where solemn vows are actually taken or should be taken according to the institute, unless it certainly appears otherwise from the context or from the nature of the case. § 2. The legitimate use of the term nuns (c. 488, 7°) and the application of the laws concerning nuns are not at variance with the following: (1) s.imple profession made in monasteries according to law (§ 1); (2) minor pontilical cloister prescribed or duly granted for mo~iasteries; (3) the pe?formance of apostolic works which are joined with the contemplative life either by reason of a provision approved and confirmed by the Holy See for certain orders or by the " lawful prescription or grant of the Holy See to certain monasteries. § 3. This Apostolic Constitution does not affect the juridical status of: (1) religious congregations (c. 488, 2°) and the Sisters who are members of them (c. 488, 7°), who take only simple vows according to their institute; (2) societies of women living in com-mon after the manner of religious and their members (c. 673). Article 2 § 1. The special form of religious monastic life which nuns are obliged to follow carefully and for which they are destined by the Church .is the canonical contemplative life. § 2. The term, canonical contemplative life, does not denote that internal and theological contemplation to which all persons in religious.institutes as well as those living in the world are invited, 141 POPE PIUS Xll Revieto for Religious and which individuals everywhere can lead by themselves, but it sig-nifies the external profession of religious discipline which, by reason of cloister, or the exercises of piety, prayer, and mortification, or finally by reason of the work which the nuns are obliged to under-take, is directed to interior contemplation in such a way that their whole life and whole activity can easily and should etficaciously be imbued with zeal for it. § 3.If canonical contemplative life cannot be habitually ob-served under a strict, regular discipline, ,the monastic character is neither to be granted nor, if it be had already, is it to be retained. Article 3 § 1. The solemn vows of religion which are pronounced by all the members of a monastery or at least by the members o17 one, class constitute the characteristic note in virtue of which a monastery of women is legally considered among the regular orders and not among the religious congregations (c. 488, 2°). Moreover, all the pro-fessed religious women in, these monasteries come under the term regulars according to'canon 490, and are properly speaking not called Sisters but nuns (c. 488, 7°). § 2. All monasteries in which only simple vows are taken can obtain a restoration of solemn vows. Indeed, unless truly grave rea-sons prevent it, they will be solicitous about taking them again. Article 4 While always keeping for all monasteries those character-istics which are, as it were, natural to it, the stricter cloister of nuns which is called pontifical shall in future be distinguished into two classes: major and minor. § 2. i o Major pontifical cloister, namely, that which is described in the Code (cc. 600-602) ,is clearly confirmed by this Our Apostolic Constitution. By Our Authority, the Sacred Congregatio~i of Reli-gious will declare the causes for which a dispensation fromthe major cloister may be given, so that, while the nature of cloister is kept unimpaired, it may more suitably be adapted to the circumstances of our times. 2° Major pontifical cloister, without prejudice to § 3, 3°, must flourish by reason of law in all monasteries which profess the contemplative life exclusively. § 3. i° Minor pontifical cloister will retain those characteristics of the old cloister of nuns and will be protected with those sanc- 142 May, 1951 SPONSA CHRISTI tions which the Instructions of the Holy See expressly define as neces-sary for the preservation and safeguardifig of its natural purpose. 2° Subject to this minor pontifical cloister are the monas-teries of nuns with solemn vows which, by their institute or by legitimate gran~, undertake work with externs in such a way that quite a number of religious and a notable part of the house are habitually devoted to these occupations. 3° Similarly, each and every monastery in which only simple vows are taken, even though devoted exclusively to contem-plation, must be subject at least to the prescriptions of this cloister. § 4. 1° Pontifical major or minor cloister must be considered a ¯ necessa)y condition not only that solemn vows may be taken (§ 2) but also that those monasteries in which simple vows are taken (§ 3) may in the future l~e considered as true monasteries of nuns according .to canon 488, 7°. 2° If even the rules for the minor pontifical cloister cannot be generally observed, the solemn vows which may have been had are to be taken away. § 5. 1° The minor pontifical cloister is to be observed in places where the nuns do not take solemn vows, especially in those points in,which it is distinguished from the cloister of congregations or that of orders of men. 2° Howeve'r, if it is clearly evident that even the minor cloister cannot be observed in an individual monastery, that monas-tery must be changed into a house of a congregatibn or of a society. Article 5 § 1. Among women consecra[ed to God the Church deputes only nuns to offer public prayer to God in her name, in choir (c. 610, § 1) or privately (c.'610, § 3) ; and she places upon them a grave obligation by law to carry out this public prayer daily at'the canon-ical hours according to the norm of their constitutions. § 2. All monasteries of nuns as well as individual nuns, whether professed of simple or solemn vows, are everywhere obliged to recite the Divine Office in .choir according to c. 610, § 1 and the norms of their constiti~tions, § 3. According to c. 610, § 3, nuns who have not taken solemn vows are not strictly obligated to the private recitation of the canon-ical hours when they have been absent from choir unless their con-stitutions expressly provide otherwise (c. 578, 2°). Nevertheless, 143 POPE PlUS XII Reuiew for Religious as was stated above (Art, 4), it is the mind of the Church not only that solemn vows should be restored everywhere but also that, if they cannot be restored for the present, nuns who have simple perpetual vows in place of solemn vows should faithfully fulfill the work of the Divine Office. § 4. In all monasteries the conventual Mass corresponding to the Office of the day according to the rubrics is to be celebrated in so far as this is possible (c. 610, § 2). Article 6 § 1. 1° Unlike other religious houses of women, monasteries 9f nuns are autonomous (sui iurfs) by reason of the Code and according to its norms (c. 488, 8°). 2° The superiors (antistitae) of individual monasteries of nuns are major superiors by law and are endowed with all th~ pow- ,ers which are due to major superiors (c.48'8, 8°), except some that from the context or from the nature of the power would concern men only (c. 490). § 2. 1° The extent of the condition of independence or autonomy (sui iuris), as it is called, of monasteries of nuns is defined by both common and particular law. 2° The juridical guardianship which the law grants tO the local ordinary or to the superiors regular over individual mon-asteries is in no way derogated from by this Constitution or by federations of monasteries allowed by the Constitution (Art. 7) and ,established by its authority. 3° The juridical relations of individual monasteries with the local ordinaries or with the superiors regular continue to be regu-lated by ~he common law as well as by particular law. § 3. This Constitution does not determine whether individual monasteries are subject to the authority of the local ordinary or, within the 'limits of the law, are exempt from it and. are subject to the superior regular. Article 7 § I. Monasteries of nuns are not only autonomous (c. 488, 8°) but also juridically ~ distinct and independent of each other and only united and joined together by spiritual and moral bonds even though by law they be subject to the same first order or religious institute. § 2. 1° The formation of federations is in no way opposed to May, 1951 SPONSA CHRISTI the common liberty of monasteries,'which is accepted as a m.atter of fact rather ,than imposed by law; nor should, these federations be considered as forbidden by law or in any way less in accordance with ¯ the nature and purposes of the religious life 6f the nuns. 2° Though not prescribed by any general law, federations of monasteries are, nevertheless, strongly recommended by the Holy See not only to prevent the evils and disadvantages which can arise from complete separation bug also to promote regular observance and the contemplative life. § 3~. The formation'of every kind of federation of monasteries of nuns or of a union of federation~ is reserved to the Holy See. § 4. Every federation or union must necessarily be ruled and governed by its own laws approved by the Holy See. § 5. 1° Without prejudice to Article 6;§§ 2 and 3. and to the special type of autonomy defined above (§ 1), there is no objection, in the formation of federations of monasterieS, ',to the introduction of equitable conditions and mitigations of autonomy, which may seem to-be necessary or more useful, after the example of certain monastic congregations and orders, whether of canons or of monks. 2° Nevertheless, any types of federation which seem con-trary to the aforesaid autonomy (§ 1) and which tend towards centralization of government are reserved to the Holy See in a special manner and may not be introduced without Its express permission. § 6. Federations of monasteries are of pontifical right according to the norms of canon law both because of their source of origin and - of the authority upon which they directly depend and by which they are governed. § 7. The'Holy See may exercise immediate supervision and authority, as the case may require, over a federation through a reli-gious assistant, whose duty it will be not only to represent the Holy See but alsb to foster the genuine spirit proper to the order and to give superiors assistanc~ and advice in the right and prudent govern-ment of the federation. §8. 1° The statutes of a federation should conform to the pre-scribed norms to be prepared by the Sacred Congregation of Religious by Our Authority and to the nature, laws, spirit, and traditions, whether ascetical or disciplinary or juridicgl and apostolic, of the reli-gious order concerned. 2° The principal purpose of federations of monasteries is 145 POPE PIUS XII Review for Religious to f~rnish mutual fraternal a~sistance not only by fostering the reli-gious spirit and regular monastic discipline, but also by promoting ¯ the economic welfare. 3° Should the case arise, special norms are to be proVided in order to approve statutes through which the permission and moral obligation of transferring nuns from one monastery to another should be regulated when these measures are considered necessary for the government of the monasteries, the training of the novices {n~ a common novitiate established for all or for many of the monasteries, and for other moral or mate}ial needs of the monasteries or of the nuns. Article 8 " § 1. The monastic work, which even the nuns who lead a con-templative life are obliged to perform, should as far as possible be suited to the rule, constitutions, and traditions of the individuaI .orders. ~. § 2. ,This work should be regulated in such a way that, along 'with other sources of income approved by the Church (cc. 547-551, 582) and with the abundant assistance of Divine Providence, it will provide secure and fitting support for the nuns. § 3. 1° Local ordinaries, superiors regular, and superiors, of monasteries and of federations are obliged to use all diligence that the nuns may never be wanting in necessary, adequate, and profitable work. 2° On ~heir part, nuns are bound in conscience not only to earn their doily bread by the honest sweat of their brow, as the Apostle teaches (II Them. 3:10), but they should also make them-selves more skillful day by day in the different kinds of work required by present times. Article 9 In order to be found faithful to their divine, apostolic vocation, all nuns must not only use the general means o~ the monastic aposto-late, but they shall also attend to the following:- . § 1. Nuns who have definite works of a particular apostolate prescribdd in their constitutions or in approved rules are obliged to devote themselves entirely and constantly to these works according to the norms of their constitfitions, statutes, or rules. § 2. Nuns who lead an exclusively contemplative life should observe .the .following: 146 May, 1951 MEDITATION FOR A MOTHER SUPERIOR 1° If, according to their particular traditions, they now have or bare had a special kind of external apostolate, let them faith-fully retain it after having adapted it, without harm to their life of contemplation, to modern needs; if they have lost it, let them dili-gently take means to restore it. If there is any doubt about adapta-tion, let them consult the Holy See. 2° On the other hand, if the purely contemplative life, according to the approved constitutions of the order or its traditions, has never, been joined to the external apostolate' in a permanent and enduring manner up to.the present time, then, only in cases of neces-sity and for a limited time, the nuns may, and at lea~t out of charity should, occupy themselves with those forms of the apostolate, "espe-cially such as are unique or personal, which may seem to be com-patible with the contemplative life as observed in their order according to the norms to .be fixed by the Holy See. h edi!:a!:ion t:or a Nkot:her Superior Mother Mary Elizabeth, D.C. Love knoweth no measure Feareth no labor Maketh sweet all that is bitter Findeth rest in God alone LOVE knoweth no measure, no measure of forgiveness. A group of persons living in such. close proximity as religious must, are keenly aware of the weakness of human nature. They begin to understand why Our Lord on the cross prayed: "Forgive them, for they know not what they do." And if this understanding comes to those who have no special rseponsibility for other souls, how ~rnuch more dearly to those whom God invests with His authority? So the Sister Superior must learn to love without measure, in the sa'me manner as Christ has lo~ved her. It is well to recall that the rulers of the Jews said that Christ was guided by Beelzebub . Superiors follow (or should follow) more closely in the footsteps of Christ, and they musthave His spirit. He dictated a very beautiful com-mand one evening: '"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." 147 Ma~!, 1951 MEDITATION FOR A MOTHER SUPERIOR Feareth no labor: The superior must never call a moment her own." Her time belongs to the Sisters; consequently there should be no so-called "inter,ruptions" in her life. In. giving herself to the community, either directly to the individual members or indirectly. by her care of the house, she is but doing her duty. She should be the last to think of rest, of ease from work, of consolations. "It is for thee to be the support of tl~y brethren." To be the support, the strength, of the weak, the despondent, the discouraged religious. The superior has to deal with each soul in these categories asa mother does with a sick (or peevish) child. She makes sweet the wood of the cross so that her daughters may carry it willingly, carry it joyfu~ly, and, at the end, triumphantly, to the portal of Heaven. Maketh sweet all that is bitter: To give one's will into the hands of another, a symbol of slavery, is the hardest sacrifice God asks of man. To make light the burden of obedience and to sweeten the bitterness found in community life is the task of the superior of the house. In doing this she will be called upon to. forget herself :i thousand times. In each community the superior should image the Rule. In her the religious should find the peace, the joy of laboring for Christ, and the rest tfiat comes to a contented heart doing all for God. Findeth rest in God alone: Truly this is the only consolation worthy of the name. It is reserved, not to superiors, but to the superior after God's own heart. In distractions often, in cares with-out number, in burdens multiplied, the superior should seek rest only in the Heart of Christ. When the power that comes from God alone was conferred upon her, she was set apart. Not that she was made better than others, not that by the very fact of authority she was made perfect, but only because God delegated to her the power that is His by righ,.t. "'Going-up-into the mountain He called unto Him whom He would . " Not because of the spiritual worth of the individual but only because God wills it is a man or a woman set apart to lead and govern other souls. If Christ called all to come to Him that they might be refreshed, how much more those who are burdened with a greater share of the Cross of the Lord? OUR CONTRIBUTORS ALEXANDER WYSE is the director of the Academy of American Franciscan History, Washington, D.C. MOTHER MARY ELIZABETH is prioress of the Carmel of St. Joseph, Long Beach, California. C. A. HERBST and AUGUSTINE KLAAS are members of the faculty at St. Mary's College, St. Marys, Kansas. 148 Current: Spiri!:ual Writ:ing Augustine Klaas~ S.3. From La Vie Spirituelle IN.THE MARCH .1950 number of La Vie Spirituelle there is an intriguing little symposium on the subject: "It is difficult to grow old." The matter is of current, practical interest for religious, who too must learn the not-so-easy art of growing old gracefully. Doctor H. Muller pres.ents an introductory survey, noting the marked increase in the number of old people, owing to the reduction of infant mortality, the increasingly successful fight against disease, and. other factors, all of which are adding years to the life-span of society's various classes, including religious. (In the U. S. A. since 1900, a period in which the population has doubled, the.number of persons over sixty-five years old has quadrupled, from three to twelve million in the fifty-year period.) Unfortunately, along with an increase in numbers, has Come a noticeable change of status. When the old were comparatively few, they were honored and respected, and their advice was dutifully sought, but the situation has now greatly altered, presenting nev~ problems of adjustment both psychological and social. Also; the old today are too often "bad patients," discouraging attention and affection, precisely because many have not learned how to grow old in a calm, mature .way. When the life-span was barely thirty years, the saying used to be: "Brother, you are going to have to die." Today it is rather: "Brother, you are going to have to get old." You will be old, perhaps ten, twenty, and even thirty years. The prob-lem must be courageously met and solved on the material and~ above all, on the spiritual plane. H. Duesberg draws a charming portrait of the aged as found in the Old Testament, comparing it not unfavorably with the one sketched in the ancient classical writers and those of the Middle and Far East. After an upright, useful life, the aged man is represented as living out his long years with dignity, while at the same time going down steadily and inexorably to the tomb. Old age may be burdensome and subject to various untoward vicissitudes: never-theless, it is always preferable to death, for as Ecclesiastes (9:4) says 149 AUGUSTINE KLAAS Reuieu~ [or Religious somewhat quaintly: "A living dog is better than a dead lion." Old age merits respect and reverence: "Rise up before the hoary head, and honor the person of the aged man" (Leviticus 19:32). Old age is itself the reward for honoring the old, especially one's parents: "Honor thy father and mother . that thou mayest live a long time" (Deuteronom~ 5:16). What splendid examples of old age there are in the Old Testament: Tobias, Sara~ Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, Samuel, David. Of course, as we might expect, there were also some unworthy old persons, such as the two accusers of Susanna. The old are the living embodiment of the 15ast, particu-larly of the previous generation. Even after they have died they continue to live on in their children and in the memory they leave behind them of their wisdom and experience. Duesberg concludes: "The serenity of the aged ih the. Old Testament is remarkable, for they drew a maximum of confidence and resignation from what they themselves had learned and from what God had taught them." The increasing number of the old presents also an economic problem, a problem of material assistance, which the symposium does not cover. However, Armand Marquisat tells of an interesting association of men, formed in Paris to help solve the social probl,em of the aged. The men call themselves the Little Brothers of the Poor. The group was started by three gentlemen in Paris at Easter 1946: it now numbers over thirty. These laymen, propose to help the old in ev~ry possible way in the places where they live, fre- "quently alone and in need. Some of the Brothers are part-time, others full-time workers, who visit these aged people several times a week, to look after their food, lodging, clothing, medical, and spir-itual care. Professional men and workers of all types are members, and all have placed themselves under the patronage of St. Francis of Assisi. It is a lay institute that vows to serve the aged in this ,very practical, effective, ChriStian way. The symposium, concerned mainly with the spiritual side of the problem, contains a good article by Father Ji Perinelle, O.P., a reli-gious of advanced age and wide experience. He notes that people grow old unevenly. Some keep their mental and bodily faculties intact almost till the very _end; others deteriorate more rapidly and are subject to disease: All experience a certain loss of liberty, a growing dependence on others, and a gradual isolation that does not: lighten their.physical or moral iils. Countering'the~e, there is a tendency among the old themselves to excess in one direction or May, 1951 (]URR~NT WRITING another, and very frequently a pronounced egotism, showing itself in constant speaking onl~ of self and one'Sqlls, or complaining, or demanding that every whim be satisfied, or a lack of gratitude for favors done. Certainly these are not the .proper attitudes that age should bring along with it.' ¯ Old age is'a sthge of life willed by God and like the other stages should contribute to the advancement of one's spiritual good. God governs old age by His Providence; He is all--powerful, all-wise, and all-loving (Rorn. 8:28). The old have the grace at hand to meet the trials of this period of life (II. Corr. 4:16).~ Perhaps St. Paul is the great example of a man growing old in the right way; he did not falter towards the end, but finished victoriously the combat and the race (II. Tim. 4:6-8). Father Perinelle gives some wise counsels for the aging. The first group pertain to the exterior, the second to the interior life. a) Health: Don't become obsessed with care for your health, always an.xiously looking at the thermometer, taking the pulse count, noticing the draughts, etc. Restrict gradually your external activity; live a well~ordered life; keep up a certain minimum of physical exer-cise; attend, faithfully to personal hygiene; watch eating habits; meet weakness~ illness, and finally death itself with resignation and cheer-fulness, as preludes to the call of the Master. b) Work: Keep on doing some real work, physical or mental, at a fixed time every day, no matter how little it may be. But do not persist in doing'work, for which you are no longer fitted. You are not a good judge in this matter; hence listen to the advice of others. Hand over your principal tasks to younger hands, even though this is not an easy thing to do. And don't imp0se.your advice on others, either. Accept the fact that your counsel, when asked, often will not be followed and finally will no longer even be asked for. c) Relations with others: Try to keep in touch with your life-long friends, but do not be locked-up l in the past. Giveyourself generously to the rising generation. Y~u are the bridge between the old and the new. Times change and certainly some real progress is. being made in the wo~ld. Your e.xperience can .contribute to it, if you are not intr.ansigent in clinging to the past. Be like the Catholic Church in this matter, sanely adapting herself to modern conditions. And keep up with the times, if you ~an, but above all keep an open, mind. Read something daily in a slow, reflecting way~ Maintain a 151 AUGUSTINE KLRAS Reoieto for Religious kindly sense of humor in your dealings 'with others. There are two dangerous .attitudes regarding the new members of your religious order or congregation: the first is to have little con-fidence in their capacity and hence to lower the standards of religious life in their favor. This must not be done, but rather a total giving of s~lf must be demanded of young religious. The second wrong attitude is to wish to impose rigidly on the newcomers what you yourself went through. No, prudent adaptation is what is wanted here. Let them prefer reading St. Paul tb reading Rodriguez! And do not attempt to impose inflexibly on the younger generation o.f religious your methods of teaching and apostolate. Guide them, surely, but leave them some initiative of their own. Finally, do not try to appear younger than you really are and thus make yourself ridiculous. Act your age. As for the interior life, remember that God loves the old in a special way because they .are weak and feeble, just as ,for the same reason He has a particular love for children. If you are faithful and prayerful, God will keep you company to your Emmaus when "it is towards evening and the day is now far spent." Two things are to be noted spiritually: you must acquire a spirit of detachment and an understanding or feeling for eternity. All things are passing: the old are very much aware of this. It should make them reflect and pass a true judgment on the fleeting things of time. Past sins must be acknowledged. There must be contrition and penance, but also an immense trust and confidence in God. The o!d feel their poverty-- empty hands after such a long life; God must be their riches now. The old feel their weakness; let God be their strength. They feel powerless to do good; God is now their all. , A sense of eternity must be gradually acquired by the old, for the beatific vision and all that it implies is drawing near. Live in the hope of it; await it longingly. Be humble, be kind, be tolerant of others, pray much, offer up the remaining days of suffering and your Ideath, pray continually throughout the day for y6urself, for your dear ones, for the world, for the Church. See to it that extreme unction and the last rites be administered to you betimes.' Death is the gate,way to eternity: be at peace, cheerful, joyful, expectant. Father A. Masson, ordained recently at the age of seventy-four, likens old age to the season of Advent. It is a time of hope,, ending in a birth. All the Advent liturgy and the prophecies of the Old 152 Mug, 1951 Q~URRENT WRITING Testament can be al3plied luminously to old age. There are three births: the physical one to natural life; the spiritual one of baptism to supernatural life; and the last one to the life of the beatific vision. Are not the death-days of the saints and martyrs called their bi~th-days? Let me close this subject with this little paragraph by Father Sertillanges, O.P., who at the age of eighty-five wrote as beautifully as ever: "For the Christian, old age is not a final farewell to what-ever appeals and desperately clings to our lust for life. Quite the contrary, it is the full growth and final flowering of hope. It is the threshold of what had merely been suggested by t.he springtime of life. It is the first sight of land after an apparently interminable voyage. It is the veil which has been torn from an illusion and exposes to view the supreme realities. Old age is the approach to God. Descent into the grave, since i~ represents, but a partial truth, is an illusion. Rather do we ascend." From Reoue d'Asc~tique et de Mgstique In the January-March 1950 number of Revue d'Asc~tique et de M~tstique there is a seven-article symposium on the general subject: Spiritual Problems of Our Times and Ignatian Spiritualitg. I should like to summarize the article by Father Louis Verny, S.J., on a vital point of Ignatian spirituality, namely, Ignatian prayer, a subject about which there is sometimes misunderstanding and error. The title is "in actione contemplatious," which may be translated approxi-mately: "in action contemplative," or "contemplative in the midst of action," or "contemplative while active." This type of prayer, along with others, is mentioned in a letter of Father Jerome Nadal, S.J., who wasin close contact ~ith Saint Ignatius Loyola for many years. I quote the passage of Nadal's letter from the French of Father Verny: "That prayer is a capital item of prime necessity in a religious institute is most evident. I am speaking of the prayer referred, to in this text of St. Paul: "I will pray with the spirit, but I will'pray with the understanding also" (I Cot. 14:15). It is the prayer which contains, all the phases of spiritual development: the purga-tive, illuminative, and unitive. Wherefore actively, and even avidly, does the Society give herself to it in full measure in Christ Jesus, For there is no one of her members that she does not at first start off .with meditations suited to first conversion and to the putting off of the 153 AUGUSTINE KLAAS Reoieto for Religious old man. Then, by means of contemplations on all the mysteries of Christ ~we seek.to develop ever more in ourselves the realized knowl-edge of Him who is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life." Finally, we find repose in love. What is the necessary beginning of. prayer we find again at its term: charity, the highest and sublimest of the virtues. So that, filled with a very ardent zeal drawn from prayer, we set out for our ministries full of joy in Christ 3esus, with humil-ity of heart, satisfaction, and courage. This is what we draw from the~ book of Exercises. "Although this is no't the time to treat of prayer, there is a fact which I do not wish to omit. Father Ignatius had received from God the .special grace to rise without effort 'to the contemplation of the Most Holy Trinity and to repose in it a lon~ time~ Sometimes he was led by grace to contemplate the whole Trinity; he was 'trans-ported' into it and united himself to it with his whole heart, with ¯ intense sentiments o~ devotion, and a deep spiritual relish. Some-times he contemplated the Father alone, sometimes' the Son, some-times the Holy Spirit. This contemplation of the Most Holy Trinity was accorded him often at other periods of his life, but he received it principally, and almost exclusively even, during the last years of his earthly pilgrimage. "If such prayer was granted to Saint Ignatius, it was a great privilege and of an entirely different order. But "he likewise had another privilege which made him see God present in all things and in every action, with a lively sense of spiritual realities; contem-plative in the midst of action, according to his ordinary expression: finding God in all things. Now, this grace which illumined his soul 'was revealed to us as much by a kind of brightness which emanated from his countenance as by the enlightened sureness with which he acted in Christ. We were filled with admiration for it, our hearts were much consoled by it, and we felt as though the overflow of these graces was descending on ourselves. Furthermore we believe that this privilege which we noted in Saint Ignatius is likewise granted to the whole Society; we are confident that the gift of this prayer and contemplation awaits us all in the Society, and we strongly assert that it is a part of our vocation." Three tfiings are brought out in the text of Father Nadal's rev.ealing letter: 1) ordinary prayer~ and ordinary contemplation, .that is, contemplation in the sense in which it is used in the Spiritual Exercises; 2) infused contemplation, or mystical prayer, with which 154 May, 1951 CURRENT WRITING Saint Ignatius was greatly favored; 3) a state of soul described by the phrase "in action contemplative" or "contemplative in the midst of action," which Saint Ignatius cultivated himself and recommended most highly for his sons, and Father Nadal considered an integral part of a Jesuit's vocation. We are interested here in this last type of prayer, to which Father Verny devotes most of his article. Although it does characterize Jesuit spirituality, it is not for Jesuits only, but can be utilized, at least to some extent, by all.orders and congregations engaged in the active apostolat.e. At the outset Father Verny compares the Jesuit formula "in actione contemplatious . in action contemplativeS' with the forrrfula -of.St. Thomas Aquinas, which can be expressed somewhat like this: "'contemplari et contemplata aliis tradere'" ("to contemplate and to communicate to others .what one has contemplated"). There is some dispute as to whether St. Thomas's formula ref~s to what is technically called the "mixed life," the life of the active apostolate, because it seems rather to accentuate the contemplative element. If it does, it differs from :the Ignatian formula, since the latter certainly puts the stress on the active apostolate. Also, the Thomistic formula seems to refer to alternate activities, namely, to contemplate and then to impart the fruit of one's contemplation, .whereas the Ignatian formula indicates something simultaneous, apostolic action perme-ated with contemplation. Father Verny then takes up the Jesuit formula and has no diffi-culty proving from the Spiritual Exercises and the Formula of the Institute that apostolic action is the vocation of the Jesuit. The Society of Jesus is an essentially active order, a mobile force ready to give apostolic service of almost any and every kind. What is the contemplative element that must permeate its active apostolate? Father Verny says that it can be expressed in two ways, each one implying the other. The contemplative element in the active apostolate is the state of soul resulting from the complete, unconditional, definitive self-surrender to Jesus Christ and total enlistment in H~s cause, spoken of in The Spiritual Exercises. It is begun in the Kingdom meditation, enhanced by the Two Standards, perfected by the Three Degrees of Humility, completed and actuated day after day by the intimacy with Our Lord that is derived from the daily contemplation of Him in the Gospels. This close intimacy with Christ is the fruit of the Second Week, perfected and made more 155 AUGUSTINE KLAAS Ret@to ~or Religious precise in the rest "of the Exercises, and extended throughout life, since the contemplation of the Gospels is a life-long task. It" is renewed every day at Holy Mass and Holy Communion, and in visits to the Blessed Sacrament. It expresses itself in frequent thought of' Christ, confidences, exchange of gifts, and the acquire-ment of a common mind with Christ. It is the asslmilation and "putting on of Christ," who is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life." Father Leonce de Grandmaison calls it "virtual prayer"--a recalling of the presence of God and an actuation more or less'explicit of "that transcendental love which we owe to God Our Lord." He points out some of' its qualities: "apostolic interests placed above selfish interests; divine views over human views; the spirit of Christ pre-ferred to the spirit of the world." This thinking with Christ, this participation in His interior dis-positions, this ever more perfect assimilation and putting on of Christ, can be expressed in a second way, namely, by using the language of the Institute. I cite some of the more important pas-sages. For instance, he who enters the Society of 3esus must take care "always to have before his eyes first God, th~n the spirit of the Insti-tute, which is a way of ascending to Him." Again, the seventeenth of .the Rules of the Surnrnar~ : "Let all endeavor to have a right intention, not only in their state of life, but in all particulars, seeking in them always sin.cerely to serve and please the divine Goodness for itself . And in all things let them seek God, casting off as much as possible all love of creatures, that they may place their whole affection on the Creator of them, loving Him in all creatures and them all in Him, according to His most holy and divine Will." The significant phrases "for the greater glory, of God," "for the greater service of God" constantly recur in the Spiritual Exercises and in the Constitutions. Here is what we read in the preamble to the Election: "In every good Election, as far as regards ourselves, the eye of the intention ought to be single, looking only to the end for which I was ~reated, which is, for the praise of God our Lord . . ." Besides a right intention, a spirit of faith must be had, especially" with regard to obedience. A few selections at random from the Constitutions: "acknowledging the Superior, whoever he be, as holding the place of Christ our Lord." With regard to illness: "using pious and edifying words, showing that he accepts l~is sick-ness as a gift of our Creator. and Lord." These ideas are especially clear in the seventh part of the Constitutions, where there is question 156 Ma~t, 1951 CURRENT WRITING of apostolic ministries in the strict sense, but they also form an under-current in all the parts and also in the General Examen. The twenty-ninth rule, on external comportment, ends: "and hence it will follow that, considering one another, they will increase in devo-tion and praise our Lord God, whom every one must strive to acknowledge in another as in His image." Thus we see sufficiently that to be "contemplative in the midst of action" involves essentially a kno~ving, a loving, and a putting on of Christ ever more and more, and various ways of seeking and finding God in all things, persons, and events, especially by a right intention and the spirit of faith. Father Verny points out three saints in whom we can easily recognize this excellent state of soul, because they were eminently "contemplative in the midst of action." The first is St. Ignatius himself, whom Father Nadal describes in the last part of the letter cited above. The second is blessed Peter Faber. After noting his manifold works for the Church, the fifth lesson of his Office con-tinues: "And while unceasingly he was doing such great deeds for the glory of God, he was with heart and mind so united to God that he seemed to be occupied With nothing but heavenly things." May we not apply to him the words of Holy ~Scripture: oculi mei semper ad Dominum . my eyes are always on the Lord"? The third example is $t. Vincent de Paul, as can also be readily seen from his Office. No doubt we could add many more: Francis. Xavier, Peter Canisius, Francis Regis, Isaac Jogues, Peter Claver, but also Charles Borromeo, Francis de Sales, Alphonsus Liguori, the holy Cur~ of Ars, Francesca Cabrini, and many others, both men and women. For them God has become an atmosphere, and all their activity takes place in this atmosphere. The activity may be very intense, overwhelming and extremely distracting, still it leaves intact unity and liberty of soul. Amid all the bustle and confusion, interiorly there is real silence and recollection. Send Saint Francis Xavier or Blessed Peter Faber on as many missions as you will, you will not change the spiritual atmosphere in which they move. ~ Multiply the" letters of St. Ignatius or the human miseries which St. Vincent de Paul tried to alleviate, deep down within, their tranquility of soul remains, their "conversation is in heaven." They are "contemplative in the mids~ of action." Their "eyes are always on the Lord." Of course, all this is an ideal, and a very high one. To reach it the~e are two stage~. The first emphasizes~the ascetical element. It 157 AUGUSTINE KLAAS Reviev., for Religious consists in the systematic and persevering practice of various spiritual ~exercises: prayer, intimacy with Christ, right intention, purity of heart, spirit of faith, presence of God, mortification of the external senses and the internal powers of the soul, faithfulness to grace and the inspirations of the Holy Spirit, the examen of conscience playing a major role. The second phase has no fixed rules or chartered course. It makes use of Father de Caussade's "sacrament of the present ;noment." It employs more frequently Father de Maumigny's "interior retreats." It consists essentially in a steady increase of faith, hope, and love of God and fellow-men, together with a growing docility to the Holy Spirit and use of His gifts. Perhaps the second stage can' be summdd up by Father Louis Lallemant in his Fourth Principle (chapter 2, article 1) : "The goal for which we should aim, after having for long time exercised ourselves in purity of heart, is to be so possessed and ruled by the Holy Spirit, that it is He alone who directs our p0wers,and our senses, and go.verns all our movements both interior and exterior, and that we abandon ourselves entirely by a spiritual renouncement of all our desires and personal gratifications. Thus we shall live no more in ourselves, but in 2esus Christ, by faithful cooperation with His divine Spirit, and by perfect subjection of all 'our rebelliousness to the power of His grace." The more this takes place, the closer we are coming to holiness and also to the mystical state, though the latter seems to be only for the very few. At this advanced level there is scarcely any difference between action and prayer, so much is action impregnated and permeated with prayer. The striving for this type of prayer amidst action is what St. Ignatius wanted in his followers. It is about this that Father Polanco wrote in behalf of Ignatius to Father Urban Fernandez, Rector of Coimbra, on June 1, 1551 : "As for prayer and meditation, except in a case of special necessity . our Father prefers that we t~y to find God in all things rather than devote much consecutive time to that exercise. He desires to see all the members of the Society animated with such a spirit that they do not find less devotion in works of charity and obedience than in prayer and meditation, since they ought to do nothing except for the love and service of Our Lord." This is the grand objective for which not only Jesuits But all religious and diocesan priests engaged in the active apostolate may and should strive~ and with God's grace ultimately achieve. 158 B ook/ eviews Four works by H. Pinard de la Boullaye, S.J.-- SAINT IGNACE DE LOYOLA, DIRECTEUR D'AMES. Pp. Ixxlx ,--1- 362. Aubier, I-=dltions Montaigne. LA SPIRITUALIT¢ IGNATIENNE: Textes. Choisls et pr&sent6s. Pp. I "-t- 4S7. Libralrle Plon, Paris. EXERCISES SPIRITUELS Selon la M6thode .de Saint Icjnace. Tome Pre-mier, Les Exercises, 7 ~:dltlon, revue et augment~e. Pp. xxvill ~ 314. Beauchesne ef Ses Fils, Paris, 1950. LES I~TAPES DE RI~DACTION DES EXERCISES DE S. IGNACE. 7 l'=-dltion, revue et corrig~e. Pp. viii -I- 76. Beauchesne et Ses Fils, Paris, 1950. After acquiring eminent distinction in such fields as comparative religion and religious experience and in giving the Lenten conferences at Notre-Dame, Paris, Fr. Pinard de la Boullaye has in recent years been devoting his great talents to writing on Ignatian spirituality. Among several volume~ on that general theme there are four to which we would call attention. Saint lgnace de Lo.qola, Directeur d'Ames opens with a long preface ~vhich presents the sources of Ignatian spirituality, its leading ideas, its general characteristics, and its value, and then an account of the writings of St. Ignatius and their character. The main body of the work consists of 314 pages of extracts, with notes and explana.- tions, from the original Sources. These excerpts are arranged according to different topics; for example, "the apostle of order and the greater glory of God," ". of self-control," ". of zeal," and so on. Thus in a moment one'could easily find in their authentic form St. Ig-natius's thoughts on many important points in the interior life. La Spiritualitd lqnatienne is similar in structure; and in content it is complementary. First a fairly lengthy preface gives a general description of Ignatian spiritual doctrine. Then in a systematic way the whole of the spiritual life, ascetical and mystical, is presented in selections, not so much this time from St. Ignatius himself, as from his 3esuit sons. This book therefore is an anthology, topically ar-ranged, of 3esuit spirituality. After a brief indication of a basic idea from the saint; various developments of it from 3esuit spiritual lit-erature are presented. Numerous notes and references could intro-duce one to further study of the same subject. A't the end of the book there is a very useful collection of brief biographical and biblio- 159 BOOK REVIEWS graphical notices of the Society's spiritual authors. Exercises Spiri(uels is the first of a four-volume set on St. Ig-natius's Exercises. It may be said that it is designed to explain them, whereas those that follow deoelop them in the form of retreats. However, it is not simply a commentary. It is proposed as "notes," and rather deals with what seem td be the essential ideas of St. Ig-natius, and the principal reasons why he chose such considerations and arranged them as he did. Thus, it is hoped, the right under-standing of the text will be facilitated. This book will no doubt 0 take a foremost place among writings on the Exercises.One special merit of it is a certain wholesome originality. ~ Les t~tapes de Rddaction is a small, but very interesting work on the evolution of the Exercises themselves. The process went on from 1521 to 1548, and in it six different stages or phases are distinguished and studied, If the author:s conclusions be correct, some old ad-mirers of the Exercises will be surprised to learn the dates at which certain of the more characteristic pieces appeared. --(3. AUG. F-LLARD, S.J. JEANNE JUGAN. By Mgr. Francis Trochu. Translated by Hugh Mont-gomery. Pp. xil -I- 288. Newman Press, Westminster, Maryland, 1950. $3.75. If there is one phenomenon in modern Catholic life from which no one can withhold the tribute of spontaneous admiration, it is the work of the Little Sisters of the Poor. It must have been a wonder-ful personality, one feels, that, under God, brought that body into being. Here is the story of that personality, so wonderful that even in the order she inspired and first "established--owing to the fact that it was "kidnapped" by a priest-director and: held captive incredibly long--she was not known by most of her fellow-religious as their founder. "Jeanne Jugan will be canonized some day, but there will be many.difficulties in the way, for we have no dstails about her life," said a priest of Jeanne, when all the.facts were still being cov-ered under conspiratorial silence. Truth can hide in strange places. In this instance it was the records of the French Academy (which had conferred the Montyon Prize on Jeanne before the "kidnapping"), and it was through that source that it came home to the Little Sisters, and the world, what a wonderful woman had called their work into existence. God is wonderful in Jeanne Jugan.--CIERALD ELLARD, S.J. 160 May, 1951 BOOK NOTICES THE TRUE STORY OF SAINT BERNADETTE. By Henri petitotl O.P. Translated by a Benedictine of Stanbrook Abbey. Pp. viii -I- 19S. The Newman Press, Westminster, Maryland. $2.50. This book is not intended to be a complete biography of St. Ber-nadette. It is more in the line of an appreciation. It supposes that the reader already has a fair knowledge of the facts of Bernadette's life. What the autho~ tries to do is reproduce the spirit behind the facts of her life. The common reaction to a book with a~title like "the true story" of something or other is the suspicion that the author is setting about to correct some popular notions about his subject. Whether the popular concept of Bernadette contains some false notions, the author does not explicitly say. But he wants to be sure that the reader has two things straight by the time he finishes, the book. First of all, Bernadette was not an unintelligent girl. Her intelligence was above average, although her education was neglected until she entered the ,religious life. Secondly, she was not just an ordinary good religious (as her mother superior claimed). It is true that Bernadette was favored with special graces before her entrance into the religious life, But this is not the reason she is a saint. She developed the practice of heroic virtue in tile religious life, especially by the way she accepted suffering and humiliation. The author stresses the heroism that Bernadette manifested in a particular kind of suffering that was harder to bear than physical pain. Two of her superiors took on themselves the job of seeing that Bernadette stayed humble. Some of the other Sisters, taking their cue .from the superiors, took up the crusade to keep Bernadette humble. The uncharitableness that can be cloaked underneath such a crusading attitude is obvious. A fault into which the author seems to fall occasionally is to squeeze heroicity out of insignificant incidents. He has plenty of arguments for her heroism without exaggerating the significance of minor incidents.--JOHN R. SHEETS, S.J. BOOK NOTICES On June seventeenth will be beatified the saintly MotherCouderc, Foundress of the Cenacle Sisters, who died in her eightieth year in 1885. If you wish to see why God so obviously blesses the Society "161 BOOK NOTICES ' Reuietu for Religious of the Retreat of Our Lady in the Cenacle in its very rapid diffusion in the United States and elsewhere, you will find in this biography, SURRENDER TO THE SPIRIT, that supernatural self-surrender to the Holy Ghost, who in the Cenacle came upon the infant C~aurch in Pentecostal tongues of fire. Mother Surles of the Boston Cenacle presents her heroic subject in an inspiring, but slightly "novelized" biography, in casting much of it in conversational form. Blessed ThOr}se Couderc should henceforth bare many friends among girls and women of all walks of life. (New York: Kenedy, 1951. Pp. xxi -b 243. $3.00.) OUR HAPPY LOT, written by Aurelio Espinosa Polit, S.J., and translated by William J. Young, S.J., is directed to all religious and priests. 'It presents various considerations intended to inculcate fer-vor and consolation in those consecrated to God. The unique gi.ft of vocation, its assurance ofsalvation, its call to intimacy with Christ, its sufferings and temptations, the'zeal which it postulates, the means of grace which it affords--all these topics are treated in a spirit of piety and elucidated ,by citations and explanations of Holy Scripture. The last fifty pages (pp. 195-245) are a summary, or recapitulation of the book. The various subjects are condensed into brief medi-tations. (St. Louis: B. Herder Co., 1951. Pp. xi + 245. $3.50.) CAN CHRIST HELP ME?, by C. C. Martindale, S.J., is addressed to the World at large and aims at bringing all 'men to. the knowledge and love of Christ. Nevertheless, the last three parts (pp'. 81-205), comprisifig almost two-thirds of the volume, furnish stimulating spiritual reading for religious and priests. This section develops the Ignatian retreat meditation called the Kingdom of Christ and from it the reader becomes enthusiastic not only for Christ's doctrine'or His past achievements, but e~pecially for the Person who can help me right now "as one living person helps another." This zest and love for Christ are developed by explaining the miracles, the parables, the sermons, the attitudes, the anecdotes: and the ordinary actions of Christ as these are portray.ed in the Gospels. Upon all of these Father Martindale throws new light and be does so in that simple, graphic style which belongs to a master of English prose. (West-minster, Md.: The Newman Press, 1950. Pp. 205. $2.25.) 162 Ma~l, 1951 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS [For the most part. these notices are purely descriptive, based on a cursory exam-ination of the books listed.] AMI PRESS, Washington, New Jersey. Matins in a Leafy~ Wood. The Story of Mother M. Germaine. By Sister Mary Charitas, I.H.M. Pp. 124. $2.50. An inspiring life of an educator dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

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PLEASE REMEMBER That by sending your orders to us you help build up and devel-op one of the church institutions with pecuniary advantage to yourself. Address HENRY. S. BONER, Supt. The fllcreary. The Literary Journal of Gettysburg College. VOL. XIV. GETTYSBURG, PA., JUNE 1906. No. 4 CONTENTS "■COLLEGE JOURNALISM"—Oration. '■. . 92 N. R. WHITNEY, '06. "JUNE NIGHT "—Sonnet 95 W. WISSLER HACKMAN, '08. "SALUTATORY"—Oration 96 H. CLYDE BRILLHART, '06. "TENNIS AS AN EXERCISE"—Essay 100 L. W. T., '09. "HIS APOLOGY"—Poem. . . . . . . .101 F. W. MOSER, '07. " OUR ENTRANCE INTO CITIZENSHIP " With Valedictory. —Oration 103 H. BRUA CAMPBELL, '06. "THE OLD DORM IN THE MOONLIGHT "—Poem. . . 109 ROE EMMERT, '06. "THE SCENERY ABOUT MILLERSBURG, PA."—Essay. . no G. L. KlEFFER, '09. "HOME SWEET HOME "—Essay 112 J. EDWARD LOWE, '06. " SAVED BY GRACE "—Story . 114 EDITORIALS, . • 118 EXCHANGES, . . . 120 92 THE MERCURY. COLLEGE JOURNALISM. N. R. WHITNEY, '06. FROM the day when Daniel Webster, as a student, started the first college newspaper at Dartmouth College to the present time, college journalism has had a steady growth in extent and influence. Just as our great newspapers have grown and the number of these publications has increased un-til now every town of at least five thousand inhabitants has its daily, and as we have come to consider these papers the chief factor in the struggle for civic righteousness, so college journ-alism has developed until it occupies a wholly unique position in the college world, and now no institution that claims to be progressive is without its journal. The history and evolution of the college newspaper would provide material for a long and interesting discussion, but that would be chiefly of historic value. Today, let us seek rather to obtain something of immediate and more practical value. Let us strive to set up an ideal towards which college journ-alism shall strive. Commencement is a peculiarly fitting time to look forward rather than backward, and, therefore, we will consider, instead of what has been done, what ought to be done. To do this it will first be necessary to get the status of the college journal, and in this search we shall consider the college newspaper as the only periodical which exerts any considerable influence in the college world. The newspaper is the connect-ing link between the alumni and the college. It serves to keep those who have gone out informed as to the events which tran-spire and the condition of affairs at the college, and thus keeps alive their interest in their Alma Mater, while it contains news in regard to the alumni which keeps the student body informed as to the success with which former college men are meeting, and thus it fulfills the function of a medium of exchange be-tween the alumni and the students. Of course, being pub-lished by the students it is largely devoted to college news and reflects student sentiment. Hence, he who wishes to learn how certain measures are regarded and what schemes are en- \ THE MERCURY. 93 tertained by the students for the improvement of the institution needs but to read the college paper. Keeping this idea in view, that the alumni determine very largely the condition of affairs at the school from its journal, those in charge of its publication should be careful of its char-acter. Its tone should be high. Of course, it goes without saying, that being the work of those who are presumably well-educated, and intended to circulate among intelligent and well educated men, it must be correct in English; and this in-volves a careful and exact use of words as well as obedience to those rules of grammer which have become crystallized by usage in our best literature. This lofty tone which is desirable precludes the use of slang, for such expressions are ephemeral. They seize upon the fan-cy of one generation and in the next are forgotten. A college paper wants permanence in style and maintenance of dignity. To be lofty is to be dignified. Slang is a product of street gamins whose vocabulary is limited, and hence possesses no dignity and should not be found in a college periodical. The tone of the best college paper will not only be pure and lofty, but it will be hopeful, not pessimistic. It will seek to find some ground for hope in the poorest athletic team ; it will find cause for congratulation in some feature of the most poor-ly rendered concert by a musical club. In other words, the ideal college journal is not a fault-finder. It is easy to criticise and tear down; the difficulty lies in building up. Of course there is such a thing as being too optimistic and such an edi-tor imagines his college and everything connected with it as being without flaw. However, we are contending for that vis-ion which, while seeing the faults around it, will invariably re-gard them as less obtrusive than the virtues. Each institu-tion has rules and practices which some of us would change if we were able to do so, but should one give expression to the opinion that, because such practices exist therefore the college is behind the times or is a partial failure ? Is it in the province of the college newspaper to place the school in an unfavorable light before the world ? These queries lead necessarily to the statement that the 94 THE MERCURY. periodical should be large and liberal in its judgements. Since it has this power, to a very great extent, of giving good or ill-fame to an institution, the journal must exercise the judicial function with great caution. We are living in an iconoclastic age and nothing gives us quite so much pleasure as to shy a brick metaphorically at those in authority. Their personalities and their deeds stand out so clearly that we cannot resist the temptation to criticise them. If the paper seeks popularity among a certain large group of students it needs only to find fault with the administration of affairs pertaining to the college. Hence the journal requires at its head a man who is able to detach himself, as it were, from the student body and its pre-judices and rise to a height where he can more clearly discern the interests of the college. It is not always an easy task to rise above prejudice and it sometimes demands the exercise of .more courage than one would imagine. Thus, when the whole body of students commits a deed or assumes a position which a dispassionate judical consideration compells an editor to dis-approve of, he will need all the moral courage he can command to do his duty in the face of the hostile criticism of his class and college mates. We have said that the paper represents the student body. This statement ought to be amended by saying " the whole student body." A judgment which is large and liberal will not per-mit of favoritism towards any one class. Such a policy would be disastrous to the usefulness of the paper. Of course some publications disregard even this danger signal, but when it is remembered that the editor is almost always closely identified with a certain class and its interests, it is surprising that the number of papers which fail in this respect is as small as it is. Nor can a successful journal be unfair in its attitude towards its contemporaries. Great care must be used in passing judg-ment upon the acts or statements made by a rival institution. Too easily are we led by our sympathy and prejudice to put the wrong construction upon our neighbors' actions. And now we come to the aim of the college journal. Is its highest purpose realized and its fullest duty performed when it simply gives the news of the college world ? No, its des- r THE MERCURY. 95 tiny is grander than that of being merely a purveyor of news. Its work is more inspiring. It seeks to benefit the college. Advancement and success for the institution are the goals. Many advantages will accrue to the school just because the paper itself is a good one and meets the requirements which we have laid down. But this is not sufficient. There must be conscious and uninterrupted effort to make known the good qualities of the college and to secure more students and more money for it by arousing and keeping alive the enthus-iasm and support of its friends. To accomplish this purpose it is imperative that the end be kept always in view. Since a college journal is published by the students it might seem that student interest ought to be given the first consideration. Occasionally there may be such a conflict of interests, but, at such times, the editor must keep clearly in view the fact that the college journal is a power only when it is a power for good for its college, and is fulfilling its high destiny only when it is using every means to keep glow-ing the love and interest of the students and alumni for their Alma Mater. JUNE NIGHT. W. WlSSLER HACKMAN, 'OS. • TJNDOWN and crescent noon ; The passing truths of a glaring day Now fade and soften into gloom Until they vanish quite away. The dreaming trees soft-breathing sigh, And whispering quiver as they stand ; Like drowsing giants o'er the land They nod beneath a faint-starred sky. Afar the marsh-frogs rasp their strings The livelong night, nor pause, nor rest ; A night bird stirring in her nest Sings with a rapture of fluttering wings, While fairies bear their lamps about Though brooding shadows in and out. 96 THE MERCURY. ENGLISH SALUTATORY—TRANSITION PERIODS. H. CLYDE BRILLHART, '06. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : The class of 1906 extends to you all a hearty welcome. As-we are about to celebrate one of the most important events in the lives of each one of us, we are glad for the presence of so-large a number of our friends. These four years of care-free iun and earnest study are about to close. This day to which we have long been looking forward with commingled feelings of joy and sadness has at length arrived. To this, the goal of our four long, yet seemingly short, years of training and uncon-cern and the commencement of the more serious responsibili-ties of life, each of the thirty-four members of our class bids you an earnest welcome. To you, alumni and friends, who out of loyalty to our Alma Mater have been wont to see other classes from time to time pass from this stage out onto the larger stage of life; to you, the members of the board of trustees from among whose number one is absent today who for many years has helped to shape the destinies of our Alma Mater, whose wisdom was a tower of strength to her, whose learning was her glory, whose life was an inspiration and an example to her sons and daughters; to you, the members of the faculty, who-have so patiently led us in the ways of knowledge; to you, the relatives and friends of the individual members of the class; to you, undergraduates, who are not yet called upon to sever these bonds of association, but who will in time come to stand where we now stand—to all in the name of the class of 1906,1 extend most cordial greetings. We stand today on a dividing line with fond memories of the Past and hope for the Future. The time is at hand when it is necessary for us, as a class, to part; but we can dety those circumstances to arise which can /weaken these ties of friendship so dearly formed by us during these four years just passed, or to counter-act their influence upon our Future. Today we leave as undergradu-ates, to return in future years as alumni, in an attempt to review in a few short days those never-to-be-forgotten lessons learned within these sacred walls. The time of preparation has passed ; the time for achieve- THE MERCURY. 97 f ment is at hand. In the evolution of life we have reached the end of one of those periods which because of their peculiar position and character are of the utmost importance. They form the connecting links between the larger epochs of life. They are periods in which certain tendencies and movements are gaining momentum and slowly but surely changing the character of the life of the nation or the individual. The vital forces of one age and one set of circumstances are recast and readjusted to meet the demands of a new age and a new set of circumstances. It is true that in the great scheme of development every period is a transition period, but it is also true that some per-iods by the suddenness of the changes and the rapidity of the readjustments which take place in them, are in a special sense transition periods. In reading the record of the formation of the earth, the geologist often comes upon a place where the continuity of his record is broken. When he again finds it continued the character of the life forms is so widely different that he con-cludes that a great length of time must have elapsed between the formation of the records, but when he has made a more care-ful investigation and found the missing pages of his record and has properly interpreted them he finds that the period was a com-paratively short one; but One in which h'fe forms were un-dergoing very rapid changes, Such a period he calls a transi-tion period. The wise student of history realizing the great significance of such periods in the evolution of human progress makes them his special care. He knows that only by the mastery of rhe forcesand tendencies at work in them do the events of the subse-quent periods become clear. This is nowhere better illus-trated than in the Renaissance-Reformation period. It forms the connecting link between the Middle Ages and the Modern Times. No other period in the history of the world has set in motion so many forces which were world wide in their results. The Middle Age was ruled by asceticism. The monk's view of life was the ideal of the age. The authority of the Roman See was unquestioned and its power unlimited. But all this, 98 THE MERCURY. is now changed. The ascetic view of life is broken ; the unity of the Middle Ages destroyed; the world view transformed. The new age with its revelations and achievements discovered to man the truth about himself and the truth made him free. It led him out of the dungeon of Monasticism into the light of Christian freedom. It broke the shackles which the petty fendal lord had forged upon him and started him on the high-way to political freedom. It transformed Ecclesiastical abso-lutism into indivi dual nationality. In the intellectual realm the transformation was truly mar-velous. For a small earth-centered universe, the Copernican system of astronomy gave to man a limitless sun-centered uni-verse. Instead of a common compulsory church it gave him a free church. In place of the useless and subtle quibbling of the schoolmen there appears the beginning of real philosophy. Alchemy is supplanted by Chemistry, Astrology by Astronomy. In no department of human knowledge has the transformation been more marvelous or longer delayed than in the study of history. The impulse was given in the 16th century. It struggled hopelessly for recognition but was soon lost in the rapid march of events. It was not until the 19th century that history again commanded attention, when the events of a single decade, from 1820 to 1830, called forth more volumes of history than were called forth by the events of a thousand years before. History is no longer a narration of memorable events com-memorating the deeds of a hero, a family or a nation. Our historians no longer write to strike the imagination or arouse the feelings with poetical images of vanished realities. Their aim is not to please, nor to give practical maxims of conduct, but knowledge pure and simple. In order to make its facts useful they must be criticized and organized and in this way the rules of its interpretation and the formulae of its exposition have become as severe as those of the so-called " exact science " and the genetic method has been applied to all the sciences. While these periods are of great importance in science they are of even greater importance in our own lives. Of these none is more worthy of thoughtful consideration than the col-lege period which marks the transition from youth to manhood, THE MERCURY. 99 from care-free preparation to responsibility and achievement. The habits and tendencies of youth are swept away, or trans-formed into fixed habits of character and manhood. Psychologists tell us that about the 19th year in one's life there comes a period which is marked by a cessation of growth for a time, sometimes to be resumed later. This seems to suggest that nature after having cast up the youth by a flood-tide on the shores of manhood, is a little exhausted and wants time for rest and readjustment. The advantages of size and strength begin to give way to those of the higher mentality, and the main current of evolution is turned thoughtward. The newly awakened feelings, impulses and ideals are being knit into individual character and personality. The dogmatic opin-ion and prejudices of youth are breaking down before the keener analysis and wider horizon of manhood. In this wider horizon the youthful complexity of nature vanishes and we catch glimpses of the great harmony'of the universe and come face to face with the mysteries of life. The importance of the transitional character of this period has not always been recognized. Too often it has been thought of as a period of seclusion and aloofness from the busy world of affairs. The indiscretions and misdemeanors of the College man been have excused and apologized for, too frequently, on this ground alone. We are beginning to see our mistake and perhaps the best evidence of our change of heart is the almost universal condemnation of hazing and horse-play engaged in by college men, and the action taken by some of our institu-tions of learning, particilarly by the United States government in the schools under its care. It is a step in the right direc-tion, but it is not enough. May we not hope that the time will soon come when we shall not only hold the college man strictly accountable for his acts, but shall treat him as a citizen and not as an irresponsible hermit, when we shall give him complete and rational systems of self-government in the class room and in the dormitory. For it is only by rational self-government that the cardinal virtues of self-control and self-direction are developed, and if they are not cultivated during this period of transition they may never be acquired. IOO THE MERCURY. TENNIS AS AN EXERCISE. L. W. T. '09. AS an exercise both of muscle and brain, the game of ten-nis is hardly excelled. It is in this form of sport and recreation that all the faculties are trained and developed more or less. There are chiefly three beneficial results besides many minor advantages derived from indulging in this- pleasure, namely.—quickness of thought, muscular control and muscular strength. Chief of these is rapidity of thought, that great quality so essential in the battle of life. To play tennis successfully, or rather, to play it at all, one must be ever on the alert, wide awake, and ready to seize any opportunity to score a point. And when the chance presents itself in the form of a lightning-like ball, he must decide on the instant how to act. In the twinkling of an eye he must conclude on the best and most advantageous way of returning the ball whether it shall be high, low, swift, slow, to the middle, the left or the right, curved or straight. All the conditions of the situation—the position of the players, the distance from the net, the force of the wind, perhaps, and many other details must be caught up, balanced and used to advantage in one sweeping glance of the eyes. The decision as to the best disposal of the ball having been made, then muscular control is the necessary quality for the carrying out of the plan. A novice at the game, in trying to return the ball, is pretty sure to knock it at random far out of bounds, no matter how carefully he endeavors to control him-self. This is due to the fact that his muscles have not been trained to the way in which he should handle his strength. He is unaccustomed to the slight twist of the shoulder, to the presenting of the surface of the racket at just the right angle, to the slight almost imperceptible swerve of the whole body, to the graceful side-step, and to the many other requisite move-ments, so minute, so delicate, as to be almost indefinable but which, nevertheless, every experienced player has felt himself un-con sciously perform, and which are, taken altogether, so impor- THE MERCURY. 101 tant. But now observe our former novice at some later time. See how he holds himself, how perfectly every muscle and every tendon is under the influence of his will. Deftly he strikes, now "cutting " the ball sending a most exasperating and tan-talizing slow curve up into the air, now driving it swift and hard at any desired angle, and again to all appearances, throw-ing all his strength into a vicious swing, only to drop the ball close to the net far out of his opponent's reach. All these tactics and many others he performs with such easy and grace-ful movements as to win the admiration of all spectators. And together with these other qualities, a certain very desir-able tenacity and litheness of muscle is acquired. It is true that huge bunches and knots of muscle and brawn are not de-veloped, but nevertheless, that more sought-for strength, the strength which draws the distinction between the racer and the cart-horse, the athlete and the laborer, the reserve strength which is denoted by an erect and graceful bearing is attained. In tennis the utmost activity of body is required. One must continually run forward and backward, bend and twist this way and that, and go through many other maneuvers which could never be give by gymnasium apparatus. Thus, is constantly being knitted a symmetrical and elastic set of muscles. We may say then in conclusion, that tennis is a most de-lightful and beneficial form of recreation, producing a clear head, a beautiful body, and a flow of clear, red blood, not to mention a deep sense of wholesome pleasure which it imbues. HIS APOLOGY. F. W. MOSER, '07. PAIR of eyes so soft and blue, With lashes of the raven's hue, And lips that matched in sweet repose The crimson of the blushing rose. A pair of overshoes, size three, Which none could wear but such as she, And now beneath the cushioned seat Reposed in safety at her feet. 102 THE MERCURY. Another maid beside the first Who seemed in pleasant thought immersed ; Hair black as night and midnight e3'es, A mirror for Venetian skies. A man of stalwart limb and frame, Whose deeds were not unknown to fame; But now in dreams his fancy ran To build a world within a span. And with a swish in top-notch style Maid number two rushed down the aisle, He roused and saw with read}' mind That she had left her shoes behind ; And, stooping with an eager face, He pulled the rubbers from their place, And rushing to the open door He flung them from the moving car. But hardly was the action done When up the aisle rushed number one, And in a chilling tone cried she " Those overshoes belonged to me." " Oh ! now ! I say ! can this be true ! '' Those overshoes belonged to you ? " What can I say ? Oh, don't you see ! "Oh, can you ever pardon me. The train dashed on, the moments sped, Until beneath the next dark shed The engine shot with direful shriek That brought a pallor to her cheek. But in a moment as before The crimson blood returned once more, And. that was all there was to see Of that most sweet apology. THE MERCURY. 103 •'OUR ENTRANCE INTO CITIZENSHIP," WITH VALEDICTORY. H. BRUA CAMPBELL, '06. NEVER at any time has the question as to what is the re-lation of the young man to his country and its institutions or in other words what are the duties and responsibilities which citizenship imposes upon the young manhood of our land, pressed upon us more insistently than at the present time. The age in which we are living is one characterized by great movements and vital problems, upon the successful solution of which our most complete growth and advancement is depen-dent. It would be difficult indeed to find an American today in whom there dwels not one vestige of pride in his country's institutions and whose heart does not expand at one time or another in the thought of his country's glorious achievements and still more splendid possibilties. But there is less likeli-hood that any American could be found with mind so narrow that he would refuse to admit that certain insidious and de-structive tendencies totally hostile to the best interests of true democracy, had crept into our government. Due to the " in-ertness and apathy " of a large number of citizens who are best fitted for the task of carrying on successfully affairs of gov-ernment, methods contradictory and subversive of democracy have been allowed to enter into our political system and abide there unmolested. The exposures of moral rottenness in pub-lic affairs and of political turpitude in city, state and nation have clearly revealed how true is the charge that machine politics and bossism have usurped and are continuing to usurp the field that of right ought to be controlled by forces of less selfish and more moral character and that the highest interests of the many are being sacrificed daily to the cupidity and lust for power of the few. Throughout this present period of startling revelations of the betrayal of public trust which have brought to light conditions that are of the gravest menace to our prosperity the inquiry has been advanced as to what is the remedy that will serve to ef-fectively heal the deep wound which civic corruption has caused in the body politic. And with startling unanimity 104 THE MERCURY. Comes the answer—Rouse the citizens from their political somnolency and the Republic is secure. The cure, therefore, lies in the interest which each man ought to manifest in the politics of his country, state and union by reason of the privi-leges he enjoys under the law and order which our political institutions vouchsafe to him. The responsibilities of citizenship strike with peculiar force the young men of today. The coming generation, clothed as it will be with " unprecedented privileges," is confronted with the obligation to cure some of the excesses of liberty which •mar our civilization. It has been well said that the first lesson a young man should learn in the principles of government is that national problems and public questions are his own per-sonal concern and responsibility and that he will have to answer for his conduct toward them as exactly as for his in-dividual moral behavior. He should appreciate thoroughly in the very beginning that the privileges of citizenship which he possesses have been secured not without terrific struggles against autocracy entrenched behind the fortified strength of centuries of existence and that they should be cherished and enjoyed as a priceless heritage—not spurned and disregarded for the sheltered cloisters of cultured ease. Our nation's hope, lies in the young men upon whom the burdenr. and responsi-bility of directing its affairs must at length rest and the young men should show their appreciation of this tremendous obliga-tion by a keen and intelligent interest in all matters politic. The earlier this interest is manifested, the more deeply will it become implanted, and at length, as Bishop Brent eloquently says, it will " fairly burn itself into flesh and blood, nerves and muscles, until the flame of patriotism is kindled in the soul and a citizen worthy of the name moves out into the nations need, equipped to wrestle with the problems and overthrow its enemies." Ah, when we come to think of what it actually means to be an American citizen, when we fully realize the na-tion's power and influence and the political freedom delegated to those under its flag we ought to firmly resolve ever to re-main true to the principles in which our country was founded, and whenever its principles and institutions are endangered to V' THE MERCURY. I05 battle for civic righteousness and put to flight those who seek to pervert its true destiny. The young men have it in their power to prevent those who seek to control politics for selfish ends from attaining their de-sire and it also lies with them whether the government be managed with regard only to the best interest of a majority of its citizens or whether it be run to benefit the privileged few alone. We thus see that a deep responsibility rests upon the citi-zens of this land—an obligation to manifest a vital interest in affairs of state, a responsibility which applies particularly to the young men of our country. But among these there exists a particular class—the college men—to whom goes out with especial force the clarion call to duty-—to meet the civic obli-gations and to assist in directing the management of political government be it in a lofty or lowly sphere. The college man is particulary fitted for an active participa-tion in civic affairs by reason of his collegiate training, and after graduation he should at once indentify himself with the work of promoting good government. Upon departing from college he is entering more largely into the active work of life. The •college man during his years of study has pursued in a some-what isolated way his course of intellectual training and now enters into the wider sphere of professional or business activity. His brain has not increased one ounce by his persistent search for knowledge but it has been so thoroughly disciplined that he can grasp more quickly and more comprehensively problems which would as a rule, defy the intellects of those not possessing the advantages of collegiate training. The scope of his perception has been vastly widened. It must be admitted that the college man, endowed as he is, ought to be a potent factor in the politics of a nation. And so he is, to a certain extent, but the opportunities still continue to beckon him, for all to often is he heedless of his duty and responsibility in this direction. He owes an especial debt to his country by reason of his superior endowment and yet how often does he repudiate the obligation and as a result, Justice, spurned by those who ought to defend her rule, must bow to the forces of Self-interest. io6 THE MERCURY. There is nothing from which the public suffers more today than the silence of its educated classes, that is, the small amount of criticism which comes from its disinterested sources. Educated men say very little about the question of the day but devote their time to science, literature and art or in the practice of their profession or conduct of business. The edu-cated man should, however, speak out upon matters of public interest if for no other reason than that he is peculiarly able to comprehend the right and wrong involved therein. As a writer puts it no educated man can talk intimately upon any subject without contributing something however small to the unseen forces which carry us on to our final destiny. College men are too oft drawn from the proper performance of their civic duties by the desire to follow peacefully and within the narrow confines perchance of their libraries a life of purely intellectual activity which withdraws them from their proper civic interests and lessens greatly their concern for the conduct of the affairs of their government. And it is to be deplored also that Corinthianism or in other words " the moral enervation and decadence that is born of the soft uses of prosperity " pre-sents a grave danger to our institutions. Adversity indeed has its uses; prosperity its perils. And it behooves the college man to beware of the luring voice which urges him so impell-ingly to forsake the true course of energetic devotion to duty and to endanger the frail craft of his life upon the Scylla of intellectual enervation or the Charybdis of moral decadence. It is inevitable that if the citizens of a nation are blind to all else but self, then the end will be corruption and death. The service which the college man renders his country of right ought to be unselfish. He ought to be thoroughly cog-nizant of the fact that there are things of far more importance than his own material advancement. It is this unselfishness which is so essential to true growth and if its spirit be im-planted in the breasts of the young men of today the strength of the nation will know no deterioration. And with regard to the attitude of the college man toward public affairs there is one quality which must be present and that is honesty—honesty of thought, word and deed. The world requires that only those THE MERCURY. I07 can serve her faithfully who are of integrity and firm moral purpose. There need be no complaint from the college man who feels his responsibility that there are no present opportunities for service to his nation—the opportunities exist in every place and sphere. " The time worn humdrum tasks of the older civili-zation with its painful and seemingly insoluble problems beckon," the undeveloped and partly developed land is calling to the able youth for aid, evils, social, political and moral re-quire those with the courage to stamp them out. Everywhere are opportunities ; where are the opportunists ? These are some of the responsibilities of citizenship which confront every college man of today. It lies with him whether he shall meet them courageously as befits a citizen not alone in name but in reality or whether he shall reject those privileges of free government . which alone make our nation a true republic. These are the civic responsibilities which confront the class of 1906 as it leaves behind it the college walls and enters other spheres of activity and let us hope that the class departs fully awakened to its obligations and fully determined to meet them intelligently and courageously. GENTLEMEN OF THE FACULTY : You may feel assured that the class of 1906 is fully aware of its obligations to you, an obligation so great that it can never be fully repaid. It appreciates to the fullest extent the sacrifices you have made upon the altar of scholarship and likewise your untiring energy and unremitting devotion to the task of so moulding the intellect ^ind character of its members that they may now go out into life fitted for careers of honor and usefulness. Your labor has been singularly unselfish, your concern alone having been to advance the best interests of each and every one under your instruction. And we are not insensible of the fact that the very pleasant relationship which has invariably existed between you, gentlemen, and the class of 1906 can be justly ascribed to your continued regard for its welfare and your unfailing courtesy to its members. Time cannot efface the impression which you have wrought upon us and years will not lessen our respect for the teachers of our college days. And so it is with deep regret that we arrive at ■M 108 THE MEKCURV. the parting of our ways and must reluctantly bid you farewell. FELLOW CLASSMATES : We are come where the paths of our lives diverge, and our thoughts at this moment are of a two-fold character. Our glance is turned retrospectively to the past four years, during which time we have walked together through the harvest-fields of intellectual effort, gathering in the products of our toil and stooping now and then to pluck the fragrant flower of whole-some pleasure. Ah ! they were indeed delightful years, full of brightest sunshine. And we recall with keenest pleasure how each passing year seemed to bring us more firmly together in a bond of loyal friendship, a bond which years of separation will vainly strive to sever. And the depth of our sorrow and regret in this hour of parting is tempered only by our gaze ahead where Hope clothed in glorious splendor stands with a smile of warmth upon her countenance beside the curtains which close from our sight the mysteries of the future. En-couraged by this inspiring vision we feel an eager longing to meet what lies before us, confident in our strength and as-sured that in the conflict we will conduct ourselves as befits noble men and women. It is eminently fitting that we should at this point in our journey look back upon the path traversed and then forward to where the attennated road fades from sight upon the plain or loses itself among "the purple peaks re-mote." Inspiration may be gained from either glance. But no matter with what eagerness we look ahead the porgnant grief of parting continues to be felt. We realize that no more will we meet as fellow-studeryts in the various class rooms or beneath the lofty trees which stand guard upon the campus with arms outspread above its green and beautiful expanse. We know that this hour marks the final time when we as a class shall stand together, and the fact that we throughout these years have moved on in continued good fellowship, ever with regard and affection toward one another seems to make the parting even more painful. But we cannot dwell to long, my classmates, upon words of farewell. And so full of confi-dence in your ability to successfully cope with life's responsi-bilities and implicit faith in your ultimate success, I bid you God-speed. ■ 1- THE MERCURY. THE OLD DORM IN THE MOONLIGHT. ROE EMMERT, '06. 109 H v : AVE you seen the Old Dorm shining in the moonlight; And the silver softly sifting through the trees ? Have you heard the fellows singing on the Dorm steps ; And the mandolins a'tinkle in the breeze ? Ah, fellows, on the campus in the moonlight You can hear the sweetest music ever sung, And see beauties that surpass the Grecian sculpture, Whose praises in our ears have ever rung. And fellows, do you ever stop to listen, When they play the mandolins upon the steps? Does your better nature swell and sway within you ; Do the songs of this old College stir its depths? Do you ever watch the Old Dorm in the evening, When the lights begin to flash out one by one Like the eastern stars burn out upon the heavens, Upon the glorious setting of the sun ? And when the lights have dropped away at midnight, And the moonlight sheds its brightness over all ; Do you ever stand and gaze in silent rapture At the grandeur of this old and noble hall ? Ah, fellows, how we love this old white building With its mighty columns, beautiful and strong, With its memories, haunting every nook and corner ; It has been our second home place for so long. Too soon we'll leave this grand and noble College, And leave behind this long familiar hall, But the picture that we'll always carry with us Is the Old Dorm and the moonlight over all. no THE MERCURY. THE SCENERY ABOUT MILLERSBURG, PA. G. L. KlEFFER, '09. 4 while he gazed off to the town on the hill in a manner which bespoke satisfaction and contentment. Overhanging all I be-held the crimson sun sinking as a fiery ball behind the moun-tains, a little to the north of the vertex of the angle, pointing out the very trees upon its summit as sentinels of this majestic scenery. And overhanging all was the white and crimson sky as a halo. Satisfied with the employment of my leisure time I wended my way to the station and pursued my journey as in a dream. -A.: 112 THE MERCURY. HOME SWEET HOME. J. EDWARD LOWE, '06. MR. J. HOWARD PAYNE whom we admire and rev-erence so much was homeless. In his weary and soli-tary walk on the farm of Mr. Talbot, his friend, he stopped to rest under a large chestnut tree near the brink of the Po-tomac, a mile south of Washington. While sitting there he became unconscious of his environments, the verdure of the beautiful terrace sloping down towards the Potomac river, was lovely to behold, but he saw it not. He was deeply involved in spiritual themes. While in his concentrated, emotional and imaginative state of mind, he wrote those beautiful and mem-orable words, that will vibrate in human minds throughout eternity. " 'Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home ; A charm from the skies seems to hallow us there, Which, seek thro' the world, is ne'er met with elsewhere." " Home, home, sweet, sweet, home, There's no place like home, Oh, there's no place like hcme." There is something in the word home, that wakes the kind-liest feelings of the heart. It is not merely kindred and friends who render this place so dear; but the very hills, rocks and rivulets throw a charm around the place of one's nativity. It is no wonder that the loftiest harps have been turned to sing of " Home Sweet Home!' The rose that bloomed in the garden, where one has wondered in early years, a thoughtless and innocent child, careless of what its future may be, is lovely in its bloom, and lovelier in its decay. No songs are sweet like those we heard among the boughs, that shade our parent's dwelling, when the morning or the evening hour found us as gay as the birds that warbled over us. No waters are so bright and clear as the silver streams that wind among the flower decked knolls, where in adventur-ous childhood we so often strayed to pluck the violet or lily, or to twine a garland for some loved school-mate. Your dreams of reputation, your swift determination, your ^". piai >i> mr-.iMi THE MERCURY. 113 impulsive pride, your deep uttered vows to win a name, will all sober into affection ; will all blend into that glow of feeling, which finds its center, hope, and joy in home. From my soul, I pity him whose heart does not leap at the mere sound of the name. A home ! It is the bright, blessed, adorable phantom, which sits highest on the sunny horizon that guideth life. It is not the house, though that may have its charms ; nor the fields carefully tilled, and streaked with your own foot-prints ; nor the trees though their shadows be to you, like that of a great rock in a weary-land ; nor yet is it the fire-side with its sweet blaze play; nor the pictures which tell of loved ones; nor the cherished book ; but far more than all these, it is the presence. The altar of your confidence is there; the end of your worldly faith is there. Adorning all these, and sending your blood in passionate-flow, is the ecstasy or con-viction, that there at least, you are beloved; there you are un-derstood ; there your errors are all met with gentlest forgiv-ness ; there your troubles will be smiled away ; there you may unburden your soul, fearless of harsh unsympathizing ears and that there you may be entirely and joyfully yourself. We may wander away, and mingle in the world's fierce strife, and find new associations, and friendships; and fancy we have almost forgotten the land of our birth ; but at some evening hour, as we listen to the autumn winds, the remem-brances of other days come over our souls, and fancy bears us back to childhood's scenes. We roam again the old fami-liar haunts, and press the hands of companions, long since cold in the grave; and listen to voices we shall never hear on earth any more. The American-trooper who is borne away to the green isles of the Pacific, weeps when he thinks of home, and sighs and pines for the vine-covered cottage beyond the sea ; though the hand of time may have faded his ebon locks, and care plowed deep furrows on his brow, and his heart has been chilled by the fierce winds of the typhoon, till the fountains of his love have almost ceased ; yet upon some summer's evening as he looks upon the sun sinking behind the western hill, he will ! 114 THE MERCURY. think of home, his heart will yearn for the loved of other days, and his tears will flow like the summer's rain. After long years of absence the heart of the wanderer beats, and his eyes fill, as he catches a glimpse of the hills of his nativity. When he has pressed the lips of a brother or sister, how soon does he hasten to see if the garden, the orchard and the stream look as in the days gone by ? We may find climes as beautiful, skies as bright, and friends as devoted ; but all these will not take the place of home, the dearest spot on earth. o SAVED BY GRACE. '08. N a hillside, about one mile west of Gettysburg, a vine-yard was conducted by a man who was very well-known to the present and many of the past generations of students. From the product of this vineyard, the owner packed and shipped to various markets the greater portion of the grapes, while he manufactured wine from the poorer quality and sold it in the unfermented form to many of the students and towns-people. The plot of ground on which the vineyard and the home of the farmer were located, consisted of about six acres. The west and north sides were bounded by woodland, while the southern and eastern limits were marked by two country roads. At the junction of these roads, in the southern corner of the farm, a cottage stood, and directly back of this was a small barn. There were also numerous other buildings necessary to complete the fixtures of a small farm. In the family there were only three people, the father, mother and a daughter, who at that time was in her eighteenth year. The father was an eldery looking man of fifty-five, his form showing the results of many years of hard work ; his wife, a woman of small build and plump form ; the daughter, a tall graceful girl, with black shining hair, brown eyes and a fair skin. She was beautiful to look at and of a kind and - "^_^.^.^.-.-M- rflWWi^iHWW "■■! »M| 'I THE MERCURY. us pleasing disposition, proving decidedly the watchfulness under which she was reared by her fond parents. As has been stated in the beginning of our story, the scene is laid near the historic town of Gettysburg, which is almost surrounded by the hills and mountains where was fought the decisive battle of our great Civil War. In the village is located Pennsylvania College, a Lutheran Institution founded early in the nineteenth century. Many men have been graduated from this college, who have made for themselves places of promin-ence in all avenues of life. Among all the students who at-tended this institution during the time in which the vineyard flourished, few indeed there were who did not visit the grape farm, and who were not well acquainted with the farmer and his family. Undoubtedly many of the students were honest enough to purchase what they wished, either of grapes or wine, but it also stands that many of the students made unlawful visits to the vineyard. It was the result of such a visit that brings us to the. interesting part of our story. On an early autumn evening, several young men, students in the college, were gathered in a room, all overflowing with mischevous ideas. Not a few suggestions were made as to what they should do, but all seemed undecided as to which idea would be best to follow, until a visit to the vineyard was proposed. The vote was unanimous that three of the " Boys" should leave promptly at eleven o'clock for the farm, and that without fail a plenteous supply of the fruit should be brought in. At the appointed time, Bob Stewart, Jack Wills, and Tom Bonner met on the campus, and in a short time were on their way. After walking for about a half hour, during which period they had almost encircled the small farm, the trio made ready to enter the vineyard from the west side. One of the number, Tom Bonner, was sent to a spot, within a hundred yards of the house to stand guard while Bob and Jack filled the bags with grapes. Everything ran smoothly until all were ready [or the departure, when all of a sudden, Tom was seized by a strong pair of hands and was commanded to make an ex- u6 THE MERCURY. planation of his presence in such a place at that hour of the night. Tom was completely unnerved, and during the time he was recuperating from the shock, Bob. and Jack made their escape, leaving their plunder behind. After a short while, Tom gathered enough courage to tell, in broken sentences, a falsehood, which he thought would set him free. The result, however, was to the contrary, for his captor, who was no other than the farmer, compelled him to accom-pany him to the house. Here he was held until morning, as it was the full intention of the owner of the vineyard to turn him over to the proper authorities. Tom passed a very rest-less night; but how could one do otherwise, especially one whose imagnative power had already landed him in prison. Early the next morning, the farmer with his family called Tom. before them. He was told in plain words what was to be done. The farmer accused him of being the person who had been robbing him for sometime. This made things all the more serious, and under the strain of a restless night, together with the relization of what he had imagined during the hours he spent in captivity, Tom broke down completely. He sobbed and cried bitterly, thinking of the foolhardy expedi-tions young fellows often take, and of the disgrace which would surely befall his name and family. The farmer and his wife had gone about their early morning duties and Tom was still hoping and praying against what seemed almost inevitable, when the daughter, Grace, walked into the room, and without the slightest hesitation tried in her girlish way to console him. Her efforts worked admirably, for in a short time our hero was instilled with new hope. He confessed all to Miss Grace, and it was with no little sincerity that she promised to save him, if possible, from-the dishonor which he felt sure would come. It was only a few minutes after Grace had left Tom that the farmer entered the room and commanded him to make the necessary preparation for the trip to town. In the meantime Grace had convinced her mother that Tom was, as all boys are apt to be, mischevious, and that he should not be punished for this, which she felt sure was his first offense. THE MERCURY. 117 All was in readiness for the start; the team was standing by the gate, and the farmer with his captive had just left the house and was walking toward the conveyance, when Grace called to her father. He stopped, but little did he suspect what her in-tention was, and before he had time to think, Grace begged and plead in her own effective way, for her father to change his plan. She confronted him with one argument after another, the principal ones being these: That undoubtedly it was Tom's first offense of such a serious nature; furthermore she asked her father what he should hope for, were a child of his ever to be found in a like predicament. Grace's father saw things in a different light and instead of bringing Tom to town and placing him in the hands of the law, he was driven up to the entrance of Old Pennsylvania Hall. The farmer gave Tom all the grapes his companions had gathered the night before and the privilege of the vine-yard whenever he wished. He was also asked in a very urgent way, to visit the family. It is needless to say, after Tom's most pleasant experience with Miss Grace, that he took advantange of the invitation. His visits were made often, and it seemed as though the more frequent they became, the still more frequent Tom wished them to be. The two young people grew to be the best of friends, and it was only a short time after his graduation from Penn-sylvania College, that the expedition on which he had started one autumnal eve, was brought to a close by his marriage to Grace. Often now as Tom and Grace sit in their cozy home, with children romping about them, do they speak of Tom's trip to the vineyard and its happy ending. THE MERCURY Entered at the Postoffice at Gettysburg as second-class Matter Voi,. XIV GETTYSBURG, PA., JUNE, 1906 No. 4 Associate Editors GEO. W. KESSLER, '08 J. K. ROBB, '08 EDMUND L. MANGES, '08 Advisory Board PROF. J. A. HIMES, LITT.D. PROF. G. D. STAHLEY, M.D. PROF. J. W. RICHARD, D.D. Editor-in-ch ief WARD B. S. RICE, '07 Exchange Editor THOS. E. SHEARER, '07 Business Manager THOMAS A. FAUST, '07 Ass't Bus. Managers. HENRY M. BOWER, '08 H. WATSON DAVISON, '08 Published each month, from October to June inclusive, by the joint literary societies of Pennsylvania (Gettysburg) College. Subscription price, one dollar a year in advance; single copies 15 cents. Notice to discontinue sending the MERCURY to any address must be accompanied by all arrearages. Students, Professors and Alumni are cordially invited to contribute. All subscriptions and business matter should be addressed to the Busi-ness Manager. Articles for publication should be addressed to the Editor. Address THE MERCURY, GETTYSBURG, PA. EDITORIALS. SENIOR FAREWELL. The time has again arrived L=JUf3f===4 '-—I f°r tne graduation of another class from our college. The MERCURY staff deplore the fact that we must bid farewell to the Seniors—you who have aided us so much by your advice and kindly criticism ; but most of all by your literary contributions. We will feel your loss keenly,^but sincerely hope that as you depart from our Alma Mater your interest in the Literary aawww.iili 11 in iwip'mi' «ni|n / THE MERCURY. 119 Journal, whose standard you have done so much to maintain, will not cease, and that you will continue to give us your aid. An article or two from our alumni in each edition adds dignity to the paper, and insures the student body and the alumni that you are still interested in the welfare of your College Journal. Not only do the students enjoy reading the articles of our alumni, but they become more desirous of producing a writing worthy of publication in the same paper. Since we know your time for departure has come, and that you have reached the coveted goal, and are now ready to en gage in the real battle ot life, we bid you God-speed, and hope each member of the class of 1906 has chosen a vocation that will be a source of continual pleasure to him. Sincerely, " THE STAFF." REVIEW. We now stand at the close of another college year ; a year has past that will never return; we have passed through a stage of our college course which we shall not ex-perience again, however much we may wish to do so at a future time. We hope that they are not among us, who can not say that this was the best year of their lite. If there should be those who can not say this, surely their environment this year has not affected them ; either the individual did not have the capacity, or the spirit too weak, for doubtless it was present, as a slight glance backward will readily show, from the very beginning until this the end. In truth this has been the condition all over our fair land, but especially we can say this of our own dear Alma Mater. This year she has enrolled more students than ever before—men who promise to support high purposes and to make real men. Also she has played no little part in the intellectual realm. Her students have main tained a high standard of scholarship; they have shown an unusual interest in matters of inter collegiate as well as collegi-ate concern; in almost every literary pursuit a new standard has been set up. Not only along intellectual lines has she been so successful but physically as well. Her athletic teams 120 THE MERCURY. deserve the highest praise; they have not only borne the flower 'bt victory from the accustomed places, but have cap-tured new" trbphies with which they adorn the fond days of old. 'So Without hesitation we can say that this year has been a' grand success, but our ideal has "not yet been realized, there-fore, let each one come back next year with a stout determi-nation to reach higher. The very fact that we have your subscription To THE ALUMNI. , , . • , . * , i shows that you are interested in us, but we would more than appreciate an article from your, or a word of criticism. It is our constant aim to improve our paper and we' believe that you can . help us. We sincerely hope that you Will not forget this, arid that' when we g'o to make up the •October issue we will find some alumni contributions. ■:■ EXCHANGES. . ■ . Our exchanges all put in their appearance'in due time this mon'th, some in bright new spring attire and the others in their regular dignified garb. All are full of the spirit of springtime and commencement. The Havetfordian still maintains its high standard from month to "month. The newly installed Board of Editors in forming its policy has considered the advisability of publishing a monthly literary journal and a bi-weekly newspaper instead of the present combined monthly, and has decided that such a change cannot be made at present. However after the June issue there will be no Exchange Department, that space being devoted to the Alumni and College Departments. The Owl published by the students of Temple College, Phila-delphia, is now one of our exchanges. The May number is the second issue and does entire credit to its Board. We par tjcularly admire the drawings in the different departments. As we close our Exchange Column for the year, we wish to thank pur contemporaries for their kind commendation and criticism of our work, and we wish to assure them that we have enjoyed and profited by the results of their labors. We wish you all a happy and successful vacation. PATRONIZE OUR ADVERTISERS FURNITURE Mattresses, Bed Springs, Iron Beds, Picture Frames. Repair Work done promptly. Under-taking a specialty. * Telephone No. 97. EE. IB. Bender 37 Baltimore St., Gettysburg, Pa. The Windsor Hotel 1217=2 Filbert St., Philadelphia. Headquarters for Students. Thoroughly Renovated, Refurnished and Remodeled FRANK M. SCHEIBLEY, Manager. Graduate of Lafayette College 1898. A. G. Spalding & Bros. LargeJt Manufacturers in the World of Official Athletic Supplies Base Ball Lawn Ten is Foot Ball Archery Roque Quoits Cricket ! Lacrosse Golf Implements for al Sports Spalding's Official Base Ball Guide for 1906. Edited by Henry Chadwick. The most complete and up-to-date book ever published on the subject. Fully illustrated. Price 10 Cents. For over a quarter of a century Spalding's Trade-Mark on Base Ball implements has marked the advancement in this particular sport. Spalding's Official League Ball is the adopted ball of the ■National League, and must be used in all match games. Every requisite for Lawn Ten-nis and Golf. Spalding's Trade Mark. on our Athletic Implement gives you an advantage over the other player as you have ^better article, lasts longer, gives more satisfaction. Every Base Ball Manager should send at oncefor a copy of Spalding's Spring and Sum-mer Catalogue—FREE. A. G. SPALDING The Peoples Drug Store-invites you to visit them and select your needs from a fresh, new, and up-to-date stock. C. WM. BEALES, Ph.Gr., Prop. D. J. Swartz Dealer in Country Produce Groceries Ciprs ani Tobacco GE TTYSBURG. Shoes Repaired —BV— J. H- BA^ES, 115 Baltimore St., near Court House. Good Work Guaranteed. WEBSTER'S JNNTTEERTM? DICTIONARY RECENTLY ADDED, 25,000 NEW WORDS and PHRASES| New GazetteeroftheWorld. New Biographical Dictionary. 2380 QUARTO PAGES. DOOO ILLUSTRATIONS. Editor in Chief, W. T. HARRIS, L.L.D., U.S. Com.ofEdu. GRAND PRIZE, WORLD'S FAIR ST. LOUIS FREE,"Dictionary "Wrinkles." Also pamphlet. G. & C. Merriam Co., Springfield, Mass. GET THE BEST WEBSTER'S INTERNATIONAL! DICTIONARY .J OTHWaaOTOP** -•**">""" ""->' PATRONIZE OUR ADVERTISERS. fc. r EMIL ZOTHE COLLEGE EMBLEMS Engraver, Designer and Manufacturing Jeweler, 716 CHESTNUT STREET, PHILADELPHIA. 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V dizertaciji sem poskušal raziskati, kako oskrba z energijo v vsaki od štirih svetovnih velesil (EU, ZDA, Ruski federaciji, Ljudski republiki Kitajski) vpliva na njihovo zunanjo energetsko politiko, kateri od treh elementov energetske politike (konkurenčnost, varnost oskrbe, trajnostnost) odraža zunanjo energetsko politiko teh držav in kako lahko različne regionalne iniciative iyhajajoče iz zunanje energetske politike teh držav pojasnjujemo s teorijo neofunkcionalizma. Prvo poglavje želi predstaviti neofunkcionistično teorijo kot teorijo regionalne integracije. Najprej analizira poskus Jeana Monneta za spodbujanje evropske integracije, ki so jo po drugi svetovni vojni ilustrirale Evropske skupnosti: Evropska gospodarska skupnost, Euratom in Evropska skupnost za jeklo in premog. Neofunkcionalizem je teorija, ki razlaga proces integracije na regionalni ravni glede na naraščajoče vzajemne gospodarske odnose med državami. Analizira sposobnost regionalnih organizacij za reševanje sporov in oblikovanje mednarodnih pravnih režimov, znotraj katerih lahko nadnacionalna tržna pravila nadomestijo nacionalne regulatorne režime. Integracijo pojasnjuje tudi s specializacijo elit in s pozitivnim učinkom prelitja (spill over effect), ki se kaže v nujnosti sodelovanja med sektorji, povezanimi s tistim sektorjem, v katerem se je regionalno sodelovanje prvič začelo. Drugo poglavje na kratko predstavlja 130 let zgodovine regulacije za zaščito konkurence na energetskih trgih, približno 80 let izzivov glede varnosti oskrbe in prestopa te teme v politiko ter približno 70 let stremljenja k trajnostnosti v sodobni energetski politiki. Tretje poglavje predstavlja strukturo oskrbe z energijo v vsaki od analiziranih svetovnih velesil. Očitno je, da so energetski trgi (nafta, plin, elektrika) v ZDA in EU zelo konkurenčni in učinkoviti. Velesili si prizadevata za trajnostnost in nenehno zmanjšujeta izpuste škodljivih emisij iz elektrarn, v prometu ter pri drugih dejavnostih. Medtem, ko je EU močno odvisna od uvoza (leta 2017 je uvozila več kot 55% vseh virov energije), so se ZDA v zadnjih 15 letih iz največjega uvoznika energetskih virov na svetu razvile v neto izvoznico in leta 2018 dosegle energetsko samozadostnost. Ruski indeks neto uvoza energije znaša -84%. Po podatkih iz leta 2014 je država ena največjih neto izvoznikov nafte (približno 10% svetovne proizvodnje) in plina (blizu 20% svetovne proizvodnje). Leta 2018 je bila izvožena količina energije skoraj enaka tisti, ki jo je država v tem letu porabila. Kljub energetskemu izobilju, ima Rusija močno regulirane in neučinkovite trge s plinom, nafto in električno energijo. Med štirimi analiziranimi velesilami daleč najmanj učinkovito izrablja svoje energetske vire. Monopol državnega podjetja Gazprom postaja vedno bolj vprašljiv zaradi vse manjših koristi, ki jih tako stanje prinaša Rusiji. Posledično naraščajo pritiski na Moskvo za reformo energetskega (zlasti plinskega) sektorja. Do zdaj je ruska vlada bolj ali manj odklanjala strukturne reforme in se poskušala prilagajati novim okoliščinam s prerazporejanjem obstoječih dohodkov. Kitajska počasi liberalizira svoj trg s plinom. Reforma, ki je v devetdesetih pritegnila v proizvodnjo električne energije nove, zasebne vlagatelje, je bila vmes že odpravljena, zasebni vlagatelji pa izrinjeni. Plin, premog, nafto ter proizvodnjo električne energije v glavnem nadzirajo državna podjetja, ki praviloma ne dopuščajo konkurence. Kitajska je leta 2017 porabila 22% vseh svetovnih virov energije in je bila tako daleč največji porabnik energije na vsem svetu. Kitajska izkoplje in sežge približno polovico svetovnega premoga in je tako močno netrajnostno usmerjena. Količina izpustov škodljivih emisij iz elektrarn ostaja visoka in stabilna, emisije CO2 pa se nenehno povečujejo. Se pa Kitajska v zadnjih letih veliko bolj osredotoča na storitveno ekonomijo in proizvodnjo elektrike iz obnovljivih virov. Kitajski indeks neto uvoza energije je 15%, kar kaže na zmerno odvisnost od uvoza. Četrto poglavje je namenjeno analizi zunanje energetske politike EU v globalnem kontekstu zapletenih energetskih odnosov. Energetika je že zelo dolgo politično občutljiv sektor in je kot tak tesno povezan z državno suverenostjo in nacionalnimi interesi. Posledično so se bruseljska prizadevanja za oblikovanje skupne zunanje energetske politike, ob delitvi pristojnosti z državami članicami in ob upoštevanju skrbno pripravljenega kompromisa iz člena 194 Pogodbe o delovanju EU, izkazala za zelo zahteven in težko dosegljiv cilj. Dejstvo, da je Evropska unija močno odvisna od tujih dobaviteljev energije (med katerimi ima Rusija s svojo vizijo političnim ciljem podrejene energetske politike najpomembnejšo vlogo), dodatno omejuje težnje EU po uvedbi univerzalnih tržnih pravil v energetskem sektorju. Pri promociji tržnih pravil kot osnovi energetske politike je EU vseeno uspelo doseči nekaj napredka, zlasti z ustanovitvijo Evropskega gospodarskega prostora in Energetske skupnosti. V zadnjih letih, ki jih zaznamujeta zmanjšan pomen multilateralizma in povečan pomen bilateralnih odnosov, je EU začela oblikovati svojo lastno zunanjo energetsko politiko (po moji oceni od 2015 dalje) in takoj, tako kot druge velesile, v svojo zunanjo energetsko politiko vnesla elemente dominantnosti. Neofunkcionalistična teorija, ki evropsko integracijo razlaga z učinkom prelitja, se je izkazala za uporabno tudi pri razlagi procesov oblikovanja zunanje energetske politike EU in povečane vloge in avtonomije Evropske komisije v tem procesu. Po teoriji Nye-ja o štirih stopnjah pri oblikovanju regionalne integracije EU trenutno prehaja iz tretje stopnje (redukcija alternativ) v četrto (eksternalizacija). Peto poglavje skuša pokazati kako je ameriška energetska politika skozi zgodovino doživela več sprememb. ZDA so si v začetku dvajsetega stoletja, tako kot mnogo let od krize v Sueškem prekopu sredi 70-ih let 20.stoletja, prizadevale za konkurenco, ki naj bi omogočila ustrezen dostop do virov energije s ciljem, da bi ohranile sprotno zadovoljevanje svojih energetskih potreb. Od sredine osemdesetih let je postala ameriška energetska politika bolj večstranska, z vedno večjo skrbjo glede okoljskih vprašanj, vendar sta varnost oskrbe in konkurenčnosti še vedno na prvem mestu. Medtem, ko je ameriško energetsko politiko v dvajsetem stoletju vodil strah pred pomanjkanjem energije, je tako imenovana nekonvencionalna revolucija pri pridobivanju plina in nafte iz škrilavcev v drugem desetletju enaindvajsetega stoletja spremenila odnos Washingtona do zunanje energetske politike in močno vplivala na mednarodne trge nafte in plina. Obdobje nenehno rastoče skrbi glede pridobivanja energetskih virov je tako nadomestila doba energetske obilnosti. V dobi energetske obilnosti v ZDA si je Trumpova administracija zastavila cilj, da ZDA postanejo energetsko dominantne. Zaradi tega je Trumpova administracija začela podpirati politične posege v kreacijo cen na naftnem trgu in odmik od multilateralizma, ki je poprej omogočal globalno konkurenco. Kljub temu, da so ZDA dosegle status največje svetovne proizvajalke nafte in plina, se zdi, da Washington še vedno ne odstopa od ciljev, ki jih tradicionalno zasleduje s svojo zunanjo energetsko politiko: zagotavljanje zalog na svetovnih naftnih trgih in zmanjševanje motenj pri dobavi ; spodbujanje zaveznikov, da diverzificirajo lastne energetske vire, kjer je bila Evropa v glavnem v središču prizadevanj ZDA ; in s svojo močjo kaznovati države izvoznice plina in nafte ter jim ukazati, naj spremenijo politike, z uporabo možnosti uvedbe sankcij. Uvajanje sankcij ima vse pomembnejšo vlogo v ameriški zunanji politiki, saj je vedno bolj vprašljivo, kdaj, in če sploh, uporabiti vojaško silo za politične cilje. Nova doba obilja energije ZDA omogoča, da k uvedbi sankcij pritegnejo tudi druge države ter jih tako skupaj lažje uvedejo koordinirajo. Po drugi strani pa je zelo verjetno, da bi odločitev ZDA, da izkoristijo svoj položaj energetskega dobavitelja in začnejo izvoz energije uporabljati v politične namene, lahko delovala proti njihovim lastnim interesom in zmožnosti doseganja njihovih zunanjepolitičnih ciljev. ZDA nikoli niso sodelovale v nobeni gospodarski organizaciji, ki bi omogočala prenos suverenosti glede energetske politike v roke neke nadnacionalne strukture in neofunkcionalizem v njihovi zunanji energetski politiki nima nobenega odmeva. Šesto poglavje, ki je posvečeno Rusiji, raziskuje, kako njena bogata baza energetskih virov zagotavlja davčno osnovo za državno porabo, devizne prihodke in vzvod (zlasti v primeru dobave plina) v mednarodnih odnosih. Zahvaljujoč visokim cenam nafte iz obdobja pred pandemijo COVID-19 je Rusiji uspelo obnoviti gospodarstvo in povečati svojo geopolitično trdnost. Zaradi izjemne odvisnosti od energetskih prihodkov za ruski državni proračun je neugodna kombinacija nizkih cen nafte in finančnih sankcij ZDA in EU skupaj z naraščajočo konkurenco v proizvodnji nafte in plina povzročila postopno zmanjševanje ruskega vpliva v mednarodni politiki. Rusija nima veliko možnosti, da bi v bližnji prihodnosti postala pomemben igralec na azijskih trgih. Tako se je država usmerila k širitvi in osvežitvi svojih energetskih vezi z Evropo. Kljub temu pa Moskva vzporedno s tem spodbuja svoj konkurenčni integracijski projekt Evroazijske ekonomske unije (EAEU), katerega namen je povsem nasproten cilju evropskih integracijskih projektov, po katerih se vsaj formalno zgleduje. S tem projektom želi Rusija, med drugim, v energetskem sektorju zaščiti svoj prevladujoči položaj v postsovjetskem prostoru. Kljub formalni podobnosti EAEU z EU tam ni mogoče pričakovati učinkov prelitja na nadnacionalni ravni v skladu s teorijo neofunkcionalizma, saj gre za združitev neenakopravnih partnerjev z močnim ruskim vodstvom, ki ne dovoljuje socializacije neke nove, nadnacionalne elite. Sedmo poglavje predstavlja kako je zaradi hitro rastočega gospodarstva in povečanega povpraševanja po energiji Kitajska povečevala vpliv na svetovnih energetskih trgih. Na energetsko politiko kitajske vlade je močno vplivalo vse večje povpraševanje po nafti in odvisnost države od uvoza le-te. Naftna in plinska industrija sta zaslužni za zagotavljanje oskrbe, za zadosten proračunski dohodek in tudi za delovna mesta. Kitajska državna podjetja skušajo svoje poslovanje prilagoditi svetovnim praksam, vendar je bil do sedaj njihov manevrski prostor vedno omejen z državnim nadzorom. Pod sedanjim vodstvom kitajska podjetja sodelujejo v mednarodnem prodoru z velikimi, neposrednimi naložbami. Prvi poskus takega prodora je bila iniciativa 16+1 (sedaj 17+1) [e pred sedanjim predsednikom Xi Jinpingom. Njegov prihod na oblast je sprožil še obsežnejšo iniciativo. Prosor v svetovnem merilu je bil pred kratkim zasnovan kot Iniciativa pasu in ceste (Belt and Road Initiative - BRI). Kljub temu, da v BRI sodeluje skoraj 70 držav, pomen iniciative ostaja nejasen. BRI zagotavlja zaščito kitajskih trgovskih poti in oskrbe z energijo ter omogoča državi, da svoje industrijske presežke in gradbene kapacitete učinkovito izvaža po vsem svetu. Z BRI kitajska zunanja politika prek gospodarske diplomacije poskuša povečati svoj vpliv. Ta projekt je treba razumeti kot dolgoročno, globalno iniciativo, ki nima samo gospodarskega cilja. BRI in iniciativa 17+1 sta še dve obliki mednarodnega sodelovanja, ki sta neprimerljivi s postopkom vključevanja v EU in v njiju zaradi dominantnosti Kitajske ni prelitja funkcij na nadnacionalno raven kot ga opisuje neofunkcionalistična teorija. ; In the study, I tried to explore how characteristics of energy supply in each of the four global superpowers (EU, US, Russian Federation, People's Republic of China) influences their foreign energy policy, which out of the three elements of energy policy (competitiveness, security of supply, sustainability) primarily reflects it and how and if different forms of foreign energy policy regional initiatives can be explained with the theory of neofunctionalism. The first chapter aims to present the neofunctionalist theory as a theory of regional integration. It first analyzes Jean Monnet's attempts for European integration, at that time illustrated by the European Communities: European Economic Community, Euratom and the European Steel and Coal Community. Later, it was further developed to be able to explain processes like territorial growth of a regional integrated area and also processes of its shrinking, i.e. Brexit. Neofunctionalism is a theory explaining the process of integration on a regional level with reference to growing reciprocal economic relationships in-between nations. It also analyzes capacity of a regional organization in dispute resolution and creation of international legal regimes, within which the supranational market rules may replace national regulatory regimes. It explains also integration by positive spillover effects as necessities to cooperate in sectors, which are indirectly related to the sector where regional cooperation first started. I briefly present also intergovernmentalism as an alternative theory. The first chapter also briefly presents 130 years of history of regulation to protect competiveness on energy markets, some 80 years of security of supply challenges and their translation into political decisions and some 70 years of history of creation of sustainability in modern energy policy. The second chapter presents the structure of energy supply and the market structure in each of the analyzed global superpowers. It is evident that energy markets (oil, gas, electricity) in the US and the EU are highly competitive and efficient. Both superpowers strive also towards sustainability and are constantly decreasing harmful emissions from fossil fuel power plants as well as transport and other energy consuming activities. While the EU is highly import dependent (in 2017 imported more than 55% of all energy sources), the United States in the last 15 years developed from the biggest importer of energy sources globally into a net exporter, reaching energy self-sufficiency in 2018. Russia has a net energy imports index at -84%. It is one of the biggest net exporters of oil (some 10% of global production) and gas (close to 20% of global production), according to data from 2014. In 2018, it exported almost the same amount of energy as was consumed in the country. Despite its energy abundance, Russia has heavily regulated and inefficient gas, oil and electricity markets. Among the four analyzed superpowers, it has far the least energy efficient use of its energy resources. The position of Gazprom, which enjoys a monopoly on pipeline gas exports to Russia's neighbors, has been increasingly challenged. Consequently, pressures on Moscow to reform its energy (particularly gas) sector have been rising. So far, the Russian government has shown reluctance with regard to implementing structural reforms in its energy sector and has rather been trying to adjust, react and adapt to created circumstances. China is slowly liberalizing its gas market. Reform that attracted new private investors into electricity generation in the 1990s has backslid. Gas, coal, electricity generation and oil sectors are primarily controlled by state-owned companies and do not allow much room for competition. China in 2017 consumed 22% of all energy sources globally and was by far the biggest energy consumer worldwide. China extracts and burns around half of all coal being extracted worldwide and is heavily unsustainable. Its harmful emissions from power plants remain high and stable, while CO2 emissions are in constant ascent. However, in recent years, the country has been focusing much more on services-based economy and renewable energy. Additionally, taking into account the combination of effects of factors like structural changes in the economy, growing efficiency within the energy industry and demographic changes, total growth of the energy demand up until the year of 2040 will be comparable to the one that China experienced from 2008 to 2016. Its net energy imports index is 15% and shows moderate dependence on import. The third chapter aims at analyzing the EU's emerging foreign energy policy in a global context of imperfect energy relations. Energy, being an increasingly politicized sector, still remains closely linked with state sovereignty and national interest. Consequently, Brussels's efforts to shape a coherent foreign energy policy, while sharing competences with the Member States and taking into account the carefully drafted compromise of article 194 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, has proved to be increasingly challenging. Moreover, Europe, being highly dependent on foreign energy suppliers (among which Russia, with its contrasting vision of energy policy, plays the most important role) has been further undermining the EU's aspirations of introducing universal, market-based norms in global energy relations. Against this backdrop, the EU managed to make some achievements in its foreign energy policy, particularly, by the means of the European Economic Area and the Energy Community, which was a successful example of what Europe aspired to achieve globally. In recent years marked by the decreased role of multilateralism and the increased role of bilateral relations, also the EU introduced elements of dominance into its foreign energy policy despite opposition to such behavior when performed by other superpowers. The neofunctionalist theory explaining European integration by spillover effect has proven to be usable also in explaining processes of creation of EU foreign energy policy in the years from 2015 on and increased role and autonomy of the European Commission in it. The fourth chapter attempts to demonstrate that US energy policy has gone through multiple changes throughout history. While in the beginning of the twentieth century, the US pursued competitive access to energy sources to sustain the strong growth of its demand, after the Suez Canal crisis and the subsequent oil crisis in the mid-seventies, the US energy policy became centered on ensuring the security of supply. Since the mid-eighties, it became much more multi-sided, with growing concern about environmental issues, yet without detriment to the importance given to security of supply and competitiveness. While American energy policy throughout the twentieth century has been driven by fears of energy scarcity, the so-called unconventional revolution of the past decade changed Washington's attitude towards its foreign energy policy and also considerably impacted international oil and gas markets. An atmosphere of continuously growing competition for resources has, thus, been replaced by the age of energy abundance, where the Trump's US administration has set the objective of the United States becoming energy dominant, supporting political interventions into the creation of prices on the oil market and moving away from multilateralism, which enabled global competition. Despite the fact that the US achieved the status of being the biggest producer of oil and gas in the world, Washington does not seem to withdraw the objectives traditionally pursued by its foreign energy policy. Namely, ensuring supplies on the global oil markets and minimizing disruptions ; encouraging allies to diversify their own energy resources, where Europe has usually been the main focus of US efforts ; and using its power to punish countries and to command them to change policies, using the possibility of imposing sanctions on gas and oil exporting nations. With latest Biden's administration US seems to reposition its focus on sustainability and multilateral cooperation again. Despite that sanctions play increasingly important role in US foreign policy, since it is more and more questionable when and if at all to deploy military force. New energy abundant age enables the US to get on board other nations to collectively impose multilateral sanctions easier than in previous times. ON the other side it is very possible that US decision to become energy dominant and start using energy exports for political purposes could work against their interests and ability to achieve their objectives. The US never participated in any economic organization that would tend to transfer sovereignty over energy policy to a supranational structure. The fifth chapter dealing with Russia explores how its vast energy resource base provides the fiscal basis for state spending, foreign exchange earnings, and leverage (especially for gas) in international relations. Thanks to the high oil prices of the pre COVID-19 pandemic decade, Russia managed to recover its economy and increase its geopolitical assertiveness. Nevertheless, due to its extreme dependence on energy revenues, following the unfavorable combination of low oil prices, financial sanctions of the West combined with the rising competition in production resulted in Russia's gradually diminishing economic leverage. Russia, with unlikely prospects to become a prominent player in Asian markets in the foreseeable future, has turned to expanding and refreshing its energy ties with Europe. Yet, in parallel, Moscow has been pushing forward its competing integrationist project of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), which aims to conflict and overlap with the European integrationist projects, inter alia, in the sector of energy in order to safeguard its dominant position in the post-Soviet space. Despite the formal similarity of the EAEU with the EU, there is no spillover effect since it is an association of unequal partners with strong Russian leadership. Country's fast-growing economy and rapid increase in energy demand has lead China to gain more influence in global energy markets. The energy policy of the Chinese government has been strongly influenced by the increasing demand for oil and country's dependence on oil imports. The oil and gas industry has remained a strategic asset for the Chinese government. This industry is responsible for ensuring supplies of oil and gas, for sufficient budget income as well as for employment. With closer integration into global markets, Chinese state-owned companies have been seeking to adapt their operations to global practices, yet, the room for maneuver has always been limited by state control. Under the present leadership, Chinese companies have been engaged in large-scale outward direct investments. This process was recently soon packed as a Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The fact that nearly 70 countries are participating in the BRI does not improve the perception that its label remains unclear. There is still no exact definition of the qualification of a BRI project Yet, half a decade after the launch of one of the most ambitious geo-economic projects of recent history, some more things became clearer. To name a few, BRI is not only responsible for securing China's trade routes and energy supplies, it is also accountable for the fact, that the country is being able to export worldwide several construction projects due to its industrial overcapacities. The BRI became a major component of China's grandiose foreign policy agenda aimed at increasing Chinese influence in the BRI region and beyond. The past years have proven that the BRI project is to be understood as a long-term, global and not having only an economic goal. Yet, challenges regarding to the future success of the BRI are many and of different nature: technical, political, financial and regulatory, to name a few. Both suspicion and skepticism concerning its real motives and viability remain high, especially among those countries who have been the main designers of today's global financial system and international trade rules. The Belt and Road Initiative is yet another form of international cooperation which is incomparable with the EU integration process and neofunctionalist theory cannot be used for its explanation. The thesis confirmed that characteristics of energy supply in a country are directly and with the same attitude reflected in the foreign energy policy. Foreign energy policy is additionally held up by whichever tool of dominance being available to one of the four studied cases. The thesis also confirmed that Haas' theory of neofunctionalism is still supportive in explanation of regional integration of all initiatives proposed in and by the four global superpowers. EU is creating its own foreign energy policy entering externalization as the last, fourth stage of regional cooperation, according to Nye.

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X GETTYSBURG, PA., MAY, 1901 No. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS The Social Qualities of Robert Burns as Manifested in His Poems, 70 The Cultivation of Patriotism, . 77 Superlatives, . 80 Perseverance, . 82 A Dutch Schoolmaster's Adventure, . . . . .84 Editorials, . 88 An Old Reader, . 90 Pictures, . 91 Spontaneity in Literature, . . . . . .93 In Nature's Realm, . 96 A Country Barn on a Rainy Day, . . - . 97 All Souls Day, . 98 Exchanges, . 100 Now the bright morning-star, day's harbinger, Comes dancing from the east, and leads with her The flowery May, who from her green lap throws The yellow cowslip and the pale primrose. Hail, bounteous May, that dost inspire Mirth, and youth, and warm desire; Woods and groves are of thy dressing; Hill and dale doth boast thy blessing! Thus we salute thee with our early song, And welcome thee, and wish thee long. -Milton. Through wood, and stream, and field, and hill, and Ocean, A quickening life from the Earth's heart has burst As it has ever done, with change and motion, Prom the great morning of the world when first God dawned on Chaos; in its stream immersed The lamps of heaven flash with a softer light; All baser things pant with life's sacred thirst; Diffuse themselves; and spend in love's delight The beauty and the joy of their renewed might. -Shelley. 70 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY THE SOCIAL QUALITIES Of ROBERT BURNS AS MANIFESTED IN MIS POEMS D. C. BURNITE, '01 [Graeff Prize Essay] A CAREFUL comparison of the lives of poets, with their pro- ■*"*• auctions, discloses this fact, that almost universally there exists more or less inconsistency betiveen their true characters and the characters which their poems would lead us to believe they really possessed. In some cases the former belie the latter completely. In others, the works are in a large measure faithful transcripts of the men. Great uncertainty would attend an at-tempt to paint pictures of the natures of many poets were we to use as materials only the evidence drawn from their productions. Recurring bombast and affectation preclude any possibility of using their poems, with any great amount of reliability, as stand-ards by which to judge their real characters. Not so, however, with all poets. Here and there in the field of our inspection appears a bard, whose writings are a faithful reflection of his real nature. But before we can be sure that this is true of any poet, we must be certain that he is thoroughly sin-cere. So, before we can proceed to show that the qualities indi-cated in the poems of Burns are revelations of his actual personal characteristics, we must prove his sincerity. And we do this, not by a comparison of his verses with his biography, but by testi-mony drawn from the poems themselves, apart from all historical evidence. Men who talk much of themselves, as Burns does, are not gen-erally prone to admit their own shortcomings. But this poet, contrary to general practice, makes no attempt to present only the good side of his character. Frequently he gives us glimpses of his own weaknesses; not a shameless exhibition of guile, but always with expressions of sorrow and remorse. Never hidden, always open, he bares his whole heart, and shows himself as he is. He seems anxious to have us see him in a true light. How frankly and clearly he reveals his true self when he proposes "A Bard's Epitaph" for his own tomb. Read his condemnation of his own self: . THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 71 " Is there a man whose judgment clear, Can others teach the course to steer, Yet runs, himself, life's mad career, "Wild as the wave; Here pause—and thro' the starting tear Survey this grave. " The poor inhabitant below Was quick to learn and wise to know, And keenly felt the friendly glow, And softer flame; But thoughtless follies laid him low, And stain'd his name !" Can we read this and believe that Burns was not sincere ? But there are other evidences of his genuineness. Affectation and sincerity are incompatible. But, no matter how closely we scrutinize his lines, we find no indications of the former in Burns' works He must have been a lover of the truth, for he never descends to the expression of feigned emotions. His pictures are real; all are undoubtedly the products of his own experience. Of his hundreds of poems, with one or two exceptions, none are the offspring of imagination. All he presents he himself has seen and felt. We see no indications of anything assumed about his addresses "To a Mouse" and "To a Mountain Daisy." Neither is there anything false or overdrawn in his descriptions. Per-fectly natural himself, he presents things as they are. Nothing could be written with much more fidelity to life than his "Cotter's Saturday Night." Without his characteristic straightforward-ness such complete depiction of Scottish peasant life would have been impossible. All his poems manifest in the man a spirit of genuineness and deep sincerity. With this conviction, then, that Burns wrote exactly as he saw, thought, and felt, we can be certain that the social qualities which his poems suggest are identical with those he really pos-sessed. Our investigation, then, involves an answer to the question, What social qualities do Burns' poems make us think he pos-sessed ? With this answered, we then know, with some measure of accuracy, what Burns himself was socially—what it was that, in all probability, must have rendered him an ever-welcome guest both in the humble homes of the Scottish peasantry and in the mansions of the gentry. But in order that we may be competent judges as to what features in his social nature were attractive and 72 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY what were not, we must make allowance for the differences in time, place, and circumstances, and view the matter, not from oicr point of view, but from the standpoint of his Scottish contempo-raries. Only then can we avoid the danger of an over or an under estimation of the man's social constitution. We have already spoken of what we regard as the crowning social virtue of any man—sincerity. "L,et a man but speak forth with genuine earnestness the thought, the emotion, the actual condition of his own heart, and other men must and will give heed to him."* Burns, as we have stated, does this. We here have a certain quality which would of itself draw men to its possessor. A writer whose poetic works are imbued throughout with the truth must himself have been sincere. Burns must have attracted his fellows because of this one social quality, if for nothing else. The whole world loves a patriot. Even those of other nations than his own admire him; but especially his own countrymen. Burns' poems indicate the presence of patriotism in the heart of their author. Compare his stanzas with those of former Scottish bards, and what do we find ? The subjects of their themes are foreign, and they even scout their own native dialect. The poeti-cal works of Burns are the initial achievement of a new era in his nation's literature. He is the first to give out a body of dis-tinctively Scottish poetry. He saw no need to step beyond the borders of his own laud for things of which to sing. He writes of things, not English, or Irish, or Continental, but of things Scottish—thoroughly so, from his country's ' 'braes'' to her moun-tains, from her field-mice to her horses, from her beggars to her kings, from her daisies to her trees, from her " burns" to her rivers; all of his own "bonnie laud." Nor does he hesitate to take the initiative of using the language of his fireside; not, however, because he was unable to write in pure English. Some of his poems show that he could. But he prefers his native tongue, and seems to delight in the use of its quaint expressions. He appears proud of his dialect, and all he describes with it. In almost every poem there breathes the true spirit of patriotism, a quality which we believe helped to make his society desirable. What Scotchman could have avoided a feeling of attraction to the "loyal native" who wrote such things * ♦Carlyle. THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 73 .'* ' j as "My Heart's in the Highlands" or "Scots wha hae wi' Wal-lace bled?" Another social characteristic is revealed in his verses; a trait indispensable to gaining the good-will of the Scottish peasantry. How generously he applies himself to the faithful interpretation of the thoughts, feelings and manners of that class amongst whom he was reared ! His poetry teems with this natural sympathy for the lowly inhabitant of the thatched cottage. His were the first Scottish poems to show it, and from it we can be sure that the man himself thoroughly loved the humble people of whom he writes. How nobly he exalts their simple lot in the words he puts into the mouth of Luath, "the ploughman's collie" in "The Twa Dogs." In the "Cotter's Saturday Night" he brings to the notice of the humble bread-winners, not the ills, but the blessings of their toilsome lives. He would make them proud of their station and their labor. He appears at all points to have been a thorough democrat, and evidently was in close touch with the lives of the poorest people. It is such qualities as these that hold men in social esteem, with thehighas well as the low. A highly sympathetic nature was a social trait which undoubtedly helped to make Burns popular. Cheerfulness is a prime essential to social success. A glance convinces us that the man who wrote these poems surely had this attribute. Such a one must have cheered the lives and bright-ened the very faces of those with whom he came in contact. At every turn we meet his genial poetic laughter. And this, too, in the same poems in which he tells of his own misfortunes. To be happy in adversity; what an enviable trait! And if he could shake off his coil of pitiful thought and recognize the good things in his own life, he surely would shed some beams of happiness on the lives of those about him. All his songs attest this quality. "When at his best, you seem to hear the whole song warbling through his spirit, naturally as a bird's."* Note it in this stanza: "Ye banks land braes o' bonnie Doon, How can ye bloom sae fresh and fair? How can ye chant, ye little birds, And I sae weary, fu' o' care?" A vein of humor makes its possessor welcome. "I,augh, and the world will laugh with you." Doubtless Burns' little world "Jeffrey. 74 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY enjoyed many a laugh with him. For some of his poems fairly bubble with humor. And the author of these must have exhibited a like trait when he spoke, as well as when he wrote. We realize this when we "Remember Tarn O'Shauter's Mare;" or read the following from "Death and Dr. Hornbook": "The Clachan yill had made me canty, I was nae fou, but just had plenty; I stacher'd whyles, but yet took tent ay To free the ditches; An' hillocks, stanes, an' bushes, kenn'd ay Frae ghaists and witches. "The rising- moon began to glow'r The distant Cumuock hills out owre; To count her horns wi' a' my pow'r, I set mysel'; But whether she had three or four, I could na tell." These and many other poems, manifest in Burns himself a spirit of jocularity which, we believe, heightened the attractive-ness of his nature wherever he went. That a man was a friend of "John Barleycorn" was no social defect in Burns' day. And he'seems, from his poems, to have been a participant in "those convivial enjoyments which were not only counted excusable by the temper of the time, but gloried in by all whose heads were strong enough to indulge in them without ruin."* In fact, as a "total, abstainer" Burns' social career would likely have been curtailed. It is perfectly natural, therefore, that he gives drink and drinking a very prominent place in his verses. And the fact that he does so leads us to conclude that he was a not infrequent participant in the then prevalent jolly tavern carouses. Many evidences in his poems manifest his inclination toward convivial enjoyments of a more healthy character. He seems to have had a fondness for other gatherings than those where the consumption of "usquebae" was the central feature. We refer to such social functions as he speaks of in his "Hallow E'en." He evinces perfect familiarity with the jolly practices of that mysterious night, as he describes the mirthful sports of the country "lads and lasses." In fact, his frequent description of J *Blackwood'6. Feb., 1872. THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 75 such scenes convinces us that he must have been an important member of the peasant society of his locality. But we see evidences that he would also make a valuable ad-dition to a higher plane of society than that of his own country-side. The mere fact that he was able to produce such remarkable verses is enough to show that he was fitted to move on a higher level than that of the peasant class. We can treat only briefly of a few of the many manifest traits which, besides those already cited, would make him a social attraction in the hall as well as in the hut. It is hard to prove conclusively from his poems that Burns was a good conversationalist. But we think there are indications that warrant us in believing that he was. The ease with which we understand the thoughts he wishes to convey in his lines, i. e., his extreme simplicity, together with his vivacity of expression and his powers of vivid description, lead us to think that he was a good talker. Nor would such a writer be at a loss for topics for conversation. He seems perfectly familiar with the full details of an immense variety of topics. Burns undoubtedly was at perfect ease in conversation. A keen insight into human nature, as we see it in his verses, would enable him to throw himself quickly into close sympathy with new associates; an almost invaluable social quality. His oft-appearing spirit of independence would gain him respect. The thoughtful tenderness he exhibits, not only for his fellow-men, but for beasts and flowers, too, suggests a feature in his nature which would draw men to him. Thus we see in his poetry, char-acteristics which would make his company acceptable to those of high rank. Of Burns' actual social successes in a certain direction, we have positive evidence. The great majority of his poems are con-cerning women with whom he has been in love, or at least ad-mired greatly. And we can easily see that, if not as a lover, at least as an admirer, he was accepted in .some cases. At any rate, we can judge from these poems that he had sufficient attractions to make him acceptable among the lasses of his native land. This gives us a clue, though an uncertain one, to his personal appear-ance and manners. To have been admired by so many women, he must have been to some degree attractive in looks and move-ments. 76 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURi Thus far we have considered only those things in Burns for which he was undoubtedly admired. But he shows traits that we cannot believe were acceptable to all of his contemporaries, for he refers in different passages to the fact that he had enemies. Certainly there were some who did not admire all he did; but just as we are limited in giving all his good qualities, by the fact that he does not make manifest in his poems all the traits he really pos-sessed, so are we limited, but to a greater degree, in observing all his bad qualities; for though he constantly confesses that he had monstrous faults, he has not specified what the particular immor-alities were that he committed, and we cannot know all these without referring to his biography. However, he does exhibit definitely some traits which, we believe, would be hindrances to his free movement among all classes of society. Profanity may have been attractive to his tavern associates, but must have been a shock to the strict piety which we know prevailed in his community. Reference to "Holy Willie's Prayer" manifests a spirit approaching blasphemy, an indication that the poet himself was probably not averse to the use of strong expressions by word of mouth, as well as pen. As a sincere man, Burns was a hater of hypocrisy, upon which subject he wrote several poems. But this feeling leads him into a fault. The satires he has written against hypocrites are too bitter to be commended. Were we to see only those works, we would have little desire to meet their writer. The acrimony of his invective seems unreasonable and repulsive, rather than at-tractive. We have mentioned Burns' drinking habits; but though we have no direct testimony in his poems that he himself was over indulgent, yet some of the scenes he depicts make clear that he must have been present at them, or he could not have described them so well. He at least practically confesses that he frequented places and associated with persons of low repute. Whether it is likely that he indulged in the orgies he describes, the reader can judge from the evidence. Such tendencies as these thus indi-cated certainly did not at that time constitute admirable social qualities. That Burns was positively vulgar, we must admit. A look into certain of his poems, which we do not deem fit to make more public by quoting them here, will convince us of this. It is seen, THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 77 for instance, in certain lines of ' 'The Kirk's Alarm.'' A betrayal of such lack of decency, in the eyes of some, would seriously affect his social character. Though to many persons the absence of Christian qualities in a man would be no social objection, yet we must be of the opinion that Burns' great lack in this regard would form a barrier to his entrance into close acquaintance with many persons at his time. We are sorry to admit that such a genius, in all his works, shows no spirit of true devotion to his Creator and His Son. Probably a closer inspection of Burns' lines would manifest more qualities wherein he would be attractive or not; but we think we have drawn from his poems enough of both kinds to indicate whether or not he deserved to be popular. It is our decision that his good far outweigh his bad social qualities. We believe that were Burns' biography to be forever lost, with noth-ing but his poems for grounds from which to reason, the world today, were he to come back again, would greet him—just as Scotland would have done immediately after his death—with open arms. And we would welcome him, if for nothing else, because of his social qualities as manifested in his poems. THE CULTIVATION OP PATRIOTISM FRANK LBNKER, '03 HPO have a thorough understanding of the subject one must ^ necessarily have a full and true conception of the meaning of the word patriotism. Patriotism is—" L,ove and devotion to one's country, the spirit that originating in love of country prompts to obedience to its laws, to the support and defense of its exist-ence, rights and institutions and to the promotion of its welfare." From the definition of the word it is readily seen that without patriotism no good government can exist and by as much as the people of a nation are patriotic or unpatriotic, by so much that nation will be either pre-eminent or debased in the galaxy of nations. Patriotism is of different kinds. It is patriotism that leads a man to shoulder his musket and amid storms of applause and the entrancing strains of his national air to dare to fight for his country's honor. It is still greater patriotism that enables him to endure 78 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY the privations and hardships of a severe campaign and which enables him, when some very daring service is required, willingly to lay down his life. It is patriotism that a man displays when for a season he leaves the pleasures of his home, neglects his business and exposes himself to the censure of those opposed to him, to become a voice of the people in the nation's council. But only the true statesman, the man who stands for right and principle against personal interests, displays this patriotism. Then, too, anyone may be a true patriot. He need not be a soldier, he need not be a statesman, but one thing Me must be—a man—a man true and firm, a man of high principle and lofty sent-iments and above all he must dare to stand by the right. If each one should place his country's welfare above his struggle for per-sonal gain and aggrandizement, what a powerful nation such men would constitute. It is acknowledged that there is no power equal to the mother's in shaping the characters and disposition of the young. If the solemn duties and obligations of motherhood could but be more strongly intrenched in the minds of those who have assumed the positions of wives and mothers, patriotism would surely become a more self-sacrificing and deep-seated kind. Mothers should endeavor to bring their children up to maturity even-minded and devoted to their country and to their God. Early in life children should be taught to reverence the starry ensign—the symbol of their freedom, to respect the nation's laws —safeguards of their liberty, and above all to know our history. Let them know how the nation was established on a foundation of right, cemented with the blood of some of the noblest men who ever lived. Let them know how, when the nation was in its in-fancy, our statesmen studied and planned so that laws tending only to progress might be promulgated. Let them know how gallantly our warriors punished England's insult to that banner, which so long as the true American spirit prevails will tell of the freedom of our nation and assure every American citizen protec-tion abroad or a speedy vengeance if molested. It should not be forgotten to tell them of the Civil War which for a time threatened to disrupt the Union. Tell them how the North was arrayed against the South and how bravely brother engaged brother to the death. But most emphatically tell them that each fought for principle. They fought not concerning petty THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 79 matters but rather concerning deep-rooted belief that each was right. Then review how at first there seemed to be bitter feeling, then gradually take them through the intervening space of time and at last show them how gloriously a united, a thoroughly . united and closely associated baud of men, representing the North, South, East and West, defeated the cruel Spaniards on San Juan hill. Our young should also be led to hate the greatest curse of the nation, they should be taught to abhor the greatest enemy of true manhood and upright living—the moral-debasing and character-weakening rum. Can a drunkard be a true patriot? No, most decidedly not. For how can a man who weakens himself morally, physically and mentally by using the vile stuff offer his ablest and best services to his country either as a statesman, a soldier, or as an exemplary private citizen. Double-dealing, rottenness and corporation influence in politics is another great evil and the one which probably above all others might possibly cause the downfall of these United States. Oh, would that some of our statesmen were more honorable men, would that they were more stalwart warriors in the defense of right and more zealous to forward measures drawn up for the public good rather than for personal gain and advantage ! L,et those, in whose power it is to elect the law-makers, cast their ballots for none but honest men. Then, with an honorable man guiding the ship of state, and none but honorable men on the crew, how can it be otherwise than that a more patriotic spirit would be displayed in the next generation. We turn our sad, reluctant gaze Upon the path of duty; Its barren, unwilling' ways Are void of bloom and beauty. Yet in that road, though dark and cold, It seems as we begin it As we press on—I/O ! we behold- There's Heaven in it. —Ella Wheeler Wilcox. 80 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY SUPERLATIVES J. B. BAKER,'01 WHEN, in accusing Peter of affiliation with Jesus of Nazareth, the morbid scions of Jewish authority, said "Thy speech bewrayeth thee," they described a condition of more than local interest. The sentiment their charge embodied has outlived the perverted Sanhedrin. It prevails to-day and applies to us. We are the heirs of a rich language; londled were we in the lap of opulence and children of fortune are prone to squander. Our language, being as it is a composite one, necessarily, by the survival of the fittest, contains the accumulated grace and vigor of its varied progeny. Its verbs express accurately every shade of human thought, even to the antipodal range of a Shakespeare. Its nouns are like the notes of a pianoforte, so varied is their tone. Its adjectives, in their several degrees embellish even that which already is sublime. They are the grace notes in the vernacular strains and of all things the most difficultly used. The proper adaptation of an adjective, even in the positive de-gree, to its corresponding noun is of itself a task of no mean im-port; the comparative requires more skill, while the superlative, like a run of extras on a key board, is accomplished gracefully, only by a practiced man. And yet how prone we are to use them. With what readiness we carry every thing to a ne plus ultra. Why is it thus? Wherein lies the cause ? Emerson has probably answered it, in his essay on history, without intending directly to do so. After a short disser-tation on the various nations that have come and gone over the highway of time, he says, "But I will make no more account of them. I believe in Eternity, I can find Greece, Palestine, Italy, Spain, the islands, the genius and creative principle ofeach andall eras in my own mind." The much-travelled man does not call each high hill a cloud-piercing peak, nor does he speak of every landscape as nature's last attempt. Those are the foibles of childhood. The evolutions of such whose peregrinations have not as yet translated them be-yond their native shire. Precisely the same is true in the world of thought. The cos-mical mind uses few superlatives. The farther out it pushes into unknown tracts, the more it discovers of hitherto unrevealed re-ality, the closer appears its affinity with it, and with that increasing THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 81 identity there comes an increasing frugality of terms. He who has thoroughly established his identity with all reality could not possibly predicate a superlative of any thing without paying his own self an indirect compliment, and this, if report be true, is of all things the most odious to men of a larger growth. So much' so at least that they will use them stintingly, save only as applied to Divinity. As proof of this we need but resort to the sayings and writings of such great men. The genial paternal Emerson is judiciously sparing even in the use of his comparatives and yet there \s an ex-hilarating loftiness in all his thoughts. The many sided Ruskin speaks most frequently in simple, homely, childlike terms, and yet Carlyle compared his words to copious lightning bolts pour-ing incessantly into the black words of anarchy about him. Tolstoi, whose boldness has incurred the hostility of the Russian royalty, seldom calls things by their hardest names, yet his pen is a very scramasax in the side of monarchial iniquity. Nor is this abstemiousness from any thing that smacks of hy-perbole a characteristic only of him who sits down quietly at his desk and writes in his pacific words. It is characteristic of great men everywhere. Even in the forum, tempest-tossed and raging. The men who kindled and maintained the fires of patriotism through seven years of blood strife were men whose speech was as plain as their garb. A few months training in a country school and a six weeks course in law would not be likely to embellish much the speech of any one. But "give me liberty or give me death" had a potency that added superlatives could not augment. Daniel Webster, in that paragon of American philippics, his reply to Senator Hayne, is deadliest when he is plainest. His unadorned arrows are the swiftest. Lincoln, the great, in his speech on these hallowed grounds, gives us not only a model in structure well worth study, but manifests a chastity in terms seldom seen. Not once, in referring to the war in which we were then engaged, does he use an extravagant term such as thousands of others might with apparent justification have employed, and yet there is an Alpine sublimity pervading it all. So we might continue our citation almost indefinitely, pushing our observations out even beyond the confines ofour native tongue; including all ages past and present, all lands and climes, and find the great men every where corroborating the truth. The greater 82 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY the man, the smaller will things appear, and with the diminution of things will come a corresponding frugality of terms; deducting from this the converse and we have in very truth the modern ap-plication of those ancient words, "Thy speech bewrayeth thee." PERSEVERANCE EMORY D. BREAM, '02 T^HE old saying, " A rolling stone gathers no moss," has been * illustrated so often, and in so many ways, that when we see a young man going from one thing to another, not following one pursuit long enough to overcome its difficulties, we at once con-clude that he will never amount to much. The youth who comes to college with the intention of being a doctor, a lawyer, or having in view some other profession, and when he encounters difficulties in Greek, mathematics and other hard studies, has not the conquering spirit to master them, shows to a marked degree the lack of persistency. Or if, during his college course, he is swayed from his purpose, and decides to take a special course because he has failed in some department, or there is in the regular course a laborious, abstract subject which he dislikes, and which he has not the courage to attempt, it is evi-dent that he will never be well prepared to face the more difficult problems of life. Hence, instead of steering to a position of trust and honor, he will drift down the stream along with thousands of aimless beings like himself. On the other hand, the young man who chooses a worthy and honorable calling because he knows it is right and noble to do so; because he knows that to attain the desired end he will have to work long and hard; if such a young man will do with his might what his hand findeth to do, and, like Henry Clay, Daniel Webster or Abraham Lincoln, overcome every obstacle that comes in his way, each victory won will strengthen and encourage him for something higher. With such persistency he is bound to make life a success. The boy who enters life as a clerk, and looks forward to the time when he will be a prominent business man, lending a help-ing hand to the needy, using his influence in every good cause or having some other worthy aim, and takes for his motto this I THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 83 proverb of Solomon, "Seest thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings;" the boy who enters a blacksmith shop, determined to hammer out, as it were, link by link the very chain by which he is to be raised to honor and usefulness; if such boys keep in mind the life of Iceland Stanford or P. D. Armour or Clem. Studebaker, never dreaming of failure, future genera-tions will not fail to call them blessed. The drummer-boy who says to himself, '' I shall not always beat the drum. I will rise just as high as my talents or the neces-sities of war will permit;" the youthful soldier behind the gun, who performs faithfully every duty, no matter how small it may be; if within his breast burns the spirit of patriotism ; if he feel that faithful work insures success, and that success means that a man must make the best possible use of his God-given talents for the benefit of his fellow-men; if he never allow himself to be deceived nor turned from the path of martial glory by spending his time, strength and money in the regimental saloon; if such drummer-boys and soldiers take as their ideal Paul Jones or An-drew Jackson or Ulysses Grant, their names will be recorded on the pages of history. To-day there is a greater need than ever for able men in the pulpit; for h°nest cashiers in our banks; for upright and noble statesmen, who do not enter politics for money or the gratifying of selfish desires; for truly patriotic generals and admirals, like him who was called "Father of His Country," and who will not, after the war is over, fill the columns of our newspapers with abominable wrangling as to who won certain battles, Santiago for instance, or who will be promoted-and who will not. We shall be needed. Our future depends upon the present. To make the best use of our present opportunities, we must per-severe. "Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul, As the swift seasons roll! Leave thy low-vaulted past! Let each new temple, nobler than the last, Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast, Till thou at length art free, Leaving' thine out grown shell by life's unresting sea." —The Chambered Nautilus. 84 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY A DUTCH SCHOOLMASTER'S ADVENTURE A. 0. WOLF, '04' SOME eighty years ago, in the vicinity of the little village of Gettysburg, there lived two celebrated characters. One a long, lank, ungraceful Dutch schoolmaster by the name of Joseph Sleutsenslizer, who wielded the birch in a most prolific manner and who was noted for his arrant cowardice and marked suscepti-bility to feminine influences; the other, Mike Miller by name, a type of Herculean manhood, famed for his ability to break the most vicious horse, and for a diposition to indulge in all the pranks and roguish proceedings-of the most recklessly disposed element of the mischievous young men among whom he lived. It so happened that these worthies were rival suitors for the hand of the village belle. Their antagonism had attained to such proportions that our friend Joseph had felt himself constrained to exert his influence to prevent his rival from receiving an invita-tion to a ball which was to be held at a neighbor's home some distance south of the village. For thus, the schoolmaster argued to himself, he would be able to anticipate the advances of his rival and to monopolize the society of the fair one in question. His plans had worked well. The revelry was over. The tracing and retracing of the woof and weft of the dizzy dance by the light of the roaring logs had ended. The dingy rafters had ceased to ring with peals of girlish laughter and strains of the violin. The swish, swish of fantastic feet was no longer heard. Echo from her rocky cavern stepped forth perplexed at the sudden transformation. A scamper for wraps, a change from almost tropic heat to the crisp atmosphere of a November night, and the terpsichorean revelers bid adieu to their host and the dancing. As they trudge homeward beneath the brilliant emblazonry of a star-lit sky, oceans of midnight air poured over the mountains into the forest-covered valley making its branches groan with forebodings of the coming storm. The maidens became startled at the demoniacal laughter of some melancholy night-bird only to give the attentive swains an opportunity for reassuring them. Jest is passed from couple to couple, and their hilarious spirits find vent in snatches of song and in pertinent thrusts of wit. At the fork of the road they separate with a hasty "good night" and a counter ejaculation of unthought-of-until-the-last-moment inter-rogations hurled at each receding party. THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 85 Joseph was now reaping the fruit of his well laid scheme, as, with the fairest of the fair maids in the little village on his arm, he turned to the right on the road that leads past Devil's Den. His heart beat wildly for it was rarely that he had the opportunity of enjoying the society of the beautiful but somewhat reticent maid. In fact, the society of others seemed preferable to his own. This made him gloat over his good fortune as an ogre would gloat over his cannibal repast. The infatuated schoolmaster failed to conceive himself anything but a brilliant courtier in at-tendance on the object of his affection. Moreover, his bigotry would not permit him to offer his awkward, uncouth appearance and decidedly rustic air in striking contrast to the trim figure of his companion, as a possible explanation of her reticence and her disposition to indulge in a peculiar sort of suppressed laughter. Suddenly she became communicative and deftly turned the drift of their conversation on ghosts, hobgoblins and other super-stitious fancies so dear to the heart of the early Dutch settler. Oh, what's that ! she cried, clasping his arm in terror. His heart stood still. But just then a passing breeze rustled the dead leaves on a bush by the roadside which she had mistaken for the crouching figure of some wanderer from Spiritland. After this his aroused imagination saw ghosts innumerable; headless hobgoblins and winged fairies. Even the murky air seemed teeming with imaginary hosts. The drift of his com-panion's conversation by no means tended to allay his trepida-tion. In a fearful whisper she told him of a time when her father passed along that very road after nightfall, and how a horned creature with gleaming eyes and nostrils that breathed forth sheets of flame snatched him up and was bearing him away. It became frightened at the wild cry of a panther, dropped him half dead and galloped into a cavern in the adjacent hillside. Again, she related the story of the adventure of a certain deacon which happened at the rocks which they were then Hear-ing. The deacon was going home from a visit to a sick neighbor and on passing the rocks he heard an unearthly crash and felt the rock on which he stood heave under him. Thunder pealed. The sky was kindled by a lurid blaze. The ground was on flame, and fiery torrents came down in tumultuous avalanches. The rocks melted and the valley assumed the aspect of a basin of glowing ore. He bounded with the speed of the wind through the raging 86 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY conflagration. The sulphurous molten tide pursued him, spouting white columns of vapor and sheets of vitreous lava. As he ran, it gained speed on him; when he bounded, the spot Irom which he sprang was on fire before he alighted on the ground. At length he sank exhausted, but the indefatigable lava rolled on like armies rushing to battle. Suddenly the earth quaked and a fissure appeared, out of which leaped a compan}' of devils as if shot from a subterranean catapult. The foremost, whose stature was as that of a tree, advanced and with a claw-like hand had picked him up and was about to hurl him into the bottomless pit. The deacon recollecting himself cried, "Get thee behind me, Satan,'1 which so enraged his captor that, with a horrible roar, he hurled him through the air with such force that he continued his aerial course until he lauded on his own door step. Joseph was now fully aware of his danger. His natural cow-ardice prompted him to cast his eyes in every nook and cranny of that mass of rocks which now bears such a sinister name, and from which he firmly expected to see the beginning of a sponta-neous combustion which would overwhelm him. Nor had he long to wait. Just as they came opposite the rock a blood-curd-ling yell resounded which would have put to shame a vociferous Comanche brave. By a sudden contraction and relaxation of his muscles, Joseph was elevated some three or four feet in the air. He turned to look for his companion, but she was fleeing with the speed of a whirlwind and giving vent to that series of ex-quisitely rendered screeches, in which startled women delight to indulge. Another whoop from the rock, accompanied by the rattle of chains and clank of iron, and Joseph's knees began to strike each other in a remarkable manner. He looked up, and there on the summit of the rock stood his Satanic Majesty plainly outlined against the stony vault. To the excited beholder he seemed panoplied in all the regal habiliments of a prince of the nether world. His hoofs and horns gleamed in the starlight, and from his eyes scintillated the fiery sparks of his wrath. The poor pedagogue was in a serious predicament. His limbs moved convulsively. His hair rose and with it his hat, allowing the cool breeze to fan his throbbing forehead. His heart palpitated wildly. His breath came in short quick gasps. Hoping that he was in some horrible nightmare, and that his visitor would soon vanish, he looked up. His majesty was de- I THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 87 liberately stepping to the edge of the rock where he tore a tree from its roots, and with a sepulchral roar leaped headlong, with the tree in his grasp, upon the terrified Joseph. The branches of the tree struck him and bore him to the earth. His tormentor leaped upon him, kicked him, pulled his hair, spat upon him, at the same time producing the most hideous noises. Tired of his diversion, he threw the trunk of the tree across the breast of the prostrate pedagogue and started, roaring like an enraged buffalo, in pursuit of the fleeing girl. A rescuing party, aroused by the clamor, came and released the terror-stricken Joseph and heard his fabulous tale. Their mirth knew no bounds. And ever after when the irate school-master was asked to relate his adventure at the Devil's Den he would exclaim, "Vat ! you dink a Dutchman's a geece, hugh ! Do you dink I shust come over tomorrow ?" This, dear reader, is how Devil's Den came to be so named. Again the sun is over all, Again the robin's evening call Or early morning lay; I hear the stir about the farms, I see the earth with open arms, I feel the breath of May. Century Magazine. Oh, the merry May has pleasant hours, And dreamily they glide, As if they floated like the leaves Upon a silver tide. The trees are full of crimson buds, And the woods are full of birds, And the waters flow to music, Like a song with pleasant words. Willis. & There is something grander than the ocean, and that is con-science; something sublimer than the sky, and that is the interior of the soul. —Victor Hugo. THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY Entertd at the Postoffice at Gettysburg as second-class matter VOL. X GETTYSBURG, PA., MAY, 1901 No. 3 E. C. RUBY, 'Oi, Editor-in-Chief R. ST. CLAIR POFFENBARGER,' 02, Business Manager J. F. NEWMAN, '02, Exchange Editor Assistant,-E.d,.it.ors Advisor•*y Board . -K, o ,"-. PROF. J. A. HIMES, A. M., LIT. D. M. IS"S "ANNIE M. .S"W" ARTZ, '02 _ " _ " ." ~ PROF. G. D. STAHLEY, M. D. A. B. RICHARD, '02 _ T _. _ ' -. PROF. J. W. RICHARD, D. D. Assistant Business Manager CURTIS E. COOK, '03 Published each month, from October to June inclusive, by the joint literary societies of Peuusj'lvania (Gettysburg-) College. Subscription price, One Dollar a year in advance; single copies Fifteen Cents. Notice to discontinue seudiug the MERCURY to any address must be accompanied by all arrearages. Students, Professors, and Alumni are cordially invited to contribute. All subscriptions and business matter should be addressed to the Business Manager. Articles for publication should be addressed to the Editor. Address THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY, GETTYSBURG, PA. EDITORIALS '"pHE first day of May was once a festival in honor of an Ameri- *■ can "saint," canonized simply by popular acclamation. Our colonial troops deprived themselves of the patronage of St. George by their rebellion, and at once they looked about for a saint of their own. Their choice fell on Tamina, a sagamore of the Delaware Indians, who, tradition says, bad whipped satan. Naturally the soldiers concluded that the conqueror of satan could also overcome St. George. The name of St. Tamina was in-scribed upon the banners of the colonial troops and on the first day of May celebrations were held in his honor. These celebra-tions were a combination of the Indian war dance and the old English May Day frolics. The May-pole was crowned with a THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 89 liberty cap, and bore a tomahawk instead of the garlands of flowers used to decorate the English May-pole. The army was not alone in doing honor to the "saint." Poets sang of his virtues. His life was dramatized and appeared on the stage in many places. Societies, which usually took the place of the modern club, were formed under his name. In England it was customary, on the first day of May, to wear a sprig of green gathered in the early morning and worn all day. This sprig was called the " May." The narrow-leaved elm and the hawthorn were the trees from which the sprig was usually taken. The expedition into the grove after it was called " going a-Maying," and the carrying of it home was " bringing in the May." The erecting of a May-pole, the young men and maidens dancing around it with flowers and song, and the choosing of the most attractive maiden as the " Queen of the May," to whom homage was paid as long as the day lasted, were characteristic features in the observance of May Day. This festival was quite general in England until the Puritans of the Commonwealth put a stop to it and uprooted the May-poles. It was again revived after the Restoration, but has now nearly, if not entirely, died out. In the New England States this same festival had been observed for a short time. Here it was also opposed by the Puritans, who regarded it as an emblem of satanic rule. In such an atmosphere it could not flourish long, and soon became a thing of the past. The custom of giving " May baskets," however, survived a little longer, and for aught we know may still be observed in some places. A basket, tastefully arranged with flowers, was left by the love-sick swain at the door of his lady-love; children tied baskets and bouquets on the door-knob of the house wherein dwelt their playmates, and friends remembered each other by gifts and flowers on May Day morning. r"pHEPvE is a surprising lack of knowledge in regard to *■ South America, its people and their ways. There is more known of Europe, Asia and Africa than of South America, once an echo of Spain in her glory and the home of a brave people con-quered by treachery and deceit. When we do study its history at all, we start with its discovery and almost abruptly end there. 90 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY Perhaps it is because we do not have so much in common as we have with the people of other countries that we know so little about the people, but it would be better to be more familiar with the doings and character of the people who live on the same side of the world as we do. We usually regard South America as made up of a number of little republics always at odds and the people as indolent and uneducated. We might change our minds some-what if we knew more about them. The natural resources of the country are worth study also, the magnificent mountain-ranges, the valuable forests and mines, the rivers and bays, the fertile plains equal to any which nature has ever bestowed on any country. —S. AN OLD READER CHAS. W. WEISKB, '01 I picked up an old school reader, Which up on the attic lay, Covered with the dust of ages, Brown with mold and decay. I opened its well-worn pages— They were soiled and marked with grime, By the little hands which used them In a by-gone, happy time. And out came the flood of memory, "With a rush, a flutter and sweep, And I lived those days all over— Those days ere I climbed life's steep. Aye! there was the old brown school house, With its warped and beaten floor, And there were the old wooden benches, Arid the old thumb-latch on the door. And there was the rude cut initial, Carved on the desk and seat, And under the forms the shuffling Of stout-booted restless feet. Around me arose a murmur, A chatter and whisp'ring gay, The humming of happy children, In the school beside the way. But the cold winds weirdly sighing, Awoke me from my dream; The present lay before me— Iafe's bright and silvery stream. THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 91 PICTURES MARY C. SIELING, '03 HPHERE are pictures not painted with the brush of the artist. * The hills, the valleys, the sky, the rivers—all the works of God—what are they to him that see, aught but so many beautiful pictures ? How the hills, with their trees rising rank above rank, brighten the valleys between them. What artist can imitate the delicate shade of their green ? What colors mixed by man are so beautiful as their red and gold in autumn, and in what picture hung in our houses is there expressed the desolation of those same hills in winter, when the trees are bare and the winds moan through their branches ? The stream sings through the valley, hurrying on to the sea. The sunbeams dance upon the waters, making the scene still more pleasing, while the flowers along its banks add to its,beauty. All this is a beautiful picture, and it fills our hearts with peace. In the sky, too, there are pictures. The heavens are a moving panorama. The blue of the noon-day sky is to the sight what far-off beautiful music is to the ear. It fills us with a vague longing, and turns our thoughts to what is high and spiritual. The sunset is the most beautiful of all pictures, for do not the rifted clouds, bordered in gold, with the splendor spreading from them, seem like outer battlements of heaven when the inner gates are opened ? These pictures are around us and above us day after day. They gladden us, purify us and uplift us. He who can copy these pictures on canvas is the painter, and that man is the best painter who can most com-pletely forget himself and yield his soul and his hand to the Mas-ter of all paintings, content to let himself be the means through which the copies of the paintings, engraved deep on his own soul, are made to stand out on canvas. Raphael painted his beautiful Madonna because, in his mind, there was a beautiful picture of the purity and love of the mother of Jesus, and this picture was his, not only from a study of the Bible, but from the memory of his own pure and noble mother. Michael Angel o, who in the age in which Christian art had reached its zenith, stood almost unrivaled as a painter, sculptor, architect and poet. He painted and carved as never man painted and carved before or since, because he more fully than other men let nature and the God of nature speak through his life and his hand. 92 THE GETTYSBURG MEBCURY But artists are not the only men who try to copy these pictures which God has painted. The poets and prose writers also paint pictures, not with brush and palette, but with words in writing. "The Great Stone Face," how clearly we see with Hawthorne the long valley with the great family of lofty mountains beyond, the great face of stone carved in the side of the mountain, the people of the valley. Ernest, who, as a boy and man, looked through a long life for the face that should resemble the great face carved in stone, and who should thus fulfill a tradition of the valley ! With him we look into the face of the rich man, warrior and poet, and with him we are saddened to find in each one something lacking, but with the people we shout to see at last that he, Ernest himself, is the man who resembles the great stone face. But these pictures drawn by prose writers and painters, in the end mean to us only as much as we put into them. We cannot enjoy a poem or a painting of a forest stream unless we ourselves have felt the restfulness and delightful coolness of a streamlet murmuring over the pebbles under the shade of the overhanging trees, nor will the most beautiful pictured children Millias appeal to us before we have learned in some way the beauty and inno-cence of childhood. Thus in truth, all the pictures, of which we have spoken, depend on the great painter, Nature. But every-body is to a certain extent an artist, because everybody is paint-ing a picture called character. This picture is of more importance in the sight of God and to us than any other kind of picture. Upon this picture depends our happiness hereafter. Some people are trying hard to paint the picture well, while others handle the brush so carelessly that in the end the picture is a mere daub. There are a few men whose characters stand out above others like the paintings of the mas-ters. We should study these pictures, and let the beauty of their character enter into our own lives. If you would teach a boy self-poise, coolness of judgment and majesty of character, let him read about George Washington. If you would have him sincere, looking through the glamour of symbols to the things beneath, let him study long and well the lives of such men as Socrates and Lincoln. But if you would have him to be a true man, rounded, combining all virtues, let THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 93 him study the life of Him more majestic than Washington, for He was the God of man, and more sincere than Socrates. "We should study His life until just as Ernest, by looking long and lovingly into the great stone face, grew like it in feature, we also, by looking at the picture of His character, may grow more and more like Him. SPONTANEITY IN LITERATURE J. RUSH STONER, '01 QPONTANEITY, applied to literature, may be used to desig- ^ nate that spontaneous flow of eloquence or spirit from the depth of the author's own nature, giving to literary work spice and attraction. It may have an ennobling effect, or it may have a degrading effect, according as the life and ethical ideas of the author are high or low. It constitutes the ground upon which what is commonly called good and bad literature are distinguish-able. In the higher sense it might be looked upon as inspiration in literature; in the lower sense, merely as an evil tending to de-moralize the race. All who are familiar with the poetry of Robert Burns have recognized there the naturalness with which the poet gave vent to his feelings. And with the exclusion of his coarser poems, he might be taken as a good type of authors, whose writings flow with natural freshness of pure humor, pathos and wit, appealing strongly to the higher sympathies and the nobler passions. There is in literature a force that molds the character or indi-viduality of the reader. This element, or subtle force, makes itself clearly manifest in the life principles of different individuals, through the subconscious impressions it ingrains upon the mind. For the reader, if he is in the highest sense a true reader, must be in a receptive state, imbibing the spirit and tone of the litera-ture perused. And these impressions are stored up for future reproduction in the principles of life. Enthroned thus in the ruling element of the world, this force becomes at once a power in shaping the destiny of the race. Those who are at all susceptible to literature resort to it either for rest, pleasure, instruction, or for its ennobling influence. The scientist, exhausted from his deep abstraction in the realms of nature, searching for laws and principles in large collections of 94 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY facts, comes hither to quaff from this sparkling fountain, this source of the emotional nature. It is to him a source of rest and pleasure, indispensable to his well-being, that he may draw from his life's work the best results. And, too, what wealth of in-struction is yielded to the earnest seeker after knowledge as he pries into this mine of wisdom. Above all, the ennobling effect ofgood literature is universal; experienced alike by scientist and all who come within the scope of its power. The existence of this subtle force in literature may be verified by the career of a distinguished scientist of the nineteenth cen-tury, who neglected entirely the fine arts and the reading of in-spired writings for the absorbing interests of his life's work. In this description of his own life, Darwin tells his pathetic story. He tells how in the early part of his life he took great delight in poetry and music, and then, after many years of their utter neglect, he tried to read some poetry. But he could no longer appreciate it. His mind had become a kind of machine for grinding general laws out of large collections of facts, and was so revolutionized that poetry seemed unendurably dull and even nauseating. He had lost all appreciation of the higher tastes. He says this atrophy of the emotional nature is doubtless a loss of happiness. And he expresses an intense regret that he could not have his life to live again, that he might, at regular intervals throughout his busy career, pay some attention to those things which appeal to the spiritual side of life, that this horrible atrophy in his mind might have been averted. Here was a man who accomplished a vast work in science, but his absorption in the work, and neglect of the finer arts, brought him to a painful consciousness of the reality of this element in literature, and its influence upon the reader. While there are many instances that demonstrate the reality of this force by showing the change brought about in the indi-vidual who is isolated from its influences, there are also numerous evidences of its positive influence upon the individuality of the reader. So positive is this influence, that the literature a person enjoys is an unfailing index to his character. If the mind be turned into the channels of heroic and active literature, a heroic spirit of'strong and manly principles, master of circumstances and capable of resisting the most powerful evils, is the inevitable re-sult. If, on the other hand, time is spent in devouring nonsensi- THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 95 cal trash of a doubtful, or possibly degrading moral tone, you have as a reward, or rather demerit, a nerveless, sentimental tem-perament, unfit for the accomplishment of any great work, be it in the study or in life's profession. There is no more contemptible type of human character than the nerveless sentimentalist and dreamer, who spends his life in a "weltering sea of sensibility," and never does a concrete, manly deed. But, ah ! the individuality formed by contact with inspir-ing and ennobling literature ! How sublime is that character, standing firm amid the tempests, like a tower when everything rocks about it, and the weaker fellow-mortals are winnowed like chaff in the blast ! Since there is. a spontaneous force in literature exerting its influence over every reader, whether he is conscious of the fact or not, how essential it is that all current literature and fiction should be idealistic, upholding the ideal of the race; for this is the law of human progress. It would be better if the realistic novel were never published. What we want is a stalwart ideal-ism. In life " aim and ideal are everything;" so it is in litera-ture. And if these be high and just, the author is true to his profession, and will be false to no one. How great is the responsibility resting upon the author ! He may be the agency through which humanity is brought into the most exalted phase of moral excellence, or into the vilest degen-eracy, endowing the race with real wealth to promote its civiliza-tion, or bringing upon it the deadliest curse. Then let those who are looking forward to a higher order of things, social and politi-cal, equip themselves and aspire to win the favor of the people by making the idealistic literature surpass in splendor the low-grade realistic novel, as the glorious mid-day sun outshines the insignificant glow-worm. And let the unscrupulous author, who has no higher ambition than to cater to the populace, sink into oblivion beneath the weight of a refined popular taste and criti-cism. This mournful truth is everywhere confessed, Slow rises worth by poverty depressed. -Johnson. 96 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY IN NATURE'S REALM J. RUSH STONER, '01. How oft in life's deep vestige sought,— Be it in Nature's realm and throne, Where fleeting time has strata laid, And plant life quivering, by zephyrs blown, Wafts perfume o'er the sacred dead, Or in the search of truth and lore,— The Unintended lifts its head And speaks in oracles of yore! In the closing days of winter drear, When anon begins through Nature's veins To course the life of a living world, We strolled through field and rustic lanes; Enchanting for romance were they, In facts for science richer still. We searched for minerals, types of rock And phenomena caused by rippling rill. And lo! within a fractured rock A microscopic plant was seen. Perennial, delicate, tiny thing, It has of Nature's marvels been One oft escaped the human eye; A life unscathed by Aeolian breath Or Zeus' cataclysms wild, Nor felt Apollo's scorching dearth. But clinging to the rugged cliff A lonely, solitary form; In all the great, wide universe Only a little speck forlorn; Yet symmetry and order plain Are there set forth in clear design By the Supreme Intelligence, Its "Great Original," benign. A useless infinitesimal plant! But it a mission has to fill: It may proclaim the law Divine, And be of greatest value still. If it but shows that God, who keeps The stars in cosmic beauty bright, Regards the smallest forms of being, It turns on science floods of light. THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 97 i And man, a spark of the Divine May see in this the message clear, That God who rules things great and small In sweet compassion holds them dear. And he may catch the inspiration, That love, the essence of the soul, Controls and rules the universe And pilots safely to the goal. A COUNTRY BARN ON A RAINY DAY D. S. Weimer, '03 TT is a warm summer morning, the folks have arisen from the long, A sweet slumbers of the night, breakfast has been prepared and served, the horses have been fed and harnessed, and all are ready to go to their respective duties, when, lo! the sky becomes dark, ened and in a short time the rain begins to descend upon the parched earth, causing the drooping plants to lift their heads, as it were, and to spread out their leaves that they may be bathed by the gentle rain. All stand wrapped in delight, as they watch the rain which has been needed so long, no one being unwilling to rest from his labor, while the gentle rain descends to replenish the earth with flowers and fruits. Soon the scene changes. The father, ever mindful ofhis duties, bids the sons go to the barn to unharness the horses. When this is done, they are told that they must go to the barn-floor and pre-pare to thresh some rye in order to have some long straw for tying the corn in the autumn. Soon the doors are thrown open and you see the boys sweeping the floor to get ready to place upon it the sheaves of grain ready for the flail. When the sweeping is completed, you see James climb thelad-der and pass into the mow, while Henry remains upon the floor to arrange the sheaves in order, one after the other, until the floor is fairly covered, when James ceases to throw them from the mow and descends to the floor and prepares to begin with the flail. Taking their flails, they step to their places, and at once begin to strike with alternate strokes, creating a great noise so that it is very difficult to be understood in speaking, but doing the work to which they were appointed with apparent ease and skill. They 98 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY labor during the long hours of the day, ceasing only when thefact that it is time to perform the regular evening duties is made known to them. From what I have said, you may infer that the "Country Barn" is, besides being a protection for the animals against the inclem-ency ofthe weather and a storehouse for grain, a kind ofworkshop, where boys are taught to improve their time and not to throw away the golden moments. We shall see that it is something more. While James and Henry are busy at their work, Willie, Ned, and Joe, who are yet too small to bear the greater burdens of life, are rolling over the hay, turning somersault, standing upon their heads, playing "Run and Jump," "Hide and Seek," and indulg-ing in other sports. Seated in the corner of the barn-floor or run-ning to and fro, or lounging in the swing made by Henry, are Jane and Nell, too selfish to engage in sport with the boys, or probably keeping away, pouting on account of some trick which the boys have served them. Thus wesee that the "Country Barn" is a shelter, a storehouse, a workshop, and a playhouse, teaching to us the lesson that the things which exist may be used for different purposes, each pur-pose in its own time, being necessary for full and complete devel-opment and advantageous to all. «f^£> ALL SOULS DAY W. H. B. CARNEY, '99. Arched above, a reefless ocean Gray of clouds; no sunny glow: Leafless trees affect no motion To the biting' winds which blow. Everywhere are solemn faces,— Father, mother, daughter, son; Over all I see the traces Of a sorrow, deep and lone. Towards God's acre slowly walking Where a loved one lies "At Rest"; Thinking all, but none are talking: Sometimes Silence speaks the best. w THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 99 On the arm a wreath of holly With white flowers wove between; But the gnawing melancholy Of the heart cannot be seen. In the churchyard there is weeping Over every ivied mound; Some have infant forms in keeping, Some by sculptor's hand are crowned. On the graves the wreaths are lying, Glistening with blood-warm tears, Tribute of a love undying, Living on through dragging years. In a homestead sits a maiden Sighing o'er a golden band ; For his grave her hands not laden; There's a trench in foreign land. In her dreams a wife is hearing Lashing waves that froth and roar; And she sees a boat that's nearing,— But it never reached the shore. • In the church is told the story How the Christ, in village Nain, Gave a widow cause to glory, Raising up her son again. While the trumpet tones are blowing All the dead in Him shall rise; And the living, those reknowing. Shall meet with them in the skies. Every desert yield the treasured, Every mountain, and the Bea, Thousands in whose deeps unmeasured Toss like leaves upon the lea. Then I see the faint hearts strengthen And the tears are wiped away; For the shadows soon will lengthen, Herald of Eternal Day. —Berlitz School of Languages, Berlin, Germany. 100 THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY EXCHANGES TVTE have been pleased to receive more than the usual number " of magazines and journals from different colleges and universities during the past month, many of which visited our desk for the first time. Among these the Red and Blue, because of its neat and attractive appearance, and wealth of both poetry and prose, will always be most heartily welcomed. The Harvard Monthly is unassuming in appearance, and filled with excellent literary productions. The Nassau Literary Magazine and the University of Virginia Magazine are both entertaining as always. In addition to these, many others could be mentioned. It has been interesting to note that nearly all the magazines have given considerable space to poetical selections, and also that the number of really good prose articles is greater than dur-ing the previous month. The Lesbian Herald contains a tender and beautiful poem, "The Trailing Arbutus," whose title was probably suggested by John Burrough's poem on the" same subject. We quote the fol-lowing : " Her presence like glimmering sunshine seemed, And the soft sweet breath of the spring, The blue of her eyes was the blue of the heaven, Her voice had a gladsome ring. " Like the voice of the birds as they sing in the trees, When the sweet April shower is done, Or lift to the heavens their anthems of praise When a glad new day has begun. " But the wind swept by with a wailing moan, And the maiden so wondrous fair Was gone in her glory of summer sheen, But the prints of her feet were there. " You call it the trailing arbutus flower, A sweet breath of spring, you say, But I know the glory which gave it birth In the foot-prints left that day." The author of '' The L,ady of the L,ake '' in The Mountaineer evidently appreciates the vivacity and beauty of one of Scott's grandest productions, and thoroughly enjoys the chivalric spirit manifested by the characters. THE GETTYSBURG MERCURY 101 In the St. John's Collegian appears an article on " The Bible as a Text-book.'' The importance of this subject cannot be ques-tioned when we think of the efforts which are made to exclude the Bible from the curriculum of our educational institutions, and the author's very thorough discussion has our entire appro-bation . The Juniata Echo is publishing a series of articles on Porto Rico, written by Prof. M. G. Brumbaugh, Ph. D., Commissioner of Instruction in Porto Rico. These articles contain valuable information. The last issue contains an article on Martin Luther, part of which we take the liberty of quoting: " Martin Luther was the example of loyalty, the exponent of freedom, the guiding star of the Reformation, the advocate of the genuine Pauline Doctrine, and the mainstay of Christendom since the Apostles. . ******* " 'Thou, who art so great in whatever aspect we view thee, so worthy of admiration, so deserving of universal gratitude, alike great as a man, a scholar, a citizen, and a Christian', hast so in-spired us with the thought so characteristic of thy life, that he who steers his frail canoe the best, truest and noblest in the ser-vice of himself, his Alma Mater, his nation and his God; steers it longest when he receives his reward." "The Chemist's Guess" in The Free Lance teaches two important lessons—" the result of careless work " and " honesty is the best policy." J-Other exchanges to be acknowledged are: The Dickinson Lit-erary Monthly, The Susquehanna, The College Folio, The Western Ufiiversity Courant, The Catthage Collegian, The Scio Collegian, The Phoenix, The Campus and The Forum. PATRONIZE OUR ADVERTISERS. C. R. SOLT MERCHANT TAILOR Masonic Bldg., GETTYSBURG Our collection of Woolens for the coming Fall and Winter season cannot be surpassed lor variety, attractive designs and general completeness. The latest styles of fashionable novelties in the most approved shades. Staples of exceptional merit, value and wearing durability. Also altering, repairing, dyeing and scouring at moderate prices. In buying don't forget the Advertisers. They support us. ESTABLISHED 1867 BY ALLEN WALTON. ALLEN K. WALTON, President and Treasurer. ROBT. J. WALTON, Superintendent. flammelstomn Bromn Stone Gompany Quarrymen and Manufacturers of Building Stone, Sawed Flagging and Tile Waltonville, Dauphin Co., Pa. Contractors for all kinds of Telegraph and Express Address. Cut Stone Work. BROWNSTONE, PA. Parties visiting the Quarries will leave cars at Brownstone Station on the P. & R. R. B. For a nice sweet loaf of Bread call on J. RAMER Baker of Bread and Fancy Cakes, GETTYSBURG. PA. EIMER & AMEND, Manufacturers and Importers of Chemicals and Chemical Apparatus 205, 207, 209 and 211 Third Avenue, Corner 18th Street NEW YORK. Finest Bohemian and German Glassware, Royal Berlin and Meissen Porcelain, Pure Hammered Platinum, Balances and "Weights. Zeiss Mi-croscopes and Bacteriological Apparatus; Chemical Pure Acids and Assay Goods. SCOTT PAPER COMPANY MAKERS OF FINE TOILET PAPER 7th and Greenwood Ave. PHILADELPHIA PATRONIZE OUR ADVERTISERS. The Century Double-Feed Fountain Pen. Fully Warranted J6 Kt. Gold Pen, Iridium Pointed. GEO. EVELER, Agent for Gettysburg College PRICE LIST. Spiral, Black or Mottled $2 50 Twist, " 2 SO Hexagon, Black or Mottled 2 SO Pearl Holder, Gold Mounted S 00 THE CENTURY PEN CO. WHITEWATER, WIS. Askjour Stationer or our Agent to show them toyon. Agood local agent wanted in every school No. 1. Chased, long or short $2 00 No. 1. Gold Mounted 3 00 No. 3. Chased 3 00 No. 3. Gold Mounted 4 00 awfwmiffmmmmwiffmiffifmrmiffmmiffifrTffffgg 7k Printing and Binding We Print This Book THE MT. HOEEY STATIONERY AND PRINTING CO. does all classes of Printing and Binding-, and can furnish you any Book, Bill Head, Letter Head, Envelope, Card, Blank, or anything pertain-ing- to their business in just as good style and at less cost than you can obtain same elsewhere. They are located among the mountains but their work is metropolitan. You can be convinced of this if you give them the opportunity. Mt. Holly Stationery and Printing Co. *SPRINGS, PA. UMkJttiUlUiUiUiUiUiUiUiUiUiUiUiUiUiUiUiUiUR H. S. BENNEF?, .DEALER IN. Groceries, Notions, Queensware, Glassware, Etc, Tobacco and Cigars. 17 CHAMBERSBURG ST. WE RECOMMEND THESE BUSINESS MEN. Pitzer House, (Temperance) JNO. E. PITZER, Prop. Rates $1.00 to $1.25 per day. Battlefield a specialty. Dinner and ride to all points of interest,including the th ree days' tight, $1.25. No. 127 Main Street. You will find a full line of Pure Drugs and Fine Sta-tionery at the People's Drug Store Prescriptions a Specialty. J. A. TAWNEY_^ Is ready to furnish Clubs and Boarding Houses with Bread, Rolls, Etc. At short notice and reasonable rates. Washington & Middle Sts., Gettysburg. . A. WONDERS, Corner Cigar Parlors. A full line of Cigars, Tobacco, Pipes, Etc. Scott's Corner, Opp. Eagle Hotel. GETTYSBURG, PA. M. B. BENDER Furniture IRON BEDS, MATTRESSES, SPRINGS Picture Framing" and Repair Work done Promptly 27 BALTIMORE ST. GETTYSBURG, PA. .GO TO. fyokl Gettysburg Barber Sfyop. Centre Square. B. M. SEFTON WTJ /~T\P\r\Dl Successor to . r . {JJUKJKl, Simon J.Codori Dealer in Beef, Pork, Lamb, Veal, Sausage. Special rates to Clubs. York St., GETTYSBURG. .GO TO. CHAS. E. BARBEHENN, Barber In the Eagle Hotel, Cor. Main and Washington Sts. * CHAS. S. MUMPER (Formerly of Mumper & Bender) Furniture Having opened a new store opposite W. M. R. R. Depot, will be pleased to have you call and examine goods. Picture Framing promptly attended to. Repair Work a Specialty Students' Trade Solicited FAVOR THOSE WHO FAVOR US. 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EMIL ZOTHE, ENGRAVER, DESIGNER AND MANUFACTURING JEWELER, 19 S. NINTH ST. PHILADELPHIA SPECIALTIES: Masonic Marks, Society Badges, College Buttons, Pins, Scarf Pins, Stick Pins and Athletic Prizes. All Goods ordered tltrough A. N. Beau. To Repair Broken Arti-cles use Remember MAJOR'S RUBBER CEMENT, MAJOR'S LEATHER CEMENT, Meneely Bell Co. TROY, N. Y. MANUFACTURERS OF SUPERIOR BELLS The 2000 pound bell now ringing in the tower of Pennsylvania Col-lege was manufactured at this foundry. PATRONIZE OUR ADVERTISERS. The Pleased Customer Is not a stranger in our establish-ment— he's right at home, you'll see him when you call. We have the materials to please fastidious men. J. D. LIPPY, Merchant Tailor 39 Chambersburg St., Gettysburg, Pa. Try My Choice lane of ,\ High-Grade Chocolates 3 'at 40c per lb. Always fresh, at ,£ CHAS. H. McCLEARY J Carlisle St., Opposite W.M.R.R. jj Also Foreign and Domestic Fruits A i Always on Hand. B,C L. D. Miller, GROCER Confectioner and Fruiterer. Ice Cream and Oysters in Season. 19 Main St. GETTYSBURG City Hotel, Main St. Gettysburg. Free 'Bus to and from all Trains Thirty seconds' walk from either depot Dinner with drive over field with four or more, $1.35 Rates $1.50 to $2.00 per day John E. Hughes, Prop. 1 k Capitol Cit£ Cafe Cor. Fourth and Market Sts. HARRISBURG, PA. Pirst-Class Rooms Furnished. Special Rates to Private Parties. Open Day and Nig-ht. European Plan. Lunch of All Kinds to Order at the Restaurant. ALDINQER'S CAPITOL CITY CAFE. POPULAR PRICES F. Mark Bream, Dealer in Fancy and Staple Groceries Telephone 29 Carlisl e St., GETTYSBURG, PA. .Photographer. No. 3 Main St., GETTYSBURG, PENNA. Our new effects in Portraiture are equal to photos made anywhere, and at any price. PATRONIZE OUR ADVERTISERS Wright, 140-142 Woodward Avenue DETROIT, MICH. Manufacturers of High Grade Fraternity Emblems Fraternity Jewelry Fraternity Novelties Fraternity Stationery Fraternity Invitations Fraternity Announcements Fraternity Programs Send for Catalogue and Price List. Special Designs on Application. MOTEL GETTYSBURG LIVERY GETTYSBURG, PA. LONG & HOLTZWORTM, Proprietors Apply at Office in the Hotel for First-Class Guides and Teams THE BATTLEFIELD A SPECIALTY Uhe JSolton Market Square •fcartfeburg, fl>a. Earge and Convenient Sample Rooms. Passenger and Baggage Elevator. Electric Cars to and from Depot. Electric Eight and Steam Heat. J. M. & M. S. BUTTERWORTH, Proprietors Special Rates for Commer-cial Men "EZ 1ST IMMER CUT ET WAS ZU WISSEIN." These are the words of Goethe, the great German poet, and are as true in our day as when uttered. In these times of defective vision it is good to know something about eyes. A great deal has been learned about the value of glasses and their application since Goethe lived. Spectacle wearers have increased by thousands, while at the same time, persons losing their eyesight have been greatly diminished. If your eyes trouble you in any way let me tell you the cause. Examination free and prices reasonable. We grind all our own lenses and fit the best lenses (no matter what anyone else has charged you) for $2.50 per pair and as cheap as SO cents per pair, or duplicate a broken lens if we have one-half or more of the old one, at a reasonable charge, returning same day received. .E. L EGOLE. 807 and 809 North Third Street, HARRISBURG, PA. PATRONIZE OUR ADVERTISERS. ^entpol Jlotel, ELIAS FISSEL, Prop. (Formerly of Globe Hotel) Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, Pa. Two doors from Court House. MODERN IMPROVEMENTS. Steam Heat, Electric Inght and Call Bells all through the House. Closets aud Bath Rooms on Every Floor. Sefton & Flem-minfr's Livery is connected with this Hotel. Good Teams and Competent Guides for the Battlefield. Charges Moderate, Satisfaction Guaranteed. Rates $1.30 Per Day. GET A SKATE ON And send all your Soiled Einen to the Gettysburg Steam Laundry R. R. LONG, Prop. Horace Partridge & Co., BOSTON, MASS. Fine Athletic Goods Headquarters for Foot Ball, Gym-nasium, Fencing' and Track Supplies. Send for Illustrated Catalog. 84 and 86 Franklin Street R. W. LENKER, Agent at Penna. College. JOHN M. MINNIGH, Confectionery, lee, ■•««>Iee Creams Oysters Stewed and Fried. No. 17 BALTIMORE ST. The Leading garber v5f)op (Successor to C. C. Sefton) Having thoroughly remodeled the place is now ready to accommodate the public Barber Supplies a Specialty. .Baltimore Street. Grymi5£im(i, PA. ESTABLISHED 1876 PENROSE MYERS, Watchmaker and Jeweler Gettysburg Souvenir Spoons, Col-lege Souvenir Spoons. NO. 10 BALTIMORE ST., GETTYSBURG, PENNA. L. i\. kiimm Manufacturers' Agent and Jobber of Hardware, Oils, Paints and Queensware. GETTYSBURG, PA. The Only Jobbing House in Adams County. i I - >- L PATRONIZE OUR ADVERTISERS. For Fine- Printing go to Tte Jo Co Wile Pnviqjg HOOK CARLISLE ST. GETTYSBURG, PA. C. B. Kitzmiller Dealer in Hats, Caps, Boots and Douglas Shoes GETTYSBURG, PA. R. M. Elliott Dealer in Hats, Caps, Shoes and. Gents' Furnishing Goods Corner Center Square and Carlisle Street GETTYSBURG, PA. EDGARS. MARTIN, F^CIGARS AND SMOKERS' ARTICLES. Chambersburg St., Gettysburg Leadership IN THE CLOTHING and MEN'S EURNISHING Business It is strictly here—everybody knows it. Testimony ? The stock itself. The pen suffi-ciently nimble to tell all the good points of our ::::::: PALL AND WINTER. SUITS AND OVERCOATS has not been found. We will keep you dressed right up-to-date if you buy your Clothing and Furnishings here. : : : : STIINE McPherson Block- No. II BALTIMORE STREET <5ett\?stmret pa. /iDerville E. 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Issue 22.2 of the Review for Religious, 1963. ; EVODE BEAUCAMP, O.F.M. Sin and the Bible Throughout1 the New Testament the work of Christ is presented as a victory over sin. To speak of sin in this connection is to evoke an agelong experience which is highly complex and which can not be neglected if one wishes to comprehend the matter in all its extent and fullness. The word sin is a familiar one to us; yet it is no older than the Greek of the Septuagint. Before the Sep-tuagint there can not be found in the sacred text a single word exactly corresponding to it. The Alexandrian trans-lator has included under this single word the varying nuances of a number of terms; through this word he has thereby evoked all the forms which were taken through the course of centuries by the resistance of Israel to the salvific activity of God. There can be no question of giving here a study of sin in the Bible; for that is a problem entirely too large. We shall simply mark out the essential lines in order that we might have a better understanding of the problem of sin and that as a consequence we may be able to provide a catechetical presentation of sin that will be more richly nourished by the vitality of the Bible. The God of the Bible ancl the Problem o] Good anti Evil Like all the surroundin~ peoples, Israel united into one word evil and unhappiness on the one hand, goodness and happiness on the other. The first of these words is simultaneously disorder, deceit, emptiness, and death; the second is virtue, fullness of life, and peace. Every deed carries within itsel~ its own consequences: evil in-volves unhappiness while goodness implies happiness: Do no evil, and evil will not overtake you; avoid wickedness, and it will turn aside from you. Sow not in the furrows of in-justice, lest you harvest it sevenfold (Sir 7:1-3). Moreover, one finds in the Bible different ways of ex-pressing the same proverb: This article is translated with permission from the magazine Catdchistes, n. 49 (January 1, 1962), pp. 5-19. The magazine is pub-lished by Procure des Frhres; 78, rue de Shvres; Paris 7, France. 4. 4. Evode Beaucamp O.F.M., a Scripture scholar, lives at Via di Decima Kin. I; Rome, Italy. VOLUME 22, 1965 129 4. 4. ÷ Erode Beaucnmp, O.I~.M. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 130 Those who conceive malice bring forth emptiness; they give birth to failure (Jb 15:35). They sowed the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind (Hos 8:7). What is original in the Bible is the teaching that good-ness, physical as well as moral, has only one source: God. "O Lord," cries the Psalmist, "thou art my welfare; there is none beside thee." And for Amos the two expressions "to seek God" and "to seek the good" are perfectly identi-cal; both the one and the other offer the secret of life (Amos 5:4-14). The successful issue of human existence is found on the way which Yahweh points out and only there: For this reason will all go well with us, because we obeyed the voice of our God (Jer 42:6). You must keep his commands., that you may prosper, and your children after you, and that you may live long . (Dt 4:40). You must do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord that you may prosper (Dr 6:18; see also 12:25 and 28). The Law given by Yahweh to His people is the way of happiness: "You must keep my laws and ordinances, by the observance of which man shall find life (Lv 18:5).'° This is a point which is important to remember when the idea of the Law is presented; the love of the Jews for the Torah is incomprehensible if it is not realized that Yah-weh is legislator precisely insofar as He is father, bene-factor, shepherd, and defender of His people. Moreover, this throws light on the well-known problem of reward. The Bible does not say that happiness is received as a recompense for goodness but that happiness is the fruit of goodness and that it is to be found at the end of the way. Evil is not treated in the same way as is goodness; the God of the Bible never attributes to Himself a paternir.y with regard to evil. For the Psalmists, evil is the absence of God; and it is towards Him that one must turn to be freed from it. Nevertheless, it is in relationship to God that evil is defined: evil is the reverse of what He wills, of the course of :action that He teaches. As the author of Chapters Three and Four of Genesis has carefully sho~qn, the evils which weigh on humanity are not imputable to the Creator; the responsibility falls on man who has at-tempted to find his happiness outside of God, to flee his dependence on Yahweh by himself possessing the key of good and evil. Man has set himself on the desperate route that leads far from Paradise: Woe to them that have wandered away from reel (Hos O Lord, thou hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be put to shame; those who prove faithless to you in the land shall be brought to confusion, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living water (Jer 17:13). Let us remark in passing that the God of the Bible never reproaches man for his thirst for greatness and happiness; what is reproached is the attempt to satisfy this outside of God. Unlikei the gods of Surher and Baby-lon, Yahweh has the intention of giving His creature the fullness of life and happiness, but He teaches that this must be done by Him: If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would only walk in my ways, I would quickly humble their foes . he would be fed with the finest of the wheat; and with honey from the rock would I satisfy you (Ps 81:13-14, 16). Although man punishes himself by separating himself from God (see Jb 22:3 ft.), the Bible, nevertheless, does not hesitate to show us Yahweh personally intervening to punish with all the power of His anger. It is He who hardens the pharaoh, as it is He who brings evil upon His unfaithful people: I am watching over them for evil and not for good (Jet 44:27). I will set my eye upon them for evil, and not for good (Amos It is curious to observe how the inspired writers can com-plain both that Yahweh hides His face and remains dis-tant from His chosen ones (Ps 88:14) and that He turns His face against them (Jer 44:11): "The face of the Lord has scattered them; he no longer regards them" (Lain 4:16). And some of the sacred writers are heard to cry out: Will you never take your eye off me, nor let me alone till I swallow my saliva? (Jb 7:19). Turn your gaze away from me, that I may be glad (Ps 39:13). Yahweh never ceases to assert His exclusive right to bestow good on His chosen ones even when they turn away from Him to their own loss. In the evils which then beset them, there can always, be detected the avenging pursuit of a cheated love: So I will be unto them like a lion; or like a leopard by the road I will lurk. I will rend them like a bear robbed of its cubs; and I will tear off the covering of their heart (Hos 13:7-8). Pursued by the love he has denied, the sinner sees him-self abandoned by all: "Thou has put friend and com-panion far from me" (Ps 88:18). He is abandoned even by the earth which bears and nourishes him: I am bringing upon them a disaster which they shall not be able to escape (Jet 11:11). I will rend and be gone; I will carry off, with none to rescue (Hos 5:14). Sin VOLUME 22, 1963 13! + + + Evode Beaucamp, O.F.M. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS Behold, I am going to make a groaning under you (Amos 2:13). Unlike the Egyptian god Aten, Yahweh is not indif. ferent when He distributes life and happiness. His gifts are always made from a personal and jealous love. Hence He can not but react vigorously when man prefers deceit, nothingness, and ruin to His love. The blows which He deals as well as His tragic silence can lead the wanderer back to the road of return: I withdraw to my own place, until they realize their guilt and seek my face, searching for me in their distress (Hos 5:15). And yet it is necessary that this appeal be heard and followed: It was I that gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities . it was I that withheld from you the rain, three months before the harvest . I laid waste your gardens and your vineyards . I sent a pestilence like that of Egypt among you . But you did not return to me (Amos 4:6-10). When sin is presented as disobedience to the Law of God, it is necessary to realize that this Law is the path marked out by God and leading to life and happiness; to disobey it is to wish to conduct one's life by oneself and to run towards one's own ruin. The God whose love has been scorned will not be content to let us leave; He will inexorably bar the way that leads to peace just as formerly He posted the cherubim with their swords of fire to pre-vent Adam and his descendants from access to the Para-dise that had been lost: They are a people who err in their hearts, and do not know my ways. So that I swore in my anger that they should not enter into my rest (Ps 95:10-11). The Special Demands o[ the Covenant The Bible is not satisfied with presenting man in con-frontation with God; for the Bible the heart of the matter is the elect one in confrontation with the God who has chosen him. The peace dreamt of by the Jews of old, peace between the members of. one community, peace with the external world and the earth where men liv~.~- this peace is the fruit of the covenant of Sinai (see Lv 26:3-13; Dt 11:13-15). From the viewpoint of the history of religions, one of the most original characteristics of this alliance is the tact that the initiative belongs exclusively to God and not at all to the people; it is Yahweh who has chosen Israel and not Israel who has chosen Yahweh. From the beginning to the end of the Bible, Yahweh repeatedly emphasizes the absolute liberty of His choice, a liberty that gives Him the right to demand obedience without reserve or mur-mur. The elect one should adjust his conduct to the direc- tives given by his God; he must seek that "which is right in the eyes of Yahweh"; he must "march perfectly before Him" without "swerving" from the way "either to the right or the left." Hence.the existence of Israel was constitute~ by the acceptance of these demands;~and these;demands were unceasingly renewed nor were they ever fully completed at any given moment of history. The more Israel, through a better understanding of the obligations of the covenant, wished to submit to them, the larger the number of them grew. In its always unsatisfied thirst to stay perfectly close to the divine will, the chosen people never ceased to develop the principles at the base of the Mosaic legis-lation of the Decalogue (Ex 20:3-17; Dt 5:6-21) and of the code of the covenant (Ex 20:22-26) into the different priestly codes and the enormous growths of the rabbinical tradition. Since there existed this demand for a perfection never perfectly attained ("You must be holy; for I, the Lord your God, am holy" fLy 19:2]; "Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect" [Mt 5:48]), an exhaustive list of sins is nowhere to be found in the Bible; prophets, Psalmists, and wise men give us but certain ones among many. In every epoch and in all circumstances, the obli-gations of the covenant remain unlimited; the human party of the covenant never succeeds in rising to the level of the demands of the divine party. Basically, the sin of later Judaism will be to pretend to arrest this movement of divine improvement by attempting to imprison the divine will within the walls of a definitive and rigid tra-dition. There is no need to emphasize that the same dan-ger lies in wait for every spiritual life, that there will always be a tendency to substitute for the unlimited de-mands of Christian perfection a code of limited rules which each person can hope some day to fulfill com-pletely. The covenant not only implies the demands of a bond faithfully maintained between God and His people, but it also includes the demands of a union between the in-dividual members of this people. Yahweh expects that His people should practice among themselves the justice and mercy which He has bestowed on them. The pious Israelite must never forget to share his joy with the stranger, the orphan, the widow; for, as Deuteronomy puts it: "You must remember that you were once a slave yourself in Egypt" (Dt 16:12). For the same reason it is forbidden to retain one's brother in the state of slavery (Lv 25:55; Dt 15:15); nor ought one to treat a stranger with scorn (Lv 19:34; Dt 24:17). In this principle can be seen the first outline of the thought of the Master: "Love each other as I have loved you." ÷ ÷ ÷ Sin VOLUME 22, 1963 4. + Evode Beaucamp, O.F.M. REVIL~V FOR RELIGIOUS Hence it is that along with the infidelities of the people towards God, the absence of social justice appears as the chief accusation directed by Yahweh against Israel. From the beginning of prophetism (for example, with Elijah), the struggle is waged on two fronts: opposition to the introduction of foreign cults and the respect for the rights of the weak (Naboth's vineyard, 1 K 21). As the Lord Himself emphasized, the entire legislation of Israel re. volves around this double commandment: to love God with one's whole heart and one's neighbor as oneself. The same is to be found in the warnings of the prophets, the Psalmists, and the wise men: You have been told, O man, what is good and what the Lord requires of you'. Only. to do l'ustice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly wtth your God (Mi 6:8; see also Jer 7:5-11). It will not be useless to insist somewhat on this capital point; since we have too great a tendency to distinguish sins against God and sins against neighbor, it is necessary to show how every sin against God leads to injustice with regard to neighbor and how every sin against one's neigh-bor is a blow struck against the rights of God. The first chapters of Genesis in the Yahwist and priestly redac-tions already present evil under this double dimension. The murder of an innocent person follows the act by which Adam made himself independent of his Creator, while the union of the sons of gods with the daughters of men (probably an allusion to sacred prostitution) in-volves the unleashing of violence upon the earth. In a more general way, the Bible unites under the single He. brew word resha' the idea of both impiety and evil-doing, The person who so acts is frequently referred to through-out the Psaher; he is a person who intends to do without God and to live his life entirely by himself and who, in consequence, makes use of force, deceit, and lies: The fool says in his heart: There is no God. Such men are corrupt; they do abominable deeds; there is not one who does good (Ps 14:1; see also Ps 9; 10; 12; 52; 62; and so forth). His adversary and his victim is the just man, the man who expects salvation and justification from God alone and who therefore does not seek to take the law in his own hands nor do himself justice at the expense of others. The life of David furnishes an excellent illustration of these two cases of the evil man and the just man. Sens-ing that Yahweh would give to him the crown of Saul, David steadfastly refused to touch the sacred person of the king; for he intended to owe his royalty: to Yahweh alone and he did not wish to do things wrongly. Accord-ingly, through terrible execution or a no less terrible curse, he decisively disassociated himself from all those who wished to hasten the event by doing violence to Saul or his son or the general of his army (2 S 1:15; ~:28 ft.; 4:10 ft.). In contrast to the dynasties of, usurpers, the dynasty of David was not in its origin tainted by blood (2 K 2:5). But in the affair of Uriah, the king of Jerusalem took a completely opposite c#ur.se; here he acted,asian impious and evil person. Nathan" recalled to the guilty monarch everything that Yahweh had done for him and pointed out to him how He was still ready to do more. But David had lacked confidence; he had chosen to take care of him-sell and this he did at the expense of one of his own subjects. There is, then, no rejection of God which does not eventually turn into injustice, just as there is no in-justice which is not a disregard of the power of the God of :the covenant. For a Christian, to sin is not only to disobey the eternal laws of the Creator; it is also a refusal of the covenant and a scorning of the love of the Father of all. Human Resistance and God's Final Victory The covenant supposes a history; it is at the center of a plan that develops by stages. At each of these stages man tries to block the plan, but his actions do not prevent God from having the final word. It is interesting to follow step by step the resistances of those who were the bene-ficiaries of the covenant, for in them are to be found all the possible forms which man's refusal of God's offer can take. 1. The choice of the elect from the midst of a humanity immersed in sin. Because the human race had turned from Him and had obstinately buried itself in evil, Yah-weh drew forth from it Israel in the desire to make of it a people who would follow His directives. Hence the election of Abraham is presented in the Yahwist tradition of Genesis as the last effort made by Yahweh to prevent His creation from going to perdition apart from Him. This evil had begun when Adam, in his desire for in-dependence, had lost Paradise. Nevertheless, Yahweh did not abandon this fugitive from Him; He gave him the hope of a future victory over the evil in which he had immersed himself; He had even covered the nakedness that the guilty couple had become aware of. To the first couple, punished by their pride, there succeeded a gen-eration of murderers: Cain and his descendants. Once more Yahweh intervened to prevent fallen humanity from disappearing, from the earth under the inexorable blows of the curse of blood. The union of the sons of the gods with the daughters of men provoked such a release of violence that Yahweh decided on the complete de-struction of His work. Nevertheless, He saved from the catastrophe a just man with whom He concluded a cove- 4- 4- 4- VOLUME 22, 1963 4, 4, 4, Erode Beaucamp, O.F.M. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 136 nant. This was not yet the last act of the drama; the last scene of the beginnings of the human race is the episode of the tower of Babel, the dispersion of the sons of Adam after their aborted attempt to construct a tower that would reach to heaven. Nevertheless, the efforts of Yahweh to arrest man in his vertiginous descent into the abyss were not in vain; for, after the episode of the tower of Babel, a new history begins: the vocation of Abraham, the epic of the patri-archs, the covenant of Sinai. To the first scene of a uni-versal invasion of evil, there succeeds that of the increas-ingly solicitous enterprise of God with regard to a people whom He would choose for His own. Under different forms the same idea is found almost everywhere in the Old Testament. To explain the fact that Israel had taken the place of the Canaanites, the legal texts, for example, tell us that the latter were chased from their land because they had done "what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh"; He had determined to give their land to a people who would agree to live according to His will. But misfortune would come to this people if they ever dared to imitate the conduct of their predeces-sors; He would not hesitate to deprive them of the land. The falling back into the world of sin from which Yah-weh had drawn them led Judah to its ruin, as Jeremiah and Ezekiel emphatically pointed out. The sin of the elect is in fact a return to the sin of the nations after having been freed from it. Each election is pictured as a rupture: Leave your country, your relatives, and your father's house (Gn 12:1), Forget your people and your father's house (Ps 45:11). The call of God implies an ascent towards Him by the practice of what is "right in His eyes" and by a renuncia-tion of "what is evil in his eyes." This initial break must continue throughout the course of time; this requires a constant effort at disencumbrance, for the surrounding world never ceases to exert pressure on the elect to make them fall back under its law. This is the drama of every vocation, not only to religious life but to Christianity self. 2. Resistance to the hand that guides. After He had led the people from Egypt, Yahweh made them cross the desert before bringing them to the Promised Land. The desert is the sign of temptation, a testing of faith. In other words, Yahweh would not give the land of Canaart to the Hebrews unless they abandoned themselves to Him without reserve by remaining faithful to the memory of the marvelous act of liberation by which they left Egypt. But hunger, thirst, and fatigue quickly overcame the faith of the former slaves of the pharaohs. They soon forgot the extraordinary epic of the Exodus; they mur-mured and rebelled against Moses and Aaron; they be-came enraged at seeing themselves in a venture which seemed to be pointless; and they dreamed nostalgically of the onions of Egypt. They refused to march forward on the grounds that the:.P~-omised Land W~s~'fi0t good enough and because the enterprise was to their minds a doomed one (Nm 14). This lack of confidence induced the people of Moses to attempt to assure themselves of the protection of their God by placing Him at their service and by forcing His hand as they wished. This is what the Bible calls "tempt-ing God." Instead of Yahweh "tempting" and trying the people in order to make them proceed according to His will, it was Israel who tempted its God, attempting to bring Him into the service of human caprice. Hence when Moses delayed coming down from the mountain and Yahweh made them wait for His answer, the He-brews made the golden calf, a material representation of their God which would allow them to control Him and to"make Him advance according to their desires at the head of their army. This recalcitrant attitude of the elect blocked the entire matter of the election and prevented their entering the rest of God (Ps 95:11). The intercession of Moses effected a compromise: the rebellious generation died in the desert and only their children possessed the right to the heritage of the God of the covenant. 3. Profanation of God's gift. The covenant gift of the land of Canaan should have created the indissoluble bonds of a steadfast love between Israel and God. Unfortunately, Israel, once it was secure and satisfied, was quick to forget: I led them to pasture; with food came satiety, and with satiety pride; and with pride came forgetfulness of me (Hos 13:6; see also Dt 32:15). The riches of the land of Canaan, instead of constantly recalling to the people the solicitude of Yahweh, drove Him from their mind and nurtured in them the illusion of being able to escape the jealous influence of their God. With the products of their land, they attempted to buy protection abroad; this was a seeking after "lovers"--the famous theme of prostitution. Often this theme is con- [used with the closely related one of adultery. The idea of prostitution certainly includes the notion of unfaith-fulness, but it is wider than that; it is not only the betrayal of love, it is also the profanation of the gifts of love: But you trusted in your beauty, and played the harlot on your reputation; you lavished your harlotries on everyone who passed by. You took off your garments, and made yourself gaily decked shrines, on which you played the harlot. You took also your splendid ornaments of gold and silver, which I had given 4- 4- VOLUME 22, 196;1 4. 4" Erode Beaucamp, O.F.M. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 138 you, and made yourself images of men, with which you played the harlot. And you took your embroidered robes, and wrapped them in these. My oil and my incense you set before them; my bread which I had given you-~the choice flour, oil, and honey with which I had fed you--you set before them as a soothing odor (Ez 16:15-19). The Chosen People made use of what Yahweh had given them in order to curry the favor of the baals or to buy alliances with the peoples that surrounded them. Resistance to the hand that Ied them or profanation of the gift received represent two aspects of the rebellion of the children of God. However, none of the stages of the history of salvation exists in an absolutely pure state. Hence it is that throughout the length of our Christian life sin can put on the form of a refusal to proceed in the desert and of a prostitution when one, for his own pur-poses and independently of God, makes use of the gift which he has received from His love. The Old Testament leaves us with a vision of a check-mate: God is not able to regain the human race which from the beginning had plunged itself into sin and sepa-rated itself from Him. Unless God would make a new heart for men, they would never be able to rise up to the level of the divine demands. Even the Law which Yahweh had given His elect in an attempt to free them from the surrounding evil came in the end only to increase sin (Rom 7:7-25). The cross of Christ and the gift of the Spirit are necessary in order that we might escape the in. fernal cycle. It is then that there appears that new man according to the heart of God whom the prophets Jere-miah and Ezekiel had predicted: I will give you a new heart, and will put within you a new spirit; I will remove the heart of stone out of your flesh, and will give you a heart of flesh; and I will put my spirit within you, and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances (Ez 36:26-27). There is no need to emphasize that one must not present the Law of Christ which alone can make us pleasing to God without adding that this Law is impractical if Christ Himself does not communicate to us His power so that we might fulfill the demands of the Law. Fundamental Aspects o[ the Discord Between God and Man Throughout the Old Testament the resistance of man to the work of God is presented under three clearly dis-tinguished aspects; it is essential to guard against con-fusing these three when the idea of sin in the Bible is analyzed. 1. Opposition to the work of divine justice. The prin-cipal adversary of divine justice is an individual whom the Hebrew language terms rasha', a term which is usu-ally translated by the word impious or wicked. This rasha' enters into association with the "makers of iniq-uity," "the proud," "the mockers," and the "men of blood." His weapons are cunning, lies, violence; he is constantly thinking of i~i~l~'ity"in his he;irt~ li'~ Sets traps for the innocent; his hands are soiled with blood and he is given to drink. His opposition to justice is shown in two ways: it is, first of all, undisguised hostility towards God who is thought to be too distant to'react against it; and, secondly, it is a merciless war against the just whose violated rights the God of the covenant is pledged to de-fend. For practical purposes, the rasha' and his satellites coincide with the adversaries of the covenant; for the justice they oppose is at the center of the preoccupation of the parties of the covenant. They appear from the very beginning of the human race, but more ~usually they ap-pear as the enemies of the Chosen People; in every case they constantly menace the stability of the work of God in the cosmos and in history. Gradually the distinction between the just and the impious is found within the nation itself; it is at this time that the realization of a qualitative Israel necessitates a distinction between the faithful and those who are traitors and apostates. None of the faithful aligns himself with the: rasha': Drag me not away with the wicked, with those who do wron.g, who speak of peace to their neighbors though evil is in their hearts (Ps 28:3). On the occasion of the demands of the wicked, the just man frequently prays for justice from God; this im-plies that he is the victim not the accomplice of the wicked. If the good man wishes to be heard by Yahweh, he must disassociate himself as completely as possible from the perverse machinations of the artisans of evil: "I hate the assembly of evil~toers, and with the wicked I will not sit down" (Ps 26:5). It is only on this condition that he can cry out: "Judge me"; "Do me justice" (Ps 26:1; 43:1). In the matter of justice, then, the Old Testament knows only negative confessions (Ps 5; 26; 139; Jb 31) like those that the dead recite for their justification be-fore the tribunal of Osiris. There is no avowal of an atti-tude of present opposition to justice, an attitude that the God of the covenant would have to punish; only past sins are confessed the consequences of which are already or about to be felt. This is evidently insufficient for Chris-tians. We not only have to present to the Father our past errors but also a heart which even now is evil and which we ask Him to transform. There can be no doubt that ÷ ÷ ÷ Sin VOLUME 22, 1963 139 ÷ .I. ÷ Erode Beaucamp, O~F.M. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS such a prayer supposes a pure intention, and this is the profound significance of our negative confessions. Man can not pray to God while desiring evil; nevertheless, pure intentions do not effect that we see exactly what God wants nor even that we feel the power to accomplish it. Our pure intentions require from us only that we aban-don ourselves,to Him in order that we might see and will the perfection which He expects from us: For I do not the good that I wish, but the evil I do not wish, that I perform . Unhappy man that I aml Who will deliver me from the body of this death? (Rom 7:19 and 24). 2. A state of rupture with God. The three Hebrew roots which are ordinarily translated by such words as sin, transgression, iniquity, fault, and so forth express, though each with different nuances, the idea of a state of rupture with the God of the covenant: The Lord's hand is not .too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear; but your iniquities have been a barrier between you and your God. And your sins have hidden his face, so that he could not hear you (Is 59:1-2). This state is a present situation the cause of which is a definite past act; hence one goes from the awareness of the rupture to an appreciation of its origin: "I have sinned." This is equivalent to saying that if God aban-dons me to my lot, I can blame only myself; it is my own fault: O Lord, the great and revered God, who keeps loving faith with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned . To us, O Lord, pertains confusion of face . but to the Lord our God pertain compassion and forgiveness (Dn 9: 4-5, 8-9). The awareness of sin, then, is the awareness of being abandoned by God through one's own fault; the sinner is like a child experiencing the feeling of no longer being loved by his mother; he feels himself cut off from the one who is his source of life: My anger shall blaze against them, and I will forsake them~ and withhold my favor from them; they shall become a thing to be consumed, and many evils and troubles shall befall them, so that they will say at that time: Is it not because God is not in our midst that these evils have befallen us? (Dt 31:17). By the fact of sin--and this holds true for the relations between man and man as well as for the relations be-tween God and man--the Protector finds Himself re-leaged of His obligation 'towards His proteges; in particu-lar He is no longer bound to see justice done them and He can consider them as His enemies: We look for redress, but it comes not; for salvation, but it remains f~r from us. For many are our sins before you, and our faults bear witness against us (Is 59:11-12). Abandoned by his God and even pursued by His ill will, the sinner is sooner or later doomed to death. In the case of an individual he will use up his strength in a dis-ease that is without hope; in the case of a country it will perish under the blows of epidemics, famines, and wars. For sin breaks not only~th@,~bbnds betwe~en,~n~fi and his God; it also isolates man frbm society and even from the earth, since peace with God is the condition of peace with one's fellow men and with the entire world. In his dereliction and total loneliness, the sinner possesses only one resource: to throw himself into the arms of the One he has offended. On the whole, the Old Testament attaches more im-portance: to this state of rupture than to the nature of the acts which provoke it. Contrary to the confessions of Babylon which attempted to exorcise evil by interminable lists of all possible sins, the Bible generally reduces its inventory to the simple assertion: '~I have sinned." For the Bible, it is God, not sin, that is of interest; it is God that is considered. A sense of sin that is not a sense of God and does not suppose the experience of a valued intimacy is a false sense of sin which can lead to the greatest catastrophes as the history of Luther and Jansen-ism have shown. 3. Impurity, the state of incompatibility with the divine presence. The notions of purity an~l impurity are among the most common and primitive ones in the his-tory of religions. In them is found everywhere the same confusion between taboos of a ritual nature and ethical prescriptions in the proper sense. Sexual pollutions, for example, whether licit or illicit, make one impure, just as the shedding of blood, whether justly or unjustly, profanes the earth. And the contagious nature which is attributed to such impurity makes the notion even more difficult for the modern mind. There has been a mis-understanding of the place which the Bible gives to such a primitive category of thought in later books like Leviti-cus; many see in this a reaction to the effort made by the prophets to form the moral conscience of Israel. But presented in this way, the problem is wrongly placed. Impurity is on a completely different level than that of sin, the rupture with God. It is not concerned with the difficulties and blocks that can lessen the rela-tions of man with God but with that which appears in-compatible with the maintenance of the divine presence in the midst of the country: Because the Lord your God moves within your camp to rescue you and to put your enemies at your mercy, your camp must be clean, so that he may not see anything indecent with you, and turn away from you (Dr 23:14). If the Bible attaches a great importance to this notion sin VOLUM£ 22, 1963 141 ÷ ÷ ÷ E~ode Benuc~mp, O.F.M. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 142 of impurity, it is because for it the question is not re-ducible to the simple fact of not offending God; it is the much more profound matter of living with Him in His presence. The sense of purity is the awareness of the holiness which election requires, a holiness that must ex-tend to everything which conditions the existence of the elect: I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy; for I am holy; so you must not defile yourselves with any kind of insect that crawls on the earth. For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God, and so you must be holy; for I am holy (Lv 11:44-45). You must be holy to me; for I, the Lord, am holy, and have separated you from other peoples to be mine (Lv 90:26). As long as Israel remained a political and sociological reality, the community of life between Yahweh and His people had necessarily to preserve a character that was both interior and exterior, implying demands both of a physical and a moral order. This combination should not, then, be surprising. It is necessary to wait for the Gospel in order that the problem of purity be elevated to a properly spiritual level, for then the kingdom of God becomes an interior reality which is not involved in the social and material conditions of the life of the elect: "It is what pr6ceeds from a man that makes him impure" (Mk 7:20). All cases of impurity, however diverse, have this in common that they create a cultic incompatibility and make the approach to the divine dangerous. But it is dif-ficult to find how this incompatibility flows from a single principle; this is a world of different and heterogeneous elements which it would be a waste of time to attempt to unify. So, for example, one type of impurity consisted of any attempt to violate a reality that was initially sacred: harvesting, the gathering of fruits, marriage, and so ford~. But impurity was likewise involved when a being was possessed by foreign divinities; the sinner fell into this category when, being rejected by his god, he became the prey of demons. Finally, every act is impure which lessens the essential integrity of a being, especially a consecrated one: the loss of blood or of seminal fluid, the cutting of the hair of a Nazirite, the cutting of a stone intended for an altar, the putting to work of an animal destined to carry a sacred object, and so forth. All this is common to the ancient world; and the Bible in this matter originates nothing, though it should be noted that matters such as sicknesses, curses, various ca-lamities, blood crying for vengeance, cadavers awaiting burial figure here as simply malefic rather than being at-tributed to foreign divinities or demons. Furthermore, it seems to us that a global impression emerges from all this chaos: a being cannot support the presence of God if its existence is diminished or threatened either by an acci-dental loss of substance or by subjection to some other power. Not being fully himself, man in such a case cannot offer himself to his God. If this interpretation is correct, then the need for purity calls out for the idea of the In-carnation, for the Priest without stain who can enter the sanctuary of the God of the covenant; this is the perfect man who has attained the fullness of his stature: "Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect." Before the majesty of the King-God who was revealed to his eyes, Isaiah becomes frightenedly aware not of his sin but of his impurity: Woe to me, for I am lost; I am a man of unclean lips. and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts (Is 6:5). It is not sin but impurity which impedes the vision of God: "Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God." Whatever may have been for primitive man the deep roots of the notes of impurity, the idea should not be suppressed but moralized and spiritualized. From this an-cient notion, two elements should be kept for the profit of our own Christian life: first, our Christian life is truly a life with God, and it supposes a full realization of our stature as the "new man" according to Christ and a full posses-sion of ourselves that withholds nothing from the in-fluence of God; secondly, every lessening of our personal vitality is a lessening of the vitality of the community; every lessening of our charity detracts from the global charity of the Church, and it tarnishes her purity, since impurity by its nature is contagious, always passing from individuals to the collectivity. Solutions to the Discord Between God and Man 1. The judgment of the wicked. A victorious judgment of the God of the covenant will put an end to the opposi-tion of the wicked man. This judgment, however, is never purely negative. The wicked man is a dangerous individ-ual, and his downfall affects the salvation of the just: The righteous shall rejoice that he has seen vengeance; he shall wash his footsteps in the blood of the wicked. And men shall say: There certainly is a reward for the just; there cer-tainly is a God who judges on earth (Ps 58:10-11). As we have seen, the wicked man is generally con-sidered as unable to be converted; this is why his disap-pearance appears as the only solution to the evil of which the just man is a victim; the world will regain its peace only when God has caused this evil to fall on its authors. Gradually, however, other conceptions of the matter came into existence. Jeremiah and especially Ezekiel envisage ÷ ÷ ÷ VOLUME 22° 1963 ÷ Evode Beaucamp, O.F.M. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS the case of a wicked man who abandons his wickedness to practice "judgment and justice": As I live, says the oracle of Yahweh, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather in this that the wicked man turn from his way and live. Turn, O turn, from your evil waysl Why should you die, O house of Israeli (Ez 33:11). This view of the conversion of the wicked is a direct preparation for the Gospel. Christ will proclaim that He has come not for the just but for the wicked---the publi-cans and adulterers who without conversion would fall beneath the blows of the avenging anger of God. The great revolution of the Gospel is the distinction between evil and evil men; in the Our Father it is from evil that we ask to be freed and not from our enemies, as was done in the Psalms. As long as a man has not drawn his last breath, he is never to be identified with evil and we must always hope for his eventual conversion. The venge-ance of the just is no longer the extermination of the wicked but their penance and reparation. 2. The pardon of the sin. The one who has culpably lost communion with God can only hope for the gratui-tous act of clemency and pity Which the One offended can grant or not grant when pardon is asked of Him. In the rupture man took the initiative, but the initiative in the matter of reconciliation belongs exclusively to God. More than in any other case there apears here the impos-sibility of forcing His hand. Sin, the rupture of relations between God and man, is an intolerable weight from which the sinner cannot free himself by his own effort; it is a weight that only the One offended is in a position to lift: For, day and night, your hand lay heavy upon me . I said: I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, and you forgave the guilt of my sin (Ps 32:4-5). The Babylonians, in order to have greater certainty of their restoration to favor, frequently attempted to have another friendly divinity intervene with the angered god. In the Bible, as is evident, man is without the possibility of such a mediation. He must directly approach the God he has offended and throw himself at His feet while de-claring "I have sinned"; he must rely entirely on God's mercy. It is clear that such an act implies conversion; it is the return of the prodigal son to his Father's house. While the Bible does not permit the sinner to avoid encountering the God he has angered, still it does not leave him without arguments by which he can plead his case. He can, for example, invoke the glory of the God of the covenant whose name he still continues to bear: What will the nations think of Yahweh if He continues to leave his people defenseless? (Ps 79; 80; Ez 32:11-14). He can also invoke His justice: In abandoning His own, does not Yahweh yield to His enemies? (Ps 41). Finally, he can appeal to the shortness of life--life which a pro-lUonngfoedrt uabnsaetnelcye, owf eG coadn m naokte ds eelmayp thye aren du ,s epngsne~le sths e(Pses 9a0rg).u-ments which still retaiii,:th~ir~, validity for, oi~i~ prayer as Christians. We have already pointed out that the penitent does not dwell upon an analysis of his culpable act but keeps his eyes on the God the lack of whom he suffers and in whom he sees his only hope; the simple fact of the rupture is al-ready virtually the presence of death and it constitutes for the sinner the deepest kind of punishment than which nothing greater is to be feared. The penitent calls on the judgment and justice of Yahweh as a grace the right to which he has lost by sin. He awaits the moment of pardon which will reestablish him in the friendship of His God so that once again he will be protected in the midst of a hostile world: The anger of the Lord must I bear--for I have sinned against him--until he shall take up my case and do me justice (Mi 7:9). Once pardon h.as been granted, the remembrance of the sin disappears in the remembrance of the victorious love of Yahweh, a love which is capable of overpowering all offenses and which in its profundity and total gratuitous-ness leaves the soul of man in confusion (Ps 103); here already there is almost found the felix culpa of St. Au-gustine. Moreover, the world which the divine mercy re-constructs is always more beautiful than the one de-stroyed by sin. To illustrate this law, it is sufficient to reflect on the messianic prophecies which for the most part are prophecies of pardon (Ps 85; Is 40-55; 60; Ez 34; and so forth). 3. Purification of Defilement. Having been excluded from worship, the defiled man must purify himself be-fore coming into the presence of God.'It is a co.mmon idea among all the ancient religions that the gods have given men ritual materials and formulas that are capable of purifying them, their temples, and their country. In particular, there are appropriate rites that permit the expulsion from the impure being of the evil spirits and demons who have taken possession of him; thus, for ex-ample, spells and curses which had victimized a person were made to pass on to the body of animals wh~ch.~:were then driven far away or burned. In the Bible this liturgi-cal transfer has left only a few traces, the most notable ex-ample of which is that of the scapegoat of the D~y of Atonement (Lv 16). This animal, loaded with the sins of Israel, was not offered to Yahweh but driven far aw~iy to Azazel. 4, 4, VOLUME 22, 1963 ÷ ÷ ÷ Erode Beau~arap, O.F.M. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 146 In place of this image of a transfer, the Bible has pre-ferred that of cleansing through ablutions and sprinkling with blood and water. This symbol is simultaneously negative and positive: at the same time as it removes the uncleanliness, the water restores all the freshness of life. This is also, as it seems to me, the function of the blood in the atonement rite and in the sin sacrifices. But we shall not delay here on this difficuh and debated point; we will content ourselves with giving our own personal opinion. Blood seems to have as its effect the protection of the things and persons which it covers; it protects them from the various evils which are the sequel of sin just as the blood of the paschal lamb did at the Exodus (Ex 12:1-15). But to this negative effect there is added a posi-tive action; for blood is life, and it is by reason of the life that is in it that Yahweh has given it as an effector of atonement (Lv 17:10-12). Thanks to it, persons, cult ob-jects, and the country that is the abode of Yahweh find their fullness of life, their first integrity which impurity had caused to be lost. The application of this Biblical rite to our Christian life is not difficult. The sin of a Christian can be con-sidered as a stain that not only changes our personal re-lations with God but also diminishes the vital potentiali-ties of the Church and impairs her charity. Reparation, therefore, is a social duty just as it was in ancient Israel. God has given us the Blood of Christ as an inexhaustible source of love so that we can preserve for the Church the immaculate appearance which her divine Spouse initially bestowed on her: He wished to summon into his presence the Church in all her beauty, with no stain, wrinkle, or any disfigurement; she. was to be holy and spotless (Eph 5:27). Conclusion By way of conclusion, let us synthesize the results of our inquiry. In order that the notion of sin preserve all the force that the Bible gives it, it must include three ele-ments: deterioration of the order of creation; rupture with God, the source of life; and impurity which hinders all commerce with the divine. All this is what is repre-sented by the word sin at the time of the New Testament~ it is all this that Christ has come to restore, heal, and purify. Under these three aspects, sin is a flight from God, the only source of life and happiness; it represents the contrary of all the effort God has made throughout his-tory to draw us to Him; it is a return back to a past from which He has drawn us; it is our refusal to allow ourselves to be led by Him blindly; it is our squandering of the gifts we have received. To depart from God is to depart from other men and finally to find oneself alone in a hostile world: And it has brought you. w " as reconciled . ,_ o ~;. ¯ - uom~ wron~ ;-,- - "-' holiness a~a t__ )vu mrough dying, ;,,~.:_ . 6 ~-o.ugn now (Col 1:2'1_~)."ee ~rom reproa~c h. .or ~Ta~'e,'~'~vt~uas op~rensve nbcoedy) ia Sin VOLUME 22, 1963 PAUL W. O'BRIEN, S.J. The Weekly Confession of Fervent Religious ÷ ÷ Paul W. O'Brien, S.J., is the rector of the Pontifical Semi-nary in Dalat, Viet-nam. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 148 The word "fervent" in the title is not meant to frighten away those good religious for whom the article is actually written, but who usually hesitate to think of themselves as fervent. It is used rather to indicate the limited perspective of the article, a perspective however which we trust is representative of religious and hehce applicable to many. It is not unusual to find religious who have a problem with their weekly confession--a problem that seems to arise not from their being tepid but rather from their being fervent. They are serious about their religious life. They would rather do anything than deliberately offend God in the smallest thing. And yet they find a certain uneasiness, tedium, even difficulty with their weekly con-fession. Time and again they have consulted the classical authors to find ways of refreshing this exercise, but usu. ally with only transitory success. The considerations pro-posed in these manuals, while excellent and fundamental and helpful to a certain point, do not really fit. For the religious we have in mind does not come to his weekly confession as an enemy of God; he does not come with mortal sins; he has no need of being "reconciled" to the Church, much less of having divine life "restored" to his soul. His confession is not one of obligation, and con:;e-quently there is nothing that he is obliged to confess (supposing always that to ensure the validity of his con-fession, he mentions his past forgiven sins, at least in a general way). In fact he rarely (more likely never) brings unforgiven sins to the confessional. For to say nothing of the many ways that venial sins can be forgiven out-side the sacrament, his daily communion is constantly purifying his soul, and his habit of immediately turning to God in loving sorrow for any fault committed, plus the. contrition that he excites before confession, brings him to the confession with really no unforgiven matter. Clearly the basic considerations of the purgative way, which may once have applied to him, and whose grateful memory will always remain with him, are not sufficient. There is need of a ditter~ent perspective~a .,shifting of emphasis, if his confession ~is" to produce the,, fruit ex-pected by the Church. ' ¯ ~. ~ For the Church is greatly concerned about these fre-quent confessions. When som~ younger members of the clergy were diminishing esteem for the frequent confes-sion of venial sins, claiming that it was useless, consumed too much time of busy pastors, and was actually un-known in the early Church, Pope Plus XII spoke out clearly and strongly against them (Mystici Corporis 87): Equally disastrou~s in its effects is the false contention that tile frequent confession of venial sins is not a practice to be greatly esteemed. Therefore those among the young clergy who are diminishing esteem for frequent confession are to know that the enterprise upon which they have embarked is alien to the Spirit of Christ and most detrimental to the Mys-tical Body of our Savior. For a constant and speedy ad-vancement in the path of virtue, we highly recommend the practice of frequent confession, introduced by the Church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit; for by this means we grow in a true knowledge of ourselves and in Christian hu-mility, bad habits are uprooted, spiritual negligence and apathy are prevented, the conscience is purified and the will strengthened, salutary spiritual direction is obtained, and grace is increased by the efficacy of the sacrament itself. In the following lines it is not my purpose to touch on all the above advantages nor to give a form to confession nor to enter into the aspect of spiritual direction in the confessional. I wish merely to redistribute the emphasis of certain aspects and thus perhaps help towards a solu-tion of our problem. Sacrament of Loving Sorrow One of the areas that calls for reappraisal and a pos-sible reshifting of emphasis concerns our habitual way of looking on the sacrament. There is danger that a way of speaking will induce a way of thinking. Because of our ordinary practice of speaking of the sacrament of pen-ance as "confession," we may develop a wrong emphasis. Now I am not advocating a change in our traditional terminology, but we must be careful lest our way of speaking throw everything out of focus. For the actual "confession" of sins, in the type of confession we are dealing with, is one of the least important elements of the sacrament. And yet it is frequently the main source of trouble for the fervent religious: "What to say?" Such a preoccupation is understandable when there is ques-tion of the integrity of an obligatory confession of mortal sins, but how completely out of place it is in our con- 4- 4- 4- Weekly onlession VOLUME 22, 1963 ]49 P. W. O'B~i~, $.]. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS fessions. I wonder if our exact catechetical training, given chiefly in view of a form of obligatory confession, is not unduly transferred to confessions of devotion. At any rate, it is not rare to find the problem of confession be-coming more acute as the religious becomes more fer-vent, the problem of "what to say" becoming so empha-sized as to bring on uneasiness. But even when we think more exactly in terms of the "sacrament of penance," we must still be on our guard. The very word "penance" can become a source of mis-understanding. The Latin word paenitentia of which our English "penance" is a translation, has been well-chosen and in its real meaning of "sorrow with purpose of amendment" is quite appropriate. But in English we do not think that way. For us "penance" is associated with fasting and disciplines; and even though we have been taught that true interior penance consists in sorrow for our sins, this is not our habitual association with the word "penance." Would that the translating fathers had given us something like "sacrament of sorrow." It would have helped us put the emphasis where it belongs. The emphasis then in this "sacrament of sorrow" should be on sorrow; but a sorrow that is a free and meritorius act. This should immediately put us on our guard against certain counterfeits. It is a free act; hence always in my power. I can make it on Monday; I can make it on Friday. I can make it when I am depressed; I can make it when I am as dry as a stick. Evidently its value does not and cannot depend on emotional inten-sity (which is not in my power). It is a movement of the will detesting sin because of my conviction (intellectua! appreciation) that God's will is above all. Its efficacy measured not by the accompanying emotion or affection. (if there is any) but by the strength derived from my conviction. Now for the fervent religious this conviction has become habitual. It is constantly operative in his daily life as is evidenced by his care in avoiding all that is against God's will. But it can well be that this con-viction has.become so settled in his life that it sets up no emotional resonance. He must not be surprised then when he finds that his sorrow in the confessional reta~ins the same strong voluntary but unemotional tendency that characterizes his daily life. He detests sin and all his failings because he truly loves God and has made will the supreme norm of his life. Here the question of motive enters. It is this that sets the tone to our sorrow and our confession. The faithful religious does not come to God in fear but in love,~,as to his Father. The Little Flower puts it simply: I have long believed that the Lord is more tender than a mother. I know that a mother is always ready to forgive trivial, involuntary misbehavior on the part of her child . Children are always in trouble, falling down, getting themselves dirty, breaking thing~but all this does not shake their parent's love for them. We come to God as His dearest children, sharing His very life, coming with th.e loving sorrow .of asofi; to be reassured that all, all has b&fi forgiven;' to i:eceive the embrace of the Father. Sacrament ol Purification One of the perspectives of the sacrament that opens up a rich vein of thought and deserves to be emphasized by the faithful religious is the aspect of purification-- purification not in the sense of liberation from the guilt of actual sins and faults--but rather a deeper purifica-tion that penetrates to the roots of those faults, to the habitual tendencies which cause them, and to the reli-quiae peccati which are their results. The sacrament be-comes (if you will pardon the expression) a sort of radio-therapy of our deep wickedness. We expose our wounds, visible or not, with a certain reasoned eagerness and joy to the curative influence of the sacrament. We are not so much preoccupied about our past actual faults. We have sorrowed over them and know that they have been wiped out through God's mercy. It is rather the deep of our soul, the roots of the faults, which give promise of bring-ing forth again their fruit of death--it is these roots which disturb us. And here precisely is where the "grace of the sacrament" comes into play--a grace which the Council of Florence describes as a grace of purification, a grace of healing: "Through penance we are spiritually healed" (DB 695). This grace reaches beyond the actual sins, forgiven by the absolution, to reach deep into our nature into the causes of those sins. This purifying influence acts not only on the soul but also on the body. I believe we may find an analogy in the effects of the sacrament of extreme unction which is usually considered as the complement of penance. Its influence in strengthening soul and body during serious sickness should give us some clue to the purifying action of penance. For we may well believe that the effects of this sacrament are but the "finishing touches" to a proc-ess begun and carried on through other sacraments throughout one's life. All the sacraments, even Holy Eucharist, have a purifying influence on the whole per-son, body and soul. Now one of the effects of the sacra-ment of extreme unction is to weaken the effects of con-cupiscence, to restore some part of our original integrity which was lost through Adam's sin. St. Thomas explains our inability to avoid all indeliberate venial sins by concupiscence together with the slowness of our percep- + + + Weekly Con]ession 151 ÷ ÷ ÷ P. W. O'Bden, $.L REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS tion of good, the changeableness of our will, and the frequency of temptation (S. T. 1, q 109, a 8). Now in re-ducing concupiscence, extreme unction restores order to man's strivings, subordinating the sensitive to the spirit-ual and the spiritual to God; it helps put a man in true possession of himself, so that he is able to dominate not only those positive urges of soul and body that escape control but also the oppressive weight of dead inertia by which the sensitive life impedes the striving of the will toward God. From this precious purifying and strengthening action of extreme unction, we may gather some idea of what takes place in the sacrament of pen-ance, not precisely in view of a serious sickness but look-ing rather to the progressive purification of our soul as it weakens concupiscence, counteracts sluggishness, or-ders our passions, and restores us to spiritual liberty. Awareness of Sinfulness Now it is precisely this grace of purification that draws religious to the sacrament of penance. (Perhaps I should say "drives," for there is no question of an emotional attraction, but rather the compelling force of a reasoned conviction based on faith.) It is this that explains the daily confessions of so many saints--St. Catherine of Siena, St. Ignatius, St. Francis Xavier, St. Peter Claver, St. Charles Borromeo, St. A1phonsus Liguori. Surely they were not deliberately sinning nor were they scrupulous. But they understood better the holiness of God. St. Francis Borgia was accustomed to confess twice a day, once in the morning before saying Mass and again in the evening before retiring. By this I do not mean that daily confession, where possible, is a goal to be aimed at. It may be helpful regularly for some persons, or for others at particular times of special grace or difficulty. This is a problem to be determined with one's confessor. I merely mention these examples to illustrate one of the great motives of frequent confession--the desire for pu-rity. This desire of the saints for purity is shared by ,~11 faithful souls according to their grace. For as the reli-gious strives to lead his life more generously, avoiding as far as he can all deliberate failings, he participates more abundantly in God's light. The effect is twofold: he be-gins to understand more clearly who God is, and in the same measure he becomes more aware of his wretched-ness. He finds himself in an attitude of soul similar to that of Eliphaz, one of Job's friends, who tells .us that his hair stood on end when in vision a spirit passed be-fore him. "I heard the voice as it were of a gentle wind: Shall man be justified in comparison with God, or shall a man be more pure than his Maker? Behold. in his angels he found wickedness." (Jb 4:15 ft.). Isaiah re-cords a similar state of soul, the result of his great vision of the holiness of God. "Woe is me because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people that hath unclean lips and I have seen with my eyes the King, the Lord of hosts" (Is 6:l-5)~The religious~in~tlle light of God s hohness becomes painfully consc,ous, I will not say of "sin," but of sinfulness. He longs to bring his sins to the confessional, but what sins? Here precisely is the trouble. The sins that are clear have long since been sub-mitted to the sacrament in sorrow. He knows that they are forgiven and blotted from the sight of God. But the daily failings? Truly they are not deliberate sins. He would rather do anything than displease God. He cannot pin down his failings. And yet he is painfully conscious of a mass of selfishness, insincerity, sensuality, but deep in the soul where he cannot reach. He realizes that this wickedness penetrates all that he does, but it is not in acts where it can be grasped. And he also realizes that this is not an illusion; the wickedness is really there. This creates a problem for him--a problem that per-haps increases with the fidelity of the soul--and which often accounts for much of the difficulty experienced in approaching the sacrament. It seems such hypocrisy to have nothing to say. And yet no matter how long the ex-amination of conscience is prolonged, nothing more spe-cific is discovered. He has only wasted precious time that could have been more profitably spent on deepening his loving sorrow. Nor is this due simply to negligence of the soul. Perhaps most natures do not have the per-spicacity to analyze and draw out into the clear these deep tendencies of the soul. The light that is given them is not so sharp. Nor need it be; for its purpose of hu-miliation and purification is equally accomplished by the confused and painful acceptance of what the soul perceives confusedly. According to One's Light Fortunately, in this type of confession, the accusation is one of the least important parts. Hence very little time should be spent on the actual examination of conscience. The daily examination of conscience faithfully made will guarantee the religious against negligence, and a quick glance will usually reveal where he has displeased God. Hence if within a few minutes nothing specific is dis-covered, he should stop his inquiry and be satisfied with a general accusation: "I accuse myself of all the sins of my past life, especially for my sins of pride, sensuality, or against some commandment." Father Saint-Jure, S.J., gives this directive: Those (venial sins) which we should seek out and confess Weekly ¢onlesslon VOLUME Z2o '1'963 153 4. 4. 4. P. W. O'Brien, $.1. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS ]54 with more c~ire are those which weigh most heavily on us, and those which cause us more embarrassment and shame, pro-vided that we are able to confess them with honesty a~d de-cency; likewise those which ~hinder us most from attaining the perfection to which God calls us, or which are contrary to the virtue to. which we are particularly devoting our efforts for that week or month. And since among venial sins there are some which arise from mere weakness, which escape us as by surprise, and others from malice, which we commtt with full knowledge, coldly, understanding what we are doing and with full consent, of these latter none should be omitted in con-fession. As for the others, one should leave them to the mercy of God, and confess them in general, all-inclusive terms: If the soul is sufficiently. . .pure so that it commits only these sins of weakness, let zt ~ndzcate some of them" (On the Knowledge and Love of our Lord Jesus Christ, Bk 3, c 10, ~9). Hence we may give as a practical rule: I may accuse myself of whatever God gives me the light to see as dis-pleasing to Him (no matter how trivial it may seem in itselD. If I see specific failings clearly, it is well to accuse myself at least of some of them; if I see them only.in a confused way, as tendencies, I should be content to ac-knowledge them in this general way (paying particular attention to one or another of them for a few weeks at a time)--adding, however, a general accusation of past forgiven sins to insure the validity of the confession. This awareness of sinfulness and inability to reach it through our own efforts is often given by spiritual writers as a reason for God's intervention through the passive purification of the soul. We read of "dark nights of the soul" in which God's purifying action goes deep where the active effort of the soul cannot penetrate, purifying the roots of our evil inclinations, attacking the basic self-ishness of the soul. This, type of purification is usually associated with trials in prayer that fall to the lot of con-templatives. We know, however, that God's purifying action can take many forms, that his apostles are often purified through the trials inherent in their apostolate. Surely a most powerful means of purification and one which is often overlooked is the very sacrament of purifi-cation instituted by Christ, which accomplishes in the soul much the same work as the "dark nights" and apos-tolic trials: namely, the progressive submission of our lower nature to the higher and the higher to God, the liberation of our soul from the weight of its wicked in-clinations and its consequent gradual transformation in God. Building up the Body oI Christ As the religious grows in his vocation, he should grow also in a sense of his solidarity with the Churcli, the Mystical Body. He begins to see his sin and sinfulness in their social aspect. While clearly realizing that his sin is his own, for which he alone is responsible, he is more aware of the consequences of his sin on the organism of which he is a member--and this apart from the harmful effects that may come through bad example, coopera-tion, and so forth. He understands that the life that is in him is a shared lif~e; ~w, eakened with 'his'.~weakness, strengthened with his strength. It.is true that our liturgy today does not give such prominence to the social aspect of penance as in the old days when the penitent, after a period of public penance, was restored on Holy Thurs-day to the family life of the Church so that he might share the Paschal Bread of life with the other members of his family, the Church. Nor is there question of our religious being "restored" to the Church. But he begins to feel deeply his corporate responsibility, He is ashamed of the sinfulness that he brings to the immaculate Spouse of Christ. Aware of the lessening of love, as sin drains this Body anemic, he strives to replenish the blood ;stream with his love. He understands the general disappearance in the world of a sense of sin and rushes with his loving sorrow to make amends. If he be a priest whose mission it is to destroy sin in the world, he finds an added joy both in receiving and administering the sacrament. He offers God a soul in which He may work more purity, and thus "build up the Body of Christ" (Eph 4.9). And with this consciousness of his unity in the Mystical Body, a new dimension is added to his examination Of con-science, or rather a more acute awareness of his already existing obligation: his duty of charity; his responsibility for the spread of God's kingdom; his sins of omission through cowardice, selfishness, love of ease; the primacy of love. Meeting with the Three One beautiful but rarely stressed aspect of this sacra-ment is our meeting with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. While it is true that the glorified humanity of Jesus is the instrument of all our grace, it is still the Word of God who takes away sin. "Who can forgive sin but God alone?" (Lk 5:21), Every sacramental absolution is then the action of Jesus, the great high priest, acting through His representative, a man chosen from amongst sinners. And in receiving that absolution, I come in vital contact with Jesus. Here He bestows on me the grace of redemption. Jt is for this that He came into the world, as He prolongs into my soul the efficacy of His redemp-tive sacrifice. -The life that He gives, He won in His blood. It is this that causes such joy in heaven, more than over the ninety-nine just, this prolongation of the rich mysteries of His death and glorification, for me a new 4- 4- 4- Weekly Conlession VOLUMF 22, 1963 155 + ÷ ÷ P. W. O'Brien, SJ. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 156 baptism, as plunged into His death, I rise to a new or richer life. But often we are inclined to forget the part of the Father and the Holy Spirit. If there is pardon in the sacrament and grace of purification, it is because the Father loves us beyond all telling. "God [the Father] so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son." (Jn 3:16). In the pardon of the Son, I meet the love of the Father. And if there is life in the sacrament, it is because the Father, in giving His Son, gives us also the Holy Spirit who pours forth the charity of God into our hearts (Rom 5:5), this Spirit who cleanses, who burns away the impurities of our soul in the fire that He is. All this is brought out strikingly in the very institution of this sacrament of peace. It is as though the glorified Christ can hardly wait to begin pouring out the effects of His loving sacrifice. The very eve of Easter Sunday, He must come to His frightened Apostles in the upper room to give them power to forgive sin, First He shows them His wounds, the price of the sacrament, and the proof that it is really the glorified Christ in His human-ity. And then: " 'Peace be to you. As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.' When He had said this, He breathed upon them and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit; whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained' " (Jn 20:21- 23). The Father is there, prolonging in Jesus and through Jesus in the apostles, the love that fathered the redemp-tion. The Son is there, in His glorified humanity, com-municating the fruits of His redemptive offering. But first the Spirit must be given, for it is in the Spirit that the soul is led through the Son to the Father. What happiness for the faithful soul is this meeting in the sacrament with the ThreeI ]oy to the Heart of ]esus But if there is joy to the soul on meeting the Three, there is joy in the Three as They enrich the soul. For the eagerness of the soul to meet its God can never begin to match the love of God that goes out to meet the soul. "I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly" (Jn I0:10). The entire life of Jesus, with all its sufferings, has been aimed precisely at moments such as these, when meeting with the soul, He can com-municate the graces won on Calvary. If love that is frus-trated and refused can be such a torment, Love that gives and is received can be immeasurable joy. It is this joy that is ours to give to Jesus as we open our hearts in sorrow to His purifying love. JACQUES LECLERCQ The Priest Today In a preceding article? on active lay people, I men-tioned the confusion of priests when they ask themselves what their purpose is since now in meetings of fill kinds lay persons make meditations and in general ~ssume a spiritual role. And yet. The Presence o] the Priest And yet the laity cling to the presence of the priest. It seems that something essential is missing if a priest is not present--this priest who does nothingl Things now are entirely different from what they used to be. For one thing, previously there were no meet-ings that resemble the ones of today. Formerly when the priest .took his part by preaching a sermon, the faithful listened and then left. Or at the time when study clubs began to be organized, the priest presided and directed, trying with more or less success to make the various mem-bers speak; and frequently he was the only one to do any speaking. Today, however, he is neither presiding officer nor director. He is rather a chaplain; he assists--in Italy he is called the assistente ecclesiastico [the ecclesiastical assistant]. At times one may have the impression that everything happens without him, but in reality there is nothing that happens without him. Everything happens with him; but this "with him" is something other than "under his direction." All of this is disconcerting for those who are accustomed to the authoritarian conceptions of former times. The priest does nothing, and yet he is indispensable. When lay persons form a spiritual group of some kind, one of their first concerns is always to have a chaplain; for without a chaplain it would seem that the group is unable to suc-ceed. Is there any way in which we can point out pre-cisely what it is that the priest provides? x In La revue nouvelle, a Belgian periodical, during 1962,. Canon Leclercq published a number of articles on the laity in the Church today. The present article is translated with permission from La revue nouvelle, September 15, 1962, pp. 171-84. 4. 4. 4. Canon Jacques Le- ¢lercq fives at 102, rue de Li/~ge; Beau-lays, Belgium. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS lacqu~s Le¢l~rcq REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 158 The matter is a real puzzle, and it is being investigated from almost every angle. It is not a question of the sacra-merits. As is evident, it is the priest who distributes these. But the Christian life, as it is conceived today, is some-thing other than the sacraments. It is based on the sacra-ments; it is nourished by them; yet Catholic Action meet-ings, or meetings of workers or of managers, of students, of scotits and their leaders, have a purpose entirely other than that of receiving the sacraments; they are not even spoken of. Nor is it expected that the priest give an in-struction or a sermon. It is only expected that he be there, participating in the meeting with the rest. It would seem that from the Christian viewpoint some-thing is lacking to lay persons when they are left to them-selves., And yet it is a question of their own life, for it is they who must put into practice what they discuss. But at the same time it is a question of their own life insofar as it is Christian. From this point of view, it is necessary to have a priest in the midst of them. And I think that this expression "in the midst of them" is the exact one. A French priest, who works among the working class, has made the following remark on this point: I think that the people need a founder, someone who ~'will unite them in the charity of Christ. Lay persons can do some things, but they cannot be centers. Hence they need Someone who will be a religious center, a kind of church, for them. They do not only need Christians who are the presence of the Church, but they need above all a church in the sense of the Church realized in this community; they need someone who unites them and who is the head in the sense of being a father, not someone who commands but one who assembles and who is first ("T~moignage de M. Lelubre" in Etudes sur ,le sacre-merit de l'ordre [Paris: Cerf, 1957], p. 432). When this is reflected on, one sees very clearly the ap-pearance of the reality that is the Church. Christ continues His presence and His action by the Church. The Church is the people of God; and the people of God is constituted first of all by lay persons. In order to avoid giving the impression of tending towards laicism --which consists of excluding the clergy--let me say at once that the Church is both lay persons and priests, all of them together. But priests--all of them, even the bishops and the pope---exist for the laity, for the service of the laity. When it is said that they exist for the laity-- the pope himself is entitled the servant of 'the servants of God---this means that the people of God is essentially the laity, that it is to them that the divine life flows and that it is through them above all that it manifests itself. If the Church, according to the words of Scripture, is like a lamp that one lights and puts on a lampstand, this is the laity--Christian life in the family and in daily occupa-tions, The clergy, priests, religious are at the service of this. The result of their work is not that an elite may en-close itself within monasteries in order to live in God, nor even that Christian people in more or less great numbers may gather in churches to. ce,lebrate divine~worship; rather the result of their "dork is that through Christians Christ lives and acts in families and in the world. Priests and religious must sanctify themselves per-sona! ly in order to create a climate of holiness in the Church; but the result of the Church's holiness must be found in homes and in the world. When we use the word "world" [citd] here, we are envisaging professional, politi-cal, and social activities--all that can be called public life. It is to this that the life of Christ in the Church tends. Hence the Church is above all the laity; and it is through the laity that she first manifests her dynamism. But it is priests who form the laity in a Christian way. Priests :are men of the Church and men of God. '.Their function is to represent the Church; they exist only for this. ~ The lay person must be entirely Christian and at the same time something else besides; this shows forth the character of the Incarnation, that reality which is found only in Christianity. The Incarnation consists in this that the work and supernatural action of God is accomplished in and through nature. It has been frequently remarked that the supernatural is above the natural, but not contrary to the natural; it does not. suppress nature but elevates it; it transforms the natural, but it takes the natural into account. It constructs from, above; this can never be repeated too often if one wishes to comprehend what Christianity is. The kingdom of God, then, must be built up among men by taking due account of their nature. The Spirit of God transforms this nature to its depths; this is mani-fested exteriorly by the intention that animates action and by the choice which is made among various actions; .never-theless, these actions retain their .human character, and this must be remembered by those who are concerned with them. The Priest is Leaven Christ compared the kingdom of God to leaven that makes the dough rise; good bread can not be made with-out yeast. But yeast alone is not sufficient to make bread. Flour is needed, and the baker must be careful to secure good flour. It is necessary to knead the bread carefully. It must be baked in a good oven at the right temperature and for the right length of time and so forth. If the 4. 4. 4. The Priest Today VOLUME 22, 139 Jacques l.eclercq REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 160 kingdom of God is like the leaven in bread, one can say that the priest is the depositary of this leaven; but it the laity who are like the bakers who must be occupied with all the conditions for the preparation of the bread. Moreover, it is they who must make use of the yeast. If the priest remains alone with his leaven, there will never be any bread; and if the bakers do not have the yeast, once again there will be no bread. Both are neces-sary. Now let us transpose all this into the entirety of life. The laity found homes and give life to the world. This obliges them to think of many things that in themselves are independent of the kingdom of God. It is to be noted that I have said "in themselves," for nothing is a stranger to the kingdom of God when one places it in the entirety of life. For example, parents must be concerned with the health of their children, their nourishment, their cloth-ing, their studies. The kingdom of God takes part in all this as a kind of preoccupation that orientates this activ-ity ir,.~ a certain measure, but only in a certain measure. And the same is the case with employers, workers, farmers, students, and so forth. But the priest is the man of God. He recalls the king-dom of God by his mere presence; one can say, by his existence, for he has no other purpose for existing. Theo-retically it should be sufficient that a priest be present for one to think of the kingdom of God. The word "theo-retically" is used because men are not perfect, and both priests and the laity are men. Nevertheless, this is the way reality is, and it is this that the laity perceive even when they cannot express it; it is this that leads them, when they are concerned with the kingdom or the way in which God should penetrate their life, to unite themselves around a priest. In brief, all the matters which.form the tissue of the llfe of the laity.are of importance for the kingdom of God; but they are not the kingdom of God. If, when they wish to discuss the repercussion of the kingdom of God on these matters, people gather together without a priest, the discussion easily slips over into the purely human condi-tions of activity; the presence of a priest, however, centers it upon the kingdom. Hence the laity need to have a priest present in their life. This also explains the desire of families to have times a visit from a priest. This is especially true in towns; but it differs from one locality to another, for we are discussing here the case of fervent Christians who desire that their faith influence their lives. In places where such Christians do not exist, the matter is quite different and needs to be discussed further. But to return to our subject, the visit of a priest to families is not a matter of giving a sermon or even of speaking principally about religion. It is a presence. Christian families enjoy having a priest in their homes. They want the priest to know them, their children, and their way of life. And this contributes to the general at-mosphere which reigns iri.~th~. home; th~"~ '6hversation spontaneously takes a vein different from the conversa-tion that is had with colleagues or with friends. And the fact that the priest is involved in their life permits all kinds of questions to be directed to him. The problem of the visit of a priest to families arouses a great many questions which can not be treated here, for they deserve an article to themselves. For the present, let us limit ourselves to pointing out these aspirations of good Christians. We are concerned with good Christians. As we pointed out previously, the Church cannot reach bad Christians or non-Christians except through the laity. The laity must be active or the Church will not take hold of the world; in the terms of the Gospel, she will be a light under a basket or leaven apart from the dough. But these active laity need the priest. Left to themselves, they are liable to be routed even in their interior life. In order that they may be united under the standard of Christ and that they may attack in an orderly way the problems of their interior life and of their Christian action in the world, the priest must be in the midst of them. In conclusion, let us note that in the Church at the beginning of this century the priest was occupied with a good many other things which were often profane; by reason of a tradition which dies away only slowly, many priests today are still taken up to a large extent by ad-ministrative and other activities which the laity would be better occupied with. The result is that priests are ab-sorbed by activities which are not suited to them; at the same time they are unavailable for groups of active Christians or they find it impossible to visi~ families. In any case, this new role of the priest is so important that there can be no Church without him. And the activ-ities that correspond to this role are so numerous and pressing that good priests are crowded with such activ-ities. And there is even the complaint that there are not enough priests. And yet what we have discussed so far is but one of the activities of a priest. Spiritual Action The action of leaven can not be seen; this results in difficulty for some because man has a body and is highly dependent on it. Man needs to see, and yet the soul and action on souls cannot be seen. ÷ ÷ ÷ The Priest Today VOLUME 22, ~.963 161 lacques Leclercq REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS There are, first of all, the older priests of whom we have already spoken; for these the pastoral ministry is ex-pressed by material activities and they can not conceive any other type. Moreover, they do not conceive of any other priestly intervention than the authoritarian form of formal congregational meetings composed of a sermon and a greeting. Today, all this has become secondary, if indeed it has not been completely abandoned. Formerly when the priest spoke authoritatively, he gave directions in many matters (politics, for instance) which touched religion only very indirectly. At the present time, there is a growing agreement that priests are not to in-terest themselves in the temporal. However, many priests formerly were interested in nothing else. To the extent that this remains true, one can understand that they have the impression of no longer knowing what to do. This outmoded spirit dies out only slowly; in semi-naries as well as in houses of study of religious orders clerical formation likewise becomes transformed only slowly. One even finds young priests who think that, when they are with the laity, their role should be one of teaching and that they alone should do the talking. They find themselves ill at ease when persons are not disposed to listen to them first of all. Others still think that they must do everything themselves~determine the place, day, and hour of the meetings and issue the announcements. Again they feel discomforted when a group of active Christians organize everything without them and then come to invite them. We are living in an age of transformation. The older attitude with its way of doing things is gradually giving way. But some priests still retain the older attitudes and do not conceive the possibility of allowing the laity to act. On the other hand, many of the laity retain a purely passive conception of their role; not only do they leave everything to the priest, but they will do nothing if they are asked to take over a work. "Adult" lay persons (of whom I have been speaking) and priests adapted to such are still but few in number. Nevertheless, when one compares today with the be-ginning of the century, the transformation is unmistak-able. The essential thing is that this evolution continue and that the priest should more and more return to. the spiritual; that is, to the domain that belongs to him. But is "return" the correct word? He should rather aspire to it. But man is material, and the older conception gives satisfaction to a kind of unconscious materialism. Collaboration Formerly, one spoke only of authority and obedience. The faithful should obey, and nothing else was asked of them. Today, however, as we have seen, they are asked to think and to act for themselves. The meetings of active Christians have as their purpose a united program to enable the realization of the Christian ideal in the actual circumstances of life. Accordingly, the pri~est.is, no longer '~oncerned only with teaching; he listens and he invites the faithful to make their own personal contribution. This can be seen even in the matter of worship; the Mass has ceased to be a sacrifice offered by the priest alone at an altar distant from the people and in front of a congregation uncon-cerned with what he is doing, Now the Mass has become the community sacrifice offered by the priest an'd the faithful together, the priest being the spokesman of the community, the representative of the Church and of Christ, the celebrant of a sacrifice which belongs to the entire community. This is a profoundly changed state of affairs. Priests and laity act together. The Church is a single body and all of its members are active. This is a true resurrection. And by this very fact the priest has been strikingly ennobled, for he is no longer limited to being the shep-herd of a passive flock but has become instead the ani-mator of an active community. This change is to be found on all levels of the Church. The last and highest is that at the very center of the ChurCh, the See of Rome. Vati-can Council II gives witness to this transformation; and it is clear how John XXIII envisages the matter. His man-ner is not one like this: "Let the bishops say what they want, I shall do only what I want"; rather, his attitude is this: "I am deeply concerned to know the opinions of the bishops in order that I may take their advice into account." No one can derive from this the impression that pontifical power has thereby been lessened; but every-one does get the impression that the. Church forms one living body, animated by a movement of the whole. The role of the clergy is essential for the Church. When Catholicism is compared with Protestantism and with Orthodoxy, this role of the clergy is one of the most striking characteristics of the Church. Perhaps this ex-plains the retreat of the laity after the Reformation which placed the clergy in the background and in many cases even suppressed the priesthood and the ecclesiastical hierarchy. Now, however, the Church has recovered from this crisis; Christian life is now developing in its com-plete totality. Henceforth the Church will no longer be divided into the active Church composed of the clergy and the passive Church composed of the laity. The Church is a body ÷ ÷ ÷ The Priest Today VOLUME 22, 1963 ]63 ÷ ÷ ÷ Jacqo, es REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS I6,t of priests and laity together, living together, thinking together, acting together. As Cardinal Suhard put it: "The true achiever of evangelization is not the simple faithful nor the priest by himself; it is the Christian com-munity." The laity are fulfilling their role; the priest turn is free to be himself. Spiritual Counselor The direction of conscience has enjoyed a large place in the modern Church; it has been one of the principal instruments in the formation of a Christian elite. Never-theless, it has been especially concerned with women. When one reads the letters of the great spiritual directors, it is seen that they have been addressed almost exclusively to women. These women belonged to the higher levels of society. Today, however, as a result of the general spread of education and of the rise of active Christians, those who are concerned with the spiritual life are becoming more numerous and are to be found at all levels; they are found among workers and in the country as well as among the intellectuals. If it is necessary to practice direction of souls as it was formerly conceived, the clergy will be un-able to cope with it. But here once more, does not the spirit of collabora-tion profoundly transform conditions? Christians gather together with a priest to reflect on their Christian life; together they confront most of the questions that were formerly treated by individual conferences between the director and his spiritual child. In these conferences those seeking direction used to speak to their director not only of their interior life but of everything that con-cerned themselves. They asked their director's advice with regard to their relations with their husbands, with their children, and with their friends. They discussed the amount of freedom to be given their children, the amount of money to be given them, their clothes, companions, activities. Now all this is discussed in groups and in a way that is far more effective. Formerly, the person seeking direction would describe a situation to the director and he would decide the matter. The one consulting would act as though the director were omniscient, and he in turn would decide everything as though in fact he were. It was even taught as a received doctrine that the word of the director, was the word of God, that the director had the required graces of state, and that one should obey him blindly. Now it is realized that this was a false mystique, foreign to the Christian doctrine of the Incarnation; neverthe-less, it formed a coherent system. Christians concerned with the exigencies o[ morality would consult their con[essor on the matter o[ all their reading. No priest, however, can be acquainted with everything that is being published. The con[essor, i[ he believed himsel[ obliged to answer--and [ormerly the majority believed themsel~ces so obliged h~d~0 answer by guessing or had to make use o[ a systematic severity in order to avoid all risk o[ danger . And thereby/ other dangers were [allen into. From another viewpoint, there were husbands who op-posed the idea o[ their wives having a director o[ con-science on the grounds that they did not want between themselves and their wives a secret authority which the latter obeyed absolutely. Moreover, the women who con-suhed a director were usually women who were not mar-ried or who were unhappily married. This meant that spiritual direction had mixed in with it a purely human desire [or masculine support, and this in a proportion that is difficult to determine. All this has passed, and we have arrived at a much sounder state o[ affairs. All the matters that we have men-tioned are taken up today in groups. In [amily groups there are discussed today the problems o[ conjugal intimacy, o[ prayer in common, and the prayer o[ each o[ the spouses. In all kinds o[ groups, there is discussion o[ diversions, o[ entertainments, o[ reading, o[ the time to be given to recreation and to apostolic work, and o[ the problems o[ pro[essional li[e. Since the dil~erent kinds o[ groups are highly diversified, the questions that are confronted also differ greatly; nevertheless, the great part of matters that were [ormerly treated by individual direction is now considered by groups, each member con-tributing the results o[ his own experience; the priest has only to contribute his own element. The result is that while the number o[ Christians de-sirous o[ a Christian life that will dominate their entire existence is growing, the number of those who want direction o[ conscience in the individualistic sense of former times is diminishing. Even the phrase "spiritual director" is vanishing; the expression tod~y is that of "spiritual counselor." Everything is simplified; every-thing is developed in an atmosphere of collaboration that befits adult li[e. Hence, [or example, when a [amily group discusses the liberty to be given to children o[ different ages or the amount of money to be given them, solutions are reached that are more balanced and more realistic than those [ormerly obtained when the one consulting was limited to accepting the word of a director who was a stranger to the li[e o[ the [amily. Some Christians, however, still have recourse to a spiritual director after the older method, but they are The Pr~st ToOa~y VOLUME 22, 1963 165 ]~que, Leclegcq REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS in general those who are slow to be caught up by the strong current that is sweeping through the Church and reanimating Christian life. Unfortunately they are still numerous, for a great many Christians as well as a great many priests remain immobilized in older conceptions. The movement that stresses the laity touches only a cer-tain sector and certain levels of the population. There are even entire regions where it is unknown. We are seeking here to emphasize the signs of this renewal, for we are sure that it is in this renewal that the future of the Church lies. That which is merely a prolongation of the past will fall as the world progresses. Undoubtedly, there will always remain certain ele-ments of the old direction of conscience, certain needs (more or less occasional) that will require personal, in-dividual contacts. In most of these cases confession will be sufficient. It is impossible to predict what will eventu-ally happen, but it is clear that everything is being sim-plified as the Christian animation of life grows. The Word Today much consideration is given to the ministry of the word; this again is a reaction against the past. Formerly, it was taken for granted that society was Christian. Children were instructed in religion, but no attention was paid to adults. Certain traditions, peri-odically restated by councils, obliged to a preaching directed to the instruction of the people; but actual practice had stifled the rule. One has only to recall what the state was of the ministry of the word. Now the word lives again; the most significant sign of this rebirth is undoubtedly retreats. The development of the spiritual life of active Christians has been accom-panied by the multiplication of retreats and periods of recollection. These have become so numerous that or~e can speak accurately in this connection in terms of a spiritual explosion. Retreats and days of recollection are organized in every walk of life: workers, business men, engineers, physicians, young persons of every category. Every time a group with a spiritual character is founded, retreats are organized. At the very time I am writing these lines, I have before me the bulletin of the Association of House-keepers for Priests, an organization that exists in France and Belgium; they, too, organize retreats and days of recollection. Moreover, undifferentiated retreats are also multiplying; these are directed towards all Christians and include without distinction both men and women, priests and laity. Once more we can note that formerly there were some retreat houses maintained by the Jesuits who pioneered them and by convents of women imbued by the Jesuit spirit; there was also a small number of persons who went to these houses for retreats. Today it is an immense move-ment. There are parishes which have retreat leagues com-posed of persons who make a retreat each- y.ear. In certain regions these leagues are systematically organized; in cer-tain dioceses of The Netherlands they are a regular insti-tution of every parish. And I am not speaking now of women, for women retreatants are even more numerous. Hence it is not a matter for astonishment that retreat houses are constantly being opened everywhere and that there are always too few of them. Rooms must generally be reserved in advance; and it can happen that a retreat must be canceled for lack of an available retreat house. But there is also need for priests. Preaching is par excellence a priestly duty. At the present moment the number of priests conducting retreats is legion. Formerly retreats were largely reserved to certain religious orders; but now many diocesan priests (pastors, chaplains, teach-ers) give them. Nevertheless, the number of retreat masters is still not sut~ciently large. As a general rule, it is very easy to find retreatants; retreat houses are more difficult to find; but hardest of all to find are priests. At the beginning of these articles, I recalled those who asked what was left for a priest to do now that there are active lay persons; the answer is that priests are needed for things that are genuinely priestlyl The Christian people have a hunger and thirst for the word of God, and those who can dispense it to them are not numerous enough. This is a matter of the priestly ministry par excellence. The tendency of today's priest is to occupy himself by preference in such ministries, for he feels himself the apostle of Christ in the strongest sense of that term; and he prefers to leave to lay persons the care of administra-tion. I have known a pastor who had to build a church; he appointed a committee of lay persons to raise the money while he himself conducted retreats. Perhaps the building of the church progressed a little more slowly than it would have had he devoted all his time to raising money, but he was at work shaping souls. All this also supposes a transformation in the clergy; for the majority of older priests, administrators of parishes, teachers of profane subjects, have been completely held back from conducting retreats. If they left this matter to religious, this was not without good reason. Today the importance of religious has not diminished, but retreat masters now come from every ecclesiastical sector. The Priest Today VOLUME 22, 167 $acques Leclercq REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 168 Collaboration Once More Together with divine worship, preaching is un-doubtedly the chief priestly activity; and yet even here there is to be found an interchange of priests and laity. Retreats differ greatly. In some the retreatants are plunged into an absolute silence; the director gives them talks throughout the entire day. In this case the renewal of Christian life is marked by the radical character of the retreat--more contemplative, more silent than could have been borne before. But there are also retreats where with-out any lessened preoccupation with the spiritual an hour a day is reserved for an exchange of views; in this period each one can present his problems as he discerns them in the particular situation in which he finds himself. Persons of an older form of mind find it indiscreet to expose one's state of soul to the whole world. Formerly in a retreat one listened to the director who was the only one to speak; then purely profane recreation pe-riods were had, and the retreatants who desired it could consult the retreat master personally and individually. Often retreatants would bring up the same questions; the retreat master would always give the same answer. In general, the matters discussed were such that there was no compelling reason to keep them secret; hence it often happened that the retreatants told each other what the re-treat master had told them. Today all this is treated in a community session; every-one profits by it, and it produces a community spirit in the group. The retreatants feels themselves engaged in a common work. The divine life in us, our work for the service of God, are problems that interest all Of us to-gether. We no longer go to heaven alone; we go there with our brethren; indeed it is impossible to go there alone, for we depend on those who surround us. The king-dom of God is a community enterprise to which we belong and which we ought to undertake together. Even a re-treat is a community enterprise. In addition to this, it is now customary to have lay persons speak during a retreat. Retreats are par excellence a priestly work; nevertheless, it does happen that a layman is invited to speak of an aspect ofthe Christian life which he knows. One of my friends was invited by a teacher to speak to his students during the retreat at the end of their studies; the subject was the role of the Christian in the world; after the talk the teacher told him: "It does them much more good to hear all this from a layman." Likewise lay persons are invited to speak in seminaries. In a Canadian magazine I found a letter from Rome con-cerned with the matter expressed by Cardinal Sali~ge as "making use of the layman." The correspondent described how some theological students in Rome had invited a father of a family to speak to them of his Christian life. ¯. Montreal, Rome, Toulouse, and now this article which is to appear in Brussels and Buenos Aires--the problems are everywhere the same. Lay persons are eve~:ywher~e.;,~so also are,priests. They are together, shoulder to'~hourder. We cannot do without the one more than the other. What About the Others? The reader will have noticed that the lay persons dis-cussed here are the active la!ty who have grown into Christian maturity. What has been said is concerned only with the activity of a priest in relationship to such laymen. But what about the others--who compose the vast major-ity of men? Clearly, the groups of which we have spoken, the aware-ness of the exigencies of Christian life, and the giving of retreats are giving to Christians a shape and a form very different from that which they previously had. As we have already remarked, we are seeing a new Christian people appearing. But if these Christians remain among them-selves and if the clergy is concerned only with them, what changes will there be in the world as a whole? Whatever else may be said about this problem, it is true that they will always be there in the world. They are not isolated from the world: they are shopkeepers with a neighborhood store; they are factory workers and en-gineers; they are white-collared workers; they are physi-cians and druggists. They are everywhere. They come to-gether to arouse their Christian awareness; but afterwards they disperse and return to the mass. This is a slow work which one can judge only over long intervals. One can see, for example, that the position of Catholic literature in the world is today far different from what it was a hundred years ago. The same can be said for the position of Catholics in philosophy, in art, in politics. This is true, someone may say; but this is only a matter of a few leaders. To this I would answer that the remark is true; but every leader supposes a body of followers. If Catholic writers and artists today show both a talent and a conformity to the aspirations of the times which were not shown a hundred years ago, then this has happened be-cause the environment must have changed. And it is the same if Catholic philosophers are able to speak to the men of today. Such persons are perhaps the flower of Christianity; but the flower supposes the stem, and the stem in turn supposes the root. If I am the root, I need not be humiliated by the 4. 4. 4. The Priest Today VOLUME 2Z, ~.963 169 ÷ ÷ ÷ Jacques Leclercq REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS fact that I am not seen; it is owing to me that the flower can charm the eye. The position of the Church in the world is, then, pro-roundly changed. And in the examples given above, it will be noted that this transformation has been achieved by lay persons. Writers like Claudel, Chesterton, Bernanos, Ger-trud yon le Fort have undoubtedly done more to attract men to Catholicism than any theologian and perhaps more even than any priest. But they have been in relation with a priest. In short, the role of the priest is exercised on the interior of the Church, on those who are united in the Church; it is these latter who thereupon go out to speak to the world. At times the complaint is heard ~that Christians barri-cade themselves within a ghetto, living by themselves without contact with the outside. The complaint is well founded; if they dose themselves up with each other, the salt will not be able to give its flavor. And it is true that there is a dangerous exclusivism, a fear of leaving a Christian background. This fear is a debilitating thing, for of all the emotions fear is the one that is most debasing. The spreading of ideas, and especially the Christian spreading of ideas, is done by the osmosis of personal con-tact; it is to be noted, however, that this notion of per-sonal contact is a wide one extending to the books that are read and the films that are seen. The action of Chris-tianity proceeds from the fact that the Christian environ-ment reflects Christ. A great many who were born and raised Christian turn from Christianity because they do not find Christ in the Christianity which has been pre-sented to them. What they need is for active Christians to give them an exact image of Christianity. Others, also educated as Christians, turn from Christianity when they perceive the demands it makes on them. The Church loses nothing when such quit her, for they discredit her in the measure that they are believed to represent her. This is the case with cei'tain governments which declare them-selves Catholic. This, then, is a question of the large numbers of Chris-tians who are lukewarm and indifferent. But there is an-other group, larger still, those who are not Christian:; at all. Among these the seed must be sown. Here, too, the role of the priest is essential. Father Vinatur in the text cited above remarked that the priest is a founder. It is true; Christianity is founded only by a priest. This is seen from the very beginning; in the Acts of the Apostles there is related the ministry of St. Paul; he is seen taking up his residence in a city, making some converts, and then leaving when Christianity has been set up and a member of the community--the priest--has been established as head. This is a permanent condition of things. Active lay persons can prepare the soil; they can arouse sympa-thetic interest; but a Christian community is.formed only when a priest comes. This.i~ true on all, levels of the Church. When Catholid Action was constituted with its appeal to assume a genuinely religious activity, it was priests who took the initiative in the matter. So also when the family movement was founded to concern itself with the Christian life of married persons, it was begun by priests. Lay persons came afterwards; in a certain sense, they ended by doing everything. But the priest remains, and he will never be able to be dispensed with. This, then, is the design of the new Church, animated by a Christian life which has not been known since early times, a Church of Christians all sharing in the life and action of Christ. This Church is but sketched in the reality before us at the present time; but this sketch is the image of what is being formed. The confidence which we can have for the future comes from the fact that Christ is living in this Church in a way that He has not since her early centuries. ÷ ÷ The Priest Today VOLUME 22, 196,~ 171 LADISLAS M. ORSY, S.J. From Meditation to Contemplation ÷ ÷ ÷ Ladislas M. Orsy, S.J., is professor of canon law at the Gregorian Univer-sity; Piazza della Pilotta, 4; Rome, Italy. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS The aim of this article is both practical and doctrinal: it is to give practical help for the difficult period of tran-sition from meditation to contemplation and to show the theological background of the change that takes place in the soul. Meditation in these pages means prayer with the help of concepts, images, and more or less enforced acts of will. Contemplation means silence before God, prayer in which the soul is transformed under God's powerful ac-tion. In meditation the accent is on activity, in contem-plation on passivity. In meditation the soul tries to reach God by thoughts, feelings, and desires; in contemplation God has reached the soul and works on it without thoughts, feelings, or desires. In meditation the soul fights its way towards God; in contemplation it should stand before God in poverty. Passivity and poverty are then the foundations for a new type of activity and for new riches that have their source in God's powerful ac-tion. Such a deep change in prayer affects the whole man: it is a change in personality. It is not without difficulties; Saint Teresa remarks that there is no time in the spirit-ual life when it is so easy to give up prayer altogether as the time when contemplation begins. God's Work in the Soul God is eternally present in the soul: it is His presence that gives it life and being, it is His presence that sancti-fies it. He is not only present, He is working in the soul, infusing light and love into our mind and love into our will power. His final aim is to take possession of our person so that we should be united to Him and be His adopted children for an eternity. God is eternally present in the soul. He was there since the moment of our creation; but at the moment of our baptism He came again, not in majesty but as a good friend, and made our soul His own dwelling house where He likes to remain. He brought sanctity and holiness with Him and transformed the soul. As when fire is made in a cold and dark r0on~ ~th~ place be~ome~ ~¢arm and full of light, so when God comes into the soul it is filled with warmth and light. It is clothed with immortality, it belongs to God's family, in a way it becomes divine. The new life the soul receives is called sanctifying grace, the new light in the mind faith, and the infused love in the will power hope and charity. They are all fruits of the presence of God; should He leave the soul, there would be dark and cold again. God works in the soul. There is not one moment of rest for Him. He is supremely good and happy, and He wants to share His rich goodness and happiness with others. Consequently, His sanctifying presence is in fact a work of continuous sanctification. Light and love are given to mind and will in abundance: light that we may see and better understand things divine,-.love that we may go towards God at a better pace. This action of God is peaceful and quiet: He does not like noise and agitation. It is this action that ought to be the source of all our thoughts and deeds; unless they proceed from God they will be empty and they will not bear any fruit for eternal life. God's aim is to take possession of our person. He is not satisfied with partial sanctification of His family. He wants to bring them into the very centre of His own life where the Father and the Son and the Spirit are one and where They know and love each other without end. To say that one does not want to be more than an ordinary good Christian (meaning by it that one does not want to be perfect) is to betray a lack of generosity and to show a great ignorance of God's intention who wants all His children to grow continuously and reach their full maturity in Christ. The extent of the necessary trans-formation is indicated by the distance (which each one easily realizes for himself) between God's purity and our impurity, between His charity and our own obscurity. Nevertheless, it is this complete transformation that is God's aim and nothing less. He has the means to achieve it: by the gentle action of His love in this world and by Purgatory in the other. No person who wants to see God can escape this cleansing process; and those who are generous will want to get through it soon, if possible, in this life. Such desire is not a presumption: it is no more than conforming our will to God's will. 4. 4. 4. Meditation to Contemplation VOLUME 22, 196~ 173 4. 4. 4. L. M.'Or~y, S.]. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS ]74 Meditation When God comes into the soul of man and wants to sanctify him, He encounters a great obstacle which is man's fallen nature with all that it entails: sin, attach-ment to worldly things, false judgments, and selbwill as hard as steel. Purification is necessary. It is mainly done by God, but man has his part in it as well. Meditation is one of the first steps in this cleansing process. Man has heard the voice of God and wants to obey Him and be near Him. But man's mind is not clear and clean enough to perceive the light that comes from God living in his soul, his will is not sensitive enough follow the inspirations of grace. It is literally embedded in mortal and perishing things, it is ruled not by God but by the senses. Training is necessary for both mind and will in order to lift them from the visible into the in-visible, from the tangible into the intangible, from the sensitive into the spiritual. Part of this training is what we call meditation. The mind has to be trained. It should be a training in divine truth so that our thoughts, ideas, judgments correspond to those of God and thus that the two minds be united as far as possible into one. This training is done by the soul in an active and discursive way when it meditates on the words of our Lord, on the mysteries of His life, on the Church. What the person does is to fill his mind with God's thoughts instead of his own. He is really trying to m~ike his mind a better instrument for the perception of God's inspirations, an instrument more adapted to receive God's light. It is a tuning-up or warm-ing- up process. The mind is bathed in the divine truth so that it may become divine. This is done in an active way, by reasoning, by considering the call of Christ our Lord or God's beauty in nature, or by imagining the Holy Family. Man is working his way towards God. The will has to be trained as well. The attraction of things eternal is fine and delicate, and our selfish will does not easily notice it. In order to become more sensi-tive to the action of grace, the selfishness of our nature and of our will in particular ought to be broken by con-tinuous exercise in mortification. The aim is that our will should become soft and flexible, attached to nothing, so that it may follow the will of God in everything. To attain that aim, one has to work hard and in an active way. One has to do penance, one has to give up many things, many of his likings, one has to be humble; and there is no dispensation from this work. Since the mind and will are active, activity predomi-nates at this stage of the spiritual life. But sometimes it may happen that a longing awakens in the soul after God Himself, a desire to meet the living God without any human speech, image, or idea. Words and pictures are created things; they do not satisfy the soul that has been created to see God face to face. The desire to meet God without passing through created images all the time may be a sign of better things to come. Transition Thoughts, perception, and feelings are all created things. If we are called to union with God, there must be a moment when they have to disappear since no hu-man person can be satisfied with looking at the picture of somebody he loves when personal contact is possible. Besides~ those acts may fulfill their purpose in the puri-fication of mind and will. Their nature being limited, their efficacy is limited too. I can penetrate the mind of God to a certain extent by meditating on the Gospel; I can follow the will of God to a great extent by trying to do what I think the best. But neither my meditations nor my good deeds have the power to cleanse my soul so well that I may truly say that God has taken possession of me and that I am no more than an instrument in His hand. The true cleansing is reserved to God. It is He who transforms the soul by infusing light and love into it in a more than ordinary measure; it is that light and love that sanctify and purify the whole man. 1. External Signs. The first sign to indicate that a per-son might have a "vocation" to contemplative prayer is that he does not find any more "taste" in meditation: he does not enjoy it any more in the best and spiritual sense of the word. Before, he was able to collect a great va-riety of fruit in his meditation: words and images paci-fied his soul and helped him to formulate good resolu-tions. Now he finds that his meditation is more like a dried-up fountain which does not contain fresh water. But not to have any "taste" in meditation is a purely negative sign: it might well be the indication of careless-ness or of drifting towards the world. Hence, a more posivite sign is needed to confirm that it is God who brought about the change. The positive sign will be a deep longing in the soul for God and a sincere desire to follow Christ our Lord in everything and to be con-formed to His image. A sincere desire that is manifest in deeds. The loss of "taste" in meditation and the longing for God are always coupled with a turning away from this created world. This loss of interest in created things, even if they are very good in themselves, is the third sign; and it is a natural consequence of what has taken place: 4. 4. Meditation to Contemplation VOLUME 22, 1963 ]75 ÷ 4. 4- when the soul is not satisfied any more with created con-cepts in its prayer, it cannot be satisfied with created things either. The change may be astonishing for the person concerned: he used to enjoy music and art, litera-ture and human company, and now he notices that they all leave him dry and empty. When all these signs are found together, loss of "taste" in meditation after it has been practiced for a fairly long time (which may vary from person to person), longing for God in solitude (the longing being confirmed by solid virtues in practice), and the consequent loss of good and legitimate pleasure in created things, then the person concerned may have the vocation to a simpler form of prayer. If these signs are not there, any attempt to leave be-hind meditation and practice another form of prayer, namely the prayer of simplicity, may be poisonous for the soul; it may weaken its spiritual life and it may even ruin the soul altogether. 2. An Explanation. The signs just described are ex-ternal, but what is happening internally in the soul? What is it that brought the change about? The answer is that gradually and in a hidden way God is taking possession of the soul and its facilities. As mind and will have been purified to a reasonable degree, though by no means perfectly, God's work on them~be-comes more intense. Light and love are being given in a larger measure than ever before, and the hand of God begins to shape the new man, the new creature of St. Paul, out of the old. It is as if the hand of God had touched the soul from behind and in the dark. The soul recognised the touch instinctively but could not see the person. It turned away from all creatures, whether con-cepts, images in prayer, or works of art, and conceived a longing for its Maker and Creator. Hence the loss of "taste" in meditation, longing for God, and the feeling of emptiness in the presence of created objects. God comes near enough to awaken a deep desire in the soul but not near enough to let the soul perceive something of God's beauty. It follows that for a while (and it may be a very long while) one may remain in the dark: all consolation from this world is lost, but no sen-sible consolation from the other world is coming. Per-haps it would be truer to say that though the heart is pure enough to feel the obscure touch of God, as yet it: is not able to receive the light in its fullness because of the many impurities that it still has. The result is darkness; and if one does not know what is happening it is easy to lose confidence and even to give up prayer altogether. In truth, it is a time of grace for the soul. 3. Some Practical Advice. If the signs for contempla-tion are there, it would not be wise to force oneself to make meditations in a strict and methodical form. One cannot turn the clock back, not even in the spiritual life. The time of predominantly active prayer, is over; now one has to learn how to~follow~the lead The first step towards more passivity should be the simplification of prayer. Intellectual considerations dur-ing prayer time should be left out as much as possible. Their place should be taken by simple acts of faith, hope, and love, which are the beginning of any prayer and the fruit of the best of prayers. The soul should .learn how to come back to the same idea again and again and find peace, joy, and "taste" in it. Also there should be a tend-ency towards greater receptivity, but with prudence and wisdom. God likes to take His time; He likes to build slowly and gradually. Our duty is to follow the move-ments of His grace: we should not try to go any faster than He wants us to go nor should we lag behind. The adaptation to this new way of life in which it is God who holds the initiative is bound to be a long process. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a change in our personality. It is bound to affect everything in our life, our way of thinking, working, and our relations with other persons. A likeness to Christ our Lord is being formed in us. After the initial difficulties a long period of peaceful development may ensue. Prayer will be a mixture of ac-tivity and passivity; but if the soul is faithful, it may reach the stage in which the main rule is passivity. A passivity that leads to a readiness to do the will of God and to a very practical love of God and our neighbour. One final remark is necess

Issue 27.6 of the Review for Religious, 1968. ; EDITOR R. F. Smith, S.J. ASSOCIATE EDITORS Everett A. Diederich, S.J. Augustine G. Ellard, S.J. ASSISTANT EDITORS Ralph F. Taylor, S.J. John C. Treloar, S.J. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS EDITOR Joseph F. Gallen, S.J. Correspondence with the editor, the associate editors, and the assistant editor, as well as books for review, should be sent to REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS; 61~2 Humboldt Building; 539 North Grand Boulevard; Saint Louis, Missouri 63~o3. Questions for answering should be sent to Joseph F. Gallen, S.J.; St. Joseph's Church; 32~ Willings Alley; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania xgxo6. + + + REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS Edited with ecclesiastical approval by faculty members of the School of Divinity of Saint Louis University, the editorial offices being located at 612 Humboldt Building; .539 North Grand Boulevard; Saint Louis, Missouri 63103. Owned by the Missouri Province Edu-cational Institute. Published bimonthly and copyright ~) 1968 by R~;vIEW :-'OR RELIGIOUS at 428 East Preston Street; Baltimore, Mary-land 21202. Printed in U.S.A. Second class postage paid at Baltimore, Marl,'l_and. Single copies: $1.00. Subscription U.S.A. and Canada: $5.00 a year, $9.00 for two )-ears; other countries: 55.50 a year, $10.00 for two years. Orders should indicate whether they are for new or renewal subscriptions and should be accompanied by check or money order paya-ble to REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS in U.S.A. currency only. Pay no money to persons claiming to represent REVIEW VOR RELIGIOUS. Change of address requests sbould include former address. Renewals and new subscriptions, where accom-panied by a remittance, should be sent to REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS; P. O. Box 671; Baltimore, Maryland 91203. Changes of address, business correspondence, and orders not accompanied by a rernitlan¢e should be sent to REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS; 4~)8 East Preston Street; Baltimore, Maryland 21202. Manuscripts, editorial cor-respondence, and books for review should be sent to REvIEw FOR RELIGIOUS; 612 Humboldt Building; 539 North Grand Boulevard; Saint ~-ouis, Missouri 63103. Questions for aoswermg should be sent to the address of the Questions and Answers editor. NOVEMBER 1968 VOLUME 27 NUMBER 6 FRANCISCAN FRIARS OF THE ATONEMENT Provisional Constitutions [Editor's Note: REvIEw FOR RELIGIOUS is grateful to the Very Reverend Michael F. Daniel, S.A., superior general of the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement, who kindly granted per-mission to the REvmw to print the text of the Friars' pro-visional constitutions approved by the 1967-1968 general chap-ter. The REVIEW would also be grateful to any religious order or congregation who would send in copies of their revised consti-tutions (along with any relevant material that may seem partic-ularly important). Although it would be impossible to print all of such constitutions and materials in the REvIEw, all of them will be kept on file at the REVIEw as a recordof the creativity of American religious and each will be carefully con-sidered for printing in the REvIEw as samples of representative constitutions now being drawn up by U.S.A. religious. Copies of such revised and provisional constitutions and related docu-ments should be sent to: R. F. Smith, S.J., Editor; REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS; 612 Humboldt Building; 539 North Grand Boule-vard; St. Louis, M!ssouri 63103.] . INTRODUCTION THE SOCIAL STRUGTURE OF THE COMMUNITY 1. In the Mystical Body of Christ we have the perfect image of what the religious community should be in its way of life and order. In the body we have the head and all the members. Each has a task to serve the good of the whole in subordination to the head. From the unity of all the members with the head a well ordered community, a healthy body is derived. This harmonious coordination of head and members is the practical basis of true unity in a religious community. It is, then, the principle to be fol-lowed by all the .Friars in exercising their responsibility within the Community. 2. Adaptation is always a part of the religious life. If undertaken carefully it ensures maximum vigor and efficacy within the Community. In order for the whole Community to periodically renew itself each General Chapter shall review the,~con-tents of the Book of General Statutes. The General Chap- + Constitutions~ VOLUME 27/1968 979 ter is the only competent authority to formulate, elimi-nate or modify in any way the General Statutes of the Community. Changes in the Constitutions may be effected by the Holy See alone. The General Chapter, by a two-thirds majority vote, has the right to request such changes. Authentic inteipretation of the Rule and Constitutions is reserved to the Holy See, that of the Book of General Statutes to the General Chapter. PART I CHAPTER I THE NATURE OF THE COMMUNITY AND ITS SERVICE TO THE CHURCH 3. The Friars of the Atonement are a community of re-ligious in the Franciscan tradition, committed to living an intensive form of the Christian life, following the inspira-tion given by their Founder, Father Paul James Francis (Lewis T. Wattson), and existing specifically to help ful-fill the Church's mission of Christian Unity by engaging in ecumenism, which is the work of restoring the visible unity of all Christians, and by bearing witness to the Gos-pel through mission activity among Christians and non- Christians. + 4. + Friars the Atonement REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 98O 4. As envisioned by their Founder, the ideal of unity in all its aspects should guide and direct the lives of the Friars. They are to seek unity with God and unity with one another; they are to preserve unity within the Church, promote true and complete unity among all Christians and bring all men into the fullness of unity with the People of God. The common calling of all the Friars is the Christian Unity vocation. By Christian Unity the Friars understand the various efforts to promote the unity of all Christians and also mission activity among Christians, restoring or strengthening their oneness with God and with one another, and bearing witness to the Gospel among non- Christians to achieve the unity of all men with God, for "it is God Who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the work of handing on this reconciliation" (II Cor. 5:17). 5. Promoting Christian Unity by prayer, sacrifice and work, personal and corporate, is the apostolate of the Friars of the Atonement. Since the Church is deprived of that fullness of unity willed by Christ, when divisions exist among Christians, the Friars will make every effort to contribute toward healing these divisions. In the spirit of the Founder the Friars are to seek opportunities for ecumenical involve-ment as the principal dimension of activity in the Com-munity and the principal mark of identity for the Community, whether they 'are at home or abroad, whether they are working among Christians or non- Christians. Acting out of the innermost requirements of her own catholicity, and in obedience to the mandate of Christ, the Church strives to proclaim the Gospel to all men. The work of evangelization both strengthens and extends the unity of the Church. For this reason the Friars devote a generous portion of personnel to spreading the Gospel among peoples where it is not known, and preserving and revivifying it where it is in danger of being lost. 6. The effectiveness of the Community depends on a common spirit and mutual cooperation. All the activities of the Community have an obvious relationship and any disjunction between them ought to be avoided. 7. In order that their service to the Church be both au-thentic and effective the Friars strive in all they do to be deeply loyal to Christ and His Church. In the Franciscan tradition they express this particularly by their fidelity to the Vicar of Christ, by their reverence towards all Bishops, by the honor they show to all priests and by their dedicated service to all the People of God. CHAPTER II t~ELIGIOUS PROFESSION 8. Religious life is a sign of the Church, the Community of God's People gathered together visibly and effectively bearing witness to His saving work. Its purpose is union with God, the pursuit of perfect charity through the following of Christ and service to the Church. For the Friars this, especially, means preparing the way for recon-ciliation of all men with the Triune God. 9. The Friars of the Atonement, as religious, seek in com-munity to respond to their common vocation by conse-crating themseh, es to the work of developing to the maxi-mum the state of sonship of God received in baptism. In responding to this call the Friars, individually and com-munally, enter into a covenant of trust and confidence in God's promises and seal that covenant on their own part by professing the evangelical counsels lived in community. ÷ ÷ Constitutions VOLUME 27, 1968 10. The act of religious profession for the Friar means that he ,willingly frees himself and willingly dedicates himself to live more profoundly according to the Holy Gospels. Evangelical life consists in the realistic accep-tance of salvation effected by the death and resurrection of Christ and the sending of the Holy Spirit; it consists in accepting God's design for men, that is, His will for all men to be at one with Him; it means to live according to the renewed condition of man to whom in Christ Jesus has been given the grace of sonship. 11. To live the religious life is to witness to the fact that true life in Christ can be realized and that holiness is possible for all to achieve. The Friars, therefore, profess the evangelical counsels to express their own and the Community's total commitment to the mission of Christ in the world and to witness to the Pilgrim Church's active expectation of Christ's Second Coming, when all things will be made at-one with God in Christ. Celibacy 12. Religious are especially called to witness to the Christian's baptismal death and new life to which they are raised in the Spirit. The Friars of the Atonement pro-fess the vow of celibacy precisely because it allows them to give expression to this mystery, or freedom won for us by Christ, which both enables and requires the Christian to love and serve God and man. The vow of celibacy is the positive choice to observe chastity in the unmarried state for the sake of Christ and for the sake of His life's work: the establishment of the Kingdom of God. By the vow of celibacy each Friar con-secrates himself in his aifective life to the Lord who is the revelation of the Father's love (Jn. 15:13) and who enables the Friar to respond with his own love so that he too can lay down his life for the brethren (Jn. 3:16). Friars A tonertumt REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 13. Christian celibacy is a gift from the Holy Spirit. If lived fully, celibacy witnesses to the love of Christ for His Church, to the real possibility of a perfect human com-munity founded on Christ's love, and finally to that per-fect union with God which will be man's when the King-dom of God is fully realized. Perseverance in the celibate life demands a life of self-denial and discipline, a deep personal prayer life and an abiding trust in the sufficiency of God's grace. Poverty 14. The Friars profess the vow of poverty to express their faith and trust in their Heavenly Father, Who provides for all who seek first the Kingdom of God and His justice, and to be at one with Christ Who "had no place to lay his head" (Matt. 8:20). 15. Profession of the vow of poverty means to sincerely acknowledge one's need for the Lord. It means to be so deeply imbued with the conviction of God's love and con-cern for men that one places himself in God's hands, de-pending on Him for strength and protection. Through this vow the Friar, like St. Francis, shares in the poverty of Christ so that the riches of God can be made available to men (II Cor. 13:3-4). For the Friars of the Atonement the ideal of poverty is best translated into actual observance by a conscientious adherence to the principle enunciated by Father Paul, namely, to use the minimum for self and the maximum for God. Obedience 16. The loving obedience of Christ is God's greatest glory and the cause of man's salvation (Rom. 5:19). The Friars of the Atonement, therefore, profess the vow of obedience as the principal expression of their response to God's call to share more intimately in the life of Christ. By religious obedience the Friars unite their wills to the will of God and profess their intention to work together in community under the direction of their superiors, to arrive at perfect charity and to serve the People of God. 17. Obedience which is informed by charity enhances one's human dignity and freedom. It means the generous and energetic use of one's talents and abilities in fuIfilIing assignments and directives. For the Friars the practice of obedience is essentially an exercise of one's responsibility in view of his freely made response to the call of God to the religious life within the Community of the Friars of the Atonement. Obedience facilitates that direction from the Church and from religious superiors which is conducive to an orderly and effective Christian life as well as to a fruitful apostolate. 18. Those Friars called to the exercise of authority shall recognize that this special practice of obedience obliges them to be attentive to the Spirit working among the members and to serve their confreres so that under their Ieadership the objectives of the Community will be achieved. Docile to the action of the Holy Spirit, and out of love for God's will, a11 the Friars, then, are to show humble obedience to their superiors, whom they shall see as the representatives of Christ, according to the norms of the ÷ ÷ ÷ Constitutions VOLUME 27, 1968 983 Rule, these Constitutions and the Book of General Statutes. RELIGIOUS FOR1VIATION AND EDU~,ATION 19. Religious Formation is the process of communicating to the religious an ever deepening knowledge of and a commitment to the person of the Word Incarnate. 20. The object of religious formation programs within the Community of the Friars of the Atonement is to imbue its members with and to aid them to grow in the spirit of the Gospels according to the inspiration of the Father Founder. These programs likewise are to be the means to set be-fore the Friars the ideals of the Founder so that all will be formed in the common vocation of the Community. 21. Religious formation provides the conditions for the possibility of the Friars' initial experience of Franciscan brotherhood in communal worship, in fraternal responsi-bility and in apostolic endeavors cooperatively under-taken. 22. Houses of formation and education should be such that genuine community can be created and apostolic works, ac.cording to the development of those being formed, may be pursued. 23. In order that formation and education may be effec-tive, direct responsibility for them shall be entrusted to particular Friars. Nevertheless, each and every Friar shares the responsibility for these programs and partici-pates in them by his living of religious community life and by his efforts to realize with the Community its spirit and aims. + + + Friars the Atonement REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS Candidates 24. The Community has the right to expect its candidates to be open to guidance, to be willing to learn, to be de-voted to the Community and to be generous in their efforts to make its spirit and aims a part of their lives. Each candidate is expected to have an ardent desire to serve God and the Church through the fraternal com-munity of the Friars, and should develop in himself a sensitivity for others so that he may live communally. 25. On his part, the candidate may expect the Com-munity to guide him in his development as a total person in community, and that the Community will offer him the living experience of its own life and work. He may also expect the opportunity that his own natural abilities will be developed, his capabilities brought to the fore and his generosity given expression. 26. Admission into the Congregation of the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement at the time of novitiate means participation in a fraternal community wherein all the members share its life and apostolic aims. The Father General as the head of the whole Commun-ity, with the consent of the General Council, after re-ceiving counsel from the Directors of the pre-Novitiate program, receives candidates into the Community of the Friars. 27. Each Friar is to have the opportunity, by means of education and experience, to develop his own unique area of contribution, according to the needs of the Com-munity. In this way the comprehensiveness of the entire Community will be increased and enriched. Superiors and Directors primarily have the responsibil-ity to work with the Community to discover, to develop and to orientate the talents of each Friar according to what is demanded for a faithful apostolate of Unity and an energetic community life. "CHAPTER IV P~ELIGIOUS COMMUNIT~ Lx~E 28. The Friars of the Atonement as a community recog-nizes that they have been called together by the Spirit into the charity and fellowship of Christ Jesus. Their fraternity depends on their oneness of heart and mind in Christ Jesus (Acts 4:32) and in their common spirit of "rejoicing in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the Atonement" (Rom. 5:11). As a witness to the bonds that unite them, the Friars hold all goods in common, share life in community, join in fellowship for worship, and perform their apos-tolic ministry in a spirit of brotherhood. 29. All the Friars contribute to the upbuilding of the whole Community, because each Friar accepts responsi-bility for our way of life through a fraternal sharing in the same obligations and rights. These are exercised in a manner commensurate with each Friar's ability and his assigned role or office within the Congregation, for there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; there are varieties of ministries, but the same Lord; + 4. 4. 985 .there are varieties of workings; but the same God, who works all things in all , (I Cor. 12:4-7).' "30. "The Eucharistic Liturgy proclaims the saving death of the Lord ufitil He comes (I Cor. 11:26) and in it the 'Friar receives Christ's Body and Blood, the principal source of man's reconciliation with God. First place, then, is given t6 the celebration of the Eucharistic Liturgy be-cause "the doctrine we are to preach and ever hold before the eyes of men is the at-one-ment of man with God, and the sole insirument of its accomplishment is the Holy Cross" (Father Paul). '311 :Wfie.n praying the Canonical Hours, the Liturgy of 'Praise, [he Community stands before the Lord in'the name qf the whole People of God, interceding for the needs of man and "giving glory and honor and benedic-tion to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever" (.Apoc. 4:9.). Because this is so, the ordinary daily community prayer offered by the Friars is the Liturgy. of Praise, so that the whole day may be made holy with glory given to God. 4. .4- 4. Friars of the o'Atonement REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS ~986 32. Since the Church wills religious to give an increas-ingly clearer revelation of Christ, the Friars should en-deavor to manifest Him both in c6nt~mplation and in proclaiming God's Kingdom to the multitude. Drawing on the authentic sources of Christian.tradition, the Friars recognize the need for both personal prayer and endeavor to cultivate a.spirit of prayer rooted in Sacred Scripture and in the Sacred Liturgy: Religious reflection, too, .can enri'ch and make the Friars more effective in responding, both individually , and. communally, to the vocation and. work of the'Congre- .gation. Above all, it .can deepen the Friars' 'prayer life and the intensity of their communion with God and with each other, because of Christ. The Friars' practice of re-ligious reflection, then, ought to offer opportunities for them in charity to assist, to encourage, and to counsel each other. Religious reflection is not passive--on the ,contrary, it is genuinely human, begetting stability and maturity and fostering human love and unity. 33. Because of their particular devotion to Christ's Atone-ment, and following the example of Father Paul who made prayer and sacrifice a basic way of life, the Friars of the Atonement are encouraged to perform k, oluntary and personal acts of mortification. The Friars, too, are reminded that as a commianity they should offer corporate witness to their Atonement voca-. tion. Fidelity to the way of life and work to which they are committed is to be their primary corporate witness. Particular mortifications and penances which are mutu-ally agreed to by all the Friars in a local community, like-wise, should be part of their lives so that corporately they, too, can fill up ".what is lacking in Christ's atfliction for the sake of His Body, that is, the Church" (I Cot. 1:24). 34. Where true Christian life is experienced something ~f God is discovered. "Where love is, there is God." There-fore all of the Friars are to strive to create an atmosphere which is cheerful and friendly in all our houses so that they will truly be places fit for genuine community life. The Friars, too, shall express their respect for one another as individuals within the Community. This is to be done by honoring each Friar's privacy and by .extend-ing ordinary courtesies to each other. Finally, the tradition of Franciscan hospitality .which so characterized Father Founder is to be the. established policy in all our houses. Visitors are to be welcomed and, according to local circumstances, a hospitality marked by generosity is to be extended to them. 35. Mindful of the words of the Lord, "Whatsoever you do for the least o~ my brethren you do for me," and of the fact that the infirm are both a sign of the suffering of Christ among us and a call from God to respond with love and compassion, every care and consideration is to be shown to the sick Friars, and everything that is spiritually and physically beneficial to them is to be' provided as far as possible. . Likewise, whatever good the Friars have shown each other should not cease with their death, because the bonds that religious profession establishes among the Friars do not cease with death. The memory and dedication of the deceased Friars should often be recalled, .so that tile fruit of their good works may live on. On their anniversary day some remembrance of them should be made in common. PART II GOVERNMENT OF THE CONGREGATION CHAPTER I '. THE GENERAL CHAPTER" 36. The General Chapter, whether Ordinary or E~raor-dinary, lawfully assembled, is the supreme authority ~of 4. + Constitutions ; VOLUME 27; 1968:~ ' 987 the Congregation. The General Chapter is the concern of all the Friars. Consequently each Friar has the right and the duty to propose matters for its consideration. 37. An Ordinary General Chapter of Affairs shall be convoked every three years. An Ordinary General Chap-ter of Elections and of Affairs shall be convoked every six years. An Extraordinary General Chapter shall be convoked when the office of Father General becomes va-cant. An Extraordinary General Chapter shall be con-voked upon the decisive vote of the General Council, with the approval of the Holy See. An Extraordinary Genei:al Chapter of Affairs may be convoked if a two-thirds majority of perpetually professed Friars request it and the General Council consents. An Extraordinary General Chapter of Elections may be convoked if a two-thirds majority of perlSetually professed Friars request it, the General Council consents, and the Holy See approves. 38.The Father General or, if the office of Father General is vacant, the Vicar-General, is responsible for convoking the General Chapter and conducting the elections for delegates thereto. The procedures established in Canon Law, in these Constitutions, and in the General Statutes, and in the~ Rite to be Observed in holding the General Chapter, are to be followed in all General Chapters, whether Ordinary or Extraordinary. + 4- 4- ~'rhrrs o! t~ Atonement Capitulars 39. The incumbent Father General and the four C6uncil-lors General are Capitulars ex ol~cio. The other Capitu-lars are a representative number of Friars elected accord-ing to the norms of the General Statutes from: A) Combination of the larger houses; B) Geographic combinations of other houses; C) Friars at large; D) Seniority combinations. The General Chapter alone has the fight to designate which houses of a locality are to be combined and the number of delegates from each combination. Between Genera/Chapters, if a house or houses, should be estab-lished outside of the localities prescribed, the General Council by a deliberative vote shall determine to which locality it or they belong. This designation shall be con-firmed or changed by the subsequent General Chapter. FOR RELIcq0US 40. All perpetually professed Friars have both an active 988 and passive voice in the election of delegates to the Gen- eral Chapter. Capitulars shall attend the Chapter under bne title only. CHAP~R II THE GENERAL COUNCIL AND GENERAL CURIA 41. The Father General and the four Councillors General constitute the General Council. It is the duty of the Gen-eral Council to govern the Congregation collegially with-out prejudice to the authority of the Father General. Since the government of the Congregation is collegial, the Father General will see to it that all members of the General Council are well informed concerning the affairs of the whole Congregation so they can actively participate in the government of the Congregation. The General CounciI, together with the Secretary General, the Treasurer General and the Procurator Gen-eral to the Holy See constitute the General Curia. The members of the General Curia shall be perpetually pro-fessed and are subject to the Father General alone. The Father General 42. Outside of the time of the General Chapter, supreme authority within the Congregation is vested in the Father General, who with the aid of his Council governs and administers the whole Congregation in accordance with Canon Law, the Decrees of the General Chapter, these Constitutions and the Book of General Statutes. The Father General shall be a priest at least ten years professed and thirty-five years of age. He is elected for a term of six years by the General Chapter and may be elected for a successive term of six years. Should the Father General judge it his duty to resign from office he will submit his reasons for resignation to the Holy See and await its decision. Should it seem necessary to remove the Father General from office, the General Councillors, after due delibera-tion and a secret vote, will refer the matter in proper form to the Holy See and await its decision. At least once a month and whenever else he may deem opportune, the Father General will convoke and when present preside over meetings of the General Council. With the advice of the General Council the Father General shall implement policies set by the General Chapter for the Congregation. With the advice and, if necessary, the consent of the General Council, he shall inaugurate and implement policies that are deemed valua-ble for the Congregation. At least once every three years the Father General, either personally or through a delegate, shall make an official Visitation of each house of the Congregation. ÷ ÷ 4- Constitutions VOLUME 27, 1968 989 ÷ 4. ÷ Friars the Atonement REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS The Father General shall prepare and sign any neces-sary reports to the Holy See. He shall likewise prepare and sign the report to the General Chapter on the state of the Congregation. The Vicar-General and Councillors General 43. Should the office of the Father General become va-cant, the Vicar-General, who shall always be a priest ten years professed, immediately assumes the government of the Congregation. According to the norms of Art. 38 above and the General Statutes he shall then convoke a General Chapter. In the absence of the Father General the Vicar-General shall convoke and preside over such special meetings of the General Council as are deemed opportune. Should the office of the Vicar-General become vacant the Father General and the three other Councillors shall elect a priest, ten years professed, to this office. Should the Vicar-General judge it his duty to resign from office he shall submit his resignation to the General Council and await its recommendation. Should it be deemed necessary to remove the Vicar-General from office, the Father Gen-eral and the other three Councillors General, after due deliberation, shalI refer the matter to the Holy See and await its decision. Should the office of a Councillor General become va-cant, the Father General and the Vicar-General and the other two Councillors shall elect a perpetually professed Friar to fill it. Should a Councillor General judge it his duty to resign, he shall submit his resignation to the General Council and await its decision. Should it be deemed necessary to remove a Councillor General from office, the Father General, the Vicar-General and the other two Councillors shall refer the matter in proper form to the Holy See and await its decision. Sessions of the General Council 44. It rests with the Father General as President of the General Council to lay before it those matters to be con-sidered at each session. The Councillors, however, have the right to suggest other subjects after these have been considered. Regular sessions of the General Council shall be con-vened monthly. Special sessions of the General Council shall be convoked at the request of two Councillors Gen-eral. The following matters only may be decided by the de-cisive vote of the General Council. The responsibility for making decisions in all other matters rests with the Father General, who is to seek the advice of the General Council- lors before making a decision unless circumstances dictate otherwise. A) Matters assigned by Canon Law, these Constitutions and the General Chapter for decision by decisive vote. B) Interpretation for practical purposes of the Consti-tutions, Book of General Statutes and the Decrees of the General Chapter. C) Change or confirmation of previous enactments of the General Council. D) Promotion to Sacred Orders and to First and Per-petual Vows, and questions regarding dismissal from the Congregation. E) The opening or closing of houses. F) Enactment, in accordance with these Constitutions and General Statutes of regulations regarding re-ligious community life and matters regarding re-ligious observances. G) The election of the Secretary General, the Treas-urer General and the Procurator General to the Holy See, and the acceptance of the resignation or deposition of a member of the Curia. Also, the ap-pointment of a Visitor General for the visitation of the whole Congregation or a notable part of it. H) Convocation of an Extraordinary General Chapter. I) The election of local superiors, their vicars, direc-tors of the Congregation's formation programs and directors of the Congregation's apostolic works. J) Extraordinary expenses, loam, mortgages and sales, in accordance with the directives of the General Chapter, and the determination of quotas for con-tributions to be levied on various houses for the support of the poorer ones, and to meet the general expenses of the Congregation. K) Approval of the General Accounts of the Congrega-tion and of financial reports submitted by the local superiors. L) Legal proceedings of major importance to be initi-ated or continued in accord with the directives of the General Chapter. 45. In disposing of matters that require the decisive vote of the General Council, all members shall be present. If a member cannot participate the session shall be post-poned. If the session cannot be postponed the other mem-bers of the General Council shall elect a qualified Friar to replace him. In matters which require the decisive vote of the Gen-eral Council the Father General acts invalidly if he re-jects the majority vote. In matters which do not require the decisive vote of the General Council a quorum of + + + Constitution~ VOLUME 27, 1968 991 three, one of whom must be the Father General or, in his absence, the Vicar-General, shall be competent. In the disposition of matters that do not require the decisive vote of the General Council, the Father General shall seriously consider the opinion and the votes of the Councillors. However, he need not follow the vote of the Council even thougil it be unanimously against his opinion. The minutes of each session of the General Council shall be kept by the Secretary General, signed by the Councillors General and preserved in the archives. CHAPTER III THE CANONICAL VISITATION 46. The aims of the Canonical Visitation by the Father General or his delegate are: To strengthen the bonds of fraternity, unity and charity within the Community and the Congrega-tion; to inspire Friars to strive for greater holiness; and to encourage the Friars to greater efforts in the apostolates of the Congregation. At least one month before, the superior of the house will be informed of the impending Visitation. He will then make this known to the Friars of the house. In the Book of Visitations the Visitor will record any recommendations or ordinances he deems proper. He will likewise prepare a written report of the Visitation for the General Council CHAPTER IV ÷ + ÷ Friars the Atonement REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 992 LOCAL COMMUNITY GOVERNMENT 47. The General Chapter shall designate certain houses into Regions if this is judged useful for the good of the Congregation. A) 1. A Region is a territory where the pastoral care of the people is entrusted to the Congregation; 2. Or, a Region is a geographical grouping of parishes and houses. Each Region shall have its own regional superior and council with as many members as the regional statutes indicate. B) The Father General and General Council shall ap-point the regional superior after a consultative vote of the Friars in the Region has been taken. Regional councillors are elected by the Friars of the Region; these elections, however, must be confirmed by the GeneraI Council. C) Regional superiors and councillors serve for a term of three years unless a General Chapter intervenes. In this instance their term ends, although they con- tinue to serve until new elections have been com-pleted and confirmed. Friaries 48. All the Friars are to be assigned to specific houses or regions of the Congregation, even if their particular work is not directly attached to a particular house. All houses of the Congregation are called friaries and the local su-perior of each is called its Guardian. Local superiors are to be perpetually professed. Each local superior serves for three years or until the next General Chapter. He may serve for a second three year term and, exceptionally, for a third in the same house. Ordinarily no Friar may serve as Guardian more than three consecutive terms either in the same house or in different houses. 49. Each friary is to have a friary council with as many councillors as the local statutes provide. These Friars share responsibility with the local superior for the govern-ment of the community. Friary councillors are to be perpetually professed and, with the exception of the first councillor, who is the fl:iary's vicar, all shall be elected by the Friars of the house to serve a term of office which coincides with that of the local superior. In these local elections junior professed Friars have active voice. No Friar may serve for more than two consecutive terms on a friary council in the same house. The friary council shall meet monthly under the leader-ship of the local superior, who shall prepare its agenda. When these matters have been treated then the council-lors may introduce other subjects. In houses with less than five Friars the Father General may dispense from the prescription calling for a friary council. Local Chapters 50. In order to adapt to the needs and conditions of a particular house or region, the friary or regional council concerned, after consulting the community, shall draw up their own book of statutes, which shall be submitted for approval to the General Council. Periodically, local and regional superiors are to call the Friars together for a house or regional chapter, that is, a general meeting where policy, religious life and matters of special interest to the Friars shall be discussed. + ÷ 4- Constitutions VOLUME ZT, Z968 A New Charter of Charity of the Order of Citeaux ÷ ÷ ÷ Charter oy Charity 994 [Editor's Note. M. Basil Pennington, O.C.S.O., of St. Joseph's Abbey; Spencer, Massachusetts 01562, has been kind enough to provide the REvIEw with the text of an initial schema for a new charter of charity for the Cistercians. The schema was prepared by the constitutional Renewal Commission of the Order. of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (Trappists). It must be emphasized that the document is only an initial schema, th~tt it has not yet been fully discussed within the Cistercian Order, and that it is in no sense an official and au-thoritative statement of the Order. Even the designation of the Cisterc]ans of the Strict Obsen,ance as the "Order of Citeaux" i~ a suggestion of the schema, not a settled designation; In other words,'the document printed below is a schema--a working paper to serve as a basis for discussion within the Order as it prepares to renew itself according to the wishes of Vatican Council II. Only the main text of the document is printed here. The complete edition of the schema includes copious notes and ex-planations which it was felt could be omitted for the purposes of.publication in the REvmw. Abbreviations used in the docu-ment. as printed here are the following: AG = Vatican Council II's Decree on the Church's Missionary Activity; Ex. Parv. = The Little Exordium; GS = Vatican Council II's Constitution on the Church in the Modern World; LG = Vatican Council II's Constitution on the Church; PC = Vatican Council II's Decree on Religious Li[e; RB = The Rule of St. Benedict; and RM = The Rule oI the Master. Readers may find it of interest to compare and contrast the schema for "A Eife Charter for the Sisters Adorers of the Most Precious Blood" that appeared in REvIEw for RELIOIOUS, vol-ume 25 (1966), pages 557-89.] INTRODUCTION " 1. United in Christ, led by the Holy Spirit, journey-ing to the Kin~gdom of the Father, the pilgrim Church has welcomed the news of salvation which is meant for every man. Gathered in Council, under the Holy Spirit, probing more profoundly into its own mystery, the Church set [or itself the goal to intensify the daily growth of all the faithful in Christian living, to be more responsive to the needs of our times, to nurture whatever can contribute to the unity of all who believe in Christ and to reach out to all mankind. Hence the Second Vatican Council had special reason to call for renewal in the lives of thbse who bind themselves to the evangelical counsels and thus are committed to the honor and service of God under a new and special title. 2. This summons, which was addressed in a particu-lar way to us as members of communities wholly dedi-cated to contemplation, gave expression to a deep as-piration already intensely alive in our Order. The Founders of Citeaux were in quest of a truly authentic response to the perennial values of the monastic voca-tion. As we write this new Charter for our Cistercian life we are conscious of the need to enter more deeply into this same quest. At the same time we seek to re-spond to the signs of the times and the needs of the Church by expressing and living in a vital contempo-rary way the charism which our Fathers shared with the Blessed Benedict and expressed through the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives. We can do this only if all of us, monks and nuns, individually and as com-munities, strive to be renewed in the same Spirit. 3. This new Charter should be seen within the history of our Order as another stage in a constant and con. tinuing development. It reflects our history and con-crete life, develops new insights from both the sacred and secular sciences which must enrich our monastic vocation, and opens the way for us to continue to evolve with the Church and the family of man. 4. In formulating our new Charter we turn to the source of all Christian life, the Gospel, as embodied in the Rule of Saint Benedict and lived by our Cistercian Fathers, to the Charter of Charity and all the subse-quent historical and cultural developments of our tra-dition and to the needs of a contemporary Church and society. 5. The Rule of Saint Benedict remains the basic Code of our Order. Following in the footsteps of our Cistercian Fathers, we seek to live the evangelical life according to the monastic tradition as it has been syn-thesized in this Rule. This new Charter seeks but to place this heritage within the flow of ecclesial tradi-tion, and to establish structures which will enable us to live our profession of the Rule in a way that is con. stantly meaningful. 6. The supreme law in our Order is that of fraternal love, which is the new commandment of Christ (cf. .In 13,34) and the fulfillment of the law (cf. Rm 13,10). This is the bond which unites us. For this reason, and 4. ~harter ot Charity VOLUME 27, 1968 995 as a sign of our intimate union with our Fathers and our desire to live according to their spirit, we call our Charter, the New Charter of Charity. 7. This means that we must respect the Christian dig-nity of each monk and nun and the unique character of each community, that we must be responsive to the Sl~irit speaking within us. With full consciousness of our responsibilities, each one of us must effectively share in the life and government of our communities and Order. 8. Our laws and structures are to be in the service of evangelical freedom. They give our life a stability which it needs. They open the way for us to full growth in Christ (cf. Ep 4,13; Col 1,28). They must always be such that they do truly serve to strengthen our bond with one another and enable us to realize our most basic aspirations after fulfillment through union with God. Only those which are required by the essential characteristics of our Cistercian life are expkessed in this Charter. Others which arise from the realization of needs common to the whole Order are placed in the Customary of the Rule, which will remain under constant review. CHAPTER ONE LIFE CONSECRATED BY THE PROFESSION OF THE EVANGELICAL COUNSELS ARTICLE ONE THE INNER MEANING OF THIS STATE OF LIFE + + + REVIEW FOR RELI61OUS A Personal Call 9. Jesus Christ, God made man, "the Way, the Truth, and the Life," is given to us in the New Cove-nant as our model, that we might follow in his steps (cf. 1 P 2,21; 1 Co 11,1) and that he "might be the eldest of many brothers" (Rm 8,29). But such, is the perfection of "the image of the unseen God" (Col 1,15) that each one of us can reflect only certain aspects of his beauty. Whence the great number of vocations in the Church: the Spirit "distributes different gifts to different people just as he choses" (1. Co 12,11). It has pleased God to invite some to follow a special path of holiness, to imitate "more closely" (LG 44; PC 1) his Son, virgin and poor, who had "nowhere to lay his head" (Mr 8,20; Lk 9,58) and who "emptied him-self to assume the condition of a slave, and became as men are; and being as all men are, he was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross" (Ph 2,7-8). 10. Mary, Jesus' Mother, went before us on this way of virginity for the love of God. By her "Fiat" (Lk 1,38) given in faith, the "highly favored one" (Lk 1,28) who knew not man (cf. Lk 1,34), conse-crated herself wholly to the work of the Redemption. "Taken up body and soul into heavenly glory" (LG 59), she is the Church's living sign of the spiritual fruitful-ness of virginal consecration. 11. John the Baptist, the greatest of the children born of woman (cf. Mt 11,11), completed his self-emptying as he effaced himself before the "Lamb of God" (Jn 1,29.36): it must be that Jesus become great and that he, John, fade away (cf. Jn 3,30). His rigorous asceticism, his life in the desert, as well as his special prophetic mission invite us to find in him that virginal simplicity which enables him to speak of himself as "the bridegroom's friend, who stands and listens," and who "is glad when he hears the bridegroom's voice" (Jn 3,29). In the end, John foreshadowed the "Lamb of God" in his obedience to the divine will, even to a martyr's death (cf. Mt 14,3-12; Mk 6,17-29). 12. Mary the virgin and mother, Joseph her chaste husband and guardian of her virginity, . John the Bap-tist, all were led by the Holy Spirit and anticipated the explicit invitation of Christ. It was only when he came preaching that the Master uttered those words which were destined to inspire so many through all succeeding generations: ".there are eunuchs who have made themselves that way for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can'~ (Mt 19,12). In Jesus' teaching, the "kingdom of heaven" is the salvation which has been proclaimed, the New Covenant which has been established by the coming of the Son of God and which will find its full realiza-tion in the world to come. Virginity chosen for the sake of the kingdom anticipates the time when the risen Christ will have completely swallowed up death in victory (cf. 1 Co 15,54). "For at the resurrection men and women do not marry; no, they are like the angels in heaven" (Mt 22,30). Under the Old Dispensation the spiritual meaning of virginity was already known and expressed in Jeremiah who embraced celibacy at Yahweh's word in view of the times to come, but it belongs to the Church of the New Covenant to per-ceive the full grandeur and dignity of Christian celibacy. 13. In its life and in its teaching the primitive Church faithfully preserved this "divine gift" (LG 43) of virginity for the love of God. Saint Paul, wishing that all the world were as he, told celibates and widows that it was good to remain as they were: "i believe that in these present times of stress this is right" (cf. 1 4, Charter of Charity VOLUME 27, 1968 997 ÷ ÷ Ch~rt~r o~ ~,harit~ REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 998 Co 7). He, who in writing to the Ephesians .would extol the dignity and sacramentality of Christian mar-riage (cf. Ep 5,21-33) did not hesitate to affirm that "the man who sees that his daughter is married has done a good thing but the man who keeps his daughter unmarried has done something better" (1 Co 7,38). 14. This charism which the Church received through the Holy Spirit gradually acquired an established form in the midst of the people of God. During the first two centuries celibacy for the sake of the Word, without any explicit recognition as a special juridic structure, was embraced by a multitude of Christians. These vir-gins were considered as Saint Cyprian said, "the most illustrious part of Christ's flock." 1 The profession of the evangelical counsels has con-tinued up to our own days to adorn the Spouse of Christ. Through the course of the centuries it has become more stable, more diversified, ever richer. After being principally of the monastic type during the first part of the Middle Ages, it began to give birth, especially after the twelfth century, to new religious families responding to new needs of the Church. 15. Carrying forward the teaching of the Council of Trent, the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council ex-pressed clearly the importance of this state of life in the Church, asserting that "although the religious state constituted by the profession of the evangelical counsels does not belong to the hierarchical structure of the Church, nevertheless it belongs inseparably to her life and holiness" (LG 44). As in the case of every other Christian vocation, the consecrated life is a response to a personal call from God addressed to a particular individual. To this biblical call which we receive through the Church, the Holy Spirit adds his interior grace, giving his gifts to the members of Christ, enlightening and inspiring them in his own mysterious way, guiding and adorning them with different charisms for the good of all mankind (cf. Am 2,10-11). Our Response to This Call 16. God, who has freely committed himself and has remained faithful to his promises, the "God of truth," the "God-Amen" (Is 65,16), has brought about the full-ness of salvation in Christ, who is the "Yes" to God, the "Amen" to God (cf. 2 Co 1,19; Rv 3,14). It is "through him, in him and with him" that we say "Yes" to God, that we respond in faith to his love, that we express our "Amen to the praise of God" (2 Co 1,20). Upheld 1 The Habit ot Virgins, trans. A. Keenan, "The Fathers of the Church," v. 36 (New York: Fathers of the Church, 1958), p. 33. by the hope of meeting the Lord "face to face" (cf. Gn 32,31; 1 Co 13,12) and drawn by the "Father of all light," from whom we receive "all that is good, every-thing that is perfect" (Jn 1,17), we seek to conform. "ourselves ever more to Christ and to follow him "more closely" in his going to the Father (cf. Jn 14,12). It is the Father himself who calls us in the Holy Spirit and receives us, through the invitation and acceptance of the Church, to the praise of his glory (cf. Ep 1,14). 17. The profession of the evangelical counsels in the Church is but the flowering of the Christian initia-tion. Through the grace of Baptism we die to sin and become men possessed by the Holy Spirit. "This same Spirit gives himself in a fuller way in Confirmation, to assure the stability and vigour of our Christian ex-istence; it is to him that the martyrs and the virgins owe their victory over the attractions of the perishable." Now, in order to gather more abundant fruit, we wish, by the effective practice of the evangelical counsels to free ourselves from those obstacles which may draw us away from the fervor of charity and the perfection of divine worship (cf. LG 44). The religious life is then a "special consecration which is deeply rooted in the baptismal consecration, expressing it more fully" (PC 5). Many of those who "tend towards holiness by a narrower path" (LG 13) enter into a community of brethren which is "united, heart and soul" (Ac 4,32) where they mutually sustain each other. This union of brethren finds its greatest expression and its actualiza-tion in "the meal of brotherly solidarity" (GS 38), the efficacious sign of the union of brothers with one another and the Church universal in the glorious Body and Blood of the Lord. ARTICLE Two THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROFESSION OF THE EVANGELICAL COUNSELS IN THE CHURCH TODAY The Spiritual Growth of the Individual 18. If the Church has again insisted on the im-portance of the religious state it is because experience gives witness to the innumerable benefits that derive from this "divine gift" (LG 43). The profession of the evangelical counsels is.seen first of all to facilitate the spiritual growth of the individual who is faithful to the divine call. Although all Chris-tians have been called to "freedom and glory as children of God" (Rm 8,21), Saint Paul teaches us that those who ÷ ÷ ÷ VOLUME 27, 1968 999 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 1000 persevere in celibacy for the love of God find a greater spiritual liberty. According to him, marriage is open to the danger of being seen only in itself, without the pro-found reality which it signifies: divine agape. Because of a duty to please the other (cf. 1 Co 7,33-34) the mar-ried man or woman has to worry about the affairs of the world. For the married person then it is more difficult to follow the ideal of the beatitudes: to be poor with Christ, to hunger and thirst with him, to suffer for his sake. "An unmarried man can devote himself to the Lord's affairs" (Ibid.). Seeking to please Christ alone, the virgin, undivided in heart, appears in the Church as one whose life is wholly ordered to God and whose ex-terior activities embody this total consecration to the Master. Here is the ideal condition for the pilgrim who wishes to go ever deeper into the desert, to meet his God (cf. Ex 19,17). 19. When the Fathers of Trent said that the state of virginity or celibacy is "better and more blessed" than that of marriage, they had in mind this doctrine of Saint Paul, even borrowing at times his own expressions. This doctrinal tradition is again echoed in the thought of the Second Vatican Council. Chastity "for the sake of the kingdom of heaven" (Mr 19,12) is presented as "freeing, in a singular manner, the heart of man" (PC 12) so that "he may, more easily and with undivided heart, dedicate himself to God alone" (LG 42). The religious state "gives its members greater freedom from earthly cares" (LG 44); it permits them "to follow Christ more freely and imitate him more closely" (PC 1). 20. The profession of the evangelical counsels locates the consecrated person in the depths of the Paschal Mystery; it unites him more intimately with Christ in his "baptism" of the cross (Mk 10,38; Lk 12,50) and in his resurrection. Saint Paul saw Christian asceticism as a dying of the old man, as going down into the tomb with Jesus, entering into his death through baptism (cf. Rm 6,1-11; Col 2, 11-13). Saint Luke places the coun-sel of virginity in the Christological context of Saint Paul: "There is no one who has left house, wife, brothers, parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God who will not be given repayment many times over in this present time and, in the world to come, eternal life" (Lk 18,29-30). To leave wife and children is to renounce marriage and to realize in an eminent way the condition demanded by Christ of those who wish to follow him, carrying the cross (cf. Lk 9,23). The Christian life in union with the Lord does not end at Calvary. God "raised us up with him and gave us a place with him in heaven, in Christ Jesus" (Ep 2,6). By the holocaust of perpetual continence, one vowed to celibacy is "set apart," "dedicated; . consecrated" to God, and thus participates in the exaltation of Christ: "All he need worry about is being holy in body and soul" (1 Co 7,34). The Extension of the Reign o[ Christ in the World 21. If the profession of the evangelical counsels is a cause of spiritual growth for the consecrated person himself, it is also ordered to the good of the entire Church and of all mankind. "The evangelical counsels which lead to charity join their followers to the Church and its mystery in a special way. Since .this is so, the spiritual life of these people should then be devoted to the weffare of the whole Church" (LG 44). If every Christian, in virtue of his baptism and confirmation, ought to bear witness and radiate Christ, it is evident that the profession of the evangelical counsels insofar as it is a structure of life and holiness in the Church, ought to share in a special way in the sacramentality of the Church in the world. Christ, through the vivifying Spirit, has formed his Body which is the Church as "a universal sacrament of salvation" (LG 48), as an effica-cious sign and "instrument of the Redemption" (cf. LG 9). We are conscious then of our obligation to be vitally significant, so that the Church-sacrament can realize itself in us, according to the measure of the grace we have received from Christ. 22. The value of the religious life as a sign has been abundantly underlined in the texts of the Second Vati-can Council. The profession of the evangelical counsels "manifests and signifies, by a more intimate consecration to God in the Church, the inner nature of the Christian calling" (AG 18). While the charity which is active within the secular world identifies itself concretely with the tasks and activities of the world, the profession of the evangelical counsels brings clearly into view the deeper, transcendental and supramundane dimension of Chris-tian life. In a striking manner, this profession attests to the truth that "the world cannot be transformed and of-fered to God without the spirit of the beatitudes" (LG 31). In transcending not only in spirit but also effectively and visibly the very noble values of Christian marriage, . of the possession of the good things of this world and of the free disposition of one's own life "in pursuit of an excellence surpassing what is commanded" (LG 42), the consecrated religious preaches in his own life the Sermon on the Mount. He reminds all that we ought to use this world as men not engrossed in it, that this world is passing away (cf. 1 Co 7,31). 23. Because of its greater spiritual liberty, a life con- VOLU./VIE- 27, 1968 1001 secrated by the profession of the evangelical counsels can become a very efficacious sign of the saving love of God, universal and multiform. That is why the Council ex-horts religious "carefully to consider that through them, to believers and non-believers alike, the Church truly wishes to give an increasingly clearer revelation of Christ. Through them Christ should be shown contem-plating on the mountain, announcing God's kingdom to the multitude, healing the sick and the maimed, con-verting sinners to a better life, blessing children, doing good to all, and always obeying the will of the Father who sent him" (LG 45). The profession of the evangelical counsels, then, is "the very heart of the religion that has come to us from the first days; it is devotion wholly founded on Christ; it is the ancient heritage of the Church of God. It was prefigured in the time of the prophets. John the Baptist, at the dawn of the New Covenant, established and re-newed it. The Lord himself lived it. And his disciples, while he was still with them, ardently desired it." " CHAPTER TWO THE CISTERCIAN VOCATION ARTICLE ONE CISTERCIAN LIFE AS ONE AMONG THE DIFFERENT FORMS OF RELIGIOUS LIFE REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 1002 Monastic Lile 24. The phenomenon of monastic life is found al-most universally in the history of religions. Secretly drawn by the grace of the "unknown God" (LG 16) and experiencing their fundamental powerlessness, men of the most varied religions and cultures have been led to a certain withdrawal from society, and separation from family ties, to a rigorous personal poverty and asceti-cism. "In shadows and images" these "pilgrims of the Absolute" have striven after purity of heart, goodwill towards all men, a greater interiority leading to a truly deep and lasting personal peace. In this peace they have experienced something of God, who is the "eternal Peace." Through these elements of asceticism, interior-ity, total abandonment to an ultimate obscurely present, through this monastic way of life, divine grace has been poured into their hearts by the Spirit through the uni-versal redemption of Christ and has brought them into the flow of salvation history. 25. The revelation of the loving goodness of God, William of St. Thierry, Letter to the Carthusians, I, 3. made first to Abraham when he was invited to leave his family and his people to become the Father of all the faithful (cf. Rm 4,11-12), came to direct a basic human aspiration to a yet higher goal. God entered personally into our history to gradually transform the religious conscience of man. He chose for himself a people and educated them in a special way, preparing them for the coming of Christ. In the formation of the Hebrew peo-ple as they marched towards the Land of Promise the desert experience played an important, even essential role. Their prophets reflecting back upon it, elaborated a theology of the desert which would inspire the monas-tic movement lived within the fullness of the historical revelation. The desert is the place where God submitted Israel to the test to teach him that "man does not live on bread alone but that man lives on everything that comes from the mouth of Yahweh" (Dt 8,8). The sobriety of the cult of the desert would not let the Israelites be content with a formalistic piety, but called them to truly seek God. Recalling the disobedience of this "headstrong" people (Ex 82,9; 33,8-5), the Spirit urges us that at least today we ought not to tempt God (cf. Ps 95,7-8). Finally purified by the experience of the desert, Israel would be open to intimate converse with her Lord, Yahweh. It is the time for espousals (cf. Ho 9,16.21). 26. The Rekabites wished to prolong this ideal time; the Essenes, to make it return. Through the cours~ of the centuries Christian monasticism would draw from these spiritual treasures, adding to them the riches of the New Testament, above all the example of Jesus led into the desert by the Spirit (cf. Mk 1,12). To go into the desert is to leave behind the normal conditions of human life. It is to leave behind the com-fortable surroundings of c~vlllzatlon and qmckly expe-rience the hardships of solitude: ?'What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the breeze? No? Then what did you go out to see? A man wearing fine clothes? Oh no, those who wear fine clothes are to be found in palaces" (Mt 11,7-8). A hard life, however, is only the outer shell of a reli-gious experience of the desert. The man who is led by the Spirit to follow Christ quickly discovers the spiritual riches that are hidden within. Putting distance between oneself and the city with its preoccupations is the most radical way to keep from being submerged in the "cares of the world" which too often choke the Word, ren-dering it unfruitful (cf. Mt 13,22). Solitude leads a man back to a true perspective of himself. Exposing all his pretences, it impresses upon him the evidence of his own personal poverty, of his total destitution, his need of ÷ ÷ ÷ Charter o] Charity VOLUME 27, 1968 1003 ÷ ÷ ÷ REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 1004 God's help. In a word, the desert is the ideal place to en-counter God, to return to Yahweh: "That is why I am going to lure her and lead her out into the wilderness and speak to her heart" (Ho 2,16). 27. What distinguishes Christian monasticism and gives it its preeminence is the inner meaning it receives from the New Testament, the Gospels, the fullness of the revelation: "Even the angels long to catch a glimpse of these things" (1 P 1,12). The monastic life is above all centered on "Christ, the Son of the living God" (Mt 16,16) and "the Light of the nations" (LG 1) and the sign of God's love in our midst (cf. Jn 3,16; 13,34; 14,9). The monk seeks a God whom he knows in Christ. He is conscious of belonging to the human family that has been wounded and subjected to sin (cf. Rm 7,23) but also redeemed and renewed by him who became "our wisdom, and our virtue, and our holiness, and our free. dom" (1 Co 1,30). It was the word of the Master with its invitation to leave all to follow him that inspired Saint Anthony, and so many after him, to withdraw into the desert. There they struggled with sin and passion, they gave themselves to rigorous asceticism, they strove for incessant prayer and perseverence in this new form of martyrdom. Living in the continual presence of the Lord they were admit-ted to the contemplation of divine mysteries. The des-erts of Egypt, Syria and Palestine attracted many as-cetics. Some lived in complete solitude, some, under the spiritual guidance of an "Abba"; others joined the "Koinonia," following the example of the primitive Je-rusalem community. This latter form, initiated by Saint Pachomius, largely inspired later monasticism. Saint Benedict gathered together and adapted the better elements of the preceding monastic tradition. He proposed his Rule as an initial way of conversion, di-recting his disciples who thirsted for greater perfection to the Holy Scriptures and the doctrine of the "holy Fathers" (c[. RB 73). Because of its discretion and adapt-ability the Benedictine Rule became the principal mo-nastic code in the West, while the Orient has received its inspiration for the most part from the Rules of Saint Basil. 28. The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council have insisted that "in the East and in the West, the venerable institution of monastic life should be faithfully pre-served, and should grow ever-increasingly radiant with its own authentic spirit. Through the course of centu-ries, this institution has been of value to the Church and the human community" (PC 9). The Council recognized two forms of monastic response; the one hidden and wholly consecrated to divine worship; the other legiti- mately taking up some apostolate. Nevertheless the Council asserted that "the principal task" of all monks "is a humble and noble service of our divine Lord within the confines of the monastery" (Ibid.) The Cistercian Life 29. Today, the Church, through the voice of the Council, asks us to renew our monastic life according to "the spirit and aims of our Founders" (PC 2). Through the grace we share with our Fathers, we are convinced that the Cistercian life can continue to bear fruit for the Church of today and tomorrow. But this will be so only if we are attentive to the Holy Spirit and able to distin-guish the permanent values in the patrimony bequeathed to us by our Fathers which we must re-express in the socio-cultural context of our own times. Giving ourselves to this work of "renewal and adap-tation" we wish truly to seek a deep understanding of the charismatic intuition of our Fathers, to perceive their "spirit," that is, the totality of the essential prin-ciples of their spirituality, which it was given to them to objectify within the Church and to transmit to us a "letter," that is, all the practical determinations meant to incarnate the essential principles in a certain histori-cal epoch, a certain society, a certain culture. Because of the inevitable changes of time and circum-stances, in accord with a dialectic willed by Divine Providence, the "letter" of the Founders, in a new his-torical situation, finds itself sometimes in conflict with their "spirit." We have then the right and the duty, in order to be fully faithful to the "spirit," to confront the "letter" with the signs of the times, weighing and veri-fying all things, retaining what is good (cf. 1 Th 4,21) and creating where necessary new structures, but not before first calling upon God in most earnest prayer to guide our undertaking to a happy conclusion (cf. RB Prol. 4). 30. Our Cistercian Fathers were indeed living a re-presentation of the spiritual plenitude of Saint Ben-edict. Their own particular grace was an outburst of fervor and of love for Christ whom they wished to serve with greater generosity. To achieve this it was not their thought to establish in the Church a form of monastic life new and untried. They simply resolved to observe "more closely and more perfectly the Rule of Saint Ben-edict" (Ex.Parv. ch.2). Keenly alive to the value of au-thenticity, they looked for the "direct way of the Rule in every circumstance of their life," rejecting all that ran counter to its integrity (Ibid., ch.15). New soldiers of Christ enrolled in a spiritual militia, carrying on the combat in solitude far fi:om the affairs of the world, they ÷ ÷ ÷ Charter ol Charity VOLUME 27, 1968 1005 ÷ ÷ ÷ Charter o] Charity REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 1006 labored to gain their living and to be able to offer to all a fitting hospitality. Poor with the poor Christ, they despoiled themselves of all that was superfluous and were content with the more simple, thus sharing in the hum-ble state of the poor of Yahweh and placing all their confidence in the Lord. Their attachment to the Benedictine Rule was above all in the service of love, the queen of the virtues, to-wards which all the observances were ordered. On a deeper level their spiritual enthusiasm was centered on Christ. It was because they wished to prefer nothing to him (cf. RB 4,21) that they returned to a more faithful observance of the prescriptions of Saint Benedict, their "guide, teacher and legislator." It was on the cross, with Christ, that they made their profession, hoping to re-main faithful to him. Mary, the "new Eve" at the side of Christ, the tender Mother of Christians, they honored as the Queen of heaven and earth. 31. The doctrine of the relationship of the "letter" to the "spirit" was present in the thought of the first Cistercians; it explains some of the decisions they made. Thus, of the monastic traditions introduced after the time of Saint Benedict, our Fathers retained some and rejected others according as they did or did not enable them to live the Rule in a more authentic way in the context of their own times. Indeed, to better incarnate the "spirit" of the Patriarch of Western Monasticism, they did not hesitate to set aside observances of the Rule itself and to create new forms. It was "~ight, in fact, that what was established for the sake of charity, should be omitted, discontinued or changed for something bet-ter when charity called for it. On the other hand, it would have been erroneous to wish to maintain con-trary to charity something that had been established for its sake." 3 32. We have received from God the Cistercian char-ism. We share it with our Fathers. As they had, so we have the right and duty to bring it to concrete realiza-tion within the Church of our times. This co-respons-ibility demands on our part that today we clearly dis-cern what are the essential principles of the spirituality of Saint Benedict, and what concrete form our creative fidelity to these principles ought to take. The true son of Saint Benedict, first and above all, seeks God (cf. RB 58,7) in the love of Christ (cf. RB 4,21). This search for God finds its highest expression in the "Work of God" (cf. KB 19; 43,1.3), which must be nourished by sacred reading (cf. RB 4,55; 48,1) and by intense personal prayer (cf. RB 4,56; 20). It is lived in St. Bernard, A Book on Precepts and Dispensations, II, 5. the midst of a community of love (RB 72,1-8), where all the brethren in their zeal for humility (RB 58,7) seek to obey one another (RB 71,1) and before all others, their abbot (RB 71,13), who holds for them the place of Christ (RB 2,2; 63,13). Identifying with the poor, they are ready to add manual labor, according to the example of our Fathers and the Apostles, to their habitual ascet-icism of silence, vigils, fasts and abstinence (RB 48,8). The workshop in which the disciple of Saint Benedict does all this is "the enclosure of the monastery and sta-bility in the community" (RB 4,78) far from the affairs of the world (RB 4,20). Recognizing our authentic vocation in this very clear Benedictine doctrine, we proclaim with Saint Bernard that "our life is one of self-abasement, humility, volun-tary poverty, obedience, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit; it is submission to a master, to an abbot, to a Rule, and to a discipline; it is living in silence, fasting and watching, praying and manual labor; above all it consists in following the more excellent way which is charity." 4 33. All these fundamental values must be brought into confrontation with the signs of our times. Thus we will be able to distinguish among the particular deter-minations of the Rule which of them still correspond to its true "spirit," and which of them ought to give place to new forms better able to realize the fullness of Bene-dictine life in the Church of today. Because the differences between their respective his-torical situations were not so great, our Fathers of Citeaux were able to live in the "spirit" of Saint Bene-dict retaining most of the particular determinations of the Rule. Today the world situation is almost entirely different. And therefore we realize that often we must be creative if we wish to live in full conformity with the "spirit" of Saint Benedict and our Cistercian Fathers. ARTICLE TWO THE CONTEMPORARY VALUES OF CISTERCIAN LIFE Its Value in Regard to Personal Fulfillment 34. In addition to the values it shares with the other forms of religious life, the Cistercian life is able to bring forth both for the individual and for the Church particular fruits flowing from its own proper character. Being wholly dedicated to contemplation, our Insti-tute seeks before all else to give to each monk and nun the possibility of the greatest spiritual liberty in order to ~St. Bernard, Letter 151, trans. B. James, Letters o] St. Bernard of Claimaux (London: Bums, Oates, 1953), p. 220. 4. + Charter ot Charity VOLUME 27, 1968 1007 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 1008 be open to God alone without any other concern, not even that of a ministry or special service among the peo-ple of God. In spite of the urgent necessities of the active apostolate, the Second Vatican Council has insisted that institutes whose life is wholly contemplative should re-tain their proper character and their withdrawal from the world (cf. PC 7). The peace of the Cistercian clois-ter, while remaining open to all the concerns of the Church and the progress that is taking place within the human family, yet frees us from whatever does not per-tain to contemplative love, to adhering mind and heart to Christ, our God. This spiritual liberty of the monk and nun is an ex-tension of the special freedom enjoyed in every conse-crated life. Besides the freedom enjoyed in regard to the values of Christian marriage, of the possession of mate-rial goods and of the free disposition of one's own life "in pursuit of an excellence surpassing what is com-manded" (LG 42), the contemplative transcends even the values of specialized visible apostolates, although these are so necessary in a missionary Church. If we forego this aspect of Christian charity it is to realize more effectively and surely its deeper dimension: the perfect union of the soul with God. "You are freer from the distractions and delights of the world; seek all the more to please God" (Ex.Parv. 14). 35. Our spiritual ascent is also characterized by a rad-ical asceticism intended to help create and preserve our spiritual liberty as monks. To the renunciation found in the counsels of virginity, poverty and obedience Cis-tercian asceticism adds that of withdrawal from the world, silence, watching and fasting. These are meant to penetrate to the most secret attachments of the human heart, unmasking disordered passions liable to escape a less radical asceticism. It is the experience of the desert: "But what does it mean: to have come into solitude? It means to consider this world as a desert, to desire the Fatherland, to have only so much of this world as is suf-ficient to complete the journey." ~ Because of the "law of sin" which is still alive within us (cf. Rm 7,23) it is very difficult for a man. to detach himself from the values sacrificed by our monastic pro-fession. The "spirituality of the desert" certainly brings a great freedom but it also involves a painful detach-ment and demands a great fidelity to divine grace. "That there should be in the middle of great modern cities, in the richest of countries, as also on the plains of the Ganges or in the forests of Africa, men and women ca-pable of finding complete fulfillment in a life of adora- St. Aelred, Sermon 5: First Sermon [or the Feast o] St. Benedict (P.L., v. 195, col 244C-D). ¯ o o tion and praise, who consecrate themselves wllhngly to thanksgiving and intercession, who freely make. them-selves the surety of humanity before the Creator, the protectors and advocates of their brothers before the Father of the heavens, what a victory for the Almighty, what a glory for the Savior. And monachism, in its es-sense, is nothing else." ~ 36. In the midst of this "labor of obedience" (RB Prol. 2) we experience "how good, how delightful it is for all to live together like brothers" (Ps 133,1). While learning by the help of many brethren how to fight against the devil (cf. RB 1,4) we can love our brothers with a tender and chaste love, having a profound respect for each one (Rm 12,9-10), carrying each other's burdens (Ga 6,2), patiently enduring one another's infirmities, obeying one another, seeking not what is useful to self, but rather what benefits the other (cf. RB 72,4-8). Such fraternal love is not only the strongest safeguard for chastity (PC 12), it fulfills the law of Christ (cf. Rm 13,8-10; Ga 5,15) and responds to a man's basic need to give himself in love in order to live in union with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Jn 1,3). 37. Enriched by the experience of centuries, the Cis-tercian monastic life, in spite of its particular austerity, can hope to bring together the necessary conditions for the maturation of a well-balanced community, provided, of .course, that those who bind themselves to the com-munity by profession are freely and maturely responding to a true call from the Lord. Saint Bernard noted that "the variety of our observ-ances forestalls tedium and acadia." In this variety we wish to find more and more the original Benedictine equilibrium, balancing sacred reading, the "Work of God" and labor. This is in effect "what Saint Benedict said, or rather the Holy Spirit in Saint Benedict. He did not say that we ought to be attentive to reading, as Mary, and omit the corporal work of Martha. He rec-ommended both to us, assigning certain times to the occupation of Mary, and others to that of Martha'." 7 That sincere love of our brothers which favors the full development of the affective life of each is also an im-portant factor for equilibrium in our life. The Cistercian Life in the Presence of the World Today +~, 38. If we do not, in fact, exercise any specialized serv- ÷ ice in the Church of Christ, we are nevertheless con- 6Plus XII, Allocution to the Congress on Oriental Monastic Studies, April 11, 1958 (Acta Apostolicae.Sedis, v: 50 (1958), p. 285. ~ St. Aelred, Sermon ~or the Feast ol the Assumption (P.L., v. 195, col. 307). Charter o] Charity VOLUME 27,.1968/, . 1009 REVIEW FOR RELiGiOUS 1010 scious that in virtue of the plenitude of love towards which we are tending we must dedicate ourselves to im-planting and strengthening the reign of Christ in souls, to spreading it to all the universe (cf. LG 44). "The contemplative life belongs to the fullness of the presence of the Church" in every region (AG 18). We wish to be truly part of the Church-as-sacrament according to the role that is proper to us, over and above that which is proper to all religious. 39. Fundamentally, our Cistercian life is a living man-ifestation of the most profound dimension of the mys-tery of the Church: the ineffable love of Christ and his Spouse, in the Holy Spirit. This aspect is certainly present in every authentic Christian life but it becomes in a certain sense visible in our integrally contemplative life since our love for Christ does not call upon us to render any special form of service within the visible Church, but rather to express itself in a more exclusive and continuous dialogue with God, in the Holy Spirit. We are conscious that in order to give our full and proper witness among the people of God, contemplative prayer must wholly inform our lives. With all our hearts, we wish to be "men of God," in body as well as in spirit; that is, in such a way that all our activities come to have a certain transparency, visibly reflecting in each of our undertakings our contemplative union with Christ and the Father. Thus may we render visible the intimacy of the Church with her Spouse, and, in Christ contemplating on the mountain (cf, LG 46), the intimacy of the Church with the Father, in the Holy Spirit. 40. United in a community of love, under an abbot who holds the "place of Christ in the monastery" (RB 2,2), we contribute as do all the other religious brother-hoods in the Church, to showing forth to all the ideal of the Christian community as it was traced out by the Lord. Furthermore, the unity of the brethren manifests, by the fulfillment of his commandment, that the Lord has indeed come. "By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, that you have love for one another" (Jn 13,35; 17,21). 41. In their own way, our radical asceticism and the simplicity of our live have special value as signs. Tran-scending the goods of the earthly city, the life of the desert is beyond even the profession of the evangelical counsels as an effective sign of the eschatological reali-ties. This life reminds men that the "world as we know it is passing away" (1 Co 7,31). "For (as William of Saint Thierry said) your simplicity provokes many men to emulation; your poverty, so complete and so spiritual, confounds the cupidity of many; your silence creates in many a distaste for those things which cause or seem to cause so much excitement and noise." 49_. If our integrally contemplative life, our brother-hood, and our radical asceticism enable us to partici-pate in the sacramentality of the Church in the world today, our vocation is also a commitment to the service of all men as our brothers. Our participation in the Church-as-sacrament is realized, not only by the wit-ness of our lives, but also by our activities. Our principal obligation toward mankind is that of prayer and redemptive penance. Through these we exer-cise a role in the conversion of man to God (c[. AG 40). Interceding for our brothers and filling up in our bodies what "still has to be undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, the Church" (Col 1,24), we realize that we exercise in depth the priesthood shared by all Christians. 43. In extending hospitality to all who come to the monastery, we wish to respond to the desire ex-pressed by many pastors that our monastic communi-ties might be spiritual oases where all, believer and unbeliever alike, might come to seek spiritual rest after their labors in the city of man, and where we might mutually encourage one another (cf. 1 Th 5,11). "The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these too are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ," so that nothing genuinely human ought to fail to raise an echo in our hearts (cf. GS 1). Receiving every man who comes as if he were Christ himself, we should re-lieve the poor, clothe the naked, help those in trouble and console the sorrowing (cf. RM 53,1; 4,14-15.18-I9). In order that our monasteries might be "sources [or the upbuilding of the Christian people" (PC 9), we will want our guest to share as fully as possible in our spiritual riches, in our liturgical life, in the fraternal love that our communities should perfectly express. The Holy Spirit, distributing his charisms for the service of the local Church, will not fail to give some monks an aptitude for spiritual dialogue with the guests, for directing souls with judicious counsel, and for sharing the fruits of wisdom that have been drawn from Christ in the solitude and silence of contemplation. Some of us are called to the priesthood, responding to a freely given and personal call from God, according to the needs of the place. Fully compatible with the con-templative life and withdrawal from the world, a monastic priesthood of ministry exercised among the guests as well as within the community can produce very 4. Charter o~ Charity VOLUME 27, ~.968 lOll REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 1012 valuable fruits both for the monastery and for the local Church. Finally, by a generous and completely open hospital-ity we hope to make a contribution to the ecumenical endeavors of the different churches. By contact with our monastic brotherhoods which simply aim at estab-lishing an ideal milieu in which to live the Good News of Christ in its fullness, our separated brethren can easily recognize the spiritual riches which we hold as a common heritage. 44. Although we are not ordinarily called to fulfill a specific apostolic function within the Church, neverthe-less we always remain open, as true sons of Saint Benedict, to a special appeal to express the charity of Christ in particular circumstances. In this way we follow the "spirit" and example of our Cistercian Fa-thers who were continually open to the concerns of the universal Church and ready to respond to the de-mands of charity addressed to them as individuals or as communities. 45. Nor will we neglect to help humanity, with all the potential offered by our particular charism to transform and perfect the world, to participate in the development of cultures by cooperating in the effort of civilization and by working at a better distribution of material goods among peoples and individuals. In this we are conscious of following the path traced by our Fathers and the whole Benedictine tradition. For "it is he [Benedict] principally and his sons, who, with the cross, the book, and the plough, brought Christian progress to peoples extending from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia, from Ireland to the plains of Poland." s At this moment in history when it is given to man, thanks to the progress in science and technology, to develop himself more fully by an ever more marvelous mastery of the dynamisms of creation and by responsi-bly cooperating with God in the realization of the values of this world, we can render many services to the Church and the human family by our commitment. Nevertheless we are profoundly convinced that the pil-grim Church has need above all of our contemplative life: of men and women, who, by a life more visibly turned to God and the realities to come, remind all men that the most fundamental dimension of their existence is their personal relation with the God of our Lord, Jesus Christ, remind them that while all things are ours, we are Christ's and Christ is God's (cf. 1 Co. 3,22-23). s Pius XII, Homily oI september 18, 1947 (Acta Apostolicae Sedis, v. 39 (1947), p. 455. ERNEST E. LARKIN, O.CARM. Scriptural- 7 heological Aspects oJ Religious Life The concept* of Christian perfection has moved from an almost unilateral emphasis on the eschatological and transcendent aspects of Christian life into the per-spectives of person, community, and social conscious-ness. Pre-Vatican II thinking saw the religious vocation less in terms of becoming a person, creating community, and being involved in the great social issues than in personal detachment and a supernatural charity nour-ished by spiritual exercises and the observances of the cloister. The emphasis has shifted now to these new values which bring in the role of terrestrial values. Life is seen as a building of a universe in which the in-dividual and society are the agents. A man constructs his life through his multiple relationships with his fellows, through being-with-others, through his history. Simplistically and often in exaggerated reaction, sweep-ing changes are urged in the name of this new phi-losophy: silence must cede the place of honor to dialogue, s~litude to community, prayer to a peace march or poverty program, spiritual love to human affection, blind obedience to collegiality, poverty to having the most efficient equipment for the work we do. It thus becomes apparent how necessary it is to review from a theological point.of view the very foundations of re-ligious life in order to evaluate the changes in religious theory and practice that are occurring. Religious Lqe in General According to one recent writer the task of rethinking religious life in postconciliar terms is almost impos-sible (J. Mahoney in National Catholic Reporter, March 6, 1968). Religious life, he says, is Gnostic and Jansenis-tic in its opposition to the world so that it is poisoned * This is the text of a talk given June 26, 1968, to the Conference of Major Superiors of Religious Men held at Mundelein, Illinois. Ernest E. Larkin, O.Carm., professor of spiritual theol-ogy at Catholic University, lives at 1600 Wesbster St., N.E.; Washington, D.C. 20O17. VOLUME 27~ 1968 1013 Ernest E. Larkin, O.Carm. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 1014 in its roots. As an "esoteric sub-culture" with its "Stoic discipline" and "unearthly spirituality," it is a counter-sign and parody of Christian baptism. This is a harsh judgment; but one that serves to remind us that re-ligious life must be above all Christian life, rooted in Christ, the Gospels, and the Church. I~ one distinguishes renewal and adaptation and identifies renewal as revitalization of the substance, whereas adaptation is adjusting forms and structures, the primary task before us is renewal. It is a new realization of the radical Christian dimensions .of re-ligious life. Religious life is "a following of Christ" (PC 2a),1 "a sharing in the life of the Church" (PC 2c), a life in the Spirit (PC 2e). The principal agent of renewal is the Holy Spirit who calls religious to return to Christ in faith and personal decision. Existing struc-tures stand under judgment. They must be rethought and, as necessary, revamped in terms of authentic Gospel spirituality and the concrete realities of our day (PC 2d). What is obsolete, that is, irrelevant (PC 20; ES 17),2 is to be expunged; what is valid is to be revivified; and viable new ways of implementing the ideal are to be created. Religious life is baptismal life; otherwise it is a thief who "enters not by the door into the sheepfold but climbs up another way" (Jn 10:1). Religious life is a "special" way of Christian life (LG 44;3 PC 1), because it is the way of the evangelical counsels institutionalized in the Church. The evangeli-cal counsels, which are "manifold" (LG 42) and meant for all Christians, are reduced in this case to the three values of chastity, poverty, and obedience. These coun-sels can be lived independently of religious life (LG 42) or concretized in an approved institute in the Church (LG 43). In the latter case they identify the religious life. The documents stress the theological significance of the counsels, their relation to charity, hope, axed faith. The legal bonds in the form of vows, oaths, or promises express the dedication to the ethical values in an approved institute and are necessary as human in-struments for the stability and permanency of this state, even as they promote the more basic value of "freedom strengthened by obedience" (LG 43). The vows are servants of faith, hope, and charity; hence they are open to revision, that is, dispensation, when the religious state, which is permanent, becomes a hin-drance rather than a help to faith, hope, and charity. x PC throughout this article refers to Vatican II's Per[ectae cari-tatis (Decree on Religious Lile). ~ ES throughout this article refers to Paul VI's Ecclesiae sanctae. 8 LG throughout this article refers to Vatican II's Lumen gentium (Constitution on the Church). The evangelical counsels and the theological virtues, in other words, are the operative principles of religious existence, in the mind of the Council. The history of the text of Perfectae caritatis illustrates the shift in emphasis from law to spirit in the conciliar thinking about religious life. Is religious life a superior way of Christian life? Chapter VI of Lumen gentium and the decree Perfectae caritatis imply a higher excellence when they refer to the "special" nature of this life (LG 44; PC 1), when they use comparatives in stating that religious are "more intimately consecrated" to Christ and enjoy a union with the Church by "firmer and steadier bonds" (LG 44), and when they emphasize the "unique" eschatological sign value of the religious state (LG 44; PC 1). All of these citations, however, refer to grace offered, not to grace lived. The Council, as is well known, eschewed odious comparisons between one state and another and underlined the universal call to holiness in all the baptized. It refused to speak of states of perfection and took the personalist approach to different vocations in the Church by stressing the uniqueness of each call and the complementarity of all vocations. The mind of the Council is summed up in the dictum: "Your vocation is the best, indeed the only one, for you." It might have cited the words of O. W. Holmes: "Every calling is great when greatly pursued." In summary, we can maintain, it seems to me, that a religious call is objectively a higher grace th~n the married vocation, but in the teaching of the Council one's state or way of li~e is as good as it is lived. Why then does a Christian choose the religious life? It is an "outstanding gift of grace" (PC 12), a charism; and ultimately the conviction that one has been offered this grace is the only valid reason for entering religion. But the judgment is made on the basis of self-knowledge whereby the candidate believes that in view o~ his limitations and potential this way of life offers him the best possibilities for his human and transcendent selbfulfillment (see Development of Peo-ples, n. 16). Given the appropriate emotional maturity presupposed for any life-choice, whereby the individual recognizes the values in each option and is free enough to choose either one, human or psychological factors enter the decision in favor of religious life as for marriage. The religious answers a call, but one heard in the depths of his own human aspirations. He does his "thing" as laymen do their own, and together they express different dimensions of human existence as well as different aspects of the whole gospel. Religious life, in other words, is a human value as well as an other- 4- Religious Liye VOI.UMt= 27, 1968 1015 ÷ ÷ ÷ Ernest E. Larkin, O.Carm. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 1016 worldly one. It is important today to see religious life under this double aspect. Otherwise it may not appear as worth the burden to contemporary Christians, who deeply sense Karl Rahner's definition of man as "that being who must necessarily realize himself in love in order to correspond to his own being" (The Word in History, ed. T. Patrick Burke, New York: Sheed and Ward, 1966, p. 70). I shall try to develop these values by first showing the Scriptural basis for each of the evangelical counsels and then by indicating the positive values for the person, the Church, and the world in these evangelical counsels. Scriptural Basis Consecrated chastity, or virginity "for the sake of the kingdom," is a New Testament value explicitly taught by St. Matthew in these words of the Lord: Not all can accept this teaching, but those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who were born so from their mothers' womb; and there are eunuchs who were made so by men; and there are eunuchs who have made themselves so for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let him accept who can (Mt 19:11-2). Both the source and the goal of the charism of evangelical virginity are taught in this passage. Neither physical impotency nor psychological ineptitude nor social pressure grounds the choice of virginity over mar-riage for a follower of Christ. Virginity "for the sake of the kingdom" is a gift freely accepted, not out of timidity or selfish bachelorhood, but precisely "for the sake of the basileia." It is ordered to charity. This is"its positive content: it frees the heart for love (PC 12); it is a "sign and incentive of charity" (LG 42). The charism of evangelical virginity makes it possible for a Christian to love God and his fellowmen intensely without the normative and natural support of mar-riage. A second locus classicus in the New Testament is St. Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 7, especially verses 25-35. Paul is addressing himself to practical cases in the Corinthian church. In view of a parousia that may occur imminently, he advises the Christian converts to maintain their present status, married or virginal, waiting with a certain freedom and detachment as "this world as we see it posses away" (v. 31). The advice is ad hoc and pragmatic, in view of "the present distress" (v. 26). Even the general principles which he enunciates in the latter half of the passage are to be interpreted in the context of an imminent parousia: He who is unmarried is concerned about the things of t~e Lord, how he may please God. Whereas he who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife; and he is divided (vv. 32-3). In the context of the Corinthian church, there is no doubt that in Paul's mind virginity is a better way. It disposes for contemplation, for "praying to the Lord without distraction" (v. 35), much as earlier in the chapter Paul allows abstinence from intercourse by mutual consent by husband and wife in order thht they may give themselves to prayer (v. 5). Is Paul also teach-ing as a universal principle that virginity practically speaking is a better way for the Christian than mar-riage? Exegetes generally seem to have thought so, but some recent commentators restrict the teaching to the extremely eschatological perspective of the Corinthian problem. In this reading Paul is not explicitly asserting a universal superiority for virginity. But there is no doubt in Paul's mind of the particular merits of vir-ginity for the cultivation of what we call today the vertical aspect of Christian life. The paragraph devoted to poverty in Per[ectae cari-tatis (n. 13) cites a number of texts which single out different aspects of the Old Testament theme of the anawim, the poor people of God. The first citation, 2 Corinthians 8:9, holds up Jesus himself, who "though he was rich, for our sakes became poor." Alan Richard-son writes of these words: "It is Jesus himself who embodies the biblical idea of 'the poor man' who trusts only in God, and herein lies the real theological significance of his poverty" (A Theological Word Book of the Bible, ed, Alan Richardson, New York: Mac-millan, 1962, p. 169). Other texts cited reinforce the interior attitude of trust in God (Mt 6:26), resting one's security in God and not in earthly treasures (Mt 6:20), being detached enough to share everything with the poor (Mr 19:21), with those in need (Mt 25:34--45; Jas 2:15-6), in effective acts of fraternal love (1 Jn 3:17). The interior attitude of trust, openness, and detach-ment is primary; but it thrives best in actual poverty, in renouncing riches in favor of the poor, and experi-encing, therefore, the insecurity of the anawim who are thrown upon the Lord's care and driven to hope in Him since they have no worldly prestige and influence on which to rest their security. Even Matthew 19:21 cannot be invoked as a proof text for voluntary re-ligious poverty, since the context indicates a universal norm of total renunciation for all Christians. Religious life specifies that recommendation in an institutional form, whereby persons become poor "both in fact and in spirit" (PC 13) in order to create the ideal disposi- + Religious Lif~ VOLUME 27, 1968 1017 Ernest E. Larkin, O.Carm. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 1018 tion for centering their lives in God and giving gener-ously to their fellowmen. The Scriptural basis for poverty, then, lies in the long tradition of the anawira, celebrated in the first beatitude in both Matthew (who extols' poverty of spirit) and Luke (who proclaims actual poverty). While religious poverty is not primarily a socio-economic con-dition, it cannot be reduced to mere lack of owner-ship or legal (often legalistic) dependence on superiors' permissions. Religious poverty is an experience of emp-tiness and felt need for God created by the lack of significant worldly resources. It is a visible witness to the pilgrim status of the Church, but its essential spirit animates rich and poor alike in the Church who place their resources at the service of men. Obedience in the Bible is the equivalent of hearing, that is, responding to the word of God; hence for Christians it is an exercise of faith. Thus in St. Paul Abraham "believed in God" (Rm 4:3), while in Gene-sis Abraham "obeyed God's voice" (Gn 22:8; 26:5). The decree presents Christ's example of love and obedience to the will of His Father (for example, Jn 4:34) recog-nized in the institutions of His own earthly existence (Hb 5:8) in total service of His fellowmen (for example, Mt 20:28) as the root of religious obedience. Voluntary choice of submission to a religious regime beyond the hierarchically constituted structures of the Church is not taught explicitly in the New Testament. Religious obedience, therefore, is a development. Theologians have endeavored to work out a theory of religious obedience (for example, K. Rahner, Hill-man, Tillard, 0rsy). The following reflection assimilates some of this thinking. Religious institutes are charismatic interventions of the Holy Spirit approved by the Church but not part of the hierarchical structure. The com-munity is the bearer of the charism; hence the exercise of authority and obedience in the group is eminently collegial. But religious communities are not free-floating bodies independent of the Church. They exist in the Church, and the superior is the. link between the teach-ing and ruling authority in the Church and the religious community. While religious obedience, therefore, can-not be reduced to a simple equation of the superior's will and God's will in a magical fashion, still the superior remains the authority, the last word, as it were, in debate and dialogue (PC 14). In summary, religious obedience finds its justification in the individ-ual members subordinating themselves to a community effort guided by the Holy Spirit in a life-form of service that has the guarantee of the Church for its evangelical validity. The new ordering of the three counsels, with chastity placed in the first place, is intended to bring out the radical and central role of evangelical virginity in the formation of a religious life. It is the charism which sets an individual and a community apart. Virginity im-plies dose companionship with Christ, an affinity for prayer, and the freedom to dedicate all one's energies to the kingdom. Poverty is a condition for this positive content of chastity. Like celibacy itself it aims to create an emptiness and disponibility so that one is free to "use the world as though not using it" (1 Cor 7:31), having nothing but possessing all things. Obedience is the way of insuring the ecclesiastical character of this venture. Chastity forms a celibate community of love in the Church. With6ut poverty the celibate community gives no witness; without obedience it lacks *mission. The poverty must be visible, and obedience must be responsi-ble search by the whole community for the Spirit. All three counsels together, therefore, structure the gift of the Spirit which is religious life. Values of the Evangelical Counsels We shall consider the meaning of the vows on four different levels suggested by Cardinal Doepfner in a conciliar speech at Vatican II. These four levels are the ascetical, the ecclesial, the apostolic, and the eschato-logical, all of which are designated values in para-graph 5 of Perfectae caritatis. Ascetical Value The ascetical value, which refers to the vows as means of personal sanctification, corresponds to the first prin-ciple of renewal, personal union with Christ (PC 2a). The ascetical significance is the key. Whatever the role in the Church of a particular community, "the mem-bers of every community, seeking God solely and be-fore everything else, should join contemplation, by which they fix their minds and hearts on Him, with apostolic love, by which they strive to be associated with the work of redemption and to spread the kingdom of God" (PC 5). The religious vocation is a call to con-templation and apostolate addressed to all religious. The vows are renunciations of recognized earthly good for the prosecution of this double personal goal. If, however, sexuality, property, and the exercise of personal judgment and decision are the raw material for growth into personhood, as is recognized today, will not the vows frustrate the maturity which is pre-supposed for a life of prayer and action? Why then renounce these human goods? The answer is that the ÷ ÷ ÷ neUglous Life 1019 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 1020 vows do indeed presuppose a basic adult self-possession, freedom, and responsibility. This is why only balanced persons, who relate well to their peers, the opposite sex, and superiors, who have a healthy psychic as well as physical development, should be accepted for reli-gious profession (see PC 12). But the vows take human growth a step further to an even higher fulfilment. The Development of Peoples puts the matter well: . human fulfilment constitutes, as it were, a summary of our duties. But there is much more: this harmonious enrich-ment of nature by personal and responsible effort is ordered to a further perfection. By reason of his union with Christ, the source of life, man attains to a new fulfilment, to a trans-cendent humanism which give him his greatest possible perfec-tion: this is the highest goal of personal development (n. 16). The vows, therefore, are no mere negations: "What are called the inhuman imperatives of the Gospel could just as well be called pointers to unexpected possibili-ties" (Concilium General Secretariat, "Stirrings in Re-ligious Life," in Renewal and Reform of Canon Law, New York: Paulist Press, 1967, p. 171). The vows apply the paradox of human life and the gospel, so that by giving we receive, by renunciation we possess. Ulti-mately only renunciation is the way to the hundredfold and to full humanity (see LG 46). The counsels are not defenses against life, protections for an individ-ualistic "spiritual life" against one's body and the world. They are secrets of growth in an age that has perhaps forgotten the necessity of renunciation for true love. If they are lived loyally and faithfully so that the limitations of human nature and of the finite are ex-posed, if they are renewed daily in the free choices that present themselves in .an adult £ashion, and not by legalistic, almost unwilling conformity, they promise the Resurrection as well as the cross and the fullest humanity. Religious are criticized for immaturity, mediocrity, and lack of joy. Besides the inevitable human failings the fault may lie in the beginnings, in the acceptance of candidates who are too immature to make the re-nunciations of the vows or in formation policies that preclude further development of the person. Com-munities should take a long, hard look at the age level and psychological condition of their candidates and the kind of novitiate and juniorate training that is given. Or the fault may lie in the failure of com-munities to create the atmosphere of openness and trust that will allow persons to carry out in freedom the implications of their vows. Liberty, not overbear-ing law, is the only atmosphere in which the Christian life of renunciation can thrive. Ecclesial Value The opening paragraph in Per[ectae caritatis makes dear that the rule of religious is a double one of being and function, consecration and apostolate, witness and mission. These roles overlap, but they correspond to the ecclesial and apostolic meaning of the counsels respec-tively; they also enter the final category of this paper, the eschatological value of religious life. Our division, therefore, is inadequate, but one that, hopefully, suits the purpose of exposition. This call to being, to consecration, to witness in the Church is the call to holiness, not in a purely trans-cendent, vertical fashion, much less in an individ-ualistic way, but in community as in the present mani-festation of the kingdom before the visible return of Christ at the parousia. Religious create communities of fraternal love. They are paradigms of the Church itself, either after the manner of the Jerusalem commu-nity as in the case of monastic orders, or in the tradition of the Pauline churches which looked outward as with modern apostolic communities. The structuring of these two types of community is different, one ad intra, the other ad extra;, and each religious institute must choose between the two according to its own nature and goals. Too long have apostolic communities endeavored to live by a monastic schedule and mystique to the detriment of both professional excellence and religious growth. In both monastic and apostolic communities, however, the witness value for the Church lies in visible charity that unites the members and, in the case of apostolic communities, creates community outside. The evangelical counsels make religious community possible, first, by creating a need for it, and, secondly, by giving a particular physiognomy to the celibate community. Celibacy needs the support of living com-munity: "Let all, especially superiors, remember that chastity is guarded more securely when true brotherly love flourishes in the common life of the community" (PC 12). Priestly celibacy is a problem where priests have to live without this human support. The religious house must be home for its members, where individuals can be themselves~accepted, welcomed, understood-- where they are treated as persons and not functions or numbers that man the machinery of a rigid horarium and overcommitted apostolates, where genuine friend-ships prevail, in a word, where the religious like to return to from their apostolic labors. The horarium and observances will depend on the nature of the com-munity work, and the primary concern will be. to create an atmosphere of peace and friendship. Where 4. VOLUME 27, 1968 1021 4. 4. 4" Ernest E. Larkin~ O.Carm. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 1022 love is, God is; where two or three are gathered in His name, there is the presence of the Lord. This means among other things that recreation is as important as faculty meetings and cordiality as necessary as zeal. The celibate community complements the married community, and Christian love is at the heart of both. Celibate love manifests its own constellation of the qualities of Christian love: it highlights the freedom, the all-embracing, non-exclusive character of Christian love that gives without looking for a return. Human love that leads to marriage draws two people apart from the community to form one person (one flesh, one family) whereas celibate love emphasizes the other-ness of the one loved. Each love has something to teach the other, and both participate in the same love that animates the union of Christ and the Church. Each expresses part of the Christian mystery, celibacy the freedom of the sons of God, marriage the identification love causes and the intimacy it seeks. The consecrated virgin reserves identification for the Lord and bestows his love on the People of God freely. Even his intimate friends do not close him off from others, for he can call no one his own. His interpersonal relationships, there-fore, have a phenomenology different from the friend-ships that lead to or exist in marriage. His way demands faith in God and trust in his fellowmen; but he stakes his very life on the principle that by giving he re-ceives, by loving he is loved. The other vows make the witness of celibate love a reality. Poverty in its Biblical meaning must be visible. Some ways suggested in the documents are the sharing of one's goods, one's time, one's love inside and out-side the community, identifying with the poor and experiencing their insecurity by belonging to a religious family that is not obviously affluent but has to work hard and stint in order to survive. Experimentation and creative expression in new forms are needed to witness poverty, both personally and as a community, both to our affluent society and to the deprived and destitute peoples in our land. Without real poverty the witness of celibacy speaks to no one, because the kind of charity that is its touchstone will not be seen. Renewed obedience contributes to this witness inso-far as it is more responsible, more collegial in character, when "holy disobedience" need not be a contradiction in terms. An autocratically oriented Church with a strictly vertical obedience, in which the superior has all the answers and takes sole responsibility for deci-sions, tends to keep people in a state of perpetual childhood and creates a "gimme" syndrome rather than a "giving" service. In adapting to democratic methods, obedience need not suffer; it does not become majority rule or the totally "dialogal" type condemned in the decree (n. 14). Authority remains, but "an active and responsible obedience" gives it balance and allows the whole community to be actively engaged in community service, Apostolic Value The practical contribution of religious institutions to the social apostolate of the Church is evident. Without this army of low-paid, dedicated workers, as Pope Plus XII remarked, the Church's work of education and service would collapse. But the external aposto-late of religious is secondary. Paul VI scored "the false idea that the first place should be given to the works of the external apostolate, the second to con. cern for our spiritual perfection, as though such were the requirement of the spirit of our age and the needs of the Church" (Magno gaudio, May 23, 1964). The Council itself sees the apostolic work for the kingdom promoted in two ways, by "prayer or by active undertakings" according to the nature of a given order (LG 44); and in the case of apostolic orders it inserts "charitable activity" into "the very nature of the religious life" (PC 8). The mission of religious in the Church, indeed of the whole redemptive apostolate of the Church, lies on a deeper level than the pragmatic. The apostolate springs from union with Christ and consists in participation in the Paschal mystery of kenosis and resurrected life as expressed by prayer and work. More concretely, the apostolate o£ the Church is the same as Christ's, to break down the middle wall of partition (Eph 2:14), creating community inside and outside the local re-ligious community itself. It is the work of charity, of self-emptying, that allows God's love for mankind to filter into the lives of others through the agency of those who are bearers of that love. They must possess this love before they can be its instruments. To live and ex-press fraternally this gift of God's love means "the bearing about in our bodies of the dying of Jesus in order that the life of Jesus may be manifest in our bodily frame" (2 Cor 4:10); in this way "death is at work in us, but life in [the community]" (ibid, v. 12). The apostolate, in other words, is charity, expressed in prayer or action. Far from being opposed to the witness of religious life, the apostolate is practically identified with community. Community and apostolate in the Church are thus correlatives and mutually interde-pendent. Neither one is pure means to the other. In a + + + Religious LiJe VOLUME 27, 1968 1023 given institute, especially when it strives to remain faithful to its particular "spirit and special aims" (PC 2b) in the midst of pressing local needs of the Church, there will be tensions in the structuring and implementation of the two aspects. But in general the type of community life will depend on the in-stitute's apostolate. Apostolic communities will have fewer common observances and perhaps greater flexi-bility in horaria, whereas monastic groups will sub-ordinate external involvements to~ the conventual sched-ule. The apostolic works as well as the prayer forms and religious practices should be rigorously reviewed and evaluated in view of the nature and goals of an institute, and courageous changes made as necessary. Here again a great deal of experimentation is called for in order to make the institute relevant to itself and the Church. Harmonious balance between the common life and apostolic involvement according to the insti-tute's identity is the desideratum. Once again renewal is more important than adaptation, since ultimately both community and apostolate are mere expressions of the one union of charity, of death-resurrection in the Lord. Ernest E. Larkin~ O.Carra. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 1024 Eschatological Value The Biblical notion of virginity, especially clear in the New Testament, contains a strong eschatological note. The state anticipates the future messianic marriage with Christ, "that wondrous marriage decreed by God and which is to be fully revealed in the future age in which the Church takes Christ as its only spouse" (PC 12). Thus religious life is a "splendid" (PC 1) and "unique" (LG 44) sign of the heavenly kingdom. It is customary to equate this eschatological or trans-cendent quality of the religious vocation with an exclu-sive love of Christ that avoids the distraction and competition of a divided heart (1 Cor 7:32-5). But this is the vocation of all Christians. All Christians are called to a unique love of God that does not allow any creature to be placed on the same level as God; other-wise we have idolatry. In the effort to cultivate this unique love of God religious bypass one sign, that of marriage and property and independence, and assume another sign, that of physical virginity lived in poverty and obedience. The celibate community does highlight the eschatological character of Christian life, just as the married community reflects more clearly the in-carnational aspect. As two ways to the kingdom, they are not as two ways of living Christian love, totally exclusive of each other; they complement each other as witnesses of the Church's love for Christ. The hazard of the celibate community is to lose sight of the world and people, whereas-the hazard of the married com-munity is to forget the transient, passing character of the historical moment and lose sight of the Christ who is to come. Religious, therefore, are dedicated to an eschatological existence as a bias and emphasis, but not as an ex-clusive concern. Especially in the light of incarnational theology that identifies Christ's presence in the person and community, religious today are not absolved from temporal concerns, from making their contribution to human development and the building of the earth. They can engage in the same works as the laity, such as teaching, social work, any human endeavor; only their bias will be different. They come to human tasks with an eschatological eye to the future, to what is not yet, to what will come in the final age, already begun, in Christ. In this sense they live in hope. No matter how important the classes they teach or their social involvement, they bring to their work in the world a sense of the Deus semper major, of the person of Christ who is to be revealed in the parousia. Where speciali-zation is feasible, perhaps it is desirable to leave secular tasks to the laity and let religious concentrate on sacred functions. But no universal law demands such a distri-bution of tasks, and the distinction may continue the unhealthy separation of sacred and secular. We should abandon the dichotomies implicit in the phraseology, "religious first, professional second," or "religious first, apostle second." Religious are not "strangers to their fellow men or useless citizens of the earthly city" (LG 46). On the contrary they embrace the world in its truth and reality. They see it as inchoate glory, as the kingdom of God in embryo, and yet as "no lasting city," as a moment in an evolutionary process, and as less than the ultimate Good that is Christ reappearing and handing the kingdom over to His Father. In a word they live in hope, and this hope is the secret of the joy that must be their witness if it is to be true. For them as for the married joy is the surest index that they are living their vocation in Christ. Two practical questions may be raised here. First, what does the eschatologlcal vocation contribute to the Church and the world at large? Second, how does the eschatological emphasis affect the prayer life and selbdenial of religious? The first question is answered admirably in Lumen gentium. Religious are "a sign which can and ought to attract all the members of the Church to an effective and prompt fulfillment of the duties of their Christian ÷ ÷ ÷ l~eligious Li]e VOLUME 27, 1968 1025 Ernest E. Larkin, O.Carm. vocation" (LG 44). Why is this assertion made? Because religious represent the presence of Christ Himself "con-templating on the mountain, announcing God's king-dom to the multitude, healing the sick and the maimed., doing good to all" (LG 46). The second question is more complex. Since prayer and self-denial are founded on the eschatological di-mension of Christian life, it is to be expected that re-ligious life will be characterized by these acts. But both. prayer forms and the practices of self-ddnial must be-come more incarnational. Prayer should become the loving awareness of Christ present in human mani-festations. Such prayer is nourished above all by Sacred Scripture and the liturgy, the only two sources of "the spirit and practice of prayer" explicitly signaled out by Perfectae caritatis (n. 6). Thus mental prayer as con-frontation with the word of God is more important than a multiplicity of devotions (ES, n. 21). For re-ligious as for the whole people of God the liturgy weds the human and divine and is the summit and source of Christian life (Constitution on the Liturgy, n. 2, n, 10). Self-denial too'will take on a more human dimen-sion. The cross is one's daily life, and it is present wherever Christians endeavor to be an Easter people. The self-denial of religious, therefore, will be the self-renunciations inherent in being all things to all men, in fostering community, in giving generously in the apostolate. As a disposition for this life a disci-pline, an ascesis, is necessary. Today this discipline would better consist in the cultivation of the openness, understanding, welcome, and patience that are the necessary framework in which charity can operate rather than in the corporal penances and often mean-ingless gestures of some religious rules. Conclusion We have tried to set down the broad theological principles of religious life. On this background the practical questions about religious life today can be raised and discussed. The basic question which must guide this inquiry is this: In the welter of change and conflicting ideas, where is the Holy Spirit speaking? To what is He calling American religious at this time? The paper offers some guidelines in which to pursue this question', but only in honest and prayerful dialogue can we ask the right practical questions and move in the direction of the Holy Spirit's answers. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 1026 L JAMES O'REILLY Lay and Religious States oJ Life: Their Distinction and Complementarity If we must have a fight, let us have a good fight: not shadow-boxing with peripheral questions but hand-to-hand engagement on basic issues, a battle of wits, not a conflict of emotions. Here in the Southland we find ourselves in the midst of a controversy over the subject of renewal of the religious life. Some view the con-troversy as a jurisdictional struggle between religious independence and episcopal authority. The charismatic is threatened by the institutional. Others discern here a clash between modernity and antiquity, between youth and age, between male and. female, between classic and romantic. Others think that they detect a conflict between Perfectae caritatis and Gaudium et spes. No doubt all of these elements are present in the chorus of debate, but only as screechy overtones to a fundamental note. They are present as coloring and obscuring that which is .at the heart of the matter, namely, a just conception of the distinction between the lay and religious states of life, and, flowing from this, a question of the significance of religious presence in the professional world. If we are to have a good fight, this is what we must concentrate upon. We must come to grips more effectively on this central ground instead of wasting our energies on local skirmishing. As a first approximation to a final position, let me venture the statement that the distinction of lay and religious states arises out of the need to provide a system of checks and balances in the general effort of Chris-tians to make an integral response to the human con-dition. Let me elaborate briefly. The human condition is described, at least, in the Christian world, as one of fallen creaturehood moving forward toward a saving James O'Reilly is a faculty member of St. John's Semi-nary; 5012 East Seminary Road; Ca-marillo, California 9301O. VOLUME 27, 1968 1027 games O'Reilly REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 1028 consummation in Christ. That movement, however, is mysteriously two-sided: one of simultaneous ascent and descent, of evolution-devolution, of engagement and withdrawal. Man's approach to his salvation is both a making and a being made, a doing and a being done to, an accomplishment and a gift. Running through all our days from here to eternity is a counterpoint of nature and grace, of a lifting up and a letting down, an immanence and a transcendence, a winning and a losing, a living and a dying. It is in the effort of the Christian community to keep a just balance between these counter-elements that a distinction in the public order has come to be made between the two states of life, lay and religious. The distinction of states provides a syste

Issue 24.6 of the Review for Religious, 1965. ; Sanctification. thrgugh Virginity by Charles~A. Schleck, C.S.C. 829 The Church~s ~Holiness and Religious Life by Gustave Martelet, S.J. 882 Renewal in the Ex~rcise Of Authority by Thomas Dubay, S.M. 914 The Priesthgod and Celibacy by Jean Galot, S.J. 930 .The Religious Peter Pan by James D~I, Mahoney, M.D. 957 Communication: in ;Religious Life by Richard:.M~ M~Keon, S.J. 962 ~ Survey of Roman" Documents 967 rows, News, Previews 974 Questions and Answers 979 Book Reviews 982 . Indices for Volume 24, 1965 995 VOLUME 24 NUMBER 6 November 1965 CHARLES A. SCHLECK, c.S.C. Sanctification through Virginity Doctrinally speaking,* the objective excellence of virginity over marriage cannot be called into question. It is a truth dogmatically defined by the Church and is quite explicitly taught in Sacred Scripture.x Moreover, the esteem and veneration, the maternal solicitude and affection which the Church has always shown for the "choicest portion of the flock of Christ" ~ is evident to anyone who would examine her docnmentation in re-gard to this manner of living,s Nor is this any matter for wonder. From the very beginning the first Christians had a very vivid awareness of the gospel demands not only in the realm of dogma but also in that of the following of Christ. Rather quickly the better Christians voluntarily embraced the condition of ascetics or of the continent.4 These, actuated by love and disdaining the cares of the world, overcame that division of heart which is so easy and yet which is so full of danger, and dedicated or con-secrated themselves wholly to Christ. In so doing they made a perpetual transfer of their entire life to Christ and to the Church and the Christian community, in ¯ This is the third of a series of six lectures that Father Schleck gave in 1962 to the Conference of Major Superiors of Women Re-ligious of the United States. The first of the series, "The Major Su-perior and the Meaning of Her Subjects' Vocation," was printed in REvmw FOR RELIGIOUS, V. 24 (1965), pp. 161-87; the second, "Poverty and Sanctification," appeared in the REVIEW, V. 24 (1965), pp. 548- 88. 1See Denzinger-Sch6nmetzer, Enchiridion symbolorum, n. 1810 (English trs. in The Church Teaches, n.866); Mt 19:11 ft.; 1 Cot 7:25 ft., 38, 40. This truth is recalled in the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Chapter 5, paragraphs 39-40 (English translation in REVIEW FOR RELm~OUS, V. 24 [1965], pp. 707--8). 2 St. Cyprian, De habitu virginum, 3 (P.L., v. 4, col. 455). s See my The Theology of Vocations (Milwaukee: Bruce, pp. 315-21. ~ See F. Vandenbroucke, O.S.B., "La vie religieuse au cours des si~cles," La vie religieuse dam l'Eglise du Christ (Bruges: Descl~e de Brouwer, 1964), p. 19. Father Charles A. Schleck, C.S.C., is a faculty member of Holy Cross College; 4001 Harewood Road, N.E.; Wash-ington, D. C, 10017. VOLUME 24, 1965 829 4. 4. 4. C. A. Schleck~ REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 830 which they made their Lord present through the special engagement they assumed. This mystical marriage to Christ and this gift of them-selves to the Christian community was at first enacted spontaneously and was accomplished more by their ac-tual existence and manner of life than by any express rite or within any well-defined structure or framework. Soon, however, they began to constitute a state and a rank set apart and recognized by the Church, such that profession of virginity began to be made publicly and was recognized and strengthened by a bond that gradu-ally grew more and more firm and stable. It was then that the Church in accepting the virgin's desire to lead this way of life in her midst publicly consecrated her as a person inviolably united to Christ and the Church. This was done by means of a rite that borrowed all of its em-phasis from the nuptial rite and was rightly regarded as one of the most beautiful ceremonies existing in the whole of the ancient liturgy. It was in and through this action that the Church clearly distinguished these public virgins from all others who had bound themselves to God and the life of the Church by merely private obliga-tions. This profession of the life of virginity was soon sur-rounded by a rather vigilant and rigorous asceticism and was at the same time nourished by definite practices of piety and of the various Christian virtues, both for the edification of the people of God and also because of the inevitable weaknesses of the majority of men. All this development of the life of virginity has been most won-derfully placed before us by the early fathers of the Church who present us with a picture or image of the virgin dedicated to Christ and the Church that has per-haps never been surpassed and perhaps not even equaled. It is in their writings that we shall find most clearly and vividly depicted everything either interior or exterior that could in any way concern virginal sanctity and perfection. After peace came to the Church in the time of Con-stantine, it gradually became the practice of the con-secrated virgins to add to this consecration the express profession of poverty and obedience. Moreover, they began to live together in common as much for the love of solitude and mutual assistance and edification as well as for protection against the rather grave dangers then extant in Roman society. This practice the Church herself generally commended, even though she did not actually impose it until some time later on when she forbade liturgically consecrated virgins to live in their own homes or in a rather loose sort of community life. This discipline of the Church gradually led to tha~ form of religious life which we call strict enclosure. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries congrega-tions of women sprang up who professed virginity as well as the other evangelical counsels and yet- who were not considered "religious" in the strict sense of this word because their vows were not publicly and officially ap-proved by the Church. Indeed, even after they had re-ceived provisory legislation through the Conditae a Christo of Leo XIII in 1900 they were not considered as "religious" or "regulars" in the strict sense and in the law of the Church. This status was granted t6 them only with the promulgation of the Code of Canon Law. Yet for all this development of the life and profession of virginity and for all the solicitude and love which the Church has shown towards those who have embraced this way of life, the excellence and the superiority of it have not always seemed to remain clearly impressed on the minds of those inside and outside the Church. And the argument: "To what good is all this loss of woman-hood and this voluntary practice of barrenness?" has perdured. I suppose that there are basically two reasons for this. The first is the ever growing understanding and appreciation and depth insight into the beauty and sanctity of married life, with its contemporary expres-sion as the full development of the woman's personality and feminine powers and of her reflection of the image of the Church as the Spouse of Christ. The other reason perhaps has been the absence, up until quite recently, of a more positive approach to virginity, due to the in-fluence of a more or less puritanical or Manichaean understanding of the whole concept of sexuality. In fact, it became so delicate a subject that it was considered almost dangerous to speak about, especially when the audience happened to be those who had dedicated their lives to Christ or were thinking of doing so. As a result of this, the true splendor and beauty and richness of virginity dedicated to Christ or marriage to Christ be-came more and more obscured, less attractive, and fi-nally, in the minds of some, inferior or less excellent or only equal, even objectively speaking, to the way of life which is marriage in Christ. The importance of a more positive approach and un-derstanding of virginity is therefore quite evident, and this for two reasons. First, there is the need to reinstate it in its God-given place in the plan of salvation, in the eyes of both those inside the Church as well as outside. The second lies in the fact that often in the case of the woman virginity is the real determining factor of her vocation to a state of perfection. Sometimes by a kind of ÷ ÷ ÷ Virginity VOLUME 24/ 1965. 83] ÷ ÷ ÷ REVIEW~FOR RELIGIOUS 832 intuition given or communicated to her with the grace of vocation she realizes that the values offered her in mere human love are obstacles or could easily become obstacles to her wish and intent to achieve the fullness of Christian love and perfection. In order to arrive at some understanding of the prac-tice of virginity, it would be well for us to analyze it right from its origins so to speak, to hold it up to the light of faith so that the full richness of its content, its beauty and splendor might be the more evident so that you might know it yourselves and pass it on to those whom God has entrusted to your guidance and care. To do this adequately I would like to follow a plan similar to that used when treating the practice of evangelical poverty, We will, therefore, consider (1) the practice of chastity in general; (2) what religious chastity adds to the practice of chastity in general; (3) what its aims are; (4) what its fruits are; and (5) some practical suggestions to be used in the training of your religious along these lines. Chastity in General If we were to attempt to define the virtue of chastity we would arrive at something like the following: It is a part of the cardinal virtue of temperance that moderates the use of venereal or sexual pleasures. It receives its name from the Latin word "castigare" which means to curb because this is one of its functions, perhaps the one that is most experiential among us. It is a virtue or dy-namism or spiritual force, a perfectant of our capacities for life, including and bringing our liberty into play. This force resides not only in the soul but also in the body, at least to a certain extent, since the soul impresses its own controlling and directive force over the body. It is precisely th.is, its belonging primarily to the soul, that led St. Augustine to point out that so long as the mind holds to its observance one can never sin against the vir-tue of chastity regardless of what might happen within one's physical or emotional affective make-up. It is a virtue which every human being stands in the greatest need of since it centers around those pleasures which are very quickly aroused and which are more impetuous and which can so easily lead us away from the path of virtue and holiness. And whatever consent is given to them has a way of increasing their attraction and weak-ening the mind and the heart, casting it down from the heights of one's calling. In a sense, nothing so narrows the heart as impurity; and nothing so expands it as chastity practiced in obedience to the law of Christ which is love. Like every other virtue chastity has both a negative aspect about it and a positive one. Negatively speaking it is the absence of impurity, an absence that is not merely the result of temperament or of lethargy, but an absence that is brought about or is due to the directive and con-trolling force which the virtue and disposition of chastity places on one's affective make-up. Thus we mnst dis-tinguish between the spontaneous reaction to movements of the sexual powers and the consent of the will to them. The spontaneous reaction is natural and morally in-different. Without being in any way evil it is rather the sign of a healthy and normal and robust temperament. That is why in speaking of chastity as an angelic virtue we must be very cautious. We are. not to understand that the sexual powers, both genital and emotional, are not felt. This would be to confuse virtue with what might be definitely a deficiency or weakness or mere lethargy. No, a pure person is one who has come to master the attrac-tions of the flesh; he is not at all to be confused with one who is insensible to them.5 It also has a positive aspect about it, one which gives a person a positive orientation toward the whole notion of sex or of femininity and mas-culinity. So understood, the final end of the virtue or perfectant which we call chastity is the integration or harmonization of the passional dynamism or of the geni-tal and emotional spheres with the directives of the mind adhering to the law of the Lord. Its function is not to kill or suppress these areas of human personality but to make them live and function in a way fitting to one's state of life. Thus the upshot of the activity of the virtue of chastity is not the bringing about of insensibility (which would only serve to give rise to traumatic ex-periences later on) but rather integration or habitual sexual balance on all levels of human personality, geni-tal, emotional, and spiritual. The pure person is one who perceives the mystery of sex, its depth, its serious-n We should remember that the virtue of chastity is different from what St. Thomas calls the force of continence. The latter is only an imperfect virtue. Its seat is not in the concupiscible area of man's passionality, but in the will or the area of the voluntarium. The con-tinent person (as opposed to the chaste person) has an understand-ing and a spiritual love of chastity, but his passions are not yet moderated; they continue to have their desires independent of the ra-tional order. They are ordered from within to the desires of the mind. Continence exercises over the passions what we would call a "police action" or a repression that almost forces them to revolt, whereas the real virtue of chastity grows something like a democratic regime in which the opposition collaborates for the common good. Briefly, only the virtue of chastity realizes the successful harmonization and there-fore humanization of the passions and the sexual under the inspira-tion of the mind and will. All sexual education must aim at this Christian humanization and harmonization (See A. PI,~, O.P., "In the Light of St. Thomas," Religious Chastity: Its Conditions [Ottawa, Canada: Canadian Religious Conference, 1963], p. 168). Virginity VOLUME 24, 1965 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS ness, its intimacy. A chaste person is one who under-stands the sublime purpose and fundamental significance of sex and" the consequent fearful profanation which its abuse represents. And this is as it should be. For from the very beginning the Scriptures make of human sexual-ity something sacred, something associated with the divine, with the image of God in man. This is by no means the whole story, but it does form the basis of the entire story. Thus the production of human life through the "knowledge" of woman by man, as the Scriptures have it, seems to have been the best image we had to describe creation at this time, since in this production we have creation itself, the womb of the mother being the scene of a direct and special intervention of God Himself. This is the first reason why we believe that human sexuality is especially sacred. Thus femininity and masculinity for the Christian is something that is sacred in a very technical sense; and'when we find it or picture it in Christian marriage it is more sacred still, since it contains and shows forth the redeeming love of God--the love of Christ for the Church and the answer-ing love of the Church for Christ. But to be sacred means first of all to be dangerous, even though it means much more than this. If we profane the sacred we know that we shall be destroyed by it. I think it is safe to say that this is why we have taboos and restrictions in every society surrounding sexuality. These are expressions, or at least they begin as expressions, df the reverence and fear which is proper in the presence of something ~hat is truly sacred. Thus there would be something definitely wrong with a societ~ which did not have some restrictions or taboos placed on se~. It is dangerous not because it is evil; it is dangerous because it is sacred, because it is powerful, capable of destroying the personality of an individual if it is divorced from the world of love and marriage; and equally capable of bring-ing one through the power of grace and the paschal myster.y of Christ to eternal union with God when em-ployed in.the service of love and marriage.6 Thus the pleasures of sex, like those of eating and drinking are good, no matter what their intensity is, if the), are well ordered by the per[ectant of chastity. For it is this which assures that the capacity for love be properly used on all of its various human levels. It is for these reasons that the chaste person is one who does not consider that there is anything base about sexuality, nor does he fear sexual realities unless there is an objectively real danger involved. But he is one who remains at a distance from it and its use in marriage so long as he is not called by God to enter into this way See Hubert McCabe, O.P., "Sex and the Sacred," Lile oI the Spirit, 16 (196l), pp. 70-80. of life. Reverence, then, and acceptance o] sexuality, not disgust or fear or shame, are the fundamental results which the virtue of chastity gives to an individual with regard to the divine orientation of sex indicated to us in the opening book of revelation and developed so mar-velously in the Christ-Church image of St. Paul.7 There is, however, one thing which the Christian attitude toward sex never forgets--that it is possessed by persons who labor under the economy of sin; and that means that a greater caution must be exercised in this matter than would otherwise have been necessary. And it is perhaps this aspect which the modern world in its attempt to bring out its beauty and sublimity has at times overlooked as the problems we are faced with today clearly indicate.8 Virginity or Religious Chastity and What It Adds to Chastity in General When we come to consider this virtue as it affects religious or those who have consecrated their chastity to God, we are presented with certain nuances which clearly 7 Eph 5:22 ft. 8i am not inveighing against current writing on chastity which tends to be entirely positive. This is all to the good. What I have in mind here is the "stress" character of much of this writing; that is, an emphasis placed on one or other elements or ingredient of what is really a very complex or polygoned reality. When this is not understood by the reader of such articles, it is quite possible for rather one-sided views or positions or attitudes or stances to be formed---ones which are not necessarily intended by the author. For example, present-day stress on the need for religious to be immanent, or incarnational, or present in the world, while to a certain extent correct and necessary, has caused a forgetfulness of the transcendent mission and apostolate the religious is called upon to exercise in the Church. Separation from the world is a necessary part of the complex reality of religious consecration just as much as is immanence. This visible renunciation of the world and of some of its values is done not out of lack of esteem for them but in fulfillment of service to the Body of Christ. This is quite clearly indicated in the recent Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Chapter 6, paragraph 46 (English trans-lation in REvmw fOR REL~e~OUS, V. 24 [1965], pp. 716--7). AS Father Congar notes, the religious profession engages the one who makes it to renounce the world as a plan of life to belong more entirely and more definitively to God and His work. The world is a milieu of anrbiguity, filled with occasions of evil, filled with hin-drances that prevent us from being all to God and with seductions that can turn us away from Him. That is why it is essential to the religious life not only to disengage one from the terrestrial and con-secrate oneself to God by the vows but also to separate oneself from the conditions of the life of the world by embracing the rule. I am sure that Father Congar is not limiting his remarks to cloistered communities. See "Les lemons de la thdologie," in Le rdle de la re-ligieuse clans l'Eglise (Paris: Cerf, 1960), pp. 34--5. As he remarks: "A religious is a Christian who in the desire to belong to God with-out reserve, and without going back, goes out of the world and en-ters a structure of life organized for the service of God--which the world is not" (p. 36). The amount of separation will, of course, de-pend on the particular nature of each religious institute. ÷ ÷ ÷ Firginity VOLUME 24, 1965 ~. A. $chleck, REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 836 distinguish it from the virtue of chastity as practiced by other Christians and which establish its peculiar pre-eminence or excellence. The first modification which the practice of chastity by a religious implies is that it provides one with a more ample field or area in which to practice it. For it demands that she abstain from all, even legitimate and virtuous or sanctifying, use of her procreative powers given to her by God. Such an ampli-fication of the exercise of the virtue might involve greater and more protracted difficulties to be sure, but it also in-volves the reception of more grace and supernatural aids. Again, religious chastity differs from the chastity of those living in the world, whether single or married, by its being embraced or ratified by vow. It is especially this nuance which clearly and unmistakably distinguishes the practice of chastity proper to religious or those in the states of perfection from all other forms or types of chastity. Indeed, it is this modification which makes the observance of chastity in the case of a religious pass into the exercise of another virtue distinct from that of chastity. It is St. Thomas who points this out so succinctly in his treat-ment of this virtue. There are two factors which make the chastity of religious a distinct virtue, namely virgin-ity: (1) the resolution to abstain forever from all sexual pleasure proper to the married state; and (2) that this promise be made to God for the specific purpose of de-voting oneself to the contemplation and service of the divine. As he says: "Virginity as a virtue denotes the purpose confirmed by vow of observing perpetual in-tegrity . Now the end which renders virginity praise-worthy is that one may have leisure for divine things." ~ Thus the essential work of virginity is not at all some-thing selfish. It is not a way of protecting one's freedom for the sake of some temporal or earthly career. It is rather the contemplation of the divine. It is embraced precisely in order to make one free for God, for commu-nity and for humanity. If it were not undertaken for these purposes it would very likely lead to self-preoccupation, self-indulgence, and egotistic involvement in one's own problems, terminating in one or other form of psycholog-ical maladjustment. Thus the work of chastity in the case of the religious is the communion with the Word of God either in Himself or as we see Him in our brethren; and this work has been chosen for virgins by God Him-self. This truth was very clearly indicated by Pius XII in his encyclical Sacra virginitas: Here also it must be added as the Fathers and Doctors have clearly taught, that virginity is not a Christian virtue unless it is embraced for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, that is, unless ~2-2, q.152, aa.3-4. we take up this way of life precisely in order to be able to de-vote ourselves more freely to divine things, to attain heaven more surely, and with skillful efforts to lead others more readily thereto. Those, therefore, who do not marry because of exag-gerated self-interest, or because they shun the burdens of mar-r! ag.e .cannot claim for themselves the honor of Christian virginity. In this of course, the Sovereign Pontiff was merely re-echoing the teaching of bofh our Lord and St. Paul: "There are other eunuchs who have made themselves so for the sake of the kingdom of heaven"; "A virgin is free to think about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy in body and spirit." 10 10 Mt 19:11-2; 1 Cor 7:34. Here it might be wise for us to mention the difference between chastity and virginity and the implica-tions which the latter adds to the former. Chastity is a virtue, as we have seen, which excludes or moderates the indulgence of the sexual appetite according to the norms proper to one's state of life. If voluntary chastity excludes indulgence in carnal pleasure for life, it is said to be perfect. If not, then it is said to be imperfect. There are several groups of persons who would fall into this second cate-gory: (1) those not married but who have not renounced the inten-tion of doing so; (2) those who are married when they use their sexual faculties within marriage; and (3) the widowed. (The words "perfect" and "impcrfect" leave much to be desired since they could easily imply unfavorable nuances of meaning; but, at any rate, the distinction is clear.) Chastity is distinguished from virginity in that the latter implies bodily integrity or at least the absence of any voluntary and complete exercise of sexuality. Virginity is a virtue when it is preserved for a praiseworthy motive; for example, for the sake of the kingdom of God. Thus understood, virginity is irrepffrably lost by sexual pleasure voluntarily and completely experienced whether legitimately (within marriage) or illegitimately. It is not lost by the rupture of the virginal membrane (hymen)--this can happen in many different ways (for example, surgical operation, hormonal treatment, horseback riding, and so forth); nor by sexual pleasure involuntarily experienced (for example, involuntary orgasm); nor even by bodily violation un-dergone against one's will even if this should result in pregnancy and the birth of a child. The sole criterion of virginity's presence or absence in an individual lies in the presence or absence of sexual pleasure voluntarily and completely experienced. Consequently, when we equate virginity and religious chastity we are speaking in an ideal rather than in the technical sense, at least usually. Virginity in the strict sense is not required for religious profession. The widowed are eligible for profession as well as those who have had sexual experience outside of marriage whether volun-tarily or involuntarily. It is sufficient that one who has had sexual experience give assurance of being able to abstain from every moral act contrary to consecrated chastity in the present and the future and without any extremely great tensions or disturbances. She must give evidence of being able to live a chaste life not only in deed but in thought and desire, for life, and with a basic calm and peace of soul. It is very important that these ideas be made clear to novices, that is, candidates who have not yet made profession of vows. It is possible that some may have had the habit of masturbation before coming to the convent. This should have been overcome for a suf-ficient period of time prior to admission. It is a sound psychological + + + Virginity VOLUME 24, 1965 837 C. A. $chleck, REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 838 It is because of this--that a person vows to preserve chastity perpetually, at least intentionally, when she sets out on the path of the religious life--that her practice of chastity is not just an amplification of the or.dinary virtue as would be true, for example, in regard to religious obedience as distinguished from ordinary obe-dience; no, it passes into the exercise and practice of another virtue, distinct from that of chastity, namely, virginity. Consequently, every act on the part of such a person whether this be positive--using one's womanly make-up, or affective faculties for God, or whether it be negative--rejecting the temptations of the flesh or re-principle that the habit should have been overcome in the same circumstances under which it was contracted and practiced. If the motivation to enter the convent has not been sufficiently strong to enable her to overcome her habit prior to entrance she has not dem-onstrated positive fitness. It is possible for it to disappear for a time only to reoccur later. See my The Theology of Vocations, p. 236, foot-note 329, for further discussion of this case. It is also possible that a candidate may have been guilty of sin with another at some time previous to entrance. If she has repented and emotionally adjusted, there is no reason for her not continuing on in her vocation. If the effect has been negative, however, the answer would be much different. A single experience of this nature could leave a lasting mark on her personality and fill her with feelings of guilt and unworthiness which an entire lifetime could not expiate. She may be entering the convent with the expiation of her fault as the predominant motive for coming. If she does enter, she will be constantly reminded in unintentional ways that she is not a virgin; and every exhortation concerning the spiritual beauties of virginal union with Christ will only serve as a fresh reproach to her. It is possible that she would continually feel inferior to her fellow re-ligious, no matter what her other talents and contributions would be; and she might ultimately come to feel that she does not belong in religion at all, especially when she experiences the crises which we mentioned above. Her sin will ever stand between herself and Christ. If this were the case, or if this would seem to be the likely eventuality, then she should not attempt religion--not because of her initial fail-ure, but because of the effect of this experience on her personality. Finally, if her chastity were violated against her will, it is possible that this could have caused such a traumatic experience as to leave a lasting mark on the girl's personality. This could very easily inter-fere with an easy and calm living of the religious life. It is because of all this that it seems most desirable that the person entrusted with the formation of the novices and postulants, while avoiding any undue curiosity or scrutinizing questions or demand-ing any manifestation of conscience, be able to know the position of the candidates in regard to chastity. This refers not only to moral lapses and temptations but to the whole mass of attitudes, memories, thoughts, imagination patterns, and so forth so that she may be able to help the novice make a correct judgment regarding her sexual maturity in reference to the vow of chastity. If this information is made in confidence, and it usually is, obviously this could not be used in making a decision for or against admitting to profession. But the novice mistress would be able by working with the girl to bring her to see that she does not have the proper qualities for this voca-tion and that she would be much happier in following another walk of life in seeking Christian perfection. The girl herself would then withdraw of her own accord. nouncing certain pleasures (genital,. emotional, and spirit-ual proper to wifehood and motherhood)---has a special excellence about it which it does not have (objectively, at least) ~nd cannot have in one who has not vowed her chastity completely and perpetually (at lea~t inten-tionally) to God. It is for this reason, perhaps, that St. Bernard remarked there, could be no more evident mark of the celestial origin of this vocation; for by it one re-tains while here on earth a resemblance to a purbly spiritual creature in a material world. The Aims of Virginity Proceeding to the aims or goals of virginity, it would seem that any analysis or study would point up the following: (1) it brings about a more perfect freedom of spirit; (2) it enables one to arrive at the closest possible union with Christ; (3) it introduces one into the eschato-logical life of eternity; (4) it effects a perfect holocaust of a human being to God; and (5) it brings about the pey-fection of fruitfulness or motherhood in the case of the religious woman. Freedom of Spirit One of the aims of virginity is to create an independ-ence of spirit from those things which render the per-fect and total service of God difficult. This was clearly pointed out by St. Paul in the famous passage to the Corinthians where the subject of virginity is treated along with marriage.~1 For if one desires to practice virginity, it is so that her heart will not be divided. On this score, of course, we must be cautious. We are not to understand that the whole married life cannot pos-sibly be sanctified. No, marriage between Christians has the power of sanctifying all that is corporal, and, in a sense, to transform the whole of the two persons thus related as Christ to the Church even to the very depth of their life of the flesh. It is a profound form of earthly sanctification such that even the most instinctive and spontaneous bodily reactions of man and woman are sanctified and can become, are meant to become, a com-munion of charity between them. Thus, conjugal love is not at all a stranger to Christian perfection or love, nor does it contradict it. Quite the contrary. Marriage is ordained to manifest or express and realize on the body level both the gift of self demanded by true love and the union of souls already expressed and begun by the physical union. In surrendering her body to her husband the wife realizes an abandonment of her whole being that has no equivalent in the realm of corporal realities. 11 1 Cor 7. ÷ + + Virginity VOLUME 24; 1965 839 4. 4. 4. . A. $chleck, C.$.C. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 840 The domain of sexuality constitutes the physical center as well as the corporal sign of what is most intimate, most secret in the person. On account of its purpose as the source of life and as a result of its determinant action on the whole person with whose organism and psychism it is imbued, sexuality occupies a unique position which makes it penetrate to the heart of the mystery of the human person where the meeting of the carnal and spiritual spheres is accomplished. Thus, in surrendering to her husband the right over her own body on the level of sexuality, the wife recognizes an analogous right over her soul. She reveals and gives to him her most profound and personal possession, what constitutes her a different and distinct person from any other. She shows and en-trusts to him the secret of her being that modesty makes her up to this time and will continue to make her hide from all others. Thus the gift of her body signifies and realizes the gift of her soul or rather the gift of her entire person. Among human beings there can be no more total gift; for even the greatest friendship between non-married persons abstains from all communication on the level of marital sexuality and leaves intact this re-served domain whose sharing would perfectly complete the great intimacy already created.12 Enjoying full satisfaction on the genital and emotional levels, the wife does not stop at the lower pleasures and joys but tends with all her strength toward the highest spiritual pleasures and joys. This expansiveness is the fruit of the mutual love that husband and wife bear to each other. The woman finds an answer to the needs of complementarity that she feels within herself, for she finds in her husband the virile qualities that she sought in order to favor the full development of her specifically feminine qualities. At the same time she enjoys the satisfying consolation of bringing to her husband the feminine part that is lacking in his manly qualities. This is the ideal, of course. But because we are crea-tures existing under the economy of sin and redemption, a redemption which is not complete while we make our exodus to the Father, a redemption which still leaves certain weaknesses within our composite of body-soul, a most intense kind of asceticism is necessary to bring into the pattern of holiness and virtue proper to Christ and the Church all the details of the activity of the flesh that is proper to marriage. The soul has to be possessed of as great a depth of intensity as the body, if the freedom and joy and the constant growth in holiness which is meant to characterize Christian marriage are actually to ~ See A. Perreault, "A Factor in Natural and Spiritual Progress," Religious Chastity: Its Conditions (Ottawa, Canada: Canadian Re-ligious Conference, 1963), p. 65. be experienced. The division which is felt and which exists within the human composite and person as a result of the existence of concupiscence or the law of sin within our members is profoundly felt even in Christian marriage where the life of the flesh is lived to its human completion and usually with the greatest intensity. Thus, while it is true that Christian spouses can see the beauty of their union of life and love as a gift from God and while they may vie with each other in seeking Him through each other, desirous of rising above the genital and emotional spheres by integrating them in order to see God in the development of their spiritual life, very small is the number of those who actually attain the full realization of their marriage as blessed by God. No matter how much the will of one who is married be-longs to God, still the heart is no longer His alone. This has been rather clearly indicated by the late Pius XII in an address given a year before his death: Even though marriage is a true sacrament, one of the seven sources of grace instituted by Christ Himself, and even though it involves a mutual offering of one spouse to the other and cements a real union of lives and destinies, still there remains something that is held back, something that is not actually given, or at least, not wholly given. Only virgin souls can make that offering of self that for other souls is an unattainable goal. For these (virgin souls) the first step of their ascent to God is their last step (that is, definitive) and the end of their ascent is at once a lofty peak and a profound abyss.1~ Because the unity of aims is difficult in the married state, virginity acts as a reraovens prohibens or a condi-tion or climate of life that removes obstacles to greater nnion with God and to a greater service of humanity. It is the vow of virginity that establishes one in heart and soul, or in one's whole person, and definitively, in what might be termed supra-human solitude, such that perfect purity and liberty of heart is brought about enabling one to give oneself entirely to the love of God and the consid-eration of divine things and to the service of the com-munity of man. Consecrated virginity is the concern of the human soul that is illuminated by a special grace. For the virgin of Christ is not only obliged to preserve her virginity of heart and body until she marries, but forever, and this by a ~ompletely free and irrevocable decision consciously and joyfully embracing all that this entails on all levels of her being. It is because of this free and irrevocable decision that the consecrated vir-gin is set apart from all other women who though they may be virgins, still have not ratified or confirmed as Pius XII, Address to Nursing Sisters, April 24, 1957; English translation, The States o[ PerIection, ed. G. Courtois (Westminster: Newman, 1962), p. 288. + ÷ + Virginity VOLUME 24, 1965 841 C. A. Schleck, C.S.C. R~VIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 842 this status by vow, which implies a permanent proposal (at .least as far as one's present intentions are concerned) to belong wholly ~nd entirely to God. Only faith, of course, can accept the fact that the grace of vocation, the grace of virginal love, includes the grace .necessary to sublimate all the energies o{ nature. It is this grace of virginal love that must make present in the woman consecrating her life to God a balance .similar to that which is given man and woman through conjugal love raised by the grace of matrimony. Perhaps without entirely nnderstanding how this grace succeeds in bring-ing about this balance of nature and its secret inherent powers in the consecrated virgin, we have to admit that her special grace by an action different from that of the gr.ace of marriage makes it possible for her .to reach a development of her person, even human, that is even more profound than that realized in and through the activity of marriage.14 It is in this way that virginity transcends the division o{ our human personality which is necessarily implied in marriage, even though this be sacramental. Here we must be cautious, of course. We do not mean to say that concupiscence and the difficulties of the flesh, the spon-taneous movements and impulses .of the genital and emotional spheres of sexuality are not felt or experienced by one who has t~ken or made the vow of' virginity. What we mean to say is that these things are objectively transcended even though they may be subjectively felt. For virginity implies objectively or by way of a firm and irrevocable decision the renouncement of the sources from which this division within the human, person and the human heart normally proceeds, that is, the con-cupiscence of the flesh. What the married person and her husband must gradually attain through the grace Of marriage--the spiritualization of the flesh--the virgin accomplishes once and for all by entering upon her state of life.1~ Virginity, then, must be seen as a pref-erence of love for a person. It is the turning away from one form of charity only to assume a higher one. Thus it is without any real meaning if it does not denote a _deeply personal love, the decision, firm and stable, to remove from all men the personal mystery of oneself and to open this only to Christ.4n a* See my The Theology o] Vocations, pp. 340-3; and the ~ppendix of my The Sacrament o] Matrimony: d Dogmatic Study (Milwaukee: Bruce, 1964). ~ R. Gleason, s.J., To Live Is Christ (New York: Shecd and Ward, 1962), pp. 126-7. ~o Here we should note that ~narriage also has a way of leading people to a deeper understanding of the excellence of virginity. The disappointment that is inevitable in all human relationships and encoutaters, the apparent or even real inability of the other to return The Closest Possible Union with Christ A second aim of virginity is that it serve to bring about the closest possible union with Christ. This aim, I think, is much more evident and visibly manifest in the case of the virgin vowed to Christ than in the case of the man. We know that the union of the soul with God, both as described in the Old Testament and in the New, has been often and most strikingly proposed as like that which exists between man and wife, such that a human person is likened to the Spouse or Bride of Yahweh or Christ.17 It is obvious that though every person is spiritually able to become the bride of Christ, yet only the woman is able to signify externally and visibly this bridal theme of man's union with God or this marriage which every Christian contracts in the depths of his person by his introduction into the life of grace. Only the woman can be naturally a bride. It is because of this that the reception ceremony of the man and woman is pictured under different external rites. The man is said to die to the world and to rise with Christ; he is said to become a new man in Christ. The woman on the other hand, even though she enjoys the application of this same paschal the love that has been given, leads one to look beyond human love and beyond the human lover for the perfect lover who is Christ. When one falls in love, he or she soon learns through the comparative fail-ure of the other person to provide perfect happiness that this can only be had in Christ. There is a time in all human love when one feels that everything, the whole glory of creation, is summed up in one person. But there comes a time when this feeling passes; and its passing can be a danger unless the individual has learned that the whole of creation, even the person who at one time or another seemed to sum up all its glory, is merely the expression of Him who made these things. Not all marriages are perfect; and the half-returned love, real or apparent, that is only too often the case in marriage is one of the keenest forms of participation in Christ's passion and cross. No human creature can satisfy us, but only God. This does not mean that love in marriage can never bring us peace. It means that there is no peace in love in marriage unless it is the love of God in the other. It means admitting that love can never be completely peace-ful because we never completely love the other in God. Consequently, marriage also has a way of leading one to the intuition which is often given to the one called to virginity: the values offered in human love, when this is supernaturalized, are still inferior to those which are offered to one who gives herself to an immediate union with the Lord. This latter is the anticipation of the life to which every human being will one day be called. Even marriage requires the spirit of virginity; this consists in an interior attitude of attachment and love for Christ which must penetrate into one's entire life. This is diffi-cult in marriage. It takes a long time even for the virgin consecrated to God. And it is acquired by her renouncement of natural affections so that Christ can become her unique love. 1~ For example: Hos 2:19 ft.; 3:1 ft.; Is 49:14-5,18,21; 50:1 ft.; 51:17 ft.; 52:1 ft.; 54:1-10; 60:1 ft.; 61:10 ft.; 62:2-4, 10-2; the entire Canticle of Canticles; 2 Cur 11:1-3; Gal 4:21-31; Eph 5:21-32; Mk 2:18-20; Mt 22:11-4; 25:1-13; Jn 3:22-30; 2:1-11; Ap 6:1-17; 19:6-10; 21:2-27; 22:17. + + ÷ Vlrgln~ty VOLUME 24, 1965 843 ÷ ÷ ÷ C. A. $chleck, C.S.C. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS theme, is usually said to become the bride of Christ. It is for this very reason that the ceremony of reception and/or profession is couched in terms of a nuptial or marriage ceremony. It is this very fact which shows the true sublimity of the virgin's decision. The veil which she receives at that time is not merely nor even primarily meant to conceal her from the indiscreet gaze of the world or tO hide her with Christ in God. No, it would seem to be primarily a sign of her innocence, of her virginity, of her belonging exclusively and perpetually in a virginal marriage relationship with Christ. For a girl wears a veil only at a time which has some relationship with union--such as first communion, marriage, or death. Of all w6men only the consecrated virgin has tradition-ally from the very beginnings of Christianity worn a veil so that the remembrance of what she has done by her consecration might never leave her mind or heart, that she as well as all others might find in her something sensible and visible, tangible or perhaps better, sacra-mental, to remind them of the spiritual reality which takes place deep within her at the moment of her dedication to the Lord. While all religious of both sexes are obliged to give themselves entirely to Christ, still the sacramentalism of their surrender is not exactly the same. They do not and cannot evoke the same image-symbol. Man evokes the death-resurrection symbol of the paschal mystery or baptism. Woman evokes the bride-symbol mentioned by St. Paul: "He would hallow i.t, purify it by bathing it in the water to which His word gave life, he would summon it into his own presence, the Church in all its beauty, no stain, no wrinkle, no such disfigurement; it was to be holy, it was to be spotless . " "I have betrothed you to Christ, so that no other but He should claim you, His bride without spot." is Thus the woman's role is one of willing submission to man. And the virgin's mission in the Church is to be given up wholly and entirely to Christ, to play the way of the interior life of union with Christ. To sacramentalize what is hidden is a kind of paradox; but it is the paradox of the vocation to vir-ginity dedicated to Christ. All must give themselves to Christ and must belong to Him as Holy Chnrch belongs to Him. But only the virgin, because she is a woman, because she can be naturally a bride, is able to evoke the image of perfect surrender to life in and for Christ and to make it something lovable and attractive. It is in this way that the virgin attempts to live out her own baptis-mal consecration in all of its visibility; for virginity is seen as a sign of liberation from possession by the tem-poral and of consecration to what is eternal or what is ~s2 Cor "11:2; Eph 5:26-7. above. And the virgin is a living, existential sign or sacrament of what Christ has done for us (liberation and consecration) and what humanity must do in return-- voluntary and spontaneous surrender by way of eternal faith and fidelity and love to Christ. The undividedness or singleness of purpose which we find in religious women goes far beyond that which is proper to creature and Creator and even beyond that which is proper to son and Father. It is one that re-sembles the union existing between lover and beloved; virginity is meant to bring about an intense community of life and love, of interests and desires such as is effected by marriage. It is for this reason that the vow of virginity for the fathers and scholastic theologians was equivalent to the .promise to seek perpetually the perfection of the spiritual marriage which is signified in the reception cere-mony or in religious profession when made by .a woman. Like marriage itself, the promise or vow of virginity is meant to have a permanence about it, one that is even greater and more sublime than that signified by an earthly marriage, since it perdures not only in this life but also in the next where it reaches or achieves its fullest realization. In a sense, of itself, virginity is indissoluble--because it is marriage with God. If it is soluble this is only something accidental to virginity; it comes from its earthly condition. It comes not from the bond itself, but rather from some deficiency on the part of the person making the vow. For it is just as easy to fall from the perfection of our engagement with Christ as it is to fall from the perfection of charity itself; in fact, much easier.Just as God permitted or indirectly al-lowed the Jews of the Old Testament to practice divorce, ob duritiam cordis, on account of the hardness of their hearts, until the time of the coming of Christ, so too does He allow a dispensation or dissolution of the vow of vii:ginity, ob duritiam cordis, on account of the weakness of man, until the law of the New Testament opens up into the law of eternity itself where there shall be no marrying or giving in marriage. Thus, the solu-bility of the bond of virginity vowed to God comes from the weakness of man in the face of the perfection of heaven. Both marriage and the religious sister's gift of herself to Christ signify the union of Christ with the Church, but in different ways. Christian marriage not only sym-bolizes the union of the Church with Christ but renews and re-creates it as the Mass does Calvary. And it does so in reference to its visible and tangible fruitfulriess. May we not say that the profession of the surrender of the virgin to Christ renews and re-creates the union of Christ with His Church with regard to the immaculate- Virginity VOLUME 24, 1965 ÷ ÷ ÷ C. A. Schleck, C.$.C. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS ness of this union, its purity and innocence? Why it is not a sacrament is perhaps because this type of union, an immaculate union, is proper to eternity where there is no sacramental economy, where all shadows and images and even sacraments give way to reality itself. Indeed it would seem that to place virginity in the realm of sacramental realities would be to derogate from its excellence and perfection. For it would then take it out of. eternity and place it in time. Direct and immediate marriage with Christ is a state proper to fully realized eschatology and, therefore, does not demand any sacramental sign. It is the state of the bride of Christ in termino, not in via; and in termino there is no sacramental system. If the wife in Christian marriage is said to be the body-person of her husband as the Church is the body-person of Christ, then a fortiori the Christian virgin en-joys a similar relationship; her body-person is His body-person; and He cherishes her as He does Himself, for her union with Christ is nothing other than Christ loving Himself. From this it should be clear that virgins have as their reason for existence the making tangible of the perfect virginity of their mother the Church and the sanctity of her intimate union with Christ. They are those who reject the practice of marriage and yet love its mystic significance.1° ~ Roman Pontifical, Ceremony for the Consecration of Virgins. It has been the rather common conviction of the members of the Church that the reality of the Church needs a "typical" or representa-tive figure, or icon, even though she is so close to us that it is in her that we live and move and have our being. The Church is in some way visible to be sure, even physically, yet she is also remote because in her visible form we cannot touch her inmost reality. What we see and experience in her visible existence is quite fragmented. Both her invisible spiritual meaning and core and the totality of her external unity call for a "type" to personify her and make her present to us. I think that this should be recalled when there is an investiga-tion of the usefulness of the religious habit for women. The religious habit, especially for the woman, is not quite so accidental as some would make it out to be. It pertains very much to the sacramentality of the religious woman's mission or service or apostolate to the Church as the marches at Selma, Alabama, quite clearly showed. I wonder whether endugh attention has been focused on the prin-ciples that should guide any and every thought of change in this regard. These would seem to be of three orders: (I) the pronounce-ments of the Holy See; (2) the purpose of the religious habit; and (3) the circumstances of modern times. As far as the pronouncements of the Holy See are concerned, they are rather moderate. Pius XII spoke on the subject twice, in 1951 and again in 1952: "The religious habit: select one of such a kind that it will be an expression of the inner character, of religious simplicity and modesty; then it will be a source of edification for all; even for modern youth" (Discourse to Teaching Sisters, September 13, 1951). "In this crisis of vocations be watchful lest the customs, the way of life, or the asceticism of your religious families should prove a barrier or be a cause of failures. We are speaking of certain usages which if they had once a certain sig-nificance in a different cultural setting, do not possess it nowadays. The two states, marriage and virginity, are not at all opposed to one another. Rather they overlap. Virginity They are such that a young girl, who is genuinely good and coura-geous, would find them simply hindrances to her vocation. In our exposition on the subject last year, we gave various examples. To re-turn to the subject and say a word on the question of dress: the re-ligious habit should aways express consecration to Christ; that is what everyone expects and desires. For the rest, let the habit be suit-able and meet the requirements of hygiene. We could not fail to express our satisfaction when, in the course of the year, we saw that one or other congregation had already taken practical steps in this regard" (Address to Mothers General, September 15, 1952; a glance at the picture of the audience would have shown that while there were some modified habits, they all had veils or bonnets and were ankle length!). On September 8, 1964, Pope paul VI in speaking to a group of religious women at Castel Gondolfo remarked: "Here we come to the third reason for our spiritual joy in this meeting. It is that of noting your number and your fervor, that there are still today pure and strong souls who thirst for perfection and who are neither afraid nor asha~ned to wear the religious habit, the habit of total consecration of one's life to the Lord." As far as the purpose of the religious habit is concerned, two have been marked out in papal documents: simplicity and modesty, and consecration. It is true that even modern dresses or uniforms would fulfill the requirement of modesty and simplicity. But would they express the consecration and the representation of inner character and mission on the part of the sister--which is bridal certainly? And this symbol of consecration, and of representation was something that Plus wished to be retained and that Paul was happy to see in the religious to whom he spoke. It is on this score--the sacramentalism of the religious life that there is too little consideration today. The religious life is meant to be sacra-mental, that is, a visible expression of (a) poverty and detachment (the bride of Christ in poverty), (b) of obedience (the obedience of the Church to Christ), and (c) of virginity (of the Church's bridal relationship with Chris~, of the final destiny which every human being is to have bne day with God). This relationship can be shown visibly only by a woman as we have mentioned in this article. As a religious sister, it would seem that she has the duty of more publicly or visibly proclaiming this theme to the world than the member of a secular institute or a woman living a consecrated life in the world under private vows. It would seem that she should be the incarnation of the complete eschato!ogical destiny of the Church and of each member of the Church. Since only a woman can symbolize or sacra-mcntalize this bridal theme and eschatological destiny of the Church, wonld it not seem only right that she should perform this mission and function for the People of God, especially today when there is so much loss of the sacred? The objection might be raised that men do not wear their habits in public; why should women wear them then? I think this is rather begging the question and fails to realize the profound difference be-tween man and woman, a difference that is expressed especially in reference to their clothing---or at least should be. Man differs from woman as prose from poetry. And prose is word-sign; whereas poetry is image-symbol. Prose expresses things rather drably in comparison with poetry which offers us a rather unique medium of expression-- symbolic--in which the transcendent becomes immanent. The value of poetry would seem to lie not so much in itself as rather in what it enables us to be. It is profoundly evocative and generally has the ability to bring out a mu~h more engaged response than does prose or the cold reality. Similarly, the clothing of women is much more evocative (I believeI) and tends to bring about a much more engaged ÷ ÷ ÷ Virginity VOLUME 24, '1.965 847 + ÷ ÷ C. A. Schleck, .$.C. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 848 goes all the way along a road on which marriage stops at the hallway mark. Consequently, virginity is situated along the same line of li[e as marriage, though much further on. It transcends the earthly state of the magnum sacramentum spoken o[ by St. Paul.2° And it attains directly to the actual substance of the eternal marriage of the Church with Christ. That is why true marriage [or the fathers of the church was always the marriage of virgins with Christ or that of the human person with the Word of God made flesh. Christian marriage is held to be merely a counterpart of this in the temporal and material or physical older. Thus, to their minds, and it would seem that they are quite right in this, it is the marriage of virgins with Christ that acts as the type according to which earthly marriages are to be modeled, not vice versa. The most glorious thing about marriage is that it can be a sign or symbol of the spiritual mar-riage between Christ and His Church. Yet human mar-riage is not the most perfect symbol of the espousal between these two. It is the virginal espousal that pro-vides a better figure or image, therefore sign or sacra-ment, of this union, since the bridegroom of the virgin is not a human lover, but the Church's own bridegroom, the Lord Himself. The necessity of deepening this conviction for the per-son who has undertaken this way of life in the Church can also be seen from another approach to the meaning of virginity. The virgin must expect to be deprived of response than does the clothing of men. As someone has put it: "Everyone knows that packaging does make a lot of difference." These same observations are just as applicable to the religious woman and the clothing that she wears before the world. Finally, as far as the circumstances of our own day are con-cerned, these would have to be scientifically evaluated. If it could be proved (not just stated categorically as has been the usual pattern) that the religious habit of women is a definite obstacle to many vo-cations, and if it could be proved that both the faithful and the non-members of the Church ]or the most part are opposed to religious wearing habits in public, and if it could be proved that the nun's habit is a definite obstacle to ecumenism, at least for the majority of non-Catholics, then perhaps we should consider the possibility of some change. I am speaking here of the United States, since it would seem on the principle of territorial government that decisions of this nature should be the prerogative of the territorial hierarchy upon consultation with those who are involved. What I am personally afraid of is that an attitude or a stance which is hostile to the religious habit of women is being engendered by an unfavorable press. Often the press does not merely reflect the thinking of the people; it rather creates it, giving the impression that its statements reflect the ma-jority opinion and can be scientifically substantiated whereas often-times this is not true. Becanse of panic and perhaps the deep feminine desire to be accepted, quick changes are made which are deeply re-gretted within a few years. As the Gospel has it, the last state is worse than the first. ~o Eph 5:32. certain delights that only a wife can enjoy. Yet the genital sphere in her will continue to be the seat of im-pulses that will occasion the appropriate responses in her emotionality. Confused feelings can emerge from her nature arousing vague desires for some activity that would relieve the increasing tension. Images can grad-ually take shape demanding an eager and often anxious curiosity. An inexplicable and stubborn need for affec-tion may give rise even to a nostalgia which can make one experience deeply the effects of loneliness that might not have been suspected up to this time. In short, in the sexual spheres of one's personality there might very well appear with variable clarity and intensity a whole world of human warmth that is normally promised to the wife but from which the religious sister feels herself forever excluded. Or else if the meaning of these psychic phenomena does not reach the surface of consciousness, they can create in the emotionality a rather heavy at-mosphere that weighs down the impulses and slows down the activity of the spirit, at the same time as it brings on a rather indefinable uneasiness. The only thing ca-pable of maintaining proper balance at these times is the conviction in faith of what we have just described above, the virgin's spiritual or mystical marriage with Christ. Just as the active and loving presence of a woman's husband multiplies the energies of her being, so too the spiritual resources of the virgin will be continually in-creased by her faith's conviction that she is the object of God's incomprehensible love, by the certitude that she will never be abandoned by Him, and by her trusting sur-render to Him that is inspired by her love for Him. Virginity Introduces One into the Eschatological Life of Eternity From what we have just seen of the life of virginity as a direct marriage of the virgin with Christ, rather than an indirect one through some intermediary who repre-sents Him, it should be quite obvious that virginity in-troduces her into the eschatological life of eternity. Thus its meaning of undivided belonging to Christ in marital relationship is aimed at portraying to the whole world the end of time. There is a common desire on the part of the entire Church to see what a person in eternity, in vision, will be. It is in the virgin's vocation and in her person where this longing and desire ought to be satis-fied and sacramentalized. For her vocation is meant to manifest or make constantly visible for all to see the fact that the fulfillment of all history will be realized with the resurrection of the body. She reminds us that the Christian life here below has not yet reached its final term. It must always strive toward the future and ÷ ÷ Virginity VOLUr~ ~, 849 C. .4. Schlecl~, REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 850 can never install itself in the temporal or in-human his-tory in such a way as .to disregard its future term. In fact just the opposite. Consecrated virginity has as one of its first services to the People of God to keep before their eyes the awareness that there is a wofld of realities which lies beyond the present one. It is an anticipated realization of the final transformation of the glory of the world to come inserting itself into our present situation. It is only on account of man's immortality that the risen person need no longer procreate. For the life of the res-urrection is not a life in flesh that is,doomed to die. It is, rather,,a life in God, in Christ; it is the life of man in the Spirit, loved in a body that is transformed by the divine doxa or glory. Hence the functions of the flesh become useless; procreation loses its meaning, which was to make up f6r the ravages of death. The virgin shows by her condition that such a life has already started for the Church. She testifies or acts as a witness by way of symbolized anticipation of the deliverance of the body of the flesh. She proclaims to.all that it is in Christ that man escapes the clutches of death and lives in the Spirit. Thus she is a prophecy in-carnate of the truth that the world of the flesh will disappear and give rise to the world of the Spirit where the flesh will have no power, since this world knows only the fruitfulness that comes from and through the Spirit. She is a constant proclamation to the world that no'sal-vation is to be expected from the flesh. Thus, the virgins of the Church renounce worldly hope but only because they know by faith that the world has no hope to pro-pose. Yet in their apparent loneliness they prophesy and announce and already themselves enjoy by way of special vocation and anticipation in faith the eschatolog-ical vistitation of the Spirit. It is foi: this reason that all persons, even the greatest of sinners, love to see especially in a woman the inno-cence of virginity. An immaculate life is always freshness and poetry and always a joy and enthusiasm and charm that has the power of conquering the so-called uncon-querable. It is because the life of virginity is eschatolog-ical that the virtue of virginity is called the angelic virtue and the state an ~ngelic way of life, for it seems to be a way of liv.ing that is proper to a nature that has bedn clothed with that incorruptibility and immort~ility which come only from the Spirit. Both the angel and the virgin are delivered from the necessit~ for marriage since both in a sense pertain to eternal life or to a life which shares in the eternali'now" of the community in God. From all this, it should be evident that among Chris-tians the life of virginity ought to be considered as th~ most perfect expression of the complete dependence of man upon grace. And of the virgin it can truly be said: "All is grace." For by a special act of God's predilection she is taken out of the ordinary task of humanity and established as a living sign of one whose redemption has reached not only to the soul but also to the body. For to be redeemed most perfectly is not a mere spiritual real-ity. It affects the whole of one's being, corporal as well as spiritual; it implies a necessary relationship with the body. It seems then that we are correct in concluding that virginity is a visible sign or sacramentalization of an internal attitude that ought to characterize every Chris-tian since our incorporation into Christ through baptism demands that we no longer live as pertaining to this world but with Christ who dwells in the glory of the Father. What the married woman does through an in-termediary the virgin does directly without the use of any intermediary; and in this way she shows that she is attempting the heroic, to live on earth as though she were already in vision, as though she were already cele-brating that marriage which is not temporal or passing but instantaneous and eternal. Thus the observance of virginity by some of the members of the Church is not the result or end product of fear, or panic at the ap-proach of some imminent disaster. It is rather an act of faith, hope, and especially of love. And the virgin is a living image of the salvation figure: that Christ has saved His bride the Church by immersing her in the laver of water in the word of life. He has made her die with Him and rise again; and at that moment He has united Himself with her as with a chaste virgin without spot or wrinkle, a bride dead to the flesh and raised to life in the Spirit of God. She is a sign, a constant sacrament or presence-in-mystery of the truth that salvation con-sists in marriage celebrated in death and resurrection; or, if you will, the virgin is a living memorial among us of the Easter mystery of the Church and of each of its members. She is meant to be a constant incarnation of the picture of the Church presented to us by John: "I saw a new Jerusalem and a new earth. And I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down from heaven, coming down from above, from God. She was adorned and beautified like a young bride ready for her husband. And I heard ~ voice from the throne cry, Behold the dwelling of God with men." 21 It is thus that the virgin lives already the life of the resurrected flesh and of the world to come, at least in an objective sense and in her heart. 22 Ap 21 : I-3. + 4- Virginity VOLUME 24, 1965 85! ÷ ÷ ÷ c. A. Schleck, C3.C. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 852 Virginity Contributes to Our Holocaustal Offering to God In the total view of virginity we are meant to see not only the notion of self-denial and renunciation which is indeed there and not to be at all minimized in our approach to this way of life, but also another element, the oblation of person that is made directly to the Lord. By the act of her consecration to God, the virgin takes something, her love-life on all of its levels, and makes this holy or as we usually say consecrates this and then offers it as a gift to the One whom she loves. This she does as a sign or testimony of her personal gift to Him alone. Thus perfect chastity or virginity is not only the integrity and purity of body and soul; nor is it merely the renunciation of that aspect of the woman's make-up which gives to her human existence a deep and ex-pansive satisfaction; namely, conjugal love, wifehood, and motherhood. No, it is first and foremost a offering that is most acceptable to God. For the victims that are most acceptable to Him as we learn from revelation are those that are unblemished, undefiled, without stain. It was this thought that was often recalled by St. Ambrose in his preaching to the people of Milan: "You have heard, parents, that a virgin is a gift from God, the obla-tion of parents, the priesthood of ch~istity. She is a mother's victim by whose daily sacrifice the divine anger is appeased." =~ Even in the New Testament, then, per-haps even more so than in the Old, it is true to say that only on condition that pure and unblemished vic-tims be offered to God day and night can we expect that earth will be reconciled with its God. The virgin is there-fore a kind of sacramental continuation of the sacrifices and holocausts of the Old Law, and she is a sign and sacrament of the sacrificial offering of Christ to His Father and of the Church to Christ. She is one who has intentionally made her complete exodus or the total hand-ing over of herself to God. Perhaps it is because of this symbolism pointing to an interior reality that she, like Christ in reference to Mary, is begotten in the womb of a virgin, the Church, on the day of profession. Thus the holocaustal no~e involved in the voluntary acceptance of virginity is not so much negative (although this is surely there) as rather positive. It is the holocaust that is implied in the unconditional surrender, free, total, joyful without fear or torment, of one's person in loving return to God's love. By her consecrated chastity the religious belongs as totally to God as, indeed, more totally than, a wife to her husband. In the heart of the wife no other love can have as high a degree of intimacy = De virginibus, I, 7 (P.L., v. 16, col. 198). as that of her conjugal love; this is exclusive, that is, it excludes all love of the same degree or nature. And this same thing is true of virginal love also. This truth of virginity as contributing to one's holo-caustal offering or surrender to God was brought out rather beautifully by Plus XII in an addregs made to nursing sisters in 1957: It is a truth of faith that virginity is a higher state than married life because the virgin soul binds itself by the ties of complete and indissoluble love directly to God, or, more exactly, to the God-man, Christ Jesus. Actually, all that she has received from the divine goodness to be a wife and mother is offered up by her as a whole-burnt offering upon the altar of entire and perpetual renunciation. The virgin soul in order to be united to the heart of God, to love Him only, and to be loved by Him in return, does not advance toward Him by means of other hearts, nor does she long to converse with other creatures like herself. Nothing is allowed to intervene between herself and Jesus, no obstacle, no obstruction . Since you have been called by God through an ineffable design of His love to this state of predilec-tion, you ought to be in very deed what you are by right, whatever the sacrifice that may be required of you.~ Virginity Leads to the Perfection of Fruitfulness The end for which the vow of virginity is made or pronounced is the perfection of the Christian life, namely, divine love. This as we know has not only God for its object but our neighbor in and for God. Con-sequently, by the very fact that the virgin intends the perfection of divine love, she also intends this perfection according to its all-inclusive object. She embraces vir-ginity precisely in order to learn how to love and be allowed to love with a love that is much more embracing than that which is had by two persons related to each other in the state of marriage. The virgin's love is in-tended to assume the dimensions and depth of the love of Christ and that of the Church. It is much more universal and is given not to any limited number of persons or for time, but rather to many, even to all, and for eternity. This is not something that should appear so strange. For a natural desire implanted in us by the Creator is never left unfulfilled in anyone who is faithful to God's designs. And because it is part of our very nature to wish to communicate life as father or mother, God in calling the virgin to her vocation does not at all deprive her of this desire and innate yearning. Rather, He fulfills this in a most marvelous manner. I think that this truth can be seen in the case of the religious sister by likening her relationship with Christ to that which the Church enjoys =Address to Nursing Sisters, April 24, 1957; English translation, States o] Per]ecti6n, p. 288. ÷ ÷ ÷ lqrginity VOLUME 24, 1965 853 C. A. Schleck, C.S.C. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 854 with Him in reference to her own virginal motherhood. This is presented rather beautifully in the liturgy of the Easter Vigil in the blessing of the baptismal font. As we know, the fathers often speak of the Church as being born from the pierced side of Christ on the cross, as proceed-ing from Him as life-giver, as the bearer of water and blood, which stand for baptism and the Eucharist. Thus the Church proceeds from Christ's side as bride and mother, as the new Eve coming from the side of the new Adam, joined to Him in His rising. And coming from Him she receives and communicates His life. She is flesh of His flesh and bone of His bone; she is His body-per-son in the most profound sense of this expression. Thus, it is always His life which she does and must communi-cate. It is this same Church which prays on. the night of the Easter Vigil that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit who proceeds from the risen Christ, by the secret infusion of His grace and light, might give to the font of baptism which is the virginal womb of the Church, the power to bring men to life in the risen Christ, that a generation of immortal and eternal children may rise from this spot-less womb, that she together with Christ through the power of His Spirit might beget the people of God. The Church that came into being on the cross is a mother: mother of the faithful, mother of those living the resurrection life. In God's plan Christ submitted to the sleep of death so that from the wound in His side the true mother of the living might be fashioned and formed. As our physical life is from Adam through Eve, so our resurrection life is derived from Christ, the new Adam, through the Church, the new Eve, our mother. This is the meaning of the action of the priest when in blessing the baptismal water, he dips the lighted candle (the sym-bol of the risen Christ) into the water. It symbolizes that Christ crucified and risen gives to the water the illuminating and life-giving power of the Spirit; it signi-fies that the baptismal font has become the immaculate womb of the Church, the bride of the risen Lord. Like Mary, she is intended to bear her children solely by and through the action of the Spirit of the risen Jesus. Something very similar is true in the case of the reli-gious sister also. That is why she is usually compared to Mary, the Virgin Mother, and to the Church, the im-maculate spouse of Christ. She is their sacrament or prolongation, if you will. Thus, virginity is a "yes" not only to being virgin-spouse, but also to being virgin-mother. The theme of virginity is allied to whatever is deepest in the human heart, and it lies at the .very genter of the Catholic Church. In consecrated virginity there is found one of those paradoxes so characteristic of the Christian life: "He who loses his life shall find it; if the grain of wheat dies, it brings forth much fruit."-°4 The role for which God has fashioned the woman, that of motherhood, is not only not annihilated through the perpetual practice of virginity, but it is brought to its highest and most perfect fulfillment and achievement-- because the virgin exercises her motherhood over a greater number of persons and with respect to the highest life possible for man, that of life in and with God. It is only in the virgin's conceptions that no sin is passed on to the offspring but only grace, only the life of God Himself, as is true of the conceptions of the Church herself. Hers then is a quasi-divine, maternity, something like that of Mary, and like that of the Church. The love which prompts virginity is not sterile; rather, it is essen-tially creative, because it is of the divine order. When the woman through her promise of virginity is assumed or elevated to this order, as the woman is elevated to the order of her husband through marriage, she is called 'to share most perfectly in the love of the God-man, in the creative activity of the God-man. Consequently, what she "creates," what she brings forth in and through her union with Him in virginity is divine or quasi-divine. We might say that it was the plan of God in the present economy of salvation to establish the communication of divine life upon virginity. For He Himself chose to become incarnate of a Virgin, He chose for His spouse a virgin without spot, and He manifested His special and preferential love for the virgin disciple St. John. More-over, we might note that in the course of history the strength and dynamism of the Church's life has usually been proportionate to the strength and vitality of the institution of virginity. Wheri that has suffered, so too has the life of the Church; and when this institution has been held in high esteem and flourished, so too has the dyhamic force of the Church. Seen in this light, then, the mystery of virginity in-cludes as one of its.highest perfections and its crowning glory, motherhood, such that the virgin who belongs to Christ can be likened to snow on a mountain top or peak whose purity and whiteness are constantly being supplied by an invisible divine activity from above and yet which is constantly melting under a warming action of God's love in order to bring life-giving water to refresh those living in the valleys below. It is in the institution of virginity where we find the highest activity and out-pouring of the woman's nature. There is something that is. put into her life which cannot" come from herself, the ability to give life, the ability to be mother. By the vow of virginity the virgin does sever herself from physi-cal procreation; but she does this only in order to be "~ Jn 12:24. Virginity . VOLUME 24, 1965 855 ÷ ÷ C. A. Schleck, C~S.C. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 856 able to enter ever more fully and entirely into the spirit-ual procreation of human persons into the life of God. She achieves her motherhood by communicating faith and by engendering men in faith. Thus, while the woman's profession of perpetual chastity consecrates her to a life of perpetual virginity and physical barrenness, it also consecrates her and blesses her for a participation in the universal and immaculate motherhood of the Church throughout the entire world. Her procreative activity is not static; rather, it is dynamic and constant, occurring whenever she turns to Christ which is always and surrenders herself to His every need and request-- the poor, the neglected, the homeless, the sick, the unwed mother, the ignorant, the aged--wherever human need asks for a response. The woman who is called sister by all others is mother in the full sense of the word-~be-cause her every activity has become a form of motherhood nurturing Christ in those persons who form her family in God. Her loving care is for the holy children whom she has conceived by the action of the Holy Spirit; for them is the warmth of her loving concern and her maternal interest and love. To be pure and untouched and wholly belonging to God and yet to be mother is the unique marvel of the mother of God in the physical order and of the Church in the spiritual. But this lies also at the very heart of the vocation to virginity in the case of the woman. It is only in this way that she can continue in her own existence the function and role and mission and aposto-late of Mary and the Church--to teach the world that only a virginal motherhood is compatible with a divine motherhood. Consequently, the phrase which the Church in her liturgy applies to Mary type of the Church can also be applied to the consecrated virgin: "Having the honor of virginity, you also have the joy of mother-hood." 25 This does not mean that the life of perpetual virginity does not have its difficult moments when the person so committed feels the renunciation involved in giving up all hope to physical motherhood. But this is part of her God-given vocation. "He who wishes to follow me let him take up his cross and follow me." While the cross stands as a symbol of triumph it also stands as a sign of suffering and love. With her Lord the virgin has chosen suffering and silence and suffering in silence. For she knows that it is only at the foot of the cross that she, like Mary and like the Church, will be enlarged in heart and mind to mother the world for Christ and unto Christ. She freely and lovingly accepts the crucifixion Antiphon [or First Vespers of September 8. implied in her renunciation of motherhood so that she like the Lord can bear about in her body the death of Jesus, the death that works life in man. It is in the pain of renunciation that the ~;irgin begets her spiritual children. It is extremely important that the crises involved in this renunciation be faced before the commitment is made. For there are shadows in every life, in virginity or marriage to Christ as well as in marriage to man. As a matter of fact, the virgin may actually experience more depressed hours when life seems fruitless and empty than her married counterpart in the world. The basic need for maternal fulfillment will be felt. The reason for this is that the sexual instinct has not merely to be controlled and mastered; it must be made an integral part of the spiritual life. It is a mistake to think that the lofty ideal of spiritual motherhood can be achieved without travail and without periods of discouragement and disappointment. And it is characteristic at such times that renunciation seems overwhelmingly real, while fulfillment on a spiritual plane is so remote as to seem effectively non-existent. And then the virgin will be in-clined to think of the joys of family which she has re-nounced and may even be tempted to regret or seriously question her lifelong decision made previously. She should then recall that all motherhood, spiritual as well as, perhaps even more so than, physical, is achieved only through suffering. Thus, her renunciation of physical motherhood is not something that she does once and for all by means of some formal resolve. She must constantly renew this commitment and gradually impress upon all the various levels of her personality her faith conviction in her spiritual motherhood in and through her union with Christ. It is only in this way that she can experience a sense of fulfillment that will parallel the fact of fulfill-ment with reference to this basic and natural need of woman. The proper attitude of mind is so important. For the way a virgin thinks about her life will determine to a great extent how successfully she lives it. Thus, sex iden-tification before embracing the life of virginity is essen-tial. For the sex role of the woman who dedicates her person to Christ is quite different from that of the woman who marries and bears children or that of the woman who anticipates doing these things. The virgin must accustom herself to think differently from the lay woman; and yet she must accept herself as a woman, as one having in God's plan who made her a woman, a definite sex role to play. She renounces the expression of sex on the natural plane, but she does not and cannot renounce her womanhood and consequently the fulfillment of her sexual role. In her sex is supernaturalized and eschatol-÷ ,4- 4- Virginity VOLUME 24, 1965 85'7 C. A. $chlech; C.S.C. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 858 ogized, not excluded. Thus it is very important for her never to renounce her womanhood even subconsciously but rather to think often of herself as spouse and mother on the supernatural plane. The invitation to virginity is not simply nor primarily an invitation to a life of re-nunciation. It is rather an invitation to a life of unioa with Christ, a union which is spousal and maternal. The virgin can achieve her womanly fulfillment only if she succeeds in living this life in union with Christ. Once she realizes this truth and lives it and loves it, her life, like that of the Church after the Easter Vigil and that of Mary after the Resurrection, will become a quiet Alleluia, a gentle song of joy which meets the rise of day in the suffering night which we call time. Like the woman of the Apocalypse she will stand as a sign in the heavens, above the changing vicissitudes of time represented by the moon, and yet still in some way undergoing the pains of childbirth3G For the virgin of the New Testament like. the bride of the Canticle must still seek her Beloved and find Him in the night of faith.'-'7 Thus, while virginity is often associated with impo-tdnce and sterility, it is in reality associated with omnipo-tence and fruitfulness. It enriches the woman's capacity for love and for motherhood rather than diminishes it. There is a virginity about God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Never is man more manly nor woman more womanly than when he or she gives his or her virginity to God. I think that it is true to say that behind each of the active and contemplative religious women of the world there ought to be one single inspiration--the maternal love of the Mother of God for Christ and that of the Church for the Lord and for His Mystical Body. It is only where this spiritual reality truly shines forth in a religious sister that her vocation will become ti'uly attractive and serve to correct so many of the aber-rations'and sins which are part and parcel of modern life. For her fruitfulness is unlimited. It is as radiance emanat-ing" from her person, and those who app~'oach her will be embalmed with what Paul has called the sweet fra-grance of Christ.2s There will be always a kind of divine force that will ~o out from her to touch souls and to make them show forth the glory of her Spouse. From what we have just seen regarding the aims of virginity, it should be quite clear that virginity does have a very profound apostolic dimension. It is quite definitely ecclesial or Church orientated. It is extremely important that there exist within the Church as a service and Ap 12:1-4. Cant 3. ~s 2 Cor 2:15. mission or apostolate to it the profound and total con-secration of one who renounces all else so that she may know Christ and the power of His resurrection.29 Far from being out of commission or decommissioned, the virgin, by her consecration alone, without any added work of charity, is taken from the ranks of the faith-ful and commissioned for another task which has a profonnd ecclesial perspective. It is extremely important that she be convinced of this unwaveringly, since it will be very helpful in the resolution of the conflicts that she will often experience between her professional and re-ligious duties and obligations. Moreover, from a scriptural point of view virginity is undertaken or embraced by one as a special giving of oneself to the kingdom on God on earth as well as in heaven. It is seen to be a close personal bond with the Lord in apostolic service to the Church, such that the personal bond with Christ is seen also as a more intense bond of service toward the community of the brethren. Thus the woman whose capacity and forces are unfet-tered by the duties of generation remains totally free for the communication of the Father's love and totally free to be a sacrament of grace. It is not at all accidental that charitable works in the Church have been and are still being performed by virgins consecrated to God. For the personal bond with Christ develops of its own accord into brotherly love. And in this way also does the life of virginity fulfill a social mission with regard to the Church and especially with regard to married life: the virgin points out in her very existence the very heart of married life--the two-in-oneness opening up into dis-interested selLgiving. She has become one with Christ for the purpose of giving her entire life to His service as well as to that of the Church, His spouse. It is in this way that she proclaims not only that she wishes to see God but also that she is preeminently a daughter of the Church.a0 How simply all this has been stated by the fathers of the Second Vatican Council in the Constitution on the Church: Through the vows (or other sacred commitments similar in their own nature to vows) by which he obliges himself to the three evangelical counsels already mentioned, a member of the faithful is totally dedicated to God loved above all things with the result that he is destined to the service and honor of God by a new and special title. It is true that by baptism he is dead to sin and consecrated to God; however, in order that 'he might derive greater fruit from his baptismal grace, he decides to free himself by his profession in the Church of the evangelical ~ Phil 3:10. ~0See E. Schillebeeckx, O.P., "Priesthood and Celibacy," Herde~" Correspondence, v. 1 (1964), pp. 266-70. + + + Virginity VOLUME 24, 1965 859 ÷ ÷ C,. A. Schleck, .$. . REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS counsels from the impediments which might keep him from the fervorof charity and from giving God a perfect worship; and he consecrates himself in a more intimate way to the divine service. This consecration will be the more perfect in propor-tion as stronger and more stable bonds provide a better rep-resentation of Christ who is joined to His Bride the Church by an indissoluble bond. Since the evangelical counsels, by reason of the charity to which they lead, unite those who take them to the Church and her mystery in a special way, the spiritual life of those taking them should be consecrated also to the good of the entire Church. Hence there arises the duty of labor--in accord with their capacities and the nature of their vocation and either through prayer or active work--to enroot and strengthen the kingdom of Christ in souls and to spread it everywhere. It is for this reason that the Church preserves and fosters the character-istic nature of her various rehgious institutes. Accordingly, the profession of the evangelical counsels ap-pears as a sign which can and should effectively influence all the members of the Church to be unwearied in carrying out the duties of their Christian vocatior~. Since the People of God do not have a lasting city here below but are seeking the one that is to come, the religious state, by giving to its members greater freedom from earthly concerns, also gives to all the faithful a greater manifestation of the heavenly goods already present in this world, not only witnessing to the new and eternal life won by Christ's redemption but also prefiguring the resurrection that is to come and the glory of the heavenly kingdom . Finally, in a special way it clearly points out the preeminence of the kingdom of God over all earthly things as well as the supreme imperatives it entails; and it shows to all men the supereminent greatness of the strength of Christ the King and the infinite power of the Holy Spirit that is at work in the Church in so wonderful a way.~ Finally, one other apostolic service which virginity serves to keep before us is the dignity and value of the human person. Like the solitary flower of the mountains far up at the fringe of the snow line, like the unap-proachable beauty of the poles and the deserts of the earth that remain forever useless for the service and purposes of man, the virgin proclaims that the creature has significance but only as a glow from the eternal ra-diance and purity of the Creator. Her inviolability which if it be purity always includes pain denotes a sacrifice that is the price for insight into the immortal dignity and value of the human person. The contemplative life which regarded from a religious angle gives service in evidencing man's final destiny in God, when humanly considered, means for the most part a lack of fulfillment. So too, the virgin by calling forth a complete release from every visible womanly fulfillment enables us to catch sight of the ultimate, the transcedental meaning of the human person. If it belongs to the mother to transmit man's history-making capabilities into a given generation,' sl Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Chapter 6, paragraph 44; English translation, REVIEW fOR RELXG~OUS, V. 24 (1965), pp. 714--5. it belongs to the virgin to guarantee these capabilities of man as a person, to point to the "sublime significance and meaning and value of the individual person. In this way, the virgin is also mother. For her very virginity ren-ders a service to the race and communicates something extremely vital and important to the generation in which she lives. The Fruits o[ Virginity Virginity might be considered to be a special charism of the new covenant, just as is the visible activity of the Spirit of God, the Person of Love in the Trinity. And it points tangibly and constantly and. visibly to the superi-ority of the law of Christ over the old law. For the law of Christ is not written on tablets of stone but rather on the hearts of those who believe, who commit their persons totally to the demands of Christ. It is the law of the Spirit, breathing where He wills; it is the law of generos-ity, one that imitates and reflects that of Him who gave birth to the Church in the act of His complete surrender, His exodus to the Father. Virginity is an act of [aith in the significance of the paschal mystery which is the beginning of end-time for humanity. It is an act o~ hope because it can be undertaken only at the invitation of the Lord upon whose strength and assistance those whose hearts have been made large enough for this gift depend. But it is above all an act o~ love, because it indicates a preference of love for a Person or Persons who alone can fulfill the depths of the human heart's desire to love and to be loved. Thus love is perhaps the outstanding fruit which comes as a result of fidelity to virginity. The more pure a religious is in her life, the more faithful she is to Christ, the more clearly will He unite Himself to her in love. The reason for this is in reality quite simple. The more we think about a person, the more we begin to love him if he has attractive qualities. Since virginity is embraced precisely in order that one might think about the Lord, as Paul says, the more ought the virgin to love the person of the Lord, to possess Him and to be possessed by Him even though this be in the darkness of faith. Thus virginity by its very tende.ntial nature, is meant to bring about the fullness of divine love or charity. It is in this way that its observance enters into the theological order of things. Just as poverty, as we saw, was ultimately or-dered to the perfection and development of the virtue of hope, so too, the observance of virginity is ultimately ordered to the growth and increase of charity, thereby making its unique contribution to the trinification of the human person through faith, hope, and charity. It is in this way that the very nature of woman which is love (a personification of the essential and proper note of 4- 4- Virginity VOLUME 24, 1965 86! C. A. $¢hleck, C.S.C. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 862 the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity) finds its most perfect flowering in the institution of virginity. As the virgin grows in love for Christ, her heart and her mater-nal dimensions will open and widen more and more; [or she will see more and more that her home is God, her children the world, and her possession and being pos-sessed personally, the peace of willing and complete sacrifice. In addition to this growth in charity through vir-ginity, several of the gifts of the Holy Spirit are also per-fected and made more operative in the spiritual life of the virgin. The first of these is the gift of understanding. The connection between virginity and this gift is indi-cated by St. Thomas when he remarks: "Pleasure fixes one's attention on that in which he takes pleasure. Thus, indulgence in the pleasures of the body causes one's attention to be firmly fixed on carnal things, thereby weakening his opera,tion in regard to intelligible things. The observance of chastity disposes a person quite well for intellectual operation." as The very nature of woman as we mentioned in the first of these articles includes the gift of intuition. And that is exactly the kind of knowledge that is given to one in and through the activity of the gift of understanding. In the case of men where we find logical operation predominating, we also find rather predominant the gifts of the Holy Spirit that are connected with reason. In the case of woman, how-ever, who is more intuitive, more spontaneous, and more instinctive by nature, we find the gift which corresponds more to instinct and feeling. It seems only logical to suppose that God would reveal Himself to woman in a way proportionate to her sex as a God sensible to the heart. Since the gift of understanding is closely con-nected with intuition, it would seem that woman pre-sents to the Holy Spirit a more connatural subject for His activity in relation to this particular gift. Was this not perhaps what our Lord meant when He said: "Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God"? 8s Still another gift of the Holy Spirit that is deepened and made more operative through the practice of vir-ginity is that of wisdom. The more closely united to one another two persons are, the more intimately do they exchange the innermost secrets of their hearts; they do not consider they are revealing these so much to another person as rather to their other half. Consequently, it would seem that virginity, because it involves the perfec-. tion of love and the centering of one's entire affective life on God, opens up to the person making this com- ~ 2-2, q.15, a.3. ** Mt 5:8. mitment an availability for the knowledge-communica-tion of the Holy Spirit that comes through love. This is the function of the gift of wisdom--to dispose one for connatural affective knowledge. It is by the presence of this gift in her heart that the virgin can voyage far and wide into that world which for the majority of others lies far beyond the present one. And it is only on con-dition that she herself make this journey and make it often that she can truly return bringing back something of what she herself has tasted and seen. Finally, another effect or fruit deriving from the prac-tice of virginity is the increasing possession of something like or similar to the grace of Mary's Immaculate Con-ception. One of the purposes of the grace which is given to one consecrating her virginity to God is to establish a stance with regard to purity and the complete emancipa-tion from sin which this implies and also with regard to a certain fullness of grace, at least by way of availabil-ity. When God loves someone He pours or infuses into her a share of His own goodness and perfection. Since He loves the one whom He calls to virginity with a special love, it would seem that He makes available for her a rather special grace-communication. Just as Mary be-came filled with grace and communicative of it through the grace of her Immaculate Conception, so too the vir-gin's call by God is meant to communicate to her some-thing of this same gift; that is, a fullness of grace with respect to emancipation from sin and to mastery over sinful tendencies and with respect to gr~ice-communica-tion or to being a sacrament of grace. Like Mary she is meant to be pure and communicative of grace. Practical Suggestions With all this before you, Mothers, you might be wondering what practical steps you can take in order to educate your religious to an understanding of the vow and consecration of virginity. Without pretending to present any sort of exhaustive list of suggestions the following might serve to point out some areas where a start could be made. 1. Part of virginity as we mentioned above consists in the renunciation of the goods of marriage--the physi-cal, the physiological, the psychological, the emotional, the genital, and the spiritual values that are involved in wifehood and motherhood. Consequently, these things should be recognized positively and specifically for what they are. I might suggest that sometime before the novi-tiate all candidates have had a course in marriage; that is, the normal and complete course that would be given in the ordinary girls' high school. This should include or be completed by a course in anatomy and human physiol-÷ ÷ ÷ Virginity VOLUME 24, 1965 863 ÷ ÷ ÷ C. A. Schleck, C.S.C. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 864 ogy as well as biology. Many o[ your candidates already have these when they come to you, but it should be made a mandatory thing for all seeking entrance to the novi-tiate. I do not mean of course that you are going to leave the matter at this. In juxtaposition to the course on marriage the lif~ of virginity and the values involved in it should also be explained, not as fully as in the novitiate and the later years of formation, perhaps, but in such a way that the excellence of virginity over marriage (ob- ¯ jectively speaking, o[ course, not subjectively) might be grasped. In the educ~ition to chastity two things are to be stressed: (1) the presentation of virginity in such a way that it be seen as perfectly capable of fulfilling the highest aspirations of the woman; (2) the establishing within this way of life, embracing as it does one's whole being and person, body, soul, emotions, and spiritual powers, nature and grace, such order that each element will fit into its proper place. The reason for this rather thorough education is quite simple. Consecrated virginity is a supernatural reality, but it must be lived in the reality of human conditions. In its profound ideal, it involves a person in her en-tire or complete being. It is the whole being, the total woman that is voluntarily handed over to Christ and to His transforming love. Such an act of surrender presup-poses that the person making it has full knowledge of herself. A woman is not really committed until she gives her whole person, for the love gift which is proper to virginity must be expressed within the framework of a body-soul composite wherein the body also becomes a means of expressing the love that is entailed in the con-secration. During the period of formation, postulancy, and novitiate, the candidate should be informed especially about the conditions that are required for the growth and development of religious chastity. Thus, the physical conditions should be explained; that is, the normal conformation of the sexual organs. Otherwise there is the risk that organic disturbances would complicate or render the problem of chastity more difficult or that psycholog-ical disturbances would arise from a sexual malforma-tion that is not properly grasped for what it is. Again the psychological conditions required for growth in chastity must be explained. She must be informed of the meaning of sexual continence and of the risks that are inherent in it. This education mnst not be merely cere-bral, so to speak, reaching only the mind of the candidate. It should be aimed at forming the entire person, intel-lect, will, imagination, heart, emotions, bodily reactions. She must accept sexual reality as an adult, without fear or shame or disgust. And she must accept and consent to virginity and all that this implies on all levels of her personality, if she is to make profession, and she must do this freely, totally, joyfully, and forever, at least inten-tionally. She must also have explained to her the spiritual conditions necessary for religious chastity to take root and develop; that is, the mystery of consecrated virginity or chastity, the mystery of the Church, and the relationship between the consecrated virgin and the Church. This training would also include certain theological attitudes or stances--of perpetual chastity as an act Ofo free and voluntary charity or love, implying an exclusive intimacy with Christ and leading to a spiritual motherhood. Again during this same period of formation the can-didate must be educated to respect certain things that are involved in her consecration. First, she must be taught to respect the being of man and the being of woman. Vir-ginity is not lived nor expressed in the same way by man as by woman. It is most important that in regard to chastity each retain the character of his or her own sex. From the very beginning of the Church as we men-tioned above there has always been in the Church a special relationship between virginity and woman. It is woman who is bride; it is woman who possesses a cer-tain delicacy of attitude toward the Lord; it is woman who possesses naturally and to a greater degree the self-giving generosity, and the joyful devotion in sacrifice that is involved in virginity. In fact, men draw their inspira-tion in reference to the delicacy involved in virginal con-secration from women. Thus, this education to respect must start with what man, and woman really are and it should leave intact what they are. Second, she must be taught that she has to respect her own development. Every person has an age, often two of them, the ap-parent age--the physical age, and the real age. So often a young woman of 18 or 19 seems to be far in advance of her counterpart of twenty years ago; and she is per-haps intellectually. But it does not at all follow that because she has seen or heard so many things that her counterpart saw or heard only at a much later age, that she is thereby formed or matured. In reality the real age of such a person, at least emotionally, is often closer to 14 or 15, since the social structure in which we live gives birth to what might be called for want of a better term, emotional retardation. Thus it may happen that such persons will undergo emotional crises proper to adoles-cents at a much later date than was considered normal a decade or so ago. And it is at these moments that they will seem to be and are at sea as an adolescent normally would be. It is not only the supernatural which they need at these moments; they have to learn to accept and humbly bow to a certain number of conditions, feelings, + ÷ ÷ Virginity VOLUME 24, 1965 865 ÷ ÷ ÷ .4. $chteck, .$.(2. REVIEV~ FOR RELIGIOUS 866 reactions, and transitions which are natural and normal to persons of what we called above their real age. And finally, they must be taught to respect their own personal history. Before one is capable of free and voluntary acts she is already determined to a certain degree, according to many modern psychologists. She has her heredity, her background, her temperament, and her childhood ex-periences. Her freedom does not consist in trying to repudiate all this, or change it, or wipe out the past, or start from the beginning. This is impossible. She must accept the fact that she enters the religious life with what she is, with what she has, and with what she has done, and with what has happened to her. It does her no good to run away from all this, or to pretend that it has never happened. No, the very first act of her liberty or freedom should be to know herself and to accept herself for what she is in reality, and again, at all levels of her personality. This acceptance is absolutely ]undamental in the matter of chastity. If she does not consciously accept this, she runs the risk of building her religious life on a falsehood, on an impossible ideal for her own person, on a vain hope of some spiritual existence that is totally ephemeral. And sooner or later this will most likely bring on a psychologically disturbed climate rendering the life of perpetual chastity difficult if not unbearable. And the religious herself would most probably be un-aware of the possible causes of her disturbances.~4 Thus because of a failure to accept one's history and sex certain spontaneous though involuntary reactions in the genital and emotional spheres could ,easily cause anxiety. They could seem to be intrinsically evil rather than natural and normal given her personal history, and she might at-tempt to oppose them by trying to drive them out of the field of consciousness. This constant action on her part could create a psychic tension that would prove to be rather favorable as a climate for the appearance of some kind of neurosis in the future. By dint of repressing her sexuality or of allowing it to infiltrate illicitly into her daily activities, the religious woman who would not have resolved or faced up to the frustrations which she ex-periences in the genital and emotional spheres of her personality could very easily become the victim of some psychic disorder requiring the intervention of a com-petent psychiatrist. Moreover, she would probably risk seeking uncon-sciously and by rather devious ways the satisfaction of these sexual impulses which would be disguised perhaps under the appearance of genuine and apostolic and there-fore acceptable "involvements." And she would perhaps, refer the reader to what was said in footnote 10 above. without even being aware of it, permit the establishment within her person of a rather unhealthy psychological and affective climate wherein a disturbed sentimentality would evoke images and arouse desires of a partly dis-guised sexual nature and import. In such a person, an exclusive friendship would find a rather favorable and fertile field for inception and growth. Finally, during these years there should be a thorough education in regard to modesty and all that this means, the necessary duty flowing from the virgin's commitment to Christ, of guarding her human affection and of using it properly, of regulating the use and non-use of her senses especially through recollection and custody of the eyes. The training of the affections both as to use and re-straint is most essential. Previous to a short time ago, perhaps the emphasis was somewhat one-sided--the re-straint of the use of the senses. Perhaps this very neces-sary aspect of modesty can be balanced with a more positive phase: the various uses and ways in which their love (which must be personal and directed to a person) is to be used. However, they are also to be reminded that their sacramental mission and service to the Church will always demand a much greater restraint in regard to the use of their senses, especially the eyes, than their secular counterpart. Religious always have the added mis-sion of proclaiming visibly the Christian truth that we have not here a lasting city. Their very religious vocation demands the renunciation of certain values perfectly legitimate for the secular. As the Constitution on the Church has it: Furthermore, all should clearly realize that the profession of the evangelical counsels, though it involves the renunciation of values which without any doubt are of great worth, neverthe-less does not prevent a true development of the human person but by its very nature makes a very great contribution to that development. For the counsels, freely undertaken according to the individual's personal vocation, are a great help to purifica-tion of heart and to spiritual liberty; they constantly enkindle the fervor of charity; above all, as is shown by the example of so many holy founders, they are able to give the Christian a greater conformation to the type of virginal and poor life which Christ the Lord chose for Himself and which His Virgin Mother embraced. Nor should anyone judge that by their consecration religious alienate themselves from men or become useless as far as earthly society is concerned. For even if in some cases religious do not directly associate with their contemporaries, still in a deeper sense they are present to them in the Heart of Christ and work with them in a spiritual way so that the building up of earthly society may always be based on the Lord and orientated toward Him lest those who build this society should labor in vain.~ ~ Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Chapter 6, paragraph 46; English translation, REWEW FOR I~Lt¢~OUS, V. 24 (1965), pp. 716-7. VOLUME 24, 1965 867 + REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 868 It is absolutely essential that you recall this to your religious from the very first days of their training. For we are living in the days of a return of humanism in which as the same Constitution on the Church mentions "the faithful must learn the deepest meaning and the value of all creation." s0 But we must not forget ours must be a Christian humanism--one that is not free to arbitrarily choose between the mysticism of the cross and the mysticism of the resurrection. Moreover, ours is a human-ism that is proper to religious, that is, one that renounces and voluntarily so (otherwise hostility to this renuncia-tion will be the result) certain values for some other service to the people of God. The recent letter of Pope Paul VI to all religious rather clearly pointed this out: With singular care religious should preserve chastity as a treasured gem. Everyone knows that in the present condition of human society the practice of perfect chastity is made difficult, not only because of the prevalence of depraved morality but also on account of the false teachings which glamorize excessively the merely natural condition of man, thereby pouring poison into his soul. An awareness of these facts should impel religious to stir up their faith more energetically--that same faith by "which we believe the declarations of Christ when He proclaims the supernatural value of chastity that is sought for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. It is this same faith which assures us beyond doubt that, with the help of divine grace, we can preserve unsullied the flower of chastity. To obtain this blessed objective it is, of course, necessary to practice Christian mortification with more courageous zeal, and also to guard the senses with more diligent care. Therefore, the life of the religious should find no place for books, periodicals, or shows which are unbecoming or indecent, not even under the pretext of a desire to learn things useful to know or to broaden one's education, except possibly in the case, duly ascer-tained by the religious superior, where there is proven necessity for the study of such things. In a world pervaded by so many sordid forms of vice, no one can adequately reckon the powerful effectiveness of the sacred ministry of one whose life is radiant with the light of chastity consecrated to God and from which he draws his strength?' In regard to this education in modesty, we should not forget that education in chastity includes an education in the over-all significance of temperance. Thus all the virtues which share in the spirit of temperance should also receive attention in the formation to religious chastity, for example, clemency, kindness, moderation, humility, studiousness, moderation in gestures and dress. This education in the early formation is necessary for two reasons. First, there is no greater danger to the perseverance in perpetual chastity than ignorance of ~ Dogtnatic Constitution on the Church, Chapter 4, paragraph 36; English translation, REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, V. 24 (1965), pp. 704-5. arAddress on Religious LiIe, May 23, 1964; English translation, REVIEW fOR RELIGIOUS, V. 23 (1964), p. 701. what it involves. Knowledge of what one is, of what one is giving up, and of what one is positively embracing is the greatest preventive of future disappointments. Sec-ond, the more a girl sees the excellence and beauty of virginity, and the more she sees that its negative implica-tions have not been hidden from her, and the more she sees that the beauty of marriage has not been cloaked over, the more will she begin to love the special grace which God has given her in calling her to the religious vocation and the more gratitude will she have toward the community's openness with her, and the more free and entire will be her response to the values as well as the difficulties involved in her vocation. 2. The knowledge given during these early years of formation will not and cannot and should not necessarily be exhaustive; nor will the young candidate under-stand everything that may be given. Consequently, this education and training in chastity is something that must be developed through the next years of formation espe-cially but also even throughout the entire course of the religious life. This can be done through conferences, through private and guided reading, through discus-sions, and through the formal courses in theology espe-cially those treating of marriage and the states of life. During the years of the juniorate and the summer pre-ceeding perpetual profession, and again during the spirit-ual renewal, a very frank treatment of the crises, emo-tional and physical, which the religious woman will undergo at certain ages should be clearly pointed out to them. Thus, often today because of the emotional retarda-tion of society as a whole, there is the crisis of high adolescence occuring in the late twenties. At this time very strong desires for physical union with man and for motherhood can be felt rather intensely. There is also a rather profound psychological crisis through which a religious sister passes in her thirties. At this time she generally experiences a certain boredom with the re-ligious life and vocation. It no longer seems to satisfy her emotionally, nor does it seem to be producing the womanly fulfillment that she had expected when em-bracing this way of life; hence she experiences a certain frustration. Moreover, at this time she becomes much more deeply aware of her own personal capabilities and begins to resent the restrictions of the religious life claim-ing that they reduce her to the level of a child; hence she seems to need more independence. This state brought on often by the psychological or emotional change (a kind of a drying up in this area) through which she is pass-ing can very easily induce problems in regard to obedi-ence and authority (especially if her predominant in-÷ ÷ ÷ VOLUME 24, 1965 869 C. A. Schteck, C.$.C. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS clination is toward independence) and/or in regard to sensuality (especially if her predominant inclination or need lies in this direction). As a result she often tends to seek compensations for these situations: criticism of authority, the circumvention of authority in regard to permissions, the maintenance of rather odd or haughty positions on questions of discussion, or the forming of very close friendships, tending to the exclusive side, or deep involvement with the personal problems of students or patients, or romantic day-dreaming or solitary sin--in brief, the usual compensations a human being seeks when the burden of obedience and chastity is really brought home. These compensations can take and very often do take the form of less harmful involvements: an exaggerated interest in sports, or in music or other forms of culture, or an over-immersion in one's pro-fessional work, and so forth. Regardless of what form this compensationalism takes, it is a running away from an unpleasant experience rather than a facing up to it and a deriving from it what God intends it to pro-duce-- a deepening of one's commitment to Him. This transition period should serve to make the woman's service and commitment and love go to deeper levels of her personality so that it becomes more deeply human, more spiritual, and less dependent on emotional satisfac-tion than was true earlier in her religious life. It is a kind of a "dark night" if you will; but one intended to pro-dt~ ce the same result as the one spoken of by St. John of the Cross, namely, a more profound and ultimately a more peace-communicating union with Christ. It is not something to be feared, but rather looked forward to since it is an invitation on the part of God who created our nature to advance one step further in the maturation process of the human person. Far from destroying per-sonal fulfillment, it makes it more available. Again it is another instance in which the application of Christ's words are so true: Unless the grain of wheat die and fall into the ground, it remains alone; but if it dies, it will produce much fruit. Again there is the crisis of the menopause years which brings on, generally speaking, rather profound emotional changes and" disturbances. It often produces a revival of almost adolescent urges and feelings and impulses of a sensual and sentimental nature, quite humbling to say the least. Very often this transition period in the woman's life brought on by a profound transformation of her organism brings on a loneliness and a deep feeling of uselessness brought on by the loss of what she has come to identify with the very essence of womanliness--regular ovulation and the ability to bear children. At this time, too, just as was true in the above transition period, the religious sister can run away from her predicament rather than face up to it and even embrace it with eagerness, since this transition too is provided for by God Him-self, the author of her nature, and is an invitation from Him to advance another step forward in the overall matu-ration process of the human person in its feminine expres-sion. Far from destroying or annihilating her femininity, this transition is intended to expend its activity, making the woman more available for society, more capable of bringing to its service the wealth of her emotional and spiritual qualities enriched by the maturation of her personal experience, and possessing the peace and calm and serenity that are so necessary to give a more balanced direction to its many needs. The experience of these transitions is, of course, unique for each woman; but a knowledge of it and

Matthew Godfrey ; The Weber and Davis County Communities Oral History Collection include interviews of citizens from several different walks of life. These interviews were conducted by Stewart Library personnel, WeberState University faculty and students, and other members of the community. The histories cover various topics and chronicle the personal everyday life experiences and other recollections regarding the history of the Weber and Davis County areas. ; 36p.; 29cm.; 2 bound transcripts; 4 file folders. 1 video disc: digital; 4 3/4 in. ; Oral History Program Matthew Godfrey Interviewed By Rebecca Ory Hernandez 21 October 2011 1 November 2011 i ii Oral History Program Weber State University Stewart Library Ogden, Utah Matthew Godfrey Interviewed by Rebecca Ory Hernandez 21 October 2011 1 November 2011 Copyright © 2013 by Weber State University, Stewart Library iii Mission Statement The Oral History Program of the Stewart Library was created to preserve the institutional history of Weber State University and the Davis, Ogden and Weber County communities. By conducting carefully researched, recorded, and transcribed interviews, the Oral History Program creates archival oral histories intended for the widest possible use. Interviews are conducted with the goal of eliciting from each participant a full and accurate account of events. The interviews are transcribed, edited for accuracy and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewees (as available), who are encouraged to augment or correct their spoken words. The reviewed and corrected transcripts are indexed, printed, and bound with photographs and illustrative materials as available. Archival copies are placed in the University Archives, which also houses the original recording so researchers can gain a sense of the interviewee's voice and intonations. Project Description The Weber and Davis County Communities Oral History Collection include interviews of citizens from several different walks of life. These interviews were conducted by Stewart Library personnel, Weber State University faculty and students, and other members of the community. The histories cover various topics and chronicle the personal everyday life experiences and other recollections regarding the history of the Weber and Davis County areas. ____________________________________ Oral history is a method of collecting historical information through recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account. It reflects personal opinion offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ____________________________________ Rights Management All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to the Stewart Library of Weber State University. No part of the manuscript may be published without the written permission of the University Librarian. Requests for permission to publish should be addressed to the Administration Office, Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden, Utah, 84408. The request should include identification of the specific item and identification of the user. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Godfrey, Matthew, an oral history by Rebecca Ory Hernandez, 21 October and 1 November 2011, WSU Stewart Library Oral History Program, University Archives, Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden, UT. Matthew Godfrey ca. 1999 1 Abstract: Matthew Godfrey (June 30, 1970) was born in Ogden, UT. He spent his childhood years in North Ogden and attended Weber High School. Matthew attended Weber State University, where he got a master's degree in accounting and was an All-American on the track team. Matthew sat down with Rebecca Ory Hernandez in the Mayor's Office before the end of his third term. He shares stories of his life growing up and living in North Ogden, as well as his education and serving as Ogden's Mayor. He reflects on his time running for Mayor and discusses some of the major economic and development projects he worked on in his several terms after elected to beautify Ogden City. His father was William V. Godfrey, mayor of Harrisville. Matthew is currently working as a consultant and continues to serve on various community boards. He is married to Monica. ROH: Today is November 21, 2011. Seated in Mayor Matthew Godfrey's office are Rebecca Ory-Hernandez and Mayor Godfrey. We're here to talk about your history. Let's start with where and when you were born. MG: I was born here in Ogden at the old McKay Dee hospital that was across from Weber State. That was June 30, 1970. ROH: Did you have any brothers or sisters? MG: Growing up, there were five of us. I have an older sister, Malinda, then Jason and then me. After me were Deborah and Laura. I had another sister who died when she was eleven days old; her name was Rebecca. ROH: How much older are Jason and Malinda? 2 MG: The first four are all two years apart. Malinda was born in 1966, Jason in 1968, I was in 1970, and Deborah in 1972. Rebecca was born in 1974, and then she passed away. I think Laura was born in 1976. ROH: Did you grow up in Ogden? MG: I grew up in Harrisville. We lived right behind where the Wal-Mart is now. We grew up in the same house my mom grew up in. I never distinguished it much from Ogden. ROH: What are the names of your parents? MG: William Verl Godfrey and Carol Jeanne Godfrey. My mom went by Jeanne and my dad went by Bill. ROH: Tell me a little about your childhood growing up in Harrisville. MG: It was a wonderful place to grow up and I had a great childhood. We had land around our homes so we would go and play and ride bikes with friends. We did a lot of fun things together as boys—myself, my brother, and my cousin, after he moved in behind our house. It was a great time growing up. We got along really well. I enjoyed spending time with my family. It was kind of a family compound. Next door to us were my mom's parents; behind us were our cousins, the Fields, which was my mom's sister; behind them, later on, the Montgomery's built, and they were the family of another of my mom's sisters. ROH: Where did you go to school? MG: I went to Pioneer Elementary School, Walhquist Jr. High School and Weber High. Education was never stressed by my parents. Both of them went to a semester or two of college but didn't graduate. They never pushed it or said it was 3 important that we be good at math or reading or other topics. We got good grades and we all liked school, but I don't recall my mom saying I needed to go to college. I enjoyed school both academically and socially. I ran for some offices and had good experiences. ROH: What offices did you run for? MG: Eighth-grade president and then student body president at Walhquist Jr. High School. ROH: What other extra-curricular activities were you involved in? MG: I ran track. I really wanted to play basketball because basketball was a cool sport and track was not. I tried out for the basketball team. I was the last kid cut. I still remember that Lynn Wood and I had a one-on-one game at the end of practice to decide who was going to get on the team. He beat me by one basket. In hindsight, it was a good thing because if I'd made the team I would have pursued basketball and that's certainly not where my skills were. I played football my eighth and ninth grade years, which is tough when you're only a hundred pounds. I got my bell rung plenty, but I had a good time. My science teacher got a ferret and there were two of us that would go and take care of it. Those are the only extra-curricular things I did. ROH: What about high school? MG: I ran track and cross country. I was on seminary council my junior year and I was seminary president my senior year. It was against the rules to be a student body officer and be on the seminary council, so when I was asked to be on the 4 seminary council, I couldn't run for office. I think it was a good thing. I did debate as well. High school was a fun time. ROH: What was a typical day like for you in high school? MG: We woke up around 6:30 and we always had breakfast as a family. We'd pray and read scriptures as a family, then rush off to catch the bus to school. In high school, my parents had a car for all the kids. They didn't want us to have our own car. It was an ugly green GMC pickup truck that we were embarrassed to drive. We thought it was such an ugly truck. My junior year, much to my surprise, my dad bought a Fiat X-19. My dad bought it from my uncle who was glad to get rid of it. My junior and senior year I was able to drive this cool little sports car to school—when it worked, which it didn't much of the time. School would start around 7:15 and end around 3:00. Then, I would go run track or cross country until 5 or 5:30. I was always famished when I got home, and we always had dinner as a family around 6 or 6:30. ROH: What did your parents do for a living? MG: My mom stayed at home with us. My dad was an insurance agent. He had a tiny little yellow shack of an office until I was in my senior year in high school, when he went to work for Heiner's Insurance. My dad was the mayor of Harrisville and a councilman before that. I think he ran for mayor the first time while I was in high school and he lost by one vote. He ran again and won the second time around, which was just after I was married. He had a heart attack and was in the hospital the night he won the election. He came out of open heart surgery and found out that he'd won the election. 5 ROH: Was he influential in your decision to run for mayor? MG: He told me not to run. Almost twelve and a half years ago I went to talk to him out in the garage and said, "Dad, I'm thinking about running for mayor." He said, "Why would you do that?" I gave him my reasons. He said, "I would advise you not to do it. Maybe I'm being over-protective." He shared with me some experiences he had had of people being mean-spirited. He said, "Your friends and the people you go to church with are going to yell at you and say terrible things about you and I would rather you not have those kinds of experiences." He said that if I did decide to run, he would be supportive. I didn't have a political bug in me—we had to deliver fliers when he ran for office and I did not enjoy that at all. I didn't have much interest in politics, even though I'd run for two offices in school—that was more for fun. After I decided to run for mayor, my dad was a great support. ROH: Back up a little bit and let's talk about what happened after high school. MG: I got a track scholarship to Weber State. ROH: What was your major? MG: My undergraduate was finance and then I went on to get a master's degree in accounting at Weber, which was never the plan. The plan was to go away for a Master's degree in International Business. The NCAA kind of messed that up for me. At that time, you couldn't transfer schools without losing a year of eligibility. When I finished my undergraduate, I wanted to get a Master's but I couldn't transfer. Weber had two graduate degrees, the Masters of Business and the Masters of Accounting. I figured it out with the counselor and I could get four 6 bachelor's degrees or I could get a Master's degree, otherwise I would lose a year of track eligibility. So, I ended up getting a Master's in accounting even though I had no interest in accounting. I got them together and graduated with both degrees in 1995. I started in '88 and had a two-year mission within that time. ROH: Where did you go on your mission? MG: I went to Caracas, Venezuela. It provided a lot of great experiences and learning opportunities. A mission is an amazing amalgamation of experiences. It is extraordinarily difficult physically even though I ran track all through school. In Venezuela, we would walk several miles and then knock on doors all day in the sun. It was hot and humid and you're wet all day long. Continual rejection is something you have to learn to live with. Then you have to learn to live with another person. You don't choose your companion; they're assigned by the mission president. I think I had seventeen companions in twenty-four months. That's unusual. That was good but also hard. I had quite a few companions who were having problems and the president sent them to me—sometimes he told me in advance, but usually he didn't. After the difficult companion transferred the president would say, "Thanks, that's the longest he's ever stayed with anybody." It was a valuable experience to learn to live with somebody you don't know and who is often from another country. Usually you're living with someone with whom you have nothing in common except religion. I really like to get out, work hard and do things. I had companions who wanted to do what was easy, fun and enjoyable. Learning how to resolve those kinds of issues was a good experience and I think great preparation as well. It 7 was neat to see people change their lives as they listened to the Gospel and decided they were going to get baptized. I just got a call last month from a lady I baptized who was here in Utah. It was neat to talk with her and hear what was going on in her life and what she was doing. Those relationships were meaningful and they continue to be very rewarding experiences. I wish I would have kept better track of the people I knew there. It seemed unmanageable at the time, but today with Facebook and email it would be a piece of cake. The postal service is terrible in Venezuela, so I knew most of my letters wouldn't make it through anyway. ROH: What did you think about the contrast in geography? MG: It was very tropical and there was a desert in one area where I served. It's so beautiful and so ugly at the same time. It was fascinating to see how poorly the country was run; they had so much by way of natural resources and amenities of the earth, but they did a poor job of managing it. It was sad to see the poverty. I had heard about poverty, but when you see the depth of the poverty and the pervasiveness of it, you feel overwhelmed by it. It's not like you can help them out of it alone. That was hard. All I could do was share a message that could help their lives get better and hope that over time they could improve their situation. It was a beautiful landscape and I enjoyed the climate knowing I wouldn't choose to live in that kind of humidity. It was fun knowing I was going to be there for two years and then come back to this area. ROH: Did you run on your days off? 8 MG: A handful of times, but my philosophy was that if I put all my effort into serving well on my mission then things would work out with track. ROH: Did you get back into track and school when you got back? Or was it very different when you came back? MG: I got right back to both school and track. I hadn't run for two years, so it took time to get back in shape. I had more injuries after my mission, which could have been from the time off, but I was very poor and didn't change my shoes as often as I should have, so a lot of it I caused myself, I'm sure. I'm fairly bullet-proof with injuries, but I had a few years where I was injured quite a bit. Weber didn't put much money into their track program, even though it was probably the best athletic program they had. We won more championships and had more national recognition, I'm certain, than any other team on campus. It's not exciting when the cross country team places fourth or seventh in the nation. The coach was great and became a very good friend. I learned a lot from him about track and about life. The same with my high school coach—Dick Connelly. He passed away a few years ago. High school is such an impressionable time in your life and I thought I was a really good kid—seminary president, didn't go to parties and always did what I was supposed to be doing— but he pulled me aside several times and told me I needed to be doing better. It was shocking to me because I thought I was too far on the good side and needed to let my hair down a little. I was really grateful to him. He coached me well in running, but also in life. He was a wonderful man. ROH: Once you graduated from Weber, what did you do? 9 MG: I was married in the summer of my junior year of college, which was in 1993. Monica and I were introduced by someone on the track team. I had a freshman who had a locker next to me and from the time he came in he wanted to set me up with somebody that he knew. To be honest, I didn't trust his judgment. He was really fun-loving and kind of goofy, and I didn't know who Monica was but I was certain that she would not be someone I would be interested in. He kept asking and asking, and finally said, "Just meet her." We set something up where we would just pass each other and meet. We did that and she was much better looking than I had expected. We went out on a date—an almost-blind date. It wasn't wonderful. It was a wedding reception for a friend of mine. It was one of the most spectacular storms I've ever seen during my life here—in that six hour period of our date, it snowed probably two feet. We had a heck of a time getting from Ogden up to the valley and we ended up helping cars on the side of the road. It took us two hours to get to my friend's house and it was eleven at night by the time we did. It was still snowing, so we talked about just spending the night at my friend's house. Monica called her parents to ask and they said, "No way, if we have to come get you, we will, but you're not spending the night with a blind date in who-knows-where." After I thought about it, I thought it was probably what I would have said too, as a parent. So we made the trek back. We were married six months later. ROH: That must have been a busy time for you—a Master's program and track and getting married. You had a lot of change going on all at once. What was that like? 10 MG: It was fun and hard, for the reasons that you've stated. I was taking a lot of credit hours. One semester I had either twenty-eight or thirty-one credit hours. It was really hard and I was really busy. I was also adjunct faculty and I taught between one and three classes a semester. I was the evening assistant manager at Godfather's Pizza too. I was doing all of that and newly married and trying to figure out how a marriage works. My parent's relationship and her parent's relationship could not have been more different. I knew that and she recognized that our parents interacted in very different ways. That was hard because I had only seen things one way and she had only seen things one way. We had to figure out those dynamics and the personality of our relationship in a time where there was already a lot going on. ROH: Was she a student? MG: Yes. She ended up getting a degree in communications, which we both regret. She wanted a degree in nursing but her dad talked her out of it. He didn't want her to be a nurse, but said that she should go to school to be a doctor. She wanted to stay at home and raise our children, but that knowledge base would have been very valuable for our family. In one way, it was good because communications was a faster degree and she was able to get her degree quickly. She got pregnant our senior year and we had our first child about six or eight weeks before she graduated. My father would come over to our little house and watch the baby while we were both in school. ROH: Where was your first house? 11 MG: It was 780 32nd Street. It was a tiny little house but we loved it. We were able to buy it because my wife had saved up some money. We drove past it because it was near where we were renting and we talked the owner into selling it to us on contract. We gave him the $2,000 that Monica had saved as a down payment. ROH: What was your first child's name? MG: Natasha was our first. She was born in '95. ROH: My wife stayed home with Natasha and I got a job at Lomega as a financial analyst. I made $28, 500, which was really upsetting. I felt like with the master's degree and good grades—I was second in my class—I had hoped for more. But it was a job and I took it. It was a good experience, but I didn't stay long. I was there for about six months when I got a call from Dutch Belnap who used to be the athletic director at Weber State. He said, "Hey, Matt, I have these guys that are looking for a chief financial officer, are you interested?" I said, "Heck yeah." I talked to them and worked with them for three months. It was a disaster. I won't be disparaging about what went on. It was not what I wanted to do or where I wanted to work. Luckily, I was able to go back to Lomega and they took me back in a position that was better than the one I had left. I ended up being a program manager and supervising the release of new products. Lomega started out with a ditto drive, a tape back-up drive. Later, I moved to the zip drive. It was very challenging and very fast paced. I was laid-off, which is a great story. I was in meetings until 6:30 or 7:00 p.m. one night and my card wouldn't work to get back into my office. Somebody 12 came by and let me in. I went to my computer and my login wasn't working. I called the IT guy and said, "Hey, what's going on? My computer and my card aren't working." Then, all of the sudden, I realized I had been laid-off. We knew there were going to be massive lay-offs, but there were only two of us doing program management for the zip drive in the entire company and we went to our boss and asked, "Should we be worried?" He said, "No, if you guys weren't here, there's no one to do your job. There's no way you could be let go." So we both thought we were safe and yet we both were laid off. That didn't last very long, but they didn't bring me back to the same position. It was about two weeks later that they brought us back and they had me doing something similar but it was in the division in San Diego. I flew out Monday morning and flew home Friday night. I had been called to be a bishop in my church about a year before. I worked that schedule for about six months when I decided I couldn't do it anymore. I had been applying for other jobs but my stake president worked for the city and suggested I apply for a job in neighborhood development with the city. I had been doing some real estate on the side. I applied and didn't hear anything for three months. Then I was called in for an interview and again didn't hear anything for quite a few more months. I left Lomega and worked at the city. I wasn't very excited about that. ROH: What year was that? MG: I think it was the end of 1998. I told the city I couldn't live on the salary they gave me and that I needed to continue to do real estate on the side. They said that would be okay. I basically helped with neighborhood development. I went to city 13 council meetings and presented new projects. I kept thinking that the way the city was being run didn't make any sense. We had huge problems. Downtown was a mess and was continuing to cave, yet it seemed like we were the only ones doing anything to rebuild the town but we were doing it up in these neighborhoods. I said, "Why aren't we doing some mixed-used development downtown?" They laughed at me and said, "That's what we should be doing but the economic development guys aren't going to go for anything like that." I made other suggestions and kept saying, "Why doesn't the city do this?" or "Why doesn't the city do that?" I was brand new. I only worked for the city for six months total. One day, I got a call from the CAO, which is the guy right under the mayor. He said, "I understand you have a lot of ideas about what should happen in the city." He asked me to meet with him. I went to his office and started sharing the ideas. He was mostly listening and from time to time would write things down. Then, I got to crime and I said, "We need to focus on crime. Factual or not, there's a perceived crime issue. People think Ogden is riddled with crime and I think there needs to be a real emphasis on reducing crime." He put down his pen and said, "There is nothing that can be done about crime. Crime is driven by demographics and the economy and there's nothing you can do to change it." I said, "Well, I think we can change it and I think there are cities across the country that have, though it will take a lot of work." He put his pen down and folded his arms and I thought, "Well, this is over." I didn't say that, but I thanked him for his time and left soon thereafter. This was in the spring—in March. 14 I went home that night and thought, "Nothing's going to change." Until there is a vision and somebody who has a desire to make something happen, we're in a vortex and this town isn't going to escape. The guys running the city— the CAO—didn't believe things could change. I was upset by it and asked myself if I really wanted to stay here. I felt like I was on the Titanic. A week later the mayor announced he wasn't going to run for re-election. ROH: Who was the mayor? MG: Mayor Mecham. He was having heart failure. Nobody knew it at the time, but he was getting a heart transplant. He was a nice man, but he had several people in key positions that weren't making anything happen. I said, "Good, hopefully there will be somebody who jumps in the race who will do something." Then Garth Day announced he was going to run. He was just indicted up in Morgan County and sent to prison for fraud. He was on the city council and I had watched him flip-flop on issues until it drove me crazy. One day, I got up and spoke out about an issue because he was pushing an ordinance that had to do with the city yard-care regulations. They were saying, "We have these ordinances that require people to take care of their yard, but people don't." Garth Day was trying to get something passed where you'd put a big billboard, placard-type thing up in the person's yard that said, "This person is not complying with Ogden City regulations." He said, "If we do that, maybe we can shame them into compliance." While I was attending the meeting as a staff member, I figured that since I was also an Ogden resident I could address them as a constituent. I said, "What I think we should do is not embarrass people into 15 doing it, let's just enforce the law. I am certain that if you started enforcing the ordinances, you will change behavior. We just need to give citations and let their pocketbook change their behavior. If you put the signs up, they're just going to tear them down." I got in trouble the next day from my boss who said, "You should not be speaking out at these council meetings." ROH: Who was your boss? MG: Aaron Wolf-Burtling. He said, "I understand, but let wisdom dictate. We need the council to approve our plans." I said, "I know, but it was a dumb idea." He said, "I know, but you still need to be careful." Anyway, I had seen Garth and I thought, "He cannot be the next mayor. He'll destroy this town!" I like Garth; he and I developed a good relationship, but he was not the one to run the city. I kept waiting to hear who else was going to run. I heard there was another guy that everyone acknowledged was kind of a crazy guy. So, it was kind of depressing. There were some great people at the city and I'd rubbed shoulders with a lot of people who were really capable. There were some fantastic people at the city who wanted to do things but had been here for years and maybe just accepted that this was the way it was. I went home one day and said, "Monica, what would you think if I ran for mayor?" Her father was a state senator at the time and had been chair of the Weber County Democratic Party. He was very well known as a physician in town and very well-liked by everybody. Between my father and my father-in-law, you'd think that politics was kind of ingrained in me, but I had never had a desire to run for political office. My wife 16 and I hardly ever talk about politics. She was shocked. She said, "Why would you do that?" I said, "Who's going to run for Ogden City mayor if I don't? The town's in bad shape and it pays $70,000 a year. You're not going to get the capable executive who wants to come because he thinks this would be fun. No one is going to leave their career to be the Ogden City mayor." ROH: Give me some examples of some of the businesses that were leaving at that time. MG: Weber State. They had a downtown campus that they abandoned during that time period. When there was an Ogden City Mall downtown, Weber State had an office there. Weber abandoned that, for safety reasons. Nordstrom left. ATK Thiokol was here and they took off in the late '90s. There were little shops and little stores all around that shut their doors. ROH: Downtown Ogden was the premier place to shop. MG: That was before there were national chains, to be fair, but those slowly closed. It was sad. Generational businesses were going. ATK was a significant and high-paying employer who uprooted. We had salvage yards in what is now our central business district. That was my point to my wife: "There's no one who's going to take this on." We had our own business, a real estate holding and management company, so we decided that we were in a position where we could run for mayor. We talked about it and I talked to some people around town. I talked to my father-in-law and asked what he thought. He liked it. He said Ogden needed somebody with new ideas and new passion. He gave me a list of people to go talk to about it. After about a week of talking to a couple people every day—I still 17 worked at the city—I got called into the city attorney's office. One of the attorneys sat me down across the desk and said, "I understand you're thinking about running for mayor." I said, "How did you hear that?" He said, "Word has gotten back to the mayor that you're talking to people around town. Have you decided?" I said, "No, I haven't, I'm just kind of going through the process of trying to figure it out." He said, "You can't do that and be an employee here. If you're going to work for the city, you have to work for the city and not campaign to try to beat your boss." I said, "I'm pretty sure my constitutional rights give me the right to run for office if I want." He was the nicest guy and I said, "You don't really want to be having this conversation with me, do you?" He said, "No, I don't." I said, "You were sent to do this." He nodded. I said, "Well, I'll tell you what, you can go and tell them I've made up my mind and I'm going to run for mayor. You don't have to fire me, I'll quit." I went home and told Monica. ROH: I don't understand how that could be legal. MG: It wasn't legal and he knew it wasn't. He was sent to talk to me and later I found out why. It was because the mayor had somebody who was running and he didn't want me running against him. I'm sure that the CAO didn't want me running either because it was clear that his ideas and my ideas weren't aligning. I was twenty-eight at the time. I went around and talked to everyone about it. Inevitably, as I went around to people like, John E. Lindquist, and they'd say, "Why don't you run for city council first?" I'd say, "I don't have any interest in a political career and spending time to work up to become mayor because Ogden has problems now. If you and others think that my ideas are good ones and that I 18 can help turn the tide for the city, then great, I'm willing to do it. If not, I'm not going to try for the council." John A. Lindquist said, "How can I help you?" I said, "I need money." He pulled out his checkbook and wrote me a check. I felt like I was on cloud nine because I had the support of John A. Lindquist, who was the patriarch of the city and he'd just endorsed me. That was a real turning point for me. From there it was a lot of campaigning. ROH: Today is December 1, 2011 and we are in the office of Mayor Matthew Godfrey. Present is Matthew Godfrey and Rebecca Ory-Hernandez from Weber State University. We'll pick up today from where you started campaigning for mayor. MG: People started calling me and I had a few surprise phone calls from businessmen who said, "I want you to meet with somebody. He's run political campaigns across the country and he was a political advisor to Ronald Reagan." I met with the gentleman and he was very helpful. His name was Chuck Bailey; he's passed away since. That began the journey of knocking doors and meeting people and trying to win an election where you're virtually unknown in a community. It was probably the end of May when I made the decision and then in June I had my campaign declared. There were a lot of us who ran. My strategy and belief was that I needed to knock on every door in the city. I wasn't sophisticated enough to know that you don't knock on every door—you only knock the doors of those who actually vote. I was fortunate enough to win in the primary in October and then the office in November. ROH: What was a day in the campaign like for you? 19 MG: I had my own real estate holding and management company which I'd been building for several years and was doing full-time. I had three days a week that I would go and run that business. In the evenings, I would knock doors from five until 8:30 or 9:00. During the day, when I wasn't knocking doors or working, I'd organize volunteers and put together materials. There's a whole logistical side of it, with vendors and signs, and I had to organize volunteers for much of that. I knocked on doors Tuesday night through Friday night and then all day on Saturday. I learned that you can't go out at 9:30 a.m. or even 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, which was strange for me but for other people that was still sleeping time. ROH: How many volunteers did you have? MG: It was mainly family and friends. One of the ones who helped me a lot was Brandon Stevenson, who is now a city council member. We'd gone to high school together and I knew who he was but we weren't friends. I was better friends with his little brother. I got a call from Brandon saying he wanted to help and he was extremely helpful. He helped knock on doors and campaigned in his neighborhood. A lot of my family came out and knocked on doors and handed out fliers and put up signs. In the last campaign I had a large group that came to help, but usually it's a small group willing to put in the time to help you out. ROH: How much money were you expected to raise for your first campaign and what was your platform? MG: The most that had ever been raised previously was $14,000 by Mayor Mecham. I figured that if I raised more money than that, then I'd be in good shape. I ended 20 up raising about $28,000, and I was still outspent two-to-one. I think Bob Hunter spent $64,000 or something like that. I had probably as many signs out as Bob did, but I remember all of his four-by-eight signs had pictures of himself placed on top the week before the election. It was like Bob was everywhere. It was discouraging and we thought, "There's no way. He's spent way more money and put out more fliers and more signs. He's inundated the town with Bob Hunter." The platform that I ran on was three very specific things: lowering taxes, economic revitalization, and reducing crime. There were also components of that like getting into neighborhoods and making a difference, but I thought that those three main ideas were what people wanted. I had plans for each and everything mapped out. I still have the brochures—I kept them so I would remember what I told people I would do. We would have meetings with my directors where we would go through and check some of them off. Some of them came off the list because I came into the office and realized it was a bad idea. I should say; I realized it wasn't the right place to put resources. Things changed as I learned more, but we really focused on accomplishing what we told people we were going to do. You naively think that people will remember what you told them you were going to do and when you'd tell them you did it, they would applaud. To this day, when I tell people, "We lowered your property taxes three times." They say, "No, my taxes go up every year." I say, "No, your city property taxes were lowered three times." Nobody remembers and nobody believes it, but it was important to me and, I hope, to our team that we did what we told people we were going to do. 21 ROH: What was your reaction to winning your first campaign? MG: I was surprised. My wife and I worked really hard up until the last day and did everything we knew we could do. Bob Hunter came over to my house the morning of the election. He gave us flowers and said it had been great to run against us. He was a real gentleman. He said, "If you win, I'll be your biggest supporter." I thanked him. After he left, I said to my wife, "Not only has he outspent and he's everywhere, he's now out-classed us!" We went out to breakfast after that and we've actually made it a tradition that every four years on the Tuesday of elections, we go out to breakfast as a family. As you wait, it's a very anxious day. It was a fun evening that night at my house. Bob had rented the Radisson Hotel and had a fancy shindig there across from the city offices. It wasn't as advanced then as it is now—at that time you had to have somebody there at the recorder's office in order to relay information. I had someone down at the office getting the tallies and we were calling him and getting updates. As the results came in precinct by precinct, I think we won every single precinct. There may have been one or two we didn't win, and we only barely won each precinct, but one after another we won almost all of them. I think it was down to the second or third to the last when I did the math and realized we had won, there was no way he could beat us. It was surreal. I don't think anyone in the room thought it was going to happen. That's the moment when you give your wife a hug and kiss and say, "Now what do we do?" We needed to go and shake Bob's hand and thank the community, so when the results were in, we went down to city hall. They were relaying the data 22 from the old council chambers and it couldn't have been a colder reception by everybody. We all felt so awkward when we went in. There were a few token congratulations, but mostly it was really gloomy and we felt like complete outsiders. Bob was gracious and we thanked him. He reiterated his promise to be our biggest supporter. He is a very close friend and ally. I have appreciated that and really respect him. We left soon after because it was so uncomfortable that night. I think most everyone there supported Bob and had expected Bob to win and they were worried about the change of the new guy coming into office. I had to sell my business because I wanted to start working for the city right away. I was coming in and meeting with people and trying to get to know what was going on. They were nice enough to give me an office. It was in a corner by the library and had a lot of old books in it. They put a desk in it for me. The mayor did not support me. He was going to remain neutral in the race, but after I won the primary he came out and supported Bob. He was not cordial to me. I had made no bones about my intent to replace two of his main people. I'm sure if a mayoral candidate were saying that about my people, I'd feel the same way. I started work in that little corner and I worked pretty much every day. I met with people and started to form a budget and a plan. I started figuring out who my team was going to be. I went up to Weber State and met with Mike Vaughn, Dick Richards, and Chuck Bailey, some guys from Iomega and other members of the community that I trusted as good business minds in order to figure out, "What do I do? How to I transition this kind of an organization? Do I come in and take it slow or do I come in and make changes right away?" We had 23 a lot of dialogue as a group and laid out a plan, which was to take things slow— to come in and learn the landscape, let people prove themselves, and make changes as they became necessary. We transitioned quickly between November and January when I was thrown into office. The mayor had one meeting where he met with me and it was fascinating because he didn't have a computer on his desk. When I came in, there was not a single file in his desk. I'd asked for the meeting to have him pass along nuggets of wisdom and projects and whatever else he felt like he should pass on to me. It was a very brief meeting. He gave me a handful of suggestions; there was an individual that he said, "Whatever you do, don't fire this person." He said, "Of all the conferences and conventions you should go to, this one is the most valuable." He said a couple more little things and that was it. It wasn't, "Here's what we're working on, here's our strategy, here's the lay of the land…" We really started from scratch. Luckily, the administration stayed. I was so new. I had been here about two months when Christie, who had been his admin and was mine, came in and said, "So, are you keeping me?" I said, "Of course, why would you think not?" She said, "We didn't know if you were keeping me or if we were leaving." I said, "I'm so sorry. It never even crossed my mind." I had no idea that they often change out administrative assistants. She was a phenomenal assistant. Those kinds of things were all new to me, but luckily Christie was there and helped out a lot. The CAO and the economic director both resigned the day I took office; I had said I would replace both of them. I felt that they were not doing a good job, but 24 my intent was to work with them and if they could step it up. We hired Stuart Reid to be the economic director, and brought Nate Pierce up from within the organization to be the CAO. You're inundated when you're new. Everyone wants to meet you and you have a million new best friends. You go through a process where your just trying to figure out what's going on and what's important while you're building your team. It takes time to figure out how to work together as a team. Mecham's style was very different than mine. There were a lot of changes. We put more resources into the police department and into economic development while we were cutting taxes. We had to make significant changes in the organization while we were making those things happen. We tried to ease into them gradually, but from the city's perspective, it was lightening speed and dramatic organizational changes almost overnight. ROH: How would you describe your style? MG: I am very team-oriented. I believe in having a clear vision of where we are headed and what we want to happen, then establishing clear goals and giving people responsibility to make those components happen. I think my role is to make sure there is that vision and then to push the organization, to make sure that they know that we're going to make these things happen. My role changed over the years, depending on who was there. For example, Stuart Reid was a very strong leader and liked to own everything that was in his box. He did not want anyone meddling in economic development, which was too bad because I loved economic development. He wanted complete control and so I just held him 25 accountable for the outcomes and he would deliver. He had his own way of going about it and he wanted to be left alone. On the other hand, our current economic director wants me to participate and comes to me for help. That's Richard McKonkie, a wonderful man who has been the deputy director of economic development in the city for many years. I'm fine adjusting my role depending on what is needed. Some departments do everything on their own and as long as they're producing their outcomes, that's all I care about. It's been fun to see the changes in the organization and how my work has changed. ROH: How many terms have you been mayor? MG: Three. I'll be finishing up twelve years as mayor. I've been here longer now than anybody except Lorrin Farr, who was the first mayor of Ogden. He didn't actually have elections. He was appointed and once a year at church he was sustained as mayor. He went to serve a mission and another mayor came in and Lorrin Farr came back after his mission and served a few more years. I think he served twenty-three years as mayor. He had quite a different environment. ROH: Who appointed him? The church? MG: Yes, basically. When they settled the territory, people were given assignments to go and settle different areas and fill different roles. ROH: How would you summarize your first term? MG: It was hard. The council relationship was really difficult. I was, obviously, brand new to politics and leading an organization of this size. City government was very different from the private sector. I knew it would be challenging, but in my first meeting with the chair of the city council, he told me that his relationship with 26 Mayor Mecham was terrible, that the council hated Mayor Mecham and Mayor Mecham hated the council until the last two years. He said, "The mayor learned he had to come to us and listen to us and once he figured that out, it was fine." I went back after this meeting and my staff said, "Don't you dare do what that arrogant bugger is telling you to do." I also knew that Mayor Mecham had serious health problems in those last two years and he wasn't working as much, so maybe that made him easier to get along with. I took my staff's advice and tried to be cordial and work with the council, but the chair would chew me out for not going to him about things. I said, "I have advisors and they are the people advising me on things. That is not your role." It was a difficult relationship for a few years. In hindsight, I wonder what would have happened if I'd gone to him and said, "Sure, I'd love to partner with you." If I'd made them feel included and a part of things, I wonder if it would have calmed the waters. I would love a chance to go back and try to change that dynamic. It was really hard to get projects through. It was an ambitious agenda. We wanted to recruit 2,000 jobs to the downtown, 2,000 people living in the downtown area, and the last one I think was 200,000 square feet of new retail, office, and entertainment in the downtown area. That was hard because there hadn't been new housing in the downtown area in over 120 years and the businesses were leaving. From the time I was elected to the time I took office— Nordstrom had already left, J.C. Penny announced they were leaving and Mier Frank announced they were leaving. I thought we were going to be rehabilitating this mall and it emptied out within days of my taking office. That was challenging 27 because the community loved that mall and preferred it to the Newgate Mall. The community wanted Nordstrom and J.C. Penny and Bon Marche back. I can't tell you how many times I heard that. Well, we tried. Nordstrom was livid with Ogden because they had tried to stay and when they had come out for a trip, apparently they had a meeting scheduled with the former mayor and his economic development director and Nordstrom got blown off. The economic development director was skiing and the mayor wasn't available to meet with them—and it was literally one of the Nordstrom family members there for the meeting. After getting blown off, Nordstrom said, "We're done." They wanted their space rehabilitated, they wanted their entrance re-done, and they wanted to know there was a commitment to seeing the mall flourish. Apparently, the owner of the mall had died or gone bankrupt and so Nordstrom was coming to make sure the city was monetarily committed to the mall, but the city blew them off and they said, "We're out of here." That started the chain of events where all the anchor tenants vacated the mall. We met with Mier and Frank several times. We flew back east to see them. It didn't work out. The feeling was, "This mall is never going to work. You're going to have to tear it down." We told the community that all the developers were saying the mall had to be torn down and the universal response from the community was, "It's a beautiful mall and it's only twenty years old, you can't tear it down." We were saying, "Nobody wants it. If we want a unique retail and entertainment center, we're going to have to tear it down." The community was 28 angry, understandably so. They didn't understand why we had to put money into this and why we couldn't just get Nordstrom to come back. We announced the river project, which was a sixty-acre development project on both sides of the Ogden River that we wanted to start. That meant we were going to have to be buying homes. When creating an RDA at that time, we had the ability to use eminent domain to acquire those properties. People were livid. It barely passed in the council. It was very difficult and was controversial. There were always huge groups of opposition when we did these projects. We did several projects on 25th Street, like the five-acre parcel that had been empty for forty years that we wanted to rebuild. Many members of the council and much of the community wanted to do this stuff for free and nobody wanted any risk. It doesn't work that way. It's our town and we need to invest in our own community. It was very challenging. We didn't have any money, so we had to be really creative in how we moved forward whether it was rebuilding the mall, developing the river project, or redeveloping 25th Street. Wall Avenue was a disaster, there were two different salvage yards in that area—our central business district had two salvage yards. We had to get those out of here and buy up property. ROH: How did you manage that? MG: We were very creative in finding little pockets of money. One of them was the IRS building, when we came into office, the IRS was reported to have been looking around for a place to build a new campus; their buildings were old and non-functional. I was thrilled when I heard about it. As soon as I hired Stuart Reid, I said, "Stuart, here's a contact. Our guy has been working on it. Will you 29 call the IRS and tell them that we'd like them to move downtown." They had already looked at downtown and said nothing suited their needs there. Well, Stuart and his guys found two administrative orders signed by the president; one said if there's downtown space available, then they needed to occupy it; the second said that they had to use a historic building if one was available. We found a historic building in downtown and took it to the IRS and said, "You have to come. Here's a site. It's downtown and a historic building we want you to use." They said, "No, we're not going to do it." I wasn't in the meeting, but it was reported back to me that the IRS was told, "You will do it or we will sue you for not following your own rules." Can you imagine doing that to the IRS? So, kicking and screaming they came. We purchased the property and sold it to a developer and we actually made a little money in the deal. Those early projects were critical to revitalizing the downtown area. It gave us a story to take to other people, "Look at this, here's a new development on 25th street and here are these new buildings downtown and all these new jobs coming to the area." Little by little we would build on the success and get people to come. Virtually every time we had to come up with some creative incentive to make these things come together. People will never appreciate how challenging it was. In fact, the development director came in one day and he said, "Do you see my hands?" They were all red. I said, "What's going on?" He said, "I'm losing the skin off of my fingers. This is so stressful. I can't sleep at night because I'm trying to figure out how to bring these things together and now I'm literally losing the skin off my body because of the stress." 30 We had a city council member who sort of had this constant theme of, "I'm supportive of the project. I just don't think we should be funding it. If it's such a great idea, the private sector should do it." It was like, "Where is a decayed downtown where the city just steps aside and the private sector just comes in and solves all the problems? I want to see the economic model where that has ever worked." It hasn't. Cities have to jump in and take part. We heard that all the time and it was like their justification not to participate. One council member had her daughter going around in the river project handing out fliers that told them what they had to do to stop the project from going forward. It included some kind of lawsuit or legal action that they could take against the city. I understood voting against it, but why in the world would a city council be acting against it? She too supported the project; she just didn't think the city should fund it. We kept asking her how to fund it without the city taking the primary role, and of course she had no suggestions. Apparently, it was just that the way we were doing it was wrong and there was surely a better way to do it but she didn't have any idea what it was. The same thing happened with The Junction. The same city council member opposed it. Mary Hall was the biggest opponent to all the things we were trying to do. It took about a year for us to realize we had to tear down the mall—it was about 2001 when we realized we had to take it down. We were talking about it all through 2000 and I think we finally got it down before the Olympics. We had to create some anchors and draws for the Junction. There were three key pieces to make the Junction work. One was the Tree House, 31 which eventually got put together but was so hard. The Tree House was one, the second was the Salomon Center, and the third was the movie theater. I got several phone calls saying the Tree House wasn't going to come, but they hung in there through great difficulty and eventually they did. That piece came together and the next was working with Larry Miller. There's a huge story behind that, but Larry Miller finally decided to build theaters in the downtown area just to help out the community here. Larry asked me if he would make money if he built the theaters in Ogden. I told him I didn't know if he was going to make money but commented, "We need you to come and do it because you have the Midas touch. If you come to downtown Ogden and build this theater, I'm convinced that the rest of the mall will come together and the downtown area will revitalize." That's turned out to be the case and he's made money. He's been very pleased. He told me that before he passed away. They agreed to come in if we got the Salomon Center. Tree House was already moving forward, expecting that we were going to do the rest of it. The Salomon Center was tough because the private sector wasn't going to do it unless the city was committed. We ended up having to be the owner of the property. We got a lease from two different entities that were going to run it. One was the Gold's Gym who also runs the Flow Rider, iRock and iFly. The second was the Fat Cats, which includes Costa Vida and the Pizza Factory. They agreed to lease the building from the city and we were using tax increment to fund about half of the construction cost. Once again, we had people saying, "This is never going to work. You're crazy. You're going to bankrupt the city. If this is such a 32 good idea, why wouldn't the private sector do it on their own?" We heard it over and over. I was sued personally as well as in my capacity as mayor. I had to hire a personal attorney out of my pocket because they sued me as a candidate and the city couldn't cover my attorney costs. ROH: Citizens of Ogden? MG: Some were citizens of Ogden, a lot were not. Dorothy Littral sued me and ended up losing. The judge ordered her to pay my attorney's fees. Those were dark days. There was a petition drive going on to stop the Salomon Center. If they got a certain number of signatures they could get it on the ballot and we knew this was going to be a tough project to explain to voters. This was a blue-collar community and it was not lost on any of us that going out to these sixty and seventy year old retired Hill Field and railroad workers and say, "We need to build a center that has indoor skydiving and it's going to be good for you. You need this." We knew it was a tough sell, but we also knew we needed to do something unique that would have a regional draw. It was going to be impossible to communicate in a way that our demographic was going to grasp. A referendum was going to be challenging. I went home one day and said, "Monica, if they get the signatures, we're done. We won't get the Center, which means we won't get the theater. Nobody is going to come to our town if we've got twenty-acres of city center sitting fallow." We barely had four votes on the council. I asked Monica if it was okay if I used personal money to make fliers and spread them out. The city couldn't use money to tell people not to sign the petition. After work, I would go home and print fliers 33 and deliver them. My wife was so awesome. She would go to the places that were allowing people to set up booths to sign a petition and she would go to the owner of the place with a flier and explain to them why it was so bad to have people signing the petition. She called me one day just sobbing because she'd explained it to a store owner and he was not very nice about it. People in line to sign the petition had been very rude. I felt so terrible—here I am making my wife go out and do the dirty work for what the city needed. ROH: What year was this? MG: It would have been 2005. Those were really dark times. If the Junction didn't happen, the town was done. It was hard to come up with an optimistic vision of what might happen if the Junction didn't get built. Luckily they lost their lawsuits and didn't get enough signatures on their petitions. We barely got enough votes to get it through. One of the former council members came and spoke at the meeting the night of the last vote to get the Salomon Center moving forward. She said to the council, "You know better." I'll never forget her words and her fervor. She said, "You guys are smarter than this and you know better than to approve this." It was a 4-3 vote, barely passing. A couple of them lost their seat because of that vote. That night, there were several that were claiming that Larry Miller wasn't going to build a theater and that it was all a farce and this was all going to collapse like a house of cards and we were indebting our citizens. We knew it was a huge gamble, but we knew that anything less was sure to fail. We needed to do something big enough to show that this was a new Ogden and a new vision 34 for the community. We didn't know if it was going to work. We had done our research, but none of these things had been built in a community our size before. We knew it was a roll of the dice, but we were obviously thrilled a year later when it was successful. Even now, in this recession, they have done remarkably well. ROH: What about the economic development along 25th Street? It's doing so much better. MG: Luckily, we had some great anchored tenants on 25th Street and unlike the rest of downtown, we weren't working from scratch. We had Roosters and Great Harvest that were doing great. MG: [Addition submitted by Matthew Godfrey] I believe the year was 2005. That was a dark time for all of us that were working so hard to turn the city around. It felt like mission impossible and that everything that could go wrong did. The financing was enormously complex and it was challenging to keep all of the players in the project from the private sector engaged because they were taking a big risk and were being bloodied by the CAVE (Citizens Against Virtually Everything) people in the process. I was working long hours and it was highly stressful. What made it bearable were all of the good people that stepped up to help. We had citizens that I hadn't met previously who showed up to support the idea. Dave Hardman from the Chamber of Commerce and Dan Musgrave from Downtown Ogden Inc. rallied their organizations to show up to the city council meetings and show support. I believe the contrast they provided against the negative people helped us get the four votes we needed to move the project forward. We feel gratified that the project worked as we had hoped. The Salomon Center was built, Larry 35 Miller theaters and Boyer built out their portion. The hotel was even completed east of the Salomon Center as we had planned. The Junction has been a catalyst for further redevelopment in downtown and has been the regional attraction we hoped for. I will always be grateful for those people that stepped up when times were hard. My family was always there. My father passed away during my tenure as mayor, I think about him often. My wife has always been and incredible support. I couldn't have asked for anything more than she provided. My parents as well as Monica's parents were equally supportive. My kids took a lot of grief from other kids in school because of the things I did as Mayor and I feel terrible that all these people that I care deeply about had to suffer for what I did at work. Hopefully, we made a difference in the community. We exceeded all of our goals and ended up recruiting over 8,000 jobs, leading the nation in job growth my last year in office. We were also able to recruit over $1.2 billion of private investment, redevelop over 130 acres of downtown with another 80 acres underway. We facilitated the building of well over half a million square feet of office space and in the process lowered crime by over 30 percent. We left Ogden City in a much better financial position then we found it, having established a "rainy day" fund for the first time in the city's history, to my knowledge. We were able to turn the tide on some of the historic housing in downtown that had turned into terrible rentals and recruit home ownership back to the area. We also added significant amounts of open space, new trails, kayak parks and other recreational amenities. We cleaned up the extremely blighted Ogden River 36 and made it the public asset it should have always been. We lowered property taxes three times and never raised them. Along with all of that there were many projects that we weren't able to finish that we really wanted to complete. Connecting Ogden to Snowbasin is a project that needs to happen. It will create the opportunity for Ogden in terms of new high-paying jobs, new tax revenue and retail that wouldn't come in any other way. I'm sure I've studied this issue in more detail than any person on the planet and I'm convinced of the good it will do for Ogden. There were many projects and initiatives we worked on that I regret not being able to finish. The last year or so in office, it felt like the City Council and other members of the community felt like we had done enough. I don't think they understand that if we don't continue to improve our town it will decay. For all of the enormous difficulties of serving as mayor for 12 years, I am grateful for the experience. I hope we have made the Ogden City better for the coming generation.

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Sole Agent for WAEK- OVER SHOES ECKEHT'S STORE, Prices Always Right Ttie Lutheran PuMcaliori Society No. 1424 Arch Street, PHILADELPHIA, PA. Acknowledged Headquarters for anything and everything in the way of Books for Churches, Colleges, Families and Schools, and literature for Sunday Schools. PLEASE REMEMBER That by sending your orders to us you help build up and develop one of the church in-stitutions with pecuniary ad-vantage to yourself. Address HENEY 8. BONER, Supt, THE: KA ERCURV The Literary Journal of Gettysburg College. VOL. XVII GETTYSBURG, PA., MAY, 1909 No. 3 CONTENTS. THE IRON CROSS 2 BY EMIL FEOMMEL. AN EXTENSIVE OB' INTENSIVE ACQUAINTANCE WITH GBEAT AUTHORS 5 SAMUEL FAUSOLD, '10. NEW ENGLAND RAMBLES 7 EEV. CHAELES W. HEATHCOTE, A.M., '05. THE CATACOMBS 12 MCCLEAST DAVIS, '11. OUTWITTED 17 ELMEE STOUFFEE, '11. NAPOLEON IN LITERATURE 19 CHAELES SHINDLEE, '10. A GREAT TEACHER 22 E. H. HINTEENESCH, '13. THE EDUCATION OP THE INDIAN 25 H. S. HOSHOUB, '10. MAY—Poetry. (Submitted by 1911.) 27 EDITORIALS 29 EXCHANGES 31 THE MEPGUKY THE IRON CROSS. BY EMIL FEOiniEL. (Translated, from the German by Earl Bowman, '11.) iJSTE morning about a year after the Franco-Prussian War a Pomeranian landlord notices among his work-men a sturdy day-laborer who was wearing the Iron Cross upon his breast. When the hour of leisure comes be calls him, and in order that the taciturn Pomeranian might be induced to speak, he first gives him something substan-tial to eat, for then the mill begins to run. Then he asked him how he came into possession of the Iron Cross. "Yes," remarked the Pomeranian, "that is a long story—for I have got it from King William himself, and that too for pegging away." Thereupon the Pomeranian takes a draught from the pitcher and proceeds. "It was after the battle of Champigny in which the Wiirten-burgers bad conducted themselves so bravely and were driven back only by greater numbers. Our regiment is ordered to ad-vance. My company was to swarm out, and I sought shelter that I might shoot comfortably. "Now for a fight, boys," said our captain as the French, who had to be kept back until our comrades had come up to us, were coming out thicker and thicker. "Shoot away to your heart's desire." "I pour my cartridges out before me, all to the right so that I can easily reach them, and shoot away. Here, however, more Frenchmen were coming; conditions appear to the colonel to be rather critical and he gives orders to retreat. I hear it,—but think: "To pack up all the cartridges is not pleasant, and to let these dear and costly goods lie, that you can't do either,— therefore you just let the fellow blow his bugle, remain here and shoot away your cartridges, and then you have time enough to take your heels." I am busily engaged in shooting, when the adju-tant of our regiment comes galloping up and shouts: "Back, THE MEBCUBY. 3 boys, don't you have any ears?" "Never mind," says I," turn-ing myself halfway around, "not until I shoot my cartridges." And gone was the adjutant, nowhere to be seen At last I was entirely alone and before me everything was red with French-men, barely twenty paces away. As I shot the last cartridge I think to myself, "Now it's high time that you break away" So I take to my heels and run behind the regiment like a deer. The French were shooting after me like a hailstorm but all their bul-lets were too high and I got to the regiment hale and hearty, Just as I am about to enter the lines I see the adjutant parley-ing with the colonel and pointing to me with his hand. "Now,"' think I, "a charge is made against me for disobeying orders." Our colonel, a downright good man, comes riding up to me, laughs heartily about the whole affair, and said: "Fellow, are your bones all together?" "Please Your Honor," says I. Here he laughed again and says: "Well, now you can eat more than bread." "Ah, this time," I mused, "the affair turned out all right and the tale-bearing of the adjutant didn't do any harm. The next the report goes around: "His Majesty, the King, is coming." What a joy there was when the old hero came. He rode by and I had already procured a few potatoes, for I had an enormous hunger. Then suddenly our adjutant conies gallop-ing up to me and says that at once I am to report at His Ma-jesty's headquarters. "Now," think I, "that's the last of you." But I took cour-age and said: "Please, Your Honor, you know I have'nt done anything bad." But the adjutant had an expression on his face as if he were about to say: "Just wait, I've got you for not obeying orders and you shall not get off so easily." I indeed did not think that a person could be so spiteful. My knees tottering, I was led into a house, then into a hall where there was such an odor that my mouth watered, so good it was. I am just thinking: "0 happy the man who can have his dinner here,—" when I am called into an adjoining room. Then the king who is as friendly as the sun comes up to me and says: THE MEECUET. "My son, how was that affair yesterday with the cartridges ? Tell me all you know about it, just exactly as it was." "Please Your Majesty," says I, "and tell everything just as it ■happened and that I had indeed heard the signal, but that I had not been willing to leave behind the costly goods when the adjutant had come up and shouted: "Go back, boys" Then I thought indeed that there was no time to pay compliments and said: "Oh! I'll first shoot my cartridges. That is the whole -affair, King, I have done no other wrong." His face aglow with a smile, the king said: "That you did •well, my son." I think to myself, "Now it's all right, now the adjutant may say whatever he will." "Have you had your din-ner, my son?" asked His Majesty. "Please, Your Majesty," says I, "I am still quite empty." "You are probably very hungry," His Majesty again re-marked. "Yes, and also very thirsty," says I. The king again laughed and said that I was to take dinner with them. So I sit down to the fine large table with all the high officials and generals. We had soup, pea-soup, extra fine. But my plate was only half full, so I thought: "If only you could have more of this soup." When I had almost finished with it, the king called to me: "My son, do you care for any more soup?" "Please, Your Majesty," say I, "if there is enough of it." This caused the men to laugh and one of the waiters brought me another plate full. Sir, I can taste that soup with my pal-ate to-day! Next a servant comes in and brings a portion of roast veal almost as large as a joint of an ox, another takes a large knife and carves one piece after another from it upon a large platter. "This fellow," thought I," "undertsands his business better than the one with the soup." The large platter comes to me first and I put it before me, and aside of it also a small plate with potatoes. I think to my-self: "It is a little too much, but you must show yourself equal to the occasion," and begin to eat. Bright drops of per-spiration were standing upon my forehead by the time all the thin slices of meat were eaten. While the gentleman at my THE MEECUHT. 0 •side uninterruptedly kept filling a glass that I might wash it ■down, His Majesty, the King, asked me: "How about it my son, will you have some more?" "Please, Your Majesty," I say, "if there is enough of it." All the men gave a hearty laugh and the King himself was holding his sides. Why, I did not know. But the King said: "No, this is enough for to-day, my son, now we shall have an-other course." Well, I was glad we were done with the roast veal, and was thinking to myself: "Kow what's coming,— when a high officer with epaulets comes up and fastens upon me the Iron Cross. When I returned to my regiment again the adjutant laughed all over his face, twisted his mustache and gave me his hand. I was glad that he was again reconciled, that his lively talking with His Majesty had after all been of no use, and that for peg-ging away at the banquet, I even got the Iron Cross from His Majesty himself. That is the way it happened and not otherwise—. Note.—The Iron Cross is a military decoration bestowed upon the soldiers of the German army who had distinguished them-selves for bravery during the war of 1870-71. AN EXTENSIVE OR INTENSIVE ACQUAINTANCE WITH GREAT AUTHORS. SAMUEL FAUSOLD, '10. 0 sound the depths of the world's literary artists from Homer to Tennyson is well nigh impossible. To make a slight acquaintance with all of them is possible but hardly desirable. The better plan is: know as many great authors as possible intensively and then seek, at least, a slight acquaintanceship with the rest. The tendency of the day seems to be an extensive rather than an intensive acquaintance with the world's great authors. What college man of mediocre ability does not have a passing acquaintance with Homer, Horace, Goethe, Milton, Shakespeare 6 THE MERCURY. and Tennyson, and yet very few of us can call one of these men a comrade in any sense. What pleasure it must be to forget the present and turn back the hands of time to Shakespeare's day and catching the spirit of the seventeenth century, see the world as Shakespeare saw it; and read his masterpieces through spectacles uncolored by pre-judice and pre-conceptions. Such a process must ultimately end in giving us that comradeship with Shakespeare which deepens the insight into the workings of the human heart, broad-ens the vision immeasurably and quickens one's sympathy for humanity. Such results are not attainable by a slip-shod ac-quaintance with the greatest play-writer of English literature. We must know tlie man and his work. To have drunk deep of the springs of Shakespeare's genius is a requisite of true culture. AVhat Las been said of Shakespeare can be applied with pe-culiar fitness to Milton. The great blind poet must, in fact, be known intensively', if we would know him at all. Of course his genius has given to the world more than one production and yet his "Paradise Lost" stands out conspicuously as the high-water mark of his achievement and to know Milton we must be familiar with this poem—the grandest and greatest epic of Eng-lish literature. To be familiar with "Paradise Lost" means ex-tended study and thoughtful meditation which has but one logical sequence, viz, intensive acquaintance. Having cultivated an intensive acquaintance with these two giants of English literature, I would recommend the same pro-cess with respect to the other poets, if time permits. If time forbids an intimate acquaintance, we should learn to know the rest, at least, in a slight way. It is well for us to know our Burns to keep our dispositions sweet; Macaulay to teach us perspicuity, and Bacon for his logic. It is well to come in contact with the melancholy Poe and then to be entertained by the quaint and kindly verse of Whittier. Neither can we afford to miss the rare and spicy descriptions of Washington Irving or the vivid character portraitures of Dick-ens. Again, the author of Hiawatha should be known to all of us; also the master hand that penned Thanatopsis. We may close by saying that if you learn to know any one of these, your desire shall be whetted to know them all. THE MERCURY. NEW ENGLAND RAMBLES. EEV. CHARLES WILLIAM HEATHCOTE, A.M., '05. ARTICLE III. JHEEE are many outlying districts of Boston which are very interesting from the historical viewpoint. They have been in many cases annexed to Boston proper, but they still retain their interesting characteristics. Charleston is famous from the revolutionary period. It was settled in 1629. Almost the entire town was burned during the battle of Bunker Hill. The Navy Yard, which is close to Charleston, is certainly worthy of a visit. Visitors are admit-ted and there is much to be seen. One will be very anxious to see "Old Ironsides" of the famous navy of the 1812 War. She performed glorious service for the country and she now lies very quietly at her anchor. From the Navy Yard one should go to the Bunker Hill monument on Breed's Hill. The monument is placed on the southeast corner of the "old redoubt behind which the Ameri-cans stood on the seventeenth of June, 1775." "The obelisk measures thirty feet square at its base, and rises to the apex, two hundred and twenty feet. The observatory at the top is reached by a spiral flight of two hundred and ninety-four stone steps. It is a long climb, but the magnificent views from the windows amply repay one for the effort. In the lodge at the base of the monument is a statue of General Warren." The monument was dedicated on June 17, 1843. President Tyler and his cabinet officials were present and Mr. Webster was the orator of the oc-casion. The monument stands near the spot where the hero, Warren, fell. The spot is also marked where Prescott stood at the opening of the fight. In Charleston we ought to visit the old graveyard. It is closed to the general public but admission can be secured. The oldest slab bears the date of 1643. There is a piece chipped from the corners which was done by a shot from a British war vessel. The Harvard monument, a granite shaft was erected in 1828 by alumni of the university. The following inscriptions are upon it: 8 THE MERCURY. (On the eastern face.) "On the twenty-sixth day of Septem-ber, A. D. 1828, this stone was erected by the graduates of the "University of Cambridge in honor of its founder, who died at Charleston on the twenty- sixth day of September, A. D. 1638." (Western face. In Latin.) "That one who merits so much from our literary men should no longer be without a monument, however humble, the graduates of the University of Cambridge, New England, have erected this stone nearly two hundred years after his death, in pious and perpetual remembrance of John Harvard." There are many beautiful suburbs around Boston but none can compare with Cambridge. It is the largest of Boston's su-burbs, having a population of 92,000. It is famous as the cen-ter of Harvard University. The following inscription taken from an old London pamphlet published in 1643, which is near the college gate reads: "After God had carried us safe to New England and we had builded.our houses provided necessaries for our livili hood reared convenient places for God's worship and settled the civill government one of the next things we longed for and looked after was to advance learning and perpetuate it to posterity dreading to leave an illiterate ministery to the churches when our present ministers shall lie in the dust." Another interesting inscription reads: "By the General Court of Massachusetts Bay 28 October 1636, Agreed to give 400 £ towards the schole whearof 200 £ to be paid next yeare & 200 £ when the worke is finished & the next Court to appoint wheare & wt bvilding THE SiJSKCUKY. » 15 November 1637. The College is ordered to bee at Newe Towne 2 May 1638 It is ordered that Newe Towne Shall henceforward be called Cambridge 15 March 1638 It is ordered that the colledge Agreed vpon formerly to bee built at Cambridge Shallbee called Harvard Colledge." An unique tablet in the entry of Massachusetts Hall states a number of illustrious men who were its occupants: "William Ellery, 1747, signer Declaration of Independence. Artemas "Ward, 1743, commander Massachusetts forces, 1775. Eobert Treat Paine, 1751, signer Declaration of Independ-ence. William dishing, 1751, chief Justice of Massachusetts. John Lowell, 1760, chief justice United States Circuit Court. Elbridge Gerry, 1762, Vice-President of the United States. Francis Dana, 1762, first minister to Eussia. Theophilus Parsons, 1769, chief justice of Masaschusetts. Joseph Story, 1798, justice of Supreme Court of the United States. Charles Henry Davis, 1825, admiral of the United States Navy. Eobert Gould Shaw, 1860, soldier." "Mather Byles, 1751, clergyman and wit. Jeremy Belknap, clergyman and historian. Samuel Gillman, 1811, author of "Fair Harvard." James Walker, 1814, president of Harvard College and his, torian. Jared Sparks, 1815, president of Harvard College and his-torian. John G. Palfrey, 1815, professor and historian. George Bancroft, 1817, statesman and historian. Horatio Greenough, 1825, sculptor. Eichard Hildreth, 1826, historian. Francis Parkman, 1844, historian. Phillips Brooks, 1855, bishop of Massachusetts." 10 THE MERCURY. The tablet on the face of the building is thus inscribed: "Massachusetts Hall Built by the Province 1720. Occupied by the American Army 1775-177G. Used for students' rooms until 1870-71." Harvard presents many things -which are interesting to the tourist. Her beautiful and stately buildings are worthy of close inspection and study. On Cambridge Common can be seen cannon which were cap-tured by Ethan Allen at Crown Point in 1775. During the fol-lowing winter they were brought by General Henry to Cam-bridge, being drawn across country by eight yokes of oxen. Then there is the famous "Washington Elm which bears an in-scription thus: "Under this tree Washington first took command of the American Army, July 3rd, 1775." One should also view the Longfellow and Lowell houses which are located in one of the most beautiful parts of Cambridge. Mount Auburn Cemetery should be visited as a sort of a pil-grimage for the following reasons which we quote from a pamph-let: "It is impossible to think of Cambridge and Harvard with-out having Mount Auburn also in view, and at least a part of the day assigned to Cambridge and its attractions should be kept for this spot. The entrance is at the junction of Mount Auburn and Brattle Streets, Watertown. The grounds contain over thirty miles of avenues and paths, and half a day would be too short a time to visit the most distinguished among its thou-sands of graves. The grounds are beautified by many trees, flowers and shrubs, and costly sculptures and statuary are to be seen on all hands. Passing through the Egyptian entrance gate a short distance a turn to the left leads to the Longfellow sarchopagus, on Indian Path, and close at hand is the tomb of THE MEKCURY. 11 Motley. The grave of Oliver W. Holmes is just beyond, on Lime Avenue, and on Fountain Avenue, at the base of Indian Eidge, under tall pines is the grave of James Bussel Lowell. To the right of the gate a curving main avenue leads past the Ball Hughes' bronze statue of Nathaniel Bowditch to the mort-uary chapel, in which are the marble statues designed to rep-resent the Colonial and Eevolutionary periods, the Eepublic, and Law; the first, a sitting figure of John "Winthrop, by Horatio Greenough; the second, a standing figure of James Otis, by Thomas Crawford; the third, John Adams, by Eandolph Eog-ers; the fourth, Judge Joseph Story, by his son, William W. Story. In front of the chapel, beyond, is the granite Sphynx, by Martin Milmore. which commemorates the dead of the Civil War, with the inscription: "American Union preserved American slavery destroyed By the uprising of a great people By the blood of fallen heroes." A short distance from the chapel to the right, on Menoza Path, is the grave of the "Good Bishop," Phillips Brooks. On Spruce Avenue Anson Burlingame and Dr. Thomas G. Morton, the discoverer of ether, are buried. On Walnut avenue may be found the graves of Eufus Choate and N. P. Willis. On Greenbriar Path is William Ellery Channing's grave. On Sweetbriar Path are the graves of Josiah Quincey and John G. Palfrey. In the neighborhood of the tower, is the monument to Margaret Puller. Truly New England is a part of the nation which is rich in history and tradition. It is a beautiful part of the country which is worth all the time we can give to study and view. Her people are hospitable, kind and cultured. We owe her a debt of gratitude for her part she played so well in the history of our nation. We owe her much for her determined stand in the cause of liberty. May her influence never cease! Chambersburg, Pa. 12 THE MEKCURY. THE CATACOMBS. C. MCLEAN DAVIS, '11. 3WS IHE hills which surround Borne are formed of three' strata of volcanic tufa. The topmost stratum is com-posed of volcanic ashes called pozzolana which are not. solidified, next comes a harder rock called tufa grano-lare, and lowest of all is found a solid and compact conglomerate called tufa lithoid. The last was used for building purposes and because of its hardness, the early Jews chose the softer middle-stratum in which to cut out their burial places. These were long narrow passages, not more than three or four feet wide, and intersecting and crossing each other again and again. If drawn out into a straight line these passages would extend for a distance of three or four hundred miles, a line long enough to stretch from one end of Italy to the other. On each side there are niches for bodies, and occasionaly we find little chambers called cubicula, or bed chambers, which were used as family vaults. The darkness and gloom of the place were re-lieved by light and air passages in the roof which were concealed above in the fields by bushes. As before stated, these underground passages, or catacombs,, were used as burial places. Prom Old Testament history we full well know that it was the custom of the Jews to bury their dead in caves and rock-hewn tombs. Consequently when the Jews were dispersed throughout the Eoman Empire, they car-ried this custom with them; and those who settled in Eome it-self, found that the only available place for their tombs was irr the underground stratum of rock. Accordingly we find that be-fore the birth of Christ catacombs had been excavated for burial' places, and the Eoman's careful protection of the right of sepul-ture permitted of no interference. But the coming of Christ and the early persecution of the- Christians in Borne changed the purpose and character of the catacombs. No longer could the Christians practice their re-ligion openly; no longer had they even the right to exist. They fled to the catacombs to live and worship according to their faith. Then did Valerian in A. D. 257, forbid the observance of their- THE MEECUKT. 13 religion even in the catacombs. Like the hunted hare closely fol-lowed by its pursuers, seeks safety in the secret passages under-ground, so did the Christians pursued by the relentless and. merciless Eoman soldiers, seek their safety in the depths of the-catacombs. The old entrances were walled up and many pas-sages were closed. On the other hand new passages were made,, narrower and more intricate than the former ones, and secret winding stairs approached by a ladder movable from within, led. to the open air. Small chapels also were made in which the hid-ing bishops conducted worship. Wells were dug for water, and. store rooms were made for corn and wine; many lamps have been found which were used for lighting up the dreary passages. Hither were the bodies of the martyrs brought for burial, and in a short time hundreds of graves bore testimony to the spirit of the early Christian Church. Sometimes the inscriptions state that a whole family lies buried here, strangled to death for the cause of righteousness; and again we read that here lies the bones of ten, twenty, thirty or forty martyrs. Is not this holy ground, a place consecrated by the bones of the martyrs interred there ? Is it any wonder then, that during the period of toleration which was ushered in by the coming of Constantine in A. D. 312, the Christians continued to use the catacombs as a place of' burial, and moreover made them an object of pilgrimages? In life the catacombs were to them not a series of dark gloomy passages, but a place of inspiration, a place filled with the mem-ory of loving sacrifice and holy zeal, a place glorified by the true faith; and in death it was a source of great joy and peace to know that their bodies would rest near those of the saints. Dur-ing this period the catacombs were reconstructed. The passages which had been closed up were opened again. Parian marble-was used for doorways; silver tablets were put on the walls, dedi-cated to the memory of the saints; chapels were built and old ones remodeled; new passages for air and light were created and these underground chambers took on an entirely different aspect. But in the year A. D. 410 disaster again befell them. Alaric with his barbarian hordes fell upon Eome and despoiled it Prom this time until; the sixteenth century was a period of dis- 14 THE AIEBCURY. mantling, and finally of utter neglect of them. The popes in the first years of this period carried away many of the remains of the saints to sanctify the churches, and relics were carried forth in abundance; and in the last centuries the catacombs were utterly forgotten. Finally in the latter part of the sixteenth century Antonio Bassio rediscovered them, and spending thirty-six years in groping around in their crypts, he desciphered many of the inscriptions and copied many of the pictures. These inscriptions and pictures reveal to us much of the be-lief of the early Christians, and it is very interesting to know their character. There are two series of biblical pictures, the first dealing with Old Testament scenes, and the second with those of the New Testament. Under the first we find pictured the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the garden, the sacrifice of Isaac, Moses taking off his shoes, Moses receiving the law, Moses striking the rock, the sufferings of Job, the translation of Elijah, Daniel in the lion's den, the three Hebrew children in the fiery furnace, and the main incidents in the life of Jonah. Under the second series we find illustrations of the adoration of the magi, Christ with the doctors, and various other incidents and some of the miracles of Christ's life. Once is the nativity shown, and once the crowning of Christ with thorns. No fur-ther into the sufferings of Christ do these pictures go. The early Christians shrank from the horrors of the scourging and the mockery, and from the agonies of the cross. But the most important consideration in regard to these pic-tures is not the amount of art evidenced in them, but the pe-culiar facts concerning the belief of the early Church which are brought out through them. It has long been supposed that the cross was the earliest emblem of the Church. Now in the cata-combs the cross does not appear at all in the first two centuries. Moreover, the Virgin Mary does not appear until the fourth century, and then only as a human mother, sometimes with the infant Jesus, and sometimes in the attitude of prayer. In the latter case it is well to note also that her head is simply covered with a veil, and not with a nimbus such as is given to saints and angels. Here surely we can find mo grounds for the adoration of the Virgin. THE MEKCUEY. 15 Light also is thrown on the question of the primacy of St. Peter. This apostle is represented in two different scenes; oftencst with the cock at his feet indicating the denial, and fre-quently he is standing on one side of Christ with St. Paul on the other. Nowhere is he represented as being the rock on which the Church is founded, and nowhere is he shown as hav-ing the keys in his possession. Now while we do not hold that the inscriptions and the pictures of the catacombs portray fully the faith of the early Christians, nevertheless it is not probable that the early Church, if it had believed in the primacy of St. Peter, would make him an equal with St. Paul in their paint-ings. But brightest and most inspiring of all is their portrayal of their blessed Lord and Master. Here they dwelt with a fond-ness that evidences their great love for Him His miracles, His works of healing, His acts of love and mercy are here recorded. Christ the good shepherd with the lamb upon His shoulders, and with his sheep about Him, is frequently found. Again He is leaning upon a shepherd's crook or seated at a well. Never do we see Him being scourged or hanging upon the cursed tree. Always He is the gentle, loving and kind shepherd of the sheep, caring for His flocks, leading them into green pastures and be-side still waters up into an eternal vale of peace. Moreover the hopeful character of the early faith is attested by the 11,000 inscriptions which commemorate the dead. Here breathes the sweet atmosphere of the Christian love. The affec-tion of husband and wife, of parents and children, and of the Christian fathers for each other is here beautifully set forth. Moreover prayers to the dead are not infrequent. But in reality these prayers are more to the living than to the dead, more to those who have gone on a little farther, for whose love and assist-ance they implore. No evidence is found of belief in a Purga-tory. To them death seemed indeed but the portal of.eternal life, and an eternal life of joy and peace. They had no fear of Hell or future punishment for sins; in fact their sins no longer caused them anxiety, for, the blood of Christ had cleansed them from all sin. Heaven was secured them by the sacrifice upon Calvary. Thus we see that in the catacombs we find no grounds for the 16 THE MERCURY. supposition that the cross was the earliest emblem of the Church, for the adoration of the Virgin Mary, for the primacy of St. Peter, or for the belief in Purgatory. Moreover there are no representations of the Trinity, the Atonement, the Last Judg-ment, Satan and punishments in the underworld, and Christ is no where shown as one of the Trinity, but rather as the good shepherd, the true vine, the bread of life, and the fountain of truth. This was the sum and substance of their theology. This was sufficient for them to live righteous lives, and die martyr's deaths, if need be. Love rather than theological controversy righteousness rather than scruples concerning creed, character-ized them. They were the believers in the one Supreme God, and the man of Galilee was to them "Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Saviour of the living." Under such conditions gloom could not reign in these under-ground passages. Where so much of life and light are revealed, gloom can not be. These are indeed glorious abodes where the saints sleep the peaceful sleep of the righteous. The light of the hope of an eternal day shines here, and these passages, these crypts, these halls loudly proclaim:— t "ISTo, no, it is not dying, The Shepherd's voice to know; His sheep He ever leadeth, His peaceful flock He feedeth, Where living pastures grow. Oh, no, this is not dying, Thou Saviour of mankind! There streams of love are flowing, No hindrance ever knowing; Here only drops we find." * THE MEKCUUY. OUTWITTED. 17 i ELMEK STOUFFER, '11. HEN" James Bryce, police captain of West Hampton came into his office last evening, everybody from the janitor to the sergeant saw that something which was pleasing to him must have happened. To-night the usually exacting chief seemed to be pleased with everything and everybody. But no wonder he felt happy. For his orchard of young peach trees which were now loaded with the choicest fruit were the special pride of his heart. And ever since the opening of the fall term of Hope College the orchard had suffered from nightly raids by some of the students, and try as he would he couldn't catch them at work or find out who they were. But that morning he had met with a piece of rare good fortune which it seemed to him would discover the culprits for when he went into his orchard he found the Sophomore class roll-book lying under a tree of his choicest peaches. This was the cause -of Captain Bryce's unusual good spirits. He knew that the boys. would never lose that book yet whoever came to get is must ex-plain how it came to be lost in his peach orchard. Accordingly he put an advertisement in the evening paper announcing the rinding of the class roll book and that the same could be pro-curred by calling upon Capt. Bryce at City Hall. Meanwhile there was consternation in the Sophomore class. They never would lose that book. Yet how was it to be recov-ered without someone going to the police captain for it? And to go to Bryce would be giving himself away entirely. What should they do? Hammond, to whom the book was entrusted, volunteered to go to police headquarters, confess to stealing the peaches and get the book, but his classmates wouldn't permit such a procedure. They thought there must be some way to outwit the captain. That night a meeting was held in the class president's room and various means of recovering their roll were discussed. JSTone of the plans proposed seemed satisfactory until at last Hammond suggested what they thought would do the trick. So the meeting adjourned and the boys retired to their rooms. 18 THE MEltCUEY. An hour later two young men wearing slouch hats pulled low over their eyes stole out of the shadows of the dormitory and walked rapidly up town. They came to Eyan's barber shop just as Byan was closing up for the night. The boys exchanged greetings with the little barber and Hammond said, "Say Byan, how much will you take for your barber pole?" Eyan stared at the boys a moment bu t when they assured him that they were in earnest, he replied: "Well its beginning to look pretty shabby so you may have it for two dollars and a half. I need a new one at any rate." The boys paid the money, got a receipt and then marched away carrying what had been Eyan's barber pole. After they had gone several blocks they met a policeman, who thinking them up to some prank, arrested them and took them to police headquarters. Here the boys showed the receipt which they got from the barber and were promptly set free with apolo-gies from the captain. Soon after they ran into the arms of an-other policeman who also arrested them and took them to head-quarters with the same result as before. A third arrest followed and an hour later the chief was again confronted by two youths who were charged with stealing and carrying off someone's bar-ber pole. Captain Bryce now lost all patience. Calling a ser-geant he said to him: "Wagner, reach every officer on duty and tell him not to arrest any fool college students who are carrying a barber pole around town." The sergeant immediately departed upon his errand and so far as the boys with the barber pole were concerned, the captain had peace for the night. The next morning there was a lively scene about police head-quarters. No less than the two dozen barbers of the town were clamouring about the theft of their barber poles some time dur-ing the night before. "Nice state of affairs," said one irate old fellow. "A crowd of young vandals carry off half the town while the police are in league with them." "Why don't you complain to the officer on your beat," asked the captain. "I did complain," answered the barber, "but he said that he had posi-tive orders from you not to arrest anyone stealing barber poles." Bryce was in a dilemma. He saw that he had been outwitted by the students. But as for a solution of his own difficulties he was at sea entirely. While pondering upon his position a solu-tion came in an unexpected manner. The postman brought in THE MERCURY. 19 the morning mail, and among it he found a short typewritten note which ran, "You have our roll book. We have the barber poles. We are willing to exchange on even terms. If you wish to see the barber poles returned, deliver the class roll book to the colored messenger boy whom we shall send to you this after-noon." Signed, The Sophomores. Bryce saw that this was al-most his only relief, so when the messenger came he at once gave the book to him, soon afterwards a dray loaded with barber poles drove into town and a pair of carpenters soon replaced them all. X NAPOLEON IN LITERATURE CHARLES SHINDLER, '10. | HE literary genius is often'considered a dreamer and a man of little worth in other realms. In fact, the world is prone to place upon him the brand of imprac-ticability. However just such a characterization may be, we have had men of great literary talent who have been in-tensely practical. So practical that as statesmen, soldiers, and civilians, they have won imperishable fame. Such men were Caesar and Grant. The commentaries of Caesar were written by him when in the midst of stirring ac-tivities. His information was first hand and the resulting liter-ary production has never wearied the world. Grant, too, pre-eminently a general, wielded a facile pen. At the end of a stirring life, he lived over again the events of his crowded career and his "Memoirs" have been added to the world's masterpieces of literature. We now turn to another soldier with whose military exploits we are so familiar and yet whom we have, perhaps, failed to* meet in the fields of literary achievement. Napoleon has not given us a great commentary but the orations delivered to his soldiers disclose the genius of the man and reveal the secret of his power. Even as Caesar held his legions by the eloquence of his speech, so Napoleon prodded on the emotional Frenchmen to greater and greater efforts. It is not extravagant to say that 20 THE ME11CUEY. the marvelous success of the Corsican can be attributed more to the personality and cogent speech of the man than to his cun-ning on the battlefield. Napoleon is irresistible. The enthu-siasm of the man is contagious. Eead his speeches and then cease to wonder that he fired the hearts of the quick-tempered warm -hearted Frenchmen. Imagine yourself in his army when he delivered the following speech upon entering Milan.: "Soldiers: You have rushed like a torrent from the top of the Apennines; you have overthrown and scattered all that op-posed your march. Piedmont, delivered from Austrian tyranny, indulges her material sentiments of peace and friendship to-ward France. Milan is yours and the republican flag waves throughout Lombardy. The dukes of Parma and Madena owe their political existence to your generosity alone. The army which so proudly threatened you can find no barrier to protect it against your courage; neither the Po, the Ticino, nor the Adda could stop you for a single day. These vaunted bulwarks of Italy oppose you in vain; you passed them as rapidly as the Apennines. These great successes have filled the heart of your country with joy. Your representatives have ordered a festival to com-memorate your victories, which has been held in every district of the republic. There your fathers, your mothers, your wives, sisters, and mistresses rejoiced in your good fortune and proudly boasted of belonging to you. Yes, soldiers, you have done much—but remains there noth-ing more to do? Shall it be said of us that we knew how to conquer but not how to make use of victory? Shall posterity reproach us with having found Capua in Lombardy? But I see you already hasten to arms. An effeminate repose is tedious to you; the days which are lost to glory are lost to your happiness. Well, then, let us set forth! We have still forced marches to make, enemies to subdue, laurels to gather, in-juries to revenge. Let those who have sharpened the daggers of civil war in France, who have basely murdered our ministers and burnt our ships at Toulon, tremble! The hour of vengeance has struck; but let the people of all countries be free from apprehension; we are the friends of the people everywhere, and those great men whom we have taken for THE MERCOKY 21 our models. To restore the capitoL to replace the statues of the heroes who rendered it illustrious, to rouse the Eoman people, stupefied by several ages of slavery—such will be the fruit of our victories; they will form an era for posterity; you will have the immortal glory of changing the face of the finest part of Eu-rope. The French people, free and respected, by the whole world, will give to Europe a glorious peace, which will indem-nify them for the sacrifices of every kind which for the last six years they have been making. You will then return to your homes and your country. Men will say as they point you out, "He belonged to the Army of Italy." The ability of Napoleon in persuading men to follow him in the most hazardous attempts was extraordinary. He could make the most difficult task appear as child's play and by the offer of rich rewards allured the undecided. This is seen in the following: "Soldiers: You are naked and ill-fed! Government owes you much and can give you nothing. The patience and cour-age you have shown in the midst of this rocky wilderness are admirable; but they gain you no renown; no glory results to you from your endurance. It is my design to lead you into the-most fertile plains of the world. Eich provinces and great cities will be in your power; there you will find honor, glory, and wealth. Soldiers of Italy, will you be wanting in courage or perseverance? " In ability to shame his "soldiers and secure better service, Napoleon reminds us of Caesar. Soldiers: I am not satisfied with you; you have shown neither bravery, discipline, nor perseverance; no position could rally you; you abandoned yourselves to a panic of terror; you suffered yourselves to be driven from situations where a hand-ful of brave men might have stopped an army. Soldiers of the Thirty-ninth and Eighty-fifth, you are not French soldiers. Quartermaster-General, let it be inscribed on their colors, "They no longer belong to the Army of Italy." 22 THE JIEKCUKT. A GREAT TEACHER. E. H. HINTERNESCH, '13. N" the Chinese race we have the mightiest aggregation of human beings in any one nation on earth "with a written history extending as far back as that of any other which the world has known, the only nation that has throughout retained its nationality, and has never been ousted from the land where it first appeared." How can this be explained? Greece and Eome have lived and died, the Per-sian Empire has long since passed away, the map of Europe has changed a hundred times, yet China is much the same as in hoary antiquity. Investigators of this subject are most thoroughly united in declaring the result to be due to the fact that, whereas other nations have depended on physical force, China alone, has re-lied on moral force. Whence has come this moral force? Dr. Williams says, "It would be hard to overestimate the influence of Confucius in his ideal princely scholar, and the power for good over his race which this conception has ever since ex-erted. The immeasurable influence in after ages of the charac-ter thus portrayed proves how lofty was his own standard " Realizing the great influence which this one man has exerted on after ages we cannot help but anticipate profit in the study of his life. From the middle of the sixth to the end of the seventh cen-tury there swept over this earth one of those tidal waves of rea-son, "when the nations were full of unrest, and the mountains of thought were shaken with discontent." Then lived Themisto-des, Leonides, Cyrus the Great, Miltidates, Cambysese, Xerxes and Darius. Of course then occurred the battles of Marathon, Salamis and Thermopolye. Then, too, lived Budda Gantauma. Lo-Tesse, Ezekiel, Hazzai, Daniel, Zachariah, Pythagoras, Pin-dar, Aeschylus and Anacreon. It was then that Confucius K'ung-foo-tsze," "the master K'ung"—was born, B. C. 551. Confucius was the result of a peculiar union, a man of seventy married to a girl of seventeen. When the boy was three years old his father died, and his care and education was left upon the shoulders of his girl mother. THE MERCURY. 23 Though the son of a governor and of royal birth, he was brought up in the village like other boys of his time, not being allowed to think himself better than his playmates. As a boy he showed his superiority; at fifteen he was considered a phe-nomenal musician. He himself tells us that at that age his mind was set on learning. At nineteen he married, and in the same year was given his first public trust, that of keeper of the herds. This made him a sort of government overseer. He collected rents, enforced the laws and settled disputes between rival herders. At first he rode about much as an itinerant judge, but after a little sum-moned the disputants to him and gave to them a series of talks, or lectures on the absurdity of quarrelling and the necessity of getting together in complete understanding. He taught them the "Golden Eule." At twenty-two he commenced his career as a teacher. His pupils were not school boys but young and inquiring souls, who had a thirst for knowledge. He charged no fees, but like Plato accepted the goodly honorarium left by an admiring pupil. Yet no pittance was too small to be acceptable to the master. Sin-cerity and ability were the main requirements. The chief men of the state gradually became aware that a "prophet" had risen among them, and gave their sons into his keeping. His fame now quickly increased and we find him soon surrounded by a host of disciples. In B. C. 516, the marquis of the province of Lu, his patron, having been worsted in a struggle fled from the country. Con-fucius followed him but finding he could do him no good, re-turned. He now continued without official employment until B. C. 500, when at the age of fifty-one he was appointed "chief magistrate of the town of Chung-tu, and a marvellous reforma-tion in the manner of the people took place." He was now pro-moted from position to position until he held the office of Min-ister of Crime, in the province. The appointment made an end of crime. The existing laws did not need to be enforced. No offender showed himself. His administration was so wise that the neighboring states began to take alarm. At length, through intrigue, Tsze-Lu, the governor, was induced to forsake his wise counsel and say to him, "It is time for you to leave." 24 THE MEKCUKY. The sage was now fifty-six. He traveled from state to state, offering his service, and though many a prince would have gladly given him office, yet not one was ready to accept and prac-tice his principles. In B. C. 483, he returned to his native land and in the five last years of his life wrote several of his works. He died B. C. 478. He was pre-eminently a teacher and reformer. He taught rhetoric, mathematics, economics, the science of government and political and natural history. He pointed out the foibles of society and the wrongs visited upon the people by those who pre-tended to serve them. He denounced hypocracy, selfishness, vanity and pretense. Let us now consider some of the teachings of this wonderful man. He taught filial piety; that we should serve our parents while living and adore them when dead. Of the future the master knew nothing, in fact he was accus-tomed to say, that as man knows very little of the past, how can he expect to know the future? He knows not whence he has come, how can he expect to know where he is going ? In regard to worship his advice was to "reverence the gods, but to keep at a distance from them," and, "to respect spiritual things, but to keep aloof from them, may be called wisdom.'" The word "God" he does not use, but is constantly speaking of "Heaven," of "doing the will of Heaven" and says, "He who sins against Heaven has none to whom he can pray." "Heaven is speaking through you." Heaven to him was a principle. The word is used in the Chinese classics in such a way as to convey the idea of a personality or a will. He did not claim divinity, not even divine revelation. He was not a religious teacher, but rather a teacher of ethics. Perhaps D. Legg's words give a better statement: "He was unreligious rather than irreligious; yet by the coldness of his temperament and intellect in this matter his influence is un-favorable to the development of true religious feelings among the Chinese people in general." Did he live to-day he would undoubtedly be one of the world's THE MERCURY. 25 foremost peace advocates; for it was one of his sayings, that, "To fight decides who is the stronger, the younger and most skill-ful in the use of arms, but it does not decide who is right. That is to be settled by Heaven in your own heart." He spoke in parables and was an epigramist. These then are some of his words: "Beware of ever doing that which you a,re likely, sooner or later, to repent of having done." The cultivator of the soil may have his fill of good things, but the cultivator of the mind will enjoy a continual feast. "Be slow in speech, but prompt in action." "He whose principles are thoroughly established, will not be easily led from the right path." "The cautious are generally to be found on the right side." "By speaking when we ought to keep silence, we waste our words." "If you would escape vexation, reprove yourself liberally and others sparingly." "Disputation often breeds hatred. "Make friends with the upright, intelligent and wise; avoid the licentious, talkative and vain." THE EDUCATION OF THE INDIAN. H. S. HOSHOUR, '10. | HE Indian sat a"ione on the vast prairie meditating his own miserable fate, a shadow fell across the path of his vision. He looked up and saw a white man. The white man told him that it had been decided that por-tions of the corintry,—the Indian country—were set apart for the exclusive use of the Indians "Where," said the white man, "you shall be taught the white man's ways, and once more be happy." "You would teach us?" repeated the Indian thought-fully. He gazed intensely in all directions. As he turned to-ward the north, a ray of hope came over his dusky brow. "There is a valley yonder, there I will take my people." The Great 26 THE MERCURY. Father hesitated. "Some of the white men have taken a fancy-to that valley. See the hilltops yonder. There is your reser-vation." A mighty passion shook the whole frame of the In-dian, He stretched his arms fiercely towards the north. "My country," he gasped, and stood mute, rigid, motionless. The Great Father had gone. The Indian was alone, plun-dered, forsaken. His head dropped upon his breast. "It is as I thought," he muttered. All was lost. The furrows once more seamed his weather-beaten face—deeper than before. Fifty years of the American Indian's story lies in the reserva-tion. There they are grouped and dare not leave. The Indian is taught such things as beadwork, pottery, basketry and the like. White men generally disdain the Indian. Such condi-tions can only take away from the Indian the self-respect and manhood which is innate in him. Some thirty years ago the maltreatment of the Indians impressed itself forcibly upon Colonel Pratt, an old Indian fighter, who determined to do something whereby the condition of the Indian might be better-ed. Out of this resolution came the Carlisle school, which has been the American Indian's greatest boon. It is not my pur-pose to describe the system of education which has stood the test for so many years and has become so famous, as to be known the world over. It has been assailed frequently but a large propor-tion of the criticism against the "Carlisle idea" is only of the class which proves the system's real efficiency. Though the In-dian is by nature proud and haughty, no person will respond more readily to a genial and kindly interest, than he. It has been said that the educated Indian returns to his people and takes up their ways and thus his education has been worthless. This is the exception rather than the rule. Of a group of about three hundred Carlisle graduates, one hundred and twenty-five went into the government employ, seventy-five went to higher in-stitutions and the others took up various lines of work. The important point is that all—with but three exceptions—are self-supporting and many support others. Surely higher education is not wasted on the Indian. Instead of being an expense to the government, the educated Indian becomes a vital part of it. The fact that "no man has a place or fair chance to exist under the government of the United States, who has no part in it," is THE MERCURY. 27 becoming more evident every year. The detractors of the In-dian schools have demanded that the idea be abandoned. In-stead the American public, with the love of a "square deal" for everyone, should arise and insist that these schools should be multiplied, so as to educate all the Indians and at the end of fifty years every Indian in this land would be a worker, a pro-ducer, and best of all, an American citizen. * MAY. (Submitted by 1911.) 0 how we feel the thrill of spring, "When leaves appear, and song-birds sing, When woods are bright, and blossoms sweet The morning sun with fragrance greet; When all around new life appears, Creation smiles and nature cheers. 0 who feels this and is not gay, For this is spring-time!—it is May! 0 how the robin sings his lay And warbles glad notes all the day; 0 how he thrills the saddened heart, And helps a thought of love impart. He lightens many loads of care, And in their stead brings hope, so fair. Remember him and then be gay, For this is spring-time!—it is May! 0 what a thrill of joy it brings, When nature all around us sings; When in the green and flowery lea, We hear the buzzing of the bee, And in the orchard and the field We see the signs of life revealed; 28 THE MERCURY. And all about are tokens, gay Of nature's resurrection,—May! This is the season of the year That we love best for it brings cheer; Eeminding us, that, though some days Of life point dark and dreary ways, Yet after each dark night, forlorn, There comes a bright and joyous morn, Then cast thy sorrows far away And with the world, be glad in May! T H I HERCURY Entered at the Postoffi.ee at Gettysburg as second-class Matter. VOL. XVII GETTYSBURG, PA., MAY, 1909 No. 3 Editor in-Chief SAMUEL FAUSOLD, 'IO. Exchange Editor G. E. BOWERSOX, 'io Business Manager PAUL S. MILLER, 'IO Ass't Bus. Managers ROY R. ALLEN, 'II RUFUS N. WENRICK, 'II Assistant Editor RALPH E. RUDISILL, 'IO Associate Editors E. J. BOWMAN, 'II C. M. DAVIS, 'II Advisory Board PROF. G. F. SANDERS, A. M. PROF. P. M. BIKLE, PH. D. PROF. C. J. GRIMM, PH. D. Published each month, from October to June inclusive, by the joint literary societies of Pennsylvania (Gettysburg) College. Subscription price, one dollar a year in advance ; single copies 15 cents. Notice to discontinue sending THE MERCURY to any address must be ac-companied by all arrearages. Students, Professors and Alumni are cordially invited to contribute. All subscriptions and business matter should be addressed to the Business Manager. Articles for publication should be addressed to the Editor. Address THE MERCURY, GETTYSBURG, PA. est positions- EDITORIALS. The sure test and only test of an institution of learning is the worth of the product, turned out. By this criterion, the college is judged and it justifies its exist-ence by the intelligence, culture, and forcefulness of its alumni. Thus, in most walks of life, the college man excells. This is partly true in politics. The college man holds our high- -state and national and yet the curse of greed and 30 THE MEECURY. graft is upon us. Why is this? Is the influence of the college man for honesty so out of proportion to his powers in other quarters; or is it possible that the college man condones corrup-tion and himself openly courts it? We cannot believe this and yet the college man, permeated by the spirit of graft, tolerates it. This is true of some college men, at least, and the Alma Mater must bear her share of the blame. A professor of one of our sister colleges has said that in that institution boys learned the tricks of dirty politics and later car-ried their baneful methods to the state legislature. This is a shocking indictment, applicable to many of our colleges. Each college is a small republic, set aside from the world. In it, we elect officers for the various organizations. In these elections, the true standard of merit is too often discounted; lesser consid-erations prevail; and the astute politician, in embyro, does his questionable work. The most despicable creature on earth is the unscrupulous politician and woe unto the college that develops him. If we, are guilty, let us clear our skirts and make our beloved college a most potent factor in teaching the proper relations between the individual and the state. Another fault of the college man is a tendency to theorize and procrastinate while the other fellow controls the ballot box. The franchise is a glorious privilege and the neglect of its exercise can be termed almost criminal. The college man must enter the political arena. This is his duty. He must set an example to his neighbor and help destroy that monster which blights our cities and debauches-our legislatures—political indifference. May the colleges in the future turn out men with a more lively sense of political duty, who shall make politics respectable. When our best men learn to be politicians, the perpetuity of the American state shall be assured. THE Seniors' farewell to our Alma Mater is nigh at hand. This is perhaps the most interesting period of their lives. It crystallizes in deathless memory the pleasures of the past and the aspirations of the future. They are taking the final review of the work done and the last lingering words of advice. At THE MERCURY. 31 this time their thoughts are concentrated in two phases: Are we ready? and success. We must acknowledge that the present opportunities are ac-cording to one's ability. It is an occasion for them to use what they have already won by toil and labor. "With these qualifica-tions, there is a success which comes to the educated man, and gives pleasure and joy which money cannot buy. We know that all college men and women living in a community are en-gaged in professions or in business. They are leaders in the church with trained ability, or they are leaders in everything which promotes the culture of manhood. Let him go forward into the competition of business, or the rivalries of the professions or the envious struggles of politics without trust and confidence and life would be a failure. ,But let him go forward with the stamp of Gettysburg's manhood upon him and with the idea that fame is not got by a single bound and their wishes will be answered. As the Seniors are pushed forth amidst the contending forces of the world, let them bear aloft that "manhood crowned" which Gettysburg gives to them and let all unite in wishing them God-speed. EXCHANGES. "Now fades the Jast long streak of snow, Now burgeons every maze of quick About the flowering squares, and thick By ashen roots the violets blow." "Now rings the woodland loud and long, The distance takes a lovlier hue, The lark becomes a sightless song." And drown'd in yonder living blue We are glad indeed, that as we see the beauty of spring all about us, nature taking on new life, there is seen also this quickening effort in the college papers. Most of them show the 32 THE MEECUEY. effect of the spring environment, and poetry is more in evidence than it was in the winter issues. The general subject matter is more inspiring. There appears to be a tendency on the part of college men in their eagerness to prepare for a profession to neglect the study of the mother tongue and especially what is known as "Old Eng-lish." The advantage of an extensive and intensive knowledge of English cannot be overestimated. This subject is well treat-ed in an article in the "Newberry Stylus." It is a well-written and valuable essay peculiarly applicable to many college men. The story "Maviael the Violinist," in the same issue is worthy ofmuch praise.- The characters are well chosen and the plot well developed, and suited to the season. The other articles of the issue are well composed, but "How John Wells Got His Life Insurance" is rather out of place and not fitted for a college magazine. The "Haverfordian" since devoting its pages entirely to lit-erary productions is quite measuring up to the expected stand-ard. Its appearance in the new cover is quite attractive; the contents are also well arranged. The leading aricle, "The Poetry of William Morris," does much credit to the author. Among our new exchanges we are glad to welcome "College Kays." The paper, though not attractive in appearance, con-tains much worthy of reading. "The Destiny of the Mongo-lian," merits special mention. It shows in a very logical and forceful manner the developments of the various races, and how the trend of events points to the Mongolian as a rising race, and no longer a "Dragon" to be feared but a race co-equal with the more favored peoples. The idea in the "College Student" of the "Keview Depart-ment" for criticizing the articles in the same issue is worthy of comment. There are many benefits to be derived from so close and exact criticisms; yet one feels that the same attention given before publication would greatly increase the literary standard of the paper and at the same time give the writers an opportu-nity to correct his deficiencies before publication, which they will scarcely do once their articles are published. We gratefully acknowledge all exchanges received. PATRONIZE OUR ADVERTISERS. IN this Drama of Four Year's Course, Play your part without dad's horse ; This to do is up to you With just a little tact between each yearly act, In some domain take a stroll And sell ALUMINUM for next year's Role (roll). Every summer hundreds of students make BIG MONEY selling Aluminum Cooking UteusiJs. For particulars address LOUIS HETZEL, Gettysburg College, GETTYSBURG, PA. THE STEWART & STEEN CO., COLLEGE ENGRAVERS, 1024 Arch Street, PHILADELPHIA. MAKERS OF Invitations, Programs, Menus, Visiting Cards, Dance Cards, Monograms, Class and Fraternity Stationery. P. S. MILLER, 'to, Representative, Who has a full line of samples. ^\> The times an 1 the Schools demand that the best things shall be done and in the best manner. WateFmans^FountainPen accomplishes everything that can be required of a good writing in-strument. Made to last for years of service and give its owner the satisfaction which comes with owning "the best." From all dealers. The Globe trademark Is our guarantee S Sthool St., Bo.Ion .1.5' San Fr>pci«ce. 136 St. Jama* St. Montreal 12 C.jUen L« 0 ^TYX'XV^LtAJ-rX/VJ., V Uty FATRONIZE OUR ADVERTISERS. FU^NITU^E Mattresses, Bed Springs, Iron Beds, Picture Frames, Repair Work done promptly. Under-taking a specialty. - Telephone No- 97. H. B, BENDER. 37 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, P&- EDGAR C. TAWNEY BAKER West Middle Street. J. B. 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MUMPER Your Photographer, If not, why not? 41 Baltimore St., Gettysburg. FLEMING I BAIR'S LIVERY, Baltimore Street, First Square, Gettysburg, Pa. Competent Guides for all parts of the Battlefield. Arrange-ments by telegram or letter. Dock Bock 257. PATRONIZE OUR ADVERTISERS. WINDSOR HOTEL, W. T. BRUJBAKER, Manager. Midway between Broad St. Station and Beading Terminal on Filbert St. A convenient and homelike place to stay while in the city shopping. An excellent restaurant where good service combines with low prices. ROOMS $1.00 PER DAY AND UP. The only moderate priced hotel of reputation and consequence in PHILADELPHIA. The Modern Steam Laundry . . OF YORK . . Offers the COLLEGE STUDENTS first-class work at Special Low Prices. E. C. STOUFFER, Local Agt. C. D. SMITH, Prop. The Baltimore Medical College Preliminary Fall Course begins September ist. Regular Winter Course begins September 20th. Liberal teaching facilities ; Modern college buildings ; Comfortable lecture hall and amphitheatres ; Large and complete equipped laboratories; Capacious hospital and dispensary; Lying-in department for teaching clinical obstetrics ; Large clinics. Send for catalogue. Address DAVID STREETT, M. D., Dean, N. E. Cor. Madison St., and Linden Ave., Baltimore, Md. COMPILER IMPRINT ON JOB WORK MEANS TASTY WORK CAREFULLY DONE. MENU CARDS WINDOW POSTERS LETTER HEADS ENVELOPES DANCE CARDS TICKETS Programs of all kinds. Everything' the College Man wants in Haper and Ink. Specially designed work. Latest Effects in Paper, done in Colors along lines of College Men's Associations. Catalog and Book work. The Gettysburg Compiler will keep old and new students in touch with town and college life.

mvm**i&*i***mmt0i**Vi*Mmm0ki&t*0kfm ' HOYEMBER, 1906 YOL. XIY. NO. 6 GETTYSBURG COLLEGE GETTYSBURG, PA. I PBK8S OF W. B. HAMMOND. /' illt/litft l^liliMAMituui HELP THOSE WHO HELP US. I f i The Intercollegiate Bureau or Academic Costume. Cotrell & Leonard, ALBANY, N. Y. Makers of Caps and Gowns To Gettysburg College, Lafayette, Lehigh, Dickinson, State College, Univ. of Pennsylvania, Harvard,.Yale, Princeton, Wellesley, Bryn Mawr and the others. Class Contracts a Specialty. Correct Hoods for Degrees. WHY NOT GET A POSITION NOW! The sooner the young graduate finds the right opportunity the bet-ter his chances for success. We offer the best means of bringing your ability to the attention of employers in all parts of the country. Are you familiar with our successful methods? We will gladly give you without charge full information concerning desirable posi-tions that will be open in the early summer and fall for capable College, University and Technical School graduates. Better not delay about/writing us for we are al-ready placing many 1906 men. The National Organization ot HI^-PG-OOIDS, Brain Brokers. ZFezirLsyl-v-a-iiia, BldLgr., I'lj.ilad.elpli.ia,, Pa. Offices in Twelve Other Cities. Come and Have a Good Shave,., or HAIR-CUT at Harry B. Seta's BARBER SHOP 35 Baltimore St. BARBERS' SUPPLIES A SPECIALTY. Also, choice line of fine Cigars. R. A. WONDERS Corner Cigar Parlors. A full line of Cigars, Tobacco, Pipes, etc. Scott's Corner, opp. Eagle Hotel GETTYSBURG, PA. Pool Parlors in Connection. IF YOU CALL ON C. fl. Bloeher, Jeuuelet*, Centfe Sqaaire, He can serve you in anything you may want in REPAIRING or JEWELRY. WE RECOMMEND THESE FIRMS. Established 1887 by Allen Walton Allen K. Walton, Pres. and Treas. Robt. J. Walton, Superintendent. Hummelstown Brown Stone Company Q-cr.A-:E?,:Ei-2-:Lvd::Ei3sr and Manufacturers of BUILDING STONE, SAWED FLAGGING, and TILE, fALTONVILLE. =•;. PENNA. Contractors for all kinds of cut stone work. 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IJIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll^ I Seligman [ I & Bpehm \ I Are Gettysburg's Most § | Reliable | I TAILORS I And show tbeir appreciation of your patronage by giving you full value for your money, and closest attention to the wants of every customer. 1 Give Them | = s I Youtf Patronage | TilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllliltilllllllllllllllllHllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllliT PATRONIZE OUR ADVERTISERS. Weave** Pianos and Organs Essentially the instruments for critical and discriminating- buyers. Superior in every detail of construction and superb instruments for the production of a great variety of musical effects and the finest shades of expression. Close Prices. Ea3y Termi. Old Instruments Exchanged. WEAVER ORGAN AND PIANO CO., MANUFACTUftl ?S, YORK, PA., U S. A. Students' Headquarters —FOR-HATS, SHOES AND GENT'S FURNISHING Sole Agent for WALK-OVER SHOE Eckert's Store. Prices always right The Lutheran paWication^ocieiJ No. 1424 Arch Street PHILADELPHIA, PA. Acknowledged Headquarters for anything and everything in the way of Books for Churches, Col-leges, Families and Schools, and literature for Sunday Schools. PLEASE REMEMBER That by sending your orders to us you help build up and devel- • op one of the church institutions with pecuniary advantage to yourself. Address ■ HENRY. S. BONER, Supt. The CDerea^y. The Literary Journal of Gettysburg College. VOL. XIV. GETTYSBURG, PA., NOVEMBER 1906. No. 6 CONTENTS "THE POWER OF SMALL THINGS "—Oration. . . 152 ELSIE A. GERLACH, '07. "POE: WIZARD OR CHARLATAN "—Essay. . 155 W. WlSSLER HACKMAN, '08. "THE TRAGEDY OF A SOUL"—Oration. . . . 158 CLIFFORD E. HAYS, '07. "TIME—ITS DEMANDS AND GIFTS "—Oration. . . 164 SARA B. BRUMBAUGH, '07. " CONSCIENCE AND SUPERSTITION ''—Essay. . . 167 D. L. BAKER, '08. "CO-OPERATIVE COLLEGE GOVERNMENT "—Essay. 169 '08. "THE STUDENT AND COLLEGE "—A LIFE LONG RELA-TION— Essay . .171 ROY E. SMITH, '08. "A TOURNAMENT "—Story. 172 LEVERING TYSON, '09. EDITORIALS, . 176 EXCHANGES, 179 152 THE MERCURY. THE POWER OF SMALL THINGS. ELSIE A. GBRLACH, '07. EVER since Cartier discovered the St. Lawrence civilized people have stood in awe before the grandeur of the mighty flood of Niagara Falls. They have thought and talked and written about its tremendous power, its majesty and grand beauty; but no one ever considered its source, or thought of it in its parts. It was always thought of as one grand whole, until suddenly the world was startled by the fact that the beau-tiful Niagara was threatened. Then it was that the beauty loving Americans realized that out of small things great things grow, when they saw that the use of the great mass of water, little by little for supplying the manufacturing establishments, would steal away the greatness of the world's greatest falls. You all know the result of the awakening, that popular opinion prevailed and Niagara was saved from a gross sacrifice to mercenary motives. I have used the illustration only to show how often we forget the importance of little things. It is a world old subject, this fact of small beginnings. We know that the mighty avalanche, sweeping everything before it and burying whole towns with its millions of tons of snow, is made up of the feathery flakes. We know, in fact, that the entire universe, in all its immensity, is composed of atoms; yet do we realize the significance of the small things in nature. History speaks plainly of the power of little things. The importation of the first slaves into America may have seemed a thing of trifling moment; yet the war of the rebellion grew out of it. Again, it was but a small band of Pilgrims that landed at Plymouth Rock; yet their coming was the begin-ning of the career of the grandest nation of the world. The world of finance in the great Hippel embezzlement pre-sents a striking illustration of the principle we are considering. Do you think that when the respected banker stole seven million dollars, it was his first offence? Of course not. If all the facts were known his crime could be traced back along a line of ever lessening thefts, perhaps even to the small sum of a few dollars borrowed, but never returned to the bank. Mr THE MERCURY. 153 His first theft, whatever it was, may have seemed a trifling thing. But what a result! For an example in politics take the system of graft, recently uncovered in Philadelphia. No doubt the grafters were timid at first, and took but little from the public funds ; but they kept growing bolder until the enormity of their crimes could no longer be-concealed. We can see the value of a trifle in every day life. The true story, told of the man on the tower, goes to prove this fact. He was a common day-laborer and was assisting in the com-pletion of an immense chimney on a large factory. He was working on the farther side from the others, and did not notice that they had all finished and descended, and that the scaffold-ing was removed. In a very short time, however, his absence was noticed, and a large crowd gathered below, filled with horror at the thought of the awful death which stared him in the face, for the only possible way to reach him was by scaf-folding, which it would take weeks to build. But suddenly the crowd was quiet as the wife of the man, suspended between heaven and earth, appeared. She had evidently heard, for she was very pale, but calm. Putting her hands to her mouth she shouted, " Unravel your stocking." A cheer burst from the crowd, as they grasped at this feeble hope of rescue. Before long a thin grey thread was lowered, and to this they tied a cord. The yarn was homespun and it carried the cord in safety to the waiting man. The cord in turn drew up a rope and the rope a cable, by which the man descended. Practical application of the subject can be made in every phase of life. To be happy we must be careful of the little things in our home life. To be successful the business man applies the old adage, " Take care of the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves." To become a college graduate, worthy of the name, the ambitious student must weigh the little things. It is a small thing to prepare a debate or read-ing for the literary society, or an essay for our monthly journal. It may not seem so at the time when you think you can't pos-sibly spare even an hour or so. But it is a small thing when compared to the benefit received from regular literary work: 154 THE MERCURY. first, of course, the benefit gained in preparation, then the power to think on your feet and to accustom yourself to hearing your voice in public speaking. The time given to athletics does not cost much, considering the benefit received. A short time spent in exercising every day helps to bring about the relation of "Sana metis in corpore sano." And it isn't much trouble to really study the lessons assigned. It takes only two hours to prepare a Latin or Greek lesson. To be sure the easier way, by means of " helps," sometimes seems almost pardonable when there is work to be made up on account of sickness, or when import-ant outside work demands the time. But this habit of shirk-ing grows so easily that it must be avoided or the college edu-cation will prove a failure. The seeming trifles at college are very numerous. But these few examples will serve to illustrate their value. The power of small things is strongly brought out by Longfellow in the words: . " Nothing useless is or low ; Each thing in its place is best; And what seems but idle show Strengthens and supports the rest." Oh, but how great a thing it is, how glad, To live in this our day ! when plain strong sense, Free knowledge and Religious influence, Build up a wall against the false and bad, And give the good both temple and defense : To live—when ancient enmities intense Turn to new brotherhood till now unknown ; When science and invention bless the world, Banishing half our pains and troubles hence ; When time seems lengthened, distance nearer grown ; When tyranny from every throne is hurled ; When Right is Might, and Reason holds her own : O, happy day ! fur prophets, priests and kings Have longed in vain to see such glorious things. —Tupper. THE MERCURY. 155 POE: WIZARD OR CHARLATAN? W. WISSLER HACKMAN. I. INTRODUCTION. THE ENIGMA. IN these papers it is not our purpose to rehash any biography of Poe, and such points of his life as may come up in these discussions will do so because they are, in our opinion, essen-tial in throwing light upon the problem in hand. That Poe's heredity, environment and temperament do as much toward heightening as toward solving the mystery that surrounds his literary attitudes and motives may not be denied, much less ignored. Brilliant, versatile, volatile; Byronic in egotism, Pickwickian in fantastic fancy, a Stevenson in action and a Uoyle in plot, he presents an enigma among American authors; an enigma that invites even while it defies investigation. Sensitive, proud and weak ; yes, almost despicably weak he stands the most tragic figure in the realm of American letters ; a tragic success ; a most brilliant failure. A graphic portraitist, a skillful manipulator of plot and atmosphere, a poet surcharged with a shadowy mysticism, a philosopher and scientist in amateur, possessed of an un-bridled daring of conception, a critic, dreamer and prophet— what is he not? Candid and unshrouded he sets himself be-fore us ; frankly and unhesitatingly he draws aside the mantle of his personality and uncloses to vulgar gaze the very wheels and cogs of his literary machinery. And yet, andyet— he is too like the famous chess player he so skillfully exploits, wheels and cogs and cunning mirrors casting deceptive re-cesses, and within, the man, whom none see, smiling derisively on the easy credulity of his admirers. That is just the ques-tion, that the crux of the entire matter of Poe, the genuine-ness of his attitudes. Let sincerity be the touchstone to the man. Is he a great soul struggling through an imperfect me-dium toward revelation, has his genius labored out of the in-tangible depths some magic philosophers stone whereby to convert the dross of earth into the divine gold of ideality ? Again, dare we accept his own implied claim, and treat him as 11 ■ 156 THE MERCURY. the clear-eyed discoverer of a profound unity of all substance and energy, or is he a mere mechanic who frames soul-stirring verse on an arithmetical basis making poetry a matter of mathematical proportions? Or after all is he a base juggler or at lea.st a clever trickster ? Is he king or impostor, prophet or pretender, wizard or charlatan ? Have you never felt the uncomfortable impression intrude itself through the charming plausibility of his philosophy, the eerie beauty of his verse, or the creeping horror of his tales that at your shoulder, as it were, stood Poe, his sensitive lips curled in proud scorn while about them played a smile of mockery and derision almost mephistophelian ? Take his por-trait, search his features carefully—do you not find an in-tangible contempt lurking there? Is it for you or for a stiff-necked, hard-headed people who will be sordid and material-istic ? Take his lighter stuff—plainly you can feel the under-current of banter, whether innocent or malevolent, I dare not yet say. That Poe's was an analytical intellect of the highest type must be conceded, for that he is capable of a keenness of in-sight abnormally acute, we have proof in his own exploits. The unravelling of the "Murders of the Rue Morgue" and the death of " Marie Roget" under circumstances that would have daunted the most optimistic of sleuths are evidences that go far toward establishing Poe's integrity. Had he been on or even near the scenes of these tragedies, for they were real, we might attribute his success to some fortunate discovery, some hidden inkling. But removed as he was from the pos-sible presence of data, his only aids newspaper clippings col-lected by himself, we must admit that success was—in fact could only be—due to the reasoning of a powerful intellect. Whatever Poe is, he is no shallow montebank ; if he resorts to dishonest trickery, it is not because he is incapable of higher things. Yet he does juggle, yet he does descend to the plane of monte-bank. How the same hand that projected " Eureka," that marvelous prose-poem, could perpetuate such worthless, school boy click-clack as abounds in the life of Thingum Bob, seems, - —--'-—- * w THE MERCURY. 157 to say the least, remarkable. It is just this apparent incon-sistency— it does not merit the term versatility—that makes Poe the enigma he is. The fabric of his literary work pre-sents a strange mosaic of pearls and tawdry brass side by side and intermingled in a strange, disconcerting confusion. Thus far we have dealt in generalities ; generalities of, I fear, a vague and dissatisfactory haziness. It has been our aim in this paper to, in a general manner, outline our intended method of procedure. The * following papers will be written with the author's text close to our elbow with a view of being read in like manner. Now in the conclusion of our introduction let us advance one tenet of our literary faith, to wit: Sincerity should be the guide and touchstone in all literary criticism. Much as we dislike the imputation of egotism we shall fear-lessly work out our conclusions independent of popular senti-ment or accepted views on this particular phase of Poe. Not in that we feel ourselves better equipped than others but because we believe that no man should suppress or subvert his own individuality to the authority of another while there exsits the faintest possibility of new discovery. * NOTE—This is the first of a series of six articles to appear in the MER-CURY treating on this particular phase of Poe viewed from four stand-points. Let it be suggested that the succeeding articles be read in con-nection with the authors text. The next article will treat him as Poet —ED. (AM,, .i 158 THE MERCURY. THE TRAGEDY OF A SOUL. CLIFFORD E. HAYS, '07. ALL progress lies through evolution or revolution. Start-ling as this may seem, nevertheless it is true in Religion, Politics and the Industrial World. Progress is the giving up of the old condition and the advance to the new. The pro-gress of a nation or organization is measured by that of the individuals who compose it, and every time a man gives up a long accustomed ideal there is enacted a tragedy of the soul. Two hundred years ago a handful of patriots decided to leave behind the old order of things and set sail on that dark and unknown sea of Democracy. All those men were the de-scendants of races accustomed to monarchy and Despotism, and it was natural that there should be a long and desperate struggle before they could give up the old. No American History disregards the bitter debates of that gloomy period when the Continental Congress was in secret session and our nation's destiny hung in the balance, yet few of us indeed realize what it meant for those men to affix their names to the Declaration of Independence. Up to July 4, 1776, but a few radical dreamers had thought of separation and fewer desired Democracy. The clanging of that old bell caused a struggle in the soul of many a true and noble man before he went either to the Revolutionists or the Torys. And the tragedy of their souls has often been repeated and is now being rehearsed in the Peterhof in Russia. On May 18, 1868 a boy baby was born in St. Petersburg in the recesses of a fortified palace during a period of darkest despotism, the reaction of the spasmodic lenient period of the stormy reign of Nicholas I. During the babes' early years his grandfather Alexander II was harassed by many for-eign wars and internal troubles which ended in the Czar's as-sassination. The 3rd Alexander, the boy's father, took control, but the revolutionists were so active that he remained in con-finement two years before his coronation. Thus this youth was born and reared in a household con-tinually threatened and fearing, yet a household which held sacred the belief in historic Czarism. All his education was THE MERCURY. 159 to prepare him to be a Czar such as former Czars had been, although the fierceness of his ancestors was somewhat miti-gated by the state of affairs during which he was born, yet that one idea, that he would some day be God's vicegerent to rule that vast empire by his own absolute will, was constantly drilled into him. Surrounded and influenced by the bureau-cracy, his inherited autocratic spirit was intensified. Accus-tomed to think and hear that alone, it is not at all surprising that he should come to the throne a thorough autocrat. When twenty-six his father died, after a stormy reign filled toward the close with attempts at assassination. Then Czar Nicholas the II, this youth brought up in utter ignorance of the true condition of his country, secluded and taught aristo-cracy, with a mind and body inherited from a long line of despots, took the government of the vast Empire of Russia and her 140,000,000 souls steeped in ignorance and practically slaves to the nobles for seven centuries. It is a wild dream to think that Nicholas, the crystallized product of a line of Czars ruling for centuries in the same despotic course, should come to the throne filled with noble determination to free his people and set up a democracy. He knew no more of his people and democracy than his people knew of him personally. At court he was surrounded by that crowd of political vam-pires, the Bureaucracy, that class of nobles, the offspring of the Middle Ages, which inherited its rights for centuries. It is a nobility such as no other country knows. Dependent on the Czar and Czarism for their life liberty and property, they cling to the tottering throne of despotism as a vine to a mould-ering wall. Planted when the wall was erected, they have grown old and useless with it, and although they see the wall crumbling and tottering with every fresh blow from the tides of Democracy, yet they must cling to the wall for life. All enlightenment and culture is limited to the palaces of the nobles. "With their enlightenment and widened horizon which includes in its circle both Czar and the people, they see clearer than anyone else the true condition and the only solu-tion. They loathe Czarism which they are forced to support, and fear the people whom they must keep in submission. til Ilk ill'.) I.,.I. 160 THE MERCURY. They see this and fear, yet are bound to the throne for the maintenance of their life; they cling with death like grip to the thing they looth, yet cannot leave. Bureaucracy hangs between life and death, despotism and Democracy, progression and retrogression, but worst of all, knows that either way the pendulum swings aristocracy must vanish as a dream and they with it. Thus it is to their interest to keep the Czar in ignor-ance and their heads above water. With such a spirit ruling them and such interests at stake they drove Nicholas I mad, and hindered his useful reforms. This Czar broke through the ignorance, superstition and teachings of the Czar's and tried to better his people. He instituted education, lessened the censorship of the press, heard embassies from the people, and emulated foreign progress. Yet all this was undone by the bureaucracy who saw in this their ruin. They as ministers bowed to the Czar and promised faithfully to further his work, but out of his presence issued counter orders and altogether blocked his reforms. Real conditions were kept from him, till harassed on all sides, the Czar lost faith in everything, loathed civilization, hated progress and instituted such a despotic re-action that the country was plunged deeper than ever in the dungeon of ignorance. Such is the pitiful struggle in Russia's high places that the nobles in their mad race for life and posi-tion bind upon the Czar, in childhood, the shackles which en-able them to hinder him all through his reign. Surrounded by such conditions, Nicholas II came upon the throne of Russia in the year 1904. Brought up in seclu-sion and study during childhood, taught autocracy and militar-ianism in his youth, surrounded completely by the Bureaucracy, knowing little of Democracy, considering himself the vicege-rent of God and responsible to Him alone, and entirely ignor-ant of the condition of his people he kept the beaten path of his ancestors and it should cause no surprise that he did not immediately accept our western views of things. The recent war broke out and during it the young ruler be-came acquainted with his people. Suddenly into the dark chamber in which he sat and ruled, shut off from the world, a ray of light entered. He heard low grumblings. Then *,. THE MERCURY. 161 his dazzled eyes and startled ears gave evidence of the flames of Revolution and the demands of his people. One minute he was sitting in unsuspecting security; the next he was swept from his feet by that awful whirlwind of plunder and murder. Stunned and lost for awhile it seemed as if all must give way. Forces on all sides dragged him hither and thither. The people clamored, they howled, burned, pillaged, murdered ! Some demanded liberty ; some representation ; while others urged harsher despotism. He had no rest; one said this, another that. One cried " The Police ! Suppress! Trample ! Lash ! " Now came the urgent appeal, give the con-stitution or all is lost. Throw Autocracy to the winds or Russia is lost. Hear your people or your are doomed. The whole world mocked, the nations laughed at this poor imbe-cillic prince, who sat and held the power yet did not act. Yet were they right? Was he imbecillic and weak ? Most assuredly, No! He had always aimed to do the right, and but one thing was opened up to him as the right; therefore he did it in sincerity. On that eventful morning when after sleep-less nights, he signed the decree for the national assembly, he said to Count Witte : " I have never valued aught but the weal of my subject, and have always used autocratic power for that and never wittingly exercised it for any other purposes, I was always convinced that the welfare of the empire demanded this, but now I lay a portion of my power aside because I have good reason to believe it is to the advantage of Russia to do so." Thus drilled and taught Czarism, he came to the crisis blinded ; and when his eyes were opened he did not imme-diately fly to Democracy, and the nations mocked. He, Czar Nicholas, who believed himself to be of divine appointment, descended from a line of despots, did not break away from all precedent, undo the work of his ancestors for ages, did not deny his entire nature and change his mode of thinking in a moment, in immediate need and under great stress without hesitation, thought, or fear, and they said he was a weakling, an imbecile, a child! He loves his country, his whole pride is Russia, therefore he could not deny his moderate and prudent nature, which he 162 THE MERCURY. undoubtedly has, and plunge his people headforemost into our occidental iorm of Government, so strange to a European mind. And, if the truth were only known, the world would see but a handful of rash extremists, followers of such as Maxim Gorky, raving for liberty. What the people want is not so much the reins of government, but a little release from the oppression of the hated nobles. In this awful whirlpool of unrest the Czar could not loose all moorings from absolu-tism and expect to sail clearly and safely to any definite condi-tion. Place our own beloved President in such a position. If he should suddenly awake to the fact that Democracy was crush-ing his people that he had always been deluded, and at the same time four ways of acting, all contrary to his very nature, should be opened to him, he could not tear himself from Democ-racy ; he could not in one day decide what was best for this enlightened people. Let us then be reasonable. Let us consider the Czar with his bias due to a weight of despotic ancestry, hedged about by the autocracy, living in ignorance of the true conditions of his people, coming suddenly to the realization that something must be decided ; pushed hither and thither, all the while re-maining cool and collected, and at last giving that most mag-nificent testimony of a- clear brain and a deep desire for the right by signing the ukase by which he limited his autocratic power, and brought to a close centuries of despotism, and gave an earnest of liberty to 140,000,000 of people. Universal suffrage, a right to levy taxes, supervision over all branches of the government, and " civic liberty based on real inviolability of the person and freedom of conscience, speech, union and association," were on the 19th of August, 1905, conferred on a nation which had remained in ignorance and serfdom for seven centuries. And all this was decided upon by a conservative, prudent and strong willed man. But the most marvelous of all things which this young Prince, this laughed at " Little Father," accomplished; was the inner vic-tory in his soul over his imperial psychic nature, the accumu-lation and inheritance of ages. We are told that in order to THE MERCURY. 163 judge fairly an individual's actions " we must take into consider-ation his position, his character, his past, his individual feel-ings, his moral and physical powers. We must keep in view the incentives from without, the circumstances and limitations among which he moves." Then we can say that the Czar was not a puppet. He was not a mirror reflecting every one's opinion. With but a few short months of earnest thought after his awakening and under tempestuous conditions, he signed that manifesto. On that eventful morning, when Russia's new sun arose and the darkness of absolutism received its first blow, Czar Nicho-las II arose, calmly attended to some minor duties, then went to the Chamber of State where spread upon the table was that document. Standing on his right was Count Witte that diplo-mat of Russia who saved his country's honor in the financial crisis; he who gained a bloodless victory at Portsmouth ; the champion of the people; stood trembling as the Czar made the cross and wrote N-i-c-o-l-a-i, thus signing away his in-herited power. In the ante-room were assembled the minis-ters of Russia, members of the Bureaucracy, waiting to see the doom of their class. As Nicholas calmly signed, arose, and without a word left the chamber as if routine business had been transacted and with stately dignity and composure, passed out, these ministers burst into tears and sank into uncontroll-able grief. As thus we take under review the events of the past few months, we see a man, by the power of his will, in response to the imperative of a noble nature, breaking through all the bounds of influence, throwing off the bias of his inheritance,, changing his whole psychic nature and giving the funda-mentals of freedom to one-tenth of the earth's population. The struggle through which he passed ; the heartache, the doubt, the fear, the loneliness—who shall measure it ? There in his palace, if anywhere on earth, was enacted the silent but awful Tragedy of a Soul. 164 THE MERCURY. TIME—ITS DEMANDS AND GIFTS. '07. IN this, the Autumn season, there sometimes intrudes upon us a resentful feeling, that Time, is ruthless in his van-dalism. We stand before the ruins of the past and read new meaning in the oft-repeated phrase " time passes by." Time passes by—ah, yes! — and never did Attilla leave more devastation in his wake. The wind whispers the news of his arrival and sweet flowers fade, myriads of bright leaves fall. He breathes over the child, and the sparkling eyes become dulled, the rosy cheeks pale and seared. Shaken by his heavy onward tread, mighty columns crumble, beautiful statues fall prostrate. He passes his hand over the masterpieces of a DeVinci or a Titian and the exquisite coloring fades. He steals away the rich voice of a prima donna by whose power and sweetness the world was uplifted and rejoiced. He cramps the flexible fingers of the musician and no more the ravishing strains are heard. He leads captive the devoted statesman to whom a distracted people are anxiously looking for direction. He stalks over a mighty nation and only the record of history remains. But what strange scene is this ? I see a scholar bending over to examine a yellow crumpled volume. With an indrawn sigh of pleasure he whispers—" Ah ! it is old, old." I see a cultured woman wave aside sparkling cut glass and fragile painted china, and picking out a bit of rude discolored ware she exclaims, " Oh, give me this." I see a romping boy eagerly grasp a ragged stamp or black-ened coin. He tosses his cap in thj air and shouts—" Whew this is old." I see a traveller turn his indifferent glance from the most magnificent, the most beautiful of modern architectural achieve-ments and with face lit up with admiration, almost reverence, feast his eyes upon the crumbling columns of the Parthenon or the gloomy walls of a mediaeval castle. I see one turn from the blooming freshness of childhood to the silver hair and lined face of age, as though he had dis-covered some rarer beauty there. - - THE MERCURY. I65 V-Why should we thus stoop to kiss the hand that smites us? Go, ask the scnolar and he will lead you back to the age when men first conceived the idea of transmitting their thoughts by laboriously hewing a few symbols out ot solid rock. Cen-turies pass by until the alphabet appears and slowly, fitfully, at the cost of inconceivable labor, and often personal danger, our great treasury of thought was added to. Now it is the immortal Epics of Homer, now the philosophy for which Socrates willingly forfeited his life. Here and there are scat-tered the works of a Shakespeare, Milton, Hegel, Bacon, and the scholar in gratitude exclaims: "These are my jewels, the gift of Father Time." Ask the scientist and he will place in your hand a clod of earth or lump of coal; then leading you through the once dark avenue of scientific research, with its many windings and stumbling blocks, will turn on one by one, the many illumina-ting theories, and laws by which the by-ways of medicine, mathematics, chemistry and astronomy, have been lit up by that master-workman Time. Ask the musician and he will tell you of the rude ancient lyres which were played by the wind blowing over the strings ; or of the Grecian pipes, having but two or three stops. Then he will place you in a dimly lighted cathedral while a mighty organ peals forth a Handel's Largo, or a full orchestra, one of Beethoven's Symphonies or a single violin—a melody of Reu-benstines. Ask the patriot and he will show you a brave pioneer hew-ing his way through the limitless forest, fighting savages, de-prived of every comfort. He will show you a brave little com-pany of men boldly signing their name to what semed virtu, ally their own death warrant. He will show you a Valley Forge and a Gettysburg. He will show you a country which is regarded as the Paradise of the World. Ask the little child and he will clap his hands and lead you into an enchanted land, peopled with elves and fairies—with Santa Claus, with giants, mermaids, and Grecian heroes. Ask the aged man and he will lay before you memory's book from which the kindly hand of Time has erased all small- j66 THE MERCURV. nesses and disfiguring blots ; and upon the last page you will find inscribed not " Finis," but the expression of the " great conception in which the belief in the human race and its des-tines triumphantly asserts itself"—continued through eternity. UP HIGHER. Every time you miss or fail, Start in on a higher scale, Let each tear, and sigh and moan, Only be a stepping stone ; Let each dark experience Point you to an eminence Up higher. Every stab that racks your heart, Fits you for a stronger part, Every stunning blow of pain, Lifts you to a broader plane. Every foe that can appear, Trains you for a larger sphere Up Higher. Never pause, and ne'er look back O'er the fast-receding track. There's a ghost there, grim and gaunt— IVhat's ahead is what you want. Turn; and you will stand aghast: Never search the bitter past, Look higher ! From each crushing blow of pain, Rise and go ahead again. Though your days fly swiftly past, Push to conquer to the last. Upward yet, and upward ever ; Onward still, and backward never ! Even when you hear the sound Of Death's whisper iook beyond, Up higher. —Joseph Bert Smiley THE MERCURY. l67 V-CONSCIENCE AND SUPERSTITION. D. L. BAKER, '08. conscience and Superstition—what relation can exist be-tween them ? A by no means readily seen one. It is only when we consider each in relation with a third, that their intimacy makes itself apparent. This third factor shall be Religion. Now every known religion sets forth certain staple rules for right living ; none but strives at a certain ethical standard; all hold out a certain reward, present or beyond, for faithful con-formance with its own particular doctrines and precepts. By even a mere passing analysis of the fundamental tenets of varied religion there may be readily discovered a startling con-flict in ethical ideals. Conscience is that peculiar essence which by common con-sent is credited with the office of approval and censure passed upon the actions of self. A violation of moral or ethical law is supposed to entail an unpleasant activity on the part of the conscience bearing a close resemblance and relation to remorse. Strange to say when we refer to the activities of conscience, it is almost always censure we note and rarely approval. Are we then to conclude that conscience is a threatening scourge, a lurking nemesis awaiting some unprotected Sin to pounce upon ? It is when we assume this attitude and then rake them, the infinite fields of superstition, that we are struck by a startling parallelism. As to-day the dreaded cellar fiends and garret spooks invariably lie in wait for the unruly youngster, so throughout the history of mythology it is the evil ones on whom the scourges of fiends and the terror of the Furies fell. Superstition is apparently as inherent in man as conscience itself. The most intelligent of us feel its icy fingers clutch our throats at certain limes—and those times—usually when our consciences are not easy. We perform a misdeed—the natural and legitimate result to expect, is punishment. The sin or crime may have been a secret one ; we know it was unwitnessed —yet racial habit is so over-ruling that we nevertheless expect punishment; intuitively, expect it. In such case, intelligence 168 THE MERCURY. or rather consciousness strives to justify and clothe intuition. Then there is nothing to fear from the human will; if fear con-tinues it must be of the superhuman. At night, when darkness hides danger, the hereditary ani-mal in us fears the lurking creatures of the dark pre-historic beasts of prey—but intelligence denies their existence. The animal fear triumphs and the mind creates a thousand super-stitious horrors to justify it. Any uneasy conscience multi-plies them a thousandfold, e. g., Fields' juvenile poem—"See-ing Things at Night," and Riley's, " Little Orphant Annie." Shall we then say, superstitious fear is merely a modified fear of retribution supernaturally administered because of absence of human agents ? We can say the same of conscience. Dare we then say conscience and superstition are merely dif-ferent manifestations of fear of punishment? If so, how can we explain that individuals of low intelligence are most susceptible to superstition and most callous in con-science ? Can we then define conscience as a source of super-stition ? Here we find ourselves in deep water—very deep ; conscience is supposed to set the standard for absolute right. If so, how can we explain the antagonism in religious dogmas cited in the beginning of this discussion? It seems then as though conscience was dependent on re-ligion. But every religion is burdened by a large amount of superstition, which superstition seems to exert a stimulus on conscience. Which shall we say—conscience is the product of superstition—or superstition, the product of conscience ? The revelation is undoubtedly close, closer in fact than we like or dare to admit. THE MERCURY. 109 CO-OPERATIVE COLLEGE GOVERNMENT. '08. BY cooperative college government we mean the uniting of the faculty with the student body, and the two operating jointly to promote the same end. We do not wish to make an attack on the present form of government with any malice whatever; but having been on trial before the faculty, and several times called into the Presi-dent's office, in company with a body of representative men, to consider questions relative to college government, we feel that a frank expression of our views will not be mistaken. Knowing the sentiments of many of our Alumni and that of the entire student body we are truly convinced that the present form of government is unsatisfactory, and believe that some form of cooperative government would meet with hearty approval. The predominating dissatisfaction with our present form of government is that our faculty do hot stand in close enough relation with the students, to readily understand each indi-vidual and thus are unable to correct his faults while they are yet in bud. Under the present form of government the will of the faculty is absolute. In this one body are vested the Legislative, the the Judicial and the Executive powers. The students are mute as far as government is concerned. The student upon entering the institution is handed a copy of the rules and regulations. He reads them and lays them aside. Soon he has forgotten their contents and violates a minor clause, soon another and then another till he has broken many, and it has now become a habit with him. Suddenly he is notified by the Proctor to appear before the faculty to give an account of himself. All available evidence has been collected by the faculty beforehand and he is asked to make his defense. Occasionally it so hap-pens that he cannot satisfy the faculty as to his innocence and he is given a period of suspension or expulsion, If at the outstart of his transgressions he had been visited by a com-mittee and cautioned as to his conduct, probably he would have avoided this humilation. 170 THE MERCURY. We do not believe that it would be wise to put all power of government into the hands of the students, but we believe they should be given some power. Where could be found a more fitting place for teaching the lessons of citizenship than in the govermental affairs of a college ? Our students have demonstrated that they are capable of taking up the various activities of college life and of hand-ling them successfully. We have our athletic council. In that council are representatives from every class. Why couldn't cooperative college government be run on the same plan ? The Faculty or Trustees electing their members, and each class electing theirs, this body being given full legislative power. Then a committee of students appointed by this couucil to educate the new men with the legislation, this same committee to watch a young man after he had been reported by some student for neglect or misconduct. Then if he persists in his efforts, cautioned, and then if he heeds not, brought before the com-mittee and then if they find him incorrigible, reported to the faculty, who finding out all the facts in the case take definite action. With a system of this kind, we think the faculty would be relieved of much of its burdensome care, and that all hazing and " rough housing " would be eliminated ; for those most annoyed, certainly would report to the committee and this committee being a body of honorable men could do nothing other than deal justice. Also a greater college spirit would be created, for no man would be permitted to become boorish in his manner, and each would know that part of the welfare of the college rested upon him the same as the true citizen knows that part of the nation's welfare rests upon him. When we get a system of college government such as this, then College Spirit will be a kin to Patriotism. THE MERCURY. 171 STUDENT AND COLLEGE LIFE—A LIFE LONG RELATION. ROY E. SMITH, '08. EVER since the custom of having a particular sight, dedi. cated to the instruction of those wishing to become more fully acquainted with the higher learning in science, philosophy, rhetoric and all departments of knowledge, was instituted; since certain ancients, renowned in their knowledge of certain arts, had their "schools" of followers, there has been a relation preserved between master and pupil; between their alma-mater and themselves, rivaling the ties of home and kindred and ever remembered as one of the dearest of their lives. What is this relation which binds with bonds of affection so strong that they last for a life time ? Why is it that we cling to one and repudiate the other ? ' It is the old story of affection through association. Since the beginning of time men have regarded with affection and left with regret things which may have seemed despicable to them at first. The thief does not follow his craft for love of it when he first takes it up, but later he glories in narrow es-capes and gloats over a successful raid. So it is with our college life. We, in time, become a part of our surroundings and when the time comes for our graduation, or when we must of necessity leave, it is with a pang of regret as if we were losing something that held a peculiarly warm spot in our hearts. And we are. For what is like the friendships formed be-tween instructors and those whom they teach ? What besides home affections, can rival those formed with our fellow stu-dents? Those who, having passed through their college life, are struggling with the difficult problems presented to them by the world can best answer these questions. How often do they live over again the good old days when they were Fresh-men ? They can again hear the soft knock at their door and feel over again their sensations of wonder, and then of terror, as they see man after man enter to demand entertainment. Then they thought that something like shame and humility 172 THE MERCURY. crept in as they rowed an imaginary boat in a veritable tem-pest for an imaginary shore, or gave extemporaneous speeches on subjects suggested by the audience. But no touch of bit-terness entered in now. Those things which appeared inde-corous then served only to stamp more vividly in their minds the wonderfnl good-fellowship which underlay all their gruff manners. They even wondered how they escaped getting it harder. Then they would think of their first admittance, involun-tarily and unwished for, let it be said, into the presence of the faculty; and of their mingled feelings as they were told that it was for the good of the College, generally, that they keep out of all scrapes or else go home. Truly these roses, albeit with their thorns, appear sweet and the thorns, as well as the roses, help to bind one more closely to his undergraduate life and also to his Alma Mater. Can we ever forget our undergraduate days ? As well forget the home of our childhood, or the love of a faithful friend ! A TOURNAMENT. LEVERING TYSON, '09. IN the central part of Germany, situated along the banks of the Rhine, and overlooking its surface, stood the stern fore-boding castle of Prince Vonholm. This imposing structure had been the residence of the Vonholm's for many centuries, and the aged, ivy grown walls had long since begun to crumble. The Prince and his family moved into the lowlands, shutting up the habitable part of the ancestral home, seeking the pleas-ures of court life and the education of his children. The Princes' one care was his son Richard. He was a stocky, medium-sized young fellow, muscular and especially well suited for the tournament, the principle source of amusement to the aristocrats of that day. It so happened that Sir Henry Dismusch, a favorite of the king, also had a son about Roger Vonholm's age. He was skilled in all manner of war-like exercises and held the office of head 'squire in the king's retinue. This he acquired by his strict attention to af- THE MERCURY. 173 fairs of the court and also by the aid of his father who, next to Prince Vonholm, was considered the best knight in all the country round about. While Henry Dismusch, Jr., was coursing with his father with blunt spears, Roger Vonholm would take his horse and game bag and would ride off into the woods, leaving the mes-sage that he was going hunting. This he continued to do for two years. Every evening he would come home, completely, tired out with his exertions, but with empty game bag; Yet he was as cheerful as any one in good health could possibly be. His mother was busy tending to Court affairs and his father was off to the war, so Roger's only companion was a middle aged soldier whom the Prince always left at home while he was away on his travels to guard his family. This soldier was the constant companion of Roger and was always by his side on his journeys through the woods; so the Princess Vonholm was not greatly alarmed about the safety of her son. Near the summer residence of the Vonholm's were the huge lists of Crancy. The arena was oval-shaped, six hundred feet long and about four hundred wide. Around this was a circular enclosure about twelve feet wide for the attendants, clerks of the course, and the heralds. This was to be the scene of one of the most interesting tournaments held within many miles of the castle. The young Squire Henry Dismusch was going to defend his title as head squire against all comers. Only young men under twenty years of age were eligible to compete for the honor. A contest of this kind had never been held in the Crancy lists, and the people of the surrounding country did all in their power to please their sovereign by their atten-dance. The all important day dawned fair and cloudless. Before it was time to commence the contest, every available seat in the huge amphitheatre was occupied, and still huge crowds surged through the entrances. Sir Dismusch and his family were seated near the king, awaiting with confidence the combats which meant so much to them. Prince Vonholm sat next to the king watching the surges of humanity for his son, who, for ,^,'^WuH'iti u 174 THE MERCURY. some reason or other, was delayed and could not accompany his father to the lists. At last the Prince turned his attention to the games, as the heralds had announced the preliminary contests. They were well waged but of little interest to the king and his court. These were awaiting anxiously the challenge fight for head 'squireship. The heralds had no sooner announced the proclamation of the knight defender, than a trumpet blast sounded from the far end of the lists, and there entered the arena a knight clad all in sable armor with a white cross upon his shield and a leopard rampant upon his helmet, accompanied by a knight clad all in crimson armor, a gold cross upon his shield and a double eagle on his helmet. The sable knight came forward to the centre of the lists, and raising the visor of his helmet, showed himself to be, King Howard, the brother of the king, the ruler of the neighboring kingdom. He acted as voucher for the knight challenger, saying that he wished to keep his identity unknown until after the contest. The heralds then sounded their trumpets for the contest to start. Various preliminaries were gone through, until at last the knight in crimson armor stood stock still at the northern end of the lists and the knight defendant, at the opposite station. The unknown knight was armed with a sword, mace, and dagger, and rode a huge black charger. His opponent be-strode a milk white steed and his armor was entirely white. He carried a mace hung at his saddle bow, and besides his dagger also carried^a kind of truncheon, a cross between a sword and one of the huge coursing spears generally used in tourna-ments. This last weapon was just becoming popular with the younger knights and 'squires, and Henry Dismusch had also adopted it. It could be convenien-tly wielded on horseback and was not as bulky as the spear. At the blast of the herald's trumpet, both men dug the spurs into the flanks of the horses and thundered down the lists nearer and nearer to each other. With the noise like a clap of thunder the two chargers met and recoiled, each rider doing his best to unseat the other. After the first recoil, the knights m THE MERCURY. 175 fought fiercely hand to hand. The horse of the unknown knight was unruly and the spectators could see that his actions were greatly retarding the strokes of his rider. The combat clashed on. The knight challenger was charging to meet the attack of the knight defendant, when his horse suddenly reared and received the point of the truncheon in his side. Giving a snort, he jumped forward, unseating his rider and falling heavily to the earth a short distance away, dragging the un-known knight with him in his fall. Then the knight defender seeing the knight challenger at his mercy rode over to him to end the contest. Riding his horse beside his fallen opponent, he thrust at him with his truncheon. The knight on the ground was powerless to rise, as the weight of his armor was too great for him. He knew death was imminent and waited for the finishing stroke. When the blow from the truncheon fell he seized the truncheon above the head and held. Had the knight chalen-ger just let go of the handle or stopped his steed, he would have conquered the fallen knight easily. The horse sprang forward and the very stroke that should have ended the knight's career was the means of saving him. He was dragged along the ground for a short distance and then managed to seize his opponent's stirrup. With this aid, he managed to seize the mace hanging to the saddle bow; and tearing it from its fas-tenings, with a mighty blow struck the knight challenger full in the neck and hurled him completely from the saddle. The clerks of the course declared the contest won by the knight challenger F.nd ran up just in time to catch him as he fell from exhaustion. A mighty shout arose when the result of the contest was seen ; but this changed to a roar, when the victor's name was declared by the herald. The surprise and wonder were universal and the amazement of the king was great, but none were more surprised or dumbfounded than Prince Von-holm ; for the name of the victor, which the herald announced, was " Richard Vonholm, this day rightlead squire to his Majesty, King Frederick." M tt,.»:\i,.'iii u THE MERCURY Entered at the Postoffice at Gettysburg as second-class Matter VOL. XIV GETTYSBURG, PA., NOVEMBER, 1906 No. 6 Associate Editors GEO. W. KESSI.BR, '08 J. K. ROBB, '08 EDMUND L. MANGES, '08 Advisory Board PROF. J. A. HIMES, LITT.D. PROF. G. D. STAHLEY, M.D. PROF. J. W. RICHARD, D.D. Editor-in-chief WARD B. S. RICE, '07 Exchange Editor THOS. E. SHEARER, '07 Business Manager THOMAS A. FAUST, '07 AssH Bus. Managers. HENRY M. BOWER, '08 H. WATSON DAVISON, '08 Published each month, from October to June inclusive, by the joint literary societies of Pennsylvania (Gettysburg) College. Subscription price, one dollar a year in advance; single copies 15 cents. Notice to discontinue sending the MERCURY to any address must be accompanied by all arrearages. Students, Professors and Alumni are cordially invited to contribute. All subscriptions and business matter should be addressed to the Busi-ness Manager. Articles for publication should be addressed to the Editor. Address THE MERCURY, GETTYSBURG, PA. EDITORIALS. POETRY. W e will acknowledge that some persons are more poetic in their thoughts than others, yet we believe that there are a larger number who could write poetry worth reading, if they would make the attempt. There is more of the mechanical in writing poetry than appears on the surface. In reading a poem we are so affected with the loftiness ot thought or the elegance of style that we do not think of the ground work or THE MERCURY. 177 plan by which it was effected. Poetry is not idle rhyme but a well developed plan, the discription of a beautiful thought. We notice a great difference between poetry and prose, both in style and effect. This distinction is difficult to describe; just as the metallic lustre, of a mineral, we know it is a prop-erty but can not thoroughly define it." We notice that poetry is more ornate; it is crowded with thought and beauty ; it pierces the very soul. For example take the quotation from Bell: " Rich were the sable robes she wore." This is animat-ing and suggestive ; but suppress the emphasis by a rearrange-ment of the words : " She wore rich sable robes." You now notice how flattered, how less attractive it is. Often too, rhyme lends charm to the poem, though not necssarily so, as some of the best are written in blank verse. The requisites for writing worthy poetry are out of the ordinary, but by no means unat-tainable. Furthermore we must not think that our work has been a failure because it does not measure up to the master-pieces, which are often the work of genius or years of exper-ience. THE READING One of the most important advantages afforded ROOMS. the students by the college authorities is the reading rooms and the provision for the management of the same. It is there that we have placed before us the daily news-papers, the weekly and monthly magazines. In them we have news of all kinds ; the daily occurrences and happenings, the papers depicting the sportive side of life, and the magazines which contain the latest discussions, from different points of view, by men who are leaders and thinkers. We are obliged to search the pages of history for the past, but we only have to open our eyes to see the present as it is being acted before us. It is surprising to note the small number who really take advantage of this great opportunity, and to see the large number of magazines on the shelves during the open hours. Many confine most of their time to the athletic news and the papers of jest. We do not condemn a certain amount of this kind of reading-but are obliged to do so when it is engaged in to a i78 THE MERCURY. fault. Our ignorance of the times places us at a decided dis-advantage especially in college life. We are unable to handle impromptu speaking ; we will find ourselves lacking in material for -debate, and are at a loss as to what to write on an essay subject, if we have not read an thus formed some opinion and conclusion of our own. Let us form a conclusion of our own, for what we have read is only an opinion and one of the pos-sible attitudes to the subject. By reading we become ac-quainted with the facts from which we are able to draw our conclusion. A short time each day spent in the reading rooms is not only the privilege but the duty of every one who is seek-ing a thorough college training. M The question ot literary societies is an old LITERARY SOCIETIES. Qne^ but js of such jmportance that it can not be emphasized to often. There seems to be somewhat of a renewal of the literary spirit this year; the weekly meetings show a larger attendance and a new enthusiasm in the work. This is to be highly commended ; for we can not say too much of the influence which this kind of work has upon those who actively engage in it. It seems to broaden a man in every way ; he learns to think and talk before audiences without pre-vious preparation; it is a good help in training one to express his thoughts clearly and concisely; one is soon aware of a cer-tain ease with which he recites his lessons; there is even noti-ceable more freedom in ordinary conversation. Over one half of the first term has passed. Have you joined one of the so-cieties ? If you have not done so, do it at once. Either one of them will amply repay you for the time spent in it. How-ever we do not wish to be understood to say that your name upon the roll or even your presence at the meetings will bene-fit you ; those facts only give you the opportunity; you must do the rest. For a time it may be burdensome for you to take part in the program, but through constant effort it will soon be-come a pleasure. We assure you that if you join with a de-termination to work, and make service your motto, success will be yours. THE MERCURY. 179 EXCHANGES. There are many excellent points about the exchanges this month, among which is an article in The Dickinsonian written by an alumnus, " Preparing a Debate." The writer is an ex-perienced and successful debatorand consequently the methods which he sets forth should not be passed over lightly by those who are desirous of becoming good debators. Only a few of the points can be reproduced here. " A debate is not won alone by the brilliant work done upon the platform, but is largely won in the laborious and silent days of preparation. It is then that they construct their line of defense and obtain the undeniable facts upon which they are to erect their fortress of argument. * * * * Again a whole volume of argument must be contracted into a ten minute thunderbolt, and victory usually rests with the men who can make the most of that fleeting ten minutes. This work requires ability and carelul thought. * * * * We collected all of the arguments, pro and con, and discussed them. Our next move was to construct as strong a brief as we possibly could of our opponents' case. This is well as it forces one to build his own case with a thorough understand-ing of the opposition, and he therefore puts a truer valuation on the worth of the arguments which enter into his brief of debate. After this was done we began the construction of our own cose. * * * * We took up every possible argu-ment for our opponents and carefully prepared an answer to each point which we thought they might present. Do not de-pend on constructing answers on your feet, from your general knowledge of the subject, but be prepared with facts, skill-fully marshalled, under whose fire their arguments will be swept away. In addition to this we endeavored to anticipate the possible answers which our opponents would make to our own arguments and to construct counter rebuttals." In addi-tion to all this, physical training is necessary ; for " nothing so requires vigor and thorough command of one's nerves as a debate contest; " so this debator trained just like an athlete. He was careful of his eating hours and of what he ate; he avoided pastry and most desserts; he took an extra amount of i8o THE MERCURY. light exercise in the open air, and took plenty of sleep—never buring the midnight oil. So when the night of debate came he was in the best possible condition both mentally and phy-sically. His success has given ample proof of the efficiency of his methods. " Extinction of The American Indian " in The Drury Mirror is one of those articles, often met with, which seem to be products of over-heated brains, or diseased imaginations. Do you think that it was after a calm, deliberate and just in-vestigation of the facts that the following was written ? " Call not this result barbarism succumbing to civilization ; call it not the survival of the fittest; call it rather the result of hypo-critical intrigue, of broken agreements. Let us lay the charge of this terrible obliteration at the doors of our own character. Avaricious, we mercilessly seized the Indian's lands; domi-neering, we overrode the rights of the Redman and disre-regarded our duty to him ; impatient, we refused the savage time and opportunity to accustom himself to the great change civilization brought; non-assimilative, we said, " the only good Indian was a dead one." * * * * And now! The last chapter has been written ; "congress, the vote-seeking, hold-out-your- had-for money congress, although breaking treaties and agreements, although shattering the sacred ho^e of the terri-tory Indians for separate statehood, has done the thing most feared and dreaded—brought Indian Territory and Oklahoma into the Union as one state, under the name Oklahoma." We are glad to acknowledge receipt of the following ex-changes : Otterbein Aegis, The Haverfordian, Western Mary-land Monthly, The Oivl, The Philomathean Monthly, The Col-lege Student, The Drnry Mirror, The Augsburg S. S. Teacher, The Mountaineer, The Dickinsonian, The State Collegian, The Forum, The Crimson and White, The Albright Bulletin, The Argus, The Youth's Companion, The Siisquehanna, The Jitniatd Echo, 'The Amulet, The Manitou Messenger, The Hartivick Seminary Monthly, The Augustana Observer, The High School News, (Lancaster), The Viatorian, and The Midland. PATRONIZE OUR ADVERTISER'S FURNITURE Mattresses, Bed Springs, Iron Beds, Picture Frames, Repair Work done promptly. Under-taking a specialty. * Telephone No. 97. H. IB. IBend-er 37 Baltimore St., Gettysburg, Pa. The Windsor Hotel 1217=2 Filbert St., Philadelphia. Headquarters for Students. Thoroughly Renovated, Refurnished and Remodeled FRANK M. SCHEIBLEY, Manager. ^Graduate of Lafayette College 1898. A* G. Spalding & Bros. Largest Manufacturers in the World of Official Athletic Supplies Base Ball Lawn Tennis Foot Ball Archery Roque Quoits Cricket Lacrosse Golf Implements for all Sports Spalding's Official Base Ball Guide for 1906. Edited by Henry Chadwick. The most complete and up-to-date book ever published oh the subject. Fully illustrated. Price 10 Cents. Spalding's Official League Ball is the adopted ball of the National League, and must be used in all match games. Every requisite for Lawn Ten-nis and Golf. For over a quarter of a century Spalding's Trade-Mark on Base Ball implements has marked the advancement in this particular sport. Spalding's Trade Mark on our Athletic Implement gives you an advantage over the other player as you have a better article, lasts longer, gives more satisfaction. Every Base Ball Manager should send at oncefor a copy of Spalding's Spring and Sun:' mer Catalogue—FREE. A. G. SPALDING «S BROS. New York, Chicago, Boston, Buffalo, Washington, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Kansas City, Montreal, Canada, New Orleans, London. England, Denver, Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Syracuse, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Baltimore, Hamburg, Germany PATRONIZE OUR ADVERTISERS. 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