Review for Religious - Issue 13.6 (November 1954)

Abstract

Issue 13.6 of the Review for Religious, 1954. ; Review for Religious NOVEMBER 15, 1954 Xaverian Pioneers . Brother Alois Address to Mothers General Arcadio Larraona ' Psychology .and Judging Others . Just November~r Always7 . Sister Mar~ Joseph N. Tylenda News and Views Book Reviews Communications Questions and Answers A Good Superior Index for 19S4 VOLUME XIII NUMBER 6 REVIEW FOR RELIGIO.US VOLUME XlII NOVEMBER, 1954 NUMBER CONTENTS XAVERIAN PIONEERS---Brother Alois, C.F.X .2.81 SOME SPECIAL PUBLICATIONS . 289 A GOOD SUPERIOR . 290 VOCATIONAL LITERATURE REQUESTED . 296 ADDRESS TO MOTHERS GENERAL-- Most Reverend Arcadlo Larraona, C.M.F. 297 OUR CONTRIBUTORS . 305 FATHER LARRAONA'S ADDRESS. . 306 FAMILY DAY . 306 THAT 'JUDGING OTHERS' HABIT IN THE LIGHT OF MODERN PSYCHOLOGY~ister Mary, I.H.M .307 NEWS AND VIEWS-- American Founders' Series; Congress in Canada; Notre Dame, 1953 310 JUST NOVEMBER---OR ALWAYS?~oseph N. Tylenda, S.J. 311 COMMUNICATIONS . ~ . 315 BOOK REVIEWS-- The Promised Woman; Pio Nono; These Came Home; Mediaeval Mystical Tradition and Saint 3ohn of the Cross . 317 BOOK'. ANNOUNCEMENTS . 321 NOTICE FOR PUBLISHERS . 324 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS-- 31. Establishing Dowry after Solemn Profession . 325 32. Plenary Indulgence "in the form of a Jubilee" . . 325 33. Relatives on General Council . 326 34. Mistress of Novices as General Councilor ." . . . 327 35. Retaining Office because of New Constitutions . 327 36. Books on Obedience . 328 INDEX FOR 1954 . 332 REVIEW FOR R~LIGIOUS, November, 1954. Vol. XIIL No. 6. Published bi-monthly: January, March, May, Ju!y, September, and November at the College Press, 606 Harrison Street, Topeka, Kansas, by St. Mary's College, St. Marys, Kansas, with ecclesiastical approbation. Entered as second class matter January 15, 1942, at the Post Office. Topeka, Kansas, under the act of March 3, 1879. Editorial Board: Augustine G. Ellard, S.J., Adam C. Ellis, S.J. Gerald Kelly, S.J., Francis N. Korth, S.J. Copyright, 1954, by Adam C. Ellis, S.J. Permission is hereby granted for quota-tions of reasonable length, provided due cre~tit be given this review and the author. Subscription price: 3 dollars a year: 50 cents a copy. printed in U. S. A. Before writing to us, please consult notice on Inside beck cover. Xaverian Pioneers Brother A1ois, C.F.X. THE motto ,,o,f the Xaverian Brothers, Concordia res parvae crescunt--by harmony little things grow"--has been so perfectly fulfilled and demonstrated in [the history of the con-gregation that it is difficult to signal out o,ne Brother who was in any large way responsible for the growth ~f the order. It had no Saint Francis or Saint Bernard to attract !followers by the very force of his magnetic sanctity, no counterp.art of Mother Cabrini or Saint Teresa to solve financial difficultie~ with a holy wizardry and bring forth numerous foundations at ithe touch of his wand of faith. Theodore Ryken (Brother Francis Xavier), the founder of the institute, was indeed a man of gr~at holiness and of the deepest faith. To him alone must be the hqnor and glory for hav-ing conceived the idea of the Brotherhood land having brought it into actuality despite difficulties that wer~ unusually great even when compared with the hardships religio~,s founders have gener-ally met. But it cannot be said that he large!y influenced the growth of the congregation. In the plan of God tl~e very existence of the new foundation was insecure as long as Brother Francis Xavier ruled it and it became firmly established onl~r after BroW:her Vincent had succeeded him as superior general. The growth and spirit of the congregation can really be accredited only to a cooperative ef-fort. Down through the years and even n'ow it has been and is difficult to select many Xaverians who stan~d out from the others. Yet the body religious has achieved a certain prominence and has developed a particular spirit of~ Which it can be proud¯ Still it cannot be said that like a spiritual Topsy the Xaverian Brothers just grew. In this centennial year ih America the members of the congregation pay tribute not only to~ the group but also to some specific predecessors¯ And characterlstxcally most of the honor ~ . goes tO tWO heroic souls who were outstanding for neither their learning nor influence nor high positions no~ great achievements but only because they were holy, humble, obedi,ent, and loyal: Brother Francis Dondorf and Brother Stephen ~Sommer. To understand these men we must re)giew the not-too-well-known story of the foundation of the congregation. Theodore James Ryken was born in Elshout, North Brabant, 281 BROTHER ALOIS Review for Religious Holland, in 1797. Left an orphan at an early age he was brought up by a.pious uncle who instilled into theboy's character a great zeal for souls. He seems always to have been drawn to the work of Christian education, for he worked in his native land as a cate-chist and a lay.teacher in an orphanage. In 1828 Mr. Ryken entered th~ Trappist monastery at Stras-bourg, France, but in 1829 the monks there had to disband and abandon their monastery because of the anticlerical laws of the time. He did not choose to return to Holland for a long period, however, fo~ in 1831 he journeyed to America, planning to act as a lay cate-chist in this country. What he did during all of his three-year stay in the United States has not been completely established. We do know from extant letters that he spent at least three months work-ing with the renowned missionary Father Stephen Baden among the Potawatomi in the area around what is now South Bend. In private papers left by Brother Ignatius, th~ founder's first' disciple, we learn that Mr. Ryken supported himself at one time by work-ing as a porter on a lumber barge, carrying planks from dawn until dusk; at another time he sold oil as a street peddler in New York City. At still another time he served as an attendant on a bishop, probably Bishop Edward Fenwick of Cincinnati. In private papers that he left Brother Ignatius sums up this period thus: "Though his vicissitudes were many and great, he still took delight in structing those about him in the truths and practices of our Holy Religion whenever a favorable opportunity presented itself." The Founding Seeing the great need for Catholic teachers, Mr. Ryken con-ceived the idea of a brotherhood devoted to this work. He returned to Belgium and laid his plans before Bishop Boussen of Bruges. The latter favored the idea but seems to have required the founder to get the approval of the American bishops, because in 1837 Mr. Ryken again went to the United States for that purpose. In six months he had obtained letters of. approval from seven members of the American hierarchy and several prominent priests and he re-turned with these to Europe. He journeyed to Rome and from Pope Gregory XVI he obtained a blessing on his p~oposed foun-dation. He then went to Bruges, secured the necessary episcopal approval, and entered the novitiate of the Redemptor!sts at Saint Trond to prepare himself for his work. At the end of his probationary period the Redemptorists re- 282 November, 195~ XAVERIAN PIONEERS ported.favorably on Mr. Ryken's fitness, and on June 5, 1839, he established himself in a house on Ezel Street in Bruges and began to seek disciples. This date is celebrated as Fo'undation Day. But for a year Mr. Ryken was a founder without an order. Then on June 9, 1840, one, Anthony Melis, joined him and, as Brother Ig-natius, was always considered by the founder as his eldest son. But growth continued to be slow; in 1842 there were seven members, in 1846 only ten. In the original plan he drew for the foundation of the order, Mr. Ryken had innocently written: "Ten or twelve months after the foundation of the Congregation in Belgium, one of the Brothers is to proceed to America to prepare the house, buy ground and ar-range everything for the arrival of the first Brothers sent to Amer-ica . " Those "ten or twelve months" were actually to extend to fifteen years before the aim of the order could begin to be realized, but in the long meantime Ryken's faith, courage, and determination wavered not a bit. Brother Ignatius gives us a picture of the destitution the little group endured. "House furniture of any kind and the merest home comfortg were luxuries they enjoyed not. Even the very necessaries of life were sometimes wanting. The floor was for some time their only bed, old clothes their covering; an old deal box, their table; old bed-sheets, their curtains; and an empty, stove their winter's warmth." The founder made shoes to. obtain some income but for the most part they existed entirely on charity. They lived in an unpaid-for house hourly expecting eviction. The free school they opened in 1840 prospered but only added t.o the financial burden. Bitter criticism and strong opposition even from quarters where they had a right to expect encouragement added to the difficulties. Yet the band did grow. Another primary school was opened at Bruges and men were sent to a normal school at Saint Trond for professiohal training. In 1848 a school was opened in Bury, England, not to take the place of the American mission but be-cause Catholic education in England at that time was a true mis-sionary work and because the Brothers could improve their English there before being sent to America. In 1853 the Bishop of Louisville, Kentucky, Martin John Spalding, visited the Bishop of Bruges and through him met Brother Francis Xavier Ryken. Learning of his desire to send men to the United States, the Bishop contracted then and there for six 283 BROTHER ALOIS Reoieto [or Religious Brothers to teach in the parochial schools of Louisville. But when the Brothers reached Louisville they found that all their previous training in enduring hardships, and more, was needed to withstand the difficulties they encountered in the new country. Here they met a new kind of opposition, bigotry. Anti-Catholicism, instigated and spread by the "Know-nothings" and members of kindred organizations, was strong and active. In Louisville the fanatics who a year later, on August 5, 1855, were to instigate the terrible riots that resulted in the butchering of twenty-two Catholics and the burning of numerous Catholic homes, were thoroughly aroused by the coming to the city of these six mysterious-looking foreigners. Reports were circulated and even published in the news-papers that these men had come to train up an army to wage a bloody war on Protestants, that they had ammunition and arms stored in" their school. A thorough search of the place was demanded. After hiding their altar vessels in a cemetery, the Brothers dispersed. and lived a while with private families. Only after their school and living quarters were ransacked and the utter simplicity of their mode of life was proved to even the most fanatic opponent, could they reassemble. In contracting for the Brothers' services, Bishop Spalding had agreed to pay one hundred and thirty dollars a year for each Brother. This proved to be too little and it was impossible to get more; hence after four years the Brothers had to be recalled. But because funds were not available for passage for all and because--so tradi-tion goes--they were the most expendable, Brother Francis Don-doff and Brother Stephen Sommer were left in Louisville. Brother Francis That Brother Francis Dondorf was a Xaverian Brother was a miracle of grace--a flood of grace that attracted him to a very unat-tractive institute when he could have joined many more promising ones, and which maintained and developed that attraction when even the congregation itself misunderstood and rejected him. He was born in 1816 in Aix-la-Chapelle. His family was well off; his home and school training were good. At twenty-six he held a good position in the post office of his native city. But his heart was not at rest and he prayed for light to know what God had in store for him. Always most devoted to the Blessed Sacra-. ment, he was accustomed to make a visit when he passed a church. One day in 1842 on leaving the Cathedral of Aix-la-Chapelle after 284 November, 1954 XAVERIAN PIONEERS one of these visits he struck up .a conversation with another man leaving at the same time. This was Brother Ignatius, Theodore Ryken'g first disciple, sent by him to Catholic- centers to seek re-cruits. As a result of this providential meeting, Francis Dondorf shortly after presented himself to the founder seeking admission to the new congregation. He was accepted and, following a pro-bationary period of a year and a half, received the habit on Easter of 1844. For two years Brother Francis attended the normal school at Saint Trond but was recalled then because of a shortage of teach-ers at Bruges. With Ryken and nine others he pronounced his temporary vows on October 22, 1846, but. when these vows ex-pired he was considered by the founder to be unsuitable for the life and told to leave the congregation. What later proved to be char-acteristic unobtrusiveness in community had been taken as morose-ness; what was only inexperience was judged to be lack of ability in the classroom. Grief-stricken, but with a wonderful courage and an unslackened devotion to and love for the congregatio.n, Fran-cis Dondorf returned home. Resolutely he enrolled at the normal school at Langenhorst in Rhenish Prussia to fit himself for his chosen and determined vocation. Two years later, without previous arrangement, he presented himself again to the founder for readmis-sion. He was accepted and pronounced his perpetual vows on De-cember 3, 1853. The next July he was chosen as one of the pioneer band emigrating to America. Brother Stephen Brother Stephen was born andreared in Attendorn, Westphalia. At fifteen he was apprenticed to a tailor and after four years took up that trade in Muenster. Attracted to youth work, even then, he formed a club for the young men of his area. He interested others in the work and they formed similar groups in other cities. Their achievements came to the attention of a priest, Father Adolph Kolp-ing, who offered to take over the direction of the work. The well-known and widespread Kolping Institute grew from this beginning. A chance reading of a newspaper story of the taking of vows by the founder of a new education society,in Bruges was the instru-ment of grace that awoke in Stephen Sommer a desire to make a like immolation of himself. He pondered the decision prayerfully for a year and at length applied for admission. He was accepted and arrived at Bruges on December 8, 1848, a very significant.date in view of his deep love of and abiding devotion to Our Blessed 285 BROTHER ALOIS Revleu~ for Religious Mother. He received the habit on April 2, 1850, and pronounced his vows on February 2, 18521 A man of great humility, Brother Stephen at first gave no ~n-. dication of the keen mind he possessed and was put to work as a tailor. The discoverer.of his intellectual ability--so the story goes-- was by one of those incidents that seem to be repeated in the histgry of every religious order. He was scrubbing a floor one day when two Brothers who were unable to solve a mathematical problem asked him jokingly whether he could help them. He arose from his knees, quickly and nonchalantly solved the problem, and returned to his menial work. When Brother Francis Xavier was informed of the incident, Brother Stephen was enrolled immediately at the normal school. In 1854 he was not chosen to accompany the band that set out for America but in 1856, when one of the original six died in Louisville, Brother Stephen was sent as a replacement. However, after Brother Stephen had left Bruges, the founder had written to Louisville recalling two of the men. The letter ar-rived before Brother Stephen and when he got there he found only three where he had expected five. Then, in 1858, because of the im-possibility of getting an increase in the annual, salary, two more Brothers were recalled. Brother Stephen and Brother Francis were assigned to Immaculate Conception school. They took up their abode in two small rooms at the rear of the classrooms and settled themselves to carry on in the face of any difficulties that could present themselves and for as long as obedience required them. For two years these valiant souls held the fort alone. Both humble, quiet, prayerful men, they must have been a pleasing sight in the eyes of heaven as they went through.their daily spiritual ex-ercises, did their househoId chores, cooked and ate their meager re-pasts, prepared their lessons and taught their classes. Heroically ig-noring every cause of discouragement; steadfastly resisting those who tried to persuade them to cast themselves off from the European foundation, which was precarious in itself and so very distant, and to join the priesthood or another band of Brothers; humbly living on the charity of a kind curate of the parish, they kept burning the flame of Xaverianism in America. In 1860 the pastor of Immaculate Conception parish visited Bruges to try to obtain an addition to the.community of two which was doing such fine work at his school. Brother Francis Xavier had by this time handed over the reins of government of the congrega- 286 No~embet', 1954 XAVER/)kN PIONEERS tion. By offering a salary of two hundred and fifty dollars a year instead of the one hundred and thirty, the priest won Brother Vin-cent's, promise of eight more Brothers; and soon these set out for the new land. It does not require much power of imagination to picture the joy of Brothers Francis and Stephen when they were again united with their Brothers in Christ. God was good, their faith had been justifie!! As His instruments they had labored as He saw fit, and great things could now come of His work. Of course a great new day did not dawn bright and clear at once. The Brothers still had to undergo numerous hardships. The ten of them, with several additions that came later, lived in ex-tremely cramped and poor quarters for four years. Knowing that financial conditions in Bruges were worse (in twenty years not a cent had been paid on the mother house), they made every sacrifice to save. Their usqal lunch was coffee and bread with molasses. They fasted on non-school days. Ultimately they were able to send to Brother Vincent the money needed to establish the congregation firml~ in its birthplace. On March 19, 1861, Michael Sullivan (later Brother 3oseph) entered the congregation as the first American postu-lant. 3ohn Quill (Brother 3ohn) entered before the year was over and others followed. Never startling, the growth nevertheless con-tinued steady. Brother Francis lived thirty-two years in religion; Brother Ste-phen sixty-six. They both had terms as novice master, but in those days that was hardly more than a side line. Brother Stephen, for instance, besides being novice master, was house tailor and a full-time teacher, too! They were both very successful teachers in class and in community. But it was their example as religious that, as far as we can judge, bad its greatest effect and for which they are held most in esteem in the congregation today. Closing Years Brother Francis was a stern character. One of the Brothers who taught with him as a young man tolff how, as they walked the half mile to school every morning, Brother Francis would ask him how he intended to teach his classes that day, would give him valu-able suggestions on the lessons, and supply him with anecdotes on 'the subjects involved. As a man of prayer and recollection he spoke only when good would be the result. In fact the Brother used to tell how a little, boy who had frequently seen them pass hollered one 287 BROTHER ALOIS Review for Religious day: "Look! that old man and his son never talk!" In class he was a model of efficient activity. Outside of class his only pleasure was in more work. On both Saturdays and Sun-days he gathered his boys for Mass just as he did on school days. The only difference was that Sodality and games rather than classes filled in the remaining time of the week-end days. He possessed a. good voice and delighted in teaching the boys hymns and songs, not.for the music's sake but because he loved the hymns and had a fund of songs that inculcated virtue and lauded goodness. Brother Francis, we are told, grew always in that love and de-votion to the Blessed Sacrament which we saw was the occasion of his first contact with a Xaverian Brother. In chapel he was an inspiration to all; after Holy Communion so rapt in love was he that he almost seemed to be in ecstacy. In. singing hymns the deep devotion of his soul was evident in his sincere voice, his intense expression, in the tears that frequently flowed down his cheeks. The Blessed Sacrament was the core of his existence, and the Brothers spoke often of how their own devotion to the Eucharist increased through just living with him. Like Brother Francis, Brother Stephen had a passion for work. A little man, weighing less than a hundred pounds, he nevertheless was always active. Even at the age of eighty-six he was the treasurer and bookkeeper for the large community in Louisville; he had charge of the bookstore of the high school and was tailor as well--"tailor" meaning not only that he repaired all the Brothers' clothing but made their habits too. This latter duty he had for fifty-one years in Louis-ville, Performing the tasks far into the night after a full day of teach-ing, paper-correcting, and lesson-planning. He was tenderly devoted to our Blessed Mother. One had only to see him recite her rosary or say her office to realize his heart was consumed with love for her. It is said that at the mention of her name such a look suffused his face that one would think he really saw her in glory. Brother Stephen possessed an excellent memory until the time of his death. He was extremely modest, refusing always to acknowl-edge he had done anything great in the obedience he had performed. Above all he was humble. Even as an old man past eighty, when-ever he thought he had been uncharitable to another he would kneel in the dining room before meals and publicly accuse himself and ask pardon of the one he thought he offended. Scrupulously conscious 288 No~ember, 1954 X&VERIAN PIONEERS of his vow of poverty, he opposed any innovation that smacked of luxury or worldliness. Even on his deathbed he was so distressed at the use of an electric fan which the Brothers rented to offset the terrible Louisville heat that it had to be sent back. He. objected, too, to a screenthey put in the window, fearing he would suffer in p,ur-gatory for the softness it indicated. He wanted to die as be had lived, a poor man of prayer. And so he did, breathing his last on September 19, 1911, revered by all as a saint. Brother Julian, the historian of the American Province of the Xaverian Brothers from whose work most of the information here is taken, fittingly sums ~ap the work of these two pioneers: "With the knowledge of saints, Brothers Francis and Stephen knew that God works silently and slowly: that perseverance in a cause, holy in itself, must bring success in time if faith but dominates the works. Today proclaims that they were right; and the present success and standing of the Community in AmeEca may be traced to these two holy men, who had naught but faith to sustain them, but hav-ing that had all that was necessary." (Men arid Deeds, by Brother Julian, C.F.X. [Macmillan, New York, 1930], p. 20.) SOME SPECIAL PUBLICATIONS Some twenty years have n.ow elapsed since Father T. L. Bouscaren, S.J., pub-lished the first volume of Canon Law Digest. The purpose of this work was t~ present the busy priest with all the official decisions on matters pertaining in some way to the canons in the Code of Canon Law and to present these in readable Eng-lish. The material was arranged in the order of the canons, and everything w~is carefully indexed and--wherever useful-~cross-indexed. After the publication of Volume I, supplements were published periodically: and finally, about ten years after the appearance of the first volume, the second ~,ol-ume was published. This second volume contained not only the material of the supplements but other new material as well. It is a pleasure for us to announce that Volume III of this interesting and valu-able collection of documents is now available. (Bruce: Milwaukee, 1954 Pp. xii+ 762. $11.) A special feature of this new volume is that it contains cumulatioo "indices, both chronological and general, of all three volumes. For religious, in par-ticular, we might note that the present volume contains the complete texts of the Allocution of Pope Plus XII on the religious life (Dec. 8, 1950), the quinquen-nial report, and the annual report. It also contains the text, without the foot-notes, of the Apostolic Constitution Sponsa Christi, together with the "General Statutes for Nuns" that were included in the papal document and the Instruction of the Sacred Congregation of Religious "for putting into practice the Constitu-tion Sponsa Christi.'" These are merely indications of the valuable material con-tained in the present volume of Canon Law Digest. (Continued on Page 306) 289. A ood perior ]N our March number (.pp. 61-62) we suggested that superiors and subjects pool their experiences regarding things that they had found to be of genuine help in the proper governing of a religious community. Response to this suggestion was very slow; and even up to this time we have hardly begun to get what we really wanted. Yet we have had some responses: one in the form of actual experiences, and two in the form of suggestions to print por-tions of notes that were found to be particularly helpful. We are publishing these now, with the hope of stimulating further re-sponses. A. Tributes of~ a diocesan communitg to a former superior general: Two years ago death claimed one of our sisters. She had been ~uperior general (for twelve years), mistress of novices, and a local' superior in our young diocesan community. We .asked our sisters to send us tributes to c6mpile a memory book, to be signed or not as preferred. ~ The traits that made this sister a successful superior, to judge by frequent mention in the tributes, were: Her kindness and under-standing, her personal interest in each individual, her respect for con-t~ dences, her punctuality and observance of rule, her sense of humor, her personal neatness. The following are some extracts from the sisters' tributes: "She was always keenly interested in every detail of the mis-sions, and she never forgot to ask about any of our dear ones at home who were iII or unfortunate. How she could remember about such details was amazing when one recalls how busy and overbur-dened with cares she was, and it shows the love and tenderness of her heart. "No matter how busy Mother was she wa~ always ready to listen to any 6f us--at any hour--when we approached her with problems and difficulties. Her words of comfort and encouragement have helped man~ a one over trying times. When an apology was made for taking up her time, she said, 'My time is for my sisters first of all.' " . . . "For various reasons Mother will ever be an inspiration, to me. Her great spirit of self-forgetfulness, her resignation and calm-ness in meeting with trials, and her great courage in facing diffi- 290 November, 1934 A GOOD SUPERIOR culties will be an incentive to all the sisters who wish to imitate her virtues ahd to some extent her great zeal for the honor and glory of God. "Her love and admiration for perfection in church music and singing will also be an inspiration to the sisters who appreciate the privilege and opportunity of practicing or teaching sacred music and liturgical chant. "Mother fully understood the meaning of the words, 'There is a time for work, and a time for play,' for she ever took a keen interest in the sisters' recreations, adding much to them herself. Indeed, her cheerfulness and hearty laughs would help make a sister forget her little trials and helped many a one to go back to her duties with new courage and vigdr." . . . "Nothing was too small for Mother's attention and consider-ation. When a sister had any kind of problem, she could feel that Mother would be sympathetic and would tell her candidly what she thought was best. She always showed the greatest prudence and discretion in each individual case and did not attempt to destroy what God and nature had begun, but tried to build upon it and perfect it." . . : "Mother was a shining example to us. In all her trials she set us an example to smile an'd be cheerful no matter what troubles we had. She practiced a holy resignation and child-like trust in God. It-was when the angel of death visited us and took from us one of our family that she showed her true spirit of charity and sympathy. In her conversation she would talk to you just the same as if they were her own." . . . "What I liked most in Mother was her interest in each siste) and her work. She was always ready and willing to listen to a tale of woe and sometimes made you laugh at. yourself. Her love for Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament was clearly shown in the manner in which she prayed; and to listen to her read the medi-tation aloud was a real incentive to devotion to all." . . . "Thoughtfulness is a virtue that everyone admires. I think Mother's life Was a shining example of thoughtfulness. She never forgot nor overlooked the simple, little things. She seemed to take a personal interest in even the unimportant things about the sisters' life. She always remembered to ask about loved ones who were. absent or ill. She never gave the impression of being too busy with more important things to bother with a.ny sister's small worries. 291 A GOOD SUPERIOR Rewiew [or Religious "Her meticulous observance of the rule was ever a source of' admiration to me, while her soul-searching gaze filled me with awe and reverence." . . . "Mother had a most profound respect, for the encyclicals of the Holy Father; and her thoughtful treatment of all employees estab-lished good customs in the community. A man who had ~vorked for her years ago made the following statement: 'When I began working for the sisters I came in a borrowed suit; Mother bought me a shirt to go on duty. She had confidence in.me; she taught me to have confidence in myself and made me feel that I could be a success in life if I really wanted to be. I hope I will always feel that she would be proud of me.' " B. From the notes of a priest, experienced as a superior and retreat-director: 1. Obedience:- Superiors interpret the will of God to their subjects: this is a fundamental tenet of the religious life. When speaking to subjects, therefore, we always insist on the necessity of both exterior and interior obedience. But when speaking to su-periors we must insist on this: "Since your subjects must see ir~ you the representative of God, see to it above all tbing~ that you do not make this unreasonably difficult. Your conduct should be always edifying and above reproach, and your orders should be such as you have prayerfully concluded to be the will of God, not an ill-considered whim of your own. Christ said to Pilate: 'Thou wouldst have no authority over me if it had not been given thee from above'--meaning: the authority you have is not to be used independently, at your good pleasure; but it is given to you by God as a sacred trust." 2. Primac~j of the spiritual:--The chief duty of the superior is, in and through his government, to maintain the spirit of the institute, the .faithful observance of the Rule, so that he can hand on to his successor a community which has suffered no diminution of the religious spirit as embodied in this particular institut6. For this reason the superior must know the Rule thoroughly, the written rules, their implications, the tradition of the community; consequently he should fre~quently meditate upon the RuJe in his' mental prayer, endeavor to pentrate the mind of.the founder, whom he should look upon as one inspired by God to lead souls to per-fection along this .particular path. This maintenance'of the religious spirit is particularly difficult 292 Nouember, 1954 A GOOD SUPERIOR in our times. A revolution is going on, not'only in politics, art, and industry, but aIso in the moral outlook of men. There is a revolt against tradition, against submission, a craving for ease and comfort, for independence in judgment. Parental authority is at a low ebb. Men are eager for news, for sights and sounds. Calm of spirit, control of the imagination are diffcult; worldliness is in the air we breathe. Hence mental prayer is extraordinarily diffcult. Self-denial, "a desire to have less rather than more," is ~qually difficult. Even if these thingsare acquired in the novitiate they are apt to be a mere veneer that does not wear well amid the worldli-ness of modern life. Yet it remains true that the two props upon which the spiritual, and therefore the religious, life ,rests are prayer (chiefly mental) and penance (self-denial). Without these there can be no religious spirit. Therefore in his government the superior must see to it above all things that the spiritual life is in a flourishing condition. The spiritual life is not self-sustaining. It is kept alive and vigorous' by the constant, faithful, .daily use of the means, which are the spiritual exerdses prescribed by rule and custom. Therefore, again, every superior, in the interests of his own government, and in the highest interest of the institute, must see to it as a sacred duty that each and every one ot: his subjects is given the full time each day to attend properly to his spiritual exer-cises. No superior may, in conscience, assign such an amount of work, or such hours to a member of the community that the orderly performance of the community spiritual exercises becomes habitually or even frequently impossible. The call to the religious life is a call to religious perfection, first and foremost, and only secondarily to perform a certain kind of work to which this community devotes itself. 3. Interest in ~lounger members:- The training of young re-ligious is not completed when they leave the novitiate. Their ear-liest years in the active labors of the community may make or mar their whole future career as religious. All too often they are left more or less to their own devices, just as long as they do their work well. A good superior should be per,sonally concerned in furthering the development of the religious spirit in these young religious. I. 4. Interest in lagt brothers and s~sters:- Also, of special con-cern to the superior should be the lay brothers or sisters, those who do the housework. They and their bard work are sometimes not 293 A GOOD SUPERIOR Reu2ieu2 For Religious sufficiently appreciated by others. The superior should, try to hav~ first-hand acquaintance, with their peculiar difficulties, "and should see to it that they baye sufficient time for their spiritual exercises, that they get their regular periods of recreation, that they get suf-ficient rest, and that their living and working quarters are ~ade attractive and hygienic. 5. Interest in the whole communit~!:- A superior should not be absent too frequently from the community, and never for long periods. His subjects should know that be is around, keenly" and intelligently interested in all the departments of the house, and, though never snooping, .yet has his eyes open to observe what is going on. The members of the community should know that at certain hours, at least, they can always find him in his room or office, where he is easily approached (without any red tape) and ready to discuss their problems with paternal interest. Very likely there will always be some (especiaIIy in a large com-munity) who find it hard to deal with the superior. He should not be surprised at this or take it amiss; let him r~ther with un-feigned and unfailing kindness try to gain the confidence of such persons. Above all, he should not be swayed by human feelings against them. They are very quick to observe this, and it will ruin his chances of doing them good. 6. Aooid undue influence and imprudent talk:--A superior should keep in mind that he has been appointed superior, and there-fore that he should govern the community, and not another. Hence, be should avoid beifig unduly influenced by anyone--e.g., a former superior, or a flatterer, or one who tries to patronize, or one who "hangs around" his room or office and would like to "discuss" higher superiors or the retiring superior and his regulations or the shortcomings of the other members of the community. Let the superior wisely suspect those who, whether consciously or uncon-sciously, are "feeling him out" and trying to gain influence over him. Let him be very discreet in what he says about others (never gossiping with busybodies, and being cautious and strictly factual in information passed on to other superiors) as be may be quite certain that what he has said will before long reach the ears of the persons spoke'n about. Subjects resent fiercely being thus "discussed" behind their backs by the superior, especially with persons who have no business whatever to be parties to such a discussion. 7. Not too long in office :--The principle, "Once a superior, 294 November, 1954 A GOOD. S.UPERIOR always a superior," is wholly wrong and where followed it does great harm to community life. Being moved around from one house to another as superior is a selfish proceeding, detrimental to the best interests o.f the institute. It forms a sort of nobility, a caste; it k.eeps down excellent talent for governing among the younger gen-eration; it makes subjects lose respe9t for superiors who all too plainly like their position of eminence and will probably manage never to return to the ranks. An unselfish, humble, spiritual-minded religious who has served at most twelve years in office will be eager to go back into the ranks and into active work. If he is too old to do active work, then he is also too old for the exercise of strong, efficient, sympathetic gov-ernment in this modern world of rapidly-changing ideas. ~ A good superior who has deeply at heart the welfare of his in-stitute should esteem it one of his chief privileges to develop govern-ing talent in such of his subjects as he observes give promise of becoming good superiors. ,By judiciously" trying out the younger members in positions of trust and .responsibility, be should pick out those that show good judgment, tact, and resourcefulness: give them helpful, constructive criticism and endeavor to make them solidly-spiritual religious, humble, prayerful, self-sacrificing, de-voted to regular observance. To have been instrumental in develop-ing two or three such sterling characters for posts of authority is perhaps the greatest single.contribution a good superior can make to the welfare of his institute. C. A section from a retreat to superiors. This material "is based upon notes taken during a retreat gfuen b~t a French Jesuit, Father Thibaut. The heading of this particular section is: "He knoa)s not boa) to gouern a)ho ttnoa)s not boa) to love.'" If one does not love he does not know bow to govern others. Our Lord is our model in this kind of love: 1) In dealing with His apostl'es He ~hows us His solicitude for their spiritual life: "Keep them from evil." 2) He defended them against the Pharisees. 3) His love for His ~postles was paternal. 4) He radiated peace. 5) He tried to bring borne to them His iove for them. 6) He corrected them, but was always kind to them. 7) His love was evident in the externals: He fed the apostles: He foresaw their needs in order to care for them. 295. GOOD SUPERIOR 8) He brought out the relationship between governing and love in His thrice-repeated question to St. Peter: "Lovest thou Me?" Our love of our subjects should be paternal-~but, of course, on a spibitual basis. It should not be based on services rendered, but on the fact that they are children of God, consecrated to Him. It should not be partial because of their attractiveness or even because of their cooperation. Then we must give ourselves to them unselfishly. This de-mands great self-sacrifice, dominated by a great love for God. Not a cold love, but also not effusive to such an extent that it would seem to call for sensible return. Our love should be universal. This calls for limitless patience. Our sanctification may lie along these lines. Pray and tr~r to imitate Our Lord's love for them. Look be-yo. nd their defects and see their good qualities and bring them out. Encouragement is more conducive to good than corrections. All this calls for a great ideal. The supernatural must always sustain the ideal and influence others too. More is expected of a superior. "He who loves Me will be loved by My Father." "My little children . . . " etc. Note the warmth in these words. Our duty "is to represent God to the community. Not even infidelity "on the part of the subject is to take that love away. Christ loved often in the face of disloyalty, e.g., Judas. Jesus gained the affection of all the eleven apostles despite their differences. A superior may have to show more love to one than another, e.g., when a subject is in sorrow, or depressed, or in case of death in a family. Do specia! things f~r subjects at such times. This is not contrary to universal love. VOCATIONAL LITERATURE REQUESTED Sisters who have vocational literature in the form of booklets, pamphlets, or leaflets are earnestly requested to send samples of their literature to: The Mother General, Presentation Convent, Clyde Road, Rawaldini, Pakistan. These mission- . ary sisters wish to prepare some literature of their own to try .to attract aspirant~ in their" missionary ~erritory, as well as in Europe. Their work is mainly teaching, with a limited amount of dispensary work and visitation i~a refugee camps. Thiey have a novitiate in Ireland; their missionary work at present is confined to Pakistan and Northern India. 296 Address !:o Mot:hers General Most Reverend Arcadio Larraona, C.M.F. [EDITORS' NOTE: This address was given' by Father Larraona at the conclusion of the meeting of mothers general in Rome, September, 1952. We are publishing it with the permission of Father Larraona. For further information about the ad-drdss and about the proceedings of the meeting, see page 306.] !,~is not without deep emotion that I address you this morning. behold in you the hundreds of thousands of consecrated souls for whom you are responsible before God. Your presence here shows that you feel the full force of this great responsibility. Never-theless the thought of it should not excludi deep and trustful feel-ings of confidence. In your administration strive to imitate those qualities which we find in God's administration of ,the world, if we may so speak, that is, the qualities of understanding, far-sightedness,. kindness, and patience. If you work in this spirit, then have con-fidence that God will work for you and in you. I. REVISION OF CONSTITUTIONS:' In 1922, the S. Congregation of Religious ordered all approved religious communities to send in their constitutions for revision and, if need be, correction in the light of the provisions of the recently published Code of Canon Law. But even after this general obliga-tory revision of some thirty years ago, the S. Congregation does not necessarily feel that all the details of all constitutions must remain forever unchanged. Rome is ready to consider the advisability of, changes on certain points, provided the individual communities show good reasons for the modifications they wish to introduce. Rome wants this" evolution to be without spurts,or shocks--a genuinely vital evolution, imitating the growth and development of a human being[ Hence, the usual procedure is to require that all proposed modifications be first submitted to a general chapter, and that the. changes be approved, not merely by an absolute majority, but even by the moral unanimity of the capitulants. In this connection, the following particular points might be mentioned: Custom-Books The custom-books of religious communities, sometimes called "directories," are not approved by the S. Congregation of Religious except in a negative sense. That is to say the S. Congregation'ex- 297" ARCADIO LARRAONA Reoiew for Religious fimines these books in order to make sure that they contain nothing theologically or canonically erroneous, but does not approve them in the strict sense of the term. In this, the custom-books differ from the constitutions. Notwithstanding all their good qualities, it.is undeniable that custom-books, because of their detailed regulating of many aspects of" daily life, can and do become oppressive, or at least embarrassing. There are superiors of all types and temperaments, and some of them are unduly'a'ttacbed to the letter of the prescription, without con-sidering the spirit, and without thinking sufficiently of the end ar which they aim, an end which frequently can be obtained through the use of different means. Superiors may therefore legitimately make known their wishes to the S. Congregation of Religious. They should not fear to request such changes on the grounds that they will be thought to be unfaith-ful to their community traditions. Change in itself is not heresy, but it goes without saying that no changes should be proposed merely because they fall in line with the caprices or personal likes of an in-dividual superior. All changes submitted to the S. Congregation must usually bare the morally unanimous approval of the general chapter. In case of urgent modifications, the S. Congregation will take action even between general chapters, but with the obligation to submit the matter to the next chapter. The Religious Habit The Holy See leaves to every individual community full freedom of action regarding all the details of its.specific habit. The S. Con-gregation is interested mainly in maintaining the peace of mind of all religious. Peace and charity are of much higher importance than the advantages to be gained through 'improvement in some detail of the habit. Rome's only question in such cases will be: "Are you all agreed?" The modifications will be approved, provided they are supported by the general chapter, and provided the minority, if there be one, is not unduly obstreperous in its opposition. If that should be so, Rome would counsel patient waiting. The Abolition of Class-Distinctions The same principles are followed when there is question of re-moving from the constitutions the articles which set up different classes among the religious of one same community. Peace is the paramount consideration. Rome will approve the elimination of 298 November, 1954 ADDRESS TO MOTHERS GENERAL class-distinction, but only on the three following conditions: (a) that the change insures absolute equality of rights and obligations; (b) that the superiors be fully empowered to appoint any religious to any office, due regard being given to the .individual capacities of each one and the needs of the community; (c) that all the religious, irrespective of the class to which they may have previously belonged, contribute their share of effort in providing for the common needs of the community. Saving these principles, the abolition of the dis-tinction between classes will be approved by Rome, but the S. Con-gregation. will never use any pressure in order to bring this about in any particular institute. II. SUBSTITUTION OF THE DIVINE OFFICE FOR THE LITTLE OFFICE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN: Through the constantly growing liturgical movement, there is an increasing tendency among religious communities of women to introduce the recitation of the Divine Office in the vernacular instead of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin. Needless to say, the S. Congregation is favorable in principle to all proposals which' will insure a deeper and richer participation of religious in the sacred liturgy, since such participation brings them into more living contact with the Church. Nevertheless, all innovations must be worked out in a spirit of good balance and discretion. Again, nothing is com-parable to the advantages of peace in a community. The S. Congre-gation does not grant any general permission for substituting' the Divine Office in the vernacular for the Littie Office. Each individual institute must ask for it and submit its own particular reasons for so doing. Proponents of the change oftentimes forget that it is hardly possible that an entire community will react favorably to the innova-tion, and it is the responsibility of the S. Congregation of Religious to forestall discontent and opposition as far as possible. Consequently, the permission for the Divine Office in the vernacu-lar instead of the Little Office will be granted on request, with due regard to the following conditions: (1) that the reqfiest be sup-ported by morhlly unanimous agreement of the general chapter-- what causes trouble is not from God; (2) that the request be not in opposition with either the constitutions or the tradition of the community involved--sometimes the recitation of the Little Office is in conformity with a vow or promise made by the founder or foundresss; (3) that the apostolate of the sisters allow them time 299 ARCADIO LARRAONA Re~ieto [or Religiotts for the recitation of the Divine Office without unduly 6verloading their dhy. This does not mean that the S. Congregation always . drives with its brakes on--but everyone knows that it is dangerous to drive without brakes. III. THE DIFFERENT STAGES OF FORMATION: 1. Apostolic Schools Apostolic schools are of comparatively recent origin, the earliest of them dating from about the middle of the last century. They were first introduced in institutes of men: but they have now become increasingly common in reiigious communities of women. The Holy See has issued practically no legislation on the organization of such apostolic schools. The S. Congregation is patiently awaiting, the guidance of experience. These apostolic schools are not permitted by the S. Congregation for cloistered nuns or for religious whose lives closely approgimate to that of cloistered nuns. This is not a real law of the Holy See, but rather a guiding norm, based on Rome's desire to avoid any sem-blance of pressure ' when there is question of a vocation calling for such special qualities as those required by the contemplative life. The S. Congregation regards apostolic schools as internal schools of a religious community. This point is of canonical importance in determining the degree of freedom to be allowed the community in the organization and administration of these schools: (a) those which do not require any actual, signs of vocation to the religious life; (b) those which demand at least the seeds of vocation to the religious life; (c) those which require signs of a vocation to a speci-fic type of religious life. In any case, the organizati6n and rules of an apostolic school should not lose sight of the fact, that the girls in them are young. The atmosphere as far as possible should be that of a family. The apgstolic school should not be turned into a noviciate in miniature. There should be nothing to interfere with the full freedom' of the candidates in the final determination of their vocation. The pro-gram of studies should not be so highly specialized as to make ad-justment to a different type of life outside difficult. Teach the girls, first of all, to live good Christian lives. No asceticism at the expense of the moral law. Avoid whatever might even remotely result in deformation of the natural qualities and virtues of the candidates. 30O November, 1954 ADDRESS TO MOTHERS GENERAL 2. The Postulate The postulate is obligatory for all women religiousl It must last at least six months. If .the constitutions prescribe a postulate of one year, the six months' prolongation is still permissible. The maxi-mum length of the postulate in any community is eighteen months. Rome does not want the decision as to admission to be delayed too long, and this is why the time limit is imposed. 3. TOe Noviciate Rome will easily grant permission to have two years of noviciate instead of one, if the same conditions are complied with as those pre-viously mentioned in other connections. But if such permission is granted, the chan~e becomes obligatory and superiors have no faculty to dispense from any period of this two-year noviciate. It makes a bad impression on the S. Congregation when a community advances good and cogent reasons for two years in noviciate, and then almosf immediatHy begins to ask for dispensations from the change which the community itself requested'. The S. Cgngregation permit~ the employment of novices in works of the institute during the second year of noviciate. This was a courageous step, which at first seemed to some people to be in 9pen conflict with the fundamental spiritual purpose of the noviciate. The reason is that today no formation can.be regarded as complete with-out some concrete, contact with the apostolate. During such employ-ment the novice remains a novice. She must be given to understand that she is still on probation, even though she be outside the novici-ate. She should be under the supervision and guidance of an ex-perienced sister, since the superior of the house, unless it be a small house, will ordinarily be too absorbed with administrative details to give her tbeOtime and attention required by her special situation. Tbe use of novices during the second year must be motivate~t by the wel-fare of the novice, not by the needs of the community. During this period she is given a chance to prove bet qualities, and to learn un-der supervision how to use the apostolate as a means of personal sanctification. She should be protected and safeguarded without be-ing mollycoddled. Superiors should not forget that when young religious are taken from the hothouse atmosphere of the noviciate and sent out indiscriminatdly into houses where, so to speak, all the windows hnd doors are open, they cannot fail to catch cold. 4. The duniorate In the' noviciate the formation of the religious is begun. In the 301 ARCADIO LARRAONA Review For .Religious juniorate it is continued, though not with the detailed program of the noviciate year. The juniorate is an initiation into the apostolate, while the young nun still remains under the safeguarding influence of supervision and guidance. The juniorate is intended to forestall/ the catastrophes which have sometimes befallen young professed sis-ters who were sent into the active life without any transition period to prepare them for the special problems confronting them in that life. Sisters in the juniorate are in a kind of middle stage of forma-tion, in which they are not subjected to the restrictions of the novici-ate in all their rigor nor yet allowed all the freedom of perpetually-professed religious. At the same time they are provided with an op-portunity to integrate their technical training with the demands of their religious vocation. During the juniorate, whatever may be the special form it may take, the sisters should be under the close-range guidance of experi-enced and capable religious. Unless a house is specifically set up as juniorate, the superior will ordinarily not be in a position to carry out the functions of mistress of juniors. The duration of the juniorate will depend on its intensity, the duration increasing accord-ing as the juniorate is less intense. All communities could at least provide their temporarily-professed sisters with special courses and help during the summer vacation. There is no objection to the juniorate's lasting for the entire period of temporary profession. The ideal is a specifil house, for those communities which can provide one. The threefold aim of the juniorate is: formation, practice, pro-bation. IV. RELIGIOUS PROFESSION: The S. Congregation is ready to allow up to five years of tem-porary profession, ~vith the possibility of an extension of one year. No temporary profession can be extended beyond six years, according to the Code of Canon Law. The reason is that if a sister has not succeeded in satisfying her superiors as to her vocation during the period of postulate, noviciate, and six years of temporary vows, it is hardly probable that she will be able to pro.vide this satisfaction in an extended period of probation. Rome views with favor the so-called "third year of probation," which can be organized either immediately prior to perpetual pro-fession or at some later period after time spent in the apostolate. In whatever form it is organized, the third year of probation has in- 302 ADDRESS TO MOTHERS GENERAL calculable advantages. Nevertheless, although it is highly recom-mended, it is not in any way 'imposed by the S. Congregation. V. THE VOW OF POVERTY: I should like to have time to go over with you each of the vows of religion. Time does not permit, but I cannot resist the desire to say something to you about the vow of "poverty, which is the bul-wark and safeguard of the religious spirit. At the Congress at Notre Dame, after a splendid paper on poverty and the common life in present-day America, a sister asked whether custom could justify the keeping of personal gifts, etc. The speaker, a Dominican Father, replied immediately that neither custom nor any superior could legiti-mately give a permission which might run counter to the demands of the common life. No superior can allow what is against the spirit of poverty. It is important to cultivate disinterested motives for zeal in the apostolate. The ministry, in no matter what form it is ex-ercised, should be emptied completely of all concern over personal gain. It is a fact. of experience that zeal oftentimes diminishes in proportion as interest in personal aggrandizement increases. VI. GOVERNMENT : 1. Elections Sisters often fall into one or the other of two extremes in chap-ters: either they organize a real electoral campaign for or against a religious, or they go around in a state of unconcerned passivity. Canon Law forbids electioneering or anything approximating it. But good sense demands, especially in congregations with worldwide ex-pansion, that the electors take means to assure themselves of the qualities (health, virtue, experience, ete.) bf the candidates for the various offices. The line of demarcation between asking for infor-mation and organizing a campaign is not always too clear, but it can usually be made clear by the good sense and virtue of the religi-ous themselves. It should not be forgotten that a half-vote is sufficient to con-stitute the absolute majority (for instance, 17 votes out of 33 is an al~solute majority). It is not required that the majority be con- 'stituted by one vote more than half. 2. Re-elections Canon Law sets no limit to the' terms of major superiors but leaves this to the constitutions. The S. Congregation is not only ~ 303 ARCADIO LARRAONA Reoiew for Religious not favorable to election beyond the terms provided in the constitu-tions, but it is opposed to it on principle. Superiors and capitulants should remember that they, no less than their subjects, have in ob-ligation to observe the law of the Church. Perpetuation of indi-viduals in office tends to prevent the formation "of capable superiors or makes it necessary for them to be chosen from within a closed circle. Other things being equal, the S. Congregation definitively prefers the election of a new superior rather than the re-election of the one inoffice, when the term fixed by the constitutions l~as ex-pired. In case of a superior general, this re-election is called postulation, and requires a two-thirds majority of the chapter. Some constitu-tions forbid all postulation. The fact of having the two-thirds ma-jority must be accompanied with sufficiently serious reasons to influ-' ence the judgment of the S. Congregation. The reasons will be judged with severity, and the confirmation of re-election after the term fixed by. the constitutions will constitute a rare exception. 3. Admission to Profession The freedom to refrain from perpetual profession is mutual on the part of both the institute and the subject. The sister may leave, and the community may refuse to admit h~r to perpetual profession. Such refusal may not be motivated by ill health, unless there is proof that the illness was fraudulently concealed or d~ssimulated prior to first profession. It is not necessary that this deceit or dissimulation should have come from the religious herself. A religious suffering from some hereditary disease which has been concealed from her by her parents may be refused admission to profession on this score, even though the deceit did ndt come from herself. The language of the Code is purely impersonal. There are difficult cases of ineptitude coupled with ill health. If the ineptitude is in any way connected with the ill health, then the rule is the same as for a religious in poor health; she cannot be dismissed 6r refused admission to final vows. If it be simply inepti-tude for the works of the community, then the community enjoys perfect freedom, since the period 'of temporary profession was in-tended precisely to determine whether or not the subject is able to make a' contribution to the apostolate of the institute. 4. Exclaustration An indult of exclaustration suspends the canonical obligation of 304 November, 1954 ADDRESS TO MOTHERS GENERAL the common life for an individual religious.It entails dispensation from the points of rule incompatible with the new status of the re-ligious, forbids tier to wear the religious habit, and deprives her of active and passive voice for the period of her stay outside the com-munity. If there is no scandal, and especially when the reason un-derlying. the exclaustration is not one for which the religious is re-sponsible, 'Rome may, with the recommendation of the superior, permit the religious to retain the habit. The religious, however, has "no right to demand such peimission. Exclaustration is a favor, not a right, and the religious has the obligation, to return whenever the superiors so wish. Superiors cannot allow subjects to remain outside the com-munity, except for purposes, of study, for more than six months. This residence outside the community is not the equivalentof ex-claustration and thus does not entail a.ny o'f the restrictions men-tioned in the., preceding paragraph. Such residence is not favor~l. Any situation demanding the residence of a religious outside her ~ommunity for more than six months is, generally speaking, a dan-gerous situation. Exclaustration "ad nutum Sanctae Sedis"--at the good pleasure of the Holy See--is a measure adopted to cope With those situations in which a religious shows enough malice to be impossible to live with and yet not canonically sufficient to justify dismissal. Often-times these cases involve a eertain degree of mental weakness: un-balanced enough to be impossible, and not unbalanced enough to be locked up.' In such cases the S. Congregation orders exclaustration, with all the above-mentioned restrictions, and the exclaustration perdures as long as Rome so wishes. The institute is obliged to assist in the maintenance of the religious. The present practice of the S. Congregation demands, under pain of subsequent invalidity of the rescript, that all rescripts for dispen-sation from vows be definitely accepted or rejected within ten days of the date the subject is notified of the granting of the rescript. OUR CONTRIBUTORS BROTHER ALOIS is an instructor in religion and Spanish at Archbishop Stepinac High School, White Plains, New York. SISTER MARY is professor of psychology at Marygrove College, Detroit, Michigan. JOSEPH N. TYLENDA is making his philosophical ~tudi~s at the Jesuit House of Studies, Spring Hill Sta-tion, Mobile, Alabama. 305 SOMI~ SPECIAL PUBLICATIONS ¯SOME-SPECIAL PUBLICATIONS "_. (Continued from Page 289) One further observation about Canon Law Digest. Volume III includes docu-ments published up to December 31, 1952. Hereafter an annual supplement will. be issued in loose-leaf form. The supplement for 1953 is now in the press. An exceptionally useful book for all who catalogue Catholic books is An Al-ternative Classl/ication /:or Carbolic Books. This book, originally prepared by 3eann~tte Murphy Lynn, was first published in 1937. Previous to that, libraries with large collections of Catholic literature had to fit the. books into inadeq;u~a:te' classification schedules. An Alternatit~e Classitication offered a new and satisfa~t.~ry" way of cataloguing Catholic books that could be used with 'the Dewey Decimal or, especially, the Library of Congress classifications. A second, and revised, edition, of this valuable technical work has now been brought out by Father Gilbert C. Peter-son, SJ. A special feature of this new edition is the fact that the index, originally fifteen pages, is now forty-two pages. Also the list of religious orders and coiagre-gations is extensive; in the case of institutes of women, the date and place of founding is given, and, if they came to the United States from another country, the date of the first foundation in this country is given. The price of the book (cloth, 512 pages) is $10.00. It can be,obtained from the Catholic University of America Press, 620 Michigan Avenue, N.E., Washington 17, D.C. FATHER LARRAONA'S ADDRESS Fatfier Larraona's address to the mothers general is one of the clearest and most important statements of the mind of the Church concerning the government of re-ligious. In publishing it we have followed, ~ith some slight changes, the English version that appeared in Acta et Documenta Congressus lnternationalls Superiori.s-saturn Generalium (Rome, 1952). This publication of the Sacred Congregation of Religious is printed and distributed by the Pious Society of St. Paul. which has establishments in many countries. The volume contains the proceedings of the convention of the mothers general in five languages: Italian, French, English, Spanish, and German. In this country it can be obtained from the Society of St. Paul, 2187 Victory Blvd., Staten Island 14, N.Y. For a more complete understanding of the mind of the Church, one should also read three addresses of Pope Plus XII--to religious men (Dec. 8, 1950), to tezch-ingsisters (Sept. 13, 1951), and to the mothers general (Sept. 15, 1952). The last-mentioned address was published in REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, XI (Nov. 1952), 305-308., We hope to publish the other papal addresses later. FAMILY DAY The Family Communion Crusade is again sponsoring an international Family Communion Day. The Feast of the Holy Family, ,lanuary 9, 1955, will be ob-served by hundreds of thousands of families in more than forty countries, with family group Communion and family consecration to the Holy Family. The aim this year is particularly to obtain prayers for the persecuted nations behind the Idgn Cuitain. Those who wish to join in promoting the Family Commimion Day can obtain further information, literature, etc., from: Family Communion Crusade, 10 Farm .View" Road, Port Washington, N.Y. 306. . That: ",Judging Ot:hers" Habit: In t:he Light: ot: Modern Psycholog Sister Mary, I.H.M. THE ideal of religious life suffers from many weaknesses in our | human nature, but it" probably suffers from none more than in the ever-present desire to judge the other person. Our Lord l~as warned us against l~his weakness with a threat--Judge not that ~,9u be no~ judged--and yet we persist in doing it. Sometimes it becomes so much a part of the daily fabric of life that we are no longer aware that we do jti~lge other people. Habits of judging are usually formed in childhood, long before what can really be called "social feeling" has debeloped. Only the most careful and spiritually enlightened training offsets the forma-tion of such habits--and even then probably only partially. With the dawn of conscience and still later in adolescence with the de-velopment of social insight and appreciation, charac(~r, training can do much to eradicate or, perhaps better, to supplant the "judging-others" habit. Su?ely, a realization of the doctrine of the Mystical Body and of Our Lord's own commandment which He has made the first law of living together, "that you lox~e one another as I have loved you," should sound the death-knell of unkind judgment for all Christians, and especially for r.eligious._ Yet, as we know so well, it does not. It has always seemed to me that in the pettiness of mind and interest in trivialities which follow the "judging-others" habit the devil gets in his most successful innings. How-ever, this is not the aspect of the problem I am interested in dis-cussing. This aspect is rather, what the "judging-habit" means psychologically. The understanding of. this will, I think, throw light on wbg Our Lord condemned it so rbundly and wb~t, also, He makes our judgment ofothers the norm 5ccording to which He will judge us. ¯ Modern psychiatry has a useful technique which it u~es. ih analysis. This te[chfiiqfie. is from Freud, incidentally, although" the mechanism.itself is part of even Aristotle's psychology. I refer to the mental-mechanism which w~e learned to call .association. in' psy-chology. Freud cMled his tech'nique "tYee association. His theory is that if a person allows his mind to wander freely it will con~i~ct 307 SISTER MARY Revietu for Religious up with past experiences which, though normally forgotten, are still much alive in the unconscious mind. Every religious knows this process well--it seems to be at its best durihg meditation. In setting forih his theory of analysis t'hrough free association Freud liked to start with the material of a dream. Psychiatrists today use many other types of material: daydreams, memories, emotionally toned experiences, etc., as starting points for analysis. Apparently what we start with is not too important. But all who use the tech-nique are agreed with Freud's basic principle: the person who makes the association is the person who is anal~tzed. In this connection, a story once told me by Dr. Thomas Verner Moore (now Dora Pablo Maria) will illustrate the principle. A young doctor, a fallen-away Catholic, read a paper analyzing Charles Darwin at a psychiatric meeting. The young man was well known to Father Moore as one who had repudiated all moral principles both in his professional practice and in his private life. Moreover, lie seemed to take a special delight, whenever Father Moore was present at any rate, in finding some way of ridiculing the Church and Cath-olic. beliefs. However, in his paper on Darwin he limited himself to the subject. He had taken passages from Darwin's writings and, using free association on these, bad built up an astounding picture ot: Darwin as a libertine and even a pervert. (The facts of Darwin's ¯ \ private life actually reveal him a~ a loving father and husband who devoted himself to his family through and outside of his scientific work.) Discussion was limited to remarks expressing surprise and even admiration of psychiatry's revelation of Darwin's inner soul, until the chairman called on Father Moore for his comment. He, too, expressed great surprise at the immorality attributed to Dar-win and then said: "But I must in defense of the absent Darwin call attention to the very important principle at the heart of all analysis by the method of free association which apparently Dr. X has overlooked. It is this: in an analysis the person to be analyzed must make the associations. Since in this analysis, Dr. X made all the associations, the analysis is, by definition, that of Dr. X rather than of Darwin." " Now in our judgments of one another we begin, at least usually, with some action, or look, or statement of our neighbor. Then, as we. say, we "interpret" it. Really this interpretation is.a free asso-ciation of its meaning to us. The material .for it is drawn from our own experiences, our own feelings, attitudes, and ideas, our own 308 November, 1954 JUDGII'~IG OTHERS unconscious mind. And so in the judgment, we have revealed no~ our neighbor but ourselves. The injunction of Our Lord then is intended to protect our neighbor--and He threatens that He will place the judgment back squarely upon our own shoulders. The psychiatrist would say today, "Justly so. For you have judged yourself." How much th~ little-heSS, the jealousy, the short-sightedness, the bitterness, the hostility of human nature can give vent to (and at the same time do the devil's work')" through this simple mechan-ism! It, as we said before, can become so easily a part of our every-day- way-of-doing things. We use it on equals; alas, we use it on superiors, our spiritual fathers or mothers in religious life; and--a ¯ greater alas (because of their greater grace of state), superiors use it on their subjects, their spiritual children. Snap judgments; judging a whole area of life and intention from a single fact or incident; setting in movement a whole set of causes which shape a life and its work for Christ on the personal interpretation of a word, an action, an idea, or even a fault, are ways in which the mechanism works practically. If this one principle of Our Lord's, together with the mechanism of free association whereby.we violate it with such blind security, could be understood, what a difference it could make in social living! The application of that commandment whereby all men are to know that we belong to Christ would be much easier ! Psychology would give us another helpful hint in this matter. Since, when I judge another (let us say Sister Y), I do not really judge Sister Y but rather myself, this judging-others habit becomes an open book in which I can read myself and know 'my weaknesses and strengths. Our Lord is good to let us have so simple a revela-tion' of self always handy. Used aright, that is on one's self instead of on one's neighbors, the motives and the matter for speeding along the road of virtue should be plentiful. Our Lord exhorts us in another place to "judge just judgments." A true'judgment requires not "free association" but objective.truth and sound reasoning on prir;ciples. This is probably why the Holy Spirit in Ecclesiasticus so definitely connects wisdom and justice: He that possesseth justice shall lay hold of her . . . with the bread of life and understanding she shall feed him and give him the water of wholesome Wisdom to drink. "Judging just judgments" will require: (1) that we use all natural sources of knowledge, (2) 309 NEWS. A.ND V~ IE.WS ., t.ha.t we discipline the tendency to use undisciplined association, imagining it to be understanding, and (3) that. we call upofi those g!fts of the Holy Spirit, which we all possess, supernatural knowledge, .u.nderstanding, and wisdom. So often these lie like great untapped r.e.serves of grace and power on the outskirts of an all too busy and natural life. Certainly the first step towards this final goal of "just judgment" is to master completely the "free association-- judging-~babit." News and Views American Founders' Series "Xaverian Pioneers," in our present number, is the first response to our suggestion for an American Founders' Series (cf. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, XIII- [March, 1954], 62). We should like to re-peat the suggestion that good biographies of American founders would make both interesting and profitable reading. But we must also repeat that what we want is the story of American founders: that is, religious who either founded an institute in the United States or Canada or extended an already-existing institute to these coun-tries. For instance, the Xaverian BrotBers were founded in Belgium, but stress is rightly laid in the present article on the brothers who pioneered the establishment of the congregation in this country. Of what should such biographies consist? To answer the ques-tion negatively, let us say that the objective of this series is not to have panegyrics or pious table reading. The biographies should be factual and should bring out the character of the founder and the spirit of the institute, as well as the purpose or purposes that the institute is supposed to serve in the mission of the Church. Length of biographies? For our purpose, about four or five thousand words would be ideal. Nevertheless, we do not wish to confine authors to such a strict limit; after all, the real limit of an article ought to be ~the space required in order to do justice to the subject. Hence, shorter biographies would be acceptable, and so would loffger ones--up to, perhaps, eight thousand words. It seems advisable, also, to repeat here some of our previous sug-gestions regarding the style of the manuscript. 1) Every manuscript should be neatly typed, at least double (Continued on Page 329)" 310 '.Just: November--or Always? Joseph N. Tylenda, S.J. DOWN through the centuries, the Church Militant has pr'ayed for the souls in purgatory; this is evident, above all, from' the history of the Mass. However, it is not our purpose here to discuss the historical aspect of the devotion, but rather to show that this devotion should be an. integral part of the life of every religious. All religious, by profession, strive not only for their own sal-vation and spiritual perfection, but also for that of their neigfibor~ Reality is such a mesh of complex intertwining threads, each strength-ening and supporting the other, that we cannot divorce striving for personal sanctification from working for that of our neighbor. It is not in the tradition of the saints that we should first become per-fect and then work for the neighbor; rather the two should normally proceed simultaneously. Here we wish to stress that it is by work-ing for the sanctification of all souls, not only of those on earth but also of those in purgatory, that we ourselves reach our perfection and attain our salvation. It is by giving that we receive; by leading others to sanctity we can help sanctify ourselves. The need to pray for the Church Militant and those still not members of the Mystical Body is quite apparimt, and no one ~vould deny it. Equally so, no one would deny that the ~ouls in purgatory have need of our prayers; but is the need of the latter as, apparent as that of the former? Because members of the Church Militant still run the risk of losing heaven, some may conclude that they need all our prayerful efforts. As for the members of the Church Suffering, they are assured of beatitude--they have only to wait for it. It would be idle to argue which group needs our prayers more, but we can at least point out that the members of the Church Militant can help themselves, whereas those of the Church Suffering are en-tirely dependent upon the prayers of the living. In this article, then, we are going to consider the reasons why prayer for the souls in pu.rgatory has a place in the spiritual life of a religious and, coupled with this, we shall examine the effects that such a practice has upon the spiritual life of the religious himself. ' Itcan be said that the suffering souls have a claim ~o Our prayers in their behalf. Some of them may found this claim on certain spe- 31i 'JOSEPH N. TYLENDA Review for Religious cial ties; others can appeal o61y to our charity. We are not bound by any special ties to pray for all the dead, but surely we do have such special ties to our dead relatives, fellow religious, extern friends, benefactors, students, and others; and as a consequence, we are under some sort of obligation to pray for souls, their appeal is directed rather to our ~pecifically, to our sense of pity. We offer for them out of mercy and fellow-feeling, whose image we recognize in them. them. As for the other general charity or, more prayers and good works or out of love of God Can gratitude oblige us to pray for the dead? If we are bound to show gratitude and give thanks to the living for their goodness to us, are we any less bound to be grateful to the dead for the good-ness they have shown us while living, and which we, in our pride and envy, have perhaps refused to recognize? The religious order or. congregation to which we belong is a human instrument, and its present progress and perfection is owing in great part to the dead of our order that have gone before us. We, their spiritual children, now enjoy the fruits, without ourselves hav-ing done the sowing. To give but one instance--and this of the more tangible sort--the charity shown to us by our benefactors was enkindled by those now dead; nit is because of them that the living still enjoy many favors first meant for them. Can it be denied, then, that we owe them gratitude, that our fellow religious who have al-ready gone from this life still retain a claim on our prayers? We, as members of a religious community, are supposed to help our fellow re-ligious work out their salvation. Can we say that our task is done when they have died--when as y~t we cannot be sure that their souls are enjoying the blessed vision of God? While alive they gave us generously of their love and friendship, their kindness and help; furthermore, we may reasonably presume that they prayed for us; for our sanctification, our pe.rseverance. Again, these breth-ren of ours were by the good example they set us often our incen-tives to love God and practice virtue; in fact, their very presence ~tcted as a continual reminder of God's goodness and love. Praying for them is now our only way of thanking them. And we do owe' them thanks. In the light of this it is easy to understand why re-ligious institutes require that all their members offer certain definite suffrages for those who have died. Another important reason why we owe certain particular souls prayerful remembiances is that these souls may now be suffering 312 Ploverober, 1954 JUST NOVEMBER-~OR ALWAYS? because of us. Certain actions. ~of ours, either before or after our entrance into religion, may have caused them,, when still alive, to offend the just God, and now in .purgatory they .are .suffering in atonement for those offenses. In such a case, can we derby that we are partially re]ponsible for their sufferings? Are 'we not bound to help such souls? Shouldn't we atone for those faults together? It may be that our parents themselves have already died; there is no question but that for them at least we shall pray much. They gave us our earthly life, our shelter, and our food--gratitude demands that we see to it that they now speedily attain to eternal life, sure refuge and refreshment in their heavenly home. All of us, too, have other relatives and friends for whom we wish to pray and ought to pray. Many there are, therefore, for whom we are obliged in gratitude to pray; ~nd every one of us will, no doubt, be able to think of still other groups or individuals for whom he has some obligation to pray. Besides our duty towards many Holy Souls by reason of these special ties, al! the souls in purgatory excite our charity. Charity is giving of self to others, not because we owe it to them, but simply because they are in need and we can alleviate that need. The Holy Souls cannot leave purgatory until they have been purified and made ready for the beatific vision. This can be effected only through their suffering, or through the prayers and sacrifices offered for them by the living. Not without reason are the Holy Souls often called the "Poor Souls," for they cannot merit anything for themselves. From this' point of view, they are utterly dependent upon the liv-ing. It is charity that incites us to do what we can to lessen their punishments by praying for them and suffering with them. Prayers for the dead are as alms to the poor. Of themselves the dead are helpless to hasten the end of their suffering; but through our passing charitable acts they can come more quickly to the treasure heaped up for them in heaven. The Holy Souls are our 'brethren in distress; we must not close our eyes to their misery. The pre-cept of lovi.ng one'~ neighbor applies to the dead as well as to those that are alive. The mandate is "Love thy neighbor," and, as we know, this is equivalent to "Do good to thy neighbor"; in the present case it means "Pray for thy neighbor," for prayer (with sacrifice) is now the only thing good for them. Charity is also, and primarily, the love of God; but assuredly, to pray for the dead is to love God, for has He Himself not said, "As long as you did it 313 JOSEPH N. TYLENDA ' Reoiew for "Reli~iou's for one of these, the least of my brethren, you did it for hae"? Even from these brief considerations we may come to realize that constant prayer for the Holy Souls has.a necessary place in the life of every religious. However, an obje(tion may be raised that "helping the souls out Of purgatory is a selfish and rather mer-cenarY affair, since we know that they will, both now and upofi their entry into. glory, pray in turn for us." But this objection is wholly unwarranted, for this interchange of prayers between the members of the communion of the saints is not self-seeking in any bad sense of the term;, rather it is a perfect friendship based on a community of grace and charity, and manifesting itself in an ex-change of precious gifts." For doing good there is always a reward; heaven itself is the great and final reward for all our good actions. Can we doubt, then, that there is a special reward for the religious who prays for the dead? There will, surely, be more joy for him hereafter, but is there no more immediate reward which he will receive even while still here below? We believe there is: we be~lieve, for our part, that it consists in an enlivened desire to go to God, a deepened u'ndersta~ad-ing and appreciation of those words of Saint Augustine: "Our hearts were made for Thee alone, O God, and they shall not rest until [hey rest in Thee." Another reward that should come with praying for the dead is a greater de.testation of sin, which, even when forgiven, may still deserve such punishment, and with it a clearer understanding of the sanctity of God, who may not be seen face to face by any soul not wholly pure. Finally, this devotion should inflame us with the desire to have as much as possiblg of our own "purgatory" here on earth so that after death, with little or no delay, we may enter into the joy of Our Lord. Nor is it presumption for a religious to have the desire to avoid purgatory, for it is not in God's primary providence that any soul should go there. Christ would have us be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect, and the perfect will have no need of the cleansing fires of purgatory. We ought not close this article without recalling the means we have at hand for helping the Holy Souls. These are, to be sure, prayers and indulgences, "works of penance, and, above all, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass with its unlimited graces. However, these means and their efficacy are so well known to all religious that we do not need to e~plain ther~ here. We conclude in the ~ords of Sacred Scripture that "it is a holy 314 Nou.ernber, 1954 COMMUNICA@IONS and a wholesome thgught to. pray :~or. ~he.de.ad:i' Eve, ry soul out. of purgatory', through:.gur pr~yers,means another saint in heaven~a deeply'consoling thoughl~. Ought we,' then," to remember the souls in. purgatory only at the very end of our almost endless li~t of in~ t~ntions and as a matter of mere routine, or should we not rather .make our petitions f0~ them an integral part of-our prayers for the salvation and sanctification of our neighbor? With all this in mind,. can we maintain that such a devotion ought to receive emphasis ~luring one month only? Can we so confine our charity and our love of God and neighbor? ommun{ca -{ons Reverend Fathers : I have just finished reading Ft. Aumann's excellent article on "Religious and Modern Needs" in the July issue. May I congratu-late him for it? ' Fr. Aumann's article answers a definite need for establishing the correct relationship between contemplation and action. Many of us are unfortunately so engrossed in teaching and the other works of the apostolate that we are fatigued and overworked and cannot give the needed efforts and time to the so necessary life of prayer and meditation. As'a result everything suffers thereby. Thus we cannot insist enough on personal sanctification as the end of religious life. However, I would like to call your attention to another as-pect of the problem which struck me in reading Ft. Aumann's article. Some religious, I am afraid, misunderstanding this primary aim of personal sanctification over the apostolate, go to the other extreme and risk believing themselves good religious if they are materially faithful to their spiritual exercises. In this regard a fellow priest of mine ironically d~fined the good religious as one "who is regularly on time for all his spiritual exercises, punctual at meal time and other community gatherings, and who obeys his superior." But, as my friend pointed out, such a religious may not have begun to under-stand the spirit 'of his vocation. Bishop Ancel, of Lyons, France, pointed out in a conference to religious that the prime purpose of any vocation is to. continue the task that Christ lived while on earth--thus the reason for the 31~5 COMMUNICATIONS oows. We are, in other words, to have at the root of our spiritual lives the building up of "the Mystical Body. We are to have in us "the sentiments that were in Christ Jesus," 'at St. Paul put it. We must eat, drink, and sleep in terms of the growth of the Whole Christ. We must make our own the words of Christ, "I am come tO cast a fire on earth and what will I but that it be enkindled.".Religious must make their own St. Gregory's warning, "Nec castitas ergo magna est sine bono opere, nec opus bonum est aliquod sine castitate." (Cf. the whole homily for Confessors; 3rd Noct.) The reason I am writing this letter is that I believe too many of us do not have the proper sense of responsibility for the Mystical Body of Christ. We are content to let the pope, bishops, and superiors.worry about that. And in the meantime we are not pool-ing our collective heads to anM~rze the current situation, the needs of the Church, whether or not we are getting anywhere with our efforts, etc. A typical example of what I mean is that although classroom teachers are working harder than ever nowadays to do their .work, the pupils seem to be groffcing in secularism, etc, Influ-ences outside the classroom seem often to be gaining the mastery of them. And we are producing practically no apostles from our schools. Thus, I think that something should be done to awaken per-sonal responsibility for the future of the Mystical Body. Each one of us should constantly be saying to himself as the late Cardinal Suhard did, "What can we do, what can we do?" Too many of us, misunderstanding what is meant by the primacy of personal sanctification, are content to do merely what we have been ap-pointed to do, forgetting that we are religious to be other Christs, to "restore all things in Him," and that we must do this. We must be the salt of the earth or we shall be trodden under fo6t. I almost forgot to mention the need of a proper understanding of the relationships between th'e spiritual life and action. All action must come from contemplation--the "contemplata tradere" of St. Dominic. The thing is that contemplation and the primacy of the personal sanctification element properly understood mean that prayer and the Mass must drive us to action, and thought, and a sense of responsibility for the Mystical Body; and that vice versa action must push us constantly to more prayer and contemplation. That has always been the rule of the saints--the more they did the more they prayed, and the more they prayed, the more they did.--A PRIEST. 316 THE PROMISED WOMAN--An Anthology of the Immaculate Concep-tion. Edited by Brother Stanley G. Mathews, S.M. Pp. 3lb. The Grail. St. Meinrad, Indian~. 19S4. $4.00. "From the beginning then and befbre all ages .God selected and set aside a mother for His Only-Begotten Son." As he penned these momentous words one hundred years ago, Pius IX began to list the arguments for Our Lady's Immaculate Conception in the long-awaited Bull Ineffabilis Deus. Not only was this solemn pronounce-ment at once the welcome climax to centuries of belief in the doc-trine and the complete,satisfaction of the ardent desires of the faith-ful and their pastors, but it proved to be the impetus for a new and brilliant age of Marian literature, inspired largely by this definition. In spite of the abundance of books about Mary in the past cen-tury, however, there has been a notable lack of English literature on the Immaculate Conception. The present outstanding work has been designed precisely to fill that need. Acquainted with the best in Mariology in his capacity as li-brarian at the remarkable Marian Library in, Dayton, Brother Mathews has selected thirty-four of the finest tributes to the Im-maculate Conception for his anthology. They are divided into five sections. The eight opening articles stress the dogmatic theology of the doctrine. We, ll-written and short enough for some stimulating per-iods of spiritual reading, they give a good cross-section of contem-porary and recent authors: Vassall-Phillips, Neubert, Sheen, Zundel, Giordani, Bourke, and Feckes. Father Connell gives a short sum-mary of the historical development of the dogma. Part two features six monographs on the inspiration and apostolic influence man has derived from the Immaculate Conception. Espe-cially interesting is Father Ralph J. Ohlman's article on the Im-maculate Conception in the history of the United States. How St.Epiphanius and Bossuet extolled Our Lady is shown in part three, as well as more recent writers like Gueranger, Knox and Leen. A valuable section, part four, gives the answers of Newman, ¯ Ullathorne, Gibbons, and others to Protestant misconceptions about 317 BOOK REVIEWS Revieu; for Religious the Immaculate Conception. ¯ ~ In the final division are included0 six important papal documents from Sixtus IV (in 1476) to Plus XII, as well as two significant Pastoral Letters from the Councils of Baltimore. The scope and worth of this volume can be seen at a glanc'e. Brother Mathews is to be commended for his short introduction to each article--pithy enough not t6 be passed over unread, and yet entirely adequate. His apt section titles, too, are cleverly chosen from among the praises of the Blessed Virgin. It would have been of advantage to the reader to indicate more precisely in the table of contents the type of material in each of the six sections. The index, too, especiaIIy in an anthoIogy which will be used for ready reference, could have been much more complete. A bibliogral~hy of the better works on the Immaculate Conception in French, German, Spanish, and Italian would be of value to the scholarly reader. A final note on typography: Though the type-face for the text is well chosen, the indented quotations would look better in a smalIer case (perhaps itaIicized) than that used. --T. ~,V. "~/'ALTERS, S.J. PIO NONO. A Study in European Politics and Rellcjion in the Nine-teenth Century. By E. E. Y. Hales. Pp. 3S2. P. J. Kenedy and Sons. 1954. $4.00. The scope of this eminently readable account of the ItaIian Risorgimento is indicated in the volume's sub-title: A Study in European Politics and Religion in the Nineteenth Century. The argument the author proposes is that prince and pope in the mind of Plus were not distinct entities. As did his opponents, Mazzini, Cavour, Napolean III, and Bismarck, so too did Pio Nono con-ceive of a close interdependence of politics and religion. Hence his intransigent attitude toward "a free church in a free.state." Mr. Hales has not written "spiritual reading" for his English readers. He is concerned to present "the other side" to his. com-patriots whose views of Pio Nono have been slanted by Dr. Tre-velyan, and who, thanks to Lord Acton and The "-Ffmes. have al-ways looked on the Vatican Council with horror, and its offspring, papal infallibility, with contempt. Gladstone's letters on the Nea-politan prisons and'Palmerston's unabashed references to the Papal Government as the "worst of governments" fanned tempers already b, oiling over the restoration of the English hierarchy in 1850. The author's point is well made: "Has sufficient allowance for English 318 Nooember, 19.54 BOOK REVIEWS' enthusiasm for the risorgimento ever been madein disciassiohs bf.tlse' reactions in this country to the P@e'sSyilabus of Errors. in 1864. or his proclamation of the Dogma of Infallibility in' 18707" Considering the readers Mr. Hales bad in mind, we are npt sur-prised to find some elab6ration of the definition of the Imrfiactilate Conception--the only spiritual accomplishment of Pio Nono treated iridependently of political repercussions. Since the book bears the imprimatur of the Archbishop of New York, the theologian will find nothing censurable here, although he may wince at the,. author's ~eflection that it was. unfortunate that Plus "thre~ his personal 15restige into the scale" at the delicate weighing of papal infallibility. The select bibliography has additional value in that the author has noted the bias of the various authors. --THOMAS N. MuNsON, S.J. THESE CAME HOME. Compiled and edited by Gilbert L. Oddo, Ph.D. The Bruce Publishing Co. Milwaukee. 19S4. Pp. 179. $3.00. The drama of life is played in the concrete struggles of the in-dividual person with the problems which are uniquely his; and the greatest act of this drama is his wrestling with God. Though our faith teaches us that God acts out His part by pouring His grace into the soul, not in many places do we see this grace visibly operating. The fight against sin, which is certainly a work of grace, is not an experience many care to expose to the public. The qdyssey of a convert, however, provides matter which few are ashamed to tell about and is an excellent manifestation of the work of grace. Fifteen university graduate converts narrate their stories in These Came Home, presenting a persistent search for truth away from the shallow and illogical eclecticism in which they were raised. The discovery of a personal .God, the realization that there could be only one true Church established by Christ, the unmasking of the falsehoods and misrepresentations which surrounded their young minds about the Catholic Church, the realization of Our Lord's presence in the Blessed Sacrament are some of the stages on their way home. Some were Protestant ministers and had to abandon their professions; others net obstacles in their families and friends; but all of them endured the mental anguish of realizing that their lives were empty because they had not properly found God. The reader of this book will better appreciate his own faith and under-stand those who do not shar~ it.:~ALBERT J. SMITH, S.J. 319 BOOK REVIEWS MEDIAEVAL MYSTICAL TRADITION AND SAINT JOHN OF THE CROSS. By aBenedic÷ine Of S÷anbrook Abbey. Pp. 161. The New-man Press, Westminster, Maryland. 19S4. $2.75. The author of this l~ook, by defining its scope with precision, has lightened the reviewer's pains. It is a historical study of medieval and sixteenth-century spirituality, culminating in that of the Mysti-cal Doctor, St. John of the Cross. After.h valuable sketch of the early Spanish period, successive chapters present Hugl~ and Richard of St. Victor, St. Bonaventure and his school, the German and Fle-mish mystics. The last chapter, "Spain Again, and Saint John of the Cross," brings the investigation to its goal. Within these bounds, the essayist has traced the theme of mysti-cal prayer. SlOe has read her sources with attentive care, and aligns their'yield with a steady eye to the main object. There is no over-load of learning, no pretentiousness whatever yet anyone, who has handled the tools of literary research will hold this specimen in high respect. The theory of the life of prayer, followed by the author, falls within a general scheme now widely accepted. The indispensable role of asceticism is pr~supposed.~ Vocal prayer, including petition, is taken for gbanted. To liturgical prayer is reserved its unique precedence. The writer's subject is mental prayer, and especially contemplation, acquired and infused. Acquired contemplation is the prayer of simple regard, and may be attained in some degree by a good will with the aid of ordinary grace. The inf.used forms of contemplation depend on God; they may be holily desired, but not counted on, in this world. Purgation, an essential process in the discipline of the senses and of the mind at every stage of pra~er~ takes a higher and severer form, if one is raised to the life of in-fused cgntemplation. What this historical essay has chiefly done for the present reader is tw6fold. It elucidates persuasively the unity of the mystical ex- ¯ perience (to adapt Gilson's phrase) in the Christian tradition, and the continuity, under a bewildering diversity of description, of the teaching of the mystics. Against this background, it sets the doc-trine of St. John of the .Cross in its proper focus as our Summa of mystical theology. In particular, it is he, as the author points out, who has studied with care the nature of acquired contemplation and of the approaches to mystical prayer, as distinguished from the great gift itself. 320 November, 1954 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS The Benedictines of Stanbrook are accustomed to give us works of solid worth. The present small volume is an honor to-their tradition.---EDGAR R. SMOTHERS, S.J. BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS BRUCE PUBLISHING CO., 400 N. Broadway, Milwaukee I, Wis. A Man Born Again. St. Thomas More. By John E. Beahn. Once you begin to read this book, you will find it diffic.ult to lay it aside. It is a fictionalized biography written in the first person: Pp. 208. $3.00. CAPUCHIN FATHERS, 220 37th St., Pittsburgh 1, Penna. The Lagbrother According to the Heart of St. Francis. The Lagbrother Manual. Both books are by Clarence Tscbip-pert, O.F.M.Cap. The first is a translation.and the second an adap-tation from the German, In the German original they have been popular for many years among German-speaking Capuchins and have led many a Capuchin brother along the ways of perfection. The first book is a brief treatise on perfection from the practical point of view. Much of the doctrine is embodied in prayers. The second book is a vade mecum for the brothers. It takes a brother through all the actions of the day. It contains both,instruction and prayers. Both books may well serve as models as to what can be done to h~lp lay brothers in their difficult vocatibn. God's honor and glory would be increased if every brother of whatever order or congregation had similar aids to lead him to perfection. THE GRAIL. St. Meinrad, Indiana. The Jogs, Sorrows, and Glories of the RosarV. By Raphael Grashoff, C.P. This is a small book. It measures only three and a half by five and a quarter inches. In mandscript form it was used for public reading during laymen's week end retreats at Holy Cross Passionist Monastery in Cincinnati. Its purpose is to help indi-viduals to say the rosary as our Lady wants them to say it. Each of the fifteen chapters is preceded by a full page pen-and-ink draw-ing depicting one of the mysteries of the rosary. The excellent drawings are by Sister Augusta Zimmer, S.C. Pp. 173. $1.00. School Teacher and Saint. A Biography of ~Saint Lucy Filippini, By Pascal P. Parente, S.T.D., Ph.D. The foundress of the Re-ligious Teachers Filippini died on March 25th, 1732. It was°not until June 22, 1930, that she was canonized: It was 1910 before 321 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS" Reoieto "[or ~ R~ligioug. ttie'first five Religious Teachers Filippini opened their first gchooI in the United States i~t Trenton, New Jersey. It is not remarkable, therefore, that she is little known in this country. The present volume, the first biography in English, should do much to bring her the honor and reco.gnition she so richly deserves. The book is generously illustrated with pen-and-ink drawings by Paul Grout. Pp. 170. $3.00. Teen-Agers' Saint. St. Maria Goretti. By Mgr. James Morelli. Edited by William Peil. The book gives a brief account of the life, martyrdom, and triumph of this "Saint Agnes of the Twen-tieth Century." The illustrations by Gertrud Januszweski add con-siderably to the attractiveness of the book. The work should prove quite appealing to teen-agers, especiall~ grade-school and early-high-school students. Pp. 84. $2.00. B. HERDER BOOK CO., 15 South Broadway, St. Louis 2, Mo. The LitanF o[ Loreto. By Richard KIaver, O.S.C. That the Litany of Loreto is beautiful, and is really a poem in blank verse, all users of this litany will admit. Many, however, may not realize that it is an epitome of MarioIogy. Father Kla~ier proves this point in l~is commentary on the Litany, for to explain the various invo-cations he draws on the whole of Marian theology. The book should contribute much to make the recitation of the Litany more meaningful. Pp. 227. $3.75. Catholic Liturg~t-~Its Fundamental Principles. By the Very Rev. Gaspar Lefebvre,O.S.B. Translated by a Benedictine of Stan-brook. Here is an old classic in a new revised edition, the third in English. It should be on the shelves of the library of every religious community. Pp. 300. $3.50. The Rosary1 in Action. By John S. Johnson. A layman who knows from experience the difficulties that laymen have in the reci-tation of the rosary, soIves those difficulties. There are sections on the history of the rosary and on mental prayer. A very useful book. Pp. 271. $1.75. Neu~ Testament Stories. By Rev. C. C. Marfindale, S. J, It is a child's l{fe of Christ. All who have the care of children will wel-come this well-written book. Pp. 140. $2.25. P. J. KENNEDY AND SONS, 12 Barclay St., New York 8, N. Y. "Marg's Part in Our Redemption. By Msgr. Canon George D. Smith, D.D., Ph.D. This is a revised edition of a book which first 322 November, 1954 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS appeared in 1937. Its author is an eminent professor and theologian, who, in this instance, writes not for theologians but for the faithful: Thi~ Rev. Wm. G. Most characterizes the book as one "that co-or-dinates and integrates the dogmatic truths behind devotion to Mary with a solid, unsentimental, and balanced application of these truths to the life of the soul." Pp. 191. $3.00. 'THE LITURGICAL CONFERENCE. Elsberry, Mo. Proceedings of the National Liturgical Conference, 1953. Th£ celebration of a National Liturgical Week, each year in a different place, is one of the most effective means employed by the Liturgical Conference to make both clergy and laity liturgical minded and so to promote a deeper and more solid piety. The present volume re2 ports the National Liturgical Week at Grand Rapids, Michigan. Its central theme was St. Pius X and Sqcial Worship. It contains not only the papers read at the conference but a stenographic report of the discussions whidh followed. Rea~ing the volume one can catch. the enthusiasm which prevailed at the meetings. Pp. 199. $2.00. THE NEWMAN PRESS. Westminster, Maryland. Talks to Teen-Agers. By F. H. Drinkwater. The book is not for teen-agers but for those who are responsible for their spiritual and gemporal welfare. It consists of outlines arranged topically, and should prove very helpful as a rich source of material for talks and discussions. Pp. 110. $2.00. " All Things ir~ Christ. Encyclicals and Selected Documents of St. Plus X. Edited by Vincent A. Yzermans. Thirteen encyclicals and ten other documents are presented in this volume. Each docu-ment is prefaced by an explanatory note which gives the theme ~f the document and its setting: it is followed by a list of pertinent references. Pp. 275. $4.00. J. S. PALUCH CO., INC., 2712 N. Ashland Ave., Chicago 14, Illinois. The Imitation of Christ. The translation' is new and into mod-ern English. The cover is a reproductic;n in color of a portrait painting of Christ by Jerome Gibbons. This is a Lumen book. Pp. 173: $0.50. THE SCAPULAR PRESS, 339 E. 28th St., New York 16, N. Y. Union With Our Lad~ . By Ven. Marie Petyt of St. Teresa. Translated by Rev. Thomas E. McGinnis, O.Carm., S.T.L. That Our Lady has a part to play in the salvation and sanctification of 323 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS each individual soul is a truth all religious accept. Some may not be aware how large that part is. The present volume of excerpts of the letters of the Ven. Marie petyt show how very large that part was for her., They show too how a religious may grow in devotion to Our,Lady and so make greater progress toward perfection. The . letters are followed by an excellent one-page outline of the Marian doctrine of Mary Petyt and her spiritual director Fr. Michael of St. Augustine. Twelve one-page meditations on the Blessed Virgin conclude the volume. Pp. 75. Paper $I.00. TEMPLEGATE, Springfield, Illinois. Guide to the Bible. By the monks of Maredsous. Translated from the French by Gerda R. Blumenthal. To read the Bible, par-ticularl~ r the Old Testament, without guidance almost inevitably means to miss the meaning intended by God its author. All that an intelligent reader must know about the Bible will be found in this volume of less than a hundred pages. It should do much to promote the reading of the Sacred Scriptures. Pp. 92. $0.85. All My Life Love. A commentary on St. Th~r~se's poem Vfvre d'Arnour. By Michael Day, Cong. Orat. The translation of the poem is by Ronald Knox. In the poem we 'have a treatise on the love of God as conceived by a saint and poet. Each stanza of the poem, together with the commentary that follows it, can very profitably be used as subject matter for meditation. Pp. 56. $1.25. NOTICE FOR PUBLISHERS Our Book Re~,iew .Editor is Father Bernard A. Hausmann, S.J., of West Baden College. Publishers fire requested to send all books intended.for review in this periodical to: Book Review Editor, Review for Religious, West Baden College, West Baden Sprlncjs, Indiana. 324 Questions and Answers m3 I~ A slsterwith solemn vows in a contemplative order was received without a dowry. It is not clear whether this dispensation was to be con-ditional at that time. The sister wishes now to establish a dowry. Will she need the perm[sslon of the Holy See, or will the superlor's permis-sion suffice? By. taking solemn vows sister gave up her right to ownership of temporal things, hence also the right to acquire anything in the future by way of inheritance, legacy or gift for herself. Here is what canon 582 of the code has to say on the subject: "After solemn profession, likewise without prejudice to any special indults of the Apostolic See, all the property which comes in whatever manner to a regular [that is, to one who takes vows in an order, can. 488, 7°]: "1 ° In an order capable of ow.nership, goes to the order, prov-ince, or house, according to the constitutions; "2° In an order incapable of ownership, it becomes the property of the Holy See." Sister, therefore, must turn over to her monastery whatever money or other temporal goods may come to her from any source whatsoever after she has made her solemn profession. Superiors will then have a free disposition of this money or other goods, since it " now belongs to the monastery. In case the monastery is incapable of ownership, superiors may ask the Holy See for permission to put aside that amount of money required for a dowry by the constitu-tions, and use it for that purpose. According to our constitutions a novice who becoms gravely ill may be admitted to profession . . . and a plenary indulgence in the form of a jubilee is also granted to her mercifully in the Lord. What is % plenary indulgence in the form of a jubilee?" As far back as 1570, Pope Saint Pius V, a member of the Order of Preachers, allowed any novice of the second order of Dominican nuns who was in danger of death to make her religious profession. In the course of time this privilege was extended to other second orders. 325 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Reoiew [or Religious In 1912 (September 3) Pope Saint Plus X extended this privi-lege to all novices of. every religious order.or congregation or society, and his grant was published in. a decree of the Sacred Congregation of Religious, dated September 10, 1912 (AAS. IV, [1912], 589- 590) which laid down detailed regulations regarding this profession of a novice at the hour of death (see REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, I, [March, 1942], 117-122). In this decree, under number 4, occur the words: "to him is granted mercifully in the Lord a plenary in-dulgence and remission of all his sins in the form of a jubilee." This phrase, "in the form of a jubilee," adds nothing to the plenary in-dulgence granted but is merely gn honorary title, so to speak, which indicates the generosity of the Roman Pohtiff in granting this extra-ordinary indulgence (se~ de Angelis: De Indulgentiis, ed. 2, Rome, 1950, p. 128 n. 176). m33m Our constitutions state: "two members of the same family, for ex-ample, two sisters, two cousins, or an aunt and a niece, may not at the same time be members of the general council." Now the father of our. newly elected mother general is a first cousin of the father of the sister elected to be the fourth general councllor. May this sister act validly and licitly as a member of the general council together with our recently elected mother general? Canori 19 of the Code.of Canon Law tells us that laws which restrict the free exercise of rights are to be interpreted strictly, that is: "the words are taken in their proper meaning, but in a narrower sense than must necessarily be attached to them; an interpretation is broad when the proper meaning of words is retained, but it is taken in a wider sense than the word bears at all times." (Lydon, Read~l Answers in Canon Law, ed. 3, 1948, p. 336.) Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, 1950, ~lefines "cousin" as: "2. Specif: a son or daughter of one's uncle or aunt; also, a relative descended the same number of steps by a different line from a common ancestor." The first definition is the strict interpretation according to cXnon law, the second a broad interpretation. Ordinarily the term cousin is understood of persons called first cousins. Since the fathers of the recently eldcted mother general and of the newly-elected fourth councilor are first cousins, these religious are really second cousins, and hence do.not come within the strict canonical interpretation of the term "two cousins," as used in ithe 326 Nouember, 1954 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS constitutions, referred to ifi the question. Hence both sisters may continue in office as members of the general council. We should add that our interpretation is based on the assumption that the examples given in the constitutions limit the meaning of "two members 6f the same f~imily." This interpretation seems reasonable to us. We are a diocesan institute. Our constitutions read as follows: (I} "The sisters elected to the general chapter shall remain, everyone in her own office, up to the ne~t chapter. No one can be deposed,, unless for a grave cause and by the general council alone." (2) "The mistress of novices shall be appointed by the superior general and her council." The general chapter is not a month old, whe~ the second councilor is appointed to the position of mistress of novices. May she be a meml~er of the general council and mistress of novices at the same time? No pro= vision ~s made in our constitutions for an event of this kind. The Normae of 1901, in. article 300, forbade the mistress of novices to hold any other office which might impede the care and direction of the novices and explicitly mentioned the office of general councilor. This article has been written into many constitutions and must be observed in 'such cases. The Code of Canon Law merely laid down a general norm in canon 559, § 3, which says: "Both [the master of novices and his assistant] should be free }rom all other occupations which could hinder them in the care and gov-ernment of the novices." The Code does not determine in par-ticular whicfi offices are incompatible; this judgment is left to the constitutions and to the prudent judgment of superiors. Now since your constitutions have no such prohibition, superiors may determine that the office of mistress of novices is not incompatible with that of general councilor. In that case the second councilor remains a member of the general council and also assumes the office of mistress of novices. --35-- Until recently our congregation has been merely diocesan. Our con-stitutlons permitted the mother gqneral to be elected to two terms of six years each, but not to a third immediate term. Recently we have re-. ceived the Decree of Praise from the Holy See and are now a pontifical congregation. Our new constitutions, like the old, permit a sister to hold two consecutive terms of six years each as mother general, but not a third immediate term. We are to have a general chapter in January, and our 327 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Replete for Religious present mother general will have completed twelve consecutive years in office by that time. Some sisters contend that under the new con!stltu-t[ ons she will be eligible for immediate re-dection for two more terms of six years each without any special permNslon from the Holy See. Is this correct? Father Frederic Muzzarelli, S.S.P. in his book De Congregation-ibus Iuris Dioecesani, published in Rome in 1943, holds this opinion, and Father Gallen referred to this interpretation, apparently with ap-proval (REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS XII [September, 1953], 255). Father Muzzarelli gives the following reason for his opinion: "The time spent in office under the former constitutions is not to be com-puted, since these have nol/¢ lost all force." It seems to us that this in-terpretation is contrary at least to the spirit of the Letter of the Sacred Congregation of Religious dated March 9, 1920 (see Canon Law Digest, I, 276-277, for English text), and sent to all the local ordinaries of the world. The Letter stresses the years spent in of-rice, regardless c;fthe manner of obtaining .it. This likewise seems to be meaning of canon 505 which states that "higher superiors shall be temporary." Father Muzzarelli interprets "temporary" as "not perpetual" but the Letter seems to make it very clear that "tem-porary" is to be taken in the ordinary sense of the term. Twenty-four consecutive years of office certainly seems to us longer than the ordinary meaning of tempora[y. Our interpretation of the canon is confirmed by a recent state-ment of Father Anastasius Gutierrez, C.M.F., an official of the Sacred Congregation of Religious, who published a series of articles regarding the present practiceof the Sacred Congregation in Com-mentarium pro Religiosis during 1953 and is continuing the same during 1954. Here is his statement: "No matter how the mother general may have been promoted to or continued in office (by nom-ination, election, or confirmation), once twelve years of continuous regime have elapsed, she is no longer canonically eligible; she may be postulated, but cannot be re-elected" (page 90)." --36-- . Could you please give us a list of books that treat of obedience? Among rather recently-published books are the following. Valen-tine, O.P., Religious Obedience: A Practical Exposition for Sisters, (London, 1950; also, the Newman Press, Westminster, Md.). Polit, S.J., Perfect. Obedience: A Commentary on the Letter on 328 November, 1594 NEWS .AND VIEWS Obedience, translation by William Young, S.J. (Newman Press, Westminster, Md., 1947) PI~, O.P. (editor), Obedience--Volume III of series on religious .lii:e (Newman Press, Westminster, Md., 1953). Some rather recent books that contain extensive treatment of the subject are the following. Fennelly, C.S.Sp., Follow Me (Burns ~ Oates, London, 1943) ; see Part III, pp. 123-203.Msgr. Gay, Re-ligious Life and the Vows (Newman Press, 1942--reprint of an old book) ; see Part III, pp. 167-264. Brothers of the Sacred Heart, Catechism of Religious Profession (Metuchen, N.J., 1943--new edi-tion in press) ; see Section IV, pp. 159-201. Brothers of ~he Chris-tian Schools, Short Treatise on the Religious State, (Paris, 1950) ; see Chapter VIII, pp. 270-324. And, finally, see the first volume of "the series on the religious life, Religious Sisters (Newman Press, 1950): "The Vow of Obedience," by Marie-Joseph Nicolas, O.P.; and "The Adaptation of Religious Obedience," by Reginald Go-mez, O.P. In listing these, various treatises on obedience we do not neces-sarily recommend them because we have not read all of them suffi-ciently for that. Also, we list these because .we happen to have them at hand. Readers may know other treatises, and their suggestions would be welcomed. NEWS AND VIEWS (Continued from Page 310) spaced (triple is even better), with at least an inch of margin on each side of the page. It is difficult to make editorial notations on a crowded page. 2) Onion-skin paper should not be used. It is frustrating to try to make editorial notations on such paper. 3) For practical purposes, REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS follows what might be called the "old-fashioned" method of printing quo-tations: that is, we print them just like the rest of the article, except for the fact that they are in quotation marks. This same system should be followed in manuscripts. 4) The use of capital letters should be very reserved. Congress in Canada Our May number (pp. 138-40) contained a great deal of pre-liminary information concerning the national congress of religious institutes to be held" in Montreal, July 26-30. The Acta of the 329 NEWS AND VIEWS Review" for Religious congress will be published: but~-we do not know the precise date of publication. In the meantime, pending the publication of th~ Acta, our readers will no doubt be interested in the following in-formation, which we have received through the kir~dness of Father Edward Sheridan, S.J., one of the Associate Secretaries of the con-gress and First Vice-President of the executive council of religious men. Interesting statistics include the following: At the inaugural general session were three cardinals and some twenty bishops. Also present at the congress were four abbots. In approximate figures, the delegates, representing some 200 religious institutes, with a total of 60,'000 members, were distributed thus: 400, representing 12,500 French-speaking religious men (of whom about 6,000 are teaching brothers); 150, representing 2,500 English-speaking religious men; 600, representing 37,000 French-speaking religious women; 250, representing 8,000 English-speaking religious women. Included among the delegates were 259 major superiors. At the inaugural general assembly Cardinals MacGuigan, of Toronto, and L~ger, of Moni~real, stressed adaptation and moderni-zation in habit and custom book. These points were also much stressed in the sessions of religious women. One fruit of the congress was the establishment of a Canadian Religious Conference--a permanent conference of all major religiou~ superiors resident in Canada, with a permanent secretariate to be established in Ottawa. This was. in resptonse to the express wish of the Sacred Congregation of Religious. Very Reverend Girard- Marie Par~, O.P., was elected the first president of this conference. The closing exercise of the congress was a torch-light procession and outdoor evening Mass, at the famous St. Joseph's Shrine. The Apostolic Delegate, the Most Reverend Giovanni Panico, was the celebrant. The physical plant was ideal for the meetings. This included St. Laurent College, conducted by the French Canadian Holy Cross Fathers; and St. Laurent Convent, of the Holy Cross Sisters--the two together constituting some five solid city blocks of religious and educational buildings, with fine grounds. The Holy Cross Fathers and Sisters were indefatigable in doing everything possible to make the congr.ess a success. The modus agendi of the sectional meetings--which especially impressed Cardinal Valeri, Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Religious and President of the congres.s--was planned and executed 330 Nooernber, 1594 NEWS AND VIEWS x~ith remarkable ingenuity and efficiency. Before the congress, four books (one for each of the four sections) were printed. These books contained general information, outlines (some rather com-plete) of each of the papers to be given at the sectional meetings, topics for discussion and study, and the full text of the address given by Pope Plus XII to the congress of religious in Rome, December 8, 1950. Every delegate was provided with one of these books. Each of the sections had its own general session in the morning, at which four twenty-minute papers were read Jan the subjects indicated. Then each section broke up into study committees, of from twelve to twenty members, each committee discussing one of the papers read for a period of one hour. After lunch, the committees met again for an hour's discussion, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. From 3:00 to 3:30 the speaker of the fiaorning conferred with the presidents and sec-retaries of the committee