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Issue 9.1 of the Review for Religious, 1950. ; A. M. D. (J. Review for Religious JANUARY 15, 1950 Three Sacramental Characters . Clarence McAuliffe The Spirit of Poverty . Edward F. Garesch6 Hope . . C.A. Herbst Holy Year of 1950 . l~mile Bergh Questions and Answers Book Reviews Communications Report to Rome VOLUME IX NUMBER 1 RI:::VII:::W FOR RI LIGiOUS VOLUME IX JANUARY, 1950 NUMBER 1 CONTENTS THE THREE SACRAMENTAL CHARACTERS-- Clarence McAuliffe, S.J . 3 THE SPIRIT OF POVERTY AND MODERN TIMES-- Edward F. Garesch~, S.J .19 HOPE~. A. Herbst, S.J . 25 THE HOLY YEAR OF 1950--1~mile Bergh, S.J .3.0. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS-- 1. Signatures on Petitions to the Holy See . 39 2. Secretary-General's Work Assigned to Another . 39 3. Effect of Simple Perpetual Vows of Nuns . 40 4, English Translation of Unigenitus Dei Filius . 40 5. Lay Sisters and the Little Office . 40 6. Gifts to Priests and Benefactors . 41 OUR CONTRIBUTORS . 41 COMMUNICATIONS . 42 BOOK REVIEWS-- Secrets of the Interior Life; The Lord is My Joy; St. Ignatius of Loy-ola; The Priest at His .Prie-Dieu; The Mystical Evolution in the Develop-ment and Vitality of the Church . 43 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS . 48 BOOK NOTICES . 50 REPORT TO ROME . 52 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, January, 1950, Vol IX, No. 1. Published bi-monthly: January, March, May, July, September, and November at the College Press," 606 Harrison Street, Topeka, Kansas, by St. Mary's College, St. Marys, Kansas, with ecclesiastical approbation. Entered as se.cond class matter January 15, 1942, at the Post Office, Topeka, Kansas, under the act of March 3, 1879. Editorial Board: Adam C. Ellis, S.J., G. Augustine Ellard, S.3., Gerald Kelly, S.J. Editorial Secretary: Alfred F. Schneider, S.J. Copyright, 1950, by Adam C. Ellis. Permission is hereby granted for quotations of reasonable length,, provided due credit be given this review and the author. Subscription price: 2 dollars a year. Printed in U. S. A. Before writing to us, please consult notice on inside back cover. Review t~or Religious, Volume IX January--December, 1950 Published st THE COLLEGE PRESS Topeka, Kansas Edited by THE JESUIT FATHER. S SAINT MARY'S COLLEGE St. M~rys, Kansas REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS is indexed in the CATHOLIC PERIODICAL INDEX The Three Sacrament:al Charac!:ers ¯ :~l~r~nce McAuliffe, S.J. o IN RECENT YEARS much has been" written about the super-natural organism which God confers upon the baptized and continues to develop in them as long as they are free from mortal sin. We know that this organism consists basically of sanctifying grace, to which are joined the three tbeologlcal virtues of faith, hope, and charity, the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost, and probably also the moral virtues of justice, prudence, temperance, and fortitude. However, strange to say, we hear little about some other super-natural entities which also flourish in the soul and which have an intimate relationship to the supernatural organism. These entities are those seals or ma~ks or characters that are stamped upon the soul by the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, and holy orders. Every Catholic has at least the character of baptism. Most Catholics also have that of confirmation, while that of orders is reserved to those comparatively few men who have been ordained bishops or priests or, at least, deacons. Although the proof for the existence of these characters stretches back to the earliest sources of tradition and even has a scriptural foundation, the Protestant leaders of the sixteenth century denied the existence of every one of them. To offset this heresy, the Council of Trent issued the following definition: "If anyone says that in the sacraments ot: baptism, confirmation, and holy orders, there is not imprinted on the soul a character, that is, a certain spiritual and indelible sign by reason of which they cannot be repeated, let him be anathema." It is, therefore, of faith that these three sacraments impress characters on the soul; that for this reason the same sacra-ments cannot be received more than once; that the characters remain on the soul at least throughout this life. Moreover, it is certain that the characters cling to the soul for all eternity. Perhaps one of the reasons why we hear comparatively little of the sacramental characters is to be found in the fact that, though they have a bearing, a close relationship, to the supernatural organism, they are not components of it. They can be present when the organism is absent; and, contrariwise, though more rarely, the organism can be present when they are absent. Suppose we give a few examples to illustrate these two facts. First, the character or CLARENCE MCAULIFFE Review t~or Religious characters can be present when the organism is absent. A baptized and confirmed Catholic may banish his supernatural organism. By mortal sin he drives out sanctifying grace, the virtue of charity, the gifts of the Holy Ghost, and the infused moral virtues, leaving to his supernatural organism only its rudimentary elements of faith and hope. Even these he can expel by .committing sins directly opposed to them, such as apostasy and despair. Nevertheless, the characters of baptism and of confirmation remain in his soul. They cannot be removed even temporarily, much les~ can .they be deleted, by any action of man whatsoever. Again, let us suppose that an adult sinner is about to be b.aptized. He wants the sacrament and the priest administers it properly. But the recipient is not sorry for his mortal sins. In this case he truly receives the sacrament of baptism and can never receive it again. He also receives the character whose coming depends solely on the sacrament's validity. Yet such a man does not receive the supernatural organism until he makes fin act of at least imperfect contrition, since the fruitfulness of baptism in such a case demands this disposition. Meantime he possesses the character. Secondly, the organism can be present when the characters are absent. For instance, a pagan or catechumen may before baptism make an act of'perfect love of God or ot: perfect contrition. At once he receives the supernatural organism, but not the character. It is true that the coming of the organism is not entirely independent of the sacrament of baptism (he must have wanted it at least implic-itly) ; nevertheless, since he has not received the sacrament as such, he has not received its character, as this can be produced only by actual reception of the sacrament. Again, it is evident, since it happens so commonly,, that a baptized Catholic can keep and develop his super-natural organism even without the characters of confirmation and orders. Hence, the organism can be present even when some charac-ters or all of them are absent. From all the preceding examples it is clear that the characters, though they have a relationship to the supernatural organism as we shall indicate later on, do not enter into its composition either sub-stantially o~ accidentally. We may infer from this truth that the effects of sanctifying grace and of the characters differ also; and this is correct. The effect of sanctifying grace is of far superior dignity to that of the characters. By grace we t.ruly, albeit feebly, share in God's own life. We become "sharers in the divine nature" (II Pet. 1:4). We become God's adopted children, so that, through God's own positive ordination 4 danuar~J, 195 0 SACRAMENTAL CHARACTERS and liberality, we are enabled to place acts that merit in strict justice an increase of grace and a higher reward in heaven. The sacramental characters on the other hand, though they confer an exalted dignity, bestow one of far inferior rank. By them we share in the priesthood of Christ. We.are empowered to place not merely private but public acts expressive of divine service. Only those who have received the characters can place these acts, at least officially. We shall explain more definitely later on the acts of divine service that are proper to each of the characters. So far we have mentioned three of the principal differences between the characters and grace. Characters come from a valid sacrament; grace comes from a valid and at the same time fruitful sacrament. Characters can be produced by sacraments only; grace can be obtained and increased without actual reception of a sacra-ment. Characters grant us a share in Christ's priesthood; grace makes us sharers in the divine nature. But there are also remarkable similarities between grace and the characters, especially if we consider them in their internal composi-tion. In the first place, both grace and the characters (and this is most important) are ph~lsica! realities. To understand this better, let us suppose that we have just witnessed .the baptism of a baby. It has received' the character and it has also received grace, since the soul of an infant has no obstacle to its infusion. If we were able to see the baby's soul with our bodily eyes, we would notice two startling changes in it at the instant of baptism. One of these would be the sacramental character. If the soul looked dark before baptism, we would now notice that it is tinged with a golden hue, the character of baptism. The second change would be the presence of sanctifying grace. Though the baby's soul appeared alive and active with a natural life before its baptism, it now appears vigorous, palpitating, endowed with a superior kind. of life far surpassing its .natural capacities. Yet we should notice that the newly bestowed color and the freshly infused life are really distinct from each other, though lodged in the same soul. They are both objective and. physical realities. They both truly transform the soul. They be~5~.~e.part of it and alter its appearance. We have all learned that sanctifying grace is such a physical reality, but we may not realize that so too are the sacramental characters. "For though outwardly we are marked on the body (by the sacramental rite), nevertheless we are, as a matter of fact, marked interiorly so that the Spirit delineates within us the representation of a heavenly picture," says St. Ambrose. 5 CLARENCE MCAULIFFE Reoiew for Religious Of course, the illustration used in the preceding paragraph has its defects. We have used it simply to exemplify that grace and the characters are both physical realities. Since, however, the soul is a spiritual substance without quantitative parts, it follows that both grace and the characters, inhering in the soul as they do, must also be spiritual or immaterial. Hence no bodily organ could possibly per-ceive either the soul or its grace or its characters. They are beyond sense cognition. The soul's existence we know both by reason and by revelation. The existence of grace and the characters we know by revelation alone. Again, both grace and the characters are accidents. By this we do not mean that they come by chance, since it is plain that they result from very definite channels established by God. We simply mean that they do not alter the essence or substance of the soul. Whether a man smiles or not, whether he is tempted or not, whether be has pneumonia or not, whether he is black or not, he remains none the less substantially a man. In the same way, the human soul remains essentially the same whether or not it ever receives grace and the characters. Furthermore, not only are grace and the characters accidents in the senses just explained, but they are the same general kfnd of acci-dent. Accidents can be classified into various distinct groups. It is not necessary to consider all these here. If a man uses his vitality to smile, he is accidentally changed by the accident called "action." If he weighs 200 pounds now, be is accidentally changed by the acci-dent of "quantity" from his condition of one year ago when he weighed only 185. If his skin is brown from a sun tan, it differs accidentally from its preceding pallor. This last example denotes a change in the skin's quality, and both grace and the characters are classified in the accident called "quality." They answer the question: What kind of? Just as there are differences in the quality of nearly all material things so that our foodstuffs, our clothing, even our medicines are graded according to quality, so too our souls, both in the natural and supernatural orders, are qualified in various ways. When a soul is gifted with either the characters o~ grace or both, it receives fresh supernatural qualities. It, so to speak, looks better, though it remains substantially the same'soul. Finally, both the characters and grace, when the latter proceeds from a sacrament, are brought into being by the same kind of activity on the part of the sacrament. Suppose we again represent to our-selves a baby being baptized. God is the principal cause both of the 6 ,January, 19 5 0 SACRAMENTAL CHARACTERS character and of the grace which it receives~ But God has imparted to baptism the power of producing its essential effects automatically. Spontaneously and as an instrumental .cause in the hand of God, baptism infuses grace into and'chls61s the character upon the baby's soul. At1 of us know this well with regard to the infusion of grace (cf. "'Ex Opere Operato," REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, Sept. 1947, pp. 257-271), but we may not have been aware that the characters are produced in the same way. So much for the inner nature of the characters and for their simi-larities and dissimilarities with reference to s.anctifying grace. It might be well at this point to speak about their function. According to the Council of Trent each of the characters is "a kind of spiritual sign." They are spiritual signs because, unlike the sacramental rites which produced them, they are imperceptible, impervious to sense cognition. Nevertheless, they are signs just as truly as the rites themselves. They must, therefore, perform the function of every kind of sign, which, is to inform. Just as the address on an envelope gives notice of the letter's destination, just as a kindly smile gives notice of a person's good will, so too the characters lead to information beyond them-selves. To what kind of information do they lead? Before answering this question specifically, it might be well to say that like most other signs the characters give more than one kind of information. Consider again the address on an envelope. The primary information learned from it is the letter's destination. But it gives other information also. It tells us that the sender knows how to write or type. It tells us whether the sender writes a good hand or a poor one, whether he types accurately or not. It even tells us something about the condition of his pen or typewriter. All such information is revealed to us by the same sign, the address on the envelope. In the same way the characters, too, afford us more than one kind of information, as we shall explain after answering an objection which might easily come to mind. This objection is not concerned with the characters considered in their intrinsic nature. So considered, it is evident that they are bles-sings. They are God's creation, His gifts, and they adorn the soul. Like grace itself, they are physical supernatural realities, beautifying the soul, and hence they perform a manifestly useful function. But granted this, the objection would protest that the characters consid-ered precisely as signs are of no utility. By its very nature a sign is something that can be perceived. Its purpose is to give us informa-tion about something else. If, then, we cannot sense a sign, it can CI~AR~NCE McAULIFFE, ¯ Review for Religious give no information and hence would seem to be utterly useless as a sfyn. Applying this to the characters, we are forced to acknowledge that they cannot be perceived. They are beyond our sense .cognition. Hence viewed precisely as siOns, they are useless for men in this world. They are also useless for God who knows all things without the'intervention of signs of any kind. They are also useless for the angels and the beatified since these probably can recognize the bap-tized, the confirmed, and the ordained without the medium of the characters. Hence these marks on the soul, granting their intrinsic value, might seem completely useless to perform their function, of signs. Yet it is of .faith that the characters are signs. How do we explain this legitimate difficulty? First, the characters are directl~r perceived in living men by the angels and beatified; and, since the characters remain imbedded in .the soul forever, they will after judgment day be directly apprehended by all angelsand by all the beatified. They will be objective tokens of glory in the elect and tokens of shame in the damned. It will remain true, of course, that the angels and beatified could recognize the elect even though they did not have the characters. But the charactem lend a definiteness, a concreteness to this recognition, and hence they are not useless as signs. When we attend a college gradua-tion, we know full well who the graduates are when we see them seated on the stage and observe each one receive his diploma. But we do not think it useless, nevertheless, to garb them in cap and gown for the occasion. This uniform has a pointed significance. It-tells us more vividly what we already know, namely that those so dressed have successfully finished their college course; and so it is not useless. It is a'praiseworthy rational instinct to confer some kind of insignia on those who deser,qe special recognition either by reason of some office obtained or of some meritorious action performed. In His dealing with men God respects this instinct. Since the baptized, the confirmed, and the ordained are charged with special duties toward God, we would expect Him to bestow the characters as a kind of insignia. The characters denote the duties of their recipients in a very precise and formal way, and so are not useless even as signs. Secondly, in answer to this objection, we may. say that even in this world the characters as signs are indirectly apprehensible by other men. We can know with certainty that those who have received baptism, confirmation, and orders are marked with these signs. As a result, we are able to distinguish those who have received these sacra-ments just as though we saw the signs themselves. Lest this answer danuar~J, 19fi 0 . . SACRAMENTAL CHARACTERS might seem a kind of subterfuge, iet us consider a couple of examples drawn from signs that exist in this world, signs instituted by men. We may know that a veteran of World War II was decorated with the .Congressional Medal of Honor. We know the man, though we have never had occasion to see his medal.' Yet because we know on the word of others that the medal was certain!y bestowed on him, we treat him just as though we saw tbe medal itself. Again, a motorist may be told by his companion not to turn left at a certain corner because thatparticular street is being repaired. There is a sign on that street to this effect, but the motorist has never seen it while his companion has. Realizing that his companion is telling the truth, the motorist does not turn atthat'~grner. He acts just as though he himself has seen the sign with his bwn eyes. In other words, the sign is by no means useless to the driver even though he knows its existence only by human faith. Reliance on the word of another is a sure proof of the existence of a sign just as is direct perception of it by the use of our own senses. Similarly the characters are indirectly apprehensible by other men and so they are not useless. Finally, the presence "of the characters on a soul has a special salutary effec~ both with regard to temptations of the devil and to the reception of help from the good angels. The characters are a help against diabolic temptation. Speaking to those about to be baptized, St. Cyril of 3erusalem says: "The Holy Spirit is at hand, prepared to mark your soul, and He gives you a kind of heavenly, divinely-produced seal which the demons dread." St. Gregory of Nazianzen speaks similarly when he declares: "3ust as a sheep which has been branded is not so apt to be stolen, whereas an unbranded one is readily taken by thieves, so the seal is a great protection to you even in this life." The characters also prompt the good angels to render special assistance to their bearers. "How will the angel help you unless he perceives the seal?" exclaims St. Basil when speaking of the benefits of baptism. Since, therefore, the characters as signs repel.the demons and invoke the help of the good angels, it is plain that they are not useless. They are like a letter of recommendation. For this reason and th~ other two previously explained, the objection that characters are of no use precisely as signs is groundless. We are now in a position to answer the question posed abo;ce: Since the characters are truly signs, what kind of information do they give us? What do they signify? According to theologians they have a fourfold signification. First, they are signs by which we can dis-tinguish men of one class from those of other classes (siqna dis- CLARENCE MCAULIFFE Review for Religious tilgctit~a) ; second, they oblige their recipients to perform certain duties (signa obffgativa); third, they indicate that they should always be accomoanied by sanctifying grace (signa dispositioa.); finally, they signify that their bearers share in Christ's priesthood and have a right to 19erform certain functions of this oriesthood (signa cont~quratioa). This last is the primary signifi:ation of the charac-ters; but, since it requires longer treatment, we sk~all deal with it after the others. The characters, then, are signs by which Christians are distin-guished from non-Christians and also from one another. They ful-fill this fianction as effectively as a Sister's habit distinguishes her from other women, as effectively as the habit of one order distin-guishes its members from those of another order. "How," asks St. Basil, "will you say 'I belong to God' unless you wear the marks that distinguish you?" And St. John Chrysostom declares: "Just as soldiers are marked by a kind of brand, so the faithful a~e marked by the Holy Spirit . Circumcision was the sign of a Jew; the seal of the Spirit is our sign." By the character of baptism a person is marked as God's special property and is 'irrevocably set apart from the unbaptized. The character of confirmation not only separates the Christian from the non-Christian, but also draws a distinct line between the confirmed and the baptized. Whereas all the baptized are recognizable as citizens of the heavenly kingdom, only the char-acter of confirmation clothes these citizens in the uniform of a soldier. Finally, the characters issuing from the diaconate, the priesthood, and the episcopate not only distinguish a man from unbelievers, but they likewise separate him from the baptized and the confirmed. Furthermore, since the sacrament of orders has three distinct species, each of which impresses its own character, the character of the priest identifies him as on a higher plane than the deacon, and the character of the bishop marks him off from the priest. Just as officers in the ar.rny wear special insignia to differentiate them from privates and from one another, so the sacrament of orders confers special insignia, the characters, for the same purpose. The character of the diaconate might be compared to the chevrons of a sergeant[ that of the priest-hood to the insignia of a major; that of the episcopat~ to the stars of a general. Thus it is true of all the characters that they serve the function of badges or uniforms. They enable us to identify their various recipients according to official rank. How appropriate it is for God so to designate His followers according to their official status is evident from the legitimate instinct of human nature which 10 danuary, 1950 SACRAMENTAL CHARACTERS likes to see officials, whether of the state or any Other society, marked by some kind of sign or emblem. Secondly, the characters are signs that their recipients have certain duties to perform. We read of certain saints who inscribed indelibly on their flesh the name "3esus" as a sign that they obliged themselves to wholehearted service of Him. No less'is the character an objective sign that its bearer must be .devoted to God's interests. It could happen rarely, of course, that a person would be unaware that he had been baptized and so would be ignorant of the duties imposed upon him by his character. It could also happen that a Catholic, fully aware of the characters he has received, might renounce his faith and neglect God's interests completely~ Nevertheless, the characters remain objectively on the soul and give notice that their possessor should be active in God's cause. This significance cannot be in the least impaired by ignorance or neglect ot: it. Hence the characters denote that their bearer is obliged to keep the Ten Commandments, the precepts of the Church, the essential duties of his state in life. He is obliged, in other words, to do everything to keep himself in the state of grace. While this is true particularly of the character of baptism, it holds for the other characters also. However, since confirmation implies a more intimate consecration to God than baptism, it imposes additional obligations. Baptism imposes the duties of a subject; confirmation imposes the duties of a Christian soldier who is officially obligated to suffer for his faith and to promote its spread. Finally, the character of orders symbolizes the sturdiest allegiance to God since its recipients are obliged as officers and ministers of God to strive for perfection and to communicate spiritual blessings to other men. Again, the characters are called "disposing signs." This means that they make the soul ready to receive supernatural benefits, espe-cially three of them. First, not only do the characters demand that their recipients keep in the state of grace, as we have just seen, but they are such by nature that they, so to speak, expect sanctifying grace to be in the soul along with them. They have a special affinity to grace. We have already seen that grace and the characters are not not necessarily co-existent, but such a condition is an objective deformity. Every character lends supernatural beauty to the soul. But this beauty is incomplete, it looks to a complement. Indepen-dently of all obligation to remain in the state of grace, the character is such by nature that it points to the coming of grace to cap its beauty. If a man builds a new home and then furnishes it to the last detail, we would not say that it is absolutely necessary that some 11 CLARENCE MCAULIFFE Review ~o~ Religious one should come t6 live in it. But we would say that dwellers are expected. A new, completely equipped home is disposed, so to speak, for human habitation. In the same way the presence of the charac-ters, even of baptism alone, gives the soul a disposition, a readiness, for the influx of sanctifying grace. A lock without a key is an incon-gruity. So is the character unless its count.erpart, sanctifying grace, accompanies it. Again, the characters are "disposing signs" inasmuch as they put the soul in condition to receive certain actual graces. The three sacraments of baptism, confirmation, and orders confer automati-cally at the time of their reception a lifelong title to the bestowal of actual graces which may enable a person to achieve the purpose of each sacrament. Thus by reason of baptism we receive automati-cally throughout our lives actual graces which enable us, dependent on our co-oper~ition, to maintain the state of grace. From our con-firmation of many years ago we still receive spontaneously actual graces that strengthen us to suffer for the faith ~nd to diffuse it. It is a solidly probable opinion in theology that this claim to actual graces is founded on the sacramental characters. These characters put the soul in such a condition that it, so to speak, expects to be benefited with this continual flow of' actual graces, and God, seeing, this condi-tion of the soul, is moved to help it'generously. Finally, .the characters are also "disposing signs" because; as we mentiofied previously, they-so condition the soul that the" devil .is more reluctant to assail it. and the good angels are more ready to assist it. In addition to being distinguishing, obligating, and disposing gigns, the characters also indicate that their' possessors' are deputed to take part publicly in one or other of the external ministries entrusted to the Church by Christ Himself. This seems to be the primary purpose of the characters and it is pithily expressed by theologians generally when they say that by the-characters we "share in the priesthood of Christ." Hence the characters are called "con-forming" signs (signa cont~guratiua), since they confer a certain resemblance to.Christ as Priest. What this means in a general' way is explained by St. Thomas as follows: "The sacraments of the New Law produce a character, insofar as by them we are deputed to the worship of God according to the rite of the Christian religion . Now the worship of God consists either in receiving divine gifts, or in bestowing them on others. And for both these purposes some power is needed; for to bestow something on others, active power is 12 danuarv, 1950 ' SACRAMENTAL CHARACTERS necessary; and in order to receive, we need a passive power. Conse-quently, a character signifies a certain spiritual power ordained unto things pertaining to the divine worship." This likeness to Christ the Priest which is the special significa-tion of the characters is also a new and unmerited resemblance to God Himself. By our human nature, especially by its faculties of mind and will, we are true though faint images of God, the Creator. By sanctifying grace our resemblance to God is enhanced beyond our powers to understand, since by grace we are enabled to place mental and volitional acts which are elevated to a divine level. By the char-acters also we achieve a new and distinctive likeness to God under another aspect, one of lesser nobility than that bestowed by grace but far surpassing the merely natural likeness that results frdm creation. Whereas grace gives .us remotely the power to know and love God with a knowledge and love similar to that which the Three Divine Persons exercise towards one another, the characters, on the other hand, make us like to God in one of the many powers which He exerts outside Himself, that is, in the power which He wields in the sanctification of men through tl~e visible and public ministry of the Catholic Church. This power far transcends our capacities as mere men in the natural order. It is true, of course, that by nature alone we share i;~ God's power exercised outside Himself, inasmuch as we can place acts that are attributable to ourselves. But this is a purely natural participation in God's power, one due to us by the very fact that we are men; whereas the power conferred by the characters is supernatural, beyond our deserts and abilities and needs. Moreover, the power proceeding from the characters is concerned with the supernatural sanctification of men and is bestowed immediately by God Himself, whereas any religious power which men might receive in the natural order would be concerned with merely natural sancti-fication and would be granted bya natural society such as the state. It is clear, then, that by the characters we are authorized officially to promote the supernatural sanctification of ourselves and others. We become God's instruments in this exalted work. This dignity was won for us by the merits of Our Lord, Christ as man, the priest par excellence, made priest by the very fact of the hypostatic union. Thus we say-correctly that we are empowerd by the characters to share in the priesthood of Christ, to continue it visibly and publicly in this world. It should be noted, however, that the word "priesthood" in the expression "sharing in the priesthood of Chlist" is used in its general, 13 C~LARENCE MCAULIFFE Reoieto for'Religious not in its strict meaning. Taken strictly, the word "priest" signifies one who has been officially designated as a mediator between God and men and who exercises this mediatorship particularly by per-forming the rite of sacrifice. It is evident that the characters of bap-tism and confirmation bestow no such priesthood since their posses-sors ar~ not mediators between God and men and cannot celebrate the Mass. Hence the Holy Father in his celebrated encyclical Mediator Dei of two years ago says that the people as distinguished from priests are not "conciliators between themselves and God" and "do not enjoy any priestly power." However, the words "priest" and "priesthood" also have a more general meaning. They may be used to include all the visible minis-tries confided to the Church by Christ. These visible ministries are threefold, since they comprise the powers of ruling, of teaching, and of sanctifying by liturgical acts of worship. When, therefore, theo-logians say that the characters, including those of baptism and con-firmation, are a sharing in the priesthood of Christ, they are using the word "priesthood" in this general sense. They simply mean that men are deputed by the characters to exercise more or less one or other of these powers. They are entitled to participate, each according to his degree, in at least one of the three powers of ruling, teaching, and sanctifying which comprise the Church's visible ministry. Since, then, it is certain that the characters grant such power, we naturally would like to know precisely which of these sacred func-tions can be legitimately performed by each individual character. Suppose we begin with baptism. This character confers mainly a passit~e or receptioe priestly power. By this we mean that the charac-ter of baptism enables one to receive both divine and ecclesiastical benefits; in other words, to be the beneficiary of the teaching, ruling, and sanctifying powers enj.oyed by the Church. By baptism we come under the Church's jurisdiction or ruling power. We are entitled to listen to her counsels and instructions, to benefit by her teaching power. By this character we are entitled to assist profitably at Mass and to receive the other sacraments. Confession, confirma-tion, extreme unction would be empty .formulas, hollow shells deprived of all spiritual efficacy, if they were administered to the unbaptized. As regards the Mass, it is true, of course, that a pagan may assist at it and should be urged to do so. He may even benefit spiritually if he is prayerful while there. But he cannot profit directly from the Mass considered precisely as the Christian sacrifice, simply because he has not the character of baptism. Any benefits he receives 14 January, 19~0 SACRAMENTAL CHARACTERS will come to him from his t~ersonal devotion, a devotion that may perhaps be stimulated by the ceremonies of the Mass, but which can-not grasp the automatic direct fruits of the Mass, since these are reserved to the baptized alone. So, too, with regard to purely ecclesi-astical benefits. The Church limits them to persons having the bap-tismal character. Only they can.gain indulgences. Only they have a claim to her special intercessory powers when they make use of sacra-mentals. Only they have a right to Christian burial, and so on. However, it would not be correct to say that the character of bap-tism grants only passive powers. It is true, of course, that the share of the baptized in the ruling power of the Church is purely receptive. The baptized have the right and duty to obey, not to command. It is true also that the baptized possess only a passive share in the teaching power of the Church. They are to receive instruction, not to give it. This does not mean that the baptized may not teach the faith to non-Catholics or even to Catholics, as is done laudably at times. But when the baptized do teach others about the faith, they do not act in an official capacity because their character does not e.mpower them so to act. Only the character of confirmation enables one to act officially as an instructor of the faith, and even the con-firmed can do this only in a limited degree, that is, subject to their bishops and pastors. But the character of baptism does confer some active share in the Church's power to sanctify through her liturgical worship. This does not hold for the sacraments of confirmation, the Eucharist, penance, extreme unction, and orders, whose valid ministration demands the character of orders.1 Neither does it hold for baptism because, although a lay person may validly and, sometimes, even licitly baptize, this power is not to be attached to the baptismal character, since even a-pagan can validly and sometimes licitly admin-ister this sacrament. Nevertheless, this character enables all the faithful to perform an active function when they assist at Mass. Twice in his encyclical Meditor Dei the Holy Father declares that by their baptismal charac-ter the faithful can actively offer up the Mass through the priest and 1As regards the Eucharist, we mean that the character of the priesthood is required to effect the presence of the Sacrament. In exceptional circumstances the laity could distribute the Sacrament to themselves and others. We sometimes read that by an active power of the character of baptism spouses are enabled at the time of marriage to bestow on each other the grace flowing from this sacrament. This is not certain, however, since the baptismal character may merely make it possible for the spouses to receive the graces of the sacrament. In this case the power of the baptismal character would be only receptive or passive. 15 CLARENCE MCAULIFFE Review for Religious in a certain sensealong with him. They can offer through the priest because he alone, by reason of the character of the priesthood, is the only real minister under Christ of the sacrifice. Hence only through him can the baptized act since they are powerless "to place validly the visible rite of sacrifice.' However, when at the double consecration, in which the essence of the Mass 'consists, the priest effects the pres-ence of the Divine Victim by the symbolic slaying and the visible presentation or offering of the Victim to God, he acts as the repre-sentative of all the people. Hence the people too should assent internally to what the priest alone does externally. The p.eople too should in spirit present or offer up Our Lord to the Father. In this way they offer along with the priest. Moreover, they should also foster in themselves at Mass the dispositions which Our Lord as principal offerer certainly has and which the human priest should also have, namely, dispositions of adoration, humility, thanksgiving, reparation, and petition. In this sense also, the baptized offer the Mass along with the priest. Concerning'the character of confirmation it should be noted that its power is not mainly passive, or receptive of spiritual gifts like that of baptism, but it is, on the contrary, entirely active. Furthermore, the objects upon which the powers of this character are exercised are not, as in the case of baptism, sacred rites such as the sacraments and sacramentals. Confirmation is not concerned with the liturgy, but with the courageous maintaining and propagation of the Catholic faith. It confers on its recipients through the character a share not in the ruling or sanctifying powers o~ the Church but in its teaching power only. Confirmation, if its character is used rightly by co-operation with the actual graces spontaneously flowing from the sacrament, transforms the spi.ritually feeble infants of baptism into spiritually rugged adults. I.t advances the baptized from the status of civilians to that of soldiers. Soldiers can bear witness to the beliefs of the country for which they fight either by suffering for these beliefs or by actively striving to inculcate them in others. Hence, first of all, the confirmed are officially authorized by their character to testify to the truth of C~th-olic teaching by suffering any evils whatsoever that befall them because of this teaching. These evils in the moral sphere may range from slights to insults, to detraction, to calumny, even to social ostra-cism. In the physical order the Catholic may by reason of his faith be visited with such sufferings as unemployment, double taxation, and bodily afflictions including even martyrdom itself. But the con- 16 ,lanuary, 1950 SACRAMENTAL CHARACTERS firmed person professes by his character that he will bear, at least patiently, all such wrongs. Secondly, the confirmed have the official right and duty to engage in the spread of the faith under the guidance of the hierarchy. Hence confirmation is often called today the sacrament of"Catholic Action," although this appellation does not express its entire scope as is evident from what we have already said. By good example in his private life, by positive action and speech in his public life, the confirmed is entitled and obligated to further the interests of the Catholic Church. A minute's reflection reveals the immense scope of this duty. It com-prises anything from giving a beggar a cup of coffee to establishing a house of hospitality or founding a Catholic school; anything from passing on a Catholic periodical to writing and publishing a Catholic book. Finally, it should be remarked again that the confirmed are o~ciall~ deputed to suffer for the faith and to-promote its spread. The character of confirmation is something like the seal of a notary public. This seal duly stamped changes a private document to an official one. So too the seal of confirmation lends an official status to the works it enjoins. This point is of some importance since it is plain that the merely baptized are obliged in certain circumstances to endure wrongs for their faith and to diffuse it. But they have not -bden otEcialty authorized to do so. Moreover, the faithful who have not yet been confirmed are not expected to engage in Catholic Action to the same extent as the confirmed. These latter should be on the alert for opportunities to spread the faith. The graces issuing from the sacrament will provide this alertness if they are used. Confirma-tion supplies much more copious actual graces than baptism with regard to bearing suffering for the faith and to laboring for its spread. For these reasons we see how futile is the objection that the character of confirmation is unnecessary because the baptized have already been charged with the same rights and obligations. Comparatively little need be said about the sacrament of orders whose three characters are imprinted successively by the diaconate, the priesthood, and the episcopate. It is clear that the powers con-ferred by these characters are active or giving powers and that they are exercised primarily, though not exclusively, in the placing of liturgical rites. Hence those who have been marked with these char-acters share in Christ's priesthood, principally by sharing in the Church's function to sanctify. The character of the diaconate empowers its possessor to assist officially at solemn religious cere- 17 SACRAMENTAL CHARACTERS Reoieto t~or Relioious monies such as solemn Mass. He may also with permission distribute Holy Communion and administer solemn baptism. The priest by his additional character becomes capable of offering the Mass, of forgiving sins, and of administering.other sacraments and also some sacramentals. Thus he too shares in the sanctifying power of the Church and in a much higher degree than the deacon. Finally, the bishop sh'ares in the sanctifying power of the Church in the highest degree since he can perform all the sac~ed ministries proper to the priest, and, besides, he alone is the ordinary minister of confirmation and the sole minister of the sacrament of orders. Hence, once a man has been elevated to the episcopate and has been endowed with all the sacramental characters, those of baptism, confirmation, the diaconate, the priesthood, and the episcopate itself, he shares as fully as possible with the sole exception of the Supreme Pontiff himself in the priest-hood of Christ. If we reflect for a moment on the functions of the characters of baptism, confirmation, and orders as we have explained them, we shall understand to some extent why the other four sacraments do not imprint a character. We know by faith that they do not, and knowing this we can find plausible reasons why they do not. None of them confers on its recipient a new, official statas in the Church ~it large. Holy Communion is intended for personal sanctification by uniting more intimately with Christ those who use its actual graces. Penance aims at freeing the individual fr6m mortal and venial sins. Extreme Unction has the private function of comforting an indi-vidual when he is in danger of death, the biggest crisis of his life. Finally, matrimony does not seem to confer a new status in the Church at large. Granted that the graces bestowed by this sacra-ment affect more than one person. They come to both husband and wife for their mutual benefit and that of their children. But they remain within the family circle. They do not pass beyond its bor-ders and enable the spouses to share in the teaching or ruling or sanc-tifying power of the Church viewed as a society. The graces of matrimony have a purely domestic function and do not look directly to the welfare of the Church as a whole. Hence even matrimony does not make the spouses official functionaries in the.Church as do baptism, confirmation, and orders. Undoubtedly some aspects of the sacramental characters will always remain a mystery in. this life. But theologians are at present devoting themselves to them energetically in order to clarify them yet more. All admit that the characters are qualities, but no agree- danudry, 1950 THE SPIRIT OF POVERTY' ment has yet been reached as to the exact kind of qualities they are. Much more, too, should be learned if possible about their relation-ship to sanctifying grace, to the infused virtues, and to the gifts of the Holy Ghost. Theologians are perplexed also by the relationship between the characters and actual graces, especially 'those actual graces that automatically flow from each sacrament received. We are not certain of the exact kind of distinction that flourishes between the various characters. We do not know whether they are vested with a physical or only a moral efficacy. " Even the objects for which the individual characters are given need greater precision. Hence v~e have avoided disputed questions as far as possible and have simply exposed many of the certain facts about the characters. These facts are enough to make us heed the admonition of St. Paul: "And grie;ce not the holy Spirit of God; whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption" (Eph. 4:30). The Spiri!: ot: Povert:y and Modern Times Edward F. Garesch~, S.J. RELIGIOUS life is the same in its essentials all over the Catholic world.It consists of life in a community with the thre~ vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience under a lawful superior. Ever since the early days of the Church, when consecrated virgins grouped together to begin the cenobitic life or life in a community, these essentials have been preserved. The first consecrated virgins lived in their own homes, devoting themselves to good works. Then came the solitaries, who withdrew from the world and lived in deserts and hermitages so as to devote themselves more completely to contemplation and prayer. After a long time religious communi-ties were begun. These at first were chiefly contemplative. By degrees the monasteries grew to be centers of help for the poor, the sick, and the unfortunate; and the monks became the supreme copy- . ists and preservers of ancient manuscripts and writings. In those simple times it was not difficult for the monk to keep both the letter and the spirit of his vow of poverty, and the religious women were equally fortunate. Personal possessions had not multi- 19 EDWARD F. GARESCHI~ Rev~e~u [or Rel[gt'c!us plied as in our time; the needs of life were simple. It was no prob-lem to decide what to keep and what to give up when the opportuni-ties for possession were few and when all lived together in great simplicity. But as the communities of the mixed life, devdted in large measure to active works of charity, began to multiply, and as their good works sl~read over the Christian world, the spirit of poverty was threatened. With the increase of comforts and even luxuries religious had to exercise greater self-denial in order to keep the spirit of poverty. Thus, even good men who were bound to poverty accumulated personal gear far beyond their needs. In the life of St. Catherine of Siena is told the amusing story of the great theo-logian who visited Catherine's little group in order to try her spirit. But the saint turned the tables on the good man by telling him, "Father, your cell is filled with luxuries. You have splendid tapes-tries and fine furniture which do not become a man vowed to poverty. First set );our own life to rights and then come and judge of mine." The good father was filled with the grace of God at these words of the saint. Full. of confusion, he summoned one of his monks and said, "Go home at once to my cell and remove therefrom everything that is contrary to the spirit of holy poverty." Then he remained to listen to the converse of St. Catherine and became a member of what she called her "family" of devout souls who accompanied her wherever she went and shared in her good works. In our times, both necessities and luxuries have multiplied to such a point that there is still more need to understand and practice the spirit of true poverty. To use things as wg should, to take advantage; in reason, of all the modern discoveries which make work so much more effective and can thus. multiply our efficiency, and yet not to depart from the spirit of religious poverty is a much greater problem now than it was in simpler days. What then is the spirit of poverty, and how can we best practice it? First, we had better consider what the vow of poverty imposes. According to Pope Pius IX the simple vow of poverty which is taken by religious in congregations consists in this that the religious are deprived of the right to dispose [reet{i of anything.1 In thus giving up the freedom to dispose of things of value we make a great sacri- 1Everything said in this article applies with even greater force to religious with the solemn vow of poverty, for such religious have lost the right even to own property. 20 danuary, 1950 THE SPIRIT OF POVERTY rice to God of that impulse we all have to gather possessions and use them as we like. Being thus subject to the will of the superior, we ask permissic;n for any expenditure or use of property outside the regular and understood routine of our community life or office. This permission can of course be presumed in certain circumstances, but all our expenditure and our use of things valued in money is with the permission of superiors, either expressed or implied. This is the extent of the vow. But the virtue of poverty goes much farther. The purpose of both the vow arid the virtue is to make us more like Christ. We know that Our Lord lived a life of willing poverty. He called attention to the fact that while the birds have their nests and the foxe, s their lairs, the Son of Man had no place to lay His head, no dwelling that He could call His own. St. Francis of Assisi used to' deligh.t to remember that the Lady Poverty, after accompanying Our Lord all His life long, ascended. with Him to the cross itself and was with Him to the end. For He died' stripped of all things. Even for His clothing the soldiers had cast lots. No human b~'ing was ever richer in His own right than Our Lord. All the splendor and the wealth of the world were His by the right of creation. When therefore He gave up all possessions and lived a poor life all His days, His was the greatest of all poverty. And note that Our Lord did really live the life of a poor man. He trav-eled on foot. He had no permanent home. He ate the bread of charity and was clad in the garments of the poor. His apostles and disciples, who accompanied Him in His labors and journeys, lived likewise. Now the spirit of poverty is motived by a desire to imitate Our Lord as closely as we can in His renunciation of the things of this world that are valued in money. Because He loved us so much as to give up those comforts and splendors which were His by right, we desire to make a voluntary sacrifice of the comforts and luxuries which we might have had if we chose, and to be more like Him by becoming poor in spirit as He was poor for our love. If we could have seen the little group which accompanied Our Lord during His public life, we would have remarked that they were all simply dressed, that they walked along the dusty road while the rich drove by in chariots or rod~ on mettlesome steeds, that the food they ate was the usual nourishment of the poor. To imitate Our Lord, there-fore, we have to do likewise according to our circumstances and with 21 EDWARD F. GARESCHI~ Review for Religious due prudence and discretion. Note that the life which Our Lord led, as shown in the Gospel, was a life that can be imitated by everyone. He lived in the midst of the people. He went to weddings and to banquets. He had His purse to pay the way of Himself and His associates. Thus His poverty was not an obstacle to His ministry. In fact, it was a great help, for He and His companions were freed from many cares which an accumulation of valuable possessions would have put upon them and which would have distracted them from their holy ministry. Those who desire to imitate Our Lord will have His spirit of detachment from and indifference to expensive comforts and posses-sions. They will live and act like poor men and women, using money and everything that is valued in money only insofar as it helps their service of God, is needful, and is approved by those who take the place of Christ. They will use nothing as their own, and therefore will be careful and economical in the use of material pos-sessions. They will be liberal and kind to others, but careful and strict with themselves. Thus they will ever draw nearer to the loving pove.rty of Christ. The motive of this self-sacrifice and self-discipline in the use of material possessions ought to be the love of Our Lord for His own sake. Because He is so lovable, we desire to imitate and please Him to the utmost. He h~is said to us, through the young man who was rich, "If thou wilt be perfect, go sell all thou hast and give to the poor; and come, follow me." We answer Him, Master, go on, and I will Follow Thee 7"0 the last gasp, with truth and lo~talty. In our day, of course, when so many new needs have been devised, when there is such an abundance of all luxuries, when new inventions constantly supply new helps and conveniences in every .department of life, it is much more difficult to maintain the spirit of detachment, frugality, and willing poverty than it was in simpler times. The poorest community of our time enjoys luxuries which were not found in the palace of King Herod. Hence the practice of poverty is relative to the condition of the time. What would seem luxuries in Our Lord's day are bare necessities now. Yet the spirit of poverty remains the same. There is one prac-tical way to practice the spirit of poverty which has many advan-tages. This is to make it a point to be careful and economical in all things and for the love of God. Economy is a virtue which wastes 22 January, 1950 THE SPIRIT OF POVERTY nothing of value, uses nothing out of its due proportions. Those who are economical go to excess neither in saving nor in spending. They measure their expenditure by the exact need of the community or the individual. To be either too saving or too lavish in spending departs from the spirit of poverty, because it is a misuse Of material things, an abuse of the goods of the community according to one's own whim. To save where we should spend, to deprive others of-what they need, is wrong. It is also wrong to waste and spoil, to use more than necessary, to spend, money or thinl~s valued in money without suf-ficient reason. Economy, therefore, and diligence in the use of material things, both motived by the love of God, are a great help to the observance of the spirit of poverty. St. Ignatius tells his sons to love poverty as a mother and to desire at times to experience some of its effects. This is a most prac-tical direction. Our love for our mother makes us remember her, desire her presence, love her company. Those who love poverty as a mother will take an inward pleasure in having only what is needful, in using everything with care, and in practicing an exact economy. They will prefer simple and less expensive things, wear clothing so long as it is wearable, avoid personal expenses when they can safely be dispensed with. They will go to great pains to plan and manage so as to avoid useless expenditures, and they will do this out oflove for the poverty of Christ, out of devotion to Him whb willingly did all these things for us though He is the creator and owner of all the wealth of the universe. They will also wish to experience some-times the results of poverty. In a prudent and discreet way they will give up expenditures which might be comfort-making and agreeable but are not truly needed. The spirit of poverty is a source of immense merit because by the consistent and reasonable practice of poverty we become more and more like Our Lord and united to His Sacred Heart. It is also a great help to apostolic work and to prayer. Those who are always thinking about getting more conveniences and luxuries for them-selves, who accumulate personal gear and chattels, and plan to have more luxuries and gratifications lose in peace of mind what they gain in passing satisfaction. They have to take care of all these things, which takes time and effort. They are uncomfortably aware of- how different their life is from that of Christ. To obtain money for their purchases and outlays requires energy and effort that might be used 23 THE SPIRIT OF POVERTY Review [or Religious in other more profitable ways. They put a burden on their superior by asking permissio.n for things which are very dubiously necessary, and by wanting to make expenditures which do not agree with the spirit of religious life. A reasonable and religious poverty is a great edification to the people, who keenly observe how religious act and live. If they see them simple and frugal, undergoing a little mortification for the sake of poverty, and glad and cheerful in their renunciations of the expen-sive and luxurious things of this life, they are edified and helped to bear their own wants and needs. With all our advance in social jus-tice, a great part of the population is still chro'nically in want. It comforts and helps them to see others living by choice a life of" fru-gality and self-sacrifice for the love of the poor 3esus. The spirit of poverty is also the endowment of the work of religious. The reason why small groups of religious men and women are able to build up such great charities, such remarkable educational institutions, such hospitals and refuges is the willing and systematic frugality, poverty, and economy of the religious themselves. If it were necessary to staff all these schools, hospitals, and institutions with paid' lay workers, the ad'ded financial burden would be enor-mous. In the missions also the far-extended program of education and health is endowed by the spirit of poverty of the missionaries. In proportion as the members of the religious communities are indi-vidually pdssessed of this spirit, the growth of all these good works is helped and fostered. The widespread and ever-growing demand for religious to staff so many important activities is a testimony of the efficacy of religious poverty. Moreover, the individual religious is set free from the many anxieties, labors, and trials which the need of making a living bring to the majority of mankind. As to the treasure in heaven laid up by all this loving self-sacrifice of frugality and economy, it must be immensely great. For to have the true spirit of poverty means a constant resistance to the inclination which everyone has to possess more and more, to have dominion over more and more, to do what one likes with one's own. The individual religious should have very little difficulty in deciding whether he or she has this spirit of poverty. The answers to a few simple questions will determine the fact. "Do I habitually practice a prudent economy and self-denial in everything that has to do with the spending of money or the use of things valued in money? 24 January, 1950 . HOPE Do I wish at,times to feel. some inconvenience, some. difficulty such as the poor experience when they have to economize for want of enough money,? Do~.I submit myself.in all things to the dominion.of my superior in what-concerns the spending of money or the use of things valued in.money? Do I waste or give away or" destroy or spoil or lose anything .of money value?". It m.ay seem to some readers too simple a solution of the some-times difficult problem of the spirit of poverty to make economy and care in the use of things valued in money, and.of money itself, a standard and. means.But consider the matter practically. Is it not true that most of the faults against the,spirit of poverty come from lack of economy chat i~ motived by love of Our.Lord, and a lack of proper subjection to, the .will of the superior? Is it not true also that the religious who is. careful, frugal, and .conscientious about expenditures:of money or.the use of things valued in. money is usu-ally. also possessed of .the spirit of poverty.? There is little need there-foie Of subtle distinctions and finespun, reasoning about this beautiful virtue. .Those ~who are careful, and frugal in their use.of.material things, who are .subject ,inthis use. to the will of the superior for the love and imitation.of Jesus Christ, can have the consolation that they are practicing the spirit of poverty. ope C. A. Herbst, S.J. ~V/E HEAR MUCH about faith and charity. We should. Faith ~is the foundation of justification. Without it we can do nothing to please God. Charity is the greatest of the virtues and. the fulfilling of the law. About hope we do not hear so much. Yet it, too, is a theological or divine virtue, has God for its object; and His perfections--His power, His goodness, His fidelity--for its motives. St.Paul mentions it in the same breath with the other two: "Now there remain faith, hope, and charity, these three" (I Cor. 13:13). In ancient Christian symbolism we find with the cross of faith and the heart of charity the anchor of hope, "an anchor of the soul, sure and firm" (Heb. 6:19). "Faith begins, .charity completes,.,and hope is the bond between them." Hope is the first 25 C. A. HERBST Ret;ieto /:or Religious princess of the realm, standing close to charity the queen and helping to make possible her reign in souls. Hope is love of God for our own sakes. Not that it excludes God, but it does decidedly include self. It is that "imperfect love by which someone loves something not for itself but that good may come to him from it" (S. Th., 2-2, q. 17, a. 8), "The love of hope certainly terminates in God, but self has likewise a part i.n it; we behold the Almighty without losing sight of our own interests, and our motive in tending to Him is, that we may one day possess and enjoy Him. It inclines us to love God, not because He is sovereignly and essentially amiabl~ in Himself, but because he is infinitely good to us. Thus you perceive, attention to our own interests is mingled with our love for God. It is a real love, but a love of concupiscence, in which our own concerns have a great share . When I say I love Go'd for my own sake, I mean, that I rejoice in reflecting that God is my inheritance, my sovereign good, and as such worthy of being ardently desired." (.St. Francis de Sales, Love of God, chapter 17.) And so this love for God is, one might say, selfishness, but a g6od selfishness, and in this case the very best kind of selfishness. I want from God, God Himself, to be eternally possessed in perfect happi-ness. Intimately bound up with God, the object of our hope, are the means necessary to attain Him. If we want Him we must want them. "He who wills the end wills ~he means," says the philos-opher. °These means are goods both supe~rnatural and natural which will bring us to Godin eternal life. We want especially the super-natural ones because these by their very nature lead to everlasting happiness. Some are absolutely necessary as, for instance, the two we ask for in the ordinary act of hope: "I hope to obtain the pardon of my sins and the help of Thy grace." As we always need the help of God's grace for any supernatural act, we must use prayer, the ordinary means of grace, and the sacraments, the extraordinary means, if we want to get to God. With these helps we shall be able to observe the commandments of God and the precepts of the Church, fulfill the duties of our state in life, follow the divine inspirations. But we may also hope for natural and temporal goods since, as St. Augustine says, "Those things pertain to hope which are con-tained in the Our Father"; and when we pray: Give us this day our daily bread, "according to the interpretation and authority of the holy Fathers, we ask those succors of which we stand in need in this 26 ,lanuar~l, 1950 HOPE life; and those, therefore, who.say that such prayers are unlawful, deserve no attention. Besides the unanimous concurrence of the fathers, many examples in .the Old and New Testaments refute the error." (Roman Catechism, P. 4, ~. 13, n. 9.) More in detail, a renowned spiritual writer explains: "If, therefore, you ask me whether temporal blessings which the faithful so frequently beg of God,--as, for instance, health, bodily strength, p?osperity, honours, office, wealth, riches and the like,--are an object of supernatural and theological hope, I ar~swer that if we look for these frail goods .as means necessary or suited to our successful attainment of eternal blessings (that is, inasmuch as they help us to recover or to obtain God's grace to avoid sin or to rise out of it, to acquire virtue or to increase it, to procure or to forward God's glory)/they, too, are to be accounted objects of Christian hope" (Scaramelli, Directoriurn Asceticum, 4, 49). Hope is a theological virtue because everything about it, its object and its motives, is divine. Relying on God we are confident that we shall obtain God. It is in the affective part of us, our will, because its object is good, the Highest Good. But He is difficult to attain, so difficult that we need tlse divine help. Holy Scripture speaks constantly of this divine help, of the power and goodness of God, when it wants to arouse our hope; of His power and goodness and'of many more of His attributes, for it is indeed hard to say which is the proper and essential motive of hope. It might be God's omnipotence, or His mercy, or goodness, or liberality, or fidelity to His promises. Holy Scripture, tradition, and the holy and learned men in the Church could be cited in favor of any one of these. God's almighty power to help us--and the courage it gives the soul to overcome the difficulties that lie in the path to God--is an outstanding motive. So is the infinite g6odness of God that will be to us a reward exceeding great and an eternal joy. As for His fidelity to His promises, it con-tains "all that we need, everything, evil alone excepted, that we can desire or dream for. More than that even. Why, it contains all that God dreams of for us in those sweet, infinite dreams which His full love for us fills to the very brim with realization, with reality . It is vested with incontestable marks. Prophecy is scattered there, it is sealed with a thousand miracles. To guard it He established first the synagogue s0 jealous, then the Church so faithful. He raised up an apostolate to preach it, a teaching church to interpret it, martyrs to confirm it with their blood." (Gay, De la Vie et des Vertus 27 Reoiew for Religious Chretiennes, 2 3 8ft.) , God's Church hurls anathema at those who say it is wrong to work for an eternal reward. "Should anyone say that'a just man sins by doing good with a view to obtaining an eternal reward, let him be anathema" (Council of Trent, Sess. VI, Can. 31). Holy Scripture is filled with texts commending hope. "I. have inclined my heart to do thy justifications for ever, for the reward" (Ps. 118: 112). "To him that soweth justice, there is a faithful, reward" (Prov. 11:18). "And I say to you: Make unto you friends,of the mammon of iniquity: that when you shall fail/they may receive .you into everlasting dwellings" (Luke 16:9).' ':And every one that striveth for the mastery, refraineth himself from all things: and they indeed that they may receive a corruptible crown; but we an incor-ruptible one" (1 Cor. 9:25)'. "Be thou faithful until death: and I will give thee the crown of life" (Apoc. 2:10). The" Council of Trent declared: "Eternal life is held out to those who hope in God and persevere in doing good to the end. ,dust as grace w:is mercifully promised to the children of God through 3esus 'Christ,.',so" a reward will be faithfully .given for their good works.and merits.:'. (Trent, Decree on Justificationj ch. 16.). Hope is a worthy mdti~ce even, for those who bare advanced far in the spiritual:.life: even in, more rehent times the opinion that those "in the contemplative or unitiv~ way lose .every interested motive of fear and .hope:' was condemned (Innocent XII, B'rief Cure.Alias, March 12, 1699).,., ", We find hope all along- our road to heaven. It is,infused into our soul at baptism. The, sinner must hope for pardon if, the.sacrament of penance together with 'attrition,is to take away 'his .sins: .Even' an act of perfect love of God,~ which of itself takes away sin, presup-poses hope.~"We are saved by'hope" ' (Romans 8:24); "He-that trusteth in the Lord, shall be healed" (Prov. 28:25);, :'Because. he hoped in me I w'~ll deliver him" (Ps. 90:14). Good people, too, must have hope in order to persevere to the end and. be saved. One ought often to make an explicit and formal act of hope,, but this would not be necessary. Every prayer we say to God implicitly contains hope, hope that it will be answered, that we will get for ourselves and for others what we ask.for. Then again, good prayer is necessary for salvation, but it will not be a good' prayer, will not get results, unless, it be said with the hope that God will answer it. So hope is necessary, as necessary as his destination is to a traveler. St. Augustine says: "It is hope that is necessary for the journey. 28 danuary, 1950 HOPE That it is which gives consolation along the way. The traveler, laboriously plodding along, keeps a-going because he hopes to reach his destination. Take away that hope of his and straightway any desire to go on vanishes. In the same way our hope justifies our continuing our pilgrimhge . By suffering patiently the martyrs received their crown. They longed for what they did not see; they contemned what they had to bear. ~n this hope they exclaimed: 'Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?' " (Patrologia Latina, 38, 866.) It is difficult but possible to attain God. We must always bear this in mind, otherwise we may become presumptuous or despair. Someone has said that for every sin against faith men commit ten or twenty against hope. It is instructive and perhaps a little surprising to hear what St. Thomas has to say on the sins against hope. Pre-sumption, "which falls back on one's own powers and attempts what is impossible for them, what exceeds one's strength; evidently Ibroceeds from vainglory. Because when one is greatly desirous of glory he attempts things beyond his strength . Taken from another angle, presumption relies too much on God's mercy or power. Then one hopes to obtain glory without merits and forgiveness" without repentance. This presumption seems to come directly from pride. Such a man seems to esteem himself.so, highly that ;he thinks God will not punish him when be sins nor shut him out from . glory." (S. Th., 2-2, q. 21, a. 4.) Despair is the loss of hope in God's mercy. It comes from sensuality. "Our affections are con-taminated by the lbve of bodily pleasure, especially sexual pleasure." Spiritual things do not taste good to us, or do not seem to be great goods. Becaus~ ofhis affection for such things, spiritual goods are a bore to a man, and he does not hope for them because they are hard to get. So despair comes from sensuality." It comes from sloth, too. "Because a man thinks it is impossible for him, either by his own efforts or with the aid of another, to get a good thatis difficult to obtain, he is very much dejected. When this gets the upper hand in a man, it looks to him as though he can never rise to any good. And because sloth is a kind of sadness depressing the soul, sloth begets despair in this way." (Ibid., q. 20, a. 4.) Hope is the virtue of wayfarers, of .those who have not yet reached the end of their journey. Holy souls who die in the Lord take it with them to purgatory. Their Good is still absent, the way still hard. In heaven hope has passed into love, desire into fulfill- 29 I~MILE BERGH Reuiew for Religiou's ment. One does not hope to get what one now has: "F6~ what a man seeth, why doth he hope for?" (Rom. 8:24). Dante wrote over the portals of hell: "All hope abandon, ye who enter here." ~The damned, too, have finished their journey. No good is possible for them now. They are in a state of eternal despair. The soft light of hope falls gently on the cradle and the grave and lights up all the way between. "Between the glory of heaven and the faith which begins to render us capable of it lies hope. This is the stem between the seed that sends it forth and the ripe ear which crowns it. It is hope which gives us the power of ascending up to the shinin~ brightness and power of God. It is like a sacred magic exercised upon our hearts by the sweet allurements of God, a real participation of our soul in His victorious power . What a beau-tiful, what a beneficent, what a precious creation! What a strong, wonderful bond with God! What a surety in a life exposed like ours is! What a pledge of final'~ictory, what a lien on paradise!" (Gay, op. cir., 254, 224ff.) The Holy Year ot: 195o t~imile Bergh, S.J. [EDITORS'NOTE. Father Bergh's article, which appeared in P, euttes des Commun-autes Religieuses (November-December, 1949, pp. 161-170), was translated and adapted for our REVIEW by Father Clarence McAuliffe, with the'kind permission of Father Bergh and the Editors of the Reuue.] AFEW WEEKS AGO, on December 24th, the Holy Doors of the four major Roman basilicas, St. 3ohn Lateran, St. Peter in the Vatican, St. Paul's-Outside-the Walls, and St. Mary Major were solemnly opened to mark the beginning of the jubilee of 1950. These doors had 1Seen closed since April 2, 1934, when the jubilee commemorating the redemption came to an end. For more than a year the Catholic world has been preparing itself for the present season of grace and °spiritual refreshment. On dune 2, 1948, the Sovereign Pontiff delivered an allocution to the Sacred College on the occasion of the feast of St. Eugene. After recalling the distressing spectacle of a world torn by discord, he declared: "So much the more binding is the obligation of Catholics January, 1950 THE HOLY YEAR OF 1950 to be a shining example of unity and solidarity by disregarding all distinctions based upon language, nationality, and race. Envisioning this perfect solidarity, we welcome with gratitude to God and with confidence in His help the approach of the Holy Year . It is with interior joy and sentiments of satisfaction that we announce to you, Venerable Brothers, and to the entire Catholic world that in 1950 the twenty-fifth Holy Year in the Church's history will be, our Savior willing, celebrated pursuant to the observances made sacred by a revered tradition.''1 At once a central committee at Rome undertook the organization of the jubilee in both its spiritual and temporal aspects. Shortly afterwards this committee was assisted by national committees in the various countries. On Christmas Day, 1948, the Sovereign Pontiff personally com-posed a prayer for the Holy Year. All the needs of the Church and of the world were in his thoughts and became the objective of the vast crusade of prayer that was soon to begin: courage for those suffering persecution, unshakable loyalty to the Church, fruitful charity towards the poor and all other unfortunates, solicitude for social justice and brotherly love, the coming of peace--peace to indi-viduals and families, peace to nations and among nations, peace especially in Palestine. It seems that the central committee had at first planned a solemn day of prayer to.prepare for the jubilee. This day was to have been observed on April 2, 1949, the fiftieth anniversary of the priestly ordination of Plus XII. However, the,arrest and conviction of Cardinal Mindszenty impelled the Sovereign Pontiff to request that Passion Sunday, April 3, 1949, be a day devoted to reparation. The celebration on that day of a second Mass "'p~o remissione pecca-torum'" (for the remission of sins) by several hundred thousand priests was unquestionably no less beneficial as a preparation for the Holy Year. On May 26th, Feast of the Ascenslon, the official bull pro-claiming th~ jubilee was read at St. Peter's and then in the other basilicas. Over and above the actual purification of soul attained through the jubilee indulgence, the bull urges very particularly that 1At the time of tbe first jubilee in 1300, wbich brought 200,000 of the faithful to Rome, Pope Boniface VIII decided that these solemnities should be repeated every hundred years. However, before the middle of the century', Pope Clement VI decreed a jubilee for 1350, and desired that the jubilee be celebrated every fifty years. Finally, in 1470, Pope Paul II established the present custom of declaring a jubilee every twenty-five years. 31 ~MILE BERGH ReVieW for .Religious profound renewal of Christian 'spirit for which all should stri~;e. It also lays down the conditions that must be fulfilled to gain the jubi-lee indulgence at Rome in 1950. It recalls all the intentions of the Sovereign Pontiff. It ~extends to all sons and daughters of the Pontiff, wherever thy may be, an urgent invitation to "visit their common Father who with open arms and loving heart awaits their arrival." On July 10, 1949, three pontifical constitutions supplemented, as is customary, the bull of proclamation. The first of these suspend.s indulgences and certain other privileges during the Holy Year except in Rome. The second grants broad powers to confessors of the Roman diocese while the jubilee is in progress. The third mentions certain classes of people who, even though they are outside Rome, can gain the jubilee indulgence in 1950. Finally, .the Sacred'Peni-tentiary on September 17th issued detailed instructions to confessors. of the Roman diocese and granted some faculties to confessors coming to Rome as pilgrims. From this jubilee legislation we shall now select some points of greater interest to our readers. A. GAINING"THE JUBILEE INDULGI~NCE AT ROME To s.tart with, it is only at Rome that the jubil.e,e iiad,ulgence ca,n be gained in 1950. The exact tithe for gaining it falls between noon of December 24, 1949, and midnight of December 25, 1950. As is generally known, however, it is custofiaary for the Roman jubilee to be extended in the following year to the entire Catholi~ world. At the present time the granting of this extension has eyidently not come up for consideration. The bull of proclamation lays down the.fol-lowing conditions for gaining the jubilee: confession made with "this intention particul~arly In mind; reception of Holy Communion; visits to the four major basilicas made either on the same day or on different days. In each basilica the Apostles Creed must be said once; the Our Father, the Ha'il Mary, and the Glory-to-the Father mu~t be recited three times; and, .finally, a fourth Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory-to-the-Father must be offered for the intentions of the Holy Father. The indulgence can be gained either for oneself or for the dead, and it may be gained as often as the prescribed works are repeated. The jubilee.is essentially a plenary indulgence of the highest possible efficacy. It remits before God all temporal punishment still due to sins that have already been forgiven (canon 911). One reason why the jubilee indulgence can be gained many times for oneself lies.in 32 Januar{!, 1950 THE HOLY YEAR OF 1950 the fact that it can thus be gained at widely-scattered intervals during the Holy Year so that a person may be liberated of his temporal pun-ishment for recent sins each time it is gained. However, a much bet-ter reason for this authorized repetition is to be found in the disposi-tions of the recipient, which do not always contain that .thorough detestation of all sin which is required for the full application of this plenary indulgence. We might draw this conclusion from the Code of Canon Law itself when it declares (canon926) : "The granting of a plenary indulgence is to be so understood that if it is not'gained in its entirety, it is nevertheless gained partially, according to the per-fection of one's dispositions." Just as the jubilee is a time when teml~oral punishment due to sin is remitted, so also it is a time when pardon is more readily granted for certain offenses and when dispensations from various obligations are more easily obtainable. Thus" we stated above that one of the constitutions of July 17," 1949, transmitted special pow-ers to confessors in Rome during the Holy Year. The number of priest-penitentiaries has been increased and the Holy Father has endowed them with faculties of considerable importance. In exempt religious institutes of men, their superiors at Rome can ¯ designate for each house one or other confessor who from that time on will enjoy the powers of a priest-penitentiary with regard to all those living in that house--whether professed, or novices, or guests who abide there for at least one day and one night. In favor of these same subjects certain powers to dispenseand .to commute have like-wise been accorded to other confessors approved by the cardinal protector and also to approved regular confessors in exempt religious institutes. B. SUSPENSIONOF INDULGENCES AND OF CERTAIN FACULTIES OUTSIDE ROME With a view to magnifying the importance and significance of the pilgrimage to the tombs of the Holy Apostles, the privilege of gaining many customary indulgences has been suspended throughout the world. However, the follo@ing exceptions have been made: 1. It is only for the living that indulgences cannot be gained. The customary indulgences can still be gained for the dead. 2. The indulgence at the moment of death can stilI be gained for oneself. So also those indulgences attached to the recitation of the Angelus, of the Regina Caeli, and of the prayer composed by 33 I~MILE BERGH Regieto for Religious Plus XII for the holy year.2 Likewise those granted for visiting a church where the Forty Hours is in progress and for accompanying the Blessed Sacrament when Communion is brought to the sick. Also the toties quoties indulgence granted to those who piously visit the chapel of the Portiuncula in the church of St. Mary of the Angels near Assisi. Finally, those indulgences may still be gained that are granted by bishops and other prelates when ~hey pontificate or when they bestow their blessing according to some other established form. Moreover, most of the powers to absolve from sins and censures reserved to the Holy See, as well "as most of those concerned with granting dispensations or commutations, have been also suspended. We do not believe that it is necessary to make this matter more spe-cific. Religious priests-who read this will undoubtedly be instructed by their own superiors how far they can use the special powers which they ordinarily possess. C. GAINING THE dUBILEE INDULGENCE OUTSIDE ROME According to the custom observed in preceding jubilees, a special pontifical constitution designates the various classes of people who can, even this year, gain the jubilee indulgence without making the pilgrimage to Rome. The Supreme Pontiff declares that he would not like to see those who observe the strict enclosure of contemplative orders deprived of the benefits of the jubilee. He says the same of those who are hindered from going to Rome by reason of age, ill health, exile, imprisonment, or poverty. He has a singular confidence in the prayers of these consecrated religious and in the.expiatory sufferings of all these unfortunates. The regulations of this consti-tution repeat without the slightest deviation those of the jubilees of 1925 and 1933. For the convenience of the reader we shall designate the classes of people who are so privileged, the conditions they must fulfill to gain the jubilee, and the benefits they are accorded. I. Persons Who Enjo~t the Privileges 1. All religious women who live in community in a society approved by the Church (or wh6 have applied for such approval), even if they do not take vows; hence, all nuns, sisters, oblates, pious women living in common, and women who are members of a third order regular. Likewise novices and postulants in all such societies ¯ which observe community life. 2An English translation of the prayer will be found at the end of this article. 34 Januarg, 1950 THE HOLY YEAR OF 1950 2. All women engaged in the service of such societies (for instance, extern Sisters) and living in one of their houses. 3. Students of such societies provided they are boarders or part-time boarders. Day scholars are excepted. 4. All women living in a house of these societies if they abide there permanently or for some time. Women boarders who intend to remain there for at least six months would furnish an example. 5. Women and girls who live in educational institutions or other establishments reserved exclusively for women, even though these institutions and establishments are not under the supervision of religious women. 6. "Ancborites or hermits., who are segregated from the world by a continual, even though not perpetual, papal enclosure, lead the contemplative life, and have made their profession in a monastic or regular order. Examples of these would be the Reformed Cistercians of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Trappists), Carthusians, and Camaldolese Hermits." 7. Prisoners, exiles, displaced persons, and those dwelling in institutions aiming at reform. Also "ecclesiastics and religious who for their reformation have been consigned to a monastery or any other abode." 8. "The faithful of either sex who live in a country which, by reason of spedal circumstances, they cannot leave to undertake the trip to Rome." This class is a new one and is eviden.tly intended for Catholics living in countries behind the iron curtain. 9. "The faithful of either sex wbo are prevente'd by sickness or feeble health either from going to Rome during the jubilee year or from making the prescribed visits to the patriarchal basilicas." This is to be understood of sickness in the strict sense, of convalescence, of marked and lasting physical debility. It also includes bodily afflic-tions like blindness and paralysis, and mental derangements even though these are interrupted by periods of complete sanity. 10. "The faithful of either sex . . . who gratuitously or for pay devote themselves cont.inually to the care of the sick in hospitals." Nursing Brothers clearly come under this classification. I 1. "The faithful of either sex . . . who are occupied with the guidance, supervision, or education of inmates in institutions aiming at reform." This category would favor certain Brothers not included in the preceding number. Instructors an~ social workers applied to these institutions would also be included here. 12. "Workmen who make their livelihood by their daily toil 35 ~MILE BERGH Reoieto [or Religious and who cannot forego this toil long enough to make the trip to Rome." Although vacations with pay supply a remedy for this difficulty, it must be determined if they are long enough to allow a trip to Rome. Although the poor are not explicitly mentioned in this part of the constitution, it seems to us that they too should benefit by this privilege. As a matter of fact, mention is made at the beginning of the document "of those whose plight is so precarious that they cannot pay the necessary expenses [of a trip to Rome]." 13. "Persons who have completed their seventieth year." The above classes are designated in the constitution as the only ones so privileged. Other persons cannot be included even though they have excellent reasons. II. Conditi6ns for Gaining the Indulgence "We notify and exhort all and each of these to rid themselves of their sins in the sacrament of penance, after having examined into them in a spirit of sorrow. We exhort them, thus refreshed in soul, to strive more zealously to fulfill the obligations of a more perfect. life. This done, they will receive with suitable piety the Bread of Angels and so will obtain strength to carry out their holy. resolves with true religious fidelity. Finally, we exhort them not to fail to pray for our intentions, namely, for the spread of the Catholic Church, for the abolition of errors, for harmony amohg the rulers of nations, for tranquillity and peace throughout human society." We have translated this passage of the constitution because it seems to have a particular application to religious. The gaining of the jubilee induJgence is, in the mind of the Sovereign Pontiff, the starting point for a new effort to attain perfection. As substit[~tes for the visits to the four Roman basilicas, works of religion, of piety, and of charity will be enjoined. Either the ordinaries will designate these works or their designation will be entrusted by them to confessors according to individual circum-stances. It is worth noting, therefore, that aside from confession (which should be made specifically to gain the jubilee indulgence) and Communion, the pontifical constitution does not specify what prayers are required or what works are to be done. Speaking gen-erally, we may say that the works will consist of visits to local churches. The local ot~dinaries will issue instructions about this matter. If they failed to do so before the jubilee commenced, confessors may presume that they have received tacit delegation. They should be 36 January, 1950 THE HOLY YEAR OF 19 5 0 guided, as regards both prayers and visits, by the regulations laid down for Rome. All classes of the faithful coming within the privilege can gain. the jubilee indulgence as often as they repeat the works prescribed. In 1925 it could be gained only twice outside of Rome. If sickness should impede the fulfillhaent'of the works enjoined, the indulgence can be gained by confession alone. III. Special Benefits 1. The primary benefit consists in a perfect freedom to choose any confessor whatever who is approved by his ordinary. 2. The confessor is authorized to absolve penitents from both sins and censures reserved by law to the ordinary and even from those'reserved in a special way to the Holy See. He cannot, however, absolve a case involving formal and public heresy. Moreover, he can use this power only once for each of the faithful and he must exercise it when the jubilee confession is made. 3. The confessor selected by a nun ~vitb solemn vows can dis-pense her from any priva.te vow made subsequently to her solemn profession. 4. Tbe confessor of a Sister witb simple vows or of a pious woman living in a community can commute any of their private vowsl However, exceptions to this would be vows reser~'ed to the Holy See, those whose cessation would harm a third party, and those whose commutation would entail greater danger of committing sin than the vow itself, o PRAYER FOR THE HOLY YEAR OF JUBILEE 1950 Almighty everlasting God, we thank Thee sincerely for the great gift of this expiatory year. Heavenly Father, Who knowest all things, Who searchest and guidest the hearts of men, make them, we beseech "Thee, at this time of grace and salvation, attentive to the voice of Thy Son. Grant that this Expiator~l Year may be for al! a year of purilL cation and holiness, of interior life and atonement; that for the wayward it may be a year of bountiful forgiveness, of a happy return to Thee. Upon those suffering persecution for the faith bestow Thy spirit of fortitude so that the.tl may be bound inseparabl.tl to Christ and His Church. 37 THE HOLY YEAR 1950 Protect, 0 Lord, the Vicar of Thy Son on earth and also bishops, priests, religious, the consecrated, and the faithful.~ Grant that all, priests and" laity alike, the young, the mature and the aged, may be united together in thought and affection by ties the most binding. Make them steadfast like a rock so that the assault of Tby enemies may strike them in vain. Through Tby helping grace may there be enkindled in the hearts of all men a burning love [or the many unfortunates who, hard pressed by poverty and harrotoing circumstances, !ead a life unbe-t~ tting their human dignity. Excite in the souls of those who call Thee Father an under-standing and et~icacious hunger and thirst for social justice and fraternal charity. "'Grant peace, 0 Lord, in our days," peace to the individaul soul, peace in families, peace in the fatherland, peace finally among nations. May the heavenly rainboto of peace and reconciliation illumine toith the rays of its tranquil light the entire toorld tohicb has been sancti-fied by the life and sufferings of Thy Divine Son. 0 God of all consolation, great indeed is our misery, toeighty our sins, countless our needs, but much greater than these is our confidence in Thee. Realizing our weakness, toe toith childlike trust commit our afi~airs to Thee and toith our feeble prayers toe invokethe inter-cession and merits of the most glorious Virgin Mary and of all the saints. To the sick grant patience and health, to young men a robust faith, to young toomen purity, to fathers prosperity and holiness, to mothers success in training their children, to orphans benevolent protection, to exiles and captives repatriation, to everyone, [inally, Thy grace, the beginning and pledge of everlas.tin9 happiness in heaven. Amen. ¯ Plus PP. XII [EDITORS' NOTE: According to an account on the first page of L'Osseroatoro Romano for September 11, 1949, the following indulgences for the recitation of "this prayer were granted roanu propria by the Holy Father: a partial indulgence of seven years for each recitation, and a plenary indulgence once a month, under the usual conditions, provided the prayer has been recited every day. The original Latin text of the prayer was published in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis for April, 1949. on page 187.] 38 .ues!:ions and Answers I When a petition is sent to the Holy See on behalf of a religious con-cjrecjation, should it be signed by the superior alone or by the superior and his counselors? May the superior make such a petition without the knowledge of his counselors? There is no fixed rule in this matter. Ordinarily, for a simple dispensation, for instance, from an impediment to entrance, the signa-. ture of the counselors would not be required. However, frequently enough they must be consulted before such an indult'is asked for. These matters are determined by canon law and by the constitutions, which usually give a detailed list of matters for which the cor~ser~t of the council is required and another list of matters for which the council must be consulted though the ultimate decision is left to the good judgment of the superior. Prior to his election to the office of secretary-general, a reffglous has been doing ~mportant work in another capacity at the mother house. May the superior-general assign a part or all of the duties of the secretary-general to another religious in order to permit the elected secretary-general to continue the important work he had been doing? or at least to complete a definite phase of it? When it is in session; the general chapter exercises supreme authority over the religious institute. Outside of such time, that authority is exercised in its name by the superior-general. Hence, any elections held in general chapter are to be considered as made by the supreme authority of the institute, and no superior, not even a superior-general, has the right to put any restrictions on such an office. A religious elected to an office in a general chapter who does not ask to be relieved of. that office during the general chapter must devote his full time to carrying out the duties of that office, no mat-ter what his previous duties may have been. Somebody else should be appointed to take over his previous duties. The religious who has been elected secretary-general must do the work of the secretary-, general, though he may during his free time, if he have any, help his successor in some other important office and gradually prepare him to take over entirely. But no superior has ~he right to appoint some-body else to do the work of the secretary-general in order that the person elected may devote himself to other work, even though in the 39 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Revietv for Religious eyes of the superior-general the other work seems to be more impor-tant. These same principles would apply to all elected officials and their work. What is ÷he effect of the vows taken by those nuns who by their rule should take solemn vows but by papal d~spos~t~on take only s~mple vows? (I) Do they invalidate marriage7 (2) Does the violation of their cloister incur a. censure7 (:3) Does such a nun have to make up the Divine Office in case she ~s not present at it in choir? Nuns who by their rule should have solemn vows but by reason of an order of the Holy See take only simple vows are true nuns in the full sense of the word as far as canon law is concerned (see canon 488, 7°): but since their vows are only simple, and not solemn, they have the effects of the simple vows, not of the solemn. Hence: (I) They do not ordinarily invalidate marriage but make it illicit (canon 1073) ; (2) Their cloister is not papal cloister, though ordi-narily they observe it just as strictly as if it were (Code Commission, March I, 1921,ad III, 2°) ; hence, one who violates their cloister sins in so doing, but does not incur the censure of excommunication mentioned in cancn 2342; (3) As to the private recitation of the Divine Office wl:en a nun has been absent from choir, canon 610, § 3 tells us that only- the solemnly.professed are obliged to recite the office privately if they are absent from choir. The constitutions, how-ever, might prescribe such a private recitation. ---4-- Can you tell us w,hefher the Aposfollc LeHer of P~us XI, Unlgenifus Del Filius, addressed fo the superiors general of all orders and societies of religious men on March 19, 1924, was ever translated into English? 'If so, where can we find the translation? We have not been able to find such an English translation of this very important document for religious men. Hence we appeal to our readers for help. If anyone knows of such an English translation, please inform us so that we may pass the information on to others. --S-- Why are lay Sisters not allowed to recite the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary? We would be able to cjet more suitable subjects for this category if the so-called lay Sisters were allowed to recite the Offic~ as the choir Sisters do. St. Francis of Assisi and other founders of religious orders pre- 4O danuar~l, 1950 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS scribed that the lay Brothers and Sisters shoul~t recite a fixed number of Paters and Ayes as a substitute for each of the canonical hours for the simple reason that in his day these members usually could neither read nor write--an accomplishment restricted in those days to clerics and to the children of the wealthy and noble families. Again, in con-vents of nuns the solemn recitation of the Divine Office took up a large, part of the choir Sisters' day, and consequently the household tasks were taken care of by the lay Sisters during that time. Modern congregations for the most part have solved the problem by abolishing the distinction between lay and choir Sisters, and all belong to one class. Provided that your constitutions do not posi-tively forbid the lay Sisters to recite the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary with the choir Sisters, your general chapter could allow such a practice to be established. On special occasions, such as at Christmas time, it has been the custom of superiors to 91re presents to priests and others who have shown favor to the community. These presents are paid for from community funds. Is there anythln9 contrary to poverty in this practice7 Canon 537 (of the Code of Canon Law) states that "it is not lawful to make presents out of the goods of a house, province, or institute, unless by way of almsgiving or for other just reasons, and with the consent of the superior and in conformity with the consti-tutions." It is customary in many places for a religious community to send small gifts at ChristMas time, in token of appreciation and gratitude for favors received, to priests, doctors, lawyers, and others who have given the community the benefit of their professional services during the year, as well as to other benefactors of the community. These gifts should be within the means of the community concerned. They are subject to limitations prescribed by the constitutions and by higher superiors. Higher superidrs themselves are limited by pro-visions laid down in the general chapter. Usually the consent of the council is required for gifts of greater value. OUR CONTRIBUTORS I~MILE BERGH is Professor of Moral Theology in the Jesuit Theologate at Lou-vain. EDWARD F:. GARESCHI~ is President of the Catholic Medical Mission Board and a prolific writer of spiritual books and articles. C.A. HERBST and CLARENCE MCAULIFFE are members of the faculty of St. Mary's College, St. Marys, Kansas. 41 ommunicaHons Reverend Fathers: In this open letter we wish to express the deep regret of many in our community that the REVIEW published in its November issue the article written by Fatl'ier Ellard on The Three Ages of the Interior Life, the book written by Father R. Garrigou-Lagrange. The REVIEW has always pursued a policy of helping souls to come to God. But now here is an article which throws discredit on a work which can be of great help to many. If Father Ellard chose to differ with some of the theological positions used by Father Lagrange in explainin9 his doctrine, then he should have published his views in a technical theological journal where readers would be prepared to distinguish between the positive contribution of Father Lagrange, which is rich and integrally true, and those theological features of his explanation which Father Ellard admits are inde-pendent of the substance of his teaching. Certainly, a non-technical journal, like the REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, is not the place for this kind of article. Theological erudition takes advantage of readers who lack the technical preparation necessary to measure its true weight. Our regret has arisen from the fact that, in our own community, we have learned by experience the beneficial effects of Father Lagrange's writings. The spiritual directors of our province have unanimously agreed that a wide reading of Father Lagrange by our religious has signally deepened the interior life of our r, eligious. We know of no single case where Father Lagrange's writing have led to discouragement or disillusionment. We cannot understand, then, why Father Ellard has suggested that this will be the issue of Father Lagrange's work (p. 317). Knowing Father Ellard's wide experience, we respect his opinion when he appeals to experience to show that Father Lagrange's thesis on contemplation as normal in the way to sanctity is not sound. But may we present the frt~it of our own experience. We have found that when religious sincerely follow a generous practice of detachment from the world and all inordinate creature affections, of humility and obedience, of interior recollection, then the Good God inevitably leads them according to the way Father Lagrange has pointed out. The night of sense comes very soon. During its continuance, but especially after its passing, prayer shows evidence of infused contem-plation, even though for a time personal activity in the will is neces- 42 BOOK REVIEWS sary. Thes~ touches of mystical p~ayer issue in a constant form of mystical life, in which the virtues previously practiced with difficulty become very easy and habitual. Provided that g.enerous cooperation continues, this mystical life brings new graces in prayer--periods of true quiet alternating with new interior trials. This has been our experience. And generally it has been the reading of Father Lagrange which has urged on the religious of our province to that detachment and inward prayerfulness which are a necessary preparation for God's gifts. We have seen through experi-ence that, even though contempIation is a free gift of God, still our Good Father is more than ready to give it to anyone of His children who is very little in his own eyes, detached from all things, especially his own will (through blessed obedience), and very recollected. Therefore, lest Father Ellard's review deter some from reading Father Lagrange, we would tell them to put aside all fears which this article may have aroused. To walk in the company of Father Lagrange is to walk in the company of the great saints whom Mother Church has given us to be our teachers~t. John of the Cross, St. Teresa, St. Albert the Great, St. Paul of the Cross, St. Bernard, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Francis de Sales, St. Jane Frances de Chantal, and a host of others.--A PRIEST. SEHRETS OF THE INTERIOR LIFE. By Lugs M. Marfinez, D.D. Trans-lated by H. d. Beufler, C~.M. PI~. vi~i + 207. B. Herder Book St. Louis, Missouri° 1949. $3.00~ For the past decade tbe ascetical writings of the Archbishop of Mexico City have been well known both in his own country and in South America, where they have enjoyed widespread popularity. This well-deserved reputation has been due to the Archbishop's out-standing talent as an ascetical writer. He has the happy faculty of breathing life into abstract prfnciples. Through the present translation, Father Beutler has therefore done a distinct service to the religious of the English speaking world by introducing them to this gifted spiritual author. In choosing one of the Archbishop's later works for this purpose, he has shown good judgment, for it possesses a warmth of personal understanding 43 BOOK REVIEWS Review ~or Religious lacking in his earlier efforts. The high quality of Father Beutler's readable translation is best indicated by the fact that it has been chosen as the current selection of "Spiritual Book Associates"-- a choice which will widen the reception the book richly deserves. In Spanish the book had the beautiful title of Sirnientas Divinas or Divine Seeds. Its English title, however, is misleading. It names the whole book from one of its chapters and so fails to convey the exact nature of the book's contents, so aptly described by its original title. Rather than the logical development of a single theme, it is a collection of distinct essays on the basic principles or sceds in the growth of the spiritual life. The unifying thread of the book is the analogy of spiritual growth with the growth of plant life. This is an interesting departure from the present trend among spiritual authors to compare spiritual growth to human, growth. The change sacrifices depth, it is true, but gains in simplicity and clarity. Successive chapters treat of a breadth of subjects: disorderly affec-tions, confidence, humility, love and fruitfulness, sorrow, fragrance and bitterness, contemplation, spiritual marriage, and finally, the secrets of the interior life. These latter include the necessity of prayer, faith and ways to make it live, spiritual desolation and ways to make it profitable. Though all traditional subjects, they are not treated in the traditional way. Therein lies the distinctive merit of this book. Without sacrificing clarity, the Archbishop makes a fresh approach to each topic that will appeal to religious accustomed to the standard treatment of these subjects. His deep understanding and sympathetic solution, of spiritual problems win the immediate good will of the reader. His ability to show the clear relationship of spir-itual pradtice to spiritual theory will undoubtedly gain for him as wide 'and devoted a public in English as he has rightfully enjoyed in Spanish. --- R. F. MCENIRY, S.J." THE LORD IS MY JOY. B~/ Paul de Jaegher, S.J. Pp. 182. The New- . man Press, Wesfmlnsfer,, Maryland, 1949. $2.50. The purpose and significance of this sm~ill volume may be gath-ered from one sentence: "Let us even now try to understand, to catch a glimpse of this happiness, until the blessed day comes when a choice grace will make us experience it for ourselves" (p. 49). Certain that many fervent and generous souls striving for a closer union with God need their minds opened to great new horizons, the author system-atically outlines a few causes of joy in our daily lives. He points out to the soul the path to a deeper understanding and realization of their. 44 ,lanuar~t, 1950 BOOK REVIEWS meaning as a preparation for experiencing these various joys which really are but one--disinterested love. Throughout the book emphasis is placed on three points: the positive element in our relations with God, the complete removal of all self in this relation, and the gradual enlargement of the spiritual life to include all love as the best preparation for heaven. As he runs through the list, Father de Jaegher points out bow these joys may bubble up as a spring, leap as a waterfall, or flow gently in the soul as a quiet river. The first group of joys centers around God, both as our destiny and as a gift to us, whereby we are to take joy in all that God is, surrendering self to His goodness, His wisdom, and so forth, replacing self with Him, becoming lost in Him in a continuous love. The second section concerns the joys the soul receives from and through Jesus. Being raised by Him to be His queen, the soul takes joy from His joys, His desires, and even from His cross. Mary and the saints, through whom the soul can love God and in whose love it takes great joy, are the subjects ofthe third section. Here, the author gives a beautiful view of the Mystical Body whereby all saints share their treasures and virtu'es with the soul, which takes joy in offering all these to God. In the final section, the author deals with the virtues as sources of joy. Besides suffering, a thirst for the spread of the love of God, and others, he points out the "most mysterious joy," " based on a selfless love of God, of loving one's own indigence. But the real basis, the strong foundation for all these joys, is the loving trust of the soul, the great assurance it has of the excess of divine love that rules its life. From this assurance it gains true happiness on earth and is making the best preparation for heaven.--R. P. NEENAN, S.J. ST. IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA. By P~re Paul Dudon, S.J. Translated by William J. Young, S.J. Pp. 484. The Bruce Publishing Company, Milwaukee, 1949. $5.00. At the end of the last century the publication of the Monumenti~ Soeietatis desu made a great many facts about St. Ignatius available for the first time, so that, as far back as 1901 a scholar like Father Herbert Thurston could write: "In a sense it may be said that the life of St. Ignatius now needs to be rewritten." Besides the publication of these Jesuit sources, many excellent studies in Church History and sixteenth century affairs multiplied on every hand, but the hoped-for Ignatian biography was still not 45 BOOK REVIEWS Reoieto for Religion,s written. If this has been a long wait, the new life, now at hand, is one worth waiting for. Coming after the labors of such scholars as Astrain, Fouquerey, and Tacchi Venturi, and done by a man who had previously worked for years as a specialist on the writings of Ignatius, this work combines clarity with fulness, a sweeping narra-tive with erudition, admiration for holiness with a realistic recogni-tion of human factors everywhere. For every important episode up to the first papal confirmation of the Jesuit Order (1540), the author has added facts not previously mentioned in an English-language life of this founder. Thus, when Ignatius made his pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1523. two other pilgrims of the group, Peter FiJseli of Zurich and Philip Hagen of Strasbourg, kept written accounts of their experiences, which have since been published. These shed continuous light on Igantius' own meager sentences. For the final period of Ignatius' career (1540-56), when he was general of a rapidly growing order, the author has wisely abandoned the time sequence and contented himself with broad synthetic studies, but with every statement carrying its source-citation reference. Father Dudon was at his best on the Ignatian writings, and so this work includes all that is known of the background, growth, and evolution of the Exercises. All who have made Ignatian retreats, or read papal endorsements of them, will read this section with very special interest. The assumption that Ignatius wrote the Exercises while actually living in a cave is discussed in text and appendix. Again, the literary story of the Constitutions and of the auto-biographical Testament of the Saint is clearly set out. A work of Ignatius, lost from his day to our own, but now happily recovered, is a Brief.Directory on handling the Exercises. As authentic works of St. Ignatius are two other short treatises: Polanco's Directions For Jesuit Confessors (1554) and Father de Madrid's On the Frequent Reception of the Eucharist. This last was inspired, and ordered, and approved by Ignatius, but the printing came only after death had carried him where not even the Eucharist is necessary. A giant personality is here portrayed with singular distinction. We are indebted to the author, the translator, and the publisher for this book. God is admirable in this saint on fire for God's greater glory.--(3ERALD ELLARD, S.J. 46 danuary, 19,5 0 BOOK REVIEWS THE PRIEST AT HIS PRIE-DIEU. By Robert Nash, S.J. Pp. 300. The Newman Press, Westminster, Maryland, 1949. $3.00. Father Nash is already well known to readers of REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS through his two excellent and stimulating meditation books entitled Send Forth Th~ Light and Th~ Light and That Truth, both of which have been reviewed in these pages. In the present volume the author devotes his attention to the ideals, privi-leges, obligations, difficulties and remedies which the priest's vocation implies: in a word, it is a meditation book for priests. It consists of fifty-two meditations meant to supply thoughts and principles to help the priest during his morning mental prayer. Each meditation is so constructed that a part may be taken each day for three or four days, and then all parts repeated the last days of the week. Thus each meditation serves for a week, and the book for an entire year. In his Introduction the author explains some practical points on the difficulties which beset a priest's meditation and offers remedies to overcome them. The meditations are practical and adapted to con-ditions which face priests today. We recommend the book unre-servedly to all priests, especially to those directly engaged in the care of souls.--ADAM C. ELLIS, S.J. THE MYSTIC~AL EVOLUTION IN THE DEVELOPMENT AND VITALITY OF THE CHURCH. By the Very Reverend John G. Arlntero, O.P., S.T.M. Translated by Father Jordan Auman, O.P. Volume One. Pp. xx -t- 3S8. B. Herder Book Co., St. Louis, Missouri, 1949. $4.S0. Father Arintero, a Spanish Dominican and a well known writer in his time (1860-1928), was fascinated with the idea of evolution. First he wrote a number of apologetic works on evolution as it was understood in the natural sciences. Then he turned to evolution in the spiritual realm. Besides writing much on the development of the whole Church, the Mystical Body of Christ, he produced this study in which the evolution of the supernatural life in individual souls as well as in the Church generally is considered. The original edition dates from 1908. The author takes "mystical evolution" in a broad sense: "By mystical evolution we understand the entire process of the formation, growth, and expansion of that prodigious life [of grace] until Christ is formed in us, and we are transformed in His divine image" (p. 17). On the other hand, "The term 'mysticism' is properly reserved for 'the experimental knowledge of the divine life in souls elevated to contemplation' although in general it embraces the whole spiritual life" (p. 17). This first volume is 47 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS Review [or Reli~lious taken up almost wholly with a magnificent dogmatic a'nd inspira-tional account of the supernatural life. As such it may be highly recommended. It is full of quotations from great names in theology and spirituality and thus it has the special merit and value of a sort of anthology on its subject. The characteristic feature of The M~tstical Et~olution is not very evident in this volume. Hence it would appear well to refrain from fuller consideration of the work until the second volume is published. In general, it is much like Father Garrigou-Lagrange's The Three Ages o/: the Interior Li/:e. When it reports what Catholic theo-logians generally teach, it is excellent. When Father Arintero adds to that, the reader should be cautious and, if necessary, i'nquire. Some Carmelite authorities, for instance, say something very different. --G: AUGUSTINE ELLARD, S.J. BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS [These notices are purely descriptive, based on a cursory examination of the books .listed. Some of the books will be reviewed or will be given longer notices later. ] BENZIGER BROTHERS, INC., 26-28 Park Place, New York 7. Priest's Ritual. Pp. viii + 352. A pocket-size ritual compiled from the Vatican Typical Edition of the Rituale Rornanurn. Includes the rite of confirmation by priests delegated to act as extraordinary ministers of this sacrament. All Psalms are from the new version. BROTHERS OF THE SACRED HEART, P. O. Box 592, Metuchen, New 3ersey. Manual/:or Novices. Pp. x + 268. $2.35. A revised edition adapted to communities of women as well as of men. There is an added chapter on silence. CLERICAL CONFERENCE, C.S.M.C., Catholic University, Box 182, Washington, D. C. The Guidepost. Pp. xvii + 166. A vocation manual for young men compiled with a view to making an ordered presentation of as many fields of priestly and religious work as possible. Contain~ many pictures and a list of addresses of vocation directors of the various orders and congregations. THE GRAIL, St. Meinr~d's Abbey, St. Meinrad, Indiana. The Man on Fire. By Mary Fabyan Windeatt. Pp. 193. $2.50. 48 danuar~t, 1950 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS A true-to-life story of the Apostle St. Paul written for boys and girls in the upper grades and high school. B. HERDER BOOK COMPANY, St. Louis, Missouri. Sermons for the Fortq Hours' Devotion. By John B. Pastorak. Pp. viii ÷ 359. $4.00. Contains twenty-six sermons, each of which is preceded by a two-page outline. The Soul. By St. Thomas Aquinas. Pp. viii + 291. $4.00. Translated by John Patrick Rowan. Contains 'copious footnotes with exact citations of authors to whom St. Thomas refers, and explanations of terms and views that otherwise might be obscure to modern readers. The Mother of the Saviour and Our Interior Life. By Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P. Translated by Bernard J. Kelly, C.S.Sp. Pp. 338. $4.00. P. J. KENEDY ~ SONS, 12 Barclay Street, New York 8. Crucified with Christ. By Herbert George Kramer, S.M. Pp. xiii + 269. $2.75. Seeks to shed light on the mystery of suffering by presenting eight biographical sketches of persons (including four canonized saints) who were remarkable for their loving acceptance of suffering. MONASTERY OF DISCALCED CARMELITES, Concord, New Hamp-shire. ' Little Catechism of Prayer. By Father Gabriel of St. Mary Mag-dalen, O.C.D. Pp. 44. $.25 (paper). A catechetical explanation of the Carmelite method of meditation. MONASTERY OF SAINT DOMINIC, 13th Avenue and South 10th Street, Newark 3, New Jersey. "Theirs is the Kingdom.'" By E. J. Edwards, S.V.D. Pp. 48. $.50 (paper). A sketch of the life of Grace Minford, who renounced family and fortune to become a Catholic and a contemplative nun. Copies may also be obtained from the author at 8 Tucson Terrace, Tucson, Arizona. NEWMAN PRESS, Westminster, Maryland. Heaven on Thursday. By M. K. Richardson. Pp. vii + 157. A fictionalized life of St. Madeleine Sophie Barat. Marriage Preliminaries. By E. J. Mahoney. Pp. 93. $1.00 (paper). Contains the Latin and English text of the instruction "'Sacrosanctum" of June 29, 1941, together with a commentary and sample questionnaires. 49 BOOK NOTICES Revie~ for Religious Old Testament Stories. By Dom Hubert Van Zeller, O.S.B. Pp. x + 216. $2.50. An arrangement of the Old Testament nar-rative in continuous and connected form. This is the second volume of "Scripture Textbooks for Catholic Schools." JOSEPH F. WAGNER, INC., 53 Park Place, New York 7. Assignment to Rome. By Anthony Pattison. Pp. 128. "Con-cise and authoritative information on the Eternal City and the Holy Year." Includes the Apostolic Bull promulgating the jubilee, regu-lations and conditions governing indulgences, notes on places of in-terest in Rome, a suggested reading list, and a picture section. BOOK NOTICES TRUTH IN THE MORNING, by Sister Mary Charitas, I.H.M., written in memory of Mother Cyril, Superior General of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Scranton, Pennsylvania, is the biography of a truly remarkable woman. Besides the many duties of teacher and local superior, and eventually superior general of her congregation, Mother M. Cyril was instrumental in the estab-lishment of two other congregations, the Sisters of Saints Cyril and Methodius and the Sisters of Saint Casimir. Insofar as it tells the stirring story of Mother Cyril's life the biography makes very inter-esting reading; but it would have been all the more valuable had the numerous lists of names of pupils, benefactors, guests at receptions and the like been sacrificed to make place for revealing quotations from her letters, thus giving a deeper insight into the soul of this noble woman. (New York: The Scapular Press, 1948. Pp. 204. $2.75.) MEDITATION ON THE PRAYERS OF THE MAss, by Father Fran-cis P. LeBuffe, S.J., aims primarily at fostering the second method of prayer according to the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. Since, however, the prayers chosen for development are taken from the mis-sal, the book is also intended to increase the devotion of Catholics when they attend Mass. Of the seventy-eight chapters or headings, seventy-one are devoted to the various prayers said during Mass, one prayer to a chapter. Moreover, the prayers are explained according to the sequence which they have in the Mass. The final seven headings offer reflections on the prayers recited by the priest while vesting. 5O ~tanuarg, 1950 BOOK NOTICES The book is not written in continuous discourse. It presents a series of snatches of thought excited by individual words or phrases contained in the prayers. The reader is expected to peruse only a page or so at one time. Each prayer is translated in full at the beginning of its chapter. The devotional thoughts" which Father LeBuffe suggests about each part of the prayers are both fertile and inspiring. Some of them are quotations from the Old Testament or from the Fathers. The reader will be pleased to find biographical glimpses of some of the saints whose names occur during the Canon of the Mass. One would not expect such a book to distinguish the various parts and prayers of the Mass according to their importance. It is a prayer book, not a dogmatic manual. Used devoutly, it should advance the reader towards contemplation and foster greater piety during the Holy Sacrifice. (St. Louis: The Queen's Work, 1948. Pp. 241.) INDIGENOUS RELIGIOUS CONGREGATIONS OF INDIA AND CEY-LON, edited by P. Rayana, S.J., is a very interesting, collection of the histories of native congregations of priests, Brothers, and Sisters in India and Ceylon. After an introduction explaining the fundamen-tals of the religious life, there follow five important Roman docu-ments regarding the establishment and the govern

Part one of an interview with Arthur DiGeronimo. Topics include: Arthur's family history and how his father came to the United States. Arthur's early life growing up in Fitchburg and Leominster, MA. Memories of visiting his grandparents in East Boston. His father's military service and work history. Arthur visited his father's birthplace, Lacedonia, in Italy. His childhood memories of visiting Lake Samosa, working for his father's market, and going to school in Fitchburg. Arthur's family life in general growing up. The importance of education. Arthur attended Becker College. His time in the service during World War II. What it means to be an Italian American. The traditions his family has carried on. Arthur's thoughts on the difference between his generation and his parent's. How his sons joined the family supermarket business. How life will be different for the later generations of his family. ; 1 LINDA ROSENLUND: This is Linda Rosenlund with the Center for Italian Culture. It's Thursday, September 27 at 2:35, and we're here with Arthur DiGeronimo and Anne [Rosevero]. And I'm Linda Rosenlund, like I said. So Arthur, thank you for making time for us. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Well, it's nice of you to come, after a little telephone tag [laughter]. LINDA ROSENLUND: Right, that's what happens with busy people. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Yes. LINDA ROSENLUND: So can you tell me your full name and when you were born? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Sure. Arthur Paul DiGeronimo. I was born right here in Leominster. We're at the office at my executive offices for my business, supermarket business. And funny thing, right across the street was where I was born, by the North Main Street. This is 75 North Main Street. I was born right across the street from here. That was in nineteen -- not sure it's 1926. LINDA ROSENLUND: Wow. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: A couple of years ago. [Laughter] And you want something about my family, probably? LINDA ROSENLUND: Sure. First tell us your parent's names. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Sure. My mother's name was Mildred, and my father's name was James. LINDA ROSENLUND: Okay. Now, did they come to -- they came to this country, didn't they? You can shut that all the way. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: My mother was born in Fitchburg, and my father was born in Italy, in Lacedonia, Italy. My father… came to this country when he was nine years old. LINDA ROSENLUND: Okay. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: With his father and two of his brothers. 2 LINDA ROSENLUND: Now, what region is Lacedonia in? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Lacedonia is… it's in Naples. It's Avellino, but they call us… Napolitans, which is from Naples County. Even though it was a quite few miles from… Naples. It was about, Avellino was about maybe 50 miles, and Lacedonia is another 30 miles going out toward the other coast. ANNA ROSEVERO: [Adriatic]. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Right. LINDA ROSENLUND: So, you said that your mother was born here? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: My mother was born in Fitchburg, right at -- they call it the Patch, on Water Street in Fitchburg, which I was very proud of even though I don't know where they got that name from, but that's that. And there was strictly more Italians there than anywhere. Mostly Italians lived on that Water Street section of Fitchburg. And then I went to school in… well, that's right. I was born in Leominster, we moved to Fitchburg in the first grade. And so I went to Fitchburg School until my sophomore year, and then we moved to Leominster right on North Main Street, right near here, too. And… 124 North Main Street, to be exact, and we're 75 North Main Street at the office here. And I finished my junior and senior year in Leominster High School. LINDA ROSENLUND: Okay. So when did you move back to Fitchburg? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: We moved when I was six years old. LINDA ROSENLUND: Six. Now, did you move back to the Patch? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: No, no, we moved from the south side of Fitchburg, which was called [the South Pole]. Yeah, it was on Mountain Avenue in Fitchburg, which is off of South Street. LINDA ROSENLUND: Okay. So, can you tell me a little bit about the Patch? Anything that you remember?3 ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: No, other than… I mean, I never lived there, but I can tell you too much about all the years when they used to have markets. They used to have [Gloria chain] markets and DiMinno's market, who was a cousin of ours, the DiMinno family. The DiMinno family's mother and my father were brother and sister, so those are my first cousins. LINDA ROSENLUND: So your mother grew up on Market Street? I mean, the Patch? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Water Street. Water Street. Yes, yes. LINDA ROSENLUND: So did you know your mother's parents? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Oh, very well, yes. Yeah. They were Spadafora. They had a street tenement block, and downstairs was a drug store by the name of [Darmin] Drug Store if I remember correctly. My memory isn't as good as it used to be. And… my grandmother and grandfather lived on the second floor, and my aunt and uncle on the third floor. LINDA ROSENLUND: And what were your grandparents' names? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: My grandparents' was Spadafora, Michael and… Marianne. LINDA ROSENLUND: So can you tell me a little bit about visits with them? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Oh, yes. A lot of visits. But they did move to Boston, to my mother's sister. She went to live in Boston with my mother's sister's family. And that was in East Boston, you know, on Bennington Street in the East Boston. LINDA ROSENLUND: How old were you at that time? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: I don't recall that. I would think it would be early in life, maybe even… no. If it comes to me, I'll let you know about how old I was. At this point I can't… and I remember going to Boston to visit quite a bit, Sundays with my father, his only day off from the market. He started the business, my father and uncle started the business, and I 4 remember as a child him driving my family to Boston to visit with my aunt and uncle and my grandmother and grandfather. We got to know cousins who were involved. And my aunt had five daughters. She didn't have any sons. So, when I went down for a visit, they treated me like a brother, you know? I'm talking about the cousins, the girls. They were about my age, and they loved to see us come, my brother and I. I didn't mention my brother Michael. I had a brother, Michael, who was killed in World War Two in the Yankee division during the Battle of the Bulge. It's skipping all around, but this is the way it's coming to me, you know? LINDA ROSENLUND: Oh, that's all right. That's how it happened. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: My aunt's name? Aunt Jeanette. LINDA ROSENLUND: Jeanette? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: My aunt Jeanette and my uncle was uncle Peter. [Foralla], their last name was [Foralla]. LINDA ROSENLUND: Okay. Okay. So basically, you remember visiting your grandparents… ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Oh, quite often. LINDA ROSENLUND: … in East Boston, but not really Fitchburg? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: In Fitchburg… well, you know, I don't recall. Yes, yes, because I remember when my grandfather died, I was old enough… to see my grandfather when he passed away. So… so, yes. I recall, I recall going to Boston as I got older, you know? Like, I'm talking about the years, maybe, when I -- my teen, my teen years, we used to go to Boston. And Fitchburg, my grandmother and grandfather were… I was a lot younger then. LINDA ROSENLUND: So what were dinners like? 5 ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: We used to love to go to for dinner. Actually, Italian food, the pasta, the meatballs, slashes in the pork, yeah. Fond memories are there. I can always remember the good eating times [laughter]. LINDA ROSENLUND: So tell me what a Sunday was like when you would go visit. Did you go to church, or…? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Well, no, we'd go to church here. We'd leave after church and drive down -- fond memories of [unintelligible - 00:09:17] we couldn't make it in an hour, it took a little longer. But our mother, what fascinated me the most was going through the tunnel. It's not the Callahan, the [unintelligible - 00:09:32] Tunnel, yeah. [Unintelligible - 00:09:34] We got to go through a tunnel, you go underwater, you know, and you're just a little, you're not too old, and it was thrilling to do it, you know? And we'd always, I'd always kid my mother, I'd say, "Gee, can we move to Boston?" because it was fascinating, you know? It was so much different than being in the small, small town, you know? But we had some nice times there. My uncle, which is my mother's brother, Uncle Tony, he was a druggist. And on the first floor tenement home in East Boston, he had a drug store on the bottom floor. But what a great guy he was also. All my uncles were, but… I can remember fond memories of him. We would raid his drug store when we were at the… because they lived on the second floor, my grandmother and grandfather and uncle, and business was on the first floor. And my uncle Tony and his wife lived there also. And he would open up that, he would -- we could go downstairs five times a day and have ice cream. He used to make ice cream, sodas and we used to raid the place and he never complained once. We'd 6 come in, he'd leave his customers to come and take care for us, you know? Because we didn't go every week, you know? Maybe once a month or twice a month, something like that, you know? So, it wasn't that we went a lot of times. But fond memories of eating ice cream cones and… I'll never get vanilla ice cream sodas; I used to have three or four before we'd leave come back Sunday. And he loved doing that. And my grandfather, God love him, he was a very quiet man. But he was, if you got to know him, he was very, very witty. You know, I can remember him doing little dances for us. And before we left, every one of us kids got a half a dollar. In them days, you know, that's like, probably like a donut, you know? We enjoyed them. And I have a son, Michael, that I named Michael, who's -- I think you know Michael too. He's very like my grandfather on my mother's side—very quiet, and yet he has the same characteristics as my grandfather. Very, very similar. I mean, he is today too. It's funny that I named him Michael, you know? And I named him Michael because of my brother, who was killed in the service, and my grandfather. And my grandfather on my father's side. I mean, my -- yeah. My grandfather on my… LINDA ROSENLUND: Your great-grandfather or you grandfather? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: My grandfather, his name was Michelangelo. So a lot of Michaels in the DiGeronimos. LINDA ROSENLUND: Interesting. Now, those sodas that you were talking about and the ice cream, was there any place like that in Fitchburg or in Leominster that you used to go to? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Oh, yeah. Downstairs at [Dormin's], and I don't really recall that going into drug stores when I was too young. 7 But, you know, the general ice cream cone has taken us to places around town for ice cream cones and things like that. Yes. LINDA ROSENLUND: So tell me about your father. How old was he when he came here? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: My father was nine years old. Yeah. And he entered the service in nineteen… when the war broke out, the World War One, now. Okay. He went, he was drafted, went in the service, he served. Then when he got out, he went to work in a foundry, and he didn't like to work there because for health reasons, you know, the breathing and everything, working in the foundry. And that's when he went to business with his brother who, Michael, who was killed, who was wounded in the World War One. And the two of them started with a supermarket in 1923. Not supermarket, I'm sorry, market. [Laughter] You'd thought it was big. Oh, about twice the size of this office! [Laughter] And that's what they started on Mechanic Street in Leominster. LINDA ROSENLUND: Okay. Now, about your father, who did he come here with? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: He came here with two of his brothers, and his father brought them over. My grandfather was married three times. And it wasn't because he divorced or anything, but his first wife died very, very young, and his second wife was my grandmother. And I never knew her. She died of a -- I don't think, she was just close to 40 years old. She died very young also. But she had a lot of children, many. I would think about a lot of them, probably, with the [unintelligible - 00:15:21] then after she died, he went to Italy and he married, he brought back another Italian lady that was to be my… step grandmother. And she had one, 8 which would be -- you probably know… my uncle Tony DiGeronimo, whose son is a priest, Michael DiGeronimo. So they're related, you know, they're half. He was a half-brother to my father. LINDA ROSENLUND: Why did your father decided to come to Fitchburg? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Well, no. No, we were in Leominster first. We moved -- yeah, we moved to Fitchburg. I'm sorry, yeah. LINDA ROSENLUND: Okay, so… ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: We moved to Fitchburg when I was six, so I lived here until I was six years old. LINDA ROSENLUND: Okay. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: And then we moved to Fitchburg and then we moved back my junior year, my sophomore year. LINDA ROSENLUND: So, why Leominster then? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Well, the business is in Leominster. We all -- why did we go to Fitchburg? LINDA ROSENLUND: No, I'm sorry. [Laughter] ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: That's right. LINDA ROSENLUND: Why did your grandfather choose Leominster to settle? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: I don't know if I can give you an answer to that, really. Just coming into this country, yeah, I think it had something -- it must have something to do with building of the railroads, I think. Something -- I really, I would have to ask. Maybe my sister would probably know. LINDA ROSENLUND: Okay. I was just wondering if there were any family stories of why Leominster was chosen. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: I don't know. I really… I'd have to think about that one. LINDA ROSENLUND: Now, was your grandfather a laborer in Italy? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Yes. Not a laborer, no. He was like a sheriff. He was in charge of a jail. He didn't own it. I mean, he just worked as the principal in the jail that they had in Lacedonia.9 LINDA ROSENLUND: Now, that's a new one. I haven't heard that yet [laughter]. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Yeah. That's the truth too. And I guess he left just to get to better things in America, like a lot of the Italians who came here. But he came earlier, that was in his first trip over. He came earlier then went back and got two of his sons and daughters and brought them back. Yeah. LINDA ROSENLUND: Have you been back to the village? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: I certainly have. LINDA ROSENLUND: Tell me about that. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Yeah. A few years back my wife and I and my sister and her husband, Mike [DeBitteto], the four of us went to Italy for 17 days. Just a few years back, not a lot, a lot of years, maybe seven or eight years ago. And naturally, we had to go to… you know, when you're in Rome and then you go to Naples and you go to Capri and Positano, Amalfi Drive and the things like that. And then, oh it's time to go find Lacedonia. Well, what a job finding that! I mean, well, it's near Avellino, that's the thing. So, we got our directions and we took a ride through the [Malfi Drive], and… oh, humorous story. We rented a limo for the day with the driver, and I don't want to drive out there not knowing where I was going. And I asked him, I says… he says, "Where are you going?" We said, "We're going to Avellino. I want to go find out where my father was born, and that's in Lacedonia." And he says, "Yeah? This is Lacedonia. You never heard of it?" Now, here's a kind of a guy who should know his way around Italy, right? So, he says, "It's near Avellino?" I said, "Yeah," so we got out of Avellino. Well, he stuck. He didn't know where to go from there. So he started asking different people. And we couldn't talk Italian. My mother and father never spoke to 10 me, and I regret today, I would love to have had them to talk Italian to me every day. And, you know, besides the English language, I would have loved to really learn it. But I can understand a little, few things here and there, you know? I pick up on something. In fact, I know a few words in Italian. Not bad ones either, I'm talking about some pretty [laughter]. I can start off a little. Anyway, he finally talked to someone in this town there about Lacedonia. And he says, "Lacedonia?" He says, "That's about 30 0r 35 miles toward the Adriatic, right?" And I said, "Fine, let's go!" right? And the he says, "No, no, no," he says, "You gave me $300 to take you to Avellino," he says. I said, "Look, take me there. Whatever it is, I'll take care of you. Don't worry," you know? So, anyway, he complained all day long that he had to drive another 35 or so miles. So as we drove through -- and nice highways, up that way, gee, I saw a sign that said [Forgio] about 20 miles. And we were near Lacedonia, but it was kind of like Lacedonia was this way and Forgio -- I didn't know we were that close to Forgio. And I'm always kidding my friends who, their parents are from Forgio -- Forgians, they call them. And I kid them that, "Oh, that's not even in Italy," you know, "just Lacedonia is in Italy" [laughter]. But, so we got up there. It was up a little mountain. You could see it from a highway, you know? It was out in the -- cute little place. And we got into town, and I'll never forget… we saw my father's birthplace, of which we surely took pictures. I have pictures of all that. You know, one of the biggest shows of my life was going to see where my father was born. Don't mind me. I break up a little. But we did that. We went to -- oh, we were 11 walking along one of these streets, and I look down the road and I see DiGeronimo Market. LINDA ROSENLUND: A market? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Yeah. I forget -- what was the name for market, do you know? ANNA ROSEVERO: Is it [unintelligible - 00:23:05] bodega? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Something like that. But they had a big sign on the road and everything. I really got excited at that. So I went down, and there was a little, small inn, about as big as this, about as big as my office here, no bigger than that. And he had all kinds of meats, fresh meats and cold cuts. He didn't have canned goods. It wasn't a full market, you know? But he had fish and different refrigeration cases, little produce, no groceries, really. So I walked in there and he was still waiting on a customer. Now, he doesn't know me. I didn't know him and he doesn't know -- his name was John DiGeronimo. And I… I didn't know how to start talking, because he started asking me, you know, what do I want to buy, you know? So I took my license plate and my license number, right, out of my wallet, and I handed it to him. I said, "I'm a DiGeronimo." He looked, he come, and he hugged me. He, "Follow me." My wife and I and my sister, we go, closes the market up right across the street to his home, right across the street. And there we met -- now, this has got to be a distant cousin I have, we couldn't even put out parents, but we must have been related somehow, you know, distance, [unintelligible - 00:24:52]. But we went over there and we met his wife, a lovely lady with two of the nicest daughters, and they were, they treated us as if they had known us… you know, we were so thrilled, and 12 they wanted us to stay overnight with them. I mean, they couldn't have been any more far, you know? And they didn't know we were coming or who we were, you know? They just -- we had some pictures with us, and we showed them pictures of my father, things about my father lived, he was born here and things like that, you know. But that was one of the nicest things. And naturally, they wouldn't let us go. We had to eat, we had to eat before we -- and now, the little guy is getting real nervous. When we finally left—and we must've stayed at least two or three hours with them—they wouldn't let us go. We kept saying that we got to go, and they actually stopped us. And we didn't want to barge on anybody, you know? So, anyway, we had a good time with them exchanging our family pin. Gloria did most of the talk, because Gloria, my wife's mother and father, were from Italy also. And that's another story, but you probably don't want to hear that one, I don't know. But they're from… I'd say Abruzzi, Corfinio and Abruzzi, and we went there too. Yeah, we -- I'll tell you a little bit about that. LINDA ROSENLUND: Yeah. Now, what year are we talking when you went back? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: When we went back? Oh, I'd say five, six years ago. LINDA ROSENLUND: Interesting. Did you see any family resemblance? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Oh, yes, yes. Definitely DiGeronimo trait, and don't ask me what it is. We got to the nicest man, and I can't say enough about him. And we correspond, we used to. Now we haven't for the last couple of years. But first when we got home, we started back and forth, but it was nice. We sent them things and they sent us things, stuff like that. But it's a warm feeling, you know? 13 LINDA ROSENLUND: I have to ask you something, and it's not even about this, but you just mentioned -- did you mention your sister was married to… Michael? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: DiBitteto. LINDA ROSENLUND: Oh, it's very strange because I went to Assumption College with Mike DeBitteto. But when I came here and heard you talking, I thought of him immediately. Because there's something about you. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Well, it's got to be. It's got to be Michael. LINDA ROSENLUND: He worked at the insurance, yes? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Yes, right across the street. LINDA ROSENLUND: [Laughter] I've lost touch with him now, but I used to know him very well, and somehow you… you resemble him a little bit. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: He is my nephew. LINDA ROSENLUND: Very strange. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Yes. Nice boy, very nice boy. LINDA ROSENLUND: As soon as you said the name, I thought, "I have to share this." [Laughter] ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Are you going to leave a [catch], or I can tell him… LINDA ROSENLUND: I don't have one, but I'll leave my name. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Name? Yeah, yeah. I'd love to tell him about it. Yeah, great. LINDA ROSENLUND: Good. Interesting. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Yeah, that's who I was with, his mother, with his mother and father on that trip, 17 days. We had a great time. LINDA ROSENLUND: Did you? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Yes. We want to go back now. They want to go back, so it's just, "Whenever you're ready." But I was playing on something next year, but I hope we'll be able to go by then. Things may be under control. They may have enough of 14 these maniacs so that we can live our lives again, you know? LINDA ROSENLUND: I was with a woman this morning who has a son that lives in Spain, and she told me that he told her that they arrested 30 people yesterday from Spain. Terrorists. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Oh, wow. LINDA ROSENLUND: So, I think there's a lot happening in other countries. Maybe we're not even hearing about it. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Oh yeah? That's right, that's right. LINDA ROSENLUND: And that's scaring themselves to think that somebody [unintelligible - 00:28:57]. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: I know. LINDA ROSENLUND: So, why don't you tell me a little bit about growing up in Leominster? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: In Leominster? Shoot, Leominster I can't. Leominster I can't… LINDA ROSENLUND: Oh, I know, in Fitchburg, I'm sorry. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: This is the first grade. Oh, in fact, we moved from North Main before we went to Fitchburg. We moved from North Main Street here, we moved down to French Hill on 8th Street. And that's where I lived until we moved. I lived maybe five years there until we moved to Fitchburg. I'm surprised why you didn't ask me why we didn't move to Fitchburg with here from Leominster and my father's business in Leominster. Well, I had an uncle. I had an Uncle Mike who was closer to my father then my Uncle Louie, who came into business with my father. And he had a barber shop in Fitchburg. And he had a two-tenement house on the south side of Fitchburg, a nice, nice area and everything. And he wanted my father to move. He had the downstairs; he wanted [unintelligible - 00:30:18] live 15 upstairs and he wanted my father downstairs. So that's when we moved to Fitchburg. Now, my uncle never drove, and he… everywhere my father went, took his brother. They were so close. You know, a lot of brothers are close, but these two, I've never seen two brothers that close. I mean, they just lived their whole lives together. And he died of cancer on Easter Sunday. I'll never forget the barber. He was 46 years old. Yes, that's Ernie DiGeronimo's father. Yes, Doctor Ernie, you know him? LINDA ROSENLUND: And this is Michael? Michael? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: His name was Michael. LINDA ROSENLUND: Michael. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Yeah. I told you, a lot of Michaels. [Laughter] But he was a great guy. My father, we had a camp down at Lake [Samosa], in the early '30s, and his family, we'd get in the car and the truck, and we'd get down the lake. He was always there. As a kid, I can always remember him being there. And we got along great until he passed away. Then my father was so shook he wanted to move back to Leominster. And that's when he bought the home on North Main Street. LINDA ROSENLUND: So tell me about Lake [Samosa]. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Yes, Lake [Samosa] No, I can remember my young [laughter] the days down there. My father, his business, we used to close Wednesday afternoon, 12 o'clock, we used to close. That was -- and Sunday, both the only days that market wasn't open. And naturally, in the summer months, that's where we used to spend all our time. In fact, we used to stay there, not just visit, not just go down for the day. You know, my mother used to stay there with the kids and everything. My father used to commute back and forth. 16 That's when I really [laughter], that's when I really started to work at the [laughter] in the market, in my father's market because, you know, he's going to work and I'm nine years old. And in them days, that's when the fathers wanted their sons—at least my father—wanted us to learn the business and do the things that we could do to help in his business. That's how we get started in my father's business. We used to -- you know, today everything comes in a 10-pound bag. In them days a 100-pound bag and you had to get a paper bushel bag, and we had to scoop the potatoes and then tie them up with twine. And that's how they sold potatoes in them days. And, I mean, it's the same thing is to have to bag those, and there were other things that we did. And I used to deliver my father's circulars, which today is an advertising thing like this. But it wasn't like that in them days; it was just maybe a piece of paper with the items that he was featuring. And we couldn't mail them. The mail was too expensive to mail them. And so my cousin Joe and I used to, once a week, a certain day, we used to deliver these to every home—not every home in Leominster, not the ones way out, but French Hill, the Italian section, West Side. We used to deliver these to every home, just drop them off at the door and keep going. I never [laughter], I never liked dogs because [laughter] -- that's why I've never had a dog to my children. They always said, "Dad, get me a dog." I had an experience with one and, you know, I was delivering, and he took a chunk out of me. But it wasn't serious, but it was enough to scare me from dogs. But Joe and I used to, we used to kid each other about it. We'd say, "Uh-oh, who's got to take this house?" [Laughter] God forbid if we had to do it, I mean, 17 you go back there, there's [imitates growling], you know. There we skipped a few houses [laughter]. You've got to answer to your father. LINDA ROSENLUND: Would you walk or take your bike? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Oh, walk. LINDA ROSENLUND: Walk? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Walk. Yeah. I didn't have a bike. LINDA ROSENLUND: No? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Well, we -- you know, we didn't have a lot of money in them days. And I remember having bikes, but I was a little older when I got a bike. LINDA ROSENLUND: Do you have any of those old fliers? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: No. LINDA ROSENLUND: No? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: No, I don't. I may have some ads I used to put in the… oh, that's when we had the business here. I go back that far. LINDA ROSENLUND: So tell me what a day was like for you when you were about eight or nine? For example, did you go to school first, and then… ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Yes, oh, yes. Oh, I had to go to school, yes. LINDA ROSENLUND: So just tell me, give me an example of what a day was like in your life when you were about that age. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Well, I'll tell you maybe in Fitchburg, because I was six years old when we moved to Fitchburg and there was a school on South Street, Steep Hill in Fitchburg. You know where it is, because it's back and forth all the time, right? Hosmer School it was called, H-O-S-M-E-R, Hosmer School. It's a different thing now. Well, I went there for my second grade to my eighth grade. And from where I lived in Mountain Avenue, I had to walk down that hill. And you wouldn't mind it. Today I would mind if I had to 18 climb up, right? We had to walk to school. There were no buses, you know, school buses. You walked. And then when I went to Fitchburg High School, I had to walk from way up from Mountain Avenue all the way to Fitchburg High School, which was at the other, almost at the other end of town, right? But getting back to what you had asked me, yeah, I remember teachers' names. I remember… [Crotty], the principal. And she had that little whip, that little -- and she wasn't afraid to use it, you know? LINDA ROSENLUND: But I'm sure you never misbehaved. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: No, no, no. I never got hit, but I got some -- you know, a few taps and words, you know? Then there was a Miss O'Brien. She was my seventh grade teacher. I had a hard time with her, I don't know why. I don't think she liked me. You know, I'm not going to say this, because I don't want you to, I don't think she liked Italians. LINDA ROSENLUND: Oh, no? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Well, that's what I always thought. Because my brother would say boo, he had a mouthful, because my brother -- and I was quiet. I was really quiet, and I still am, but no one believes it. [Laughter] She had Michael, and then three years later she had me. And she gave Michael a really hard time. And Michael told me, he says, "Oh, you're going to get Miss O'Brien," and I says, "Yeah, I know it." But there are other -- Miss [Cunahan], and there was another O'Brien in the third grade. She was a peach. She was [unintelligible - 00:38:43]. I can still remember her, short, heavy-set woman, the nicest, a good teacher. I learned a lot from her. Geez, I'm surprised I remember these names. They're coming to me. LINDA ROSENLUND: It's funny how it comes back.19 ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: It's coming to me after, you know. But I enjoyed Hosmer. I played basketball as a kid at Hosmer. We played other elementary schools and things like that. And Miss Crotty, she was -- we used to have a field day at [Trocca] field, and we used to wear our… the same colors of the school. I think I was in yellow. I can't remember now. But we used to always dress with the colors, and we were proud of our Hosmer School, you know? Forget about Nolan School. You probably went to Nolan, didn't you? Sure. And, well, we were from Hosmer, and naturally, you know, everyone from there, [Wallow] Street School. We used to play basketball to all these schools, and it was nice. We'd get to meet other kids. But you always came from the best school, right? LINDA ROSENLUND: What would you do during your field day? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: I don't know. What would we do? I can't recall, but I remember going to Crocker Field with the family, and playing different games and things like that. Yes. LINDA ROSENLUND: So getting back to working, though. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Oh, no. I've got a good story. I've got a good story. But we'll all get back to work. All right. I got to be a pretty good basketball player. My freshmen year, our team went undefeated, and we were going to the junior high. They called it junior high in them days. Now, the freshmen, the seniors, it's all high school now. So we left [unintelligible - 00:40:41], which was our junior high school. And my team was undefeated. The same guys were going into high school. Well, as I was getting older, my father kept relying on me more and more to do work. And, you know, so I never told him about the basketball. I was a little too young to have to report every day. But you know, I got to 20 be a sophomore, he kind of wanted me there mostly every day. Now, I had to come, get on a bus, come to Leominster. And I'll never forget my sophomore year, [unintelligible – 00:41:37] basketball season came, all the guys, we all went out for basketball. And I heard all the other guys I played with on the first team, they went to the varsity in their sophomore year and I was very unusual, because I wasn't going to be there. I went the first day to practice, and I didn't tell my parents. So my father thought, after school I'll have to come down to the market, and when he closes at six we go home, right? Well, I got there around five, 5:30 and, "Where you've been?" I says, "Dad," I says, "I'm going to play basketball for the high school [unintelligible- 00:42:24] Coach Oliver." Do you remember Johnny Oliver? Yeah? He lived at the corner of Mountain Avenue. And then I says, "Maybe he's putting me on the varsity because I'm a neighbor." It was my old team. It wasn't just me, you know? So anyway, "Playing basketball? But you got to work." Well, I never played another game. And you know, today it's so much different. You push your children to play sports and things like that, but my father was a lovely man, but he was very, very strict. I suppose he had to be at the business he had to run, and he relied on me. And you know, to him, that was all right, because I probably I wouldn't have had this if I tried to do something else in life. You know? So I always praise my father. I say, "Dad, thank god you disciplined me enough…" it broke my heart, you know? I'm only -- how old am I, 15 years old, you know? Fourteen, 15, and not to be able to play, which, I loved the sport anyway. LINDA ROSENLUND: Were you different with your own children? 21 ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Oh, totally. [Laughter] Yes. And they all… most of them -- Jay, my oldest boy, David was the captain of the basketball team. Steven was captain of the basketball team his year and his year. So they were real -- they must've got a little few genes from me. Michael didn't go out for sports, and Jay didn't go out for sports. David played in the band. Oh, he enjoyed that too. He has a group now, they don't call them the… it will come. But they play locally. They're a band, they're a rock band. They play loud, loud music. I've gone a couple of times, but it's not my music. LINDA ROSENLUND: So he's not played for the Leominster band then? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: No. He played for the Leominster High School when he was in high school. Yeah. LINDA ROSENLUND: Okay. So tell me about the neighborhood that you lived in. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Here, I can't remember it all, because I don't think I was two years old when we moved down to French Hill on 8th Street. I remember down at 8th Street, though, the… no, I was on 7th Street. I'm sorry. 8th street was bound. The next street over, and I'm thinking the Lombardis. The Lombardis and Finney, they lived on 8th Street, and our backyards were together. And the Lombardis they were good friends of ours many years, and we're still very, very friendly with them. And they had a mother who did all the gardens and did all the cooking, and her husband passed away. And she brought up all their family. And I don't know how she did it, but she was an amazing woman. And she was very friendly with my mother, Clementine Lombardi. Her and my mother were like sisters, you know. And she used to make the bread, and you could smell it, but you know, we could smell it, and in the summer months especially, you know. But that's the young years that I can 22 remember, you know, playing with your sleds and things like that you do when you're kid, and hanging out the summertime in the yard with the Lombardi family and all the neighborhood. I had some good neighbors. I had some friends. But you know, to be that young and remember, you still have good memories of those things. Playing in the garden -- she never, Clementine never complained. Everything that she had was ours too, and she treated us like her own. She really did, she was a wonderful lady. She lived to be close to 100, yeah, Clementine. Lovely lady. And always visiting my mother. I'd drive her down, or Paul would take her down to my mother's, and my mother would get down there. So they were very, very close. She lived much longer than my mother, passed away at 79. Clementine lived to the almost a 100. Ninety-eight, I think. Wonderful, wonderful, hardworking lady. Boy, she worked. Of course, my mother didn't work, because my mother had to look kids. We had five. But those were nice days. LINDA ROSENLUND: You had five? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: I got six. My mother. Yeah. I had two brothers and two sisters. LINDA ROSENLUND: Okay. When I read some information about you, just from the Fitchburg Historical Society, they only listed your brothers for some reason. I don't know why. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: My brothers? LINDA ROSENLUND: Well, your brother. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Are you sure it wasn't my son? LINDA ROSENLUND: Arthur and Michael. There was no mention of sisters. So I didn't even know that you had any. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Oh, really? 23 LINDA ROSENLUND: It was just an article, so maybe they were concentrating on the business, so they didn't… ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Oh, all right. I'm going to give you this. You're going to read it and if you can pick anything from it that you'd like, that's fine with me. You don't have to mention the business. I don't -- you know, if that's not part of it, that's fine. LINDA ROSENLUND: Oh, it may be part of it, but it's just that we're trying to center on the history. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Yeah. LINDA ROSENLUND: Fitchburg and Leominster and the Italians coming in. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Sure. LINDA ROSENLUND: So how was life different for your sisters then, growing up in your family? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Well, I don't know… other than being close to the brothers and brother and sister relationship, we got to live in -- well, we had a five-bedroom when we were up in Fitchburg, and my sister had… I remember my brother and I had a double bed, and Rita was the third one, and she had a single bed in the same room and everything. I mean, you never hear of that today. They want their own room, you know? It's a little different. And there was a closeness, because at night we talked and, you know, fight and whatever, you know? Not physically, but, you know, verbally. But you get very close to the family that way, you really do. Because my brother Michael was killed in the services two years older than I was, yet he treated -- I mean, he was with his friends. You know, three years, growing up, is a big difference. But he never treated me like too young to hang around with. My brother was very good to me. And I was good to him. Well, he was good to me. Let's put it that way. I 24 might have been a pain sometimes [laughter], you know? Little brothers are. LINDA ROSENLUND: So your sisters, though, were they expected to work at the supermarket? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: No. They had to take care of the home. That's what my mother had to do, bringing them up. And the girls had the different life. You know, in them days I don't think there were many high school women or girls who worked at the store, really. Maybe it's because I never saw my daughter or my sisters work, you know? But no, my father never called on the girls to come and do work in the store. And you know what? In my business, we never pushed ahead my daughters. I never pushed them. My daughters can do the business. Of course, my brother Jimmy, he's got the three boys, and Joe's got the two girls, but they never came into the -- Joe's, they never came into the business either. Just I don't know why but he just didn't push it. Not that they wouldn't come in. Like Jane, my daughter Jane, I mean, coming into the business, sure, they went to work as a cashier in the store, but they didn't come down to do the things that my sons do versus what my daughters. Like Lisa, when they got 16, they worked at my market. Not full-time, part-time, like a high school girl work. You know, cashier or stuff like that. Yeah, they did, but they didn't come into the business as such. LINDA ROSENLUND: Was education important to your family when you were growing up? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Oh, yeah. Yeah. They all went to -- you mean, you don't mean my family? You mean my… LINDA ROSENLUND: Your parents. Was it important to your parents?25 ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Oh, yes. Yes. Well, we were in the service, and we all went to college. I went to Becker's College, and I got an associate's degree in business. And then I was going to further my education and go for my bachelor's degree, but my father lost his stepbrother, who worked quite a bit for him. His stepbrother, yeah. And he went into business for himself, and he left when I was just starting another year of business school. And I guess I was the one who only went for two years. My cousins went for four years, so they couldn't come into the business. So I was the first one into my father's business full-time after my education at Becker College. I came in. My father needed help very bad, and so I says, "Dad, this is going to be my living." And I stopped going, and I came into the business. I had to help him out. Because, you know, my father and uncle, they couldn't do a lot of things that my step-uncle could do. He took all the [wasted] delivery; he took all of the orders. He could write clearer than my father and my uncle. And when he left, it left a big void in my father's business, and that's when I went in, in 1950. 1950 I went into my father's business. And in '55 we opened up, this was our first supermarket. Yeah, five years later. Yes. And I had… my two cousins who came into the business after finished college, so they came in. My brother Jimmy, who had the four years left to go, he didn't come in until four years later. It will be a lot in there if you read, you can get some stuff out of. LINDA ROSENLUND: It sounds as if you never thought of doing anything else, about working? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: No, that's when I made the decision that that's what I wanted to do. And not only to help my father, naturally, 26 but to, you know -- because I got married in 1951, so I had to make up my mind to go full-time to work, you know? And that's what I knew most of over the years growing up and [unintelligible - 00:55:16] in the service. I spent two years in the service. Went overseas, 18 years old. LINDA ROSENLUND: After graduating from high school? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Yeah. Yeah, 1944. LINDA ROSENLUND: Tell me a little bit about that. I know it must be painful for you to talk about it. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Well, I took my basic training, and then, the Battle of the Bulge, I was just through my basic training. I was going overseas, and we got word that my brother was killed. And I went overseas as an infantry replacement, because so many Americans got killed at that time that they were calling. They shortened my basic training, and I'm on the ship going overseas, and I joined my officer right after the Bulge in Bastogne, Germany as just the rifleman, an 18-year-old. I didn't know what it was about and all, but I got through it. I don't know how, but we did. LINDA ROSENLUND: So you got active duty then? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Yes. Yes. I was -- once a bullet goes over your head, you get a combat badge. And I'm very proud of it. I still have it on top of my bureau. It's a blue picture of a rifle, and the only time you could get it is if you were… LINDA ROSENLUND: I've been watching that special HBO, have you seen that? It's called Band of Brothers. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: I watched part of it. I didn't watch too much of it. I went to see a Ryan, what's that? LINDA ROSENLUND: Private Ryan. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Private Ryan. It stayed with me a little. Usually stuff like that doesn't, you know? I went two years ago, when it first 27 came out, and my wife says, "Do you really want to go see that?" And I says, "Yeah." But you know, we were [unintelligible – 00:57:31] at the time, let me tell you. And my daughter Lisa was down for a week. She was [unintelligible - 00:57:34]. And she was down with her husband and we went to the theater, and we went to see the Ryan movie, right? Private Ryan. And my daughter and my wife went to see some other movie in the same building. I can't say I enjoyed it, you know. It was so real, it really was. But I get over it. I mean, you know, but that's why I haven't looked, but they tell me it's a great series. LINDA ROSENLUND: So last Sunday, the segment was called "The Replacement," so -- and you just told me… ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Wow, really? LINDA ROSENLUND: Yeah. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Yeah, that's how it went over. You know, it would have been nice if I could have gone over with [unintelligible - 00:58:37] same guys and everything when you go for replacement. LINDA ROSENLUND: I never even thought of it before. But then watching it, just to see how hard that was. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Yeah. LINDA ROSENLUND: You weren't even sure who was on your team and who wasn't. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Oh, yes. Yes. Well, I lived in the [unintelligible - 00:58:57] and I don't brag about that. I was in the foxhole for two weeks. It was just [unintelligible – 00:59:01] and chocolates and… just keep your head down, they said. Keep your head down; the artillery will take care of everything.28 LINDA ROSENLUND: So you actually stay in that foxhole? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Oh, yes. Yeah. It's like a dream, "Did it really happen?" You know, "Did this really happen?" And we lost half a battalion. We went to a town in Germany, and we were dug in, and we were supposed to take the town over but we heard there was some SS troops, German troops—those were the tough ones, the SS. And the air force didn't want to bomb before we went in. They didn't think there was that much in there, but we had heard there were, you know? So the air force didn't want to bomb, so they made us go in, and we lost a lot of our guys. They could've bombed that town, but maybe they didn't want to hit the civilians. You know how we are in America. LINDA ROSENLUND: They showed something like that last week. There was, you know, the infantry comes in and they kind of case the area, and they saw a German tank. But the tank was hidden by a brick building. So one of the infantry soldiers ran up to a British tank and told the guy, "There's a tank right there around the building." And he said, "I was told not to damage any buildings." ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Oh, boy. LINDA ROSENLUND: So he was forced… ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Oh, I've got to watch that. That's quite different from Private Ryan, isn't it? LINDA ROSENLUND: And what's nice about it, it's just one hour. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Yes. That's enough. LINDA ROSENLUND: A little bit too much. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Yes. LINDA ROSENLUND: So tell me about being Italian. What does that mean to you? 29 ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: I don't know. Being Italian. You know, we're all Americans, but I don't know, there's just something, I have such respect for the Italians that… like they can do no wrong. But I know there's bad in every nationality. But I'm very proud of being Italian. I'm an American, but very proud of the heritage. I don't know, I'm proud of it because I'm proud of my father's heritage. But you know, I think now, what about my children? I mean, they have to be proud that I'm an American. And I was proud my father was an American also, you know? Though it isn't that -- I was so young when we came from Italy that he really was an American. You know? I mean, he didn't go to the only one -- he finished the eighth grade, and that was it, then he had to go to work. So in them days, that's the way it was. But I don't know if I answered your question, but yes, I'm very proud. LINDA ROSENLUND: You said that you're proud of the heritage. What does that mean, that you're proud of the [unintelligible – 01:02:22]? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: What the Italians brought to this country, you know? I got books, the magazines that I read on some of the famous Italians, who -- you know, I like to read about them. Anything to do with Italian, I'll -- you know, I'll spend time doing a lot of reading. But normally I'm not a big reader. I couldn't sit, takes me a -- even on a cruise, to do one book? Forget it. I can't even do a book on a cruise, you know what I mean? I'm not really a reader. I'm a short reader. LINDA ROSENLUND: So did you ever feel differently then maybe some of your friends that weren't Italian while you were growing up? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Not a bit. Not one single bit. I had a friend here that lived on the North Main Street here. His name was Bill [Chase]; 30 he was one of the closest friends of mine. He didn't have to be Italian, no. But, you know, I've had a lot of Italian friends also. But no, it never bothered me no matter what nationality they were. I was friends with some Jewish boys, nice boys. It never -- you know, sure, I'm proud of being Italian. I can kid someone say… you know, I can dig the Irish or something like that, but… or the French, nothing like… a lot of the times when I'm in their company, I'll say, "Too bad you're not Italian," you know, "we're the best." Kiddingly, you know, different thing. But never really mean it. I had some close Irish friends, very close Irish friends too. I tell them jokes about the Irish, something like that, and they tell me about being Italian. But no, there never -- all these years in business when the salesmen came in, if he was Italian, it didn't make a bit of difference or whatever nationality he was. If they had the goods and I wanted to buy, I bought it. I don't care. I did business with Jewish companies, wholesale companies. And you know what I can say? Maybe I shouldn't say it [laughter]. The Jewish people are good business people. They respect getting business from you and really, they are… it's amazing. It's amazing how you, in America, at least, a lot of people -- doesn't make any difference. We're Americans. That's the way I look at it. Yet I love the Italians. So, you know? LINDA ROSENLUND: Are there any customs or traditions that you tried to carry over in your own family? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Like pasta on Sunday? Definitely. My wife, every Sunday, she's got to make the sauce and -- all from scratch. The meatballs, the sausage, the pork. You put some pork in there too. All my kids and… no one can make meatballs 31 like my wife. And my wife has taught my daughter-in-laws exact, and they do the exact thing, and what do you think the kids will say? "How come it doesn't taste like granny's?" It's wonderful to have a reputation like that, isn't it? [Laughter] And I play bocce. For years I played bocce. And I love the sport. And you know what? There are -- now that I'm in two leagues [unintelligible – 01:06:28] and Italian center league, and there is many non-Italians that can play bocce as good as Italians. And you say, "Gee, how come?" You know? It's in our blood, but I guess all through the years that we played with some French and Irish and you know what nationality, they're as good as any Italian playing bocce. They know why. You know, you think that would be -- see, there's where the Americanism comes in. If you want to play, you can be Irish, you can play. And you get to be as good as anybody if you play at it. Golfers, look at the golfers today. You know, there aren't many Italian golfers. I don't know, you know? But anyway… LINDA ROSENLUND: I was thinking of the hockey players, how they all used to be Canadian. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: French. You know, but if you get away from that… I'm not a hockey enthusiast, but there are a lot, there aren't that many black hockey players. And I wonder why. They're fast. But in basketball, it's all you see now in basketball, you know? But football you see a lot of Italians in football. Why I don't know, but you do, but not in basketball. Not in basketball. You got to be fast, you got to be tall and fast. And I always kid my two boys who played basketball, I say to them, "David and Steven, oh, you guys only had the speed that some of the blacks have." There's something 32 about the blacks. They've got those flight feet, you know? But I don't mind them either. I like to watch basketball, and they're a big percentage of them. If it bothered me, I wouldn't get so interested in it. But I do. LINDA ROSENLUND: What kind of celebrations did you have for, let's say, Christmas? Have you followed tradition? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Oh, yes. Yeah. Night before Christmas, we have our seven fishes. We don't have any sauce that night. That comes the next day, with the ravioli. Now and today, we look forward, my kids look forward to the Christmas Eve dinner versus Christmas Day dinner. I don't know why, but you know? Christmas Day, you might have turkey, roast beef, and you have your ravioli. But that night you don't have any of that. It's all fish. It's all fish. The kids, the calamari, the pasta, the sauce, the -- what do they call it -- the [aglio e olio], right? Pour that white sauce over the pasta, as good as the red one [laughter]. But that's the tradition. And we exchange our gifts that night. Because if the kids, when the kids were young, the boys wanted to be Christmas morning with their kids, with their own kids, where they can open up their gifts and then they can put together the toys that they got. And then at night they come over to our house after they've had the day with themselves. But they will stay the night before until 11 or 12 o'clock. But then we give all the gifts out, you know? LINDA ROSENLUND: Do you feel like your generation rejected any values from the first generation? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: No, I can't think… the only thing I would say was… my father being that strict and no sports was on his game. I mean, his business is bringing up the same [unintelligible - 01:11:16] working hard. But you know, I never… I don't 33 know if I could ever tell my son, "I need you in the business. You can't play basketball." You know, especially if they're good at it. You know what I mean? But you know, you don't have to be that good now today. As long as they play the game, as long as they play the sport, it's the only thing I can really… I didn't reject it. Disappointed, yes. But I learned a lesson from it. When I got married, I said, "I'm not going to let it happen to my kids. If they want to play." It was a different situation. My father couldn't afford to pay people to do work in the store, you know? And today we have a business that we don't have to rely on -- I don't have to have my Sean, who just started college, I don't have to have him work in the business. He did. He worked in high school. David had him working in high school, but it isn't that he had to, you know what I mean? But it's good for him. It's good for all. I've got my little Katie, who turned 16, she's at St. Bernard's, and she works in the store. That's wonderful. But they don't take away from soccer or sports or Sean's baseball for the high school. He was their catcher for three years. And my son David never stopped; he never said no, he had to get to work at the Victory. And it's just a different world. It's different. It's a better world. I think it's a better world when you can have your kids, you know, spoil them rotten. [Laughter] What the heck. And, you know, the parents enjoy it as much as the kids do, playing ball. You can't miss a game. When Sean was playing over the [unintelligible - 01:13:29] field, what do you think I wouldn't do? I'd leave the office and go to watch the game. I didn't want to miss it. We missed that, yeah. In the years I was building the business, you know, if I 34 couldn't drive the kids to the play—and they all played little league and basketball and soccer—my wife used to drive them there if I get home from work late from the store, but, you know, throughout the years of this business. But truth is it's nice they can do these things today that we weren't able to, that my father wasn't able to do. And I'm sure if he lived in this generation, I know he'd be the same way. He wouldn't… how can you say it? I don't know. I'm trying to think of a word, it won't come out, but that's all right. LINDA ROSENLUND: Would you have been understanding if your sons didn't want to join you in the market business? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Well, there's another -- where do you get all these questions from? [Laughter] They are good. I'll never forget. I'll tell them when they get out of college -- my first boy, Jay, went to college, he went to Georgetown, three more years, became a lawyer. I wanted to set him up in an office in Leominster. I says, "We've got a good name in Leominster, you've got a good start." I says—and this is the way I put it—"Do you want cocktails for lunch, Saturdays and Sundays off? Or do you want to come to another business and work night and day, Saturdays, Sundays and nights." He said, "Dad, I want the business." And he helped build the business to what it is today. It's 20 years now. He's been the president of our company, and if it wasn't for him I probably would have sold out a few years back, you know? And my other boys they did the same thing. They finished their college, they all went to four years college, and I says to David, my next boy, "You want to come into the business?" "Yep, I'm ready." And I says, "You don't have to. If you can find something else 35 that you like, go ahead and try it. And then you can come back into the business. I never, never, never said: "No, you're coming to the business," not one of them. And they know that. You can ask them. I always said to them, "God forbid if the business didn't go, I don't want you to say that I forced you into the business." I want a clear mind on that, right? And my other two, I did the same thing to them. They all wanted to come into the business. It's very unusual, you know? Of course, you have family too? That's wonderful, yes. LINDA ROSENLUND: But they all got the hard work ethic? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Yes. They're all good workers too. They're not -- you know, they like this sport and stuff like that, and they have to take their children here and there, fine. But they do their job. They all do their job, which is very nice, you know? I'm very proud of them. I'm proud of my wife for bringing them up too, when I was still in business. You know, this guy's got me. I've got to share. If they didn't come over for two days, I've got to go up his house. LINDA ROSENLUND: Now, that's your grandson? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Yes. LINDA ROSENLUND: What's his name? He's your youngest grandson. ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Jack. LINDA ROSENLUND: Jack? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Yes, Jack. And I don't mean to single him out, don't worry. I had a lot of fun with all my others too. But this time I'm a little older and I've got a little more time, you know. If I go home for lunch, which I did today, she wasn't there today, I was disappointed. I thought she'd be there. [Laughter] She was [unintelligible - 01:17:41] devil, spoiled rotten and everything else. You should see 36 when he comes into this office, my. He's got to sit, I let him sit here. And then when we have to leave, right? He won't go. I've got to pick him up, pick him up to the car. He thinks I'm going with him and I don't, he's screaming out there. [Laughter] LINDA ROSENLUND: So how do you foresee your grandchildren's life different, as it will be different from yours? ARTHUR DIGERONIMO: Well, gee… you know, bringing up that question now, it's… when I've seen this happen, when this broke out, I didn't think of me, I thought of my kids and my grandchildren. What kind of a life is it going to be for them? You know, we were lucky. We were lucky, right, Ann? We had all this freedom for so many years, and now it's gone, but we can't act that way. We have to go forward as if everything's going to be all right. But you know, who knows what's going to happen? And I think that my four grandchildren, my kids too, because they're all in there. My daughters in their 30s, and my boys in their 40s, you know, they're still young, too, [unintelligible - 01:19:06] world, you know? Sorry, Jay. Jay, come on! Say hello to Anne and Linda. This is the guy I've been talking about. We're doing a little Italian culture. Maybe you can help me in a few questions. [Laughter] No, not the business. Why didn't grandpa, why didn't your great-grandfather come over to this? I know he took dad. He took your grandfather, and uncle… why did he come to Leominster, Fitchburg?/AT/lj/es

Issue 3.6 of the Review for Religious, 1944. ; for Reh NOVEMBER ~! 5, 1944 t '~ (~°uesfions. Answered,' I Ind~=x tOVolumeThree ,~ ":RE, I EW "FOR R G-IOUS ¯ , "VOL0~ I~I - NOVEMBFR I~, 19.44 - No. 6., CONTENTS- ~ PIUS XII ON BIBLE STUDIES Clemen~J. MeNa.sp~, S.J .3.6.1 SCRIPTURE IN,THE CHRISTMAS LITURGY~Robert G. North, S.J. 3~68 '~. BOOKLET NOTICES '. .~. . ~t~OOM FOR THE EBONY CHRIST?John E.! Coogan, S.J. 377 ~ OUR CONTRIBUTORS " A HUNDR'ED YEARS OF' APOSTOLIC PRAYER~ Alban J. Dachauer. S.J .~. 385 . THE DEGREES' O~: PRAYER~Edward J. McNally, S.J .391 BOOKS RECEIVED , . . . . ~ . " ; . 40l RELIGIOUS PROFESSION: A SECOND BAPTI~M?~Ja~es E.RIsk, S,3,,,, ;~.402 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS~ - -._ , Abbreviating'the Postulancy: Obligation~ to go to Ordinary Confessor: " Commut~)ty Doctbr and Secrecy: ~Dispensa~tion from Eucharistic Fast: ~ Obligafion of Novice to make a Will: Converts and Ent~'ance into Reli- , g~on: Use bf Money given for Specified Purpose: PortiuncuJa~ Indulgence i~ Churches of Third Order Regular: Holding Bd'ads, for Cr6zier Indul-gence: Time for Saying. Little O~ce:" Questioning of Boys by So¢ial~" Workers: Novitiate without Isolation or.Novice Mistress: Transfdr from ¯ " Activ~ to Cloistered Instit~ute: Re-admission to Religious Life; Division of Institute into Provinces. ~.- " . . . . 410 BOOK REV, IEWS (Edited by Clement DeMuth, S.J.) ° . The Ascetical Life: A World to Re¢gnst~ruct; Paul of Tarsus: The Pas-torabCar( of'Souls: Molders 6f the Medieval Mind: Canonical Procedure in Martimonial Cases: Voll II, Informal Procedure: Abridgment ,of the Interior Spirit of the Religious of the Visitation: Maryknoll~ Missi6n Let-terL Vol. I, 1944": Dea¢onship: Conferencel on the Rite of OrdinatiOn; Our Lady's Praise in Poetr~ . " . ' ~ . 42 INDEX TO VOLUME III. ' . ; ~ . 42'8 "~ REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS. November. 1944. Vol. III. No. 6.: Publish¢d bi-monthly: ~lantlary. March. May. duly. September. and November at the College Press, 606 Harrison Stfeet, Topeka, Kansas, by St. Mary'~s College, St. Marys; " Kansas, with ecclesiastical al~prob;ition. Entered as second class matter danua~y 1942, at the Post Office, Topeka, Kansas; under the act of March 3, 1879. ~Editoria[_Board: Adam C. Ellis, S.d., G. Aughstine Ellard, 8.J., Gerald Kelly, "~.~I,~ Copyright. 1944. b~ Adam C. Ellis. Permission is hereby,granted for'quotations of reasonable I~ngth, provided due credit be given this review and the aut-l~r~. SubScription price: 2~dollars a year: Printed in U. S. A. Before writin(J to us. please consult notice ~n inside back cover. Pius XII on'. Bible $ udies Clemer~t J. McN.aspy, S.J. ~.~,IHEN Rome speaks it is always news: when Rome ~W ¯ speaks in the solemn form of an encyclical it ~is l~ead- line ne~s, But whim" the,Holy. Father gives a pro- , nouncement on Scripture, the whole Catholic learned world feels especially, concerned. It is .now-just .over a year since ,o-the Pope sent out his.encyclical on Bible" studies, called by its oPCning words Divino.A~ante Spi.rim (that is, "Under ,th~ Inspiration of theDivine Spirit':'~). Even, before actuhl. copies We.re available in America.interest was so higla~that 'arti~les beg~,n appearing ~n Catholic, publications of: all ,tyises . -: T~ue,. this encyclical;is~.lar~ge!y directed .to pri~sfs, seminarians, arid theology teachers, Whose. profdssion plainly'has to. do with preachi~ng and studying God's ii~Si~ired word. Yet. the H01y Father speaks to the lait~ 'too and invites them to become outstanding in studies d.eal.ing with the Bible. For they too can "render a. con-spicuous service to the Christian cause." ' ¯ ". . Bi'shops are urged fo "effcourage all th,6se initiatives by ivhi~h men . . . laudably strive to excite and foster among ,.Catholics a greater, knowledge of and love for th~ SacrCd Books." They are to favor '.'those pious associations whose aim it is, to spread copies of ~theoSacred Letters, especially of. the Gospels, among the Faithful and to pr6cur~ by every means that in Christian families the same be read daily, with .~piet~r and devotion." All the more would this seem-to apply to religious 7families," particularly th6se whosd regular program of ~ s~tudies-d~es not a11ot,c.ourses in Scr!pture. To. use the Holy_ Father's words again, if the faithful "are to be nourished CLEMEN'I~ ~J. ~ MeNASPY -~ " Review ~ fo~ Religious °with .thiS same food that:they may, draw fro'~ thence~the~¯ khowle~dge and"lov~ ~f-God a~nd."t~he pr?gress~mperfectton and' the happiness of their own souls," evidently h~does not mean to exclude those striving to live the very~of~ulness of the Christian life:~ - The new encyclical'~is now easily available. Tran~l~- tionshave.appeared in rr;any dio(esan newspapers; th, e May oissue.-of The Catholic Mind c6ntains one, which is being* publish_ed in, pamphlet~ form by America Pres r ry n fafe .cat i v e prayer. ~ ;- o Is there .a ~ype of contemplativ'e~ prayer, wl~kh we can - bring about at leasi: partially by. our'own efforts? It is importar~t to grasp the question at issue" here. Since ~all: me~ritorious prayer requires grace for its performance, we _~are2not ihquiring into our :ibility, to contemplate ,~'ithofit gr~ic~, but Whether, by utilizing the graces which are2avail, -~able. ~to all Christians, we can positively, help in building 6ur owns.ability to pra_y contemplativ~ly. The contra.ry sfippositio~n is that all contemplation, is infused and that we are restricted to-remov.igg the obstacles to such pra~ye?~ Then ~t would be given, finally as. a pure gift of God ~"-. 6ut any infallible causal 'connection with 0hr preparator~r acts. The atlthors v~e are following maintain that there °~n acquired contemplation. Father DeGuibert cites, f~r :thi~ ~ ~po~ition such le~di~ig auth6rities asoSt. Thomas Aquinai,i-~. St. Teresa, and St. 3bhn of the Cross. Experience confirms this teaching and reason would-lead. us.to expect it, For just as in " natural sdehce and ,philosophy when one has become thoroughly, familiar with his subject, he c~an find.mental repose in contemplating the ' ~rderliness 6f the system oftruths he hSs learned, so ih th~ ~bnsideration of the truths of faith, one. would be prone.to ,-,_~ @pect~ that a similar stage Would be reached iri due time2 The practical moment of holding this position is tl~at it~ .-founds the~convic~ion . that contemplatige prayer, admit-.~ .tedly a most efficacious means of spiritual progress, ~s ~. wlthin, the grasp of all and will certainly l~e our~,~ provided. w~ make the necess~ary efforts. _ . >. Method in Disdursioe Prag~r ~ ' 0f~ the forms ~of pi:a~rer thus far considered, discursive. EDWARD.:J. MCNALLY . ~ Reoietu for Religious~ ,, prayer is the only 6ne which may properly bE said,t~ be ~ go~rerned~ by method: These methods have been worked " °out in accord wiith~sup~rnatural prudence and so do" not oppose, obht work' alon~g with, the 0.pera.tions 6f ~race," At' all times it is to be borne in mind that they.are intended' as means to subserve God's _sanctifying influence ~upon the. " soul and-are to be adhered to precisely in the degree that they are helpful to this end. Gerierally speaking, the use of ¯ method°is a real need for those beginning to pray mentally. Not infreq,u~ntly also those who have been p.raying-for., some~years are still unabie at times to make~ use of the ~. simpler forms of prayer profitably; in such cases method sh6uld be followed; ' We find that the various methbds of prayer in use~in the Church ,possess certain common elements. Thus, all methods-insist on ~he importance of the remote prepara-ti0n)~-, This is summed up. by Father De Grandmaison as follows. One ought always sinceiely to pu~ the thin'igs~'of' "God in the highest placd. He shohld trust that intimate friendship with God is possible and relatively easy. should practise self-denial. It will make prayer easy if ond seeks God:in all things, practises interiorsilence~ and tries to put. on the sentiments of Christ Himself. " : 0 ~ According to.-the Ignatian methOd, .which is quite. widely practised today,, the proximate preparation iricludes ¯ a choice of material for prayer.- It shows reverence for God 15y~spending 'some time beforehand in fixing on what we .are to consider in prayer. Furthermore, "the pray~er itself is mdre deeply r~cdllected as a result,-since the entire time of °~rayer can be' spent i~n direct relationship with God and not. ~in the extraneous business of deciding what the~prayer is to-be about. For morning prayer, if'khd preparation be made the evening before, this me'thod has the added adv.an.tageof .enlisting the sub~onsci6us activity of the preceding night ih 394 Of humility and re;terence, and a petition for grace to.rn'ake~ -. the prayer weli. The use of a composition off.place is recom- o --* mended if the subject is an event in our Lord's life, in order ~ ihat thus the'one-praying may as it were projedt himself into the scene. Its use in subjects that are not historica!,bi~t ihvisible,, f3r example, a theological truth, is not favored ~by all. Utility to the individual seems to be the final test~'.- 'here. ~ " .THE DEGREES' OF~ PR)gYE~ the cause of'player. Th~ matter :chosen~-should fit the. needs and inclinatibns of~each one:" The start o~f the player .will, include an act of redalling the presence of God, an act~ An important question is" whether a definite~grace~ sl~ould .~" ~- be sought., Here a distinction is ~o ~be made between the time'of making the Spiritual Exdrcisesof St: Ignatius (for "one who.makei t.hem)and, ordinary daily'prayer. Durifig the Exercises, . the petition for the grace appropriate to each~ exercise is clearly essential, since the Exercises are a cohesix;e wtiole wherein each grace prepares for the succeeding . ~n the other hand, in daily prayer such a specific petition is not hlways required. Yet it is well tO make it frequently in -o~der t9 have definite, sp~ritua.1 aims. The dose of the .prayer should be more directly ~concerndd with God and have some bearing on the p~esent day's endeavor. A definite" resolution, however, may not always be needful ~ince th~ prayer is sufficiently prhctical if therd is a general up!.ifting ,of the heart:saffectibns to God or if a clearer grasp of a truth~ of fai~:h be gaine.d. The fbllowing suggestio.n~ g6v- '~rn the" prayer itself: 1) One 'should Stay where one findsdevotton'-' ~and as l~on~ a.~ one does so. ~ .2) Mote value is to be put on ~he affections of the heart and will than on intellectual considerations. - 3) Yet as the will's affections spring from ~hat the mind apprehends, the intellectual acts are not .to.~ be.-, cut 395 ED~CARD" d. ~McNALL¥~ " ~ )- '-~ Reuiew ,f6i- R~liqious "- ~ -short, prematurely:. ~4) The fUil.time'is to. be given to. pra:yer dedpite desola-. "-tibn. ~" 5) Violent efforts to seek devotion should be avoided. In itself, the e~irly morning se~ms the best-time" for-m~ iking mental prayer, sirice at that tim~ the mind is riot ~yet taken up With the responsibilitie~ of thd "day's work. .Yet if fatigue is too noticeable then,.some other tim~ free f.rom ii~ter.ruptions, i~ preferable. -This' latter suggestion. " applies to those for :whom th-~ time of prayer is not fixed' by ': rule. The posture should be the one most suitable to Obtain the fruit.desired and foi.due reverence:" ¯ - Timel~j:Trarldtions to Higher Forms o~ Pr.a~ter ¯ , .It i~-important that.~he transitions, first fr6m discursive to-affective'prayer and then from affective to contemplative :, prayer, occur at the proper times. To dela~; them.too 1,o.ng would be unnecessarily to render prayer tedious.and to fail to take advantage of the grace God intends for the soul. On '~ the other hand, to encourage the affective or contemplative way befor~ the grace for it is offered would be an atte ~mpt" -.c.ertain to fail., Hence it is important for the director to be ¯ able to recognize the Ordinary signs of a call to'these types of .prayer. The .principal test is the one suggested b~r[ St. Teresa, that the prayer rnu.st produce its effect upon the [,whble life of ~he individuaE by making him more humble, mpr¢closely united with God, and more careful to perform-[ well the duties of his state of life. Besides thi~, there~hould be at least equal facility in" the more. advanced-prayer. In addition to these two principal"criteri_a two others will help. -, recognize a call. They are a distaste for' discursiv~ p~aye'r. ~an~. a persistent attraction for affeCtive prayer: These. lat-'. ter t~o.signs may be called supplementary, as they are not ,always present. ~ Sqme personsad'vance early~to affectjveprayer. In such. ~-:~ casesch~e {s ~obe tak4n cha~ 5~ o~her means--for~examPle, - -~:,.6y conferences and re~ding--s~ch p~rsons'attain tothe deep unders[anding and,personal convictions of the great otruths ": ~ " of the-spiritual life and of their obligations that ordinaril~ a~e the result of discursive prayer. ~, -~ Dan~ers to Be A6oided ¯ Even after one is practising affe~tive praCer and shoul~ ~ bd practising it, certain dangers are to be watched fo~: One of these dangerd is a tendency toward too-violent excitgtion 6f affections ~hich usually occurs when one is laying stress on the sensible emotions instead of the will's determination. be ~givefi in order that affective or "contemplative prayer be : ~ ~ ,made with the g~eatest possible fruit. Another danger is that of spiritual gluttony for "sensible. onsolations. This caff le~d to a "neglect.of the duties.of, one's state of life ,in order noYto be deprived of anysensible consolation. There is also daniier Of presumption based on the judgment that one'must.be far ahead of others.spir-~- itually since one is enjoying great intimacy.with God. , Similarly, acquired ,conteinplation is also attended'b~r ~ certain' spiritual darigers. For example, there may be'dejec-. tion. of mind when this contemplation; at first very swe_et,:- o he.crimes arid and tasteless.: Or one may conceive a gr~eat rep~ugnance for making any distinct act.of the mind, such. as reasomng, even though impelled thereto by grace. A~in: dne. m~iy presume to despise 16wet forms o_f. prayer. Fin~ill y, laziness an,do a superficial spiritual life may derive-from a lack of cooperation with the. graces ,of contemplative prayer. ~ Hence. speaking_p~sitive!y, the following advice might 1) Solid and fundamental~ virtues are:to be rather than subjectively, plea~ing experiences. ,2) Greater recollection should be cultivated. :[.3) The examination of.consciefi~e is" to b~ kept up and - gr3ater purity of consci¢.nc.~ sought. " ., 4) No inspirati.on .of g~race should be disobeyed. " Even for those pr.actising these more advanced forms of .,~ : prayer preparation of material is recomm~n~l~d. °This.!may ~be done more simply than formerly. Thus, the subject chosen might merel, y be a' passage from Holy Scripture ~in, event in a saint'slife, or a certain, supernatural affection "of the will[ The Night of the Senses ¯ " -Th, e,final-pre, p~ratiofi of a soui for the gift of habitual rhysti~al" prayer is almost always the first passive nightof" >the soul, known as the nigh.t of the .senses. This is ch~iracte~- ized by a .great ari,dity. There is a simple memory' of God ~hich persists throughou~ prayer. This is the one constant -~ttraction of the mihd and 'it endures more or less inde-~ pehde,ntl~r of the will. S0metlmes .this i"nemory has conso-la'tion in it. '-MUch more commonds a painfu~ and persist-ent need, of a closer union with. GOd. Those who h~re already had some transient experiences w.ith consoling mysticalprayer can define wha't they Want:,,,,it is the return of that prayer flowering in the possession of God. ~,Grace. begins to induce a distasfe for even such sensible:ple~isures as are lawful. The will is free to resist this purifying proc-e~, ss~ and One is tempted to immerse oneself in, excessive indul-~ genceoin sense experience. The proper course tO be.f6.11owed is just,the opposite. Recoll~ktion is to, be presereed, and the "senses mortified.During time of prayer one should be con-tent with the simple, thought of God; this is all. that ongcaff do withOut tooviolent efforts; 0fie should pray for quick "deliverance from this time of trial if it be'God's will. - Distinctive Nature of MqsticalPrager Three qualifies set infused contemplation, apart f~om ¯ " 398 ' Noi~mbec, 19~44 - T~E DI~_aREES OF PRAYeRs-. ~ill ot~er ~rayer. First,'God's 15r~sehce till now l~nbwn dnly b~r:faith seems ~d be expdrienced. It is felt. This conscious-ness of God's presence has beeia e.xpressed analbgously by othqse who have had it as a~fouc14 of God or a Sl:;iritual ta~sting. Only. in.,the more advanced m~stical~ prayer do the analogies~of hearing and sight.0ccur. .Secondly, this ihtui-tion is simple, not bringing any other new knowledge to soul.~ Thirdly, ttie prayer is simply received from ~od, sifice no human efforts can produce it even for a short tinge. Grades of Myst.ical Prayer " Th~e. ar~, according to the authors we are ~fol~lOwing, three principal-stages' of ~mystical prayer:, the "prayer 6f quiet; the prayer of fhll union; and the .tra.n, sfgiming union, also known as the .mystical marriage. The pr~ayer of .quiet may be described as mystical union.in which tlqd ~divine act.ionis not yet strong enough to exclfid~ distrac- =tio~s. -At first,-this prayer will last only for very brief intervals, say for the space of a Hail-Mary. Gradua113~ attains lofiger duration until finally it is Eossessed almost ali the"time that is spent in prayer. . :-~In the, second stage, of mystical~ prayer, known as the prayer of full.union, the experience of God is su~cient!y ~absorbing to preclude all distractions. At first, this prayer tgo is had "only very briefly, though with profound_effedts .upon thb soul. A half an hour is considered rather 1ong.A person gifyed with .this prayer falls back to the. prayer of ~quie~ in the intervals between periods of full union. I~s_ ~rea~tiofi on the body is rfiore or less pronounced, accc~rding ~.~ to, the[temperament of the recipient. I~ can result ii~ ecstasy. Before ,being admitted to.the final stige of mys~tical' praye[: the transforming union, the soul must be further purified: ~. This purgation is effected through~ the.' 399 MCNALL¥ Reoieu~ for ReligiOus passive~i~h(of the soul known~fis tl~e night of the S]~irit. ' This state is not ~without j0y~resultin~ drom the infused 5ontempla~tion of God~ But it is-chiefly characterized-by" very -. great sufferings. Understanding.God's holiness and love in" a~nev~ way, the' soul also perceives the enormity its own ififidelities and conceives "a torturing abhorrence, c~F- ~them. This great sorrow and destestation of its faults~ cleanses the soul from them and so fits it for more exalted union with God. There is at times agreat aridity making ~ prayer seemimpossible. Very_delightful periods of infused contdmplatjon have been experienced, arousing the soul's desire°for more peLfect union with God; now these graces ha,vd:been Withdrawn, leaviffg the. soul without joy and acutely and painfully conscious of its g~eat .need fo p.os-sess God. ~ - - -/~ At-length th~ finai stage of mystical prayer is reached_. ~, This transformingunion or-mystical marriage has ~'th~reeT' distinctive properties. First, it'is almost .permanent; goin~ ,on'practically all the time even amid external activity. Per~ ;~ so/as gifted With this kind of-prayer ~have been impressed witffa Rindof duality within themselves. - The h!gher fac-ulties of the soul are n~early always_ rapt in prayer, while the lower Qnes are capable of engaging in all sorts of work~;" ~I'n~ .some cases this prayer lasts even during sleep. Ecstasy is -rarer than in p@e~eding degrees[ Temptation~and interidr sufferings Occur only infrequ'ently. ~ ~ The second_ property of this _degree of prayer is an, ~xperience of the transformation or divinization of the°~ 16ul. The supernatural divine concurrencegranted to÷soUls, in~ grace becomes the object, of conscious° appreh~nsiom ~. There" is a Sp, ecial percept.ion of union with G0d~ 'an~t all a~t~bns are. consciously performed with Him and through Hiifi. ¯ Thirdl.~, so~e ~ersons gifted With this prayer have an No.tuber, 1~44~ ~ ~ ,~,~ ~THE DI~GREF~ 01~ ~YER :ilmost con--tindous vision ofthe-Blessed Trinity.-St. Teresa: ~---says that~this is always-so. But St. zJohn of the Cross does not merition it and there seem t6 have been cases-of the tr.ansform!n~ union With God as ~ne, without any co_n- ~.~ sciousness df Hiin as Three. ~,The part phyed by the Sacred Humanity of our Lord with regard to this spiritual marriage seems to be that Of !e.ading the soul to if.- The relations,hip.is between the soul ~and the Divinity. In .different recorded instances of this-union,~ the divine r~ature has ~anifested itself more ~learly as identical with the Word or with. the Holy Spirit. ~ _" AI~ very close ufiion of the will with God's Will is ~the~ result of the transforming union. Deliberate'venial sins: are a~most completely excluded. The soul feels that' it' w0uld be imp6ssible to sin serio~usly. Yet there is no cer, o _~aihty that confirmation in graci is granted., St.~3ohn of theCross thinks that it is. ' But~St. Teresa holds that a fall° is possible, since there is no absolute guaranty th;it~ God.wifl continue to hold the $o1~11 so. close to Himself until death. Books Received (From August~O to October ZO) -THE BRUCE PUI~LISHING CO., Milwaukee. A Month o~ Roses. By the Reverend P. H. Fages. O.P. $1:75. Canonical -~Procedure in Matrimonial Cases:, Volume II. Informal Procedure. By .the Reverend William J. Doheny; C.S.C. J.U.D. $8.00.The Man Nearest" io .Christ; By the Reverend F. L. Filas, S.;J. , $L50. B. HERDER BOOK CO., St. Louis. Lent, By-the Reverend Conrad Pepler, O.P. $~.00." P! J.'KENEDY.~ SONS, New York. Three Reliqious Rebels: By the Reverend M~" Raymond, O.C.S.O. ~' Her Silence 8peaks. By the Rey~erend John S.'Middleton0 Ph.D, GROSSET ~,DUNLAP, New York. " $2.7.5. Men o~ Mar~tknol_l. By the Reverend James K~ller and Meyer Berger. Reprint., $1.00. " R li{gi uS pro e Si ~ a ~Seffo~nd Baptism? 3ames:E. Risk, 8.3. .\V! A~ TOLD~in. the liyes', of the early Fathers that . ,~ one of these heroic men behdd in~ vision two persons. . ~' .~receiving the grace of complete remission~ of th~ terdporal phn!s~hm_ e.~.t due to sin. One of these @as a neo- -~" phyte, the'6ther a religious assuming;the habit of .his order. Be it, fact or legend, this represents an opinion'that has held: an honored .place among the traditions, of the .religious life; " .For centuries theologians and spiritual writers have. likened; ' th4 religious profession to baptism or mar~yrdom,both ~which~car, ry with them the immediate and entire remission of the temporal punishment due to sin. 'In an article publishett in a recent issue of this REVIEW i(~Vo!. 3~ p.-28~),, Father McAuliffe explained the notion of _temporal-punishrfient due to'sin and several ways effecting its payment in this life. If the tradition about the" ,expiatory effect of the religiou~s, prqfess~on~s sblidly founded,-theq we hav~;~in the" pronouncing of th~ thr& ,.public vows, still another means Of riddinKour~elves of-o.u'~- ~ debt of temporal punishment. Some commentators on the religious life ~tate that ~the religious, profession hhs the l same expiatqry, effect, as bap- ~ tism or.martyrdom, but th.ey leave us to search for an argu-ment ,in support of this statement,. Som~ ~imply,~est their case on authority,, partic,ularly on St. Thoma~ Aquinas, -~St. Robert Bellarmine, and Suarez. It is the purpose of the pre.sent investigation to test the merits of the 1png-stand, ing tra.dition° by scrutihizing the testimony of these three emi-rient authoriti.es. 402 " REI~IGIOU$ PRO~$IION~A SECOND t~PllSl? ~ The Problem." By the religious profession we understand the pro-nouncement of the~ ,three vows of poverty, chastity,~nd obedience in a religious~institute~approv~ed by the Church. --For the moment we. ate not distinguishing .between the simple and the solemn profession. Our problem .may .stated simply in the form of a question: if a religious, in.th~ state of grac~ and free from attachment to all sin, were to die< immediately after his profession, would, his soul .~be admitted without delay fo the, beatific vision? Let it. be noted from~ the outset that we presci~id-from ~J~e',plenary _indulgence accorded some religious institutes, whereby their ~members enjoy this spiritual favor on the day that they receive the habit or on the day of their profession. Such a grant, for example, was~ made by Pope Paul V in 1606. We are considering the religious l~rofession in itsel~: and inde- ~endently of the_ remission of the~ temporal punishment'- occasioned by the g~:ant of,a plenary indulgence. -. Baptism, or the r~-birtl~ of a person into the life of.- ~ s~nctifying grace, the. sacrament of regeneratiori, remits the entire guilt 9fsin and with it the eternal and tempor.al puff-ishment due~to sin. On the neophyte, no work of satisfac- ~'tion is imposed. The c~ebt i~ cancelled by the grat(Utous applica~ti~n of Christ's own su{Serabundant satisfaction., This complete,liberation from the'bond of sin and its con- _"~equen(penaltie~s follow~ s immediately in virtuedf the per-., formanc~ of the ~baptismal rite, or, in the language of the theologians, ex opere operato. The,remitting effect of bap-~ tism, theiefore, is rather in the nature of a. free gift than one produced by the laborious procedure of personal penitential. acts. , The voluntary act by which the, martyr sheds his blood ~ in testimony bf the faith likewise produces tile entire remis-siofi of the debt oftemporal punishment, even though the 403 _.-' JAMES'E~ RISK . -, - Review for Religio~us martyr should have only 'imp~rfe¢i-¢ont-ritiom This com~ ,,- plete remission; though not the: result of a sacramental rite, ~ iS als6 prodi~ced ex. opere operato, Or as some. would express ~.--it' quasi ex opere .operato. : St~ Robert Bellarniine; in his . treatise on ,Ihdulgenees, explains this, " " ¯ "For it is'clear that martyidom is such a complete.sat-isfaction that it.can make expiation' for the guilt that has been contracted from sins, no;matter how great their num-ber ~and enormity. For, provided~ it i~ certain that .one i~: ' truly a martyr, the Church does not.heSitate to list him . among the saints and blessed, ¯even if before his martyrdom° he hadbeen coveied with many crimes." What, ofthe' religious profession is :it on a level with baptis.m and martyrdom as an e~piatory ag~ht?'" In sol'ring thd problem we gi~e first consideration to the opinion of the Angel Of ,the SchoOls.~ " ~ " ~ -OPinion of St. 7:l~omas o. ,.Commenting, on the relative~merits of the vow to make - a¯ .pilgrimage *and~ that" of entering the religious state, St. Thomas in his Summa Theotogica (2, 2ae, q.~!89, a. 3; ad3) says: ~ "The vow to enter religiom~being perpetual:is greater ~: than thw vow of .pilgrimage to the Holy Land, which is a ," -tempdral 'vow: and as--.Alexander III says, 'He ~wh~ exchanges~a temporary service for the perpetual service of religion is in no way,, guilty of~ breaking his vow.' More, ¯ over it may be reasonhbly staled that alsoby entrance into religion a man obtains remission Of all his sins. F6r if ¯b3i~ giving alms a man ,may forthwith .satisfy for his ~sins, according to Dan. iv, 24, 'Redeem thou thy sins With alms', ~ much more does it suffice to satisfy for all=his sins'that a ~ man ddvote himself wholly to the divine service by entering religion, for this surpasses all manner of satisfaction,- ever~ 404 November, 1944 ~,. REliGIOUS PROF~'S~ION--A SECOND BAP~SM?~ -that ofpublicpenance, acCording to the Decretals,-jus~ as'a holocati~t exceeds a sacrifice, as Gregory declares. Henc~ we read:in the lives of the Fathers that by entering'religion one receives the same grace as by .being baptized. And yet, if- One were not thereby absolved ~from all debt of punish-ment, nevertheless the entrance into religion is more ~profitable than a pilgrimhge to the Holy Land, which, as regards °the advancement in good, is preferable to th~ abso-lution from puriistimen~.''1 In.explo.ring the. probative value of this almost uni~ y;ersally cited passage 6f'the Ange!ic Doctor, i't is well to note carefully thephrases used. Otherwise than some com-mentators ~duld lead ug to believe, Sf. Thomas does not-mention explicitly the religious profession, that is/the .vows taken ~fter the novitiate, or the final profession,. He speaks first of all of the vow to enter religion, a vow there-fore taken before one embraces the religious life. He then ,°mefitionsth4 entering into religion four times, three of which are associated with the .idea of the complete .rem)ssion of ~ins dr of punishment due to sin, namely: l) "'It,may be reasonab, ly stated that also by entrance .into religion a man obtains remission of all his sins.'" 2) '" . . . much more,does it suffice to.sati~fg for all his sins that a man devote himself ,wholl~t to the divine servi'ce bg. entering religion, for this surpasses all manner of satis-faction, even that of public penance. "" , ~ 3 )' "'Hence we read . . . that b~j entering religion one receives the same grace as bq be(n~ baptized.:" ~ " From the° foregoing we may safely say that St. ,Thomas ~held it as highly probable that entrance into religion is ~n act of the hi~hest satisfactory value, capable of deleting the ~Cf.~The_ Summa Theoloqic-a o~ St. Thomas Aquinas, literally translated b~, Fathers of the English Dominican Province. L6ndon: Burns. Oates. and X,Vashbourne. ~V61. 14, pp. 301-302. - ~ o ., 405 JAME~ E: RISK ,a '~" Revie~ for Religious entire: temporal punishment~ due to sihl~ iind this independ-ently' 6f any special indulgences granted by the ~Church. ' Sinie entrai~ce into religion implies tile voluntary~assump-. - tion of a life of perpetual self-restraint from a supernatural motive,, it is more perfect than~a pilgrimage to the Holy. Land, which=implies only temporary hardships; and since ,it implies a complete giving of-self to God, it is more perfedt' ~- than almsgivin.g. Yet both the pilgrimage to theHoly Land and_ almsgiving were considered to have even complete sat-isfactory- value. " [t is true; as w~ noted, that in the text cited St. Thomas speaks only of the vow to enter religion and of entrance into religion; he does not mention the religious profession. -_ itself. Ye~, surely we can ~easonably argue thht if One may .receive complete pardon by entering the religious life, all the more so will he receive such complete condonation by actually pronouncing the vows: Did St. Thomas hold this opinion as certain? From o the text this is not clear. He seems to have made allowance for a contrary opinion when he says: "And yet, even if one were not thereby absolved fr0m~ all debt of punishment, nevertheless the entrance into-religion is more profit-able. " St. Robert Bellarrnine ~ Commenting on the same problem, another Docto~ c;f the Church, St. Robert Bellarmirie, says: ~ '-"Finally we.say, that~ between baptism and the pro~es-sion of religion, there is some similarity. And just_ as in ° baptism the guilt and the punishment of all sins are per-fectly r.emitted, so when the profession.of the religious life is assumed with th~ proper dispositions, it is'piously~ believed that there is remitted the entire temporal punisl~- merit, for which otherwise satisfaction would have to be made, even after the guilt has been forgiven. On-that 406 Novembbr,'1944-~'~ REliGIOUS PROFESSlON~A SECOND B,~PflSM?, acco~un.t, 'however; we _dcf not rate th~ monastic ,~rofession~s~ ahead of baptism, no~ .place, them o~ an.~qual plafie, '. For_ baptism remits hot, only the tJfinishment bur also the guilt, -hrid that we.know for certain. "The monastic profession, however, does not remove the guilt,-but only the punish-ment, and .this we do not. affirm with certainty, but it is our ~pious belief . . . "~ ,From this text emerge the following conclusibns: " )) (~Ve know,/:or certain that one of the effects of the sacrament bf baptism is the perfect remission of all the pun-isl~ ment due to sin. That the asiumlbtion of the obliga;- tions~of the religious life ~effects a, complete condonation of the ~temp0ial punishment is a pious betid and not a certain j 0pinion. - - 2) We do not, therefore, plac~ the religious professio on an equal plane with~ baptism, mudh l~ss do we rank the vows ahead of the sacrament. - .,,. The conclusions of St. Robert here-stated are cor- .roborated-by_an0ther passage of the same treatise in which he-s~ys that the Works properto the religious state; namely~' tO live c_hastely, to retain proprietorship Over nothing~ and to obey_one's superiors are conducive to satisfaction' for one's sins. ' oo . Th6 0pinign of Suarez. . Comme.nting on the,doctrine of St~i Thomas~and o(her great theologians who refer to" the expiatory capacity of the ~rehg~6u.s profession, Suare~ conte'nds: 1 ) It is rash to assert.that the religious professio~ pr~o-du& s'its propitiatory effect in sacramental fashion. (that is, ex o-pete operato), for the tradition of the Churchoand the . ~estimony of the Fathers-~offer. us no ihformation on the "~ subject. 2Controuersiatum de Membris Ecdesiae, lib. II. cap. VI. ~'~ . 407 r ~eO~ew for Religious 2) "The ai~thors inentioned m.er.ely teach-that-this. ~raceds diyinely granted tothe profession, so that,if any~- one haakes~it in.the.state of grace~ the entire debt of tem-poral punishment is remitted him. [This come~] from the divine generosity or from a ~ort of gratitude~, even though. he.would not otherwise make satisfaction proportionate the guilt. This assertion I admit to be pious.and probable, because 0~ the authority 9f the do~tors of such standing, because "it favors the religious state,.and because 'it seems fi_tting ~hat God will show that liberality, towards a friend Who has given his all to Him.' However, I admit that I dd not see a ~ufficiently Cogent proof. For St. Thomas makCs nb~ menti,on of either~h privilege or of.~divine generosity, "bu't endeilvo~rs to base :~thls effect [of "the-profession] on the excellence of that act.''a Suarez, then, ad~nits the. probability of this opinion because 6f th4 number of great theologians who see in the act of ~ssu ,ruing the religious state, or at least in the consum-mate geneio~ity of the profession, a~work of such merit to gain the condonation of the entire debt of temporal pun-ishment: Of the c~rtaint~.t of this opinion~ however, h~ remains unconvinced: The Simple Profession F~llowing the lead of these, and other, 4mi~n~nt tb'eo-logians, we may consider it as highly probable tl~at, in vir-: ttie of the self-surren~der made in the perpetual prc~f~ssion, the religious, like the neophyte or the martyr, obtains tl~e perfect remission of the temporal punishment due to sin, provided he is in the state of grace and free from attach- ~inent to sin. " May this conclusion, which we accept "as reason;ible, apply ti~ the simp!e as well. as to the solemn pr6fession? A~, ~Opera Ornnia, vol. XV. lib. ~rI, cap~ XIII. n. 6. 408 " ;Nooember, f944"< " ~ RELIGIOUS PROFESSION.-~A SECOND BAPTISM~ " the time°of St. Thomas~ whom so many authors cite as' an ,;~thorlty, the solemn p'rofe~ssion was the only°.~form, of profession kn6wn,. The approval of the simRl~ religiou_s profession, occasioned by the founding of the'Society .of -~ 3.esus about three centhries later, marked a decided :depar- " ~ ture from the existing law that the religious vows should be exclusively solemn. Hov~ever, it appears justifiable to at~t, ribute that same expiatory quali~y, to the perpetual; -'simple profession, for according to the present disposition- - of the Church, the juridicaldifferences between the simple ,_ and the solemn profession little affect the actual prosecution ~3f one's-quest for perfection in the cloister." The demerit ot~ self.surrender, the factor that probably effects tl~is remis-sion, ~s going to be qmte the same in both cases. The a~gu . ments eipressed above.should .be as applicable to the one ÷ form of profess!o~ as the other. COMMUNICATIONS? When possible, we like to have a Communications section in the REVIEW. We "think that (his adds interest and practical value. However¯ as we hav~ stated before. w-e prefer to direct the communications towards a definite topic, especi~lly a topic of ge~u~ral interest and value. Our first topic for communications was "Spiritual Direction by the Confessor." This ran "through several issues aiad was. we think, both enlightening and hellbful. \The second topic chosen was "Vocation." The third was on "'Retreats:" Com-munications on these latter subjects were also helpful, but, we believe, not so'useful as the first. ° We should like to have more communications on some definite topic, but we fihd * it hard tb choose a topic. Hence. we throw the question "'open to the hbuse." Can you give us some suggestigns regarding subjects that would provide forinteresting and useful discussions? Any ideas will be~appreciated. ; Address~'our suggestion_s to: Th~ Editors, Review for Religious. St. Mar~"s_ ;College, St. Marys,~ Kansas. 409- ues ons and Answers' Because of a slight illness, a postulant dntered ten days a{~er her class of March 24. May she receive the habit with her class on September Yes, she may. She had fully intended to enter with her class but" was prevenked from doing so by illness¯ Normally the six months should be complete. However, the prescriptions of the Code regarding the time of thd postulancy do notbind under pain of in;calidity. For grave reasons.superiors m~y shbrten this. tirrle by a few days. " In the presentcase the illness which caused the involuntary delay in~ enterin~ would be a sufficient reason to allow the postulant'to recdive the habit _ with her class, even thoughten days are lacking to complete the six -.months. . --37-- ," What ;s the obligation of a religious regarding the ordinary co.nfe.s.sor~t~ When the confessor a Sister prefers is stationed close to thd convent, may sh.e go to him rather than to the one appointed? It is the mind of the Church that religious women should ~en-erally confess to the ordinary confessor. While canon 522 allows a religious woman to go to any priest who has diocesan faculties for Women, it supposes, that this will be done drily occasion~illyoi because of~iome special reason 'of conscience, which,may persist for'a short time. Mere preference does not justify a religious woman in going to confession regularl~ to another priest stationed close to the convent. Please read explanation of this point in REVIEW FOR RELI-GIOUS, Mar~h, 1943, page 81. Our community doctor (the, only doctor we can consult o~dinariiy) reports to the superior on the phys,cal'con&hon and ~eeds~of. the sisters. In addition he sometimes makes known to the superior damaging facts which he ~has learned through consultation with or examineti6n of patient. Has ~ community doctor an obligation to guard even from the superior the professional medical secrets of ir~ferlors? : A doctor.has a strict obligation to guard tlqe secrds of his clients which come to him in the way. of busindss. When, in virtue of his 416 ~Offic~ he bears or d~scovers a'secret damaging to the clientbe is bound to respect i~ as an inviolable confidence. ~He. can ~reveal it only ~n. the most pressing reasons of ~he common good of s~iety demand the re~elation. Even then he must keep in mind the harm that would b~ ~one if the public-lost confidence in the prudence and silence of its p~ofessional advisers. In a religious community the house .doctor occupiesa peculiar position. To some extent he acts for the superior,'~, yho~must care for the health 0f the religious as a parent does for~a child. But.since the community doctor is the only one to whom the members of the'community can go, he must consider that the infe~or_ is h~ client. He cannot consider himself the me~e agent of the-superi6r, a~d hence enmled to reveal to the sup~or,confide~ces or damaging facts which he has learned professionally fro~ a member ~bf the community. On this point Vermeersch (Tbeologia~ Moralia, lEd. 3, q937], II, n. 649, 3) says :,."Note finally that the case ofa-religious community doctor is differentia doctor to whom the reli- ~'gious men and women have. to ~o. For since they have no choice, they ~ave a right that a strict professional secret be observed in their regard, ex o~cio." Then he remarks: '~A superior who knows some-_ ~:thing through the violation of the secret [i.e. the professional medical-secret], cannot on that account dismiss a subject against his will." Of course, since the supe~or must provide for the subject, the d~tor ~s allowed to make k~ow~ the state of the patient's health, but in such a way as to pro~ect his reputation. ~ Whaf~type of dispensation from the Eu~:harisf;c fast do rel;g;ous~and lay nurses have who are obliged to wo;'k on night duty? We have heard, ;~'thaf in some States the .night workers are bound to abstain from. solid food ~f~ur hours Before reception of Holy Communion and two hours frSm liquids. ¯Does Canon Law provide for. such a dispensation? The general Ia~ .of the Church as~ expressed in canon 858, § l, -~requires that all pe.rsons who wish to receive Holy Commdnion must fast from midnight: In paragraph 2 an exception is made for those who have been sick for a-month, as was explained in REVIEW' FOR REI~IGIOUS, May 1944, l~age 171. There are'no other exceptions as~ fa~ ~s the general law of the Church is concerned--except, of course, those .~vho are in danger ~of death and those who communicate to save ~the t~lessed Sacrament~from profanation. ~ ~ ~ The Holy See can and does grant d~ispensations from~, the law bf 411 QUESTIONS~ AND" ~NSWERS i~he Eucharistic fast in special cases. Thus there'are special d~spensa tions'for members of our Armed Forces, includihg nurses who beloqg to these same Armed Forces. 'Again;'P0pe Piiis XII has granted~ to ,the Bishops.of the Uni~ed~States special fadulties in favor of persons engaged in work of National Defense (see REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS. .,March, ~1942, page 1431_. We do not believe that these faculti~'s have been extended to religious and .nurses on hightduty in hospitals. The. only way to find out is to get in touch with your Diocesan Chaficery. Religious and nurses on night duty may follow standard time in compu.ting the fast from midnight: henc~ they may eat and drink up to one" o'cl0ck war time, and receiveH61y Communidn ih the m0r;n-ing. 'This was explained in REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, May, 1944, :- page 213. ¯ A novlco who is amlnor owfis a sum of money which was willed %~hlm," ,and,whlch is bolng held under ~juardianshlp by {.he courts of his ~hls' {.6onty-firs{. birthday. Gonsoquontly he has never boon able any disposal oL{.hls money, which was his before en{.erln9 {'he novifia{.e. In such-a case Would {.he novice be permiffed {.o .make a provision in: his will (which will be made~ before his. twenty-firs{, birthday) {.hat this money be cji~en.% his pa~en{.s as soon as {.he courts release ff 'to him? Since the novice, though owning~ the money in question, did not. have the.free, disposal of it before entering the novitiate, he will si~bj~ct to the regulations of canon law regi~rding it. Before taking his first vows he must appoint/in administrator and determine who is to get,the annual income from the money during his lifetime.~ H~ may give this income to his parents if he Wishes, but as long as he lives he" "m~y not dispose of the capital itself without the permission of ~the: Holy See. As to the woill which he must make before taking his first vows, he is free to name the beneficiary of it, and may will this money tb his parent*s. But the will does not take effect until after the death of [h~ novice in question. Therd is widespread misunderstanding among religiou~s with simplevows regarding ~the nature of the will which they~must mak~ before taking their first vows.¯ This is owing in no small.part tO the. wording of canon 569, § 3 "as found in most texts of con~it.u-tionsoand which is taken from the authorised English translation the canons of. the Code regarding~religious. It reads as follows: "In Nooembei, 1944 . " ~ ~ "QufSTIONS AND ANSWERS " e,~ery religiouscon"grega;ti o"n the nbvice, before maki.ng profession te_mporary vows, .-shall _freely dispose by Will of all" the proper~ty, h~ a~tually, possesses or may subsequent.ly possess." The" Latin. ~ext of '~tbe Code merely states: "'testarnenturn de bonis praesentibds oboenturis ffbere condat,'" and-may b~ translatCd simply: "He shall ,.freely make a will regarding his present possessions.as well as regard-- ing those which may possibly come to hifia in the future." ~Wbile the ~afithorized translation "he shall freely dispose by v~ill" is techni-- callyocorrect, still the word "dislSbSe" misleads many. religious into thinking that they are free tO give away their possessions during t~eir lifetime. This notion is absolutel~/fals~ and is contrary to the ¯ ~meanling of the word¯''will or testament," ~which is defined, as~ "~the_ ~ legal°°declfiration of a.man's intention as to disposition of property,. etc., that he wills to be performed after his death." The will .which ~ the novice mak, es has no effect during his iifetime,.but only after his" death. Hence the term "dispose,by" WiW' means simply ~o determine'~ who is to receive his property after his'death. The novice'in question may, therefo~re, determine that his parents " are to receive the'income of his~money during'his lifetime, and he-may ~ ~ make th~.m th~"beneficiaries of his will so that they'will recei~'e the -. ~0 m_oney after his death. But if he wishes to give them this money whet, ~-~ ~iig domes into l~is full possession, on his twenty-first birthdaw, he wi!l ha,ie t0,obtain~permission to do'so from the Hol~ See, since canon ¯ o- 583;-1° forbids him to give away~his po,ssessi.ons during his lifetime;, Is{there any'i'egulafion ;n canon law regard;ng fhe f;me wh;ch musf 'elapse a~er fhe recepf;on of a converf ;fifo fh~ Church before he or she ma) enfer r~l;g;on?" If nor, please g;ve us some adv;ce on fh;s po;nf. Canon 987, 6° tells us that converts are~impeded from the recep-. "tion of orders until they ha/re been sufficiently tested acc6rding to the~" .judgme_nt of the Ordinary. This is the only prescription of the C0~ ~r,~garding~ neophytes. Hence there is no time limit prescribed, before all~wii~g them to enter religion. The determination of such ~ time~ ~ ~<'" li?~it will, therefore, be lefv to the prudent judgment of the superior ~ Who is to receive the candidate. This will depend uPon the circum-stancesof age, education, and other, conditions. Generally _speaking, it will be well to make the candidate wait at least a year after"con-- version .before receiving him. Further extension of this time w~ll _. 4'13 -~ :-. _~: , ~, ~, / ,, ', The ans~ve'r ,pertaining to the Porfiuncula IndUlgence ;n th~ last ,ssue of t_he Review for Religious (July 1_5 "1944, pp.'280-281) gave me. the ;,~- pression that Sec~,lar Tert;aries of St. Francis cannot gain this ;hdulgence ~n a parish church of the Frim's of the Third Order. Regular of 'Saint Francis ofPenahce. Has this privilecje been revoked or has ;t n6ver ~been g;~ven-for churches of the Friars of the Third Order Regul.ar? This impression is hardly justified by the text of the answer. referred to above. "The answer concerned itself p.rin.cipally with the.~ question of Religious Tertiaries (members of a. Religious Institute ~with simple vows, for example, Franciscan Sisters) gaining the In-dulgence in their own community churches and oratories. Neoer~ho-le~ s, the answer also stated that "the faithful" hence, sure. l~ Secular Tertiaries---can .gain the P'ortiuncula Indulgence in all the churcl~es and public oratories of Franciscan ~'ertiarg Communities with'simple. ~Vod~s---a fortiori, Of the Third OrderRegular, a comr~unitg°with solemn oows. ' ~o answer the question asked above: Pope Urban VIII, hy a 414 19~4~ " ~- ~ .QUESTIONS ~ND B_rief, dated~Janu~ry.13, 1643, gra~nted the privilege wher~by~all the faithful' can gain ~he Portiuncula Indi~l~enc~ in "all"churches- (public oratorles are included in wrtue of subsequent grants by the Holy~See) ~of.' the Third Order-Regular of Saint FranCis bf Penance. A~s statett~ in ~he answer referred to in the question, the ~Sacred Penitentiary on 2uly 10, 19~4, declared: "Perpetual grants of thisIndulgence given ~iia ~ny manner up to the present time remain unchanged for the~ fu-ture." Hence there is no doubt whatever that not only Secular. Ter~. ~ tiaries of St. Francis, but ali the faithful as well, may gain the Por: :~'~ tiunc61a Indulgence in :all_ the churches and public oratories of~ the ~." ~Third Order Regular of St. Francis of Penance. ' When sayln~ Hail Ma~s durln9 the da~ is if necessary to ~a~e a.bead jn one's hand to 9ain the Crozier indulgence affached thereto, or would°ff ~: s~ff;ce fo have.the rosary on one's person? -~ " Generally speaking, one must hold the be~ds in one's hand in, ~order ~o gain a.ny of the various indulgences_, attached_ to th~ recitation o of the rosary. Through a de'red:~issued by the Sacred C6ngregation of Indulgences on January 22, .1858, Pope Plus IX allowed, that when the rosary ~s satd in common by- two or rriore, personL it iuf/ice~ tha~ one.of them hold a phir of beads and lead in ~he recitation pro- ~/ vided tha_t the others abstain froth all external occupation which ~ _ ~vould impede intdrior rec011ec~ion: , In ~an audience granted to the Cardinal Penitentiary on October 20;' 19~3, Pdpe Plus XI deigned to grant that ':when_ever either ma.nu~al labor or some reasonable cause prevents" the faithful from. ".__'~ carrying, in their~hands,: accordifi~ to the prescriptibn, either ~he~ roshry or tl~e crucifix, which, has been.,blessed for the gaining of~ the indulgences dither of thee holy rosary or of the W~ty.of the~ Cro.ssl, the, " faithful may gain those indulgences, provided that, during tl~e reci-~ ration of the prayers in ques~ion,they carry~ with them in any way~ ~the rosary or the crudifix." Will yo~. I;!ea_se inform us,,.whether there is a set time specified "by ~oCanon-law for the recitation of the Liffle Office of th~ Blessed Virg!n~ "" that is, for the J.iHle° Hours, Vespers and Complin, and, the anticipated :-Matins and L~uds. ~ ~R¢l~gious who are ~bound by their constitutions to the r~citation~ 41-5 Rd6iew for Rdigidu~. ~"of t~e Little O~ce'of the Blessed Virgin are not bound by the litur-gical prescriptions' r~gardingthe time of the recitation of the~ single. hours of the Divine O~ce. T~ey may follow these times if .they wish, but they are not obligedto do so. H~re are ~he times allowed for the Divine O~ce: Matins and' Eauds may ~e.said any time after V'espers and Complin have been recited (b~t not before t~o'o'clock in the afternoon of th~ pre~ng day) up'toone hour after s~nrise: Prime may be s~i~ from dawn up" to two. bouts after sunrise, thesmall h6urs u# till boon. Vespers Complin in the afternoon (except during L~nt when ~es~ers should~ be said b~fore noon). I am d~irector of a home for Catholic delinquent boys and a member o~ the Amer,can ~Assgci~tion of Social Workers. In this field Of work, ffofte~ ~becomes necessary in the line of~ duty .to question b~oys recjardincj prob~ lems of a'strictly 'moral-nature; The feeli.ncj~is that one may'be or perhaps. i~ encroachln~ on the ricjhts of the confessor. This fedincj is especi~l!y present in fhe~are,~s.pertainln9 to tSe Sixth Commandment. Is~there any norn~, whereby social, workers ca°n tell when they are cjeHincj into areas ~hat belon~ to the confess~or? , ~ ¯ ~reli'minary to answering the question as stated, we recommend ~i'that so~ia[ glorkers read Father Ford's article, Paternal Government." .dn'cl 'Filial, Con/idence in Superiors (REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, II. p. 146), Father Ford expl.ains th~ impoftant distinction between the judicial and the paternal forum. A superior (and the same-may~ be said of the social worker) act~ judiciall~t, when he questions ~ ~,ubject principally for the common good, and seeks to inflict pu'ni~b-' ment as a vindication of violations of discipline. In this case he must "r~member that ~,the boy qudstioned has a natural right to defen&him-self and to avoid "answerihg any question that would incriminate.° himself. The superioror social worker would l~e acting paterna!lV if ~ were questioning the bo.y prindipally for the good of the boy him-self (for example: to help him "avoid an occasion of sin or to correct a bad habit). In this matter the superior or social, worl~r has ~he :right to ask .any questions he deems necessary for his puri3ose, but he -must observe certain cautions. (l) He is not free to punis~ a b~y who" confes'ses guilt, except in so far'as some punishnient of'a purel_y °' 416 *Not~e~b~;, 19~4 ~_ ~ : . -.QL~ESTIONS~ _ _ AND ANSWERS~: ' - . 2. ~private nature might be judge'd a mdans necessary to l~elp the- , (2) He is-bound by a yigid 'professional sec~recy with regard to the answers given by' the boy. '(3) He should prudently¯refrain from ,~iskjng questions that'he foresees will be answered with a lie. (~)~He ~ sh6uld not ask questions concerning problems with Which he kno~s ~s not competer~t to deal. Perhaps it i~ the fourth cafitibn that causes some social workers to feel that they are trespassing on the rights of the confessor, par- ,ticularl# when they ask about things pertaining to the Sixth.Com- ,~mandment: As a matter of fact,-the confessoi has not an ekclusive righ~t to-ask such questions. But in practice it is frequently true that :6nly~priests are competent to deal wi_th conscience problems that such " questions might'reveaL The social worker, therefore hi~ own i:[ualifi~ations. In some things'i no doubt, and even in very delicate matters, he-may be c[-great help to the boys committed to ~his care: and he may put prudent~questions.on these matters without infrii~ging on the right of the cdnfesso_r. ~ ~ ~We add a final word, of .caution for ~all religious who, as ~ocial -workers or i~ ,some other¯capacity, must treat with youth about ~ sexuaF~atters. We'fhink it is important, for the good of the Church: -=th~zt they-should not underake such work without having a clear ~ ~°: unders[anding, with th~eir dwn superiors as to. what they intez~'d tb. ~-~o~: Entire religio~u~ communities, and even the whole Church iri ,a certaih locality, can ~.suffe~ -grievously -from the imprudence of-one ~erson. ~" Our nov;flare has been wffhout a mistress of novices or a subst;- ~ ~,fute fo~:the past" seven,months. ¯ The novices work with fhe professed, Sis-ters ahd wifh the'lay h~lp. "l'hey'are also allowed fo associate freely with ~:'fhe;younger professed Sisters engaged.in their preparafo~ studies. May ~e i:onsider~as valid a novitiate made und~)r such irregular ci~nd;fions? "_ ~.The novitiate is not invalidated by the~ absence 0f~i "mistreSs 6f 2,_~iz6viceS or by tFie failure ~ isblate the novices fiom the oth~'r_ Sis~ers.~ But~certainly conditi6ns like thes constitute a gravd¯abuse thht shbuld b~ quickly remedied:. _ Canon 559, which preicribes that the novitiate be made under the -supervision of a mistress of novices, enumerates her.qualities, and ~'~-demands,~hat she be free ~from all'offices and duties that might inter-fer~ with the "care and training of the n~vices, makes it. qui~e clear that ~QUES'I~IbN~; AND Alq'.SWER.S :.- ; Revieu2 for Religio~s the~'Church' considers this~" an. offi. ce Of the,. highest importance. As-for the isolation of the novic,es,-canon 564 prescribes that., ,"the novitiate shall b~e, as far as pqssible, sept;rated-from that part of the house inhabited b~ ~he professed religious, so that n6 communi--~ cation may be'carried on b~tween the novices anal professed religious except for some spec!al reason and with thepermission of the Supe-. riot 9r Master (Mistress)." . With much greater reason should inter-mingling with the lay help and other externs~ be avoided, s.ince these naturally have an outlook on spiritual matte'rs quite different.from religious novices. The ideals of ~the novices are b6und to stiffer ~,fr~m ~.such regular contact with Lxterns. Does canon Jaw permit a relig;ous Of' an active institute' to transf6r tO a clo;stered cor~munify? "~f ~o, what ;s the procedure? ~° ° By taking vows in a religious institute, a religious becomes a ~erla-ber o~f that institute and, uhder, normal ctrcumstances, should per~e- .vere in tl~at institute until death. The Church does not favor the transfer of a religious~fro~ one institute to another, since it iscon-trary to the common" good of religious societies: However, in indi-vidual cases the Church will allow such a transfer for the private" good " of the~itidividual, but she reserves t9 herself to pass-final judgment 'i.n each case. Canon 632 tells us: "No religious c~n, without authortza-tidn from the Apostolic See, pass to another institute, even(stfic.ter, ~ or from one independent monastery to another." In practice, in order to pgss j.u~dgment, the Sacred Congregation Of :Religious requires that the religious who wishes to tranifer to another institute must first find an ihstitute willing to receive him. This will-ingness'- must b~ expressed in writing by the proper superior~ Th~n .tpo the Sacred Congregation wishes to know what the religiohs supe: riot thinks abbut~the transfer of his Subject. Hence this sup~rio~r, ~also, must write a letter giving his ~incere opinion whether the trans-fer is desirabl~ or, no~. The religious~wfishing to transfer, will then"~o write out a form'al petition~ to the Sacred Congregation of Religious asking' to be transferred to the institute that is willing to receiye him, and send this. petition,~ together with the two letters mentionedabove, to the Sacred Congregation of Religious. o If a favorable reply.is received, the religious may transfer to the -,.new instftute and must make a novitiate,' during ~rhich the vows 418 - -. Nooernbero i 944 "- whicl~ he has .taken in~ the first' institute remain intact., He is bound by his vow of~obedience to obey the superiors of his new irlstifute. "At,the end of the novitiate, if he does not make profession in the new~ institute, he must return to the 01d one unless, of couise, he had taken only temporary vows, and .these have expired. ' QUESTIONS~^ND AN~WEI~S " ~" Some years ago a Sister who had. taken perpetual vows ;n our °concjre-cja~ ion appliedL for and secured the. necessary~ dispensation to leave in order to take care of her aged parents. Now the parents have died and she has-asked to be. re-admiHed, stating her willingness to repeat the ~novltlate and to do whatever,is required. May she take perpetual vows at~the end of th, e canonical year? Or must she spend three years with ~temporary vows before her perpetual profession? What is her.rank in the_~ community? - Since the Sister in question actually left the institute after having- 0brained .a dispe~nsation from her vows, she sevefed all connection with.it. Superiors will.have to-obtain a dispensation fro~no the Holy See before admitting her a second time (canon 542, 1°). This dis-pe, n~sation will be granted for the asking, since the ~Sister had a very~ good reason for leaving in the first instance, SuppOsing that the dispensation has been gr.anted, the former member ~f. the institute will have to make-her novitiate again and take temporary vows for three years before being admitted topyofes~- sion of perpetual vows. In a word she is'in the' same conditi~on as any ~other novice entering for thefirst time. The only exception will .beo that she may omit the period of postulancy, since she made it before and its purpose is satisfied. , ~ As fo her rank in the community, she Will take it in the class in which she enters, just as any other nowce does. . When, and for what reasons, should a rel;glo.u~ institute b6 divided ~;n~o pro~.,inces? For obtaining such a division, what procedure~is fo followed7 The Code of.Canon Law contains no Provision which directly forces an institute to divide into. provinces. Canon 494, the only canon which de~Is with this subject, merely states: "It pertains exclusively to the Apostolic See: to divide into provinces an institute approved 419. QUESTiOnS AI~:ANSWER$ -- fly the Holy ~e," to unite*exisfing .provinces or otherwise r~Odify their boundaries. ~to estal~lish new provinces or to ¯suppress exis_ting" ones, to separate independdnt monasteries from one monastic congre-gation'and to'unite them to ~nother" (§ 1). ¯ The decision-concerning the necessity or utility of ~lividing into provinces is, therefore, lefLto the .prudent and conscientious judg-ment of the proper superiors. The reason~ Commonly. given for' ¯ divi~ing an institute into provinces ar~ the following: (l) the culty~ of government either because of the wide diffusion of houses; or becai~se of the large number-of subj.ects;~(2) the need of a second ~novitiate--~or ~example, ,because of different nationalities, or becahse of the great distances¯ from the novitiate to the other houses, or because . of the di~cuity, even iinpos~ibility~ for one master~ of novices t~o ~ ~roperly train a very large~number~of novices. The 1~rese~t practice of the' Sacred Cdngregation. of Religious is~'to r~quire for the division of an institute into provinces that at least'roger provinces can be established, each of which will have about two'hun-dred subjects and at least four houses in which twelve or mo~e reli- :gious reside. In some institutes the~constitutions approvitd by the H01y See ~ determine explicitly.tha~t the right to petition the Holy See fpr a diyi-sion of the institute into provinces rests with the general chapter. In ~'others the constitutions grant this power to-the superior geneial, with the consent of his council If the constitutions are silent on the sub-ject, it seems reasonable for the superior, general and his council, to make th~ petition tO the.~Holy See, especially if a general chapter ~ill not be held for several ~rears. "The Holy See will then'either grant the petition or provide for a spedif general chapter to pass on the subject. 420- THE ASCETICAL LIFE. By the Reverend Pascal P. Parente, S.T.D., P'h.D-, J;C.B. Pp. viii -~ 271. B. He~:der Book Co., S~'. Louis, 19_44. $2.50. This work, which has grown out of lectures by-the author at thd Catholk University, Washington, may be said to have two distific-tions. First, it is an American treatise on ascetical theology. As the first American systematic, deve, lopment of ascetical the61ogy, itis of course v_ery much to be xcelcomed. ~ .It~ presentation of the subject seems rather brief and sketchy, leaving one with the ~wish that the writer had gone further. To some extent this wish is fulfilled in the third.p_art of 'the book (pages 181-251), in which certain-select questions are discussed more thoroughly. Numerous quotations from the Fathers~of th~ Church add to the literary and inspiratibnal value Of the work. , : o Secondly, ~:~ither Parente sets out resolutely to steer a middle course ¯ between the two.schgols of opmzon that divide ascetical and "mystical theologians. Moreover he strives to reconcile the two opposing views "'~through opportune.distinctions, whenever feasible." ,Though this volume is limited to asceticism and ~nother volume on mysticism is promised, the author could not avoid touching on certain prbblems !nvolving the differences between the two and between acquired and ¯ infused contemplation. He believes "that there is both 'a distinction and ~ a continuity between acquired.and infuse~l contemplation." " "The distinction is not essential or in the very ziatures of the two forms of contemplat!on. Rat.h.er it is to be found in the mode or, manner in Which the twb forms of contemplation are attained. . Such a difference. is l~ss than specific and more than merely a matter of degree. Acquired contemplation can and ought t0~be the aim of all who ctfltivate~spir- ~, ituality, and it is one of the principal links between the ascetical and the mystical life. On~religio_us ;*nd ascetical theology the authoi writes: "It is neces-sary for religi6us to. be well instructed in ascetical theology. Ordi- -~ naril~ they receive a thorough explanation of their vows and rule, bat bften only a superficial and frhgmentary jntroduction in ascetical -and mystical theology. Some of'them do not know any .form of mental prayer besides meditation. The impression prevails that 421 . BOOK REVIEWS Reoiew /:or Religzous_ _ ,myst!cal graces are.dangerous for both the individual and"the cbm- -mumty. The-consequence is that many are retarded or hindered in theirspiritual advancement. The position of. the religious who has been favored with-extraordinary graces becomes very delicate. A well:enlightened community is better disposed toward mystical phenomena and higher forms of mental prayer" (page 215). Father" Parente's book is suffikiently~ clear, brief, and ,free fr6m .technicalities and more recondite investigations to be intelligible religious, generallg,.-~-~.G. AUGUSTINE ELLARD, S.J. A WORLD TO RECONS~'RUCT. Plus XII on Peace and Recons~ruct;om By Guido GoneJla. Translated by the Reverend T. Lincoln Bous-caren, S.J. " Under the auspices of the Bishops' CornmiHee on the Pope's Peac~ Points. .Pp. x~x -I- 335. The Bruce Publlsh!ng'Co., Milwaukee, 1944. $3.50. The Papal Peace Plan, explains "Guido Gonella, proposes as the basis for a future peace a. "f~derated society," of free and independ~ent . peoples. This "Sgciety of Nations" is to be: Constituted by all states. - joined into an organic union , b' being organized into groups of states. wl~ich groups would be regional, continental, international. All states would be equal ~fore the law, bound by the same morality that governs private action, unarmed,. committed to arbitration of all internationai disputes, wit~ all force and sanctions delegated to the authoritativd, and

Transcript of an oral history interview with Angus Macaulay, conducted by Sarah Yahm on 5 May 2015, as part of the Norwich Voices oral history project of the Sullivan Museum and History Center. Angus Macaulay graduated from Norwich University in 1966. His interview focuses on his military service in Korea and Vietnam after graduation as well as his later career at McGraw-Hill, INC. Magazine, and Magazine Services, Inc. ; Angus Macaulay, NU 1966, Oral History Interview May 5, 2015 Interviewed by Sarah Yahm AM It happened in our division when I was there. SY Really? AM I want you to ask me about - most of the guys who went to Vietnam they were gone for a year I was gone for almost two years And I think a question you might want to - that may come up would be what I - the perception of change I felt had happened in the US when I came home SY You know I was going to ask you about that And keep in mind this is casual and so if there's something you want me to ask just tell me We'll just - and you know just be like "Something I've been thinking about." AM Now what do you do? Would you transcribe this eventually? SY I have an assistant who transcribes it. AM Don't you have software that transcribes it? SY It doesn't work because there's so much that's in context and so the software misses AM Ah! SY - that and they botch words and they don't do grammar AM Will I ever see a copy of it? SY Yeah so the way it works is that so we do this recording I get back to Norwich the backlog could be a couple of months AM Oh don't worry about it SY - because transcribing takes a long time Clark gets to work on transcribing it Then what you get in the mail is a copy of the transcript and a CD of the interview You review the transcript make sure things are accurate Did you know Bill Bonk? AM Oh yeah SY Yeah well he AM Bill's a good friend of mine. SY Bill still needs - if you talk to him tell him to send me back my transcript Anyway so you know I sent - I interviewed Bill I sent him his transcript We talked for hours; it was an amazing interview And but you know there are some things like I you know I try to figure out all the place names correctly but there are some you know Vietnam-era military acronyms that I might mess up etc. AM Oh okay don't worry no don't worry about it SY - so he goes through and but he - so then he has to read through it and he has to you know make sure everything is correct and then he sends it Or also there are some things he told me that might be classified that he might want out of the record So you have the opportunity at that point to AM No I don't think I have any (laughs) SY He had a couple of secret missions I think he'll be fine with keeping them in But he might want to go through and think about that right? So then - or for instance somebody on tape said something mean about her mother-in-law and she's going to want to cut that out when I send her her transcript back right? Because this is going to be available on the website right? So the idea is you get it you look through it you make sure that there's nothing - or I interviewed an Iranian woman who describes how she left Iran illegally She's going to need to edit that out so that when she tries to go back to Iran for a visit she's not going to have issues leaving. AM Now how many people from our era have you interviewed? SY Let's see I have a bunch on the list to interview (repeats herself louder) I have a bunch on the list to interview AM From class of '66? SY Yeah there's - there - because of that recent Vietnam issue that came out of the Norwich Record? AM Right. SY A couple of people came out of the woodwork. AM Right. SY But I think Bill Bonk might be one of the - yeah and other people who were in Vietnam AM Bill was in my class Bill's a pretty good friend of mine yeah. SY He's great He's great A great storyteller. AM Yeah. SY So then I have a bunch of other people who've been in Vietnam but were either behind you or ahead of you right by a couple of years So yeah So that's the way it works AM Okay SY - is we have a conversation you get it back you get to look at it and then you sign off on it And then you know eventually they'll be a searchable archive So the idea is that if a student is interested in you know in Vietnam they'll go they'll type in "Vietnam" and then all of the transcripts will come up And if they're interested in a particular thing about Vietnam they can search for those particular words or things. AM Okay. SY And they'll have this - this sample set right of Norwich graduates and they'll be able to sort of you know ascertain certain things about US foreign policy in the 20th century I mean the idea is that this will be a research tool. AM Oh okay. SY Yeah So that's - that's essentially that's the way it works. AM Go. SY All right So here we are I'm interviewing Angus Macaulay It is May 5th - AM Are we on? SY Yeah I'm on And I'll just cut out that first part where we were chatting It's May 5th - correct? Yeah and we're at his house in Maine and we're going to begin interviewing I need to check levels AM Okay SY So if you could just I don't know tell me what you ate for breakfast today AM Well this is about - how is that level? Does that level work for you? SY Yeah it's pretty good If we can get just a little closer - AM A little closer Does that level work for you? SY Yeah that's good AM All right SY Let me actually check one thing I need to make sure - I need to know which - yep okay that is number one Okay AM Okay. SY So we're just going to start out a little bit with your early life So where were you born? AM Was born in New York Actually I was born in White Plains New York but I was raised in Chappaqua New York which is just about 35 miles north of New York City and born in 1942 SY And when you were a kid did you have any idea of what you wanted to be when you grew up? AM Well as we were talking earlier I had a you know a couple of things in my life One was I had done a lot of artwork as a kid and I had several members of my family that had served in the military So those were sort of the two options that I was looking at both military and art And I applied to Norwich I also applied to a couple of art schools several art schools in fact And my father who had been an artist early in his life really thought that it would be better for me to get a four-year education And I - so I applied to Norwich I got in and that's where I went That was really the only- that was the only I think there were a couple of other schools I applied and got into but it was the only one that I was really interested in SY And had you gone up and visited beforehand? AM Yeah I think I did Yeah as a matter of fact I think I did SY Do you remember what your impression of it was? AM No I really can't remember at this time I mean I - obviously I - the impressions are all with - when you - I can't remember the highway Route 7 is that the one that comes up from the south? Or Route 9 or whatever it is? Route 9 So I always remember coming back to school The - you sort of see the lights of the school and it did look a little - a little cool particularly in the wintertime So that was my impression But it was always a very pretty campus so SY And something I actually always ask in these interviews with people who have ended up going to war is did you play war as a kid? AM Did I play war as a kid? I think anybody who was raised - born during the war and raised during - in the 50s of course we played war I mean we take a look at what was - take a look at what was playing on the movie houses Every time they ever show the movie Sands of Iwo Jima the Marine Corps goes up so yeah we all did SY Yeah AM So SY OK so - so then you get to Norwich and some people find rook week easy some people find rook week to be quite a shock How did you deal with that first moment of- AM I think I probably adapted easier than most simply because I had gone away to prep school and I had lived away from home And when I put them all - string out years away from home I probably had six six and a half seven years as a boarding student away from my - both my parents were professionals My mother was a writer my dad was an art director/consultant So I was comfortable with living away from home I'd also had an uncle and a cousin that'd gone to West Point so they kind of clued me in to what to expect in other words don't attract too much attention to yourself and get real small for your first year and stay out of trouble So I don't think I was overly shocked by what I found I think there were a lot of people in my class that were and obviously it didn't work out for them and they left The turnover in my class was exceptionally high I believe we had - we started with something like 440 and we wound up graduating about 240 So there was a culture unfortunately up there of breaking you And I think that if you're in that kind of a situation you allow yourself to bend and not break SY Do you remember any moments where you were like what the hell did I get into? AM No SY Yeah AM No SY And do you remember - AM Be sure to speak up because - SY Oh I'm sorry! AM Yeah SY Yeah so you don't remember moments of doubt? AM No SY And do you remember were there moments of - were you frightened? AM No SY Were there parts of being a rook that you enjoyed? AM That I enjoyed? I think I enjoyed the idea of being in a group and I think it's still - this is - I think it's fairly true today I noticed that at Norwich there still is a great deal of bonding within each class And I was in K Company and I - it's funny because every once in a while I'll run into somebody who was in K Company when we were freshman And I was in other companies at Norwich in subsequent years and they would always bring back that we were in K Company together So there was a great bonding as a freshman So if you want to say did I enjoy that? Yeah I enjoyed that I enjoyed the idea of bonding I come out of a prep school - a coeducational prep school I came out of a very liberal prep school I had three girls four girls in my class who went to Bennington I mean you want to talk about you know complete opposites We had kids who went to Reed out in Oregon For me to go to Norwich they all thought I was nuts But - and actually I think I felt closer to the guys I was at Norwich with than I did with the kids I was in prep school with although my politics are probably more tuned you know skew more liberal than 90% of my class In fact they probably still do today SY Yeah I'm guessing just from having talked to members of your class and having talked to you Yeah So and that's actually something that I was thinking about in the drive up You're a year you're a year younger than my parents I know they were in college when you were in college and had very different experiences For them they were you know getting actively involved in the protest culture that was going on around them So at Norwich you were sort of insulated from the 60s that was emerging around you Were you sort of aware of the - did you feel alienated from the larger context of youth culture in the US? Was that something you thought about when you were there? AM I think that - I think quite frankly I'm not sure I agree with you First of all the culture of the 60s the counterculture of the 60s which you're talking about is something that happened - SY It's a little later AM That happened a little later That happened in 1968 '69 I think we were very much aware of what was going on in the civil rights movement And I - one of the things that - perhaps one of my most vivid memories is when I was 15 years old I went by myself on a bus ride from New York to Tucson Arizona which took me through Georgia Alabama Mississippi and Louisiana And I was by myself and I saw all of the segregation that was going on in the South And my parents were both very very liberal and they warned me about being very careful about what I said That said it also - my selection at Norwich had a great deal to do with why I did not apply to either VMI or The Citadel both of which I probably would have gotten into but I had some real issues with - the whole issue with segregation And it's interesting because at Norwich we were really insulated - we were insulated from that inasmuch as there were no African-Americans in our class And I remember there was a kid - there were a couple of kids - one Brooks who is now on the Board - I think he's on the Board of Trustees He was a year be- couple of years behind me And then there was a guy by the name of Harvey But there were only two or three African-Americans in our class at Norwich when I was there so it was predominantly a very white school It was also a very blue collar school SY Can you talk about that? AM Hmm? SY Can you talk about that? AM Sure I mean I you know I - yeah it was very blue collar One of my classmates Jake Sartz used to say "It's a blue collar military school." A lot of these kids you know I was - I had a sort of biz- I was bizarre A I was a prep school kid - there weren't a lot of prep school kids there Both of my parents were college educated My grandparents were college educ- my grandfather had a PhD in romance languages So I was with guys that - you know we had one classmate of mine who remains one of my favorite people and his father was a garbage collector and he put his child through Norwich and put another kid through college I think that's the great - that's who we are as a society or who we should be as a society Unfortunately I don't think that's where we're going now I think we've gotten to the point now where college education is so prohibitively expensive that it's going to be impossible for a lot of kids who deserve an education aren't going to get them Now all of this said my roommate my senior year - his father was a doctor His sister was at Marymount down in New York and she went on to Georgetown and got her doctorate in microbiology So - and Barry had also been through prep school So there were - there were some of us that had you know whose parents were well educated Roger Bloomfield - his father had gone through the merchant - what was that state? - New York State Maritime Academy and his mother had gone to Skidmore so it's not - and he was from Wellesley so it's not just saying I was alone Predominantly most of these kids were first generation college edu- these were the first kids in the you know to go to college and it was terrific SY Yeah So you were Senior Buck which means to some degree - could you talk about that? AM Yeah I was a Senior - I was a private for my freshman year for my first half of my sophomore year I was promoted to Corporal for my second semester and I was a Senior Buck my junior - a Junior Buck and a Senior Buck I was also involved with - in those days we did a lot of you know we had all these big weekends like Junior Week and Regimental Ball Weekend and all that stuff I did all the decorating for all those things I mean you go back and look at my stuff underneath my thing I was involved in the Outing Club I was involved in Hilly Chilly- do you know what Hilly Chilly is? Mountain and cold weather training I was on the Rescue Team and that was certainly - all of the guys on the Rescue Team - I think I was the only private on the Rescue Team I'm not s- it just wasn't all that important All that rank was - it would have been nice but it wasn't critical I mean we were all going to be Second Lieutenants when we graduated so quite frankly I you know and as I said to you at lunch I thought I saw a lot - as much bad leadership as I saw good leadership I saw some guys up there that - Roger Bloomfield was one Terry Van Meter was another - Terry Van Meter loved the military I mean this guy you know morning noon and night he loved the military but he never foisted it on anyone else He did his job and whatnot On the flip side there were some guys up there that were just - who were colonels and majors and they were - to them it was - it was really political and they were jerks And by the way these are the guys that don't come back to reunions and these the guys that don't give any money to the school I'm sure SY Yeah so you said earlier that you were sort of able to separate the bullshit from what you felt was meaningful So I guess what did you find meaningful and what did you kind of think was bullshit? How did you - AM I thought the Honor Code was the most meaningful thing I got out of the school In fact I wrote to Rich Schneider after reading the book - there's a wonderful book called The Nightingale's Song and it is about John McCain James Webb John Poindexter and Bud McFarlane They were all naval academy graduates they all lived under the honor code You know the story of McCain in Vietnam you know the st- I don't know if you know much about Jim Webb but Jim Webb was a Navy Cross recipient These guys were honorable men Poindexter and McFarlane and Oliver North all got involved with you know with this thing with Iran-Contra and cover-ups and whatnot and it's all about the honor And that's what the book is about and I wrote to Rich Schneider and I said that should be required reading that if you don't have personal honor you don't have nothing SY So do you remember moments when the Honor Code was applied? (phone rings) When you ah let's pause for a moment - AM Don't worry about it SY I don't know I've interviewed other people who had ethical struggles They just - AM I did SY Could you talk about those? AM Yeah I'll tell you a funny story We had a professor that every year would - I was - I can't even remember the course - and - but he would always publish - he always asked three questions on his final exam or five questions whatever it was out of 10 questions or 20 questions And there was always the same 20 questions and he always selected five of them And somebody had figured it out and so what I did was I figured out what 20 questions were and knew what the 20 answers to 20 questions were And I passed the course and all of a sudden I said "Was that an ethical issue?" And so I went to John [Molano?] who was I mean this sounds stupid believe me it sounds - I mean I think how stupid it is I went to Molano who was the Head of the Honor Committee I said "Joe you know I may the heck I may have committed an honor code violation." And I explained it to Joe and Joe said "Get lost That's Mickey Mouse." There were yeah there were honor code violations you know that I saw up there I don't - I don't remember there wasn't any -a lot of stealing I mean it just - it worked Is that what you're asking? SY Yeah moments like that - or how you internalized it It sounds like you resonated with it right away? How was it taught I guess is my question? AM How did you what? SY How was it taught? AM Well (laughs) honestly it's real simple A cadet does not lie steal cheat or condone people who do I mean (laughs) it's not much more to it than that Now you might have a booklet that explains all the legal ramifications but that's the - it's almost like an article in the Constitution it's real simple language - SY And you bought into it right away? It resonated with you? AM I think you buy into it because quite frankly if you don't have it you got to live with yourself And there are things we all - I wrote in that book that I gave you that you did for my 25th reunion about PTSD Did you remember to - did you read what I wrote about it? That there may be instances of PTSD that were caused by people who did things that they weren't particularly proud of Now I'm not sure I haven't modified that a bit to be more empathetic and understanding of what PTSD is I think everybody suffered from it at some degree But I think there were people that if you did watch that documentary on My Lai I was struck - there were two people who were involved one person who feels no responsibility for it and another one who feels a great deal of responsibility for it And I think PTSD has - there is - there were cases of situa- I don't know how people could live with themselves if they committed the kinds of offenses that were committed in Vietnam SY So I mean a big - right I mean when you're looking at something like My Lai or when you're looking at something like Abu Ghraib right? It requires being able to not follow orders right sometimes? AM I had an instance when I first got to Vietnam where I had a platoon and I was assigned to work with an infantry company And we had taken a prisoner - actually we had two of them and both of them were badly wounded they may have been patched up - well one of them excuse me one of them was badly wounded the other one was just tied up He was tied with his hands behind his back And they brought them out to where we were They flew them out by helicopter and we were going to go search for the weapons because the guy was going to take us to where his weapons were And he - one of them was so badly wounded he was on a stretcher and they were actually putting what do you call it some fluids into him or they actually had a bottle up there and the whole trail But the other guy he took these guy- he took the infantry men over to this spider trap - these are tunnels - and he said "It's down - my weapons are down there." And one of the guys went down there and it was booby trapped with spik- with Punji sticks Do you know what they are Punji sticks? They're sharpened bamboo sticks And they pulled him out The guy was messed up badly and everybody was trying to help this guy get him out of the hole and the prisoner broke loose and ran away And fortunately somebody - it took them about a half an hour but they did find him And they brought him back and one of the Vietnamese interpreters started to really beat him up badly to try and get information from him And at one point they dragged him over to one of our armored personnel carriers and said "OK let's roll over - let's roll over him with it." And at that point I said "OK pal that's about as far as I'm going to go." I mean I - you know I was brand new and that's no excuse and this guy was obviously a captain and I was a lieutenant but at that point I saw this thing was going to go across the edge that I wasn't ready to go I think there were a lot of people that were forced into those kinds of situations throughout Vietnam And I'm not going to kid you if you think that any one of us were easy on POWs you're dreaming It was just a very very difficult time particularly when you lost people That gives no excuse to what happened at My Lai because that was his excuse was "I lost a lot of people." Well goddammit I lost a lot of people but I didn't kill people to even the score and what - how are you evening the score? That one I don't get And how do you do it by evening the score with men women and children - or with women and children? I mean that is even further afield so Does that answer your question? SY Yeah what do you think enabled you to stand up to that captain in that moment? (repeats herself louder) What do you think enabled you to stand up to that captain in that moment? AM I don't think it was a big deal I mean I just said "It ain't gonna happen sir." And that didn't happen I mean it just wasn't going to happen I was not going to put one of my vehicles or one of my kids in a position where he had to make you know where he had to be part of that SY In terms of what I've been reading about Vietnam and PTSD I think part of what happened to a lot of enlisted men was that they didn't have officers who were taking care of them right? So the fact that you were thinking about what that would do to the men in your platoon protected them and so there was still a moral universe that they were functioning within Does that make sense? AM Well I think it makes sense I - there's a film out called Platoon I don't know if you've ever seen it but if you haven't seen it I really suggest you do And in the film the platoon sergeant Sergeant Barnes literally was pushing a platoon leader a young lieutenant around you know so you're not going to do this you're not going to do that Quite frankly I had the good fortune of having served for a year in K- almost a year in Korea I'd been a company commander in Korea and I had more sergeants rep- I had you know piles of sergeants reporting to me and other officers So at that point nobody was going to talk - no non-commissioned officer was going to talk to me and no enlisted officer - no enlisted man- was going to talk to me By the same token I had a wonderful medic who worked for me who used to remind me that we all put our pants on the same way every morning one leg at a time And quite frankly it was a tough enough situation that I didn't - you didn't have to spend a lot of time saluting and whatever I must say that in - I was really quite honored of the fact that I was always shown the greatest respect The main guys were very good to me Maybe the best reward I got was I got a wonderful gold watch mailed to me by my unit after I left I don't know how the guys got those gold watches from their unit We got you know other stuff But you know when I got that that's always been a prize possession SY What do you think made you a good leader? (repeats herself louder) What do you think made you a good leader? AM I don't know that I was a good leader I just (laughs) - I was a - you know I - that's tough to say what is a good leader and what's a bad leader? I think it - it's a matter of - well there's a thing that they try and - they used to try and talk about it The most important thing to start with is the mission I mean you got a job to do And then the second most important thing is to take care of your people And then the third thing to worry about is to take care of yourself Unfortunately I used to put it this way Vietnam was full of a lot of guys who were interested in their career There were not a lot of professionals We were talking about Fran Brennan who was the Class of 1964 Fran was a consummate professional I went down and spent a day with Fran He was a company commander He had A Company- first of the 6th Infantry You could just see the way he carried himself from the way he acted around his people that this was a guy they absolutely loved and respected So you know what do I think makes a great leader? Guys like Fran Brennan they're great leaders and what you try to do is you know you try and think how would Fran Brennan have operated? I had a comp- troop commander a company commander in Korea named [Daryl Blaylock?] and he was the same kind of guy He'd been an all-American at Alabama played football career army officer - and it was just the way he treated people If you treat people with respect you know and make them p- not make them part of the decision process because it isn't a democracy You always have to remember at best it's an enlightened despotism That you just treat people with respect make them part of the process let them know what's going on try not to be too terribly - show any you know too terrible - fear because quite frankly when things start happening quickly as it did a number of times after a while you try not to show it if you can But by the way anybody who tells you you weren't scared is either a fool or crazy or doesn't know what they're talking about SY Yeah Let's go back a little bit Did you commission right after you graduated? AM Right SY You did? AM Yeah SY Yeah And you went to Korea? AM Well first I went down to Fort Knox and I spent - went down to the Armor Officers Basic course at Fort Knox And I had volunteered for Vietnam at Norwich SY Really? And did you know what was going on over there? AM Oh yeah But I - this is part of who I am I mean to be honest is that I kind of sensed what was going - I sensed the importance of what was going on I'm not sure I sens- understood exactly what was going on The Battle of Ia Drang Valley happened the month my senior year November my senior year 1965 and I volunteered not only for Vietnam but I volunteered for the First Calvary Division I'm not sure well first of all I said how the hell can you be in the army and not be where it's happening? What I didn't realize and I came to realize very quickly is that it was the defining moment of my generation I have classmates of mine who and God Bl- I love them dearly and they went to Germany and/or you know they went to Fort Polk Louisiana or Fort Benning and spent two years and got out and did nothing I mean they did their service and they're honorable veterans and they probably would have been superb guys in Vietnam but they weren't there And there was a big difference between being there and not being there So I went to Fort Knox and then when I got to Fort Knox they told me that I had to spend a year at Fort Knox before going to Vietnam but I was going They said "You're going." And I said "Well what am I going to do?" And they said "Well you're going to be an OCS TAC officer You're going to run like Officer Candidates like at Norwich." And I went I hated that stuff I hate all that nonsense of shining your shoes and running around and taking people and bossing and all that stuff And I said "I would really would rather be with troops I want to be with real troops." And so I went to see my company commander and I said "Is there a way I can find some troop duty?" And the guy said "Well not unless you're willing to go to Korea." And I said "Fine I'll go to Korea for a year." And he says "You're crazy." And I went "Yeah but I'm single and I got you know." You see when you're that single I mean you have no other responsibilities and so I got on the phone on - it was funny because there was another guy I grew up with from Pleasantville New York - actually Jimmy [Skiff?] - and Jim said "Gee that's a great idea." He wan- he was going to Vietnam too We had the same timetable And so Jim sat down and wrote a letter to somebody in the Pentagon and I sat down and somebody gave me a phone number and I called the guy - called this guy He said "You crazy?" I said "Yeah." He said "Fine I'll cut your orders this afternoon." You know and Jim had to wait four weeks to get an answer (laughs) So I went to Korea and I got to Korea And they were going to send me to a tank outfit and I went "No I'd rather go to a cav outfit." And they said "Well we got a tank outfit open we need somebody in it - cav outfit." I said "I really rather go to a cav unit." And so I went to attend cav and you know I spent almost nine months there SY What were you doing in Korea and what was your impression of Korea? AM Well you have to realize I still think Korea is even today the most dangerous place in the world We were working - the cav squadron which is a battalion was operating with the 7th Division I started out basically in staff headquarters but they immediately moved me over to B Troop And I was the First Platoon Leader of B Troop and also the Executive Officer because the guy only had - it was the Captain and myself And there were - because Vietnam you got to realize there was such a shortage of officers that it was just him and me And one day he walked in I guess this was around - I put it in my notes but it was in the spring of 1967 he came in and he said - I think I'd been in there three months three and a half months - and he said "Well I got good news and good news." I said "What's that?" He said "The good news is I'm going home early and I'm leaving in two weeks." I said "Great What's the other good news?" He says "You're the new troop commander." So what - Second Lieutenant is normally slotted for platoon and the idea that I'm running now a company and I was doing it by myself with a bunch of sergeants And these guys were terrific I mean these guys really took me under their wing and they taught me a lot of good stuff And so I did that for a year and then finally I started getting in platoon leaders - all of whom by the way had come out of OCS and all of them you know I was at that point I was older than most of these guys I was 24 25 - 24 And these guys were 18 - well no not 18 they were about 19 and 20 years old One or - one of them - two of them had two years of college but they had quit college They were very much like William Calley He was a product of you know he'd spent a year in college and gotten thrown out and. And you know OCS at one time was really one of the really premier ways of commissioning guys During Vietnam I saw a bunch of guys come out of OCS - some of them I thought were terrific and some of them I thought were just bozos because they just - and it wasn't their fault It was - they were just so young So anyway I ran the company for - until September We were basically doing everything from working - doing some work up on the DMZ Basically we were just an occupation force doing a lot of stuff out in the field a lot of training out in the field which was really great for me because by the time I got to Vietnam I was familiar with working with vehicles I was familiar with working with people I was working with - familiar with working with maps with radios and all this stuff Whereas if I had stayed at Fort Knox I would have never gotten that kind of experience Fast forward when I show up in Vietnam I said "Oh I'm up on my way to the 1st Calvary." They said "Well they've changed your orders You're going now to F Troop 17th Cav part of the 196th Light Infantry." Now two things went through my mind First of all I had been at Fort Devens when the 196th was there and they were a complete bozo outfit They were really - couldn't find their way out of a paper bag And the worst of them was this F Troop So I had a real problem and I got up there and of course they'd been in Vietnam for over a year By that time it had all of this all of the badness knocked out of them They were very very good; they were very seasoned When I got to the unit the troop commander opened my 2-0-1 file they looked at my 2-0-1 file and they said "You have more command time than I do." He said "Do you mind commanding a platoon again?" And I said "Why? I'm - I was just promoted to First Lieutenant not to Captain of the whatever-you-want-me-to-do." So I was a platoon leader for four months and then became Executive Officer just when the Tet Offensive broke out SY When you think about Vietnam do you have sense memories of Vietnam? Smells sounds? AM I don't think there's a day - there's a day that doesn't go by that I don't think about it SY How do you think about it? How does it come to you? AM That's hard to say I mean it just you know different things You know just yeah I mean your mind always sort of lies - I mean for years I couldn't go to sleep at night before without drifting back to it Now it's a lot easier I've remained very close to the people In fact this morning I wrote to - oh probably we're going to have a reunion down in Florida in October and one of the guys who actually had been a driver for me - he and I are coordinating Another guy who had been a driver for me - radio operator you know we're just trying to put it all together so you know I for some reason I will always think about it I mean it just - it comes back so I mean you have to realize that the intensity of those situations particularly the ones when there was some where people were either getting hurt or you were hurting people or you want to call it combat or whatever It's all slow motion I don't know when you talked to other people whether they've said the same thing that you - it - I can - the first big firefight I got into I felt like after you know it seemed like hours Of course I looked at my watch and we'd only been going at it for a half an hour and I felt like I'd been there for four hours or five hours So you're - this - it becomes very intense and the memories and the images become very very vivid in your mind SY Yeah Did you react to battle or combat the way you thought you would beforehand? AM Well as I say in my - in some of the stuff I've left you I mean I - yeah I guess I did No I - that's a hard question to answer I mean I don't know how the hell I thought I was going to react SY How did you react? AM Well I - we - one of the guys because we were a mobile outfit you ask me how could someone have taken pictures? Well because we had mobility and so guys could carry cameras One guy actually had a tape recorder during the middle of a firefight and I remember listening to that tape And it was a major firefight I mean it lasted all day And I think the thing that shocked me the most about that tape was the fact that I sounded reasonably cool on the radio I mean I kept hearing myself and saying "My God you know I was terrified" and I was! And I was listening to the tape and yet the person talking on the radio was not displaying - does that make any sense to you? SY It makes a lot of sense to me that you managed to sort of perform your role AM Well yeah you know - I - yes but don't overstate (laughs) my heroism because believe me it was just - I think it's also part of that if you want to call it the Norwich training or West Point training or VMI or any one of those when you come out of that there's a lot of that stuff that you - it becomes second nature to you to react to and you do it out of understanding that there are procedures that you're going to have to follow And it's very funny because I remember that we used to have this thing called Mars Stations and Mars Stations were these telephone setups where you could call the United States And I'd been overseas at that point probably 15 months and I hadn't spoken to my parents and - it's not like today with a cell phone - and so somebody set up a phone call and when you get on the radio - when you get on the phone you're actually talking on a radio that you know the guy briefing you said "Look it's just like radio procedure" you know you talk and then you say "Over." You know you use all the formality of radio procedure Well hell I get on the phone I was so excited I forgot radio procedure On the other hand my mother who had never talked on a radio in her life had been briefed similar and she was doing everything correctly So yeah I don't know SY Do you still have your letters? Does anybody have the letters you wrote? AM Yeah I have them upstairs and actually I didn't send them to you when they did that issue Yeah I have them SY Would - are you - is there any part - you want to donate them or are they too private? AM There's some things in there It's funny you should say that because when I - when that whole thing came up and they were looking for letters and I was going to send them in and I had found them and it was when I was a company commander And it was a letter I found And by the way ask me about the second letter because I want to talk about the second letter that I got Well no maybe a third one I went and read that letter and it was sort of not chatty it was sort of telling them what was going on This had to have been in the spring of '6-summer of '68 And I remember reading in a line or a paragraph about the fact that one of my people had been charged with rape which was unusual for our unit And what really shocked me today is I can't remember exactly what happened SY I suspect there was so much going on that was so awful all the time that that one just disappeared AM Well you know it's very funny - well before I get to the second letter I'll mention another one We had a - we were operating out of a - at one point in the summer of 1968 they took my company they put us out on a base camp out in the middle of nowhere in the Quế Sơn Valley a place called LZ Colt And by the way there are photographs in that CD that I'm going to give you has pictures of LZ Colt SY I'm wondering if we should look through some of this stuff because it might trigger your memories - AM No I know those photographs pretty well We were out there and we used to send guys home three days before - you came out of the field three days before your turn to rotate You know you went - or two days whatever the deal was And we sent the guy back - we sent this kid back to LZ Baldy which was our forward operating area And he was going to get on a truck and he was going to ride in a truck from LZ Baldy about 40 miles - 40 kilometers south to Chu Lai - and he was going to go through the medical thing and clear all his stuff and then fly home That is the last day That's your date you know that's it you're home and it's a cakewalk at that point He's riding in this truck and coming in the opposite direction is a tank And the guy who's riding on the tank wanted to know how f- asks the tank driver "How fast will this thing really go?" And there's an accident and this kid is killed who's on his way home - the last day! That was whatever that date is and you can look it up was the day that Martin Luther King was shot Is that '68? I think it was '68 SY It was '68 AM Yeah it was either Ja- it was either King or Kennedy I can't remember which It was Kennedy I think It was Kennedy SY Right - AM Bobby Kennedy SY - because they were in rapid succession AM And because I had been a big Kennedy pa- fan somebody radioed me and said "Bobby Kennedy has been shot." It was Bob Kennedy And on the heels of that I heard this other news and I just - I remember my reaction was I could really give a shit about Bobby Kennedy at this point The idea that this poor kid had gone through all of this and then died was ridiculous I mean it was just terrible The other one the other letter and I have the letter It was from a parent of a kid we lost and it was right after I became troop commander And the parents were writing me a letter consoling me for the loss of their own son because quote as I recall the words "they knew the kid had been well-led blah blah blah blah." And the problem is is now if we had been talking about my platoon I could remember every kid in my platoon At that point I had a company I had three platoons I remember the kid's name but I couldn't picture his face And here these parents were writing this incredible letter to me and I couldn't remember the kid's face SY Oh! AM So that's you know these are the you know I don't know And there were so many of these you know you lose one the first - last day in Vietnam We had a kid who was killed - I became troop commander when the troop commander just - I became troop commander twice but the second time which for the longest period I took over when the troop commander's vehicle hit a mine and it was made up of white phosphorous Do you know what white phosphorous is? It burned the whole thing burned the entire crew up And he got blown free and he got out and quite frankly it's too bad he got out He should have been killed because quite frankly he had put these people in a position where they should not have been You don't cross a bridge in a vehicle You know that there's going to be a mine at the end of that bridge You go find another way It's the only - but anyway I went back and looked at the vehicle The vehicle was up on its end and everything had fallen down inside And I went back and I purposely went in to look at one of the bodies because the kid had just joined the unit and nobody knew who he was And I always felt that I - I felt an obligation to see this kid if only to remember him because nobody else would And in fact he was so new to the unit that they would not allow me to positively identify him I think you had to be in the unit for seven days or six days or something like that before anybody could give you a positive ID So he was obviously shipped home and done by dental records or something like that So it was you know that was you know there was always that first day there was that last day there was the letter I mean you get these sort of bizarre things that happen to you so there SY Did you have to write letters home - AM Oh yeah SY - when a kid in your unit died? Do you remember that process? AM Yeah and that was strange because I as I said I became troop commander twice The second time- and again it's in that recollections that I wrote- my troop commander went on R&R and he went on R&R the day the Tet Offensive broke out And that in itself would have been OK except we didn't know how serious it was so he went home And he was gone - usually those R&Rs were about a week and he was gone for close to two weeks maybe even a little longer And of course part of the Tet Offensive was they were out planting mines and booby traps all over the place In the first vehicle we lost we had 13 guys on board and all of them were killed Now four of them were part of my troop and nine of them were from the infantry So somebody else had to write those other nine letters but I had to write those four letters But the last guy killed in the whole that two-week period happened to be a guy who was probably my best friend He was a buck sergeant who had been in my platoon And his name was Ron Adams just a terrific guy This was his - he had been in Vietnam with another unit had been sent to us He had had prior service He had been in - I think he had been in the Air Force or Navy I guess - married had a child And I actually got to I mean we were close enough that I knew about his wife and his children and all so And so I sat down and I wrote - I went beyond the quote "standard letter" because I thought that that's what they would want to hear from me because obviously I assumed that they knew that we were pretty good friends Then the letter got bounced back - you can't write that You have to use the form Now in 1997 I posted something about Ron on the virtual wall And I guess I left my email because the next thing I know I got an email from his niece and the next thing I know I got an email from Ron's sister And then Ron's sister called me and asked - she was coming up to Boston - we were living in Boston at the time - and so she would she asked if she could come out and see me I said "Absolutely." So we spent the whole day together talking about her brother And what was sad about it - it was she said you know when he was wounded or when he was killed he was first listed as MIA And she said "The impression we always had is that he had been missing and you all had left him." And I said "Well no nothing but - his vehicle blew up is what happened" and he and another fellow - a kid by the name of Lester Smart Mack Smart Maxwell Smart from Get Smart - remember that movie? Well that's why his nickname was Mack And I said "No no he was killed and you know we put him together and sent him back." And she said "We were always under the impression that you had left him." And I said "Well again that was not true." So. SY I wish you'd been able to send that letter AM Huh? SY I wish you'd been able to send that first letter AM Well you know listen I - you know I write better today than I did then (laughs) I prob- no I you know listen I must say that one thing that supposedly Lyndon Johnson did - are you aware that he signed every letter? SY I wasn't. AM Yeah SY That's interesting AM The way it worked from what I understood is that when someone was lost it would go - the company commander would write a letter and then the battalion commander brigade division And I think it went down to MACP [mortuary affairs collection point] and Westmoreland would sign the letter and then a letter went home But then the whole package went to the White House and he signed it Now I don't know if that's true or not but that was what I was under the impression is the way it operated But the President's letter started and yours was on the bottom But yeah I wrote - that was difficult On the other side I got a letter from one of my - I'll just say one of my company commanders - I won't identify which one But I got - because we were a separate battalion - company we had no battalion I got - somebody walked in my office one day we were back in the rear he said "Lieutenant we have a letter for the chaplain." I said "Well I suppose I'm the chaplain too." And I opened it up and it was from some woman who was obviously an extra-marital girlfriend of the Captain and she was wondering why he hadn't written (laughs) I knew he was married so I - I just - I put that one in the circular file I didn't want to touch that one so my experience of being a chaplain was very short-lived SY Very brief so the guy who you said was your best friend he was a sergeant? AM Yeah SY So was that - I somehow thought because he was technically enlisted because he was an NCO - (repeats herself louder) because he was an NCO - AM Right SY - and you were a commissioned officer would that be considered fraternizing? How did those boundaries work? AM Well I you know I don't think - that - you got to re- I mean think about that question Think about it - no it doesn't - no all that stuff go- that is f- that maybe works in the rear some place But it doesn't work in the real world when somebody is shooting at you or you're out on an operation Now I had a - there was a - I have had - I had one young guy - night we were working an operation and we were working at night and we were loggered up - "loggered up" is like we were hunkered into a position and we had a - we were being infiltrated And I was very cautious about opening fire at night primarily because tracer rounds will give you away And I was telling the guys that "Look these people were coming in so close that we can use hand grenades And the reality is is that hand grenades will leave no telltale where they came from So I want you to toss a grenade out there and scare them away." Quite frankly I didn't want to get into a firefight at that point because it all - it's too confusing but there was an American - we were on one side of a river and there was an American unit on the other side of the river And what I was terrified and actually did happen was we - two American units wound up shooting at each other And that kind of stuff happened But anyway during the course of this sort of very quiet radio talk going back and forth between myself and the sergeant the guy kept saying that he was going to open up fire and I said finally I said "Goddammit I'm the lieutenant and today I get to be the troop commander Now tomorrow if I'm dead and you are the troop commander you can make that decision." And you know but I didn't have to do that kind of stuff a lot That you know that didn't - SY There was no standing on ceremony AM No It really wasn't I will tell you I think probably one of the more amusing - we were out in the valley and there were 30 ve- we had 30-plus vehicles - and it was raining it was lousy and it had been a very uneventful trip And you have to understand everybody is plugged in Everybody has a radio set on everybody's got a microphone the whole thing So you got 30+ vehicles four men - at least four guys per vehicle so you got 120 radios operating Now my - our call - my call sign was Fox - well my call sign had been Fox 6 but my nickname became Fox So they whenever they were talking they would talk Lieutenant Fox and what have you regardless of what our real call sign was So we're crossing this very very shallow river and it was very muddy and one of the vehicles - and we were tired I mean we'd been out for da- several days and we wanted to get back into base camp I was wet I was tired everybody else was wet everybody else was tired everybody else was fed up to here And I remember all of a sudden I got a radio call I would track behind the first platoon - First A vehicle zone and on my vehicle and then there would be 16 vehicles behind me Is that right? And then essentially well essentially I said 24 there'd be two in the head if I was taking 26 out I guess And one of the vehicles behind me threw his track In other words the whole thing came on - off the tracks Does that make sense to you? OK "threw a track." And I got off on a God- because the guy had taken too sharp a turn And I got on a Goddammit! I went on a blue streak of four letter words and I stood up on my vehicle I was looking back at this guy and I'm going on and on and I hear this voice say "Fuck you Fox!" And I looked around and every eyeball in the unit was looking at me And all of a sudden I realized they were absolutely right They were just as tired they were just as wet they were just as pissed off and all I could do was laugh So I mean does that explain to you the relationship? I mean I'm going to need - I wrote an email this morning - the four guys I'm going to - the three guys I'm trying to get together - we're going to be down and - all of them were sergeants One of them lost both legs and his arm you know and we - we don't call each other lieutenant we don't call each other sergeant It's Angus it's Chris it's Jim it's Tom Tom is an interesting guy Tom is a Catholic priest and if Tom says "All those words that you used on the radio I finally learned what they meant when I got to the seminary" because they swore just as bad as you did So I don't know SY I think that story actually answers the question I asked about you as a leader right? That's a moment of you being a good leader It's a moment of you having a sense of humor about yourself It's a moment of you being able to take criticism and feedback right and respond accordingly? AM I don't know you know I think that - you - I - that's a tough one I mean I can't make any judgments about myself as a leader That's you know if you want to know who I was as a leader then call Chris [Wunzer?] up And call Jimmy [Sherslee?] up Talk to those guys That's one of the things that I think that's interesting is that these were kids who - Chris had gone to North Texas State played football Lee [Guava?] had gone to the University of Wisconsin one of the smaller University of Wisconsin Jim Sherslee actually went in the Army because the judge said "Either you go in the Army or you're going two years in the slammer." SY That was how my dad's best friend ended up going to Vietnam Yeah. AM Tom [Trippenere?] I think was always destined for the priesthood But these kids it's incredible because they all were either drafted - most of them were drafted you know they all took on the responsibilities of being young leaders And believe me being a squad leader or a section leader - or scout section leader - with two vehicles you're responsible for eight guys You know every couple of days you're going to be the first guy on the truck and if you want to look at some pictures at what happens to a truck when they hit a mine it takes a lot of guts a lot of courage So again yeah I mean I think that standing on about the ceremony of rank - but they always treated me with you know proper deference always called me "Sir" or "LT"- does that sort of. SY Yeah Was there any such thing as a standard day in Vietnam - AM No SY - or was it different every day? AM No and what there is is by the way there's no Saturdays off either no Sundays off I mean you're working seven days a week You're working 24 hours SY And are you just in sort of a heightened state of anxiety all the time? AM Yeah I'll tell you what I've tried to describe this over the years as saying - have you ever been in an automobile accident? SY Yes AM You know that funny feeling just before you hit? SY It's that feeling where you're like "Oh I might be about to die How do I feel about that?" AM Well it might not even be that It might be just so much as you know that you're going to crunch the fender and is that - SY Inevitability? AM Yeah Now that's what Vietnam was like You just ride around with that little feeling in your gut all the time SY That's a good description yeah AM Yes so I mean and by the way when you heighten your anxiety to that level that's why everything is so vivid People say "Well how the hell could you remember that?" Very simple You're walking around - if you lived your life that way every day 24/7 first of all you'd probably go mad but - and that's why you get people high I imagine you wind up with you know a certain amount of battle fatigue or what have you whatever they call it so SY Yeah Did you have nightmares when you were there? Or did you have nightmares when you came home? AM No SY No? AM No I remember going on R&R and I went up to R&R to camp - I went up to Camp Zama in Japan - was it Camp Zama? I guess it was Camp Zama in Japan and - because I knew a girl up in Tokyo that I had met on R&R - I had met between tours She was an American She was going to the American School - university in Tokyo And I thought there might be something there but there really wasn't And I you know it's - I was pretty much involved with a gal in the States but this girl was very very nice and I just thought I wanted to go back and spend some time with her But I remember getting to Camp Zama and that first night - all the enlisted guys were going to Japan They all took them over to barracks and whatnot And the officers of which there weren't very many of us took us to an officer's BOQ Bachelor Officer Quarters I got a private room and a shower and all that stuff And I remember having to - first of all I couldn't go to sleep because it was so quiet And then I remember actually pulling all my stuff and sleeping on the floor because I was so used to sleeping on the floor of an APC And on the next night I gave in and went to sleep like a regular person SY Like a regular guy So what are the incidents that you've written up? Are they particular incidents? AM Well the only one I really I mean I had written a long article about a helicopter pilot who I thought had done some extraordinary things on Thanksgiving Day in 1967 which was probably the biggest firefight I was ever in SY Do you want to tell that story? AM Hmm? SY Do you want to tell that story? AM Well it's all there I mean I - it - when I say yeah I mean when I say tell a story I was a platoon leader who - we were - we weren't supposed to be there and I didn't even know this other operation was going on And all of a sudden I got a radio call to move about four -three or four kilometers south that our second platoon was - had been amb- partly ambushed and I didn't even know they were part of a major task force And I got down there and they had been ambushed There were two I think it was two companies of Americans plus our - one of our platoons and four tanks And we had run into - and the size of the unit I'm never been - never quite sure but from what I understand it was a couple of companies of North Vietnamese And they took out the platoon leader's tank which took the task force commander and knocked him off the vehicle The vehicle ran over his arm this Major - I've gotten to know the guy very very well His name is [Gill Dorlan?] So all of a sudden I basically you better move down there and help out And so I blithefully charged in there not having a bloody idea what's going on And when we pull in there all these vehicles were sort of limp and getting shot at and there's this big wooden line on a hill and it was just very very messy And so the article I wrote about or what I had written in that article was a helicopter pilot that came in to drop off some infantry support and wound up and not through his own fault but wound up literally landing in a crossfire between us and the North Vietnamese And rather than just taking off dropping the troops he let his helicopter down and acted as a screen so the troops could come back to our line and he was just getting pasted and finally he took off and he was just you know kicking out smoke and all that stuff and went back And I - I've always thought that was probably one of the most heroic things I've ever seen because it was done on purpose I mean clearly he was trying to keep these kids from getting shot up And then the whole operation lasted I guess three or four days And so the next part of the operation was for us to assault the hill and that again is written in all the reflections that I've written about But what I - a couple of things as I was re-reading that again this morning the things I remember most were one the - when we got the orders to move and you asked me about - SY Ethics? AM No natural leadership and also - there also comes a point in time when you wind up being led because everybody's on a radio and so they heard we were moving out and going up that hill and everybody just started moving I didn't have to tell anybody to move They just started moving I always wondered to myself whether - did I really have the courage to give the order to move? And the next thing I know we're trying to - we're going up this hill That's the first thing I remember most about So I was as led as much up that hill as anybody else The second thing I remember most was it was a struggle getting up that hill because these guys were very - these North Vietnamese were dug in in bunkers and whatnot We had to take them out And then when we got to the top we took a round - an RPG round - on the side of our vehicle that hit our vehicle and did not go off It was a dud It would have killed everybody in our vehicle had it gone off And that's real pucker time when something like that happens where you all of a sudden realize you were that close SY And can you think about that afterwards or do you have to not think about it because it'll make you crazy? AM I don't think I thought about it I mean yeah you think about it I mean I th- I'll tell you what you think about it after - there is a photograph - we'll look at the photographs later but there is a photograph where you can actually see the scar on the side of the vehicle SY So you think about it later the next day AM You think about it later I mean one of the things that I - it's not in that piece is how dry my mouth was I mean it was just - for some reason I don't know why we didn't have more water with us because normally we carried - each vehicle carried five gallons of water But for some reason we didn't have a lot of water I remember that was something and I remember my mouth just tasted like it was cotton on the inside The other thing that happened was - once we cleared - got to the top of the hill and cleared that and we sort of in another - and brought some infantry in with us and they got beaten up very badly We started taking fire from behind us and all of a sudden there was that you know that moment go through your mind that "My God we're surrounded" because they were behind us they were ahead of us and all that stuff And that was pretty scary but also we had so much firepower they weren't going to take us out I mean it was just - it was sort of like a Mexican standoff a lot of shooting And again things out of my notes - I remember a couple of times thinking if everybody would just stop shooting for a few minutes so I could collect my thoughts we'd be probably far better off and I could make more rational decisions (laughs) Yeah I mean and then you know and then of course the thing went on for a couple of days And another recollection I put in there is that we were calling in - there was another village that we're getting a lot of fire from and we called - we were calling in some artillery on it And we were far enough away that I thought you could stand up and observe it until I felt a hunk of shrapnel go by my face and I could feel literally the wind when it went sailing by my head which meant if my head had been two inches three inches left or right I would have been killed And that really scared the hell out of me and I remember going back and getting inside my track and hiding That was - it was a hell of a way to spend Thanksgiving I must say And actually also in my recollections at one point a helicopter - we had been screaming for - we had been screaming for re-supply of ammunition because we'd been shooting all morning and our firing discipline was awful In other words we weren't controlling how much we were shooting and I wasn't paying much attention to it I figured "Hell Uncle Sam's running this thing and my God it's a bottomless pit Look at the Defense Department budget." And so when we started running low on ammunition I called for re-supply And this helicopter came in and it's all dusty and the crap is all flying all over the place our guys are kicking this stuff off and running over- and it was somebody's Thanksgiving dinner It wasn't ours and I don't even know who ate it because I didn't eat any of it But we didn't get any ammunition Now there is a story - a friend of mine told me it was back at brigade headquarters - I got on the radio and I said "Look I need ammunition." And he said "But when you asked for that re-supply and that screwed up" he said "you got on the radio" and he said "you used a string of four-letter words about the incompetence of people." And at that point General [Geddes?] who was Division Commander walked into brigade headquarters and there I - and this was on a loudspeaker- I was. And Geddes is supposed to have said "Somebody better get that young lieutenant some ammunition because I think he's pissed off enough to come back and shoot you guys" or words to that effect Now I don't know whether that yarn is true I'd like to believe it is SY It's a good story AM It's a good story SY I like that story So I've read about when I read - I think this might have even been on some of letters I read from Norwich alumni - I don't remember about superstitions good luck charms especially when people were "short." Right? That's the phrase when you're about to go home? Things you did to try and guarantee your safety Did you have any of those? AM No SY No? AM I will tell you that - you got to realize I'm there - I was overseas at this point for almost - over 20 months at this point That was longer than anybody and I - albeit eight of it had been in Korea And I was terrified And I was terrified that I was going to get hurt And you know it's a very - I've always felt very guilty about that because I'm now responsible for these 195 kids and I'm worried about my own personal safety and that started to bo- that did bother me We were down - we were down at a place called - we were down at LZ Ross and it was on this road that took - went into the Quế Sơn Valley And I have to say that road had more destroyed vehicles and junk on it - you could shake a stick - had probably more road - there was more damage on that road than any place in Vietnam There probably were more but it was damn near And we had been down there and we were coming back and it was the day before my ro- my turning over the troop to the new guy and he was a Captain And we rode past A Company of the 2nd or the 1st I remember that - and this old Captain was running it this great old guy he was like in his 30s and I you know I mean he was an old guy and he was in his 30s (laughs) and he had this terrible limp from one of his wounds And we went through the gate and I went "It's over man!" I got out and you know as long as I don't get hit in a car accident or shot down in a helicopter I'm cool I'm golden I'm home And we get in and we dismounted and all of a sudden a radio call comes in saying that there was a unit had started taking fire and that we were the new reaction force And I remember climbing up on my vehicle and this Captain who was going to replace me Jim Owens started to follow me And I looked at him I said "Jim would you please stay here because if I fuck up now I don't want anybody to see it." And we started to head out the gate and all of a sudden they called us back and I didn't have to go But I have to tell you that - all of a sudden it got scary Now I'm going to - I told you this and I'm going to tell you what I did next which was really stupid Get down to Chu Lai and I bump into two guys I knew One of them was a Captain - Air Force Captain - and the other one was an Army Captain And the three of us went out and got rip roaring drunk and the Air Force Captain said "I got to go make a flight in a -" what do you call it a f- he was a forward air controller in an O-2 these little tiny bird dog airplanes He says "You want to go for a ride?" I got in the airplane we went off we flew out and I said "You know we're getting awfully close to Laos." And we were and he was supposed to be making a weather flight All I know is that was the stupidest thing I could have possibly done We landed - this was maybe two days after I had turned over the troops - and my Executive Officer is standing there and he's got two bags on there I said "What are you doing?" He says "I just got you a two-day drop That's your plane you're going home." And I got on my airplane and I went home SY Do you remember the moment you turned over your command? Do you remember saying goodbye to people? AM Well actually that flag right up there is the troop guidon and I stole it And I stole it because dammit I felt I'd earned it and I figured they could find another one My Uncle Sam has this sort of bottomless pit called the defense budget and I figured hell if they can build this F-35 they can find another flag Yeah I turned the company over to this guy named Jim Owens who was a National Guard officer and he was a good guy wound up losing his leg And I remember turning the troop over to him and it was a very formal ceremony You know a brigade commander was there and the flags were passed and all that stuff And these guys starting passing out the front gate I mean literally mounted up on it right back to the field And I cried like a baby SY And what were you thinking while you were crying? AM That how much I loved those guys and how much I wished I could stay But that's a very lethal place SY Simultaneously you wished you could stay and wanted to run like hell at the same time AM Yeah You know it's very funny because I had a difficult time when I came home - SY Yeah let's talk about that AM - because I realized I was pretty - when you say I was a good leader I don't know if I was a good leader but I was good at my job And I knew what I was doing And probably the biggest thing that was wrong with that whole war was the fact that it took them a year to find a - somebody who really understood his job and all of a sudden they bring in this guy nice guy but they had to teach him that job all over again SY Right And so everybody was rotating out as soon as they got seasoned AM Yeah I mean once you understood - I mean we would have gotten out of Vietnam if somebody had said "OK we're going to send a half a million Americans to Vietnam and the only people that are - the only people that get to come home are the wounded and the dead And we're just going to keep sending replacements so anyway so those of you guys who were there you'd better win this damn thing" because that's basically the way the North Vietnamese were operating I mean these guys you know that's the thing we all seem to forget is that they were good soldiers They were hard tough soldiers and these guys A were fighting for all the values that we purportedly were fighting for and the reality is that they didn't get to go home They fought until they were either dead wounded or you know They certainly didn't go home on R&R and they didn't have you know Coca Cola they didn't have television they didn't have all that nonsense We brought too much creature comforts to it all I remember going down to Chu Lai on a stand down - we used to pull units out took them down and basically cleaned guys up because after you've been out on the field for a while they pick up all sorts of garbage And you want to get them a little life of sanity you see SY We're talking like lice fungus like all - AM Well we would take them down to the Chu Lai beach and we used to rotate a platoon down at a time And you know we'd get down there and we'd get them some steak and we'd you know beer and take them to the beach and all that stuff And there were - I guess they went to the village and played around with the girls I suppose SY I was going to say they picked up some other things too AM Yeah that's true too But I remember riding along the bunker line at Chu Lai and riding by a bunker - and I was - and when I was down in Chu Lai I actually put on my little lieutenant bar and all that stuff pretended to be an officer And I remember riding by the bunker line at night and all of a sudden I saw what looked like I thought a television screen And I stopped the guy backed up - we backed up my Jeep and drove over to the bunker And these guys were in there watching television and they were watching and laughing And I'm saying to myself "This is insanity You got kids out there -" and that by the way is the other issue And I don't know any of the other guys you talked to about - you talked to Bill Bonk - Bill was on a very [012352] (inaudible) aviation outfit and you really couldn't make a lot of mistakes in his business because not only were you getting shot at but you also had to fly an airplane We didn't have the drug problem and that's something you haven't asked about The drug problem - I imagine it went on I know that I caught one guy with - a buck sergeant early on with a guy in my platoon actually - I caught him with a - SY A joint? AM - like a baggie full of five joints He was changing a track and he was looking for a cigarette And he says "Lieutenant would you reach in my pocket and get a cigarette?" Well I reached in and grabbed a pack but I felt something else I pulled it out I looked at it and I just dropped it in the mud and stepped on it and handed him his cigarettes But I don't recall drugs being a big problem - SY So there was no heroin in your unit? AM No no But - the marijuana - but we did have situations where people would bring it up that "So-and-so is smoking dope." And this is how I handled it We had a mortar section and a mortar section is - do you know what a mortar is? SY Uh-huh AM OK We had a mortar section and we had three mortars And I guess we had maybe 10 guys and it was in our big base camp And we couldn't - we didn't carry those mortars out to the field They were too heavy and they were a pain in the neck and carried off too much ammunition shot it off too fast and a lot - too many problems associated with mortars So we just left them in and we left the crews there and we left a lot of illumination And their job was that if base camp got hit they would you know the parachute flares the illumination also So I stole an idea from a movie and it was a wonderful probably the best leadership movie I've ever seen called Twelve O'clock High where the commander of the aviation unit has - takes all the bad guys in the unit and puts them in one bomber He calls it the - what the hell did he call it? I can't remember what he called it - it'll come to me But he put all the bad eggs in one basket So I made - so I took anybody I caught smoking dope I put them down in the mortar pits All you had to do was drop rounds and pop illumination And I would tell guys you're going to you know you're going down to purgatory and you're going down there and if you go home with heroin habits that's your problem but I'm not going to have you in the field Now was it a big problem? No and only because most of the guys didn't want to go to the field with a doper SY Right What about race in your unit? That's the other thing - AM Race? SY - we haven't talked about yeah AM That's an interesting question and I'll answer it two ways One is when guys - it was called the Leper Colony I would call them the Leper Colony that's what it was I had a platoon leader who was from Tennessee and he was a real Southerner and named Larry [Beetle?] - nice guy And Larry came to me at one point and he said "You know when you get a replacement in if you say well I need a rifleman." Who needs a rifleman? "Second Platoon needs a rifleman." So I just sent him Well Larry came to me one day and he said "Well you know I know you don't think about this but I'm the only white guy in the unit in my platoon." And all of a sudden I went whoah! And I started looking around and sure enough most of the Second Platoon - I think there were maybe one or two guys - the platoon sergeant was white - actually it was platoon leader was a Cherokee Indian and all of a sudden I saw that there was a potential problem So I just quietly started moving people around The other racial issue that came up was recently I was out in - two years ago or a year and a half ago? - two years ago I was down in Washington at a reunion and I was with one of our guys named Bill [Fong?] Bill was Chinese And I said to Bill because of my family association with the 442nd we got talking about Japanese-Americans in the Second World War with the 4-4-2 and I said "How as an Asian did you feel with all the dehumanizing that we do very well in the United States when we want to get angry at an enemy -" By the way it's common practice by everybody so it's not just an American trait OK? And he said you know - I said "How did you deal with that? I mean you're out in the field with some guy who's calling - using all those pejorative terms? How do you deal with that?" And Bill said "Lieutenant you got to remember you know they're all stupid people in the world." SY It still must have been hard AM Yeah so you don't. He said "Ninety percent of the time I was dealt with as an American and not as the fact that I was Chinese-American." And he said "Ten percent of the time they're stupid." SY Do you think there is a way to fight a war without that type of deh- (repeats herself louder) Do you think there is a way to fight a war without that type of dehumanization of the enemy? AM No I wish there were It's interesting because we've allowed it - it's become more apparent in this current situation with the Islamic war than it certainly was with Vietnam I mean I you know you got to realize like in Korea they had all the different - that all worked in Korea too Slope dank you know - SY Gook? AM Gook - the whole thing It's funny is that whenever they - and Charlie and of course whenever we got screwed badly and someone would say Charles' name it was a sign of respect - we would call him Charles - Charles has been up to his hole But this whole thing with the situation in Islamic thing I hear people talk and I go I cannot believe they talk the way they do And somebody wrote to me recently - an ultra-conservative person - who said "Well we all do it." No we all don't do it I'm afraid that's no that you just don't do that You don't - and he gave me all the lists of words that people use And I said no we don't use those words - you may use them but don't try and paint me with your brush SY Yeah Have you ever been tempted to go back to Vietnam - AM No SY - to visit? No? Interesting AM Not really It - I mean it's -have you seen pictures of the place? It's absolutely gorgeous SY I have yeah AM But no no I mean I've seen it I will say that I do go back to Korea and that - I've been back to Korea three times not up to where I was But I've been to Seoul three times and I mean the difference between Seoul - when I saw Seoul in 1968 I think the highest building in Seoul was eight stories Now it's - have you ever been to Seoul? SY No but I have a close - a couple of close friends who are living there AM I mean it's a very cosmopolitan city SY It is yeah I have to run to the bathroom So let's take a little break and then - and I'm also aware that you're probably getting tired - (audio break) AM Coming home? SY I was going to ask you about coming home Let me turn this back on AM Has this been basically what you wanted? SY This is great This is exactly what I want So let's talk about coming home and let's also talk about how the anti-war movement has been building up while you were in Vietnam So is this something that you hear - AM Are we on? SY Yeah we're on Is this something that you sort of had been hearing about in Vietnam? Or is it something you have time to think about? Is it something you - AM No We have time to think about that nonsense I think this anti-war movement - I think your generation is as fascinated with the anti-war movement as my generation was fascinated with - my mother - counterculture movement of the 1920s In other words if you weren't there doing the Charleston you really don't know how to do the Charleston My impression of the anti-war movement and don't make - don't mistake what I'm saying It was terribly important and it made a great - it made an enormous impact on this country I think it had some negative impact one of which was that the first thing Nixon did was get rid of the draft And he created a quote "all volunteer army" which in my mind means that we now have a very right-wing professional military which is too closely tied to the defense industry OK? When you look at 70% of the general officers who retired going to work for a defense contractor that seriously worries me especially when you get into this whole notion of honor and ethics And some general standing up and saying "I'm pitching you to buy an F-35 fighter but oh by the way I wouldn't consult you if I didn't think it was something we needed that was the best in the world because after all I did go to West Point where duty-honor-country means everything." That's bullshit If you're paying a guy $200000 a year to sell airplanes he's working for the $200000 - not for some ethics OK? That said you have to remember that the anti-war movement whether it was the University of Wisconsin or Princeton or Harvard or Kent State - they were a small fraction of the generation Most of these people people like my wife were trying to make a living they're trying to get through school they're trying to get on with their lives Now I have a number of friends of mine who were in the anti-war movement One of my closest friends who I lost contact with and I've never been able to re-connect went to Harvard married a girl whose father was a general in the Army they became - he became very heavily involved in the anti-war movement and it cost him his marriage because when he got his notice he went to Canada and she stayed My partner at a Magazine Services in New York was in Chicago throwing rocks and he was on a rock band And we have a picture that we used to send out to clients which had a picture of me in Vietnam and it has a picture of him in his rock band and it said "Magazine Services We can do it the easy way or the hard way." So the reality is I use- I have - I think a lot of these people in the anti-war movement including Jane Fonda they paid an enormous price with their families and with their friends I sat at dinner one time with a client and there were two people running down - not running the war down but they were sort of discussing the war and finally the more senior president of this ad agency piped up and said "How you know how can you talk this way in front of Angus?" And what I found out later is his son had deserted and gone to Canada and this guy was a veteran So here was a situation where a family had been just torn apart So the anti-war movement - and my feeling about Jane Fonda - everybody always gets upset about Jane is she wrote in her book and I have no reason not to believe her that the moment she sat down at that anti-aircraft gun she knew she'd made a mistake that she was being used Do I think that it changed her views on the war? No - Tom Hayden her husband - very heavily involved in the anti-war movement At Inc Magazine one of my closest friends was Bo [Browingham?] who was one of the leaders of the anti-war movement at Princeton And when Bo and I went to China together everybody said "Boy wait till those two guys get talking." It turns out we - Bo and I have been very very good friends I think Bo's argument and my argument -that people sat on the sidelines and did nothing They took no position and they allowed by the way Richard Nixon to carry that war on for another four and a half years all of which we conveniently forget SY Yeah So what was it like to come back home? What was it like to re-introduce you to- AM It's funny I'm glad you asked that There are two - I'll give you some three things that happened One was I was lucky and that - well I'll tell you the whole trip I got into- I got separated I was still in uniform obviously traveling on boarders And I came down - went down to see my sister in Phoenix from Fort McChord Air Force base up in Washington And I remember an airline stewardess being very solicitous in taking care of me and all that stuff and she was saying something to the effect of you know I said "Geez you don't have to do that you don't have to -" giving me free drinks and all this stuff She said "Believe me they're going to treat you like trash." And I remember on the trip being a layover in Chicago and there was this - I had this feeling by being in uniform that I was - that I had - that I was - there was something wrong with me that I was almost like the plague Now the nice thing was is that when I got home my parents were there with my brothers and my s- all the - the whole family all the signs and all that stuff - "Welcome Home" blah blah blah So I had a very nice welcome home from my family Now my mother and father - my mother is I think I told you was a writer and my father was an art director/business consultant - and my parents were very - my mother was so n- she was so fearful of the military that she wouldn't even come to my graduation at Norwich She didn't come SY Fearful in what way? AM Hmm? SY Fearful in what way? AM She had a brother - she had lost someone in the First World War her brother had fought with the 442nd in Italy in the Second World War I mean she'd seen what the war had done And so when I was graduating and I kind of pretty well knew where I was going and she just said "I can't handle it." She did not want to come to graduation I mean you're looking at my class they were all in uniform everybody was going into the Army She knew what the deal was So we got home and my parents used to have these wonderful dinners My parents had a very formal dining room It's a big house in Chappaqua And so we all sat around the table and I was still in uniform and my mother had built this - she was a fabulous cook and she said "Well tell me what do they all think of Premier Kỳ?" It was at that point - and because my parents were very active pro-political people - and my father didn't like the question because there had been a demonstration in Central Park a couple of months a couple of weeks before he said where literally people were carrying the flag of the country that was trying to kill your son You know literally he was upset about the question and all The way I framed it back to my mother was saying "Look What people don't really quite understand about that is that the average South Vietnamese person doesn't even know who he is." If a local dai uy who's a local Captain - is a thief they like to say "If you're working for the people they might be sympathetic to the government." But it's you know all politics is local whether it's here or there And to realize is what you don't understand is you live in an electronic age where you can worry about what your Congressman in Washington is doing They're worrying about what their local alderman is doing in their town And most Americans didn't quite understand that What I came to find out came to realize as I started to get around the country what was going on was less of the anti-war movement- but the anti-war movement was also morphing into the Black Panther movement SY I got to change batteries but keep talking We still got a little bit of juice AM Do you have some juice in there? SY I got another battery AM Oh you got another battery? Well let's just change your battery SY All right here we go Give me 30 seconds and we're recording again AM OK The other thing that was going on in this country as much as the anti-war movement was beginning to resonate in - throughout the country the civil rights movement had morphed into something more violent and that was the Black Panther movement And one of the - and I remember telling my mom and dad that - because my mother and father I mean we - I got to tell you the other one with my mother too About 20 or 30 days into being home and by this time my sisters and - my brothers and what all they're all gone home back to their own homes but they were - they asked me what changes have you seen? And I said - because I was going into the city every day - I was interviewing for jobs and I said "I smell racial violence." And I said this country is very very close to exploding into - I said there is so much racial tension in this country I could just feel it It was completely different the way it was from what I recall when I left almost two years ago And it was more certainly than what I was feeling in Vietnam Interestingly in Vietnam nobody really - in those situations you shouldn't really be worrying about skin pigment at that point You're worrying about whether you can trust the person on either side of you But that was the first thing that was so - that really struck me was how much tension there was in this country racially Because you asked this racial question about Vietnam - I'm saying it was - it was just as tense here but I don't think people because when you're something around something day in and day out you may not necessarily see it SY Yeah you can't smell it any more AM Yeah The other thing that happened that day coming home is my parents had this you know this large home And I guess to keep my mother busy she went through everything I owned And you got to realize I'd been away at school most of my life and so she'd taken all my school team pictures and stuff like that had them all framed And she had this room done in red white and blue and all this And pennants and all this stuff and I - I went upstairs when my mom and dad said "Well I want you to go and see your room." So we went upstairs to my room my mother was still downstairs My father got into the room with me and I looked around this room and you got to realize what I - the responsibility I'd just had and I looked at her I said who does she think I am? This is not - I'm not Leave It To Beaver And that's what a mother sees her child A mother never really sees her child as an adult I don't think And my father turned to me and said "Your mother put a lot of work in this Live with it for 30 days and then make sure you get yourself out of here." And it was good advice and he was right The other thing that struck me I went to work in the training program at McGraw-Hill And I was work- I was assigned to work on a weekly magazine and I - my job was to basically go call on all the cat-and-dog little classified accounts And it was all terribly disorganized and so I remember them handing me this box full of 3x5 cards and I was supposed to file them by category and then in each category alphabetically And I'm sitting there at my desk saying to myself - now this is what I did become an officer again I said are you kidding me man? I had clerks that did this stuff for me in the Army Yeah you're going from writing letters to people's parents to doing this kind of crap? Well this went on for a while and I - the resentment in me really started to build because there was a lot of other chicken shit jobs that they had me doing And one day I went down if you know New York - do you know New York at all? SY Oh yes I grew up in - AM New York City Charlie Brown's you know Charlie Brown's at Grand Central Station? It was a great saloon in Grand - SY Oh I've walked passed it but yeah AM Anyway I went down to Charlie Brown's one Friday - I went Thursday afternoon for lunch And I went down there with this other guy in the McGraw-Hill training program who was a former Marine officer And I was terribly upset Now he had never been overseas He had just done his time and gotten out And we started drinking and I had more - too much to drink And he finally said "Well you know if you're really pissed off go tell your boss." And that was the worst advice I could have gotten because I did it And I went in and I told my boss that this was a chicken shit assignment and I said I'm out of here And I was seriously at that point - and I had been thinking about actually going back into the service at that point I was so - I thought that what was going on in the real world was so unimportant And what happened was I came in to work the next day terrible hangover and sitting in my boss's office was the Vice President of Marketing for the company and "Come on and sit down." I sat down and he said "I understand we had a little bit of an incident yesterday." And I said yeah and he said "We really don't want to lose you." And I said well and he said "But you've also pissed some people off." And he said "Now this means I got to hide you I've got an assignment in Dallas and I've got an assignment in Chicago Which one do you want?" And I said "I've never been to Dallas." So I went to Dallas I met my wife and the rest is history SY Really? AM Yeah SY And how did you meet her? AM Blind date SY In Dallas? Is she from Dallas? AM South Dakota I met her on September 6th and we were married on December 20th SY That's fast When it works it works AM I was - I think it's fast We've been married almost 45 years SY Yeah? AM Yeah SY Yeah Had you considered staying in the Army? AM Yeah I mean I did and part of the reason I went to Norwich was primarily because I probably thought very seriously about it SY But were you fed up by the end of your tour? AM I think what - I'd thought about this I think probably in some respects doing two tours was a good idea because the first tour got me really ready for the second tour far bett- I was better prepared for my Vietnam tour than 90% of the lieutenants I met because most of these guys you know were doing something other than what they would be doing in Vietnam And I at least got a chance to get some hands-on experience On the back side of that - on the flip side of it was I also stayed too long I was there too long because when I came home I was mentally exhausted SY How did that manifest itself? AM I guess I just didn't want the responsibility any more I didn't want to worry about other people And it's interesting you should say that because when I was - you asked me at lunch about "Oh you resigned from McGraw-Hill and.?" Yeah and what it was why I resigned from McGraw-Hill was I mean there were a lot of reasons I talked about market share and whatnot but when I was managing a sales staff - and I was managing a sales staff of 17 people - behind Business Week I think we were the second or third largest magazine in the company It was a big magazine It was a big deal And if you covered an ad agency and I covered the client - it was what they called split credit on billings and all this stuff and I used to get these absolute chicken shit memos from sales reps worrying about whether they got 10% of the credit or 15% of the credit on a million dollar deal In other words they were so caught up in all of the little minutiae that when I resigned and when I was asked why are you quitting? Well I think Inc is a better opportunity and it's a growing opportunity but I'm also tired of all the bullshit I'm tired of being responsible for whether Johnny so-and-so gets a $500 commission check or whether he gets a $700 commission check on a guy who's making $85000 a year - and this by the way was 30 years ago Why don't you worry about going from $85000 to $105000 rather than worrying about $750? And that was the difference at Inc At Inc. it was you know you made your own - you pack your own parachute and you made your own bonus and interestingly enough financially I made out like a bandit I mean I made more money doing this working for somebody other than McGraw-Hill Yeah I would have gotten a gold watch and they used to give out a neat tie when you worked - had been there for 25 years But hell you can go to Brooks Brothers you can get one of those for 50 bucks SY Right yeah And you don't seem like you were a company man for either the military or McGraw-Hill You didn't want to be a company man AM Well yeah but you also have to respect company Now - I - you know I look at a guy like - Fran Brennan was a - Fran Brennan was the quintessential company guy I don't think there's anybody in the military that I could find that I would respect more than Fran Brennan because Fran Brennan was the kind of guy that led from the front A guy I spoke about a few minutes ago Gill Dorlan you know they handed him the Distinguished Service Cross which right behind the Medal of Honor is the second highest award they give out you know He also I mean he was the youngest Major in his class from West Point He quit too you know he tossed it out but he was a consummate professional You understand what I'm saying? The difference between being a professional and being a career guy SY I do AM You do SY I do understand that AM I know you do I know you do SY Yeah but yeah I think it's an important distinction AM The other thing and interestingly enough one of the things that McGraw-Hill had that it lost - and it lost about the time I was leaving was McGraw-Hill had a very serious mentoring system Albeit these guys started out as ad sales guys there were some very very bright guys At one point McGraw-Hill was made up primarily of Ivy Leaguers I mean you have the - well the McGraw family they were all Princeton people but there were a lot of Dartmouth guys a lot of Yale guys whatnot And it's funny because the guy I worked for in Dallas he was a petroleum engineer and you know I always sat with him He taught me how to really listen and learn about a client's business The guy I worked for in Cleveland the guy who ran the Cleveland office taught me about how to think strategically The guy I worked with in Chicago - I wasn't particularly crazy about him as a human being but he was one of the best public speakers I've ever been around so he really showed me a lot about standup presenting skills And the guy I worked for in New York taught me a lot about the minutiae of working inside of a large corporation And McGraw-Hill was very very good on all these mentoring steps and quite frankly I always felt a responsibility that when I had my own sales staff and I hired people that I treated them and taught them all that I could possibly teach them as sort of payback to what had been invested in me And I think that's gone today I don't think people in your generation - no one cares about anybody but [015526] (inaudible) I worry about me and they don't worry about whether you're making a contribution to somebody's career. SY I think that's true I think that culture is dead AM Well one of the other things that's gone too by the way - when I went through the McGraw-Hill training program and when you read my thing it sounds like I was only in it for 6 months Actually you're a probationary employee I think for 18 months Now that was their formal training program And we used to come back every quarter all the trainees They would recruit 15 trainees a year They would interview maybe 300 people And I was an experiment where they hired five Vietnam veterans and then they hired five guys out of industry and five guys out of grad school And they put you into this class SY Ooo! What was that like? AM Oh it was terrific and I will say the Vietnam guys did better than everybody else We were all much older we weren't older mentally - physically we were older mentally We were far more mature But we all did very very well in our careers SY And was it nice to have four other men who sort of knew what you'd just gone through? AM Well yeah they were all different experience One guy had been an F-105 pilot another guy had been a medic another guy had run Swift boats like John Kerry and another guy had been a navigator on a I think it was on a B-52 So we were all sort of varied experiences of the war None of them really common The guys we hired out of industry one of them is still one of my closest friends Andy [Gandon?] He was a bench chemist and worked for BF Goodrich and they hired him on Modern Plastics magazine And Andy said something very interesting He was up here last year He said "The reason why" he says "I think you did better than most of us is that we learned how to do our jobs and then we just kept doing that same job for 30 years You kept changing the job You kept changing the parameters of the job." SY Yeah you got bored AM Yeah that's right I get bored very easily And so if you don't change - if you can't change the game change the rules SY Yeah So something I asked Bill Bonk and he had some good answers about it that I want to make sure to ask you is so you know Norwich was founded on this idea of the citizen - (repeats herself louder) Norwich was founded on this idea of the citizen-soldier AM Yeah SY Is that something that you relate to? Is that something that - AM Oh absolutely I - and I think it's something this country has lost No that's not fair We haven't lost it We've lost it in the regular Army and the Marines and the Navy and the Air Force And interestingly enough the Air Force the Navy and the Marine Corps were always voluntary services The Army was always subject to draft And by the way so was the Marine Corps During the Vietnam War the Marines actually drafted A lot of people don't know that but they did And they also did in the Second World War I think when we took away the draft we took a piece out of that citizen-soldier equation One of my favorite photographs from World War II are two guys in the Navy And they're both on bunks And one's an officer the other one's an enlisted man The officer is reading a comic book and the enlisted man is reading Tolstoy I don't sense that you have a lot of guys reading Tolstoy who are enlisted any more I think you need - I think that if we had a draft - had we had a draft we would have been very reluctant to invade Iraq. SY So you're saying if a draft works correctly it's a corrective - AM Absolutely SY - to sort of hawkish or cowboy foreign policy AM Absolutely Absolutely SY That's interesting AM Well I mean the reality is is that if all of a sudden - I'm talking about a fair draft I'm not talking about six deferments But if all of a sudden Senator so-and-so's son was at risk or more importantly the son of his largest donor was at risk - my brother said something very interesting to - of a guy who owned our company and he actually had Inc Magazine He also had owned Sail Magazine where my brother worked My brother is a Marine fighter pilot And neither Don nor I are hawks We're both politically are pretty much on the same wavelength And one night they were all hunkered up and they were drinking and the guy who owned the magazine was talking about how he managed to get out of the draft and everybody was laughing at his stories And my brother just said "I'm just curious" and the guy looked at him and said "What are you curious about?" He said "Well somebody had to take your place Do you think he survived?" If we had a true citizen-soldiery that we keep talking about it would have been - it would be based on a fair and equitable draft Now on the other side of it one of the things that people like Ford and Sullivan who had a tremendous influence on it and for whom I have a great respect - he and there's a guy by the name of Vuono and General Meyer- these guys were Chiefs of Staff of the Army When they were put into this situation of creating an all-volunteer army they built a model which depended upon the National Guard Now what you haven't asked is and you wouldn't know to I got called back twice SY Did you really? AM Oh yeah to work with the National Guard And I have to tell you that was a joke and an experience I mean to the point where it was almost insulting how bad they were But I was also in a meeting where - with a battalion of the Louisiana National Guard with the battalion commander - this is 1971 the war is still going on - and I'm quote an "advisory" with several other former officers from Vietnam And this battalion commander announces to the battalion "I know why you're all National Guard You're here to avoid the war in Vietnam." And I think he used the word "illegal" war in Vietnam or "immoral" war And everybody - the guys who'd been in Vietnam we all looked at each other saying what the hell is going on? Now we've gone from that - then I was with the New York National Guard and these guys were a bunch of stockbrokers And you know one guy asked me "Say Lieutenant can I have your Jeep? I need to go in town to call." I'm going wait a second you know We didn't get a chance in Vietnam to say hey listen hold on to the war I got to go make a phone call I got to call my broker I will say the National Guard has done a superb job You know they picked up the slack But yeah I think Norwich has an important role playing that I think unfortunately it may be losing it There's so many of these kids now who are going to Norwich with the idea they're going to make a career of the military I don't think in my class there were that many I think there were oh I think there were probably 12 or 15 guys in my class who wound up staying in the military that spent their whole career in the military. SY Yeah I think that is I think that is different I think there is a new more career (crosstalk inaudible) [020343] - AM We had a lot of colonels in my class both lieutenant colonels and a couple of full colonels I mean let's see Johnny [Otis?] Bill [Bell?] there was one or two others that were full colonels in my class SY So I'm flagging a little bit One last question I think is important because most people don't know about long-term health repercussions of Vietnam Could you talk about that? About the long-term health effects - even though you weren't wounded - the long-term health effects of having survived? AM Well I think that - well I think that yeah I have - I have maybe 40% of my hearing I have arthritis which is directly attributed to Vietnam And I've had two hip replacements I think the other thing that we - we lose sight of the fact you know there's always - in every unit there's always a wise ass no they're dozens of wise asses believe me and they're very smart kids And that's what I always loved about American GIs is they are always very very funny and they're smart They have a language of their own They just - there's a - Hemingway wrote a wonderful book during the Second World War about the language and how the language of the GIs and their humor is just incredible But it's also very black very dark And I remember we had lost a kid and we were waiting to evacuate his remains and this wise ass said something to the effect "Well that cost us another quarter of a million dollars." And I went you know and of course at that point I was you know kind of upset and I said "What do you mean?" And he said "Well look at it this way Lieutenant He's married he had a child and he started going through all the benefits." And he said "By the time we're through"- now this is 1968 "that's going to cost the United States government another quarter of a million dollars." Now fast forward to your 2015 and we look at - now I go to the VA hospitals on a pre- at least a couple of times a year and you walk in and you take a look at these broken up bodies and you realize that every time you send a kid out there and he comes back with a leg missing or an arm missing it's going to cost the United States taxpayers And I hate to put it in those kind of cold-blooded terms but I don't think we even think about those kinds of things By the way I will say that despite all the bad press about the VA I think the VA has done a pretty good job at least here in Maine I also know - I talked to my cardiologist who went to Harvard Medical School and I asked him what he thought of the VA and he said that when he was going to Harvard he used to go over to the VA And he said "You walk down the VA and you would see world-class doctors from Harvard Medical School Boston College Medical School." We're going to be on Friday with some friends of ours whose daughter was a cancer - is now a cancer research specialist All of her training came through the VA So I understand the sort of wonderful political footballs that get tossed out there about the VA and how bad it is or how incompetent it is or what a waste it is But you want to think about our system by comparison to the Russian system Imagine what happened in the Soviet Union when it collapsed in 1990 about the time the millions -I don't mean the hundreds of thousands but the millions of Soviet soldiers that went through the Second World War with what they had to do what do you think they got out of the deal? Or think about the VA system that must be going on in a place like Vietnam? It's not - yeah we have problems but by comparison - SY I think it also depends on who you are when you access the system I interviewed a Norwich alumni who - alum who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and had some head injuries and PTSD And he had a lot of trouble accessing resources because I think the VA is better with broken bones and concrete things than they are with psychological types of injuries He had a hard time getting resources AM Be careful be careful Let me tell you - it's funny you should - let's - that's a good question to ask but before you make that - come to that conclusion think about this Who do you think the hearing people in the world are? SY The best what? AM Hearing SY I don't know AM VA Why? How come? They got more of it Who do you think got the best burn research in the world? SY Right I mean it's a huge organization yeah AM OK in other words I would say the VA is probably doing a better job with PTSD and I don't know than the Defense Department is doing with IEDs The reality is is that and I will - before you leave I'll show you some photographs of what it looks like when an armored personnel carrier hits a 2000-pound bomb SY Actually let's look at those photographs now Maybe we can look at them while we're on tape? AM Here I can put up - put this on you want to leave this one? SY Yeah Let's leave it on because - AM Yeah we'll do this I got it right here SY Yeah Great AM But what I'm saying what I'm saying is that for - what's his name? - our friend Donald Rumsfeld to start talking about well you go to war with the army that you got - now let me see if I can find it That'll make it easier for you to. You know Donald Rumsfeld wants to say we go to war with the army that you got yeah well we had - this is what an armored personnel carrier looks like after it's been hit SY Hmm AM That's a hole in the ground SY Wow where is this? AM This is in the Quế Sơn Valley SY And do you remember the particular hit? AM Thirteen people were on that vehicle SY That's the story you were telling me about the 13 people - AM Thirteen people SY - including the close friend of yours AM Uh no he was killed later on he was killed about oh four or five days later Now there were 13 boys on that But that's my point is that the IED mine problem was there in 1968 and all of a sudden we had to go out and create new vehicles I don't know what they call them now but you know there's a whole new family of vehicles we had to create when we were crea- after going through this kind of nonsense did we think that IEDs and mines were going to go away? SY Yeah I don't know. AM No it's a very effective weapon That happens to be a mine that we dug up That's a small anti-personnel mine Those are Punji sticks SY Yeah we talked about those And what beach is that - do you know? AM Yeah this was taken out west of LZ Baldy and this actually was taken during a what - this became a firefight actually And you can see we just landed infantry And the sand out there was just like it was like flour SY It looks like snow AM It does look like snow And this is the helicopters coming in SY Do you remember that guy? AM Huh? SY Do you remember that guy? AM Yeah that's Sergeant [Pattengill?] That's Sergeant Patty He became a sergeant major terrific guy And that guy became a Catholic priest SY That's the guy who became a priest? AM Yep And that guy became a - went back to college and became a computer programmer He's got a masters degree in information systems and is a software developer has his own software firm And then this is the last day I was in - that's the whole unit lined up SY To say goodbye to you? AM Yep And then we were - this guy became an attorney This fellow right here is a South Vietnamese He actually had been a Vietcong He pulled us out of a minefield and I am awarding him the Bronze Star SY Really? Right here you're awarding him the Bronze Star That's what you're doing right in this picture? AM Yeah And I don't remember that guy And then that's me SY Yeah Same mustache! AM Huh? SY It looked like you with the mustache in the picture AM Yeah SY He has that same mustache AM This is a - SY Let's talk about that painting AM Well the painting - you know the story behind it? It's now in the Vietnam Veterans Museum in Chicago And I had always wanted to do a painting on Vietnam And what I appreciate most about the painting was a couple of things one is I actually went to Chicago and actually saw it hanging in the museum And I have to tell you maybe the biggest trip in the world for any painter is to actually go to a real museum and this is a - this is not a bunch of guys a bunch of old hippies - this is a real museum I mean it's spectacular It was a great facility then it's now even more spectacular So it was a big deal to see it The second thing is that there were two things I wanted to paint I wanted to paint one like this so these guys sort of hanging out You can see there C-ration cans and he's sleeping these two guys are reading a newspaper there's some beer cans one guy is on watch - because 90% 95% of Vietnam was all about boredom And I don't think enough people talk about that It's very very very boring because you're - and then of course the other 5% is stark terror Anyway when I sent this Chicago paint- painting to Chicago I went out to see it I was up on the third floor and one of the curators came up to me She said "Is this your painting?" I said yeah And she said "I want you to know we bring groups in here And the children love this painting This one always gets -" And I said "Really?" I said "How is that? Why is that?" And she said "Because all the other ones are violent and this one isn't." The other painting I wanted to do and I started it and I never finished it is you can see all these rice paddies in these dikes People were - these were all built by hand OK they were all - you've seen pictures of rice paddy docks? And it always - and you can see what happens when you run your tread over the dikes is it - actually it smashes those And I wanted to do a painting of the track going through the rice paddies and the malt spilling out and losing their water and all that stuff And I was going to call the thing "Collateral Damage" because we don't really think about how much damage we created just in the - to their - to the local agrarian environment SY Yeah So why didn't you finish it? Did you get stuck? AM Yeah I mean a lot of times you don't finish paintings I mean sometimes I work - I mean this one if I had to do it again I'd do it again And I - SY Was there - you - so what about this image felt so important to you? Because you usually paint from photographs and this isn't from a photograph AM No This is from memory SY So you remember this moment? Or is it a combination? AM Not particularly I created a moment I created a moment and of course I know the vehicle well enough that I can paint the vehicle in my sleep SY Yeah Are there other moments in Vietnam - images - that you want to put on the canvas? AM Yeah there is one I don't think I've got a photo- I used to have a photograph of it And I - whenever I thought about Vietnam it was - I can't find it - that we were up on a top of a hill and I remember staring down - in fact we were on top of that hill right there And I was staring down when I took the photograph a machine gun And I remember just - I remember the image of staring down that machine gun and it just has always stayed with me SY And what was on the other side? What did you see? AM Hmm? SY What did you see? You're staring through a machine gun? AM Well I was just staring behind a machine gun And I remember taking a photograph of it I'm just looking at an open field but that image just somehow always resonated with me SY Is it the contrast of sort of the beautiful open field and looking down a machine gun? AM Perhaps I mean I - you know it's tough to read what goes through your mind I mean you know it's funny I talked about coming - going to Vietnam - coming to V-coming home Going to Vietnam was interesting too because most of the guys they all like Bill Bonk and people like that they all would go to McChord Air Force base and they would get on a transport and they'd fly you know there would be a bus that would pick them up at I guess they were going to Tân Sơn Nhất? And you know they were all you know so they just. Not me I had to go to Japan see I was coming out of Japan So I went and picked up my orders and I was on Air Vietnam not on military flight I was just on a bigger civilian flight The government paid for it And I remember I get on this airplane and it was all these businessmen and they were all in their blue you know blue bla- you know blue pin-striped grey flannel suits or whatever they wore They all looked like a bunch of commuters going some place and here I am in uniform and I'm going to war SY Right you felt like you were - AM And we're all going to the same place SY You felt like you were in Metro North but instead you were - AM Yeah I mean I felt like I was on a commuter line and then I remember we landed We didn't land at Tân Sơn we landed at Saigon Airport which was whatever the big airport was We didn't land at a military airport We landed at a civilian airport which is like you know landing at Westchester County Airport So I get out and it was funny because all these guys you know scurry to get out and I said "I'm going to be here for a year So I'm just going to take my time." And I remember clearing the hatch and walking across the runway and thinking "Well I haven't been shot yet So far so good." And then there was a reception desk for it just said "incoming military personnel" and so I walked over and I handed the guy my orders And he said "Well we'll take you over to Long Bình" and - which is the replacement center And I said fine So they put me on this bus with a couple of other guys and I noticed that there was wire on all the windows and I realized that's so that they don't throw hand grenades into the bus - these people are serious And of course then I got over to Long Bình and I remember going into the officers' club and sitting next to a guy who had gone to Harvard It turned out he'd gone to Harvard He was going home And I said "Really?" He said "Yeah." And he said "Where you going?" I said "Oh I'm going up north." And he said "Well how do you feel?" And I said "Well I think I can handle most of it but God I hate snakes I really hate snakes." The guy said "Don't worry about it." He says "I've been here a year I haven't seen a snake I've been in the bush most of the year." He said "I have not seen a stinking snake." I'm going to tell you I saw every snake this guy never saw I must have seen dozens of snakes - God I hate them I really hate snakes (laughs) OK really it's almost like - what was that thing? Indiana Jones and all he hated is snakes live sa- (laughs) SY Here are your snakes yeah yeah AM But - and so it was that - my welcome to Vietnam was kind of you know it was really like landing in a commuter flight and it was you know going into war SY How surreal AM So it was kind of interesting SY It was a very surreal moment Whew! AM Anything else? SY I'm losing steam AM All right SY I got a drive ahead of me AM OK SY Do you have any last thoughts? This was wonderful AM No I you know I think - don't mistake what you might perceive as my liberal - being fairly liberal as a criticism of the job I think people did I think the kids who certainly in the military it's very very tough job And I - the experience has been important to me because I know I have a - who knows but I have an idea of how difficult their job is I don't have any idea how difficult the job is today but I sense how difficult the job is and I have nothing more but the utmost respect for them It's a very very tough challenging life By the way one of the best honors that I've gotten is there was a book - I think I've told - maybe I didn't tell you There's a book written about our unit and my name came up a couple of times And about three years ago four years ago the unit had morphed up to a full squadron full battalion and they were going to Iraq And so they called me and asked me if I would come out and speak to their young officers about the pressure of leading as a junior officer And I have to tell you that was a tremendous honor to be asked to - I flew to Alaska and I visited with these guys And then they asked me to stay that Saturday night to speak to the entire group at their regimental mess And I started talking about how important that unit was to me personally and quite frankly how much I wish I was going with them I remember when the first Iraq war broke out and when those kids crossed that burn that - breaking into Kuwait and I'm not a drinker I mean I did when I was younger but I don't drink normally I have a glass of wine at night I guess so I guess I am a drinker now But then I really just did not drink at all And I remember my wife was not home and they were describing them going through that burn and I went over and opened a bottle of wine and drank the whole bottle of wine because I had this sense of understanding - or at least I think I understood what they were going to be going through And I just - it just - I wanted to be numb I didn't want to imagine what these poor kids were going to go through And it's how I feel today I'm so terrified about this whole thing with Iran getting - spinning out of control And not because it makes any sense but for political expedience It's nuts It really is I don't know Any other questions? SY I don't think so I don't think so When you say - when you talk about wanting to go to war with them - I guess I do have another question - is it because you feel like you want to be supporting them through what they're going to struggle through? Is it because you miss the camaraderie? Is it because you miss that sense of purpose? Is it because you feel a sense of duty? What is it exactly? AM Oh I think it's a combination of all of that You know these were the best friends I ever had I mean I - it's funny my father said to me when I gra- when I went to Norwich he said that these would be the best friends you'll ever have And in part he's cor-he was right But it's interesting it took me four years to form a bond that it took me only a year to form with a lot of these kids in Vietnam I'll also say something else about Norwich which I think is important to be said And I don't think having not gone to Norwich you can't understand this and I'm not even sure the civilian students at Norwich can understand it My older brother went to Georgetown and when I moved back to New England he lived in Marblehead And so I would get him out to a hockey game or a Norwich hockey game or what have you And then at one point I took him up to Norwich - and he's a very bright I mean very very smart guy And I remember him you know looking around at Norwich and finally sort of saying he said "You know I've always sort of envied the relationship you had with both the school and with your classmates." He said "So much so that I finally went back to Georgetown for my class reunion and realized how much I hated the place." You - I don't think kids understand how close the relationships are Does that come through still? SY Yes that does come through still Without a doubt that comes through still. AM Yeah and I think you see this by the way at the service academies and that's the only place - you may see it at a small Catholic school like you know where the Jesuits are running it you know like a place like - is it Holy Cross? SY It is Holy Cross AM Is it Holy Cross Jesuit? SY Holy Cross Jesuit yeah AM But if you go to a Jesuit school perhaps you might see it But certainly at Annapolis and Norwich VMI - they have this same - I mean I can remember my brother's best friend in the Marine Corps was a VMI guy When he heard I went to Norwich "How come he's not going to VMI?" "Well you know" my brother said "they're all the same quite frankly." (laughs) So OK? Anything else? SY I think we've covered you know most of the known universe in this interview We talked about a lot AM Are we off now? SY Let me turn - END OF AUDIO FILE

Richard Richards ; The Weber and Davis County Communities Oral History Collection include interviews of citizens from several different walks of life. These interviews were conducted by Stewart Library personnel, WeberState University faculty and students, and other members of the community. The histories cover various topics and chronicle the personal everyday life experiences and other recollections regarding the history of the Weber and Davis County areas. ; 81p.; 29cm.; 2 bound transcripts; 4 file folders. 1 video disc: digital; 4 3/4 in. ; Oral History Program Richard Richards Interviewed By Rebecca Ory Hernandez 7 August 2012 13 August 2012 24 September 2012 i ii Oral History Program Weber State University Stewart Library Ogden, Utah Richard Richards Interviewed by Rebecca Ory Hernandez 7 August 2012 13 August 2012 24 September 2012 Copyright © 2013 by Weber State University, Stewart Library iii Mission Statement The Oral History Program of the Stewart Library was created to preserve the institutional history of Weber State University and the Davis, Ogden and Weber County communities. By conducting carefully researched, recorded, and transcribed interviews, the Oral History Program creates archival oral histories intended for the widest possible use. Interviews are conducted with the goal of eliciting from each participant a full and accurate account of events. The interviews are transcribed, edited for accuracy and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewees (as available), who are encouraged to augment or correct their spoken words. The reviewed and corrected transcripts are indexed, printed, and bound with photographs and illustrative materials as available. Archival copies are placed in the University Archives, which also houses the original recording so researchers can gain a sense of the interviewee's voice and intonations. Project Description The Weber and Davis County Communities Oral History Collection include interviews of citizens from several different walks of life. These interviews were conducted by Stewart Library personnel, Weber State University faculty and students, and other members of the community. The histories cover various topics and chronicle the personal everyday life experiences and other recollections regarding the history of the Weber and Davis County areas. ____________________________________ Oral history is a method of collecting historical information through recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account. It reflects personal opinion offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ____________________________________ Rights Management All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to the Stewart Library of Weber State University. No part of the manuscript may be published without the written permission of the University Librarian. Requests for permission to publish should be addressed to the Administration Office, Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden, Utah, 84408. The request should include identification of the specific item and identification of the user. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Richards, Richard, an oral history by Rebecca Ory Hernandez, 7 and 13 August 2012 and 24 September 2012, WSU Stewart Library Oral History Program, University Archives, Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden, UT. Richard Richards October 2012 1 Abstract: Richard "Dick" Richards, WSU alum, attorney, author and Republican Party National Committee Chairman (1981), grew up in Ogden, Utah and became involved with politics as a young man in high school. Richard is now retired and resides in South Ogden, Utah after spending most of his political career in Washington D.C. He sat down with Rebecca Ory Hernandez from Weber State University to discuss his life growing up in Ogden, his family, education, career and devotion to Weber State University. Richard endowed the "Richard Richards Institute of Politics and Ethics" at Weber State University which awards scholarships to high school students, and currently serves on the board. He and his wife, Annette Bott Richards, have five children. ROH: Today we are beginning an oral history with Richard Richards in his home in South Ogden, Utah. My name is Rebecca Ory Hernandez. Why don't we go ahead with you just stating your name and where this interview is being held? RR: My name is Richard Richards, most people call me Dick. I'm in my home at 5273 Daybreak in South Ogden. I'm prepared to discuss my early history with Rebecca and I look forward to it. ROH: When and where were you born? RR: I was born in Ogden at the old Dee Hospital on May 14, 1932. Nearly all my brothers and sisters were born at the same hospital and had the same doctor, but that was a long time ago. The hospital is now gone. ROH: Where did you grow up? 2 RR: I grew up in South Ogden. I lived in Ogden until I was about 12 years old, and then moved to South Ogden and lived here until I was drafted into the army in 1952. ROH: What part of South Ogden? RR: My first home in South Ogden was 3999 Norton Avenue. That's just next to 40th Street and 40th Street was the dividing line between Ogden and South Ogden. My father bought that home during the war. It was a 1,000 square foot home and I had seven sisters and a brother. So, 11 of us lived in this 1,000 square foot home. There were a couple of bedrooms in the basement that accommodated us, but 11 people in that small home. I can't even remember how we ate dinner. There's no way we could have eaten at the same time because the kitchen wasn't that big. I have no recollection of how exactly we operated in the home, but we lived there for several years. ROH: Where did you fall in the family line-up of children? RR: My brother was the oldest child and I was next to him about a year and a half later. All seven girls came after me. Four of them were born in the month of May one year apart, so the family grew rapidly and it was all girls after my brother and me. ROH: I can't imagine having that many children under one roof. RR: I don't know how we did it. I really don't. I had one sister that was really fastidious and she needed the bathroom for a long time. We agreed that she could have 3 the bathroom for an hour starting at six o'clock in the morning. After that the family had it. ROH: Are all of your siblings still around? RR: One of them passed away. That's the one I was talking about. All of the others are scattered around from California, Idaho, Oregon and I have two sisters living in the Ogden area. ROH: Do you stay in touch with them? RR: We have family reunions. We just had one at Park City in July. We had 123 family members there. We've been doing this for about 20 years and we have not had one death in the family or one child born with severe disabilities out of all 153 of us. We have been a blessed group. We have MBA's, Ph.D's, and a couple of doctors. We've got some pretty good children and grandchildren. My father came from the coal mining camps of Utah when he was in the tenth grade. He didn't graduate from high school. He was tired of living in the coal mines and said, "I'm not going to be a miner, I'm getting out of here." He went up to Salt Lake and got a job helping a sign painting company called Bird and Jex Company. Later on, he decided he didn't want to work for them and he set up his own company here in Ogden. His first shop was no bigger than this living room, but he's the guy that brought us out of the coal mines. ROH: What was the name of the sign shop? 4 RR: Richards Sign Company. That was a long time ago, but that business still carries the name. It's gone through three generations. My father had a stroke many years ago and as a result he couldn't work so he sold his business to a guy by the name of Derek Warner. He ran it for some period of time, then he retired and gave it to his son. His son retired and now it's the next generation working the Richards Sign Company. The company was so well respected that no matter who owned it, they wanted to keep the name. It's still there on Grand Avenue and a bustling business, but it's different. They don't even have a paint brush down there anymore because everything is done by computer. When my dad sold it, we did it all by hand. ROH: Did you learn how to paint signs as well? RR: I did and I earned my living painting signs while I was in law school. Even after I graduated and I was practicing law, the income was so meager that at night I painted signs to make some money to take care of my family. I always hoped that potential clients didn't see me painting signs or they'd wonder about my ability as a lawyer. ROH: That's interesting. What about your mother? RR: My mother lived in Ogden. She met my father in a church activity and her father was a railroader and they lived down on Grant Avenue. My mother did graduate from high school and I don't know if she worked before they were married. ROH: Do you recall which high school she graduated from? 5 RR: It would have been Ogden High School because that's the only one there was. ROH: Okay. They met at a church activity, but can you be more specific? RR: Apparently, it was a Golden Green Ball, a dance of some kind where my father met my mother or shortly after because they participated in the dance and won a prize. A great uncle of mine introduced them. AR: What I understand is that she had caught his eye and she was walking along the street and he pulled over and said, "Could I have a date?" She said, "Yes, if you'll go to church with me." They did enter a contest with the Golden Green Ball and they won. ROH: Did you inherit their love of dancing? RR: No. I don't' dance. ROH: I'm surprised. I thought all politicians liked to dance. AR: He's got a son that dances. ROH: What were some of the things you did as a young person? RR: Before we moved out to South Ogden, I lived on Monroe and we played Kick-the- Can and all kinds of games in the streets. We didn't have television of course. We didn't pay too much attention to radio so we played outside. We played with each other. ROH: Where did you go to school? 6 RR: I went to school first at Quincy for the first grade and so on. Later on, I went to Madison. I was at Madison for a while, then my family went to South Ogden and I went to Riverdale Junior High School. After Riverdale I went to Weber High School. ROH: So you lived on Monroe for a little while? RR: Yes on 26th and Monroe. The family lived there, but as the family grew and more kids were born in the family we had to find a bigger place and my dad bought a house in South Ogden during the war for about $5,000. The house we lived in on Monroe is now a little parking lot for a neighbor. There's nothing there, but it was a very small yard and very small house. ROH: Are there any memories that you have from being at Quincy or Madison that you'd like to share? RR: Not at Qunicy, but when I moved to Madison, I was the newcomer and they had to see whether I was tough enough to be in that environment. They picked fights with me and forced me to fight. I wasn't going to fight. Kids carried me over to the park across the street and I was to fight with a guy and I beat him up, so I was successful there. Then, I had to try one more and I got in a fist fight during art class. The teacher came down, banged our heads together and stopped us. I punched the guy in the nose and his nose was bleeding. I was crying and I didn't want to fight. The teacher came down and knocked our heads together. The guy I was fighting hauled off and punched her and knocked her down. He was expelled from school. They didn't do anything to me because they knew I didn't 7 want to fight with this guy and that was apparent. He was kind of a bully and it was good. I passed the test fighting those two guys and from then on I was accepted. ROH: I just can't imagine that. Annette said she had something she wanted to share. AR: An interesting thing, I was at Quincy School and I was standing over by the water fountain. His brother, Jim, was a year older than me and Dick was a year younger than me. I remember thinking, "Oh, that's Jimmy Richard's little brother." He was running around. That was our first meeting and then he went to Madison and I continued on at Quincy. ROH: Okay. Were there any favorite subjects that stood out to you at that time as a young boy? RR: I liked the art classes, but we didn't have many of them until I went to high school. I was not a good student. I was a troublemaker and I just got by as far as the academics were concerned. There was always trouble, and a lot of it was my fault. I remember when I went to Riverdale Junior High School we rode the bus from South Ogden out to Riverdale and there was a kid in the neighborhood by the name of Tommy James. Tommy crowded in front of us in line for the bus. As I walked past him he took a seat up front and I hauled off and smacked him in the back of the head. When we got to Riverdale I chased him down and picked a fight with him and he just beat the hell out of me. That was the only time I was ever really beat up. He just kept pounding me, the big tall guy with long arms and I would be swinging at him and I'd be missing him by about four of five inches. 8 Incidentally, the principal came down and grabbed us and took us up to the principal's office. He said he was going to give us the board of education. He had a board that he used to paddle kids with and the board had holes in it so he could get a good swift whack. He asked what happened and I owned up. I said, "I picked the fight, it's my fault." I guess that impressed him and he said, "Well, get going and get back to class and I don't want any more of this." ROH: In junior high, Did you have any particular subject that you were fond of? RR: No, I was just getting by doing what I could do. ROH: Being a kid. RR: We rode the bus and I always rose a rumpus on the bus, so the driver kicked me out and said, "You're going to walk home." I said, "Okay." Instead of walking home I went around to the back of the bus and climbed in the window on the side he couldn't see. I rode in the bus with him until we got to Ogden and we got to the bus stop. I jumped out the window and ran up front and said, "Haha Clink, I beat you." He felt bad that he was going to make me walk and before he left he said, "Hey where's the Richards kid, I was only joking I wasn't going to make him walk." I played a joke on Clink. Incidentally, I've had an occasion to work with the Fernilius' again in my business. When we get to that I'll tell you. ROH: You went to Weber High. Tell me about that experience. RR: Well, I shaped up. ROH: Did your parents have a car growing up? 9 RR: Yes. In fact, I remember when I was six years old my brother and I had our tonsils taken out. We went to the doctor's office in the old First Security Bank building and had our tonsils removed. My father picked us up in his brand new Pontiac car. He paid $600 and got a beautiful blue Pontiac car. That's the first car I can remember my folks had. ROH: When you were young, do you remember where you went shopping for new supplies and clothes and things like that? RR: As a kid, I didn't do that. I don't remember that. As I grew up a little bit I remember being in town because I would go to the paramount theater that had the Popeye club. On Saturdays, they'd have Popeye and a series of the Lone Ranger or something and I remember going to town for that. Other than that, I don't remember going to town. ROH: In town are you talking about Ogden? RR: Yes, I'm still talking about Ogden. These were younger years. ROH: Is this the 25th Street area? RR: Yes. Actually there were several theaters in town at that time. There was an Orpheum, a Colonial, Lyseum, The Egyptian, and the Paramount. That's five theaters. Most of the kids went to the Paramount because that had the Popeye Club and the series. Movies cost about a dime and I would work around the yard and I'd get a dime or 25 cents and I was able to go to the movies. ROH: Okay, so we're going to go back to high school now. 10 RR: Before high school, let me talk about Riverdale Junior High School because that was really a turning point for me. That was a rough school. When I went there I was in the 7th and 8th grades and we were rough on teachers there. We drove a couple of teachers out of the room crying. There were several of us that were involved in this kind of stuff. ROH: How did you do that? RR: Just by not paying attention or throwing spit balls or whatever. We drove a couple of substitute teachers out of there. We were upstairs in a room that was called Idaho because it was kind of shaped like Idaho. My friend and I were in the back of the room raising the devil and there were two kids in the middle of the room that were raising Cain and the teacher came in and he just stood there with his arms folded for a few minutes waiting for everybody to shut up. They didn't shut up so he walked down the aisle and gave each of these kids a karate chop on the side of the head and whacked them in the kidney and knocked both of them out. Both of the kids fell with their faces on the desk and my friends and I shut up. That cured us. He really knocked the two kids out. One of the kids' families sued him because when he hit him in the kidneys he bruised him. This teacher didn't say anything and I don't know what happened to him, but I didn't see him again. That was sort of a turning point for a lot of us. After I left junior high school and went to Weber I shaped up. It was a 180 degree change for me. ROH: How many kids were in your class in junior high? RR: I would say there were 20 or something like that. 11 ROH: That was a good-sized class. Is there anything else from junior high that you can recall? What was your favorite part about being in school? RR: Recess. I remember I was supposed to be in arithmetic class, but before the class started I went down to the shop. There was nobody in there except a few kids. The teacher wasn't there and I had never had any experience with some of these tools like the buzz saw. I picked up a chunk of wood and I was going to cut it, but I put it in the wrong way in the saw. It threw the wood and knocked the window out of the class. It would have killed a kid if it hit him. I didn't know what I was doing. I got out of there and sneaked into my arithmetic class by crawling on my hands and knees to the desk so the teacher wouldn't see me coming in. It was a funny school, I had a friend called Toshi Shiba and he went around the junior high school with a water gun and he would shoot the light bulbs and it would pop them. In those days they didn't have a chandelier glass over them, they just had a globe. My friend went around shooting those things and the shop teacher caught him and grabbed him and shook him up and said, "I never did like you Japs anyway." Nothing ever happened as a result of that, but today that would be a disaster. ROH: It sounds like you were a bit precocious. RR: I was not a good little boy. I never did anything really bad, but I did a lot of things that were border line. ROH: Did your parents ever get called to school? 12 RR: No, and I never told them when I had a couple of teachers assault me in junior high school. One guy was a music teacher and he was in the auditorium with the music class and a kid in that class had stolen my baseball mitt. I spotted it because it had my name on it. He had used a leather puncher to punch holes in it so that my name would not be visible, but I saw it anyway. I went into the class and confronted the kid about the mitt. The teacher said, "You get out of here." I said, "I'm not going until I get my mitt." He came down and grabbed me by the shirt and took me out in the hall and he was slapping me on the side of the face front-hand and back-hand. He hit me several times, but I never told my parents about that. You know, that just happened. It was not uncommon in the schools for a teacher to whack a kid. ROH: That is true. Moving on to high school at Weber High, where was Weber High? RR: Weber High School was on 12th and Washington Blvd. We had to take a bus from home to school. When I got into high school I really settled down. It was a major change in my life. I was elected sophomore class president when I went out there. Right out of this junior high school environment to the high school and we had kids from other junior high schools come in from Eden and Huntsville. I don't know the circumstances, but I was elected sophomore class president. ROH: You don't recall running for president? RR: No, I don't recall any of that except that I was elected and I was in a sign painting class and I painted some signs for sophomore assemblies. I misspelled the word "sophomore." They said, "It's got an "o" in it." 13 ROH: You said you got more serious in high school. What were your academics like? RR: I was a good student. It was the beginning of a new life for me. AR: One of the teachers said that Dick was the worst and best student that she ever had. ROH: Did you go to high school together? AR: No, I went to Ogden High School. ROH: Did you have a favorite subject in high school? RR: Yes, I liked the debate class and I participated in the debates and extemporaneous competitions and I did well. So, I did a lot of it. It's interesting because the debate teacher at Weber High School was the same principal that dragged me up to the principal's office when I was at Riverdale. ROH: Is that right? He moved from the other school to that school. He must have had some kind of impact on you. Who were your friends in high school? RR: I had several that lived out here in South Ogden like, George Palmer, Carl Hassel and Bud Reed. I had a lot of friends. We did things in a group out here. Nobody played alone. ROH: What were some of the things you were involved in other than debate? Were you involved in any clubs or activities? RR: No, because I worked after school. Instead of taking the school bus, I would take the city bus and go from 12th Street down to my dad's shop and work after 14 school. I didn't have any time for any of the athletics. I did win the intramural boxing championship for my weight when I was in high school. I didn't play football, basketball, or baseball or anything. Those intramurals took place within the classroom for the most part. ROH: So you continued to fight in high school. You got into boxing? RR: Not a lot, but we had an intramurals program in boxing and I won that in my class. I boxed with the kids that were in the other class. I also wrestled. I met another kid in the other class wrestling, I got down on the mat like you're supposed to and he was over me and the referee said, "Go!" He pinned me so fast I didn't even know what I was doing. I was out of that competition in 15 seconds, just as long as it took for the referee to count me out. This kid was a skinny kid with a glass eye and he went on to win the state championship in his weight a couple of years. He was a very good wrestler. I think his name was Garcia. ROH: So, if you ran for sophomore class president, you were interested in politics at that time. RR: Yes, and that is one of the things that I gravitated toward was the speech class and the debate and that sort of thing. About that time I had developed my philosophy as a Republican. One of my debate partners was a democrat, one that I called the yellow dog democrat. He would rather vote for a yellow dog than a Republican and that's still his philosophy. My father talked politics to us at the dinner table. He talked about a conservative writer at that time called Westbrook 15 Pegler. Pegler was a conservative and he hated the Roosevelts. Most of his column was anti-Franklin and Eleanor and my dad talked about that. There were also some things happening in our life that got me to be a conservative. During that time when we were growing up, we had a coal furnace. The coal man would come to your house, open the coal chute and empty the coal out in the basement. John L. Lewis was the head of the coal miners' union and he called a strike. When he called a strike, we couldn't get coal and everybody complained about that. Even my grandmother and my father complained about it. My father said, "I'm not going to be at the mercy of John L Lewis," and he changed the coal furnace to a gas furnace. John L. Lewis was really big at that time. ROH: When was this? RR: I would say in the early 1940's. Coal mining was a big deal. My grandfather was a coal miner and he still lived down in Carbon County. Coal miners liked John L. Lewis because he got the wages up. He forced people to pay more and if they weren't willing to do that he would call a strike and limit the coal production. My dad talked about that a lot at the dinner table and that had an influence on me. ROH: Who was your friend that was the person who would vote for anyone but a Republican? RR: Jerry Hatch. He was my debate partner. His dad was in the state legislator as a democrat. Jerry always was a democrat. He never changed. He is still a democrat. 16 ROH: When you were in high school did you realize that you wanted to go to college at that point? RR: Yes. In fact, I wanted to be a lawyer at that time and when I wrote my name on the book just to identify it as my book I would write, "Richard Richards Esquire." AR: I've got a page out of something when he was the student of the year and he tells what he wants to do in the future. RR: When I was a senior in high school, I was chosen to give the Valedictory speech. I was not the Valedictorian, but I was chosen to give that speech at the graduation. ROH: So you ran for president and got interested in debate, how did that come about? Were you listening to the radio at that point or did you hear other people speak that influenced you? RR: We listened to the radio and read the newspaper. We always had newspapers and I even take four newspapers here now. I spend a couple hours every day reading the Wall Street Journal and the Investor's Business Daily, The Standard, and Deseret News. ROH: That's incredible. Did your dad take a lot of newspapers too at your house? RR: I don't know how many he took, but I know we took some. ROH: I was just trying to find out where the influence of the debate would have come from because you were interested in both battling physically and verbally so I find that fascinating. 17 RR: Well, I think the word "debate" means to "beat down." ROH: Did you have teachers that inspired you in high school? RR: My debate teacher was the principal out at Riverdale that banged my head. He was my coach all the way through. ROH: You were in school and you were working so give me an idea of your schedule. RR: I would go to school and after school at 3:30 p.m. I would go to my dad's shop and work for a couple of hours and go home. I always worked on Saturdays. My dad probably was the greatest influence on me of anybody because he always said, "I'm not going to give you money, but I'll give you a job. You can work for it and you can have the money." That's the way he was. ROH: So you were student of the year in your high school. RR: Well I don't know if that's what they called it, but maybe they did. ROH: Yes, we will get a copy of this. I'm looking at a photograph that says, "The typical boy graduate is Dick Richards, he's only 5'8" but he has short brown hair and warm brown eyes. He likes school this year but in the past years he skipped school every chance he got. Now he's sorry he's leaving." Is this college or high school? RR: That's high school. ROH: Do you remember what you talked about in your speech? 18 RR: I don't think I have a copy of that speech, but I have a copy of my college speech when I spoke at graduation there. ROH: You were public speaking at a young age. We're going to finish up talking about high school years and move on to college. When you graduated from high school, you wrote the commencement speech. What did you do after high school? RR: Obviously, during the summer I worked for my dad. In the Fall I enrolled at Weber Junior College. Weber Junior College at that time was on 25th Street at about Monroe and Madison. There were about four buildings there and one of them is still there— it's the Deseret Gym building. The other buildings are gone. It was a very small school. Interestingly enough, the president of that school was Dr. Henry Aldus Dickson. He knew an awful lot of the kids by name. We were all very friendly with him. He took a liking to me and I'm not sure why, but he said to me one time, "Dick, are you having a little trouble raising money to go to school?" I said, "Yeah, I'm working but I don't have the money yet." He said, "Well, you drop in my office and see the secretary and she'll give you a scholarship." So I walked in the office and they gave me a twenty-five dollar scholarship. That was a full quarter's tuition. I actually have a copy of that scholarship. ROH: That's fantastic. RR: He liked me and he wanted to help me out. I guess he knew I came from a family of a lot of kids. All of my siblings were still at home. ROH: Did your brother ahead of you go to college? 19 RR: I don't remember. I guess he went to college before me, but I didn't have a lot of relationship with my brother at that time. He was a year and a half older than me and he had different friends. We did some things together, but mostly we each had our own friends. ROH: What did you study at Weber College? RR: I studied debate, philosophy, political science, and economics. I did a lot of those subjects, I didn't do any basket weaving and that stuff. No political correctness at that time. I got enough credits in what I studied in history, philosophy and economics that I was able to transfer them to law school without having a bachelor's degree. When I applied to law school they said, "Well you haven't got a bachelor's degree, you can't come here with what you've got." I said, "Look at the catalog." The catalog said, "153 acceptable hours," or something and I had them. I said, "There they are." He said, "Well, I guess you're right." They enrolled me in law school without having a degree from Weber. ROH: Where was that? RR: University of Utah law school. ROH: How old were you when you started law school? RR: I started law school after I'd been in the army and returned, so there's a gap there. ROH: Did you go into the army after Weber? 20 RR: In August of 1952, I was drafted. The Korean War was on and we were all drafted. It was kind of interesting at that time because there was a lady by the name of Agnus Christe who was the head of the selective service office who really resented Mormon kids going on missions and not going in the army. So, the day you turned 18 you got a draft notice. You couldn't go on a mission. ROH: Did you have any other friends that you were in the army with at that time? RR: I was drafted ahead of my friends for some reason by a matter of a few months. I was drafted with one kid from Ogden by the name of Jim Pollus and we went to basic training together. I went on to leadership and OCS and he did not. He's passed away since. My friends I had here in South Ogden came to Fort Ord after several months that I had already been there so I was ahead of them in the army. ROH: Well, we just kind of skimmed over Weber College, so the next time we meet we'll talk about Weber College, the Army, and Law School. Thank you very much for sharing your young years with me and we will continue next time. This is the end of the interview on August 7, 2012. Thank you. RR: You're Welcome. ROH: Today is Monday, August 13, 2012. We are in the home of Richard Richards, who goes by Dick. I am Rebecca Ory Hernandez from Weber State University and we are going to continue his oral history. We will pick up with your university years from where we left off last week. Why don't you tell me a little bit about your time in law school? 21 RR: After I came home from the Army, I decided to go to law school. I had done some other things in the meantime, but when I found out I was going to go to law school I needed some more credit hours. I went back to Weber and picked up some more hours in political science, history, and philosophy. I was married and had two children. I had to work because I had to make a living, so I worked for my father part-time and painted signs. I worked in Ogden for my dad about 20 hours a week and went to law school. That was an hour a day going down and an hour a day going back. That didn't leave me a lot of time for studying. I really didn't study very hard in law school, but I studied all day Sunday and started at 5:00 a.m. It was a tough grind. I decided it ought to be easier if I lived in Salt Lake because I wouldn't have to commute. So, I got a job with the state liquor commission. It was a political job. Governor Clyde was the governor and I think Laurence Burton was his assistant at that time. Anyway, I got a job with the liquor commission selling liquor out on 23rd South and 13th East. They paid $1.65 an hour and that wasn't enough for me to make a living so I decided even though I'm going to live in Salt Lake I better commute to Ogden to work because I could make $2.50 an hour painting signs. I moved to Salt Lake to the student housing. It was called "Stadium Village." That's where the stadium is now. Rent was $30.00 a month so it was livable for a student. While I was in law school, I was active with the Young Republicans and I was asked to become the Young Republicans state chairman. I didn't know about that because it takes time and doesn't pay so I thought I'd 22 better check with the Dean. He said, "I think you could be of help to us so you go ahead and take that job." I took it and the interesting thing is, later on when the law school was trying to get an appropriation from the state legislature to build a new law school. Jerry Hanson and I invited his grandfather who was a leader in the state legislature to come to the law school and see what kind of shabby condition it was in. He visited the law school and said, "Boy, this is bad." Our main classroom in the law school was a row of tables about 24 inches deep and about six or eight feet long and they were covered with Masonite. They were really old-fashioned. The chairs were all separate and it was a noisy place. When they saw that they said, "Let's make an appropriation for a new law school." They usually invited the governor to come speak on "Law Day" which was the first of May. The assistant dean said, "The governor doesn't like lawyers, he won't come here." I was up to the governor's office talking to Laurence and I asked, "Would the governor like to go up to the University of Utah law school and speak on May Day?" He said, "Sure, we'd love to do that, but we haven't had an invitation." I asked, "Will you come if you get an invitation?" They said, "Yes." I drove back to the law school and went in the dean's office and said, "The governor would like to come if you'll give him and invitation. You type one up and I'll hand carry it to him." He was really pleased that we could get the governor there. The assistant dean that said the governor wouldn't come was embarrassed. ROH: Who was the governor at the time? 23 RR: George Dewey Clyde. The dean of the law school was Dean Diksra. He was a good dean. The assistant was a fellow by the name of Emory. Emory was a democrat and he didn't want the governor up there anyway. ROH: It must have been really good for the law school. RR: These were big helps in getting a new law school. Anyway, I hadn't graduated because I was seven hours short for graduation. I did it in two years. I didn't have time to go for three years. I was married with kids and didn't have time for that. I took extra credit and went through the summers. A couple of the fellows were in the same plight so we asked if we could take the Bar early with the preceding class. They agreed to let us take it. We took the Bar and I passed the Bar before I graduated. I had to go back to pick up seven more hours. Needless to say, I wasn't a very diligent student after having passed the Bar already. They changed the system after that. From then on you had to have a degree. They won't let you take the Bar until you've completed law school. We ruined that for the next-comers. ROH: Did you specialize in anything in law school? RR: No, I just graduated. I was not at the top of my class. I was in the top third of the class, but I did not strive to be number one. I didn't have time to study and do all that because I was working. In fact, working 20 hours was against the rules. They said if you go to law school you can't work 20 hours because you wouldn't be able to keep up. They tested me when they found out I was traveling to Ogden, but I did okay and that all worked out. After I got out of law school, I got a 24 job with the Clayton and Gould law firm in Ogden. Since they were both prosecutors I couldn't do any criminal work. If you can't do criminal work as a young lawyer, you're never going to do any trial work. I said, "I want to get courtroom practice so I'm going to quit." I quit and went on my own. I remember my first month I did not make one dime practicing law. The second month I made $50. It was a struggle. By the end of the year I was making pretty good money, but our total was $6,000 a year my first year. ROH: Do you remember your first case? RR: Yes. I remember my first major cases anyway. I went to the judges and said, "I want to try lawsuits. Give me your guys in jail who don't have any money and can't bail out and I'll represent them for free." Between the judges they gave me ten felons and they were spread out over about a year's time. I got eight acquittals out of the ten. Immediately, I had a lot of criminal clients. They would ask, "Who's your attorney?" They would give them my name and that generated a lot of business for me. I got tired of the criminal stuff, but it was a great experience to try the cases. The first murder case I had was a fellow that came into town on a Greyhound bus, got out of the bus station, walked across the street to the Friendly Tavern, pulled out a pistol and said, "So you're the "blankety-blank"?" He shot a guy about seven times. That was Joe Edgington. He killed him right on the spot. He didn't even know him and the guy was completely nuts. He thought he was somebody else. He casually walked across the street toward the police 25 station. Several witnesses saw him throw the gun in the bushes and keep on walking and they arrested him. L.G. Bingham and I were assigned to defend him pro bono and that was my first major criminal case. L.G. Bingham, in my opinion, was the smartest lawyer in town. He was a good thinker, but he was not a real studious guy and he didn't spend a lot of time preparing the case. Sometimes he would go into court without any defense in mind. He'd find a defense as the prosecutors put on their case. He won a lot of cases. He was very talented in doing that. He and I defended this guy and ended up pleading "not guilty" by reason of insanity. That stuck and he went to a mental institution. I haven't heard anything from him since. That was my first case. L.G. Bingham and I defended another case of a couple of fellows that murdered a man on North Ogden Divide. Maybe you read about it. They picked up a sailor from Salt Lake and took him up to Ogden. They'd been drinking and they thought he had money so they took him up to rob him. The guy resisted and they hit him. They took off all his clothes, threw him in the car and left the guy naked. He was walking down the highway naked and finally fell over the side and froze to death. They were looking through his clothes because they thought he had some money in it. They looked through his shirt and no money in his shirt and threw it out the window as they traveled down the canyon. There was no money in the pants, so they threw the pants out along with the shoes and socks. His clothes were strewn down the canyon for a half a mile and nobody really understood what it was all about. One of the boys called the police and gave himself up. They arrested the other guy a few days later. Ray defended one of 26 them and I defended the other one. They got off with a voluntary manslaughter and two years in prison. They were young guys, drinking and doing stupid stuff and ended up killing a man. I tried cases from 1961 until 1980 when I went to Washington to work full-time with Ronald Reagan. I did spend some time in the early 1960's in Washington with Laurence Burton. That was for two years. I was there at the time that John Kennedy was killed and the Senator of Texas and John F. Kennedy's Vice President, Lyndon Johnson, became the president. ROH: How did it come about that you ended up moving to Washington? RR: Laurence Burton asked me to help him on his campaign. I was one of two major campaign managers on his campaign for congress and he won. He invited me to come back to Washington. I went back there as his legislative assistant and after a year I was made his administrative assistant. Dr. Aldus Dickson, who was a good friend of mine as I indicated earlier said, "Dick, do not stay there more than two years. Laurence is going to ask you to stay, but don't do it." ROH: Why not? RR: He said, "If you do you'll get caught up as a professional staffer in Washington and you'll never develop a career of you own." The pay is good and it's an exciting thing if you're a staffer to a senator and they have big issues. I followed his advice and I came home. ROH: When did you come home? 27 RR: I came home in 1964. I was here when the election was held and Barry Goldwater was soundly defeated. I decided I wanted to run for party chairman. I'd been Young Republican chairman, so I ran for party chairman and won overwhelmingly. The reason I did is because while I was working for Laurence I traveled to all of the counties in the state when they held their county convention. Those were the guys that were going to be delegates to the state convention. When I met them on the county level and they came to the state, they at least knew who I was. I ran against a guy from Salt Lake that should have won. He had a lot of money, was a prominent business guy, and kind of a moderate fellow, but I beat him about six or seven to one. Afterward he said, "I knew you were going to beat me, but I didn't think you were going to stomp me into the ground." He was a good sport. I was the party chairman for two years. In 1966, the state of Utah turned from a Democratic state to a Republican state. People say this has always been a Republican state. However, they were heavily Democratic all over. All of the counties were controlled by Democratic county commissioners. In Weber County, prior to that time, only one Republican had been elected to county office for 50 years. That was Sherriff Mac Wade. This county was so strongly Democrat that a Republican may as well not even get on the ballot. We turned that around in 1966 and won control of the legislature, both the House and the Senate, by a vast majority. I think there were only five Democrats in the Senate when we got to it. There were only ten in the House. In fact, we elected too many. It was a bad deal to have that many Republicans and 28 so little opposition. That gradually faded out. That was one of the most exciting elections of my life because it was such a wonderful victory. I was re-elected party chairman in 1968. I had a good record and got a call from the Republican National Committee in Washington. The chairman of the Republican National Committee asked me if I'd come back and interview for a job working for the National Committee. I went back and I remember the feeling. I got out of my hotel and got that stinky, humid Washington air and I said to myself, "Dick, what in the hell are you doing here? Turn around and go home." I went to the interview with the deputy chairman and the chairman of the committee at that time, Rogers Morton. They offered me a job and I took it. I became the head of party development. After I did that for a while, I was promoted to the political director of the National Committee. I brought my family back and we lived in Maryland. We also lived in Virginia down by the Pentagon and had some nice experiences. We went to the grave site ceremony of John Kennedy when he was taken to Arlington National Cemetery. Later, at the top of the cemetery, they put a forever memorial for John Kennedy. Laurence and the other congressman from Utah, Sherm Lloyd, were there. Somehow or another we got on the parade route out to the cemetery. The soldiers and the Marines were lined up all the way and we had no way to get off. Laurence was joking and said, "Don't throw out any beer cans." We went up past the soldiers and when we got to the cemetery, the guy that was in charge told us we had to leave. We didn't want to after all that effort, so we sneaked into the press section and got kicked out of the press section too. We 29 went up the road and nobody paid attention to us there, but everybody including the Kennedys came up that road. The Carsons and the Kennedys were there. The Emperor of Ethiopia and Charles Degall came in. We were almost within touching distance of each of them. It was really kind of interesting to see that. In part of the ceremony they had the Irish Guard do a drill procedure and when they were through they marched out. As they marched out me and this kid marched in where they had been and we ended up right in front of the congressman. Laurence Burton said, "Hey Dick, look who's standing behind you." I looked behind me and there was Adlai Stevenson, who was the ambassador, and all these big-shots. We stood directly across from the grave site where the Kennedy casket was standing. The Kennedys were all on the other side. I was not even 20 feet away from Jacqueline Kennedy and her kids when all of this happened. In fact, we had a chance to walk by the casket. That was a good experience. Then, of course, Lyndon Johnson became the president and in 1964 he forced the passage of the Civil Rights Act that Kennedy could not get done. Kennedy didn't have the horsepower in the Senate to get it done. The House passed it, that wasn't a big problem, but it was the Senate that didn't want to pass it. They filibustered and did everything they could to avoid passing it. Lyndon Johnson just beat them up and on the 4th of July, they passed the Civil Rights Act. ROH: What was that like living in Washington when that happened? 30 RR: That was an exciting time. They had Martin Luther King Jr. speak at the Lincoln Memorial. There were hundreds of thousands of people there. I was at the Capitol and we talked about going down, but we figured it wasn't a good thing to do to go clear down there and get involved in that crowd. We were also there at the time the Blacks rioted on 14th street and burned a lot of the buildings. That was pretty close to the same time Martin Luther King Jr. gave his historic speech at the Lincoln Memorial. That was a big event at that time. It was an exciting time and an exciting point in history. ROH: Do you remember having conversations with your family about those events in the evenings when you were home with them? RR: My kids went with me when we saw the Kennedy ceremony. I explained that to them and when we got home and they were excited about it. They liked John Kennedy, they though he was a wonderful fellow. They got to do things that other kids don't get to do. They got to go to the White House, the Capitol building, Williamsburg and Jamestown. We went down to Jamestown and that was one of the great experiences where we saw replicas of those three little boats that brought the pilgrims here in 1607 and built the first permanent settlement in America. They gave us the history about how most of them starved to death or were killed by the Indians or by something else. There were very few survivors. That was a real eye-opener to us about early history. We got up to the Baltimore Harbor where Frances Scott Key saw the Star Spangled Banner and we saw the battlefield of the fight between the British and 31 the Americans on the Potomac River. Of course, the British captured Washington and they burned down a lot of things. They tried to burn down the White House and burned down a lot of it. They torched the various places in the Capitol and you can still see where the smoke was where they had gone with their torches. That was a great experience for my kids. They all became far more interested in American government. ROH: You've written a lot about your time in Washington in your book, so I won't repeat a lot of that, but tell me a little bit about how you felt about your career at that time. You had some significant leaps and bounds from Ogden to Washington at that point. RR: Reagan was anticipated to be a candidate for president in 1968. The convention was held in Miami Beach and Nixon, George Romney, and Rockefeller were candidates. Nixon was the clear leader. I was the state party chairman at that time. I knew the Nixon people and they knew me. They talked to me many times about helping on the Nixon campaign and I said, "Well, I'm the chairman of the party so I can't do that." We invited Ronald Reagan to come to our convention and the Nixon people were just livid after Reagan spoke. We only had about 14 national delegates at that time. This was the year we picked our delegates to go to the national convention. Nixon was clearly the favorite, although George Romney had some friends here because of his Mormon ties and ties to Utah. A guy from Cutbank, Montana who was a close associate of Reagan and a guy I knew as a party chairman said, "Dick, how would you like to have Ronald 32 Reagan be the keynote speaker at your convention, he'll do it for free." I said, "Hey, great. We want him." He came and Annette and I met him in the old Hotel Utah the night before he spoke. That was the first time we met Ronald Reagan. Annette was enamored because he was a movie star, and I was enamored because he was a politician. Anyway, he spoke the next day and he just mesmerized our delegation. Every one of them would have turned around and voted for him against Nixon if he ended up being our candidate. As we got down to Miami Beach, Nixon was nominated and Reagan withdrew his name, but George Romney stayed in and I was given the opportunity to second the nomination of George Romney for president back in Miami Beach. That was a high point for me. Nixon won of course. After he won the convention delegates, they hired me to do some ground work as a field man for Nixon in about 8 Western Rocky Mountain states. I had Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Hawaii, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and Arizona. I organized the ground campaign and it is interesting because the thing that attracted me to the National Party Leaders to begin with was my organizational technique for recruiting people to go door-to-door. We called it the neighbors program. I was called back to New York after Nixon was nominated to meet with John Mitchell who was in charge of the campaign. They asked me about this program that I had in mind and Mitchell liked it, but some of his aides didn't like it and they started to argue with me. Mitchell sat there and just smoked his pipe and never said a word during my presentation. When it was all done, they started asking, "How do you know this is going to work?" I said, "We've done 33 it, we know how this thing works, you don't have to worry about that." Mitchell said, "We're going to do it. I like it. Richards, we'd like you to come to work full-time for us." I said, "I can't do it because I'm the party chairman out in Utah, but I know somebody who can do that program for you." They wanted to do it in Oregon first and he was running a primary against Rockefeller. Oregon was a liberal state and Nixon's people said, "We're not even going to go there, it's just a waste of time." So they didn't go there, but they sent my friend Alan Peterson, who was the guy that I recommended to do this. Peterson was an intern to me when I was party chairman in Utah. He knew my program, so they hired him to run the program and Nixon won. Nixon had never been there and Rockefeller had been there three times. Rockefeller's slogan was, "He cared enough to come." Everybody expected Rockefeller to win, but Nixon did win. Nixon said, "That's my secret weapon. I want to do that." Peterson was hired to run this program all over the country and did a great job with it. After the Nixon campaign, the next effort I got involved with was when Ronald Reagan was running against Gerald Ford. Nixon left, Ford became the president and Ford wanted to run. These same people that brought me back to Washington all thought I would be for Ford and wanted me to be involved in his Ford campaign. They asked me to get involved and I said, "I can't do that. I'm for the other guy." They said, "You're for Ronald Reagan? You can't be against the seated president. You're a party chairman and you're against our incumbent president?" In fact, the owner of Zion's Bank in the state of Utah, Roy Simmons, 34 met me at the airport and said, "Dick, that's crazy. You're going to go for that "class B" act against the president." ROH: Why was that? Why were you so pro-Reagan? RR: I just really liked the guy. I saw something in him and I thought, "This is the guy that ought to be the president." Reagan and Ford contended against each other at the convention in 1976 and it was a very close battle. We lost it right at the last minute and we felt bad about that. Prior to the time that I went to work with him Ronald Reagan had a group called Citizens for the Republic. This was a political action committee that was not for his benefit but where he could raise money and give to conservative candidates. Paul Laxalt was Reagan's closest friend in Washington, the former governor of Nevada and the Senator at that time. He invited me to join the Citizens for the Republic. I got a letter from Ronald Reagan saying, "I understand you're willing to do this, I'd love to have you join us." I became a member of the executive committee for the Citizens for the Republic. After we lost to Ford, we held a couple of monthly meetings and the meetings were usually held in Florida or someplace a distance from me and I had to fly over there and I had to pay a hotel bill. It cost me money to do it, about a thousand bucks every time I went to one of the meetings. After I went to a couple of them I thought, "This is a big waste of time." I got up in a meeting Paul Laxalt was conducting and said, "You know the next battle we're going to have is a convention fight just like the one we just lost and I don't see us getting any better prepared than we were then. I think we're wasting time." Ronald Reagan was 35 sitting at the far end of the table and he was doodling. After I said that he stopped and said, "That's right," and he pointed the pen at me. Paul said, "Well, does anybody else have anything to say?" We said, "No." No one else was going to interfere after the president said that. He said, "Okay, Dick, I'm appointing you to form a committee to come back to the next meeting and tell us what we ought to be doing. Richard, you're the chairman of the committee." We held some meetings after that and came back to the next meeting and gave him a report on what I thought we ought to be doing. We put together a program and I presented it. Everybody at the meeting thought it was a great idea except for two people. One of them was John Sears, who later became the chairman of the Reagan campaign. The chairman was fired at the night of the New Hampshire primary. The other guy was a fellow that had been with Reagan for many years named Nofziger. They all said, "Hey, this is great we want to do it. So after the meeting was over, I headed home and Paul Laxalt remained there for a while with this guy from Cutbank, Montana and Paul said, "I like Dick's idea, but who's going to get to run it? The program entails some work." Frank said, "Well, why don't you ask Dick?" Paul said, "He's a lawyer, he doesn't have time to do this and we don't have money to pay him to get it done. That's a lot of time involved." Frank said, "Well, before you write him off, ask him." So Paul called me on the phone and asked, "Would you run this program that you proposed to us? We will pay all of your expenses and enough money to pay your overhead of your office while you're gone working for us, but we don't have the money to pay you for your time." I said, "Okay." 36 I spent several months doing that and after Reagan got nominated and he was going to do the campaign, he said, "Dick, we want you to run the Western half of the country." Dick Wirthlin was put in charge of it and Bill Casing was the chairman. Dick Wirthlin was the strategist and would say, "We want you to take everything West of the Mississippi River except Texas and build the ground organization." After we won, Reagan wanted me to be the chairman of the transition team for the Department of Interior. I headed the team where we transitioned the Department of Interior from the Democrats to the Republicans and that was an interesting experience because they were paranoid about us and we were paranoid about them. It was common courtesy for the outgoing administration to cooperate with the incoming and let them have whatever information they wanted. So, we went down to the Department of interior, I recruited a group of guys to work with me on the campaign. Paul Laxalt had a couple people he wanted to do that and we took over down at the Department of Interior. We decided what we wanted to do, what people we wanted to remove and what changes we wanted to make. During that time, there were a lot of rumors in the paper about what was going to happen to Dick Richards. You saw them in Ogden. Is he going to be Secretary of the Interior? Is he going to be chairman of the party? When we got through with the Department of Interior, I got a call from the White house and they asked, "Dick, will you be available at 5:00 p.m. to take a call from the White House?" I said, "I'll be here." At 5:00 p.m., I get a telephone call from Ronald Reagan and he said, "Hi Dick, this is Ron, you've been reading about rumors that I was going to 37 appoint you chairman of the National Committee, so I want to make those rumors a reality. Would you take that chairmanship for me?" I said, "Mr. President, I'd be glad to." That's how it happened. ROH: It was that simple. RR: That simple. That's the way Reagan was, he was straight forward and simple. Let me tell you a thing I learned. This is a little out of order, but it shows Reagan. After I was elected, I was invited to go to the meetings that took place once a month between the president and the leaders of the House and the Senate. Bob Michael was a minority leader of the House. He was from Peoria, Illinois. One time, as we walked into the meeting, President Reagan says, "Hi Bob, how are things in Peoria?" Bob says, "Shucks, Mr. President, we've got it tough. We've got 5,600 caterpillar workers unemployed. We're trying to get a contract to sell our ditch-digger to the Russians and we just can't get it done." The president said, "Well, what's the matter? Is that a piece of high-tech equipment or something?" He says, "Hell no, it's a ditch digger, anybody can make a ditch digger." The president said, "Then I don't understand." He said, "Well, we have to get permission from the Department of Commerce in order to make the sale and they haven't made a decision." The president walks over and put his hand on his shoulder and said, "Bob, they just did." That day, Bob announced to his people in Peoria that the President approved their sale and they all went back to work. That's the way Reagan did it. I would have thought that he would have said to his Chief of Staff, Jim Baker to call Secretary Mossbacker and see what's holding 38 this up. Well, he didn't need to do that, he was president he could make the decision. ROH: Today is Wednesday, September 5, 2012. We are in the home of Richard Richards continuing his oral history. This is Rebecca Ory Hernandez from Weber State University. Present are Rebecca and Richard Richards as well as Annette Richards. Why don't we pick up from when you were still in Washington D.C. and you've finished your political piece of working with the White House? Tell me what you did after that presidential term was completed. RR: After I completed my two year assignment at the Republican National Committee, I chose not to run longer because there were too many problems fighting with people that wanted to control the National Committee and all that stuff. As I left, Ronald Reagan called me down to the White House and said, "Dick, you've been a loyal lieutenant to me for a long time, but you've never really been in my administration. I would like you to come and be part of the Reagan administration. What I'd like you to do is go over to the Department of Interior and be the Under Secretary to Jim Watt. Jim is having trouble and I think you could help him out. I said, "Well, Mr. President, I've been a volunteer for you for about six years and I'm broke. I need to get out and make some money. So, I really don't think I can do that." Not only that, I was beginning to have some health problems and I knew that it would be a torture chamber to go through some kind of hearing with the Senate controlled by the Democrats. I could not imagine that the Democrats would approve someone who had just been chairman of the Republican Party to go be the Under Secretary of the Department of Interior. I 39 passed that up and I opened up a lobbying lawyer business in Washington and began representing various interests. ROH: What was the name of the company? RR: Initially, I was with a couple of other lawyers, but when I started my own company it was called, "Commerce Consultants International" (CCI). When I left the National Committee, I had a going away party sponsored by the National Committee. It was to introduce my replacement, but also it was sort of a going away party for me and Ronald Reagan came. I heard from some inside people that some of the folks at the White House said, "Don't go for Richards, you didn't go when Dick Allen left or when others left. Why go for him?" Reagan said, "Well, I like him and we'll go." So, Reagan came and he spoke and said, "Dick Richards was my friend when it took courage to be my friend." That refers to the fact that I was the only state party chairman that supported Reagan against Gerald Ford while Ford was the president. That set me apart from the others and that's why Reagan appreciated me. It took courage to do that. I opened my office and immediately got some clients. One of the first clients was Sikorsky Helicopter Company. They had been trying to sell their helicopter to Taiwan for about six years. At one time they had a deal, but when Jimmy Carter was president he killed it. I met with a representative who was a lobbyist for Sikorsky and also a General from Taiwan. He came to my office and said, 'We want to buy the Black Hawk, and if we can't get it in the next six months we're going to write it off and we're going to buy the French helicopter 40 called the Augusta. We'll give you six months to get this done." I contacted Ed Meece who was counselor to the president and told him what we wanted to do. He went to the president and the president said, "Let them have what they want." That was six years of red tape cut by the president. I became a hero to Sikorsky because they'd been trying for six years. I developed a pretty good base of aerospace clients. I represented Sikorsky and I did some work for Boeing, General Dynamics and Pratt Whitney jet engines. I did a lot of work for them over many years. It turned out to be a very good client. ROH: Were there any other major clients when you were working? RR: I had some interesting ones. I was asked to represent the Kingdom of Thailand. I was the foreign agent for Thailand here in the United States. The United States was pressing some trade violations against Thailand. They were copying some of our medications. I remember they had a fake Sudafed that they sold and they copied our movies and all kinds of stuff. They stole a lot of intellectual property. The United States was going to punish them for it. When I was representing them, I talked to the Prime Minister and saw the other people that were movers and shakers over there and I asked, "What's your deal?" They said, "We'll stop stealing in two years, but we've got to do that now because the American products like medications are too expensive for Thai people to buy so we have to copy them and sell them at a lower price. We'll stop in two years." I asked, "Why?" They said, "Because we're working on our own copyright and patent laws and when they're in place to protect us then we'll protect you, but we're not going to protect you until we're ready." I went to the White House and I talked to the 41 domestic advisor of the president who was a friend of mine, Roger Porter. I said, "They said they'll quit in two years." He started to laugh and he says, "How am I going to tell the president they're only going to steal for two years?" I said, "Well, you know, the Japanese lied to you, the Chinese lied to you, everyone else lies to you, but these guys are at least telling you the truth." They withheld the sanctions against them. I represented this fellow by the name of Chachi. He was the first elected Prime Minister and after a couple years he got on an airplane with one of his generals by the name of Suchinda. The general pulled out his pistol and said, "Okay, Mr. Prime Minister, you're out and I'm in." He took over and executed Chachi right there with the airplane. Later on, Suchinda was trying to establish himself there and a lot of students rioted and picketed and so forth. About 1,500 of them just disappeared. I guess he had them killed and removed. When the king found out what happened he told him, "You're out. You can't be the prime minister here." Suchinda walked away. The king had a great deal of moral influence, although he had no legislative or statutory right to make those decisions. That was an interesting experiment. ROH: Did you ever have to travel to Thailand? RR: I traveled to Thailand once in a while, but my area was mostly in the Far East. I did a lot of traveling. In fact, someone asked me about traveling to Hong Kong and I looked it up and found I had 22 round-trips to Hong Kong in the 10 years of my passport. I did a lot there. 42 ROH: What about in Bangkok? RR: I did a lot in Bangkok. Later on, I represented a company in California called Sunrider International. I went to Bangkok, Malaysia, Indonesia and other countries to get permission for Sunrider to sell their product there and to convince them that our method of selling was legitimate. It was multi-level marketing and that was not common in the Far East, so we had to talk them into letting us do that. ROH: What happened next in your career? RR: That went on for several years. I represented people during the George Bush administration and did some part-time volunteer work for George Herbert Walker Bush in his campaign. I did some organizing in neighborhoods and in Washington, Oregon and here in the West. In fact, I was telling Annette that while I was involved with George Bush, he invited me to fly out with him to Boeing in Seattle. They were honoring the astronauts. They had the living astronauts there and I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to who was there, I never took any pictures or anything because I was there on a political trip. I think about a half a dozen of those guys and Neil Armstrong was there. They were given an award by Boeing Company for their exploits. They had an airplane like the one George Bush flew when he crashed into the ocean and he was rescued. He was really excited about that. He was looking at that and reminiscing. I was talking to Barbara Bush while he was doing that and she was excited for him because he hadn't seen one of those airplanes for a really long time. 43 ROH: Did you do any lobbying after that? RR: I did lobbying almost up to the time that I came home to Utah. Having been the Republican National Chairman, I had excellent contacts with Republicans and the Republican presidents. After Bill Clinton got elected, most of my contacts were gone. They were now Democratic contacts, so I figured that was a good time for me to go home. ROH: What year was it that you came home? RR: I think I came home about 1993. We were looking for a place to live here. I had a nice home in Washington and the value of it increased significantly. I had a profit on that property, but the tax laws were such at that time that if I sold my house, even though I bought another house I didn't get any kind of tax break on it and the government would have taken about $70,000 from me in taxes. I said, "Well, I'm not going to do that. I'll put the money into a new house." I bought a house here in South Ogden. I bought it without Annette seeing it. I came out and I saw this house and I walked in and it was a beautiful house on 46th and Jefferson, a big gray rock house. I walked in there and the neighbor was a real estate agent for Weber County. I walked in and looked in the foyer and I didn't even go through the house, it was just so beautiful and I was impressed so I said, "I'll take it." I gave him a check that night for earnest money. I said, "One condition, my wife has a week to decide whether she wants to come here." I called Annette and she didn't want to be bothered coming out. My daughter who lived here went to see it and she said, "Oh mom, you'll love the house." We agreed and we moved 44 into the house. We lived there until I started having a pretty serious heart problem and we couldn't keep up the land. The property was too big and complicated. We had to move, so we moved here into the condominiums. ROH: Tell me a little bit about your health problems you are referring to. RR: When I was living in Virginia I went out for a bike ride with my youngest son. As I pumped up a hill I had severe chest pains and I stopped at the top and I said, "Brian, I have to stop and rest." He wanted to go on so I told him he can go on but I had to rest. When I went home Annette saw me and she said, "Dick you look terrible, you need to go to a doctor." I said, "Well, I'll do it tomorrow." I was kind of gray and having a lot of pain. I waited until the next day and went to a doctor. They examined me and said, "You've had a major blockage of your arteries, but don't worry about it because the worst that could happen to you already happened." We thought that was pretty crazy to say that, so I went to a very famous cardiologist I had contact with as a result of some of my business. He ran a heart hospital in Phoenix. They tested me and said, "You've got some blockage." They gave me an angiogram and put in a stent. The stent lasted just one day and it was clogged up again. This was just a couple of days before Christmas. I said to the surgeon, "What do you recommend?" He said, "I think you ought to get a mechanical fix." He meant a bypass. I said, "Well, I ought to do it. This is a good time for me to do that. Business is slow in Washington. So when can you do it?" He said, "I can do it 45 tomorrow." I called Annette and said, "I'm not coming home for Christmas, I'm getting open-heart surgery tomorrow." Annette had Christmas in Virginia with the family before she came to see me. I remember after the operation when I looked in the mirror; I looked like my father looked on his death bed. My voice was just like him. Annette saw me and she started crying. That was my first open-heart surgery. I got over that for a while and later on I developed another problem. In fact, I'd been in Korea and worked out in the exercise room in the hotel in Korea and I thought, "I'm doing great." By the time I got to the airport I was having trouble, so that was the sign that I needed it again. Then, I ended up having open-heart surgery again here in Ogden with Dr. Cain at the McKay-Dee Hospital. That one was kind of interesting because I went to Salt Lake to the Beehive House and I was participating in a political meeting there. The pains became more severe and more severe. I didn't think I was going to make it home it was so bad. Immediately, I saw a sign that said "Hospital Next Right" so I took the road up to the hospital on Antelope Drive and went to the emergency ward and went in and told the lady, "I need some help." She said, "You look terrible. Sit down." They got me in a wheelchair and got me some oxygen and said, "You need to see your heart doctor tomorrow." I went to see him and that's when he said, "We'll do another operation on you." So I got another open-heart surgery here. The one I got in Phoenix I got about five or six bypasses. When I was here in Ogden I got a couple more. It seemed like every two years I would have problems. 46 Later on, I had a problem again and I saw the same doctors and they said, "We won't open you up, we've opened you up twice and we're not interested in performing another open-heart, we never know what we're going to get into." I was in serious trouble and nobody would touch me. I went to the LDS hospital in Salt Lake and they didn't want to do anything and McKay-Dee didn't want to do anything. My son got on the internet and found a vascular surgeon out in Daly City, California who was doing some experimental laser surgery. We decided to try that. I went out to see them and they acknowledged that I needed some surgery, but it was experimental and the FDA would not let them perform that surgery unless I had an independent doctor look at me beforehand to say, "If he doesn't get it he'll probably die." It was one of these compassionate things. They said, "There's no insurance, so if you come out here, you'll have to bring cash with you." The vascular surgeon's secretary or nurse negotiated with the hospital and everybody involved and I had to take $15,000 out to Daly City Hospital and they performed that surgery on me. It's called TMR Transmyocardial Revascularization. They open you up and pull the ribs apart and punch holes in your heart with a laser. They move the laser right up to the heart muscle and punch a hole and blood will start coming out and they rub their finger on it and it seals it over and they move over and punch another until they punch 25 holes, sew you up and that's it. I'll tell you, it was the best operation I've ever had. The impact was dramatic. I walked out of there in a couple of days and the only thing that was wrong with me was I hurt a 47 lot on the soft tissue. Otherwise, it was like I'd never had a heart problem. That lasted me for several years and we decided I could go on a mission. Annette and I volunteered to go on a mission and we were called to the Rochester, New York mission and that included Buffalo, Rochester and Palmyra. While I was there I had the problem again and I was hospitalized. When I got home everything looked pretty good. I ended up over here at Ogden Regional and had a few more stents put in. I got to a point where I was really in trouble and my doctor said, "I tried to go in there and put in another stent, but I couldn't even get my wire in the artery. I tried four times and then I gave it up. I have to tell you, you're in pretty serious shape. I don't think you'll live on too much. I'd give you about two months unless somebody can fix this and we don't have a doctor with the ability to fix this particular problem." It was the main descending right artery. ROH: What year was this? RR: It was about 2007. The doctor said, "Let me call Mayo, Johns Hopkins and Cleveland. If anybody could do it one of them can, but I don't even know if they'll touch you." Cleveland said, "Come on back and we'll look at it and decide what to do." So we went back there and we checked in on a Monday and they did all kinds of tests on me until Friday and I met with the surgeon and he said, "Mr. Richards, you're in pretty bad shape. You've got about two months and that's about all you can live with this. The only way we could avoid that is if we could fix it. We don't even want to try. We don't open up people three times, now you want 48 us to open you up the fourth time. We don't normally do that." I said, "Well, doctor, you're the best hospital in the country to do this, you're the best doctor and I'm a tough patient. I want you to do it." He started laughing and he said, "I guess if anybody can survive it, you probably could. I won't agree to do it, but stick around for a day or so and I'll talk to some other surgeons and we'll see if we can work something out. But you have no promise from me." On Sunday, we got the telephone call from them and they said, "If you're still willing to take the risk and give appropriate releases, we'll do it on Tuesday." They called back and said, "We've got a cancellation Monday, come on in Monday morning." So I went in Monday morning and that's when they did the operation on me. It was kind of interesting though, the doctor did not want to do it. I knew he didn't want to do it, so he was looking pretty glum when they were about to do it. They did twelve open-heart surgeries a day at that hospital. He looked kind of glum and I said, "Well, doctor, let me tell you something that will make you feel better. I'm a Mormon, and we have a scripture that says all men are given a gift and you have a gift to heal people and I have the gift to be healed." He gave me the thumbs up and shoved me in the operating room and that was it. He called my doctor here and said, "You know, if it hadn't been for his attitude, we would have never touched him. He had such a good attitude. We thought he had a reasonable chance to survive." After about a year my doctor said, "Write to this guy and tell him you're still alive, I think he'll be interested in hearing it." ROH: It's been five years later. Are you doing well now? 49 RR: I'm doing pretty well. I've got some problems, but I'm doing pretty well. ROH: So does this heart issue run in your family? RR: Both of my parents had strokes, so I presume it runs in the family. I've got seven sisters and none of them have the problem. I have one brother and he's had one little problem, but hasn't had a stent put in. I've ended up with nine bypasses, four open-heart surgeries, fourteen stents, and a pacemaker and I'm just ticking along until it's time to go. ROH: Were there any prominent surgeons here in Ogden that worked with you on this? RR: Doctor Cain at McKay-Dee Hospital and my cardiologist here is Doctor Diehl at Ogden Regional. He's put in about seven of my stents. He's not a surgeon, he's a cardiologist. So, that's my medical history. ROH: Let's back up here a little bit. You moved back here from Washington. Were you involved in law practice when you moved back to Ogden? RR: I still represented Sunrider Corporation out of California. I was their general council. I really wasn't though. I had the title, but I was more of a consultant to them and did routine corporate work for them. I did a little bit of other lobbying. I did not do legal work, but I did some lobbying for people. ROH: Were you lobbying for Utah constituents or people back in Washington? RR: Mostly back in Washington. 50 ROH: Can you tell me some of the people you were working with then? RR: I was working with people in the aerospace business and I had to lobby the congress for them to put a little pressure on Taiwan to buy a bunch of Boeing aircraft. Taiwan Airlines wanted it, but they had some guys in the Taiwan government that didn't want to spend the money although they had billions on hand. Our job was to build a little bit of fire under the head of the government in Taiwan so they'd buy the airplanes from us. We had a bad balance of trade. They sold us a lot more than we sold them. To sell them eight or ten 747's was a big deal and we promoted that pretty aggressively. I didn't do a whole lot more, I really was quite retired. ROH: Did you get involved with any groups in the community? RR: I got involved with some friends and we played golf once a week. I did a little work in politics. I helped Orrin Hatch and other Republican candidates. I didn't do a lot. I didn't have the energy to do a lot and I didn't feel safe to travel. I did do some traveling to visit my son in Alabama and my daughter in New York and stuff like that, but I've been retired. However, I'm writing some papers on how I think we can improve the presidential election system in America. ROH: I know you have written a lot. RR: I've had people ask me to represent them and I've turned them down because I couldn't be reliable. If I had to go someplace tomorrow at 10:00, I'm not sure I could do it because of my health. I wake up some mornings and I just can't operate. 51 ROH: I know about you're involvement with Weber State and you've indicated that you guest lecture at the University of Utah. Why don't you tell me a little bit about that? RR: My interest was primarily with Weber State. When I left Washington after having seen the legal profession and the lobbyist I thought, "We have a real problem with ethics in this country." I wanted to do something about ethics and I talked to Ann Milner who was president of the university. I embarrassed my wife in what I said, but I said, "Ann, you ought to teach ethics on the campus. If you do that, you'll be a hero and if you don't do it you'll be a bum." She said, "You mean I'll be a bum?" I said, "Yes." We laughed about that. We talked about ethics and the development people got in touch with me. He said, "If you want to do something about it, why don't you put up some money to start a foundation?" So I did. I put up quite a bit of money for it. We started our ethics program and what we've been doing is giving scholarships out. For the last couple of years we've given scholarships and I think last year we gave about $20,000. That is, $1,000 scholarships to 20 people. ROH: Tell me a little bit about who is receiving the scholarships. RR: We put on a program in conjunction with Garff Motors, who has a program for high school students. We decided to have each of the high schools in the area participate in a contest to write the best essay on how we can improve ethics in our community. The people who wrote the best essay in 20 high schools were given a $1,000 scholarship to Weber State. We've done that for two years and I 52 presume we will continue to do it. In the meantime, I decided to write a book. I started writing my book about what I had done and so on and I've got some good help from Gene Sessions up on the campus. It took me a long time. Writing a book is not an easy project. My wife had a lot of good notes. My secretary kept a lot of good notes. I had a lot of press releases. A lot of what I put in there I got from newspapers because most everything I did was written up in the press somewhere. The book is called, "Climbing the Political Ladder One Rung at a Time" That was designed primarily to encourage young people who like politics to get involved. Also, to tell them how I was able to go from nowhere to the National Chairmanship and that they can do the same thing. As I give talks around, one of the first questions everybody asks is, "How did you ever get to become the Republican National Chairman?" The press says, "He came from Podunk Utah. Where's Ogden?" They had no idea where Ogden was. I had no family that was previously involved in politics. My family didn't have money, so how did I get to be National Chairman? ROH: Do you think that in today's environment that something like that could happen to someone? RR: It would be pretty rare because I've never heard of it happening before either. ROH: I'm sure that's what a lot of the students say is that it's really remarkable. RR: Well, what I tell them is that if they are willing to do the grubby, unglamorous work like licking the envelopes, putting on the stamps and running the errands, 53 you can work yourself up that ladder. Candidates love volunteers and if you're a good volunteer, you will just keep progressing up the line. The guy that I hired to be the executive director of the party here when I was the national chairman was Dave Turner, a young kid out of Utah State that volunteered to drive a car for me when I was a candidate. He was just a young kid interested in politics and he was a driver. From there he just moved up the ladder until he ended up in a pretty good position. ROH: What is he doing now? RR: He worked for Hudd for a while and he's just trying to get some years in for government service and he's working for the national security people at the airport. ROH: Back to this ethics business. It's curious to me because I don't know of a lot of ethics programs at other schools, so what inspired you to create something related to ethics at Weber State? RR: Well, because we needed it. We really need it. When I talked to them, Ann said, "Talk to the head of the business department." I talked to him and he said, "Well, we devote an hour or two in the course of study on ethics." I said, "That's nothing. We ought to have a whole program of ethics." I really pushed it hard and Nathan Clark pushed me to put up the money to start it and that's what we've done. Every day you can read in the newspaper about some major breech of ethics on the part of a governor, a senator, or someone that works for the city— everybody. There's ethical breech all around us and a lot of times these kids 54 don't know any better. I've seen surveys where they ask kids if they have ever cheated in school. Seventy-five percent of them say they've cheated and when you ask why they say, "Well, everybody else is cheating and I'm competing with them. If I have to compete with them then I guess I have to cheat." I thought, "We need to start teaching them a little bit earlier." If we can get a hold of these kids in high school and get them involved in ethics, it's going to a make a difference. Someone asked me, "How are you going to measure success?" I said, "I don't know that you can, but somewhere along the line you're going to touch somebody and that's going to improve their attitude on ethics." That's what it's all about. It's a difficult thing. It's prodding all the time and trying to get people to buy scholarships for the kids, but we have had some experience from these young kids that won the scholarship that say, "I could not have gone to college without that scholarship. That made all the difference in the world to me." We give it to them not because they are rich or good students, but because they have the best ideas about ethics. I still spend a lot of time and effort on this ethics stuff. ROH: I think that's great. RR: However, I do have a complaint against the university on this and I've talked to a lot of these guys that raise big chunks of money. I say, "Why don't you tell the people that are giving to earmark some of that money for ethics?" The university doesn't want to do it because they want the money to go into the building or whatever they do. There's no reason why we can't tell a guy that's going to give a million dollars that $50,000 of that can go into ethics, but the university has their 55 own program and it isn't channeling the ethics program. We're getting the new president soon and I'm going to be approaching him. Ann has been supportive, but nothing has happened other than holding those meetings. We had the former governor speak to our group a year ago and we gave out all these scholarships and there wasn't one word in the press about it. Standard Examiner never wrote one word about it. We had the pictures taken of all these kids that got scholarships and we were hoping they'd get their picture in the paper and they did not. I called Doug at the Standard and I asked if he would run a story on the ethics program. He said, "Yes. When is it?" I said, "It was last night." They did not even know what night it was and I said, "You guys at the university and the public relations department failed, you should have seen that the press was there." Again, this is the second year they didn't do it. We've decided that we've got to have a public relations guy on our board. It's their job to get the press. ROH: Is there anything nationally that you're aware of happening with ethics? RR: No. It was kind of interesting when Jon Huntsman was the governor, he came up when they named the Richard Richards Institute. Governor Huntsman and Jake Garn were there and they named it. Huntsman said, "You're the only university around here that's promoting ethics. I'm going to support you. I'm going to help you." Well, he hasn't. I sent him an email when he was over in China and said, "You said you wanted to help us I thought it meant you were going to give us some money or get other people to give some money." We hate to have to go out 56 and grub money a dollar at a time to give these scholarships. Zion's Bank has been a big supporter. They have given us $12,000 each year for two years. That was very helpful to us. The university has paid for the meals when we have the banquet and that's about all the university has done. It really hasn't caught on yet. ROH: It takes some time. How many years has it been now? RR: I've been working on it for about three or four years, but we've been giving out scholarships for the last two. Alan Hall is a big money raiser for the school. I went to Alan and said, "Alan, why don't you tell these guys that are giving money that they can earmark some for ethics." He said he would do it, but I don't think he has. However, in the next week or so that committee meets again and I'm going to go back to Alan Hall and say, "Look, give us some money." In fact, because he writes this business article and I told him, "Alan, why don't you write an article about ethics?" He wrote a paragraph about it out of probably 30 or 40 columns. We got two inches referring to ethics. We're going to have to press it. ROH: I think it would be good for you to write a column too because you've got more experience. RR: I've written some columns only they've been political columns. ROH: What do you think about ethics in politics these days? RR: Well, politics today is meaner than it has been in a long time. When Jake Garn decided he didn't want to run again and Howard Baker from Tennessee, the 57 senator from Colorado said, "It isn't fun anymore. It used to be fun, but it is just mean now. Your colleagues are mean, your constituents are mean, the press is mean and it just isn't fun." Senator Baker told me, "If I knew how good it was on the outside, I would have quit the senate a long time ago." It's just a bad environment and it is getting worse. You can go back in history and you can see even in George Washington's time they slandered one another, but we slander them day after day in the press that gets to millions of readers every day. That's why it appears so bad. ROH: How do you inspire the youth? Let's say these high school kids that you're helping to go to university. How do you inspire them to change when what they're seeing is so slanderous? RR: We've made a couple of attempts to do that. We were assigned by the governor to sit on the committee to tell how to improve elections in the state. I got the students up at Weber to write a program on it and we submitted it to the governor. We also got one on ethics and what the ethics reform ought to be. Our kids on the campus wrote a program on how to establish an ethics program in the state of Utah and the legislation didn't pay any attention to it. We gave it directly to the governor and we gave it to legislatures and we gave it to the press. Everybody saw it but the legislature pre-empted everybody and wrote their puny little ethics reform which is nothing. 58 ROH: I was wondering if that had anything to do with it. I remember hearing about ethics reform a little over a year ago, so I was wondering if that is just one of those things that will take more time. RR: Yes, it will take time beyond my time to get, but whatever we do to get it going is worth it. Like I said, if you ask, "How do you measure your success?" There are no definitive measures, but if you touch the heart and mind of a half a dozen kids, that's good. Out of our first year we had one of our students that got an ethics scholarship and they worked on our committee. They went to Washington to be an intern at the White House for Obama. Another one went to work for congressman Bishop. The kids did get involved and they're doing some stuff. I can pick out two or three kids that I know we've had an impact on and will do something in politics. As I look back, when I was party chairman in Utah, Karl Rove was one of my interns. I didn't even know him. I didn't pay attention to him at that time. Another one was this guy Dave Hanson, who runs Orrin Hatch's campaign and I had lunch with him yesterday. Another one named Alan Peterson who did a nationwide organizational program for Richard Nixon and we had some guys from Ogden participating. Alex Hurtado, he was one of my best political friends and he got involved in this national organization for Nixon. I've seen a handful of people that have become involved and have been very successful, but it's got to be more. ROH: Is there anything else you'd like to add about ethics? 59 RR: There is one thing that's happening. Isaac Goeckeritz is putting together a film on ethics to promote the ethics up here. He has interviewed Jake Garn, Richard Wirthlin, Mr. Mack, the governor, and a whole lot of people talking about ethics in their business. Bob Garff talks about the ethics of his father in the automobile business. They're talking about ethics and he's preparing it and his wife said he is coming close and maybe by Christmas he will have it done and it will go on the air at KUED. I think it will be good enough that it will open up a lot of other things. Another guy that's in that is Dan Jones and he talks about ethics in the polling business. ROH: That will be good to see. Isaac Goeckeritz, for future reference, is a local historian, film documenter, a Weber State graduate, and one of Richard's relatives. RR: We were involved with the one on the Union Station, he did the one on the hill out in Uintah, "The U," he did one on homeless vets and now he's doing one on ethics. He's also doing other stuff. KUED loves him, they say he's got a great deal of talent and they're going to keep using him. ROH: Today is September 26, 2012 and we are in the home of Dick Richards. Present are Rebecca Ory Hernandez and Dick Richards. We are going to continue your oral history. The last time we spoke we talked a lot about the Ethics Institute at Weber State, so today I would like to talk a little more about present day and what is happening in your life. What are your involvements here in Ogden and in 60 the state related to politics? I know that you have been a guest on a few T.V. shows, so why don't you tell me a little bit about that? RR: I was on two Ted Capner shows, that's the Sunday afternoon broadcast. The first one after he read my book he invited me to come and talk to him and we talked about the things that are in the book. You've seen many of them. The other discussion we had just a week or so ago was on how we can cut down the cost of presidential campaign. This year's presidential campaign will probably cost 4 billion dollars. Each one of the candidates will raise about a billion dollars for their campaign and the political parties will make another half a billion. Then, 527 committees, or so-called super-packs, will each raise about a half a billion or more and that will put us at least $4 billion for the presidential campaign. The point that people don't understand is that the Supreme Court has rules that anyone can get involved in a campaign and spend all the money they want provided they do not coordinate with the candidate. All these committees raise money and you know what their message is going to be, they don't have to say vote for Obama or vote for Romney, you can tell what they're promoting. They get involved in it and that will bring the cost to over $4 billion. My proposal was that in order to prevent this limit the time, since you can't limit the money. Reduce the time of the campaign and allow the candidates to do their exploratory effort up until about the 15th of April in the election year. By the 15th of April they have to announce whether they will or will not be a candidate. If they say they will be a candidate, from that day on they can start raising money. They'll have to go through the primaries of the various states from that time before November. 61 If you're in a state with a caucus convention like we have, you might have your first caucus about three months after the candidate announces. We'd have the county conventions and the state conventions and if you had to have a primary you'd push the campaign between the Republican and the Democrat clear back to about August of September. They can't raise or spend a billion dollars between September and November, so it will really force the whole process to slow down to eliminate cost. Romney had been running for about 6 or 8 years and Obama has been running for 3 and it's just boring, wasteful and non-productive. The conventions and the debates they have are really about nothing and they reduce themselves to just petty criticism of the other guy. If you had only a three month campaign period they'd talk about what they want to do. They'd talk about the positive aspects of their campaign. ROH: Who profits from all of this money? RR: I made that point on television. The only ones that profit are the television stations, the radio, the newspaper, the campaign managers, and the advertising firms. The public doesn't profit by it. It's the guys that make money out of the campaign. Professional fundraisers get a percentage of the money they raise, the television people get money for everything they run, the campaign managers and the public relations people get 15 percent of what they spend on television. Just imagine a $200 million campaign on television and the guy is going to make about $30 million for putting the ads on the air. That's a big deal. ROH: So the candidates don't actually make any of the money they are raising? 62 RR: No, the candidates don't get it. It's those that are in the campaign business that get the money. Nobody likes to give it, but when you've got a campaign and they keep hitting you up for money, you feel the pressure and you make contributions. Everybody but the guys that make money on the campaign would like to see it shorter. ROH: Do you think that will happen in our lifetime? RR: It could, but I don't know whether it will or not. There has been a drive in the past for regional primaries or a national primary. If we had regional primaries, that would help a lot because then the candidate would have to talk to all of the American people instead of just eight states. Where they are now they go to Illinois and they talk about automobile manufacturing because that's the big issue there. They go to Ohio and they talk about the agricultural subsidies. It really isn't a national campaign, it is a series of little local interest campaigns. That's not good for the country. ROH: Are there any other shows that you've been featured on other than the one that you just mentioned? RR: No, I've been on his show a couple of times and I speak once in a while at the Hinckley Institute. I get invited more to the University of Utah to speak than I do Weber State, but I do participate on the campuses and I've been asked to talk to civic groups in town. My health is such that I have been turning them down. I don't know whether or not I'm going to feel well enough to do it. I just say, "No, I don't do that anymore." 63 ROH: Are you doing any local speeches during this campaign? RR: I write down suggestions for the candidates to send to them and they never follow those. What happens is that when a guy gets to be the campaign manager doesn't want other people telling him what to do. They look at guys like me and say, "Oh those guys are over the hill, they don't know the campaigns are different today." They don't pay any attention to us. They're wrong. I found my way to the national chairmanship by doing a good campaign on the state and local level and then on the national level. The principles of running the program we run is the same today as it was 20, 30, or 50 years ago. The average American has nothing to do with the campaign. They don't know the candidate. They don't meet the candidates and they don't even know who they are. If you put on a program where you give them the opportunity to participate in the campaign they're flattered by it. They want to do it. What we had done over the years was recruit people. For Richard Nixon, we set up a telephone operation and called people in the various neighborhoods and said, "I'm a volunteer for Richard Nixon, we think he's uniquely qualified to be president of the United States. We're doing what we can, will you help us?" A lot of people say yes and ask what they can do. We send them brochures and ask them to go door-to-door and tell the people about Richard Nixon and give him their personal endorsement. We know it flatters people and they think their job is very important. 64 Many years ago, one guy up in Portland called up after we went through the primary and said, "I did my work in the primary, but I'm 82 years old and legally blind. I don't think I can do it in a general election. So, you better get someone to take my place." He thought that the little role he had in the neighborhood was so important that if he didn't do it, there would be a problem so we'd have to get somebody to take his place. T The campaign chairman doesn't make any money if you do this volunteer work and neither does the television or anyone else, this is a very quiet campaign. The only person that makes any money on this is the guy that rents you the building and maybe the telephone company that has telephones from it. ROH: That's interesting. Are you doing any other kinds of present day consulting? RR: No, I'm actually retired. I'm helping a couple of little businesses, but I'm basically retired. I'm one of the 47 percent that's living off of the government program called Social Security. ROH: Can you share a little bit about the businesses you're helping? RR: I've been helping a company that makes a gasoline additive that reduces the pollution of your automobile and increases your gas mileage. Interestingly enough, my role is to get government people to look at it and try it out. I have found that people that work for the government in the motor pools don't care if you save money on gasoline. It's not out of their pocket. You can give it to them and ask them to try it out, but they don't do it. We talk about the need to increase 65 mileage and reduce pollution, but the guy that's running the motor pool at the state of Utah, Salt Lake and Ogden don't care. ROH: Is it corn-based? RR: No, it's not a food-based. It's made of algae. It does not affect the corn prices or the wheat prices. I use it in my car and I get five more miles per gallon in the city and on the highway. ROH: That's fascinating. RR: It's just a little tablet you put in the gas tank. It looks like a jelly bean and when you fill your gas tank you drop it into the tank. ROH: Is it available on the market? RR: Yes, but it's only on the internet. You can't sell it at the gas stations because it cuts down their gas sales they don't want that. I've got to give my wife credit that she put up with all of the things I've done and all of the moving. I have dragged her and my kids around the country time and time again and they've never complained. I think they've had a great benefit from doing it, but at the same time a lot of people complain if they've had to pick up and move every year or two. We never lived in a house for more than 10 years until we were 13 years in that house in McLean, Virginia and that's the longest we've ever been in a house. AR: Actually, we've been here now about as long as we've been there. It wasn't easy, I'll tell you. 66 ROH: Annette, you do history, right? AR: Yes. I've been doing that. I went to a meeting in Salt Lake on this new family search and they asked how long people have been researching and I'd been researching the longest. Over 50 years. I started when I was pretty young. Our oldest daughter was three months old when I got involved. ROH: Okay. Thanks Annette. Let's talk a little about present day politics, just a couple of quick questions. Are you involved at all in present day politics as far as on the national level? RR: Once in a while a candidate will call me and ask if he can sit down with me for a while and talk about the campaign and I give him some ideas. Otherwise, I'm really not involved. I was called by the campaign chairman for Governor Rick Perry and asked if I would be the Utah chairman for Perry and I said, "We've got to get passed John Huntsman first." I couldn't work for Perry as long as John Huntsman was in the race, but if Huntsman was out I'd be glad to help Perry out. I think he was a good candidate except he can't talk and answer questions. ROH: Other than Perry, are there any other names? RR: Well, I gave a little bit of advice to Hatch's opponent, but I said, "Orrin is a good friend of mine. I can't tell you how to run against him, but I can tell you what I think the issues ought to be." I spent an hour with Dan Lillianquist and I thought he was a good candidate, but he ran a bad campaign. ROH: What makes a bad campaign? 67 RR: If the campaign doesn't connect with the public and the voters it's a bad campaign. What you've got to do is talk about a message that they want to hear about and you have to have a good point of view on it. That's what these polls are about. They're polling all the time, "How do you feel about immigration? How do you feel about this or that?" The candidate tailors their message to appeal to those people. Unfortunately, it gets to be just a pandering deal to them. I respect Jon Huntsman because he said, "I'm not going to go to Iowa because I'm against ethanol subsidies. If I got to Iowa they're just going to "boo" me and I won't make any headway there, so I'm not going to go pander to them." I respect him for taking that position. Most of the candidates will go to one place and pander to them and it's just not healthy for the country and I think it's too bad. I'm 80 years old and my health isn't good, so I deliberately took myself out of a lot of this. I did join the tea party and I'll tell you why I like it. Number one, this is middle class America, the silent majority starting to make a little bit of noise. They're not looking for something special for themselves; they just don't want things special given to everybody else. They say, "We've got to cut down our spending." It isn't a question of raising more money, it's spending less money. When they go out and they have a rally of 15,000 people, there's no paraphernalia on the ground or a mess. They don't create a problem. It's clean, it's nice and these are good American citizens voicing their opinion. I read where people say, "The tea party is fading and they are not going to be all that critical in the campaign." They're kidding themselves. The tea party is alive and well and they will be very active in the campaigns when it comes closer to election time. 68 They don't campaign all year long, but they will be out working and they will have an impact. ROH: I think it's interesting that today that we have a new party. I think most people would find that interesting historically to look back and see the beginnings of this new party. Thank you for sharing. RR: One of the things that I propose in election reform is that they allow all parties to campaign in primary elections. Let them all get into the campaign and you'll wash out those that aren't really going to be a contender and you're going to end up with two or three. Maybe there would be three candidates in November, but there's nothing wrong with that. Maybe the guy that wins the presidency only had 47 percent of the population, but that's okay. Other people ought to have the right to voice their point of view and have the American people hear it. ROH: I had a young political science student ask me a question that they wanted me to ask you. He said that a lot of his friends are just not interested in politics at all. I would say between the ages of 19 and 26 are the age of his friends right now. He wanted me to ask you why they should be interested or get involved in politics because their perception of everything they see is negative. RR: That's unfortunate. A lot of people are turned off by the negative campaigns. I am. I'd get tired of listening to them. In fact, I asked Ted Capner if he watched all of the debates and he said, "No." I said, "Neither did I." I couldn't watch them all because they were not productive. I'd tell these young kids, "If you are really interested in politics, find a candidate that you like who's telling the story the way 69 you like it and join that campaign. If you get involved in it you will see your way through all of these things. You'll see how productive it can be." When you're only 19 years old, you're not thinking about retirement, medical expenses, or high taxes. You just haven't been out in the real world yet. As soon as you get a job and get your paycheck and you find out how much money was taken out for social security and worker's compensation and all these other things you think, "Hey, I thought I was getting $200 and I got $150." That shocks them and that's the eye-opener to these people. It kind of goes along with what Winston Churchill said, "When you're 19 years old, if you're not a liberal you've got no heart, but when you're 55 years old, if you're not a conservative you've got no brains." ROH: Right. That was what he asked, "How does it impact my life? All I'm trying to do is survive." He's actually got a wife and a child. He's working, going to school and he's involved on campus in leadership. He said, "I don't see how I can even be a blip on the radar of what's going on nationally." RR: Well, that's a story I tell in my book. I started out as the junior Republican chairman at Weber Junior College in 1952. In 1980, I was the Republican National Chairman. I climbed up. President Reagan said, "He's had every job on the way up. This is the first chairman I know that's worked his way through the state and national chairmanship positions." There's opportunity out there for these guys and in order to really understand it, I think you have to get involved in a campaign. The guy who's going to school and has a wife and kids says, "I'm 70 worried about my health insurance and if we have another baby we can't afford the cost of it." Then insurance becomes interesting to him. After a while, he gets hurt on the job or he gets sick, then social security, Medicare, and disability becomes interesting to him. These things become interesting as he grows older and he's facing that proposition. Young people don't look that far ahead. They think they're invincible and indestructible. They just don't see the problems down the road. ROH: Right. So let's talk a little bit about your family. I know you've got lots of children. RR: I've got five. ROH: That's a good-sized family. Are any of them involved in politics? RR: No, that is the interesting thing. My oldest son is a professor of philosophy at the University of Alabama. His name is Richard Albert Richards. He was named after Annette's father. He started out to be a dancer professionally and he danced around the world as a ballet dancer. He was quite good, but not good enough to be a star, and if you're not a star you can't make a living doing it. He finally decided that it wasn't for him and he went back to school to study philosophy. When he went back to school, he took the college ACT test and he got in the 98th percentile and he was offered a full fellowship at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. He got his degree there. He was a very good student and he had very good recommendations by the number one philosopher there and he went around to some of the colleges to seek employment and he ran into people that 71 said, "White men need not apply, we're going to hire a minority or a woman. So don't bother to apply." My oldest daughter, Julie Dockter, is married to a real estate salesman and they have four sons who are all doing very well. One of them is a businessman doing a lot of business with China and has made a lot of money. Another one is a medical doctor and his name is Dr. Dockter. Another one is in college studying something in physical sciences and the other one is a computer expert at Novell in Provo. My next daughter is married to a lawyer who's practicing law in New York. She's interested in politics, but she doesn't do much of it. She reads a lot and she gets involved a little bit but she has three kids and teaches early morning seminary and some other things. Her name is Jan Stevenson. My next daughter is Amy Hartvigsen and her husband is a landscape architect down in Alpine and they have four boys. The oldest is now on a mission. They have really talented kids. There is a lot of talent around my grandkids. My youngest son, Brian, works for the state of Utah in Utah Workplace. That's my family. I have ten grandchildren and eleven great grandchildren and four of those great grandchildren are part Chinese. My grandson, Chris Dockter married a Chinese girl from Taiwan. 72 ROH: I couldn't help but notice that you have a lot of art hanging in your home. RR: It's all family art. My father was the artist. ROH: Other people in your family are also artistically inclined. RR: Yes. My brother is an artist and he taught art at Dennison University in Dallas. My son, Rich, painted that big picture on the wall there. On the wall up there I've got paintings of my father, my brother, my daughter, and my son. We've all got a painting up there. My father is the best artist of the bunch. I have sisters that are very good. I think you saw the picture of the dogs in my bedroom. One of my sisters did that. There are a number of good artists in the family. The etching above the piano was by my brother. That big picture there is done by my son, Rich. The Abraham Lincoln was given to me by the Republican Party of Utah when I completed my term as state chairman. The star is a little thing that Richard Nixon gave out when he was elected president. The eagle is from the inauguration of Reagan and Bush. Geronimo is one that I just purchased. A friend of mine, Jay Taggert, former superintendent of the schools for Utah gave me the Teddy Roosevelt. ROH: Is there anything else that I might not have asked you that you would like to address? RR: I tell people jokingly that I used to be a genius, but now I'm just very bright. As a result of my heart operations, I have lost some mental acuity and I'm not as sharp as I used to be. My memory isn't as good. I have bad days so I'm limited. As a former National Chairman, I always have access to a seat at the national 73 conventions. They have one for former chairmen and I couldn't go so I asked them if my nephew could use my credentials so he went to the last convention. I went to every convention from 1968 until George W. Bush ran. I did not go then, but I went through Nixon, Reagan, and H. W. Bush. I've been to a lot of conventions. ROH: Is your nephew involved in politics now? RR: He's a lobbyist so he's a little bit involved in politics, but he likes to get involved. He has worked for candidates in the past. I don't have any children that wanted to be lawyers or wanted to be in politics. I wouldn't encourage them to be lawyers because I'm unhappy with the profession now. ROH: I was going to ask you if you encouraged them at all when they were younger to go into law or politics since they were living in Washington. RR: My girls were more enamored by living in Washington than my sons. They loved going to the White House and going to Kennedy Bunk Port and going to the parades and inaugurals and so on. They really enjoyed that. Everybody really loved being in that historical place, including me. ROH: Are there any stories about Ogden that many people might not know about or historical stories that would be just interesting to share? RR: Did you see the film that Isaac did on 25th Street? There is some historical stuff that I'm involved in on that 25th Street thing. When I went to law school, I drove from Ogden to Salt Lake and I had a couple of people that paid me to ride with 74 me. One of them was Annabelle Weakly and the other was Jane Larson. She was about 70 years old and she wanted to go back to school. She graduated from Weber College when she was 70 or 72. I got to know both of them fairly well. After I got out of law school I wanted to try lawsuits and I wanted to go to trial. If you want trial experience as a young lawyer you're not going to get it in a civil case. I went to the judges and said, "I want some trial experience so give me your criminals that don't have any money that are in jail and can't make bond." We didn't have a public defender system then. Over a period of one year they gave me 10 criminals and I tried the 10 felonies to a jury. I got 8 acquittals out of my 10 and that put me in business. I had lots of criminal business. In fact, it was too much. I ended up trying to get rid of it because I got tired of the criminals, but that's where I got my experience in the court room. I'll give you a quote from a guy if it won't sound politically incorrect, "One day I was walking along the street and this black guy came up to me and said, are you Mr. Richardson Richardson?" I said, "Well, I guess I am." He said, "Are you the man that represented Copeland Griffin?" I said, "I guess that's right." He said, "Well, let me shake your hand. You must be good. He was the biggest crook in town." Two of my defenses were for one guy and I won both of the cases and this impressed those in the black community. All my life I've been interested in politics, not for the sake of winning, but for the sake of helping the country. I've been concerned about the country. I see things that I don't think are right and I don't know whether I told you this story but when I was pretty new in the practice, we saw some misconduct and what I call 75 criminal activity on the part of elected officials in Weber County. I was instrumental in getting a grand jury called and ended up putting a sheriff in jail and some other things. These guys were doing a lot of things wrong. ROH: No, you didn't mention that? Who was the Sheriff? RR: It was LeRoy Hadley. I was representing a guy by the name of Ralph Anderson. He was a federal prisoner being housed in Ogden and waiting for his appeal in the tenth circuit. He appeared to have the run of the jail. Every time I'd go up to jail to see another client I'd see him hanging around. He wasn't in a cell, he was hanging around. One of these guys that had tattoos on his arm and had a pack of cigarettes rolled up in his shirt sleeve tried to hire me to represent him and he wanted an appeal to the tenth circuit. He was in jail for burglarizing a couple of post offices. He and his brother-in-law would drive a particularly adapted automobile up to these small post offices, break in, wheel the safe out and put it in the trunk of the car and drive up into the mountains and blow it up with dynamite and take out the money orders and postage stamps. He said, "Dick, I'll hire you. I'll give you $10,000 to represent me. I've got $60,000 stolen in postal money orders up in Pocatello. I can sell those for $20,000 and I'll give you half of it." I said, "No thanks. Not interested." Anyway, as time went on I talked to the guy and one day his wife came to me and said, "Mr. Richards, they're going to let Andy out of jail again this weekend. I'm afraid if he gets caught out of jail when he's supposed to be in jail the sheriff will say he escaped and he'll get an extra 5 or 10 years punishment." 76 When I found out they were letting him out of jail I said, "I've got to tell the judge. I am an officer of the court so I have to tell Judge Anderson, the federal judge in Salt Lake, what's happening here." I called the judge and he said, "You ought to call Judge Ritter." I said, "Judge, I don't like Judge Ritter and he doesn't like me so I'm telling you. I've now done my duty." As a result of what happened here a grand jury was called and the grand jury heard the evidence that the sheriff would let him out on weekends and he'd go burglarize someplace and share what he stole with the sheriff. The grand jury said to contact him and ask him to give some specifics about one of the burglaries that only the burglar would know. We'll find out if he's telling the truth. He said, "I knocked off the Red Pantry Café on the corner of Ogden Avenue and 25th Street. I got in by kicking in the back door with my foot and I left a shoe print on the door so I had to get rid of the shoes afterward. When I went in I got into the cigarette machines, I got into jukeboxes and I stole the stuff out of there. One thing that was very peculiar is when I got the jukebox money, there were a lot of quarters with red fingernail polish on them. I don't know what that meant, but that's what I took." They called in the man that owned the Red Pantry Café and said, "What about the money in the jukebox? Is there anything unusual about it?" he said, "Oh yeah, part of those quarters are what I call show quarters. I put red fingernail polish on the ones I put in so I get them back. When somebody saw other people put in for music they'd play music. They were show coins. I got to keep them and 77 the guy that owned the music company would take all the others." That was proof that my guy stole the money out of the jukebox. Finally, they put the sheriff on trial. When it was known that the sheriff let the guy out, his attorney said, "Sheriff, isn't it true that the reason you let him out was to take him to your home and show him what good law abiding citizens lived like and to get a little spirituality in your life?" The guy said, "No, that isn't true." The lawyer asked the question, "Well, why did you let him out?" He said, "Greed, Mr. Alsup. Greed." They convicted the sheriff and the sheriff was put in jail down in Davis County. ROH: What year was this? RR: I don't know what year it was. I went back to Washington shortly after that. The sheriff came up to me one time when I was alone and said, "Richard, you son of bitch. I'll get you for this." He threatened me, but I didn't say anything about it. He went to jail and some of the other public officials lost their jobs and it kind of cleaned up the community. The interesting part of that is that one of the guys that we had as our plaintiff in our action against the county officials was the lieutenant governor's father. He ran a janitorial supply place in Ogden on 25th Street. His name was George Bell. His son is now the Lieutenant governor. It took courage on the part of his father to act as a plaintiff in the case. It was a taxpayer's lawsuit filed against him because they were crooked. The

Transcript of an oral history interview with R. William Pemberton, conducted by Sarah Yahm on 24 April 2015, as part of the Norwich Voices oral history project of the Sullivan Museum and History Center. Richard William Pemberton attended Norwich University as a member of the Norwich University Class of 1949, although he did not graduate with his class; much of his interview focuses on Pemberton's childhood and family history as well as his experiences in the Civil Air Patrol during World War II. His later career as a telephone engineer is also discussed. Particular attention is paid to his memories of the Grenadiers student band at a time when its membership consisted mainly of World War II veterans attending Norwich University in the 1940s. ; 1 R. William Pemberton, NU 1949, Oral History Interview April 24, 2015 Interviewed by Sarah Yahm R. WILLIAM PEMBERTON: (inaudible) [00:00:01] SARAH YAHM: I think our levels are perfect, actually. RWP: Did I forget something? Good voice? SY: Good voice. So, could you introduce yourself for the tape? RWP: OK, I am R. William Pemberton, and a, was a student at Norwich in class of 1949. Now I'm being interviewed by a young lady named Sarah, and we're going to talk about my life, I guess, we're going to talk about it. SY: We are, we're going to talk about your life. So, where were you born? RWP: I was born in Greenport, Long Island, New York, 20th day of June, 1926. SY: And what'd your parents do? RWP: Well, my parents? That's a very interesting story. My mother, Gladys Kruger, came to Greenport as a schoolteacher, she was born up in – a pure German parentage -- up near [Lockport?], New York, on Lake Ontario. And she came to Greenport as a schoolteacher, for art, teaching art. And then met my Dad. My Dad was the oldest of 13 children, and he had hardly any education at all because he had to go to work right away to help support the family. So, this was right during the Depression era. And because, back in those days -- when women, teachers weren't married, and they didn't have babies and so on, so -- they both went to work for my uncle, on a truck farm in Orient, Long Island, which was seven miles east of where we lived, and then -- we were there until I was five years old. And -- SY: What's your first memory? The first thing that you remember, what is it? 2 RWP: First thing I remember. I don't remember being any, a child, naturally. In Greenport, I remember being on the farm down there, I can remember that, when they rebuilt the road, and realigned the road and made it concrete to Orient Point, to the Point. And that would have been, probably in 1928, '29. SY: Nineteen twenty-eight. RWP: Nineteen twenty-eight, yes. SY: Twenty-nine, OK. RWP: Yeah, and, like I said, we were there until 1931, when I was old enough to go to Kindergarten, so then we moved back to the village of Greenport. But I have one, one story I'd like to tell, I don't know whether (laughter) -- because that was during Prohibition times. And the farmhouse that we had was right near the Long Island Sound. And, this one night, my dad got my mother and I up, and there was a lot of shooting going on and so on, and had -- rum boat pulling out of the village, and. But they caught this one, the Artemis, right up in back of our farm. They shot the boat up quite a bit, then the, the crews had thrown off part of their load, and couple of men got wounded and so on and so forth. And after it had all quieted down, I -- never heard the conversation, but -- my father said to my mother, "You know," he says, "Glad, I'm going to go up and" -- he was quite a swimmer -- and he says, "I'm going to go up and we're going to find some of that booze." And by God. He went up in that rowboat, and that whole farmhouse attic was full of [Haig & Haig's Pinch?] bottle scotch, and Goiden Wedding whiskey (laughter). I can remember that we had a lot of parties then. And, he carried that into the village, and -- I'll continue with this, OK? -- and of course, back in those days we had no radio, we had no TV and things like that, we didn't even have a vehicle, a car. And lo 3 and behold, I got into music quite a bit, and there was a place in the village that sold records. So this one Christmas, Dad shows up with a Philco, that's a radio that's pull the front open and it had the place for the records and that, he bartered whiskey for that. SY: And what music did he play -- RWP: -- but that, at that -- SY: -- on that record player? RWP: But prior to that, that was another thing, too. Prior to that, we always, we sat and talked a lot after dinner. And that was, that was one of -- as far as parents, I couldn't have asked for better parents in my life. SY: What'd you talk about? RWP: We talked -- everything. I mean, you know, we'd discuss everything, you know what I'm saying. And I can only remember one time that my mother was crying because we didn't have any money. We had a dollar left in the whole house, you've got to know my dad. "Well," he said -- it was a Sunday, and it was a rainy day -- he said, "We've got a dollar," he says. "Why don't we go to the movies this afternoon?" So here we go, we put on our raingear and we head down to the village, we're walking down through. And wouldn't you know, I'm walking ahead of him. And here's a dollar bill, floating down in the gutter. So I picked it up and handed it to my father, and there we had two dollars. So we had a dollar, we to the movies, and we had another dollar left over. But that was the only time that I ever remember that there was ever anything said or done about the fact we had nothing. SY: So you don't remember growing up with anxiety about it, even though your parents must have been frightened? 4 RWP: No. No. Well, they never showed it to me, and they never argued, never. There was never any coarse words ever, and that was the wonderful thing. And I learned an awful lot. And my mother was, like I said, a very learned person. And my dad, of course, had no education. And she taught us to read a lot, and we read an awful lot. And my father, for what education he had, was the most knowledgeable person I've ever talked to. He was, he was really great. And oh, it was, it was a wonderful upbringing, you know. SY: Did you play outside a lot, on this farm? RWP: Oh, yes. I was outside all the time. I was in the water all the time. I swam like, you know, an eel, good lord's sakes. And, and -- from the Depression, I will never eat another rabbit, we ate too many rabbits, you know. And at that time I was allergic to seafood, and I couldn't eat seafood, which was very prevalent at the place there, but I'm out of that now. SY: Did you catch the rabbits? Did your dad catch the rabbits? RWP: Dad shot them. They worked on the farm, we always had fresh vegetables, and so on, from there. SY: So you always had food to eat? RWP: Just regular food. Well, it was regular food, it was, you know, nothing special. Just potatoes, the meat of the rabbit or whatever, chicken. Of course vegetables, they have all kinds of vegetables. You had the cauliflower, you had the onions, you had the beans, you had the cucumbers, and all that sort of stuff. And with the meal, desserts (inaudible) [00:06:43]. The folks smoked an awful lot. Everybody smoked back in those days. I mean, I never did, but whatever. So. But it was good. And of course, I went through the school system there, in the village, and I played a lot of sports. And that gets to the point, 5 working towards how I came to come here. I played a lot of sports then, when I turned 17 in June of 1943, my dad gave me permission to enlist in the Air Force. And so with his permission, I got on the train, rode 100 miles into New York City, enlisted in the Air Corps, Army Air Corps Aviation Cadet Program, and was accepted, physically and mentally, and they recommended that I join the Civil Air Patrol unit, which, when I got back home, I did, it was out of [Patchogue?], Long Island, which is in the middle of the island, we call it McArthur Field, and I flew quite a few missions as an observer, looking for German submarines, from Patchogue, or McArthur Field, up into, up to the Cape, and then back down again, it was about a two-hour flight. SY: Let's back up a second, let's rewind a little bit. So do you remember Pearl Harbor? RWP: Yes, I do, very much so. SY: Where were you, what were you thinking? RWP: I was, -- we had a daybed in the living room of the house that we rented, and I remember, we had the radio on at that time. And that's when I heard about Pearl Harbor. And actually, the very interesting part about the war, too, was the fact that my dad was too old to go, he was, just too young for World War I, just a little bit too old for World War II. But he had six brothers. His youngest brother was a year older than I am. So there were seven of us that were in service, plus three brothers-in-law. So there was a total of ten out of one family, and only one got shot up pretty bad he was in the Marines. And he got shot up pretty bad in [Guadalcanal?], out in the Pacific. But he, he made it. SY: But only one? RWP: Only 1 out of 10. 6 SY: So do you remember, you were a young boy, you might have been a bit of a hothead, were you like eager to get into the fight? Or -- RWP: Yeah, well definitely. I always wanted to fly. You know, I was always, always, you know, I built model airplanes and all that. As a matter of fact, I got a whole bunch of them out here I'm trying to get rid of, -- SY: Had you seen an airplane before, at that point? RWP: Yeah. Well, that's another thing. I don't know where the money came from, I -- when we moved back to the village, I was over five. Probably seven or eight years old. A barnstormer came in, an old biplane, open cockpit, and landed in the field up there, and somehow Dad -- I don't know where Dad got the money, but -- we, he and I, went up in that plane, and I was hooked right from that day on. I mean, you know, . And I flew a few other times, in private aircraft, before I went in the Civil Air Patrol. SY: So you knew, you knew that's what you wanted to do? RWP: Oh yes, definitely. SY: From when you were a little boy? RWP: No. No, I always wanted to fly and I wanted, and all that. I, you know, a lot of guys went with the Naval Air arm, I wanted to go with the Army air, you know -- SY: Why did you want to go with the Army and not the Navy -- RWP: I don't really know, you know? I, I think about it and I laugh because I had to land on a carrier. I thought, you know, I might have trouble land-- but no, I never had trouble with that. There was, you know, short field landings and takeoff, I always was good at that, but. I don't know, most of the guys went in the, in the Army. Matter of fact, whole backfield of me, I've got a football picture, the whole backfield went, the whole team 7 went and was in service. It was great; we only lost one guy out of the team. He was killed in Normandy. SY: So it was expected that you would go in? RWP: Yeah. I mean, it was expected -- SY: And that you would volunteer -- RWP: Yeah. SY: -- not wait to be drafted? RWP: Yeah, oh, I volunteered, no, I wouldn't be drafted. SY: So OK, so tell me about these flights from the island up to the Cape and back, what were you thinking about on those flights, what were they like? RWP: Well, it was -- in a way, it was stupid. We were looking for German submarines. You don't see a German submarine during the day. There were German submarines all over the place up there, at night, and they came up to charge their batteries, they'd come up at night, or they'd come up on a foggy day and you couldn't see them. But we flew and we looked, and I saw a lot of whales and so on and so forth, but never saw any submarines. SY: Was it still cool, though? Did you still enjoy it? RWP: Oh sure, I enjoyed it, it was good, lord. Saying, here I am, about 17 years old, (laughter) it was all -- SY: Seventeen years old? RWP: -- private aircraft. SY: You're in your own plane, you're looking at whales? RWP: Looking for whal-- well, we'd see whales, yeah, you'd see whales and stuff. (laughter) No German submarines. 8 SY: Did you each, at a certain point, were you like, "We're not going to see the submarines," or did you still hope to see one, or think you'd see one? RWP: Always hoped, you always hoped. It was, there was a chance. You know, there was always chance. Of course you had, we had -- in the village, we had shipyards, and they were making wooden minesweepers, and they had another section that they made the metal landing craft that they men, the LSTs. So that was a, a spot that could have gotten shot up a little bit. And then right across the way, in the Sound, we had New London, Connecticut, which -- you had the submarine base over there. So there was, it was very possible that you could have seen. But not during the day, oh yes. SY: Do you remember what it was like? Because you were, because you were still in the US during the war, do you remember -- were you living on base, or were you living -- RWP: No, I commuted. I had, and I had special gas privileges so I could go with the car, Dad's car. We had the car by that time. He went to work in the shipyards. He did the bright work on the, well, the varnish work and stuff, on the wooden boats. And he, we had to get gas rationed, of course. So I would drive the 50 miles to -- no, I wasn't on base, no. SY: You commuted to the war. (laughter) Did your mother go to work in the factories then, was she one of the Rosie the Riveters? RWP: Well -- my mother? No, (inaudible) [00:12:50]. But by that time she had, they, both parents worked all the time anyway. We never had anything. By that time, she had gone into the library. And she was, she was to become the librarian. And she had to go, she went back to Syracuse in the summer, the early summers, before I went in service, to get certification, and I used to go up and stay with my grandmother up in Occott, New York, 9 which is right on Lake Ontario. Oh no, we had, you know, it was the usual thing there, they had the war bond drives, and they had the victory gardens, and so on. SY: Do you remember rationing, did you have a ration card? Rationing? RWP: Oh, rationing. Yes, we were rationed for everything, yeah. Good lord, yes. Even the cigarettes-- of course I used to make the cigarettes for the folks, they had a little machine. You put the stuff in there, and you roll it, and so on and so forth. And you had to correct it, you know, so it wasn't too tight and all that sort of stuff, for them. But they all smoked pretty hard, Dad smoked a pipe a lot. SY: But you never smoked, why not? RWP: Oh no no, I never did while I was in service, and I never did until I got out, and I never started smoking until I went to work for [New York Tel?]. Then I started with cigars, and then I smoked pipe, I quit about 20 years ago. SY: Well, it certainly didn't -- RWP: My wife, and my wife -- SY: -- cut your life short. RWP: -- and I quit about the same time. You know, no problem, we just said, "We're going to stop," so we stopped. (inaudible) [00:14:15] a lot of people have problems and all that, is what I'm saying. SY: Yeah. But you didn't. Any other, do you remember -- I don't know. Blackout curtains, and things like that? RWP: Oh, yeah. We had blackout curtains. And of course we had the, the lights on the cars, to dim the (inaudible) [00:14:31] all that sort of stuff. We had a -- antiaircraft battery, stationed right there in Greenport, they had, up on the Sound, they had guns in 10 placements places, and of course there was [Fort Terry?] off the end of Long Island, which is now, was a hoof-and-mouth-disease lab, but at that time it was a fort and had heavy guns there, and quite a few people, who were in the artillery, that came from Northfield. And there were guys stationed there that I knew. SY: Interesting. RWP: But no, it was, it was an interesting time. I, I don't know what else I can talk about, about it, we've -- SY: What music were you listening to, and what were you doing for fun? RWP: Well, it was big band stuff, mostly. Of course, when I was a kid before the war, at that time, I'd jump on the dawn train and go down to New York City and listen, you know, you could go to a movie down there, and before the movie -- or, after the movie -- they'd have a big band, one of the big bands would come up out there, and they'd play, and then I'd go on the train, got on the train, come on home again at night. SY: When your dad traded whiskey for the record player, what records did you buy? RWP: I, well, the record -- probably got, still, a lot of them -- well, most of it was [Artie Shaw?], Benny Goodman. Tommy Dorsey and Jimmy Dorsey, and on the big, all the big bands and stuff. SY: And is that still your favorite music? RWP: And then it was on the radio, too, they had the -- and Martin Block were on. Make Believe Ballroom. And he played for an hour at night, he played, all the big band stuff. And then they had, at that time, there were two magazines out, the Metronome and the Down Beat, came out every month and told who was in the bands and all that stuff. It was interesting. 11 SY: And did you mention before that you played music? RWP: Yes. SY: What did you play? RWP: Well, I played saxophone. I had a big band in high school. And, and after the war, of course, came back here and, and then from here, when I went down home, one of the guys from town had, was a saxophone player, and he had gotten wounded pretty badly in the Pacific, and so as a rehab situation, we put together a six- or seven-piece band for him, and we played up until '64, I guess, played real steady. SY: Really? What steady gigs? RWP: It was good stuff. SY: All over the island? RWP: Yes, all over the island, all over the end of the island, worked mostly nights. Played country clubs, dinners, and weddings. We played American and Polish, had a lot of Polish people down there. That was another thing about my village, it was very diversified. And I have to laugh to tell you -- to talk about diversification in Burlington and so, it's not diversification. When I grew up down there, we had every nationality in that village you could think of, I was -- SY: So who was there, in the village? RWP: -- I was at their house, they were at my house, you know, we, you know, I ate all the different foods. SY: So your mom was German, there were a lot of Polish folks in the village. Who else was there? What food were you eating when you were at their houses? What do you remember? 12 RWP: Well, that, people we had, we had Swedish, we had a lot of Irish, German. We had every national-- no Chinese, we didn't have any Chinese. They had the two brick yards in the area. SY: Any Jews? RWP: Hmm? SY: Any Jews? RWP: Yes, we had a very good Jewish community. Very good community. And then -- mostly merchants, of course. No, it was, it was a very, a great place to grow up, really. SY: And who had the best food? RWP: It's a good question. There was a restaurant in town called Mitchell's, and we used to end up there quite a bit. And -- always had good hamburgers, and all that, and beer. And during the war, it was great. When I went home a couple of times the (inaudible) [00:18:21] back with people and guys, and, guys and gals, and. A lot, and the summers were very interesting, you had a lot of, you know, city people would come out and so on. The boats and things. SY: What were they like? RWP: Nice. A lot of fun. SY: What were the city people like? And did you guys, was it, did you interact with them? RWP: Yeah, somewhat. I wasn't, I didn't chase women, I could have chased the girls, but there were quite a few girls around there with me. They had a Jersey colony, they were in what they called Sandy Beach, they had all the cottages there. They, they were all nice people, you know, they had nice people. I had the Hamptons of the district, I don't know if you knew the Hamptons and all that, Montauk and so on. 13 SY: Oh boy. RWP: Yeah. And. (laughter) But no, they were nice people. And the whole village were nice people. SY: Do you remember -- RWP: I could tell one story about, about the colored people. I don't know what you're going to do with this, but. SY: Well, we're going to -- RWP: We had a gal named Josephine. She was colored. She was ahead of me in high school, a couple years. She married a fellow named -- we called him Beano. And he ended up, after the war, as our mailman. And Josephine was in the organizations, and everything (inaudible) [00:19:47]. In '66 we moved back here, in that summer, Beano and Josephine show up with their little RV and the kids, they stayed around here, and that following morning, we were sitting here at the kitchen table, having breakfast and everything, I said, "Josephine, how's the village doing these days?" She says, "Bill," she says, "you know, if it wasn't for those damn niggers, it would be fine." And I don't -- SY: But she herself was black -- RWP: -- know what you might call it, black. The reasoning was this. Coloreds that I knew and grew up with were real old colored people, they were very proud. They knew enough. We had an, an area, a time there when they couldn't get people to work on the farms. They'd bring the, the coloreds came up from the South, and they had their colored, you know, they had their camps that they stayed in. And every year, a certain number of them would stay on welfare. And the poor people -- I mean, I saw it when I went into the service -- 14 SY: Do you want to get some water? RWP: No, maybe in a minute. They, they got freedom and they couldn't handle it. And consequently, they, you know, it was, they got to be bad, it's bad right now, they tell me, down there. But that's what she meant. She was one of the proud, you know, the proud type that was there before. SY: Interesting. So let's go back to the end of the war. Do you remember the day the war ended? RWP: Which one? SY: World War II. RWP: Of course I wasn't in service, and I went to Camp Dix first, and. Before I went down to -- Biloxi on the troop train, my work, for a couple of weeks, with a German prisoner. That German prisoner was there -- SY: Wait, wait. So you're, you're flying up and down, that's for the Army -- RWP: That was before, Army, yeah. SY: OK. And then -- RWP: Right, I reported to the Air Force, but I reported to Fort Dix. And then from Fort Dix I went, troop train, to Biloxi, Mississippi, for basic, basic training. Went through basic, did more testing and all that stuff, qualified for fighter pilot, and you asked me about the end of the war. Well, OK. So we went into training, [first line?], so on and so forth, that came to an end and about the time it ended, the war in Germany was over. So that relieved all of these pilots, bombardiers and navigators, to be used wherever they needed. And we never did go to -- we got wings and stuff, but we never went to, through into transition as to what we're going to fly, end up flying. So I never flew a fighter. 15 SY: So did you think, for a while, you were going to go to the Pacific? RWP: No, well. The guys came back from Europe, what they needed they took to the Pacific and so on, they had, you know, they had a lot of guys that had the experience, and they took them. So another guy and I, Teddy Sutherland, ran a, they send us to Scott Field, Illinois, we ran a mess hall there. And then the war in Japan was over. So there wasn't any, you know, they ask if you want to stay in, no. I'd had enough. I didn't, you know, I could see that it wasn't going to be what I really wanted to do -- SY: Why not? RWP: I don't know. Because it's, I really wasn't the (inaudible) [00:23:25], I was a maverick anyway. So. SY: You didn't want to be told what to do? RWP: I went by the rules but I wasn't, I was, you know, anyway. I had a lot of, I was quite a guy. But I liked to fly, loved to fly. Anyway. So I got out, and. SY: What about those, you said there were German prisoners of war? RWP: Yeah. SY: Where, where? RWP: Down -- oh, yeah. Oh, they were all over the place. They had them in Maine, they had them over in New York, they had them down at the camp, Fort Dix, working on the warehouses. SY: Did you have any interactions with them? Did you speak German? Your mother did. RWP: I spoke to them, they couldn't, no. They, very little, you know, English, they couldn't. Very little German I knew. They weren't very friendly, I mean. They were, but that was just for a couple of weeks, and then we, I was gone. So I got out of service, I didn't know 16 what, we are getting to the point now. We've still got to go back to high school, you know. I played quite a bit of sports, OK? So it got down to the last, last baseball game of the season, and I'm going to graduate from high school, and I'm going to go in the Air Force. And at the last baseball game, and I was supposed, I knew I was supposed to be in school, I didn't go to school in the morning. I (inaudible) [00:24:42] at noon, and I went in to get dressed in the afternoon, right before the game, and the coach called me over, he, "Billy," he goes, "you can't dress." I said, "What do you mean, I can't dress." He says, "You didn't go to school this morning." I said, "So? But you need me." He says, "Yeah, we need you, but the rules say you can't play." And this is not me at all. I got mad. I went in, got my uniform, and I threw it on his desk. I says, "I quit." OK, that's Friday. Monday morning came over the -- thing in the room, to the teacher, that Bill Pemberton report to the coach's office. I went down, it was my father, who worked at the school. It was the coach. The coach says, "Bill," he says, "I hate to tell you this, but that little thing you pulled Friday afternoon cost you a full four-year scholarship at Ithaca." SY: No. RWP: Yeah. SY: How did it? Really? RWP: Yeah. SY: You didn't know you had the scholarship? RWP: No, I didn't have any ideas. I mean, I didn't care. I was, I was, wanted to go off, go flying anyway. So anyway, after the war, I came home, I didn't know what I was going to do, Mom wanted me to go to New York City, to school. I didn't want to go to college in the city; I'm not a city guy. And I, one of the instructors I'd had in the Army, he went 17 to North Carolina, work of the Scotland Flying Service, and he wanted me to come down there and go crop-dusting with him, I said, I might go do that. Then I got a letter from Norwich. Would you want to come up there and play football for us? I said to my mother, "Where the hell's Vermont, and what is Norwich?" (laughter) So anyway, I did show, and I did, I said, I saw your flyer, then they. I went back to school down there for a month, and then brushed up on some of my math, which was not that great. And then next I reported up here, and I started school here and -- SY: As a cadet, or as a civilian? RWP: No, no. I was civilian. We, anybody that, we had World War II, had experience. And so that's how I came here, I came here in January of '46. And at that time, the feeling was very negative between the village and Norwich. Very negative. SY: Why? RWP: And I have to think. And I have to say that the group, the people that I came in with -- nobody talked about the war anyway. I mean, they never did. Three guys were in my room, two, three of us, and all three pilots, nobody ever talked about who was where, and wherever. SY: Why were things hostile between the town and the college? RWP: Because -- I hate to say this, but I, I think that, you know, they, they always figured that the people, this was a -- Vermont is Vermont. And back in those days, we were, you know, you were, it was really rugged people that lived there. Not very much education. And the people that came here, and got educated, and went on, they felt, well, they didn't like it because they were, they thought they were better. And I guess they had that 18 attitude, that they were, they felt they were better than them and they really weren't. I mean, I -- SY: It wasn't because the cadets were rabble-rousing? RWP: No no, not that much. No, they weren't downtown that much anyway. So as, like I said, I worked all over the place. There, I was, there used to be a Firestone store down, down across the way, [Nobby Knees?] is down there now, I worked as a lowly saw mill or wherever, Cumberland Farms is out, further outside of town there. I worked up at the airport, worked there. I was a, matter of fact, I've got a picture over there someplace, a lifeguard. The first lifeguard that they had at the pool, in '46. Myself, and another guy named Frank, from Norwich. That's, I've got a picture of that over there somewhere. SY: What were you saying about the guys in your room? You said you didn't talk about the war, and then I think you were about to -- RWP: Didn't talk about the war at all. SY: -- to go somewhere with that. RWP: Matter of fact, one of the guys, the other guy, my bud, Buschor, was in my class. Bud Baschor and Bob Cole. Bob was a Navy pilot, and Bud was Army, big. Four-engine guy. SY: That's the picture of you as a lifeguard? RWP: That was me when I was at Norwich, anyway, that one, there. (inaudible) [00:29:32] SY: Look at you, that dapper young man. RWP: That was. SY: And you're lifeguarding. In those little short-shorts. 19 RWP: Oh, yeah. I still do. (laughter) I still do. I still do, by golly. And of course that was high school there, too, but anyway. This was my uncle. He was in the Marines and got shot up during, in Okinawa, Guadalcanal. SY: Did he survive? RWP: He, he survived, yeah. He just, matter of fact, he just, he just died, just a few months ago. SY: Just a few months ago. RWP: Yeah, he was 92. SY: Wow. There's a lot of longevity in your family. RWP: Yeah, very much so. Not to have made it, of course, I was home on one leave. SY: OK. So you're at Norwich, you're working in town, you're playing football -- RWP: Yeah, I'm going to school. Going to school. SY: -- You're going to school, and what was it like for you? How, did you like it? RWP: Oh, I loved it, I loved it. But it didn't love me. And the fact was that I had trouble with the higher math. And I had, and I did my two years, and by that time I was married and we had a daughter, Jo-Anne, who was born in Montpelier. SY: How did you meet your wife? RWP: I'll tell you a story. (laughter) I was working at the airport up here, Barre/Montpelier Airport. And one of the guys that came in there was a fellow from town, I'm not going to mention names on it, and he was taking flying lessons, and so on. And he says, "Well, what are you doing for excitement?" And I said, "Nothing," I says, "I'm working, and I'm going to college." He says, "Do you, would you like to go out with me sometime on a double date?" I said, "I guess so." So I said, "You set it up," so he did. And we went out on a double date, he set me up with a girl named Doris Gokie, from up on Main Street, I 20 didn't really care for Doris too well. And he, at that time, was going with my wife, Winona. So at night -- of course, at that time, the corner store, down there, was open at night. So I'd walk down, get a cup of coffee, and she'd walk down to get a cup of coffee. And i started walking her home. So it got to be a thing after a while. Roger's a nice guy. Anyway, but. That's another story too. We were both at Scott Field. I didn't -- of course, he says, he said, "Well, I was going to radio school at Scott Field." I said, "Well, I was at Scott Field, anyway." He said, "I was going with this girl in [O'Fallon?], Illinois. I said, oh, is that right? He says, "Yeah, I got her picture." "Oh, I says, yeah, her name was" -- I forget what it was now -- I was going with the same girl. (laughter) Didn't know it. SY: You guys. RWP: She was also high school. It was, it was platonic. It wasn't any big deal, no, no. But I didn't -- that little redhead. Isn't that so. Anyways, so. So it came to pass that Winona and I did get married. I was still working at the airport. And at that time, what I would do, I, they'd drop me off down at the, in Montpelier, and I'd hitchhike home from there. It's, you know, hitchhike. So this older couple picked me up one night, and we're driving through, I'm in the backseat of the car. The guy says, "You know Roger Sears?" And I, I'd mentioned that name, OK. I says, "Yeah, I know him well." "God," he says, "terrible what happened to him." I says, "Well, what happened to him?" He says, "some guy stole his girlfriend." I said, "Oh, is that right." (laughter) I wasn't about to say, "Me." SY: Yeah. They'd throw you out of that car. RWP: Dump me right on the road somewhere. SY: Exactly. That's hilarious. 21 RWP: But no, it was -- I loved Northfield, I loved the people; it just did remind me so much of home. But the, the main thing is, I think, and I had two brother-in-laws that never, never went to school. And they -- I wonder what word to use, but I can't think of it now -- they always felt that they were inferior, but they were not, you know. My dad's the same way. He never felt that way, though, because he, like I said, you could talk to him about anything in Eden, and these guys were the same way. They were really workers. They just, an inferiority complex, is what they had. SY: OK. So you were, were you an engineering major? RWP: I was mechanical, supposedly. SY: So though the math was hard. RWP: Yeah. And of course, like I said, I (inaudible) [00:33:58] not going home, then when I went home, and I worked, you know, I started work or what. SY: So how did you end up leaving Norwich? RWP: I didn't, I couldn't pass. I -- calculus and stuff, I could not see. And then -- SY: You didn't want to switch majors? RWP: No, I couldn't, back in those days, if I remember, I'm trying to remember. There wasn't items to switch to. That's when I went back down there, and I -- because I figured it'd be more employment down there -- and a friend of my father's worked for New York Tel, and he said that they were hiring. So I went into New York City, and I interviewed, the man says very quietly, he says, "You know, Mr. Pemberton, I can't hire you." I says, "What do you mean, you can't hire me." He says, "You're overqualified." I says, "Oh, my." He says, "You had two years of college," I says, "Look. I just got out of the service, I'm married, I got a daughter. All I know about the telephone company is, they 22 drive green trucks." I says, "I want a job." He says, "All right, if you're so smart, I'll start you out at a dollar an hour." I said, "Fine." And I went seven years, I learned the business, and then I was, of course I was in management. I didn't know it, but I was in the management pool. And one in engineering. And I, they, and -- this is what I like about this compared to Norwich -- Norwich is a hell of a good school, don't get me wrong, but what I had to do, I worked at what I did and earned my education as an engineer. And I did what I did, you know. And I did, and I proved it. And I never, I always loved every bit of it. It was, and it was recognized by the honor society, you know, the National Honor Society, because of being an engineer. But I did better by going there, and doing that, than I had if I'd finished here. SY: You learned, you're a person -- RWP: You see what I'm saying? I worked right at it, I learned, you know, I learned the whole job. I worked the seven years, knew the business, then I, and applied myself to it. SY: So did you ever end up getting a degree? Getting the college degree? RWP: No, no. SY: No? But you didn't need it because you knew how to do it? RWP: Didn't need it. I know, I did, I did it, and I had my titles and everything else. And then in '66, the, I did, I mean, it's surprising, what I did. I even surprised myself. I never brought it home, that was one of those things, I never discussed it with my wife, with the family, or anyone else. Pressure never bothered me, I just went at it, but I always took care of it. In '66, I was very disenchanted, became disenchanted with Bell. SY: Why? 23 RWP: Because the fact was, number one. Our growth, on the island, was dropping down. They had, what they had done, had centralized the engineering, put us in Patchogue, which is the middle of the island -- in my district, I had the Hamptons, and so on, which we will, we can discuss if you want to discuss -- and it meant, and I had to commute 100 miles a day, 50 miles to work. Then to get a company car and go all the way to Montauk Point, or Southampton, or something like that. And then they started to, they started with their college hiring program. Where they hired these new guys right out of college, put them in second- or third-line jobs, and. They didn't know the business, and all they worried about was the bottom line, which is fine, but you're there to provide service. You're there, and that's what I did for 50 years, provide service. And -- intimidation came in, and stuff like that, which we'd never had before, Bell was a, a fun place to work. SY: Intimidation? Who was intimidating who? RWP: The, the management people, you know, were intimidating the working people. You know, you make my name bad if you don't do a good job, and I get a bad name out of it, you're not going to get your raise, you're not going to get anything. What the heck is this, I've never heard of this before. So anyway. So that's what happened. So in '66, I contacted -- one of the guys in the band was, [Walt Henry?], he played guitar. And he, he lived up the street here, I of course, I had an apartment over in my, you know, up there. We went to school together. He became [Dufresne and Henry Engineering?], out of Springfield, Vermont, hell of a nice guy. Very good friends with General Todd, I know General Todd real well, too. And he, I told him, I was looking for work up here. And of course, he said, "I don't have any use for telephone engineer on my -- but," he says, "Gardener Hopwood does, do you remember him?" I says, "Yes." Gardener started here. 24 I knew him, and I knew his wife, and then quit here and went, and he finished at UVM. He and his dad bought up a lot of small telephone companies. They put them all together, and they sold it all to Continental Telephone. And that's when I happened to call Gardener. He had just made the sale, and he was looking for a plant engineer. He says, "Can you come up," I says, "Yes, I can." So I came up, and we rode all over, all the properties and everything else, and he hired me. I was the first management person to ever quit the Bell System. SY: Really? RWP: Yes. SY: And was your wife, your wife wanted to come back home? RWP: Not really. SY: Really, she didn't want to? RWP: No. She didn't -- well, she didn't care. I mean, you know? But it was the best thing that ever happened, to have take her down there. I mean, she met a lot of really nice people and stuff like that, she's -- not that, you know, she was a country girl, but she still -- and we were country people, even down there, but it was, it was a different life. 18 years' difference, you know, and she did well here. Did well. SY: And were your parents still alive? RWP: They were still alive, yes. That was the sad part of it, was I had to leave the folks down there, and we had adjacent properties. And, but, you know, and stuff like that. But they saw the kids and all the grandkids. So I came up with Continental Telephone, and I built an empire. And it got to the point where I still worked right out of the house here, and this, I still had to thank Norwich for all of this, you know? But you know, you've seen 25 how I happened to get here. I mean, if I'd gone to Ithaca, who knows what would have happened, I have no idea. No idea. Because Rick, he -- my son, Rick, was in Vietnam, and he said, "Dad, why didn't you stay in the Air Force?" I says, "Yeah, if I'd stayed in the Air Force maybe I didn't make it, and you wouldn't be here either. So it came to pass that we had quite an operation, I had three engineering groups reporting to me, blah blah blah, and so on, big time. And they bought a bunch of properties on the West Coast. And they called me out to Liverpool, which is our headquarters, and the boss sat me down, he says, "Bill," he says, "I want you to move down to Dulles Air Force, air base, down in Washington. Take over all the engineering for the country." I said, "No." He says, "What do you mean, are you afraid?" I said, "No." I said, "I can do it, I know I can, but," I said, "I'm not going to move into a city. I'm not going to move my kids and my wife again." So of course they made it, you know how it happened. They made it bad enough for me so that -- not, they didn't, you know, give me a hard time or anything, but -- so I left them and went to work for here. Telephone, you know, telephone, [TDS?], down here. And I, and I worked their stuff for quite a while. And then they got to be kind of weird, too, so I didn't like what they were doing. SY: What were they doing? RWP: The fact was, I was with TES, not TDS. And I was billed out very heavily to all these telephone compan-- which I did not like. I thought, you know, the cost for engineering was too much. You know, I'm here to provide a service, yes, but it was, the cost of the other companies was too much. And I got a lot of pressure from, from Wisconsin, to try and get extra work on the outside, and I had more work than I could take care of, it would, I only had two men. And they were trainees, at that time, so. Consequently, I 26 never said I'd never go back to Bell, but I went back with Bell. I went back with Bell up here. And my son-in-law, at that time, was alive, he was working for Bell. I went and interviewed, and they said, "We didn't realize there were people like you with that much experience." I said, "Well, it just so happens that I am." So I went back with them, and had a good time. And then, in '94, I retired, spent five years bridged the Long Island time, 18 years. In '94, I retired, and I went, and I knew [Bob Hayden?] from -- he headed up the building and grounds at Norwich. And at that time, Norwich was affiliated with Vermont College. And they were looking for a plant superintendent, over there. So they hired me to go over there, and I signed a contract for a year, as superintendent for the grounds over there. That's what I enjoyed; I did the time, got along good with the teachers and everything else. And then Bell went back and started hiring contract engineers, so I decided, I went back, I worked for an outfit called, [Mountain Ltd?], out of Maine -- Sacco, Maine -- as a contract engineer. And I went on for a few years, got my office, had an office right out here. And that's the story of my life, then I finally retired, and. And here I am. SY: And what do you do with yourself, now that you're retired? RWP: You won't believe this, but I have a camp. In Roxbury, which is only five miles from here, and I love that. And I'm there. Not only that, I do my plants here in the summertime, I have a big garden with plants, a flower garden, out back. I don't do carpenter work like I used to, I built the porch out here and so on and so forth, but. I've stayed busy. And I'm not lonely, I have a lot of good memories, a lot of good pictures. Oh, then the Grenadiers, too, that was another thing we were going to discuss, weren't we? 27 SY: Yes. I think so. What -- the Grenadiers? What's that? RWP: Oh, that was another, another thing, too, yeah. This, I got other Grenadier pictures. It's a Grenadier dance that we had, after the war. They had had -- they had the Grenadiers here before the war. But it was affiliated with Norwich. Some of the guys came back -- Tommy Boggs, Joe Bergen, Al Bucci, Brad Cook, Donald R. Martin, they were all -- and that's 99% veterans there -- and we just, they just started talking about starting to have another dance band. So we did, and we rehearsed where the clinic is now. SY: And were you good? RWP: Of course I've got other pictures that show that, but. What they did, they said, you can have, and we won't use the Grenadiers. We weren't affiliated with the college at all, we were separate. Warren Mell came back as the manager. SY: And where'd you play? RWP: We played here, we played in the armory downtown, we played a dance in the -- we substituted for -- oh, what's it, what was his name. One of the dance bands, couldn't make it from snow, we played that, we played Middlebury, we played UVM. SY: Did you ever want to be a musician? Did you ever think that -- RWP: Oh I was, I was a musician though. SY: I know you're a musician, but did you ever decide that you wanted to, to do that to make a living? RWP: Only, no. SY: Why not? RWP: No. Because I mean, I wanted, I loved that, I mean, I liked, I wanted to fly, I flew. I wanted to play the horn, which I did, and I played dances and everything else, which I did 28 enjoy that, I enjoyed that. But I was, I love, the telephone business was fabulous. I was, you know, providing -- SY: What did you love about the telephone business? RWP: What I loved about it was the fact that I could -- the, the, being in the rural areas, you know, I had the northern part of the state of Vermont for a long time. And the country, the people, and, like my mother had always said to me, she said, "You know, Bill, the best education you're going to have, is with people." And it's true. And I just enjoyed, you know, giving, providing service for people, it was in order, they're paying the bill, you provide service for them. SY: So you met a lot of people. RWP: Yes. And I just love people. SY: That makes sense to me. RWP: I just love people. SY: So when did you stop playing the saxophone? RWP: A couple of years ago. It's out there on the rack, it's out. I have, I have CDs that I can play right along, like I'm in a band. SY: Do you miss it? RWP: Yeah, it's, it's one of those things. I just, it's just I dropped it, I don't do it any more. SY: Is it harder to do because, as you age? RWP: You have to blow, yeah. SY: It's harder to get the breath? RWP: Yeah, yeah. But when we started out -- I don't know what I've got here to show you but -- what have I got here. Oh, that's the plant, the band we had down on Long Island. But. 29 What, we had to, in the beginning, we had to wear un-- they said, the only thing. "You can use the engineers, use the, the what-you-call-it name, the Grenadiers, but you've got to wear the old uniform, so." And we did. And that's, there, see the old uniforms? And they were hot. They were really too hot to play in. SY: Yeah, you guys all look kind of red-faced, even though it's black and white, I can tell that you're a little bit red-faced. RWP: And the guy next to me's Hazen Maxwell; he was a fighter pilot. This is down in the -- where did we play. We played a dance, and my wife's in one of these things, I don't know which one it is. And I think, I'm not sure, but I think some of these pictures are in, are in the history up on -- SY: In the museum? RWP: [Jim Bennett?] was the music teacher here for years, and he and I got on real well. And he knew about, he found out about this, and I took some stuff up there. SY: Let me go check. I might, I don't remember them being there, but I -- there are parts of the museum that I've, that I've missed. RWP: (overlapping dialogue; inaudible) [00:48:37] stuff. SY: So wait, I had a question. RWP: There's me playing a solo, believe it or not. SY: Ah, what were you playing? RWP: Probably "Eager Beaver," it's a jump tone. SY: Look at that. RWP: Yeah, that's a good one right there. That's down in the Armory, down below here. 30 SY: Yeah. This is, these are great pictures. So do you remember? Somebody was telling me that, after the war, there were a lot of vets who were living off-campus -- RWP: Yup, oh yeah. SY: -- in this, like -- RWP: Oh, yeah. There was a, a lot of us. Well, I had an apartment, a two-room in an apartment with other folks. They were all over the place. A lot of my class married girls from town, here. And a lot of them, and they had, oh, let's see. Where was that. You know where the Norwich Apartments are now, on 12, they're just used for storage there? That area in there, all, that was all, like, what do they call them. Pre-fabs, little pre-fabs. SY: And they, and it was like a little -- RWP: I had pictures over here at one time, I don't know where they are now, it is now. SY: And people were scrambling to make a little money, too, right? There were like sandwich operations, and do you remember that? RWP: What's that? SY: I remember, other people have told me that a lot of those vets, they had families, and they were in school, and they were really scrambling to make money -- RWP: Oh, yeah. Well, we all worked, we all worked on the side, had to. I mean, I forget what we, have a GI bill, but it wasn't a heck of a lot, even if they got married, it wasn't a whole heck of a lot. I mean, you know, a lot of them went to school, not, not like today's world, but. But it was, it was a good experience. Hell, I was only, what. 21, 20. About that old. SY: You were a kid. You were a kid. So when you look back on your life, what have been the parts that have given you the greatest joys and sense of accomplishment? 31 RWP: The whole life. SY: The whole thing? RWP: I mean, my beginning, my parents, the way I was treated, my schooling. I could have been, I should have done better academically, no doubt about that. The sports that I played, the music that I played, learning to fly, being married, having a family. And now it's, and I saw this happen with the folks, too. My whole life, I feel, is great. A tremendous life, and you know, there must be other people like me, too, but, you know, I'm not different that way, but. I don't see my grandchildren as much as I'd like to right now. I don't travel any more, I won't be traveling. I don't like to travel, let's put it that way. And they're all over the country. So. But that's, that's, right now, it's a little slow. But I'm not lonely, I'm happy. I'm still affiliated with Norwich, I know Tony Mariano, I know Gail real well, I know Richard and Jamie Schneider, they're good friends of mine, General Todd. The whole bunch, so. SY: How was North-- you've lived in Northfield a long time. How has Northfield changed since you first showed up here? RWP: A lot. It's changed a lot. It is, it really has. And it's, it's not -- SY: Are there parts for the better, and parts for the worse? RWP: I'd say it's all, it's all for the better. It's, it's the way that life is, today's world. There's not much you can, I can say about it, I think -- you know, you've got this, you've got that, you know, you've got. Like my mother, in the beginning, she says, "Oh, my goodness," she says, when we said we're going to move to Vermont, "Good Lord," she said, "what do you have up there?" And I said, "Mother, all you have to do is, it's got everything." I mean, if you want anything. Drama, you got -- Burlington's only 50 miles away. You've 32 got everything there, you've got everything in Montpelier, you know, it's available to you. As far as, you know, oh, whatever. But I, I -- Vermont has changed, no doubt about it. Like, the way my camp is, I have a camp that I love, and I've had it for 50 years, and houses being built around it, you know, it's, it's one of those things. I can't see them, they can't see me, but still, in all, they're there. SY: Yeah, and you know they're there. RWP: Know they're there. And I, I don't go to Norwich as much as I used to, I just, you know, I don't. When I was with the Bell System and everything, I used to make, you know, decent donations, and because Bell would make their matching funds, too. But I had a good life, I've had a wonderful life. SY: Any regrets? RWP: No. No, I don't, I have none whatsoever. I think I would have regretted -- I don't know. You know, you did, that, you often wondered, what would have happened if I had gone to Ithaca instead of coming here, you know? Would have, would I have met a woman as nice as I met here? See, that's the main thing. I met a good lady, nice lady. And we had some good kids, we got some good kids, very nice kids. None of them are graduating college, but the grandchildren are. So. SY: That's interesting, I wonder why not. RWP: Well, Rick started. He tried, what's the, what's the small college up in Burlington. Ah. SY: Burlington College? RWP: No, not Burlington College. It's just -- SY: Champlain. 33 RWP: Champlain College. He went, he quit that, then he went through with one in Vietnam. Mike never cared for it, and Pat? My son, Pat, went to Vermont College for one year. Jo-Anne went to a teacher's school over in New York State for one, one semester. But they never, they didn't. I thought that, seeing my mother, my mother went through high school in three years and went through Syracuse University in three years. But she was, she was a very nice person. Nothing, you'd never know it, that she was that educated, and everything else. But she was, she was rightly down-to-earth, with it. SY: Sounds like you all, your whole family, all more practically-oriented. You're -- RWP: I think so. SY: -- do-ers. RWP: It was a practical, you know. SY: You're do-ers. RWP: Yeah, but -- no. I, I, thank God I came here. And the way I got my education, the way I got my engineering title, I still think I did it better than if I'd gone through here. SY: Yes, that makes sense. I feel like I'm running out of questions, here. I'm wondering if you have any last things you want to, you want to add. RWP: No, I don't, I can't think of anything, questions I want to ask. I wonder how you're going to use this. SY: Well, the way it works is that, I have an assistant who transcribes this, so types it out, and then I'm going to send you a CD, and a written version of this transcript, and then you're going to look at it, and if there's something that you want to take out of the record, we'll take it out of the record, and then we're going to make it public, so that if somebody's 34 researching World War II, they might read the story of you flying up and down the coast, looking for submarines, and that they weren't there. RWP: Yeah, submarines, there weren't any submarines out there. SY: So the idea is for students to search through these oral histories, right? Maybe to use them in the museum for some reason. I have a feeling that we might be really interested in some of these music stories. It might be great to have some of those photos and have some audio of the music itself. RWP: Yeah. There were, there were two records. I think one of them, Jim might have had up there, "Eager Beaver," and "Stardust," I, that we made. That was, we made that in the old armory. SY: Really, you made two records. RWP: Yes, there were two records we made, then of course, as you, the Grenadiers, after that, they really got back into school again, and I think I've got the records. Yeah, I never played them, I don't have my regular. But we had the, a fellow named [Ralph Armor?], who would, was a vet, and he had been with special services during the war. He set us up in the, in the armory, we had the saxes, and stuff, right around the, the one, I had one mike. And trumpet and trombones off over here, and had the rhythm over here, what, you know. And we played, it sounded just like we were miked together, you know? SY: How does "Eager Beaver" go? RWP: Oh, it's a Stan Kenton tune. And - (laughter) SY: You want to sing it for me? RWP: I can't, I can't really. It was a jump tune. It was really, it was really fast. I can't sing it, I can't sing it. 35 SY: You can't sing, yeah. Do you still listen to those old records? RWP: I don't, what I do is that, D-E-V. On D-E-V, the radio station, they have dinner jazz on, from 6:30 until 9:00. And, when they don't have baseball, and so on and so forth, basketball. And I listen to that. SY: When you listen to it, what do you think about? RWP: Well, I think about the old days. When I used to, you know, play and everything. SY: What did it feel like, to be in a band? RWP: It was great. It was great, and, and you take a good outfit, like this, this -- that's another thing, I forgot to tell you. I never thought that I would get back to do something at Norwich. And the Norwich Project. I, in '70, '74, is it? I engineered, and we put in, student (inaudible) [00:58:22] up there, all over the (inaudible) [00:58:25]. And then all the buildings had a, connection point, run in back of the chime tower. SY: Yeah. Do any of your kids ever want to go to Norwich? RWP: No. SY: They weren't interested? RWP: No. SY: Why not? RWP: I don't know. I don't know, I have no idea. SY: Your son went into the service? RWP: Yeah. SY: He was in Vietnam? RWP: He was, well, he was in Thailand. He was in the B-52s over in the Air Force. SY: Do you remember what that period was like, were you frightened for him? 36 RWP: No, I wasn't frightened for him. He said that they got attacked a few times, you know, and stuff, but. He, yeah, he sees some of his buddies every once in a while, when he comes up (inaudible) [00:59:13]. He's got one guy in Connecticut, Tom, he stops and sees him. Dom, down in Connecticut. But, no. No, I wasn't too worried about him, he was, you know, a little harassment that they had at the air bases, wasn't, you know, nothing that really serious. But, no. I can't think of anything. I, like I said, maybe it's -- I just enjoyed life, I just enjoyed people. I like to talk to people, you know? SY: You lived in these small towns where you knew everybody. RWP: Yeah. That's, that's the whole thing of it. SY: That sounds like it gave you a lot of pleasure. RWP: Oh, yeah. SY: You were like, I'm not going into a city, you liked the intimacy of a small town. RWP: Yeah. SY: I don't have any more questions. This was great. I feel like I should have some more, but I think you talked about everything so efficiently, that I don't have any more questions. Now, what are these. RWP: What is, what does it say. SY: It says, "TD's Pictures, '50s and '70s." RWP: Oh, now that's me, I -- SY: Oh, tell me about Montauk. RWP: Of course, that was another thing, that, to get the engineering title. Back in those days, we had a bunch of small New York Tel officers down there, with operators, you know? And they were concentrating them, and moving, making one office out of -- I did that, I 37 worked for the off-- i worked for, oh, I bought the properties, and, that they were going to put the land on, and that was a real quiet thing, and so on and so forth, and. And in Montauk, and they drove me all the way out from Patchogue, to take that stupid picture. SY: And what were the people like in Montauk? That's fancy -- RWP: Nothing, there was nothing in Montauk -- SY: -- fancy territory. RWP: Montauk was a nothing place. It was a, fishing there, little fishing shacks up on the north, on the bay. SY: Have you been down there and seen how it's changed? RWP: No, no, I don't want to go out there. SY: You don't want, it would be too painful? RWP: No, not really. I just don't care for all the people, it's just, you know, it's just packed. SY: Yeah, it is packed. RWP: I don't know, some of that stuff is redundant, whatever, some of these same pictures. SY: So I didn't realize that Bell had their own engineering certifica-- school, and that was how you got the, your engineering certification, was through Bell. RWP: That's right. Well, though some of those pictures that you saw, there, too, I went to school, and we had a management school, up above where you're from. Not in Rockland, but. That's right, I had to try this track there, at the school. SY: Like, Bear Mountain or something? RWP: No, no, no -- SY: Monroe? RWP: No. Oh, God. Why can't I think of that name? 38 SY: West Point? RWP: No, it was further inland. It was inland, in the southern tier. SY: Like, Poughkeepsie? RWP: It was above Poughkeepsie. It was Goshen, New York. Oh, it didn't make a difference. We went to school up there. And I can remember, my boss at that time was Lloyd Crisfield, I had my title, at the time. And he says, "Rip," they called me Rip. We call, well, my father's name was Rip, Richard I. Pemberton, Richard Isaiah, Rip, they called him, Rip, oh, always, it. But my boss, Crisfield, said, "Well, you, you're going to go to two weeks up there," he says, "[Frank Maloney?]'s going to be there from New York City, a little short guy with glasses, he's an older man." He says, "He'll have two suitcases, one will be full of clothes, the other will be full of booze. But," he says, "all I'm going to tell you is this," he says. "You listen to what they have to say, but you're going to find out more, in the bar and the evenings afterwards, by talking to the guys, which we did. We had engineers from all over the state of New York. And I never realized the amount of independent telephone companies that there were, or are. And that a lot of New York was, I had independent companies over in northern New York that I had, I took care of, over there. And that was interesting, too. I didn't, I didn't mention that before. But when we would buy property, I would go in ahead of time, and meet the people, critique what they had for equipment -- people, buildings, outside plant -- and report back as to what, you know, what it was worth, and so on and so forth, which was very interesting. I never, I didn't believe in firing anybody. I knew that could be a very bad situation, you know, when you walk into a place, and you're an unknown person, and start firing people, you know you've got problems. But that did get worked out anyway. 39 But it was a lot, it was very interesting. I still think that the, there's a lot of times, well. And then, of course, I could not go back today. I mean, I still could do structure. But everything is computer. And they'd even do the jobs on the computer, they don't even look at them in the field any more, they just punch them in and do them, you know? And it's just done. I couldn't, you know, I wasn't going to fit in today, but. SY: Yeah, it's a whole different world. RWP: Different world. It's too bad that, like I, like I had, that they don't have something like that at Norwich, where you're hands-on. Germany does it, I think, with a lot of their students, over there. You work as a person, and then you get you, whatever you're going to get out of it. But. But then, I agree with that. I, I really do. Because, like I said, you learn. Boy. And I, I learned a lot. the first job I ever did, when I went into management. They had a, a whole stack of pole records. And then engineer I worked for was one heck of a man, and I can never say enough of this guy, Floyd Bolles, and he taught me, and he was great. But he told me, the first, he says, "First job for me," he says, "you take all of these records, these are done by people in the field, pole inspectors, you put out jobs for what they say. You know, replace the poles, do this, do that, and then another, my first to start. I threw out all these jobs. About half of them came back. And I learned a lesson. I will not put a job out unless I see it. My name's going on it; I'm going to see it. And that's the way it was. SY: Yes, you were very hands-on. RWP: Yeah, hands-on. I get calls every once in a while, and go back to work. SY: Really? 40 RWP: I help them go in the road. Good lord. They know, I know structure. Buried cable. I, you know, I did, I buried cable over the United States, I mean, all over New England. It was a lot of fun. SY: Have you ever gone back to the house you grew up in, in Long Island? RWP: I haven't, but my daughter has been down for class reunions, my class is pretty well-decimated, my high school class. And she said, she told me, you know, the last time she was down there, she says, you don't really want to see the house that the folks lived in, because it's been bought by people from New York City, and it's, they don't live in it, it's, it's going to wreck and ruin. Now, they were on one corner, over here. The properties both joined, we were over on this street, over here, we had a story and three-quarters, we bought it over here. When we sold, bought that house, we paid 6,500 bucks for it. SY: Wow. RWP: Wow. When I moved in, moved up here in '66, we received $12,500 for it. SY: What do you think it's now, what do you think it costs now? RWP: The last time it was sold, this is well over a hundred years old, it's, so that, in the village, it's not near the water, $765,000. That's what my village is going to. SY: Do you miss the ocean? RWP: I never missed the ocean, I never liked the ocean. SY: You didn't like the ocean? RWP: No, I liked the bays and -- SY: You said you swam all the time. RWP: -- the bay and the sound. SY: Ah. Well, do you miss the bay and the sound? 41 RWP: The bay and the sound, oh yeah. SY: Do you miss the bay? RWP: I miss the bay more than I miss the sound. Matter of fact, just before you came, I was watching the, that reality show on, about buying houses, and they were in [Southold?], Long Island. Are you, are you familiar with Southold at all? SY: A little bit. RWP: I mean, you've heard of it. SY: Yeah. RWP: Yeah, they were buying houses there for $500, $600,000. (laughter) SY: It's a different world. RWP: A different world. No, I, I miss the trip down, I don't. But right now I have no relatives there, no place to stay. It would cost me, just a weekend, or three or four days, just to go down, take the ferry, and stay, and then, about $1,000. You know? I mean, it's -- and there's no, about to, I mean, I, we have too many good memories of the place down there. SY: Yeah. All right. RWP: Anything else? SY: No, I think this is good. But luckily you're right in town, so if it occur -- (whispering) hold on, reloading. So, what were you saying. RWP: No, I was saying, I had no war experience, you might say. But, coming up here, and I've found that, over the years, the people who have seen and done the most don't talk about it. I don't know what you're going to get, I mean, there's, there are some people that will carry on at great length. SY: Your generation, people don't talk about it. Later generations, people do. 42 RWP: Yeah. SY: It's, that stoic -- RWP: Because we, even when we came back here. Even though, would, we used to go to Montpelier to drink, you know, Northfield was dry. Used to ride the, go over, get on, and ride the train back, and they'd drop us off down here. But I can remember the first couple times. Oh, we did, we just had a lot of laughs, had a good time. Nobody talked about the war. Like I said, there was three of us in that room, and alumni. Nobody ever talked about the war. Even though we saw -- the only time you saw, it was when we, we had to take group showers, of course, and you could see the guys were wounded and stuff. And there were a lot of guys that were wounded, that came in here. SY: And nobody mentioned it? RWP: Nobody ever said. Nobody, never talked about it. You knew they were all in service, that was, we all (laughter) wore the old uniforms. I mean, what was left of them. We had no, had no clothes, we had no money. SY: Do you think that, did you ever see signs of, you know, we talk about PTSD a lot now; did you see signs -- RWP: No, I never did. I never did, and it was never talked about. And it was never, I never saw it. This uncle that was shot up pretty bad in the Marines, he had an attitude, a little bit, a problem. I figured it was due to something, he got shot up, but. But no, it's, it's, I never saw that, what they call it now. SY: Were you relieved that you didn't have to go into combat, or did you feel guilty about it -- RWP: No. No, I would have gone, I would have gone. No, hell, no, I, that's what I wanted to do. 43 SY: Were you upset that you didn't get to go into combat? RWP: Yes. Yes. Definitely so -- SY: Why? RWP: -- but I was glad the war was over, because, you know, a lot of my friends had gotten hurt, and some killed, and so on and so forth. And then we'd had enough. I would have, you know, I missed it by a year. If I'd been born a year earlier, I would have, you know, I would have, I would have gone overseas, probably. No doubt about it. SY: I'm still confused about this, though. Because your first assignment was, was flying up and down the coast. RWP: That was just with the Civil Air Patrol. SY: That was the Civil Air Patrol. RWP: Civil Air Patrol. Oh, yeah. SY: And then, later, you went to basic. So how old were you when you were doing that, was that after high school? RWP: 17, I was 17. SY: OK, so you could join the Civil Air Patrol at 17 -- RWP: Yeah, that's right. SY: -- but you didn't actually join the service until you were 18. RWP: Right. No, no, they let me finish my senior year in high school. SY: I see. And so you were flying while you were in your senior year in high school. So it's just, like, on weekends, kind of. RWP: Yeah, yeah. SY: Got it. And then you went to basic -- 44 RWP: Right. SY: -- and so you missed it, you missed it by a year. Yeah. That makes sense, that makes sense. Do you remember hearing about the Holocaust? RWP: Oh, yeah. Everybody heard about the Holocaust. SY: But you didn't know -- during the war, you didn't know anything like that was happening, right? It was only after? RWP: Oh, no, not until the war was over. We had people hearing from (inaudible) [01:12:06], then other places that were, that freed these people. And yeah, it was in the, I guess, you know, it wasn't, it wasn't fun, I mean, it was something else. SY: Did anybody ever mention that to you? Did anybody ever talk about that? RWP: No. Never, not that much, we never talked about it. It, it, oh, you have to, I have to feel bad for, about the people that say it never happened, because it did happen. SY: I interviewed a guy named [Jack Pimm?], who was at Norwich when you were. John Pimm, Jack Pimm. And he was in the first group to go into Buchenwald. RWP: There was a guy here in, oh, God, I forget where he was from, too, up your way, he's Montpelier or over. And he was, and he was one of the first, they had big write-ups on that, too. When he went in. He was -- Pimm? SY: Pimm. RWP: P-I-M-M? SY: M-M. P-I-M-M. RWP: P-I-M-M. Oh, I'm trying to remember names. SY: He started out, before the war, at Norwich, and then they all mustered out, and then he came back -- 45 RWP: Oh, no, I didn't -- SY: -- and finished, just two years, two years afterwards, though. So it might have been the same time that you were here. Yeah. RWP: I left in '48. SY: Now, what about your son, does he ever talk about the war? So, he was in Vietnam, or no? RWP: He was in Thailand. And then the B-52, they flew, they dropped the bomb (inaudible, talking on top) [01:13:25] SY: But during the Vietnam War. RWP: Yeah. SY: Yeah. Now, does he ever talk about it. RWP: No. SY: No. RWP: He talks about it more now, well. Not -- getting together with his buddies, that's all, he doesn't talk about what happened over there. No. He's, what. Sixty-five, something like that. SY: Hm. That's interesting, though, what you're saying, about the people who saw the most not talking it, and being in the showers, and seeing it. Yeah. And what, I mean, you would just look away? RWP: No, I mean, what the hell. SY: Yeah, it was what it was. RWP: That's what it was. Norwich was, as far as I'm concerned, I think Norwich has done real well, I know that, during the Vietnam era, it was, hard time keeping it going. I, I firmly 46 agree with bringing the girls in there. I think that's a great thing. I agree with what they're doing about off-campus, on-campus, and so on and so forth. I think that they're, I like it, it's a good school. It's really a good school. SY: And you think it's going in the right direction? RWP: Oh, yes. Definitely. And I've told Schneider that a few times myself. I think that, that new clinic is going to be a big plus for everybody. SY: I think so, too. RWP: Yeah, because I was just up to the old place the other day. But no, I just, I like the small town, I like it here. I can't see myself going into senior housing down there. SY: To Mayo? RWP: Yeah. No, not Mayo. I mean the, the senior housing, I mean there's nothing involved with the (inaudible) [01:15:00]. SY: You're doing OK here, by yourself. RWP: Oh, yeah. I, I get some meal, I'm very selective on meals, and I don't eat as much as I used to. And I'll do my own, I have my own breakfasts and I have, if I have lunch down there, like tonight, I'll have yogurt and crackers and cheese, or something like that. SY: And you can still drive. RWP: Yeah, I'm fine. SY: Yeah, you're fine. RWP: I, I had a, I've got a pacemaker, put in here in 19, 2013. But other than that, it's good. SY: Other than that you're doing OK. Knock wood. RWP: Yeah. SY: All right. You know -- 47 END OF AUDIO FILE

Transcript of an oral history interview with David Zobeck conducted by Sarah Yahm at the Sullivan Museum and History Center on February 10, 2015, as part of the Norwich Voices oral history project. The bulk of the interview focuses on Zobeck's experiences as an an instructor of the Transcendental Meditation technique, both at Norwich University and elsewhere. ; 1 David Zobeck, NU Instructor, Oral History Interview February 10, 2015 Interviewed by Sarah Yahm SARAH YAHM: So, I'm here with Dave Zobeck at Norwich, in our little studio at the Sullivan Museum. It is February 10th, 2015, which I know because tomorrow is my birthday. DAVE ZOBECK: Well, happy birthday tomorrow, in advance. SY: Thank you. I wasn't fishing for that or anything. DZ: No, not at all. SY: (laughs) And we're about to do an oral history interview. And so, question one is where were you born? DZ: I was born in Pueblo, Colorado, which happens to be a steel mill town. And it is the largest steel mill west of the Mississippi. And it's a town with wonderful mixed ethnicity. So, my neighborhood was from Yugoslavia, from Ljubljana in Yugoslavia, in Slovenia. And there's about a 12 or 13 block, square block area near the -- right on top of the steel mill. And then, on the other side of the bridge, there's a good-size Italian community. And now Latinos, mostly Mexicans, dominate the city's population. There's an African American population as well, Jewish and Greek. So, it's kind of like a little Pittsburgh. Little bit of everything. And I love it. It was a marvelous experience. I'm one of eight children, so we were good and Catholic. SY: What's your birth order? DZ: My -- I'm the sixth out of eight. So, I have a younger brother and a younger sister, yeah. SY: Number six. DZ: Yes. SY: You're, like, in the messy middle, right? DZ: Yes, kinda sorta, yeah. But, yeah, it was -- so, it's a marvelous experience growing up in that city. And really paid dividends, being exposed to all the different ethnicities. And, you know, we have pictures of -- when we were on our baseball team, it kind of looked like something out of the United Nations, you know? Little bit of everything. And we were cursed in several different languages when we won games, and it was marvelous. It was good experience. SY: Were there turf wars or was it [pretty immigrant?] -- DZ: No, no, not at all. It was very integrated. And especially my neighborhood, it was truly the statement about it takes a community to raise a child. I mean, the families looked out for each other and -- very much so. SY: Were your parents immigrants, too? DZ: My father -- my grandparents were. My father was born in this country. And my dad -- the house that I grew up in is the house that my father grew up in. So, my grandmother bought the house after my grandfather died in a -- extraordinary accident at work where he was killed with -- by a train. And my father was standing there, watching. And so, they bought the house, and my grandmother was raising the rest of the children. They had five children, and then she was also -- it was a boarding -- she was -- like a boarding house for steel mill workers. So, she would cook for them and so on and so forth, and that would help pay the rent and so on, so forth, so -- SY: And was that happening when you were a kid? 2 DZ: No, no, that was when my father was six years old. So -- SY: Oh, so she raised him alone? DZ: She raised them alone, yes. So, you know, it's a neighborhood and a community of extremely excellent work ethic. And if you're not work-- I mean, there was no welfare, just out of pride. Not that there wasn't a need for it. But no one would accept that. SY: Union town? DZ: Yes, and -- but they -- just was not going to happen. And everyone was -- you know, very -- oh, the yards were really well kept. The kids were clean, the -- you know, there was little to no crime other than orneriness. You know, lot of patriotism. Lot of guys went to war, and -- during World War II and then during Vietnam, my generation. So, it was a very beautiful experience because, you know, we were raised Catholic. The mass was in Slovenian for the older folks that didn't speak English. And then, you know, all the festivities and holidays -- and some of my friends who were Greek and Italian and Mexican and -- you know, when they had the festivals and -- everybody went and mixed, and it was great. It was a -- it's a marvelous place to grow up, but very -- definitely very blue collar. And all the children in my family worked their way through college. And that was the joy of my father, to see everyone with a college degree, of course, and all of our children and his grandchildren and great-grandchildren have -- everyone that could have graduated from college -- like, 48 of us or something like that, total, with nieces and nephews have graduated from college. And we expect success. We're going to make that. So, it was a really beautiful -- yeah, I'm very fortunate. SY: So, growing up, was the expectation that you would work in the steel mill or that you would get out? DZ: Oh, my family didn't work at the steel mill. My father didn't want that. He wanted us to do something different and -- not that it was a negative thing, but -- SY: He had seen his father die in a work-related accident. DZ: He did, and -- but he worked in a clothing store for a long time and was the manager of a clothing store. And then it burned down. And because he had assisted a customer who was extremely well off in -- fitting him with a suit, my father was excellent at doing that. And he was cleaning up the store one night after hours and he looked in the dressing room where this man was trying on his clothes, and he saw a paper bag and it was filled with money. And so, he knew who that belonged to. So, my father never drove a car. We didn't own a car. And my mother and father never drove a car their entire lives. Got on the bus and it took him, you know, an hour or so to get across town. And he knocked on the door, presented this bag of money to this gentleman. And, of course, he offered my father a reward, and that wasn't going to happen. And he got back on the bus, got home. Well, after the store burned down, my father was scrambling, looking for a job and "What are we going to do?" He has eight kids, and phone rings one day and it's this gentleman who left his money in the store. And he said, "I understand that the store burned down and you might be looking for work." He said, "If you call this number at the Pueblo ordnance depot," it's an Army depot, "they might be able to direct you some employment." So, my father called, and sure enough connected him to a job. So, he worked there for another, you know, 25 years as a federal government employee and was able to continue to support us and that sort of thing. So, you know, there -- it was a beautiful story, but I don't look back on it -- I don't feel -- we don't feel sorry for ourselves. It wasn't a poor us -- you know, we were poor, but it -- we were not at the 3 same time. I mean, we were rich with my parents and my brothers and sisters. And it was always a fun place for friends to come to the house, because they knew my mother would love them, and we would have a good time. And we were all athletic, we liked to play. And, you know, thank God, with all -- as rowdy as we were, there were no broken bones in the family or any sort of major illnesses. And so, in that regard, it was a -- we were real fortunate. But I'm extremely fortunate, so -- I had a marvelous upbringing. Marvelous. Yeah, no complaints. SY: So, well, I have two questions. DZ: Sure. SY: First of all, when you're a little kid and you're this kid running around on the streets, right, playing outside -- DZ: Sure. SY: -- what'd you want to be when you grew up? What were your dreams and visions? And also, what did you play? Do you remember if you had imaginary games that you played? DZ: Well, first of all, the games -- we played every sport imaginable. And one of the reasons is that, you know, we didn't go skiing because we didn't have the money or the transportation. But we did have a shotgun in the house, so my brother and I went hunting, you know? We would hunt ducks and geese and pheasants and, you know, quail and rabbit and -- not deer. We didn't have a rifle, but -- and we would eat everything that we shot. It was pretty good. So, that was one of the things that we did. The other thing -- I mean, we just dreamt of -- one of the things I wanted to be when I was younger was I wanted to be a professional baseball player. I always thought that I would be "in the show," you know? And I'm sure every young boy in that neighborhood who took up a glove and a ball and a bat had the same thing. I mean, we always had the same -- we thought we would all be on the same team. I mean, there was so much community spirit. And then, my younger brother was drafted several times and was very magical in his talents. And so, he was better than I was. He was younger. And that was my dream, that he -- then it, my dream, kind of shifted from myself doing that to him. So, I was helping him do everything he could to do that, because that was our dream. And in his senior year in college, unfortunately, he was injured and didn't get to make it. And that was a -- at that time, of course, it was a tragic event for both of us, you know? We saw this dream go by. But I think, at one point, I thought, early on -- I thought I might be a priest. And there was always this idea that the oldest -- I mean, one of the boys in every family would become a priest. And so, I thought it was me, and I enjoyed that thought. It was kind of cool. I just loved the parish priest. He was from Slovenia, and he was just -- he had such a heart of gold. He liked to help everyone, and I liked that feeling of helping everyone, and then the idea of saying mass and that was kind of cool. And these Catholic nuns, some of them were much better than others, of course. But there was one that was particularly interesting, and she was from our neighborhood. She grew up in our neighborhood, so she knew our culture and everything. So, she was -- she really took me under her wing, as she did all the children. But I just thought that was going to be something I would do, and even continue to think that when I was in the Air Force later on. I thought, as I was getting out of the Air Force, that I might become a Catholic priest. SY: Really? DZ: I thought so. I had the idea that I just wanted to do something extraordinary. And I thought maybe I would -- I talked to this priest when I was stationed in Torrejón Air Base 4 in Spain, in Madrid, Spain. And I told him that I wanted to become a priest. I thought I wanted -- I just wanted to talk to him about it. I wasn't 100 percent sure. And so, you know, we had these different chats from time to time, and then finally concluded that I could do priestly work because isn't everyone a priest? Isn't everyone a rabbi? Isn't everyone a minister? Can't you do that without having to wear the cloth and do that? So, he said, "You know, I think you'd be a wonderful father, and you would have that opportunity to do many things as well as help people." And so, it was a real cool experience. It wasn't a letdown. It was just, I think, a good part of my vision of doing things greater -- that I knew I didn't have to be one particular thing to do everything that I wanted to do. So -- SY: You're certainly doing pastoral work now. DZ: Well, you know, the interesting thing is, right after I got out of the Air Force, I had -- and I know you're probably going to -- I'm probably ahead of schedule here, but as far as -- SY: Chaos is my middle name. (laughter) Linearity? Whatever. DZ: OK. (laughter) Yeah, "so what if I have these questions that you're answering before I ask them?" SY: Oh, no, no, no. I write them down -- DZ: I'm teasing. SY: I never look at them. DZ: Yeah. SY: I just have them. DZ: Yeah, yeah, no that's good. SY: [For?] just in case. DZ: Good reference. SY: Yeah. DZ: But when I was finishing my last -- I was in the Air Force for four years. And when I finished my last -- the four years, last part of the four years, I was stationed in Torrejón Air Base in Spain, in Madrid, Spain. And I had already learned to meditate when I was in Tucson, Arizona, couple of years prior. And I got into some advanced courses, and I really enjoyed -- my friend and I started running, and then we started doing some camping, and we started watching what we were eating. And there was no -- there were very few guidelines at that time. We just started thinking about -- there has to be something to the quality of food that you put in your system, and how it helps your system perform. And, you know, kind of like the type of fuel or -- that you put in your vehicle. So, we thought we were just on the cutting edge, you know, with that thinking. And then, we would go camping and hiking, and we would just do the extreme stuff, like go -- we're going to go to the top of this mountain, we're going to camp out, and then we're going to come back. And this is what we do on the weekend when we're stationed in Tucson. And it was -- beautiful place to be. So, we would run together and [just?] that sort of thing. And one day, the -- there was an advertisement in the base activity center. And it said there's a yoga class. So, he said, "Let's go. Let's go check it out." So, this woman was talking about yoga and how it would benefit you. And we said, you know, why not? What do we have to lose? Nothing. So -- SY: Now, what year is this? What -- DZ: It was 1972. SY: OK, so this is the beginning or it -- 5 DZ: Yeah. SY: Yeah, OK. DZ: Nineteen seventy-two. Beginning of my four years. SY: [And you're?] -- DZ: Actually '71, I got in. But in '72, I was stationed in Tucson. SY: So, if you were in the Air Force, right -- DZ: Yes. SY: -- and yoga at this point is, like, firmly the bastion of, like, hippie stuff. DZ: Total hippie stuff, there's no question about it. SY: So, I'm having trouble picturing this guy in the Air Force being, like, "Sure, I'll go to yoga!" DZ: Well, it wasn't just "sure, I'll go to yoga." I said, "Let's check this out, you know, before we do that." And then she was talking about -- what caught our attention was she was talking about the benefits it had. And we were in that mode of how do we make our nervous systems function at a higher level? And so, we're running, and we got this runner's high. That's what the mode of, you know, the day was. You're going to get your runner's high, and we felt that. And then, we went hiking, and we would run up in the mountains in the higher levels and just say, you know, this is really cool. And all this healthy stuff. And we didn't drink and we didn't do pot. I've never smoked a cigarette in my life or even drank a cup of coffee. But I just thought there has to be some high and some way to get that inside of you. There has to be more inside than outside. What I see that grows out of the earth -- and people smoke pot and do all that sort -- that's good for them or whatever. They think that's good for them and that's their choice, no problem. But has to be the same or more inside. I have to be able to go inside and get to that place. Because when we would camp, we would look out and see the sky, and it would be -- and we'd see all these -- [well, you know?], in Flagstaff, Arizona, for example, we would look, and as far as -- I mean, it was just beautiful. And we would [say?] -- as far as we can see and then beyond what we can see still is space. So, it has to be the same thing inside. It has to be as far as we can go and beyond where we can go. It has to continually be space, so it has to be a reflection -- the outside has to be a reflection of the inside. And so, this woman started talking about yoga and "this position will create this flow in your circulation and will bring awareness and alertness to your mind," because she was talking to us in kind of a scientific way. And then we would start twisting around and doing things and -- you know, I didn't buy into all of it, for sure. It's a little too much. But we were doing that, and then -- we did that for about -- I don't know, about a month straight, and we would go to these classes three or four times a week. And we liked it. It was neat. And then, you know, lo and behold, here's this picture of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the community center on base. And it said there's a lecture on Transcendental Meditation. So, he said, "Hey, let's go to that one." I said, "Are you sure?" And he goes, "Yeah, let's go." I said, "All right, what do we have to lose? Let's go," right? So, we sat there. So, in comes this guy who was a Marine Corps veteran, and he had had two tours in Vietnam. And he sat down, and we -- there were about four of us, I think, that showed up. And, you know, introduced himself and was very casual, and start talking about meditation. And then he said, "My story is that I served two tours in Vietnam." So, that caught our attention. And he said, "When I got back, I knew there was something more. I was looking for something more." And he said, "So, I got back to Tucson, then I just 6 went to California. And I cruised around in the mountains, and I stayed on my own and I just kind of let this stress go out of my system. And then I start doing some thinking in this silence." And he said, "What I wanted to do was become a meditation teacher." So, he said, "When I came back to Tucson, I gathered my things and found out that there was a course in India where I could go and study with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi." He said, "So, I did it." So, he said, "When I went there" -- he said, "I had -- keep in mind, I hadn't listened to the radio, I hadn't watched TV, I haven't been in circulation in society for two or three years. So, I just went there to study. I was just going to be by myself and listen to this guy and then come back and teach people, because that's what I wanted to do." When he got there, he said there were people from -- international group. They were from all over the world. And so, he said Maharishi would come out and talk about meditation and different concepts of consciousness. And, in the evening, then he would retire. He would go into his room. And so, it was a young crowd, and they would hang out, kind of on the shore of the Ganges. And they would cook and, you know, associate with each other and sing and so on, so forth. So, he said there were these guys that were -- these four guys, and they had guitars. And they would sit around and they would make up poems and songs about people on the course. And one of the women on the course was named Prudence. And she was extremely shy. She was the sister of an actress, Mia Farrow. So -- and Mia was there. And so, he didn't know anybody. Keep that in mind. Just as innocent as you can imagine this so far. I know you're grinning and you know what's going on. So, anyway, Prudence, who I met a few years ago -- she's a marvelous human being and just a dear, dear person -- she would go to her room, because she was extremely shy. Extremely shy. And so, they kind of wanted the -- these guys kind of wanted to draw her out, so they made up a song. So, they went to her door and they knocked on her door, and they sing, "Dear Prudence, why don't you come out and play? Dear Prudence," yeah. And, you know, she didn't come out, and then eventually she did. And she would -- she was still very shy. And so, they were making up different songs about different situations. And so, they started to talk to my friend. And so, they called him G.I. Joe, because he had these fatigue pants on. And he didn't have his -- you know, he was -- you could wear your fatigue pants, just -- it didn't say Marine Corps, didn't say sergeant or anything like that. So, he had that. And he didn't really care how he looked, and he was just there for the knowledge. And so, they start making up a song about GI Joe. They called him GI Joe and that sort of thing and so, you know, hey, that was kind of cool, you know? So, anyway, he became a teacher. He came back from India. He was going to his first lecture and he turns on his radio in his little jalopy that he was driving, and what comes across the radio was, "Jojo was a man from Tucson, Arizona. He smoked some California grass. Get back, Jojo. Get back to where you once belonged." Get back to the USSR. And he said, "I've heard that song before." And someone said, "Yeah, those are the Beatles." He said, "Really?" And then he -- start telling stories about, you know, John Lennon. He said he had these multi-colored glasses on and he had, you know, long hair, and he used to wear these necklaces. And he was really bright, and how he would have conversations with Maharishi. And Paul McCartney, of course. And then Prudence later on was married, and she had a son and she named him Paul. And so, they're still really good friends. And he told stories about that. But it wasn't about them, the idea that he liked -- that he related to me that was intriguing is that this man had some knowledge. Maharishi had some knowledge to take 7 you within yourself. And it wasn't about him, it was just about the knowledge that he had received from previous masters, and he passed it on. And now, this guy could teach this information. And that was really intriguing to him. So, we started, and it was everything that it was cranked up to be. I'd started with no expectation. I thought -- same thing I did with yoga. Like, if this is going to work, it's going to work. I'll do exactly how they say to do it, and I'll get the results. So, we did. And my friend Scott Nichols and I started on the same day, and since that time I've been meditating regular, and I haven't missed one time since I started. I think it is everything that it's cranked up to be. And what inspired me to become a teacher was just the idea that I felt really good already. I didn't -- I wasn't in any dire straits to learn a technique that would pull me out of some stressful situation in my life. SY: So, you weren't -- you were seeking, but you weren't hungry. Doesn't -- DZ: Not [at?] -- well, you know, the thing is, I was hungry, but I wasn't desperate. SY: [Yeah?]. DZ: And I think I've always been a seeker of how to get better things in life. My own natural intensity pushes me to say I want to be the best I can be, I want every day to be the best day. What is this? You know, I want to see that. I don't want to get in dire straits to wait until I need something. What happens if you take it when you're already functioning, you know, fairly well? Can you get better? Can you get to the next level? And that's kind of the attitude I took with it. And when we began to meditate, it was just marvelous. I had better running times, I slept better. I performed better on tests. I had a lot more stamina. I was more organized. And, you know, it just opened up a whole new vision in my life. And I thought it was already really good. So, when I did that for a couple years, I thought when I got out, here's an opportunity to become a teacher. So, when I was in Spain, the Spanish TM [Transcendental Meditation] teacher in Madrid was a director of the Spanish organization, TM organization, and they were just going to start a teacher training course. And he said, "You'd be a fool to go back to the States. There's thousands of teachers, and everyone's taught everyone else, you know?" He said, "If you stay here, you can teach lots of people, because there's only going to be eight new teachers in the whole country." So, I love Spain, it was where I wanted to go since I was in fourth grade and drew a map of my favorite country other than United States. It was Spain. And I remember my father and I worked on this thing. We had glitter in the river and we had -- for the forest, we'd stopped up these little twigs. And it was on this big yellow piece of -- I can remember it clearly, and I was so excited. And then, when I got a chance to go there, it was marvelous. And I started to study Spanish on the base through the University of Maryland. I took five courses in a row for credit. And then I would just go downtown and practice. So, it came to me like riding a bike. I mean, it just -- it made sense to me. And I was in the country, and I would go down after class, and I would go to Madrid. And on the weekends, I would go to the train station and take a train to some little tiny pueblo someplace, just by myself to force myself to speak Spanish. And I would practice with the Spanish Air Force guys who shared the base with us, and go visit their families on weekends and stuff. And I went to the TM Center and did advanced courses. And I became pretty proficient in Spanish, so I became a teacher with the Spanish natives and did it all in Spanish. Eight months in the first two phases of a teacher training course. And [in the?] third phase, we went to [Avoriaz?], France, and studied with Maharishi, in person. So, I was their translator. And that's who made me a 8 teacher of TM. So, you kind of -- you follow exactly what he asks to do to make sure that the technique is done right. And it's effective, so it's not about you. It's about following what the masters did, and exactly in that same form. So, it was very, very challenging. But when I began to teach my first course, I went back to the base, Torrejón, and I taught 20 of my friends how to meditate, because they would -- they'd been wanting to meditate because they saw me meditate. And sometimes, they would just like to come in the room and sit quietly. And I didn't do anything. I don't sit in the lotus or go "om" or anything crazy. I just sit quietly in a chair, and that's really no big deal. So, that's how that began. So, I got a chance to travel around the country, and I taught about -- and then was lecturing in Spanish, of course. Probably taught about 900 people and -- for that whole year. And then, I came back to my hometown. And I was gone for about three years by that time. Hadn't seen my family in three years. And while I was sitting in the back of the -- on the back porch, my mother was ironing and -- you know, I was the only one -- the only sibling left in the house. Everyone else was married and out of the house. And my mother and father were there. So, this is my first time in my life I had a chance to be one on one with them. And it was marvelous, because I was certainly older then, and they didn't have all these other things going on. And, you know, my father was retired. And it was just one on one with my mother and father, like being an only child for a period of time. And it was glorious. I mean, my mother and father are just saintly. They're just magnificent human beings. I idolize them. The phone rings during a conversation. I pick up the phone, and there is a woman on the other end, and she asks me my name. "Are you Dave Zobeck?" "Yes." "Do you teach Transcendental Meditation?" "Yes." "Would you like to teach in the Colorado State Penitentiary, TM?" I said, "Yes." She said -- I said, "How did you get my name? I mean, I've only been home a week." She said, "I'll tell you later, so -- but tomorrow, I'm going to show up in front of your house. Give me your address. You're going to follow me to the penitentiary. We're going to talk to the warden at the maximum security penitentiary, and I'm going to try to convince him that we need this, because we have so much violence and we need something. And I'm sure this will work." "OK." So, we went down there, we talked to him. He put us on hold and he said, you know, "That sounds great." We hit it off right away. He was a Latino guy. He had a little Spanish accent, we begin to speak Spanish, he -- then, that kind of melted the barriers. And on the way back from the maximum -- oh, on the way out of the penitentiary or out of our meeting at the maximum security penitentiary, Tia, the guard, had to go to work. So, she was dressed in her uniform, of course. And she said -- she turned to me and she shook my hand. She said, "Good job, white boy." I said, "Great, there you go. That's good." And that was cool, I mean, you know? That was -- I had no problem with that. SY: No, you were in. DZ: I felt very comfortable with that, and I grew up in that kind of atmosphere. In the service, of course, same thing, and I loved it. And on the way home -- it was 50 miles away from my home in Pueblo. It was in Canyon City, and I stopped at the medium security penitentiary, just on a whim, and I thought I'm going to see if the program director's in. And so, I went down and I stopped at the guard shack, and I told them I had an appointment with the program director, which was a little on the untrue side. And he said, "Go right down and they'll help you out." So, I drove my vehicle down there and they patted me down and escorted me to the -- a bench outside of this office and said, 9 "You'll have to wait here. He has someone in his office." And so, I was waiting in my little coat and tie, and there was an inmate and he was swabbing the deck. He was cleaning, mopping up. And, of course, he's there with his number on one side and his last name on the other side. And he looks at me, and he says, "Hey, what are you doing? Are you a lawyer?" I said, "No, are you?" And he goes, "No." He goes, "I like that answer." He goes, "What are you doing, man?" I said, "Well, I'm here to see if the medium security personnel are open to the idea of a meditation class." He said, "What kind of meditation? Transcendental Meditation?" I said, "Yeah." He said, "Do you know George Ellis?" I said, "Yeah, I know George Ellis. George Ellis is a meditation teacher." He said, "How do you know George?" I said, "Two weeks ago, I met him in France." He said, "What'd you think?" I said, "I like George. He's a small guy, big ego." I said, "I like him." He goes, "Yep, that's George." He said, "Well, he taught me in Folsom Penitentiary. So, I do Transcendental Meditation." He said, "I'll tell you what. Here's what you do. You wait 'til you see Mr. Marshall, the programs director. When you come out, I'll have 20 of the toughest blomp-blomp-blomp-blomp-blomp guys here in the penitentiary, and we're going to start." I said, "Is that how it works?" He said, "That's how it works." I said, "OK." Sure enough, Mr. Marshall came to the door and he said, "I can see you now. Well, what are you here for?" So, I start talking to him. We had a marvelous talk. We talked about John Deere tractor, we talk about hunting deer. We talked about fishing, we talked about baseball. We talked about the stress he has in prison, his family. Yeah. And I said -- I was talking a little bit even about meditation. He said, "That sounds really interesting." He said, "I think I might like to try that." Well, he and I walked out. When we walk out, sure enough, 20 guys, inmates, are standing right in front of the door. And they already have their names signed up on a piece of paper. And they have Mr. Marshall's name as being the employee sponsor. So, they go, "Mr. Marshall? Here's what we're going to do." He said, "Now, boys, just a minute." Said, "We've got to check this out. This isn't how it works." And so, long story and fast forward, had it all checked out, and we did -- they didn't have any money, but they said, you know, "We're going to start." So, I said I would raise some money and we would get this done. So, I kind of went around the different TM centers around in Colorado and kind of [moved?] some money for sponsors. But I made the inmates pay $50. So, they were making 25 cents a day. But I said, "You're going to have to invest in it, because if you're [giving to it -- given it?], you may not do it." "Well, we don't have that kind of money." "Well, you'll find it." Now, what I did find out was, for marijuana in the penitentiary, if someone had three joints of marijuana in a matchbox -- that's what they call it, a matchbox -- it was $75. And someone would smuggle that in, and it would risk them getting a felony, and they would -- but it was worth it to them, so they did it. So, I said, in my first introductory lecture -- there were 75 inmates in this closed -- there were no windows in this closed room, and they could smoke at the time, of course. And I walk in and, you know, all the whistling began and all the catcalls and all the, you know, those kinds of things. And as they were talking, I finally -- it was too much noise, and I said, "Just a second. You know, I came here to talk about meditation. And those of you who are not interested, you have two options. You can go out this door or you can go out this door." Then it got very quiet. Course, there were a few other kinds of ways we said that in prison lingo. And they liked it, they clapped, it got very quiet. You could hear a pin drop. And afterwards, I told them what TM was, and whoever wanted to start, here's the 10 rules. And they clapped, and then we started our class. So, I taught TM for four years in the Colorado State Penitentiary. And the community sponsored -- you know, they would sponsor an inmate. And so, I didn't make any money. It wasn't a money-making thing, but I traveled back and forth from my hometown, which was 50 miles away, when I was -- I was enrolled as a student to finish my bachelor's degree with the GI Bill. And then I moved 167 miles away to go to grad school, and I would commute on the weekends down to the penitentiary. And then, you know, like, Friday, I would go -- drive down to the penitentiary. I'd work till 9:00, I'd go and stay at my mother and father's house, 50 miles away. Then I'd come back that Saturday morning, spend the entire day there from 8:00 to 8:00. Go back Saturday night, come back to the penitentiary Sunday morning and work till noon and then drive back to grad school. And it was a joy, what I learned. All the things I learned while I was there, because I was not a guard. I was not part of the system. They took me under their wing. They told me how all the crimes happened. (laughs) They educated me. And I felt that that was a real intriguing place to be. They were teaching me. And I wasn't, like, taking them into my homes or, you know, they were going to come and stay with me when I got -- it wasn't that sort of thing. It was just, like, "Here's what I do. And then, if you do this, you maybe have a better chance with a clear mind to not return, because your thinking will be different." But I didn't tell them how to live their lives or to behave, because that doesn't work after they've done 20 years and stuff. So, it was definitely a group of the alpha dogs in the penitentiary that were the heavyweights. And the violence level started to be reduced by a lot, because at one point I had 50 out of 500 meditating. And when the guys would meditate during the day -- they had to be locked down three times a day so they could be counted to make sure that everyone's there. So, three times a day, they had to go back to the cell and lock down, and the guard would go by the cell and count every single one of them. Well, during the count, it was about 30 minutes. So, the guys decided to meditate during that 30 minutes. Well, traditionally, it's really loud, because the guys have a chance just to yell and scream, and there's nothing they could -- what are they going to do, put them in prison? (laughs) So -- and these guys would meditate, and they were the heavyweights. Pretty soon, they start telling everybody, "When we do count, you shut up." (laughs) So, it started getting real quiet in all the different cell blocks. So, the guards were going, "Wait a minute, something is really unusual. What's happening? Because there's a change in these guys." So, every day, I would come in and I'd be in my little sport coat, and I would -- they would call the -- Mr. Zobeck's meditation class in the psychology room. And the guys would come in and I'd say, "Hey, how you doing?" Blah-blah-blah. So, at one point, the captain -- one of the captains came to me and said, "Get in my office," in a real stern tone. You know, right in front of the inmates. And the inmates went, "Oooh!" You know, like, "Uh-oh!" SY: "He's in trouble!" DZ: Yeah, exactly, you know? So, I went in the office and I sat down. And there was another inmate by his side, and he was talking to me in a very stern voice and it was kind of puzzling in the beginning, of course. And he said, "Do you" -- he said, "Young man, do you know that it's a felony to bring cocaine in a state penitentiary?" I said, "Sounds good to me. That sounds about right. Yeah, I do. That sounds -- yeah." I, like -- and then he said, "Well, you could be doing time with the rest of these guys, just like the guys you're trying to help and -- if you don't watch your step." And I said, "Whoa, whoa, whoa." 11 Then it occurred to me, I said, "You're talking about me bringing in cocaine? Oh." I said, "Captain, let me just give you a quick bio. I've never had a cigarette in my life. I don't drink. I've never had a cup of coffee. If you want to get your sniff dog and take him in my vehicle right now, I'll sign release papers. You could do a strip search, I'll give you a urine sample, a blood sample, whatever you would like to do. And, you know, we could do that in front of the inmates. I'll do whatever -- just so the evidence is clear. And if you don't find anything, I'll teach you meditation, because you're really stressed out. But good things are happening. (laughter) You know, when violence level goes down, that's actually a good thing." So, after that, when the -- when we were there for about a year, the in-- SY: Wait, wait, but so how did that resolve? That whole cocaine thing, how did that rumor start? DZ: He just -- it started because, you know, they -- the only reason that they would see that there were inmates being calm was when there were some drugs in the facility. SY: Of course, cocaine would not be a drug that would calm them down. (laughs) DZ: Well, but you know what? When they're maniacal -- if they're addicts, that would be a nice little fix. And there were several addicts in there. So, when they're coked up, they're a little bit different than when they're -- yeah. SY: So, he thought you were bringing in drugs because -- DZ: Yes, because I -- SY: -- the change in behavior was so dramatic. DZ: Yeah, and I was always happy. And that -- so, he knew that I had to be coked up, on coke, because I was always happy. And so, anyway -- but I saw a connection. The inmate that was sitting next to him was a convicted sex offender. I didn't know that at the time. And I didn't know the social aspects of the prison and sex offenders. What happened was, he came to learn TM. And I said, "Yeah, you could learn." But the inmates in the class told him, "Uh-uh. You're not coming with us, because if you sit with us, then that means we approve of who you are, and that ain't happening." So, I didn't realize that dynamic had transpired. And so, he was trying to upset the applecart and get this kicked out totally by putting this "I use cocaine" thing on me. And they would kick me out, and there goes the program and he'd get some revenge. SY: Right. DZ: So, I figured that out later on, and that aspect came to me. But, at any rate -- and then, after that, many guards saw what was happening, and they would come to me individually, like, privately and look around to see if there was anybody looking at us talking and say, "Here's my number. Call me at home." And I would call them at home, and said, "I want to start." So, I would drive to their homes, talk to them, their wives, and their kids and teach them. And then they said, "What we want is privacy, that you don't tell anyone, because if the guards -- other guards see us, then we're associating with an inmate program. If inmates see us, then, you know, we're -- it's a pretty negative situation." And so, at any rate -- and after -- of course, after four years -- and I was in grad school, then I was married, and I just couldn't continue. It was too long a deal. So, we had a very positive parting. But it was a wonderful experience, and it worked. The only thing I regret is I didn't keep real good -- great tabs on all the changes that occurred. I wasn't into the research end of it, and I regret that but -- 12 SY: Yeah. Any -- do you have any anecdotes of, like, transformations that happened with individual -- did you keep in touch with any of the inmates or -- DZ: They all kept in touch with me. I still have -- at one point, one of the most positive things, I think, is that -- well, I had one of the guys that was in there -- and he finished 20 years. He was in there for murder. And that's not good, and I'm not condoning any crime that any of these guys -- they're all wrong and they all -- SY: Yeah, of course. DZ: -- earned -- SY: Yeah. DZ: -- and earned the -- SY: Yeah, yeah. DZ: -- earned their time in prison. He got out and he spent one whole year in a monastery, on his parole. And the Jesuit brothers in Granby, Colorado, in a monastery, took him in, and he was in silence for a whole year. And he really enjoyed that, and it really made a huge difference. I keep in touch with him. Another one of the inmates who graduated, I -- got out and then finished the course. Became, like, an agent for a few professional athletes, some professional musicians. There's one right now who -- well, I'll tell you a personal connection, it was interesting. One of the guys got out, and he was from the city -- he grew up in the city in Colorado that I went to grad school in. It was Greeley, Colorado, at the University of Northern Colorado. And he said, "I understand" -- he said, "You said you're going to go to grad school in Greeley." I said, "Yeah." He said, "Could you look up my dad?" "Sure." So, he gave me the address, didn't tell me any story about his dad or anything. Didn't tell me anything about his father. I knock on the door, Mr. Smith comes to the door. I introduce myself, I said, "Hi, my name is Dave Zobeck, I teach meditation at the prison, and I met your son, Ted in the prison." And so, he starts cursing his son. "Ah," you know, he goes, "he's the cause of my divorce, because of his drugs and all that stuff. I hope he rots in hell," you know? And, OK, well, I said, "Well, I didn't know that part of it." I said, "So, like, you know, step away from the shotgun. I'm going to go back to my car," you know? Then he goes -- then he says, "Well," he said, "that's not your fault." Said, "Well, come on in." And fast forward, we became good friends. And he was an older guy, he just needed somebody to talk to. When I got back to the prison, I got in touch with Mr. Ted Smith and I said, "You got to tell me the whole story next time. You didn't tell me that." He said, "Yeah." I said, "Well, put your father on your visiting list, and I want him to come and talk to you. And I'm going to try to convince him to -- and he wants to talk to you. And you've got to drop that, you just have to talk to him." And so, anyway, they did. So, after I finished the four years -- and so, that went really well. But Mr. Smith would come and visit me a lot. I mean, sometimes uninvited. And I needed to study and he would just knock on the door and he would sit down, and he'd want to tell me his life story. And so -- and, you know, I accommodated most of the time, and sometimes I just couldn't do it. But I hadn't seen him for about two weeks. And in the meantime, I got a job at the Sheriff's Department in Greeley, Colorado. The Weld County Sheriff's Department. And I was a counselor in the jail, running this rehab program. I was sitting in my office, the phone rings. And this is when I was finished teaching TM in the prison. The phone rings, and it's Ted, the inmate who introduced me to his father. And we start talking. "How you doing?" "Good, I have a job, everything's going well." He said, "But my dad died." And I hadn't seen him in two 13 weeks. He said, "It was just sudden. He died and we're having the funeral. Would you and your wife come to the funeral?" I said, "Of course we will," you know? And he said, "I just need some support [there?]. I don't have any family." "Of course." So, you know, my wife and I went to the funeral, and then we had him over for dinner, because he wasn't any threat to us. I mean, he wasn't, like, you know. So, anyway, we had him to dinner. So, during dinner, he said, "My father really liked you, and he really appreciated you did all that work for free." He said, "He wanted you to have the house." I said, "Now, wait a minute. Time out. Have the house? I'm not going to have the house." He goes, "Well, we'll make it good for you," because he said, "I shouldn't have the house," because his drug guys would move in and he would just -- and it's a mess for him, and he was about 100 miles away. And he said, "I'd just rather have the money and move on. I'm ready to move on." So, he gave us, like -- it was just incredibly inexpensive. So, he said, "For your hard work in the prison for four years, this is your reward." So, we -- I've got the G.I. Bill, bought this house, and it was our first little house. And, you know, we raised our first little girl in it for a few years, and then we moved to another one and we used that as a rental house. But that was probably the most powerful anecdote that -- but some of the guys were -- I've lost track. You know, several of them, I know, had died. And, you know, it's not unusual that someone who's been in prison awhile has the stress factor along with them. But I didn't see, you know -- and some (inaudible) [00:45:22] I'm sure reoffended. I didn't keep that close track. But it was a marvelous experience. And, yeah, it introduced me to the field that I stayed in, the criminal justice field. I got interested in that. SY: OK, so -- DZ: I liked the adrenalin flow. SY: -- what was your master's in? DZ: My master's was in psychology, agency counseling. So, I did a lot of rehab work in the jails after that and ran a halfway house and that sort of thing, so -- and as a probation officer, when I was a probation officer, I did a lot of one-on-one kind of therapeutic kinds of things, and interventions in the community and that sort of thing. So, I really -- growing up in the neighborhood where I was, working in the penitentiary, and then getting that exposure and then applying that life experience to a career was a real blessing, you know? So, yeah, and I didn't teach TM when I was a probation officer, because that was a conflict of interest. I just recently started teaching since I've been here at Norwich. SY: So, I have a couple questions. DZ: OK. SY: First of all, do you know about Vermont's whole restorative justice model? DZ: Yes. SY: Yeah. DZ: Yes. SY: I was on a reparative board for awhile. It's pretty amazing. DZ: Yeah. I was certified as a trainer for restorative justice. SY: Oh, you were? DZ: Yes. SY: Yeah. 14 DZ: And Vermont had a prison here, and years ago, they had a TM program in the prison. And a woman by the name of Susan Gore, of Gore-Tex, who's from Vermont, had this project going and -- about the same time I was doing my project in Colorado. SY: Interesting. DZ: Yeah. SY: Doesn't exist anymore, does it? DZ: It doesn't what? SY: It doesn't exist anymore, does it? DZ: No. No, no. No. SY: So, that was one question I had to ask. And then, I'm just thinking about all these stories, and I'm thinking that you're in this unique position, right, where you can bridge these two worlds, right? So, I would imagine that you're different than most people teaching TM, certainly in the '70s, right? DZ: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. SY: And, you know, you're this guy who was in the service, right? So, you can, like, walk, you can be, like, respected for having this particular type of authority, right? You can tell them to take it or leave it -- DZ: Right, right, right. SY: -- in whatever crude terms you need to. DZ: Right, right, right. SY: Right? And have that sort of, like, gravitas, right? And then you're also able to teach TM. So, I -- is that something you've thought about? Like, how you sort of intersect these worlds? DZ: No, I just -- you know, I taught TM because that was the most wonderful opportunity I had at the present, and I got really into it. And then, when I came back to the states, what I was going to do was get my degree and possibly go back to Europe. And then, this project came along. And then, of course, in grad school I met my wife. And, you know, life happened in that regard. So, the next page in the next chapter was, you know, I have an opportunity to actually work in this field. And I had this previous kind of experience prior to that, and it wasn't for pay. But it was really on the front line, and the prison experience was real. I mean, there was a guy who was -- there was a lot of things that happened in the penitentiary, you know? Like murders and that sort of thing, and just being exposed to that. And I liked the adrenaline rush. I liked that there was an excitement and you had to be on your toes all the time. You had to be alert, and how to handle that, knowing that in a penitentiary, you're outnumbered if you're a guard. So, your best weapon is your mouth, and you could either get in trouble with it or you can calm people down. Because the inmates -- you live at the mercy of the inmates when there's 500 inmates. There's -- they don't walk around -- the guards don't walk around the penitentiary with guns for good reason, because somebody's going to take it away. So, it was kind of an idea of learning how -- it was -- it reminded me of a -- and I've never done this, but it was kind of like maybe being in the jungle, learning how to pet the lions, and still have all your fingers. These guys could kill me anytime. I mean, they were all -- and there was 20 of them. And out of the 20, 12 of them had been convicted of murder. And, you know, they weren't rehabilitated. But I have to give this one little story. So, what I do is I'd -- the first day with everyone that is taught, they learn with a teacher, one-on-one. They get the instruction. So, they receive a mantra, they receive the technique 15 how to use it properly, and then they meditate. They get it the first day, so you don't have to be a black belt in TM. You get -- you learn it right away. It's so simple, 10-year-olds learn. So, it's an effortless technique, which makes it really effective. You know, and it's certainly not a concentration technique or a contemplation technique and -- concentration takes a lot of effort and focus and mental activity, so it usually stays on a surface level. And contemplation is kind of -- you ask your mind to imagine a situation that -- you work yourself to get images or a value, like kindness or whatever it is, and imagine yourself in, for example, Costa Rica when you're actually in Vermont. But this is supposed to give you this relaxed feeling. Or imagine yourself, you know, the kindest person you can ever be. But it's thinking, and as long as you're thinking, you're on a surface level. So, TM is a little different than either one of those. It takes advantage of what's called the natural tendency of the mind. It sounds like a lot of woo-woo, but what it means is that if, you know, you and I are talking -- and I don't know what your favorite music is. What is your favorite music, type of music? SY: It's usually folk music of some variety. DZ: OK, so as you and I are talking, if one of your favorite tunes floats through the door, where would you imagine your attention might -- [yeah?]. SY: Sure, yeah. DZ: To the music. So, it's more charming. It's something more charming. So, what happens is that, in TM, when we -- when I teach a person to meditate, the natural tendency of the mind is to go to quieter levels of the mind where there -- it is more charming. There's more quietness, more silence. Now, how do you get there? So, the first day, I teach you a mantra, which is a word that has no meaning. Some mantras do mean -- there's thousands of mantras all over the world. Probably millions, I don't know. But the mantras that are used by TM are sound that has no meaning whatsoever. And sounds have certain effects on your nervous system. So, it's a soothing sound and I choose that for each person. Some people could have the same mantra, doesn't matter. But the technique, how to use it properly, is the other half of that knowledge. So, I teach that the first day. And by this soothing sound, and when it's used correctly, that directs the tension to finer levels of thinking and quieter levels of the mind, to a point where, you know, there is nothing but silence. And silence is different than quietness. Silence is -- in silence, there's no thought. So, the idea of Transcendental Meditation -- meditation being some form of thinking or prayer, and transcending going beyond that. So, you go beyond the level of thought to where there's silence. And that part is in every nervous system of every human being. So, transcending is that experience of silence. And so, 600 studies later -- show that, you know, the prefrontal cortex and all areas of the brain are affected in a real positive way. So, it creates a situation where there's -- it's called restful alertness. So, the restfulness is that -- it's a mental technique, but there's deep physical relaxation. So, the heart rate is reduced, the breath rate, the pulse rate. Even cortisol, which is a chemical in the body that measures stress is reduced almost to nothing. So, the physical part is there. But on the mental part, there's some awareness. So, it's not sleep, it's not dreaming, it's not being awake, it's not -- it's neither of those states of consciousness, but it's this pure awareness. So, when someone experiences this several times during a 20 minute period of meditation, which is the length of time that people meditate twice daily -- that that prefrontal cortex and all areas of the brain are affected positively, and there is some coherence in the brain. So, there is awareness. 16 There's alertness. And so, when you experience that and you finish, then you're refreshed. So, it reaches the level that's deeper than that of sleep. But it's not sleep, because sleep is measurable and your brain behaves a certain way during sleep. And the EEG that measures -- that does this research doesn't lie, doesn't make anything up. It says, hey, this is a different state of consciousness. So, we can tell when a person's sleeping by the function of the brainwaves. Then, when they begin to dream, there's some rapid eye movement, and you can tell there's a different function. I'm not being incredibly scientific, just -- right, just general. And when we're awake, like right now, there's a different -- so, scientists in another room looking at this screen could say that Sarah and Dave are sleeping, dreaming, and awake. And then, when we meditate, they're saying something different is happening. So, it's a fourth state of consciousness. So, being able to actually teach that to someone, knowing that it goes to what is a natural place in their own being, in their own mind and their own physiology, which is silent, and they get these deep results -- and when they come out and they're more alert and more relaxed, they're probably going to have better behavior. They're probably going to be more efficient in their activity. They're probably going to be more effective. So, when the violence level went down in the prison, it wasn't because Dave Zobeck said, "Be good." It was because we have 50 out of 500, and they're having more brain coherence, because every decision comes from the brain. It just made common sense to me that I didn't have to spew anything. I didn't have to tell them, "Eat -- be a vegetarian, think of Maharishi all day long. Quit your religion." Because that was convincing to me. I was Catholic, I didn't have to abandon my religion. I didn't have to become a vegetarian, because I'm not. I didn't have to walk around with a picture of Maharishi on me and think Maharishi thoughts, which -- and I met him. He's a marvelous human being. A marvelous human being. Incredible. I mean, he's a Hindu monk and I'm not. You know, I'm okay with that and it's not a big deal. So, to bring that knowledge into this field, knowing that in the field of corrections, with inmates and employees that work in that field, that -- high stress rates -- that police officers and people in law enforcement, corrections, they don't live to normal life expectancy because of stress. Not because of the bad guy. And then military, same thing. I mean, when -- sadly enough, when we have 13 -- minimum of 13 suicides per day, I find that -- I'm extremely patriotic, and these are our men and women, and these are people's -- course, now they're children -- that I have been with, and even if they're not -- that I don't know them, they're related and I understand that stress. I've never been in combat, so I don't understand that stress. But I tire of seeing our beautiful flag folded into a triangle and presented to a grieving family because the effects of their duty drove them to that place that they thought was better than living. And what am I going to do about it? I mean, you can only cry for so long. I want to do something about it. So, I think that this is a tool that may have an effect on that. And if someone can do that -- and I taught on this campus, I've taught a number of veterans that were -- have done a number of tours in different wars. And the results are phenomenal. And it is such a privilege for me to do that, it's such an honor for me to do that, to share that. So, to be here at Norwich is just -- this is -- SY: So, yeah, so how did you get -- DZ: -- ideal. SY: -- pulled back into this work? 17 DZ: Well, I retired from my work early, and I put in 28 years in the field. But I decided that I wanted to teach TM again. In order to do that, I had to do a recertification course, and I went to this recertification course and I met this guy there. He said, "I work for the David Lynch Foundation and I'd like you to work for me." I had no idea what that was. I said, "Oh, okay, that sounds good." And, you know, no big deal. And so, he contacted me later on and said, "You have a chance to go to Norwich and teach TM." And I thought that was England. I was all excited. I thought, cool, we're going to England. Break out -- "Hello." Break out the passport. (laughter) So, I came here, and the first day that I came -- it was kind of, like, an incredibly snowy day like today. I went to a meeting in the Plumley Armory, and I walked into the Nicholson Room and there were nine vets sitting around this table. And I had my little coat and tie on, of course, which is kind of the uniform of the day for TM teachers. That's what -- Maharishi would like people to look professional, so I did. And I had Peg Meyer and Shelby [Gile?] and the veterans, and they started introducing themselves around the table. And this man said his name, and he said that he had done some tours and gone through some troubled times. And so, I looked him in the eye across the table and I said, "Welcome home, brother." And he started to cry. And I got up and I went around the table. And he stood up and I gave him a big hug, and he was just crying. And I just said, "Welcome home." And he sat down, and we continued. And the woman next to me whispered -- she said, "Did you know him?" I said, "I've never seen him before in my life." And so, then we had a chance -- after that meeting, we told them about TM, and they were -- they could start. They didn't have to pay anything. Going to make an exception, because we had an agreement between our agency and Norwich. And then, I went and talked to the student body. I mean, there were about 200 [core or Corps?] members, and we got a group and we started the first study. I wasn't the researcher, but the researchers did -- took some measures before and after. And then, the results were great. Doctor -- or President Schneider got up in front of the students that were there and he said, you know, "Ladies and gentlemen, you have the opportunity to learn this." He said, "It's everything that they say it is. There's no obligation, and you can volunteer if you like. If you don't, that's okay." He said, "But I've checked it out. I've looked at the research," and he said, "that's the only thing that convinced me." He said, "Then I started it, and since I've been doing it, it's wonderful." You know? Not exactly his word, but that he started -- SY: So, the TM with people returning with PTS makes a lot of sense to me. And the TM with platoons beforehand also makes sense, but can? -- I feel like there's this elemental contradiction, right, which is no matter how resilient people are, in war they're going to be forced to see and do things that damage the psyche, right? DZ: Sure, sure. SY: So, I guess, how do you think about that? And how can -- do you believe that TM can, to some degree, change the nature of conflicts? DZ: Well, a couple of things. You know, it only works if you do it. And if a person's in a conflict -- I mean, I understand from a practical sense they're not going to call time out and go, "I got to meditate." But there are going to be some down times. There's going to be conflict that's going to cause that damage no matter what. If you do TM, you don't -- yeah, do TM. What do you do about it when you have it? And this is something that I like in this regard, because they could do it by themselves, and it's an extra tool. If they want to talk to a psychologist, that's great. If they want to take some medication, that's 18 great. Whatever. They can do this by themselves. The veterans that I taught said, "I wish I would have had this when I was in combat, because there were times when I was just losing my mind and I didn't know what to do. And I had time on my hands. I wish I could've sat down and done this." So, in a practical sense, we're giving them tools to use when they can -- if they're in a conflict or if they're not actively doing anything, they have some downtime, to relieve that stress, to maybe -- we don't have any data yet that says TM prevents PTS. I would never say that. Maybe lessen the effects, or even when they get back they have a tool immediately to use. Because what we know is that alcohol, drugs, you know, the different behaviors that break out -- violence, you know, it's fight or flight kind of time when someone has post-traumatic stress. They -- you lash out or they'll walk away from things, and they're not the same person when they return, because what's happened is the brain is damaged. So, the hope is that we can give them this tool to maybe get them strong before they get into the conflict. And if they're kind of doing this workout for the brain, being more flexible to stress that's incoming, they won't react as badly or as poorly as they did if they didn't have the tool. So, what we're doing is -- it's kind of like that analogy of, you know, there's this crack team that rescues people jumping in the river, and they're going down the tubes. And they can pull out every single guy in the river, and every single woman in the river. They can -- they're really good at it. Then someone gets the wise idea and says, "Why don't we catch them where they're jumping in? You know, we can prevent something." So, this is a preventative program. So, we get the vets that have -- coming back, they're on campus. We also get those who are going to be commissioned and go into the service. And I have, you know, over -- probably about 100, and I get text messages from several of them that say, "I meditated before I flew today. I was clear as a bell." Or, "I finished Army Ranger training, and if not -- but for TM, I wouldn't have made it." And so, I see that there's some results. And, you know, I'm not a meditation cop. I don't make them do it. I give them the tool, and that's what the president said. We're going to give them a tool that is proven and see if that makes the difference. SY: No, that's very interesting. So, OK, so Norwich is founded on this idea of the citizen soldier, right? DZ: Mm-hmm. SY: And I think that means a lot of different things to a lot of different people, right? But part of it that I find compelling is the idea that you're creating soldiers who are thinkers, right? Who are -- they follow orders, but they also to some degree come to their own conclusions, right? So, I'm wondering if you feel like TM can create better, more ethical warriors, if it has a moral effect, perhaps, in some way? DZ: Well, I mean, if -- the idea that -- that's a good question. The idea is that -- I think a person's morals don't necessarily come from meditation. But I think when a person has a clearer mind, they make less mistakes, and they're probably apt to err on the positive. So, you know, wouldn't it be nice if we were talking about, ideally, a situation where one of these young men or women become a general and they're big decision makers, and it comes down to doing that -- [make?] a decision to -- is this war -- is it -- are there other alternatives? That clear mind would make the very best decision that that person could possibly make to benefit the most people around them. Of course, that's the hope of every time, so -- but there's no -- I think when people begin to meditate, the hope is -- I had one of my -- so, one of the guys who's a soldier now, he said, "I want you to teach all 19 of my platoon, because we're going to be more in touch with each other, and we're going to be more effective." And, you know, the hope is someday there will not be any wars. How -- you're talking about ethical with regard to during a war, ethical with regard to preventing war, or in what regard are you thinking about? SY: All of the above. DZ: I see. SY: All of the above. I mean, so, yes, so ethical in terms of preventing a war, if it could be prevented. But also, I'm just thinking about -- you know, we've had some unfortunate situations in the past decade of -- you know, that are coming to light more and more, like soldiers -- you know, I mean, I think of Abu Ghraib. I think of other situations like that, and I wonder if a practice like this could help a soldier in a sort of context like that. Be, like, "Yeah, I'm not doing that." DZ: Right. SY: Or, "I'm going to blow the whistle on that." Or, "That doesn't" -- do you know what I'm saying? DZ: Yeah, yeah, OK. That's a good direction. One of the things that I would submit that -- I don't have evidence in every single case, but I would submit that those types of decisions are made from a stressed mind. And same thing with crime. I mean, look at the example in prison. When these guys are doing that, none of them -- they rarely if ever got written up for any violations. And it's not because those rules were not there at all, they didn't understand the rules. It was because their reasoning was influenced by the amount of stress that they had. So, I would guess that when -- the people who did that in Abu Ghraib, and it wasn't every single one of them -- made that decision. That's not a relaxed place. That's an incredibly stressed place. And I would guess that those decisions come from stressed minds. So, I think that what could happen -- if I had the magic wand, I would teach every one of those guys. And, you know, there would be a difference in the -- a physiological change. And again, it sounds very ideal. But break out the EEG machine. And that doesn't measure left-wing granola conspiracies. That measures how the human brain functions in each individual. And when done correctly, there is a positive effect. And I would say that would be where the influence would go. And I see the same thing with, you know, stressed cops, stressed whatever. When I was on the street as a probation officer and we'd chasing the bad guys, I'd come home and there'd be all sorts of stress, of course. But I would meditate, and then I wouldn't bring that stress into my house, you know? And I think that that's the hope. So, I think it's a tool that is -- needs to be looked at, because scientifically it's proven. So, I do think it would have an influence in that regard. Do I think it would have been perfect and no violation? I'm not saying that. I'm saying does it make a difference if they would do it? I think it would increase the chances of positive behavior by a long shot. That's my opinion, absolutely. And so, if you look at that and you look at the idea of where wars come from -- I mean, people making decisions to go to war -- I don't think that's a relaxed nervous system. SY: No, and people that -- DZ: On either side. SY: Right. When people feel like caged animals, they act like caged animals, right? DZ: They're going to lash out, I would guess. I mean, in some cases. And rare -- and bless the guy who doesn't or the woman who doesn't, but it's rare. But I think that -- you know, the same thing -- well, anyway, so that's my opinion on that one. 20 SY: So, one last question -- DZ: Sure. SY: -- because I know I'm getting tired, mostly because these fluorescent lights are awful. Do you have this (inaudible) [01:09:52] (laughs) DZ: They're terrible, aren't they? SY: They're just the worst. DZ: Bam. SY: Ah, thank you! DZ: See? SY: Feel much better. DZ: See, now we're relaxed. SY: Look at that. DZ: We're roaming out. SY: Look at that. DZ: Come on. SY: Things changed. DZ: I mean, come on, hello. SY: Woo! It was, like, my eyes -- DZ: (laughs) Bzzz! SY: -- were like dilating in and out. (laughter) And I was, like, am I here? What's going on? DZ: Who am I? What am I? SY: So yeah. So, actually, I was talking to Sarah Henrich before and I was like, "What do you want to ask Dave Zobeck? What do you want to know?" And she said, "What's your big picture vision?" You could – if you were running the show, you were, you know, I don't know, leader of the world, right? What would you do in terms of TM? DZ: Of the world or for Norwich? The world -- SY: Or of Norwich or -- DZ: Well, here's the deal. I think -- what I think I would do -- I mean, in the world sense at it boils down to Norwich as well. I think you need to get it in the education system. I think this needs to be a class that's offered for credit, that this is -- that you can do maybe some measurements before you get in the class, and at the end of the semester, after X amount of meditations, you can do that. And I think every class would begin with meditation and then follow with some knowledge about development of consciousness, changes in brains, that -- some real scientific kinds of things. And that should be a part of every person's curriculum. I think it belongs in the curriculum. I think this tool belongs with civilians, it belongs to Corps people, it belongs to administrators -- and I have taught a number of administrators here that swear by it. So, if it works, let's do it. So, we have to have this type of knowledge of other subject matters. And I've taught that. I've taught sociology and psychology and that sort of thing and it was -- it's marvelous. You have to have that. It's a good, good bit of information. But the knowledge of the self is so powerful and timeless. These books are outdated five years after I teach the subject matter. Development of consciousness and going within never is outdated as long as you're alive. And that is eternal knowledge. And that's the difference in my satisfaction of teaching TM and teaching these other subjects. I love teaching. When I teach someone how to go and experience and that -- to find this place in their own nervous system -- and then, when they're finished, they feel better and their affect is more positive 21 on other people, because it's good to be around people that are very positive. And they're going to be the decision makers of the future. It's way too common-sensical to do. It makes sense, and there's no -- I don't understand a reason not to. And so, that's what I think the ideal situation -- there are school systems in California, entire school systems that use it. They call it quiet time. They start their day -- the entire school, with the teachers -- they have a bell that rings over the PA system. They start their day with 10 minutes of meditation, they go about their business. At the end, at three o'clock when they're finished, the entire school system sits down, including the teachers. They do 10 minutes of meditation. No violence in the hall, no afterschool violence. They've saved San Francisco millions of dollars -- SY: Of course it's San Francisco. DZ: -- because of shootings and so on and so forth. And the kids are progressing for the first time through middle school, high school, and they're going on to college. The data is there. There's no -- there's nothing -- and they're still Protestants, they're still Jews, they're still Catholics, they're -- they haven't changed. They're still meat eaters. They're citizens that understand how they can contribute better as a citizen to their country, to their city, their community when they're using more of their full potential. This is the tool, and it's proven. And I think it -- you know, move the obstacles out of the way, get to what works. And the sooner we do that, I think we can see results all over the place. Even in cities where there are crime rates and there's X amount of people who are doing TM, there's a difference in the crime level. So, you know, I think it's a tool. So, I think, to answer, you know, that question is -- very directly is put it in the school system. Without a doubt, it should be taught like any other subject matter. The knowledge of self is as important as the knowledge of other topics. And so, I would recommend that. And I'm hoping, eventually down the road at Norwich, it does get in the curriculum somehow, some way, you know? SY: Actually, when I was teaching middle school, we had something -- it wasn't TM, but it was sort of a mindfulness chunk of the week. DZ: Yeah. SY: It was -- it didn't quite work, I think because it was, like, a group activity, right? It wasn't something that, like -- I think with middle school girls in particular -- it was an all-girls school -- they need to close their eyes to, like, step out of the social context in order to be able to access themselves. But when there were -- it was more sort of, like, movement based and they could still see each other, they, like, weren't able to get rid of their self-consciousness. DZ: And to go inside. SY: And to go inside, yeah. DZ: Well, you know, every technique has their own benefits, and I'm not going to knock that. But this is a -- again, if you're going to anyone -- any institution's going to invest money, go to something that's proven. I mean, 600 studies later, and no one's fighting that they're bad studies. There's not one. SY: Do you think that if you hadn't -- if that Marine hadn't come and spoken at that -- at your Air Force base that you would have discovered TM? Or do you think your life would have taken another trajectory? DZ: I think probably -- I think people are on a path to probably discover what they discover. He was just the -- he was the person who -- like, I would -- with some others that just was 22 -- delivered the package that day that I had asked for in some way, shape, or form. I was always looking -- SY: And you were ready for it. DZ: Yeah, I -- and in kind of, like, that Chinese thing when the student is ready, the teacher appears. SY: Right, right, right, you're -- DZ: And I think I was -- we were doing other kinds of things and that came along, and that was just -- that was another thing. But it was the coup de grace. I mean, it made my exercise better, you know, my sleep better and my studies better. So, I saw the benefit immediately, and there's no reason to stop, so I haven't. And so far, there's some tremendous results here at Norwich, and the students like it. And, you know, there's some support. And it'll go as long as it's supposed to, you know? So -- SY: It also seems like, at Norwich, it's also to some degree changed the culture between the cadre and the rooks, right? And I know that people talked about less yelling and, like, a sort of, like, different relationship between -- a kinder relationship, potentially. DZ: Well, the thing is, the first two years when we had the group study that was done at Alumni Hall, we had one platoon that was, you know, taught, and their cadre. And they would meditate together for the first two years. Different platoons, of course. And then we had the control group that didn't learn and then finally learned in the spring when they got recognized. So, we had that -- so, in that specific platoon, they didn't need to yell because these men and women, young men and women, were alert enough the first time around. And they, you know, were less stressed, and they could respond right away. So then, the cadre didn't have to yell, because they got it right the first time. And I know the cadre personally, and they yelled. I mean, it's part of the culture. But it was really good. Now the group is different, because it's opened up to the general population. So, some of the rooks are meditating and they're meditating in the room, but their cadre don't and their other roommate doesn't. Or it's a smattering of -- you know, I taught 116 people last semester, and not all of them were rooks. So, there's still the culture of yelling and screaming, of course. But I think, you know, we've opened it up to the public this time around. But in that regard, when you have everybody with a clearer mind and you have a group of people with a clear mind -- in fact, they sit down and get a clear mind before they start their day and go forward. TM is a preparation for activity. With a clear mind, your activity's going to be more efficient. It's real simple. So, that's how it -- work, and I think Norwich is on the cutting edge of all of this, because they're the first academy to move forward with all this. SY: It's pretty exciting. DZ: It is. I think it's great. SY: It really is. DZ: Yeah. SY: So, OK, any last thoughts? DZ: No, I think it's good. SY: I still want to know why you joined the Air Force. DZ: Oh, well, you know, I mean, my two brothers, older brothers, were in the Air Force. We grew up in Colorado. The Air Force Academy is there. We were always fans of the football team, and we had visited the academy. We were all Air Force guys. And they did it, and I just followed suit. And, you know, it was during the war and I just thought, 23 you know, was a good time to serve. And I joined and -- certainly didn't go to Vietnam. I was a Vietnam era veteran, but I just thought it was a good thing to do. I liked it, and I didn't make a career out of it. I had -- opportunity to go to officer's school, and thought I could progress faster doing studies on my own. And, in fact, that was the case. But the Air Force changed my life. I mean, it got me out of the small town, and I saw the world. And when I lived in Europe, I visited all sorts of different countries, and visited my family in Yugoslavia. I would never have done that without the Air Force. So, I am deeply grateful for that experience. It was -- it's a life -- it was a life-changing situation. Became a TM teacher, taught -- you know, learned another language. So, very, very grateful, the opportunity that was presented, and then got my education -- I mean, finished my education when I got back with the GI Bill and bought a house. And there's so many things. So, it fit, you know? And I really didn't have the brains to figure that out, what I was going to do when I got in. I just said, hey, I'm going to do this and see what happens. SY: You were, what, 18? DZ: I was 20. SY: Twenty. DZ: Yeah, yeah, so -- SY: Yeah. DZ: -- but it was beautiful, I -- so, it was good situation. Very grateful. SY: And you liked the physical challenge, too, right? DZ: I liked it. And the Air Force isn't, certainly, as physically -- challenge as, like, the Marine Corps or the Army. And my Marine friends and my Army soldier friends all agree. SY: I heard (laughter) the joke the other day that -- of the Chair Force. DZ: Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. SY: That was the joke that I heard, yeah. (laughs) DZ: But, you know, I take it in all good humor. SY: Yeah. DZ: And I admire them and am very grateful for all their service as well. So, it just -- we're -- I like to be part of the team. And being part of Norwich team and being accepted here and being part of the culture is really good. But, you know, in the beginning, it was very much, you know, weird and strange and odd, which I can understand. I understand that. But once we start looking at the science and the practical application and who I was and -- I wasn't into some of the strange things that are stereotypically associated -- SY: Well, again, you're this bridge. DZ: Yeah, yeah. SY: You're this, like -- DZ: Yeah. SY: -- amalgam that works, right? (laughter) Bringing meditation into these, like, more sort of, like, macho worlds -- DZ: Yeah, yeah. SY: -- like a prison or like the military or -- DZ: And, you know, what I find is that, you know, these young men and women -- Norwich -- the students here are just -- they absolutely amaze me. I mean, at the end of the sentence, they call me sir as opposed to other things that I was called when I worked in the criminal justice system, the combinations of family and different kinds of things were just very 24 creative. (laughter) But they are so motivated, and to add this tool to their -- already their intensity is really nice, because it's like a tune-up twice a day. So, it's going to make them even more effective. So, I say, as a decision-maker, when you become an officer, if that were my son or daughter, I would hope to goodness that you would have a clear mind when you're making decisions when lives are at stake. And clear minds make less mistakes. And your troops -- and you may not even have to go to war. You could be that formidable, that we don't want you as an opponent. We can -- let's have this chat. And so, who knows down the road? But we'll see. Greater minds than mind will make those decisions. But my biggest -- my hope is that they can get it in the curriculum and get it going and have somebody do that. And there's a few young people here who are interested in becoming teachers, and that would be really magnificent. There's a staff member who's interested in becoming a teacher. I would like that. It would be organic in nature, and then I could go onto whatever else I'm supposed to do and -- (laughter) SY: Right, whatever happens to be next. DZ: That's right. SY: Right? DZ: That's right. SY: And -- END OF AUDIO FILE

Issue 5.5 of the Review for Religious, 1946. ; Revxew for Religxous ,, SEPTEMBER ~,15, 1!94 Qualities of' ~ Moral Guide . . . . , 6~,ald Kelly New Vitality for the Exame.n . '. . Richard t: Rooney. How is Your:Fai÷h? . ~ . . ,. Patrick I~1~ Regan ,On Readin9 af Table ' Claude Ke~n !Preparincj Lay Apostles . ~' / . JohnA. Herdon 0u Lr da ys o'sRary ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯ ~ , . Adam¯~ C. EII;s ,~ " ~_~., ¯ Ques÷i0~s Answered Books Reviewed ,Vo~u~E:y NUMBER REVIEW FOR R L GIOUS VOLUME V SEPTEMBER 15, 19"46 NUMBER 5 CONTE TS QUALITIES OF A GOOD MORAL GUIDE Gerald Kelly, S.J. 281 NEW VITALITY FOR THE OLD EXAMEN Richard L. Rooney, S.J. /296° OUR CONTRIBUTORS . ". . . ~ . . 300 HOW IS YOUR FAITH?--Patrick M. Regan. S.J . 301 IN CASE YOU DON'T KNOW IT-- . . 314 ON READING AT TABLE Claude Kean, O.F.M .3.15 PREPARING FOR THE LAY APOSTOLATE John A. Hardon, S.J. 319 OUR LADY'S ROSARY Adam C. Ellis, S.J .3.2.4. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS-- 29. Confessions in Convent Parlor .' . 335 ~0. Gift-Money Put Aside for Masses . 33~ 31. Toties Quoties Indulgence on Rosary Sunday . 336 32. Indulgence for Renewal of Vows . 337 33. Use of Profits from Sale of Stationery and Religious Articles 337 34. Profits of School Store Used for Teachers' Supplies and .Correspond-ence Courses . 337 35. Quality of Flour for Altar Breads . 338 BOOK REVIEWS " The Mysteries of Christianity; Major Trends in American Church His-tory; A Mystic Under Arms: Wisdom for Welfare: The Golden Thread of Newman; The Sacred Ceremonies of Low Mass; Caeremoniale: Pars Altera De Celebrante . g . . . " . 340 BOOKS RECEIVED " " 344 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS. September. 1946. Vol. V, No. 5. Published bi-monthly; January, March, May,,July, September. and November at the College Press~ 606 Harrison Street, Topeka; Kansas. by St. Mary's College, St. Marys, Kansas, with ecclesiastical approbation. ~Entered as second class matter January 15, 1942. at the Post Office. Topeka, Kansas, under the act of" March 3, 1879. Editorial Board: Adam C. Ellis, S.J. G. Augustine Ellard, S.J. Gerald Kelly, SJ. Editorial Secretary: Alfred F. SchneideL S.,I. ° Copyright, 1946, by Adam C. Ellis. Permission is hereby granted for quotations of reasonable length, provided due credit be given this review and the author. ,Subscription price: 2 dollars a year. Printed in U. S. A. Before writing to us, please consult notice on inside back cover. Qoalities of a ¯ Good Moral Guide Gerald ~Kelly,o [;.3. IWAS recently'called on to give a confereonce and lead a discussion on the qualities of a good moral g~ide~ In : preparing the conference I was.impressed by the fact that among Catholics .the most important of all moral guides is the confessor, and that all who give extra-confessional moral guidance must possess to some,degree a5 least the per-sonal qualifications that the Church expects her confessors to have. It seemed quite logical and practical, therefore, to base the conference on the qualities of a good confessor enumerated in the Roman Ritual, and to explain these qualities in much the same way as moral theologians explain them when~treating of the minister of the sacra-ment of penance. Since the group for whom the confer: ence was prepared, was made up almost entirely of religious, I Considered that anything which wouldbe of use to them should also be useful in the REVIEW. That is the reason for the present article. Before discussing the qualities of a good moral guide, it is necessary to determine what ismeant by moral guidance and who might reasonably be considered' as moral guides'. A "guide" points the way,to something, helps others to attain a goal of some kind. A "moral" guide that ls, a guide in moral matters is one who helps others to lead good lives and thus to achieve the best and highest of goals, their salvation and sanctification. SuCh, I think, is the' accepted meaning of moral guidance in the Catholic Church: guidance in,things that pertain to virtuous living. ~Very likely, when We think of guidancel we usually 281 GERALD KELLY Reoieu~ [or Religious. think of it in terms of direction given to individuals: for example;°iJyl confessors, spiritual directors, and student counselors. Yet it .would be a mistake to limit the meaning ~o such formal, indivi~lual relationships. The teacher who explains the Commandments of God, the precepts of the Church, or the Evangelical Counsels, is certainly giving moral guidance, not-to an individual, it is true, but to an ehtire g.rou~p.- So too, the teacher who in' an informal way answers the questi.ons concerning right conduct, that 0stu-dents are wont to ask after class hours is really giving moral guidance, ~ven ,though not in the official capacity of a~studen~ counselor. From what I have said, it is clear that the term "moral ~uikt'i~:' is hpplicable tO-'ii wide range of persons: pfirents: teachers, youth counselors, religious superiors, spiritual directors of religious, confessors, and all others who, in at least an informal and general way, give advi,ce on moral matters. In a class by himself is the confessor, because of his~unique power of absolving and because, quite naturally, certain probl.ems will be referred to him which will rarely, if ever, fie referred to the others. However, if we exclude what belongs uniquely to the confessor, it is apparent that ' all the other moral guides I have mentioned share with him to some degr.ee the office of directing souls and should there-fore be proportionately endowed with the qualities the Church expects him to possess. The remaining sections of this article are based on this assumption. I might add, however, .that in drawing the parallel between the con-feskor and extra-confessional moral guides, I have par-ticularly in mind those religious who have been entrusted with the special office of guiding youth: for example, stu-dent cdunselors. °The Ritual lays special stress on these four qualities of a good confessor: knowledge, prudence, holiness,-and a .282 September, 1946 QUALITIES OF MOI~AL G~ID~s careful observance Of secrecy. It would be difficult~ if not impossible, to think.of' a more apt and adequate summary of qualifications for good moral guidance, whether in or out of the confessional. 1. KNOWLEDGE That those who gu.ide others in the way of salvation must hav~ some knowledge seems too obvious to need com-ment. The blind cannot lead the blind. Yet, it is distres-sing to note how often one hears remarks like these: "You don't need knowledge; all you need is common sense . In the guidance of youth, and especially of children, com-mon sense and sound piety will take care of everything." Such statements are sheer nonsense. Common sense and sound piety certainly have their places in moral guidance, as will be'explained later; but they will not supply for a lack of knowledge of God's laws and of the teaching and laws of the Church. Nor will they supply the' factual knowledge of such things as physiology and psychology that is sometimes required for appropriate guidance. It is one thing to say that g ~uidance presupposes knowl- ,edge; it is quite another_ thing to say just what the moral guide should know and how much he should know. The basic studies that enter into the training of confessors are moral theology, canon law, and ascetical theology. Besides these, it is presupposed that as.a priest he Will know dog-matic theology. I think it is safe to say that-these same subje.cts should form the basis for extra-confessional guidance. The required essential knowledge would differ, theref6re, rather in degree than in kind: All guides should know at least the laws of the ChurCh that ordinary Cath-olici must observe and the approved explanations of these" laws. They should also know the main principles of Cath-oli~ morality and asceticism. 28,3 GE~_ALD" KELLY Review for Religiou~ Guides ~dealo.with:human beings; ,they must 'therefore know something of that h.ighlyAnteresting thing sometimes re.ferred to, as ~"huma~a,~nature.~ ~Ofsourse;~a great :deal 6f knowledge of "human nature" can be. gleaned, fr0m per-sonal experience and close 9bservation of the reactions of oneself and of others. Yet ~ersonal experience is not narfly, sufficient for .the moral grade;~ he should 'also know Something of;the e~dei~len(~cien~dfic st~idies no~ available on ~iJd ps~cholgg;Ci~d61es~ent psychology, the ps~ch010g~ of Cha~c~er, mentfil "hy~iene, "and s6 forth. In~re~iding.such works, however; the moral guide may himself ia~eed the guid~_n~e~°of a competent~ psychologist; for, l~esides the ex~lien~ ~a~efial'~written'on these subjects, ther~ is no small amour~ of Ua[eli~ible. and even .basically ~nchristian materl~l:~ - ¯ - °Ho~ niucl~ mus.t one know !n order to give proper g~uid~inc¢?. The only~ answer is that it depends on the kind of guidance one isi~xpected to give. The nbrm usually given for the minimum amp_unt of~ knowledge of mdral the-ology require'd of a confessor is this: he should know enough to solve the ordinary cases iike!y to be p~esented to him in th~ place wtiere he is to hdar confessions and should be able to recognize exceptionally diflicul t cases that demand further study or consultation with experts. I beli~eve ~that same norm may be. ~applied proportionately to all guides, and I doubt if ~anything mor~" definite can be given in a gen- ~ral article like this. 2. PRUDENCE " Prudence is the virtue which "helps i~s in all circum-stances to form a right judgment as ~o what we should seek or avoid~for the sake of eternal life" (cf. Gasparri's~Cate-chism). ¯ Wheh: we~ speak of this virtue with .regard to a director of souls the "eternal life" that we have principally,, 284 1946 QUALITIES OF MORAL GUIDES in mind is not the spiritual good of'the director but rather the good of the person, he is directing. In. other wobds, the spiritual guid~ must judge what is dondu¢ive, or more con-duci~ ce, .to the~salvation and sanctification of his charge and then, give his counsel accordingly. It is not 'correct, however, to say that the spiritual director seeks ont~/the good'of the persons he "is directing. True prudence must take iia the whole picture. One is "not prudent who ha~rms his own soul in trying to benefit others. .Nor i~ one, prudent who seeks to help ~n individual at the expens~ ofagreater good, Jfor example; the good of the whole coin.munity,,or the, good of the ~hole Church., An adequate descriptiQn, of the prudent guide would, ,~there~ fore, be stated, somewhat as.follov~s: he is one who uses his knowledge, ~his perso.nality, ahd his influence on others°in sucb.a.:way.asoto atthiwthe good of the soul. he.is~directing ' ~ithouvat the;same tim~ harming his°6wn-soul.~ovd~feating a ,,greater good . ~In~ fact, when~corre~tly interpreted,~-t~he ~ord~°,,ad rriajorein,, Dei~:,91oria~ formul~ite, a; perfect rule of prudence. _ "-,~ ~, , - .;. ~ Without further theorizing on this virtue, I should,like to give here a,, nu'mber of practical points concerning the exercise of prudence, in giviiag,moral guidance. :. I am listing th~se points more or less in the fofm,of,,jotting~ because the subject is too large for more complete treatfnent here;' and, though I, gefierally dislike negatives, I thihk it Will, be espe-cially conveni~flt to put these stiggestions in the form~ of._. a series of dOn'~b. Some ,of thesed o'n ts may appear to be more directly concerned ,with,,tbe technique of counseling than"with the virtue of pr-ud~nde; yet, as .I have already indicated; the- actual exercise~of prudence consisl~s"nbt only in directing souls towards a certain end,but also in choosing the :most"appropriate ~means ,,for ~attai.ning., this: end.~q And technique, or tact, is a,.gery., important means,in :the direc~ 285 GERALD KELLY Review for Relioions tion 6f~others. Don't scold. Even~ people who' ask for.h scolding-do notusually want it and are rather .alienated: than helped.by it. I still remember a story told.'during one of my novitiate retreats which aptly ill~astrates this po'int. In a certain parish ;there was a very devout woman who yearned to s:ale the b.eights of holiness and who had heard that trials and humiliations are essential for this. Accordingly she pleaded ins~ste:~tly .with her pastor, "Try me, Father. Please, try me, Father." The pastor was a peace-loving manand had no inclination to accede to her desires ; but one day when she returned some altar linensshe had launder'ed " he kept her for a few minutes and beganexamining the 'linens in her presence. As he looked at each piece of linen he called attention to some imaginary° (or real) defect in the laundering. A few minutes of this was all that the .would-be saint could endure. She burst into tears and began to__~upbraid the pastor for his ingratitude. But he . cut. her short in the midst of her. tirade with a dry'smile and the chiding rebuke, "Try me, Father. Please, try .me, Father." Don't interrupt unnecessarily. It is generally better for the guide to allow his consultant to tell his entire story and then ask questions about points that need further elu-. cidation. Unnecessary interruptions are apt to cause con-fusion and even irritation. Moreover, such interruptions can easily remove the pe.rfect spontaneity of the narrative and result in a "coloring" of the story ac4ording to some preconceived notion of the director. Don't make yourseff indispensable to your consultants. Even ~ children should gradually be emancipated from the need of getting advice about the ordinary moral problems of life. And, though, maturity does not entirely relieve one of all necessity of getting advice, yet progress towards 286 September, 1946 QUALITIES OF-MORAL GUIDES maturity should surely be marke~ by a diminishing neces-sity of advice in ordinary matters. The best type ofspir-itual direction consists in helping the consultant to do his own planning--with the help of .the Holy Ghost, of course; and the guidance of even the immature and the mentall~r unsettled should be directed towards this same end. Don't unnecessarily send consultants to someone else. Boys and girls sometimes ask their teachers about their problemsbecause they have confidence in these teachers. It is not prudent to send them elsewhere, even to a confessor, if ode can easily solve the problem, for they usually accept help most willingly from those in whom they can readily. confide. And this is also true of "grown-ups." The opposite of this error should also be avoided: that ~is, counselors should never show resentment if their con-sultants wish toL seek guidance from someone else. In this matter one should keep in mind :the liberty that the Church' extends to the faithful regarding the choice of confessors. Tbe~same liberty should be enjoyed by_ those who seek extra-confessional guidance. Feelings of superiority or of jealousy, even among those who are working for God, are quite human and excusable; but the deliberate yielding to and manifestation of such feelings by bragging or criticism is petty and can do great harm to God's cause. Don't destroy cont~dence in others. I am thinking of cases such as this: A priests6metimes finds that a child has a false notion of what is right or wrong because of something his mother told him or something a Sister said. In cor-recting the child's conscience it is the priest's du, ty to try to do so in such a way as to preserve'his confidence in his mother or the Sister. He can usually do that by saying, "Your mother meant something like this . . ."; or "The Sister probably'didn't mean it ji~st that way"; and so forth. As a-matter of fact, the child may have misunderstood his 287 GERALD KELLY Review [or Religious mother or the Sister; but, even if h~ did not misunderstand. th~ priest should avoid giving the impression that the m6ther or the Sister was wrong. The case,of the child as just cited is merely, an example. A~nyone entrusted with the guidance off.others can make a mistake, inculcate erroneous0ideas, and foster a.false con-science.~ Yet among.alF.guides--whether parents, teachers, counselors, ,,or confessors-~there should be a spirit of what I might ~call '~'profeisional "loyalty" which.shourd prompt each one to correct the mistakes ma'de by others without at the same ~time,~°shying that they were mistakes. It is important-for all of" us that those who .need ~uidance should retain their confidence :and respect for those" who guide i?h~m; Ddn'~t be too quick to sdlve "ba~d-luck stories" that inOoloe absdnt persons. When two parties are involved in a quarrel or a misunderstanding there are always two sides to the matter. If the donsultant is one of the parties, he will very likely be prejudiced, even though he does not wish to be ahd sincerel3i thinks that he is not. Ir~ such cases the' ideal solution is to get the two ,parties together:and thexi to thresh out the matter: but of course this"may seldom be possible when a ~matter of co~nscience is involved. Never~ theless, even when tb~ other party cannot be se~n or inter-. viewed-the" "guide should try to understand his ,side of the c~se:b~fore planning a course'-of action for his cbnsultant.~ ,Don't bxaggOratb~.tbe sex prbbtem. ' Speaking.:of the confessor's'prudence; moral~theologians lay particular stress. on the ~need df this vi,rtue iia ~all m~itters" p~rtaining,, to,~sex. ":It is better to say-too little thaB too much,~.' is a' theologi:~ cal_ axiom in this,iegard; and~thisapplies-not only, ~o,con-~ fes~brs but to,, all nioral guides.-,:~eachers~ and,,counselOrh' need not~ be surprised~ if they fihd, the topid,int~re~ting.;~yei~, the.yo, should not allow their; interest to,become ~rnbrbid'. 288 QUALITIES OF MORAL'GUIDES They should :not probe for sex problems, particularly for details ~concerning such.problems. A.,.probing.tendency easily becomes morbid and often results in ~the ri~di~ule~ bf the teacher .or counselor who manifests such a tendency. For example, if a few students once suspect, that a. certain teacher or adviser is especially, interested ~in-: sex ~problems, they will speedily.pass:the vgord~on to ot.hers, and'offensive nicknames will pr0bablyobe coined.; I am not arguing,f6r,a~ Victorian silence concerning sex. I believe .that the topi~ should be treated with a simple wholesomeness,, but. as one'part of life,~ and not.as the whole of-life,~ The di.rector who overemphasizesothe'subject will but. defeat,his own cause--and this, :for one~'in the ap.ostolic life, is a gross- _violatio.n:_ of, the ,.most .fun_damental~ rule of prudence~ There,~:are people boys and girls,, men.and women.~---evendn this sex-consdous world of~o~rs, who have absolutely no problem with°regard tq sex: ~0It is v~Lry imprudent .for a guide, .to create prob.lems for such people by' u.nnec.essary,~.questioning,, or by imparting useles.s i.nfor- " ,T,he~Holy ~ee ha~: repeatedl~ called attention~to the. n~edof pr.udence, not only in treating the topi~ of,,sex~ bht also iri' dealing, with the members of the opposite sex., Here again;,~l, might mention that~ special interest is, not unusu~I. It is Certainly quite'naturaI.ofor a man to e'x~erience a,.special interest in,associating with ~omen; quite natural too that, ~omen will be,particula, rly enthusiastic in helping,boys and young men. To'-s6me extent:this natural attractiveness can'be made a powerful, force in the spiritual life. But not if, it gets out of control. The counselor.who makes himsdf or herself a special apostle to the other sex is not likely to have the, dignity, reserve, and purity of intention°required for true success. Hence, while On" the on~,hand it:is not right for anyone to caltivate.a.n i~ttitude of disdain forthe 289 GERALD KELLY Revieto t:or Religious othersex and to become-a. "man-hater", or a ,~'woman-hater, ""it is nevertheless necessary to'avOid the other extreme of giving the impression'that one's.life is divinely dedicated only to, the' opposite sex. Furthermore, one must remember that e~en innocent relationships can appear unsavory and thus harm the cahde:of Christ. Don't giv~ in~orrnatiofi that can't be digested. Those who teach and advise children- are particularly in need of this Caution: Children cannot assiriailate allthe fine dis-tinctions onerlehrns in ethlc~ and in moral th~01ogy:" for example; the~tea~hingon mental 'reservation, the' cases in-' vdlving the "double effect," the difference between the abso-lute and the relative methods of calculating grave sins of theft. We can ~afely say that childrenshould.never be t01d What is false; btit it does not follow 'from this that they shbtild always be t01d the whole truth. For in'stance, Chil-dren should be c6rrectly instructed as to what to do when they doubt whether they have broken the Eucharistic fast, whether they have yielded to a serious temptation, whether they are excused from hearing Mass, and so forth; and-from the solutions of these individu'al problems they will gradu-ally learn by induction the very important ~principles regarding the solution of the so-called "doubtful coil-science." The same is true ~of other moral and ascetical principles.-' Children "learn them best_ thrdugh concrete examples ~and through the solution of individual cases. They are'hardLy capable of learning the.principle firsl~ and then. applying 'it to, practical cases. (But the teacher or the director must know:the principle well; otherwi~e~he might cause confusion in'making the transition from ~one case to anothe'r. Don't guess an answer. If l.had to grad~ errors in prudence ~according to:.their potential" h~rmfulness; I would put'this amofig the'.very highest. '; If' the director "d0es'iaot 290 September, 1946 QUALITIES OF MORAL.GUIDES know the answer to a question or the solution tb a prob-lem, he shodld say so. It is the common experience", even of those who teach children, that omniscienc~ is not.expected of human beings and that the sincere admission of ignorance does not hndermine confidence. "On the other hand, it is evident that great harm can result from trying to solve vital problems by guesswork. Some go to the opposite extreme in this matter: they never give a definite answer, even-when they are reasonably certain about the correct solution. ,This type of guide has the same attitude toward his consultants' problems that the scrupulous person entertains towards his own. The latter is always afraid he is wrong;and he find~ it difficult, if not impossible, to m~ike himself follow what are in themselves perfettly reasonable judgments. ~ Similarly, the timorous guide will not trust his own judgment and will fear to commit himself in the solution of practical moral prob-lems. In other words, he is no guide ~it all. Don't fret over errors mdde in good faith. It is very helpful for those who direct consciences to examine them-selve~ periodically to see how they ~isk questions, solve problems, deal with-different pgrsonalities, and so forth. If this is done calmly and solely with a view to self-imprbvement it is a salutary and commendable practice. ,But if it is used as an occasion to generate worries, it is use-less and even harmful. It can make the office of guiding others an intolerable burden. None of us is infallible except the Pope; and his infallibility is circumscribed by many coriditions. 3. HOLINESS A few years ago The Messenger of.tbe Sacred Heart published an instructive 'incident from the life of Garcia Moreno, once President of Ecuador:. If I remember, the 291 GERALD KELLY o Reoiew for:Religious storycorrec~ly, it went,:somewhat as follows. As a young man Moreno was a master at expl_aining his faith; but scarcely a tyro in 4ts practice: Ond ~vening,:'in-the course of a long discussion with a rationalist acquaintance, Moreno repeatedly'got the' bette~-of °the arguments; arid' the ration- Mist-finally admitted: r'.v rytlamg ,you say seems to be true; yet I can't accept any of it, for.your own life-gives" the lie. to it all." . -: ~ .5 This~ story illustrates, one reason why the wisest guidance is apt to be useless unless the .guide is a persor~ of - solid-virtue.' Example speaks louder than words; Land ,.this is particularly true in the case of the .,young.~ The young are very human; and it is but human to lose con-fidence in ,one who does not practice what he preaches, to balk at accepting high ideals from one who apparently has no personal idea!s, to refuse to be taught honesty, purity, sobriety, and ~,such things by one whose own life is not marked by these qualities. ¯ In fact; if .we. donsider only g?od example, it seems that the ext.r~a.-co.nfes~iona1 guide.is ~more in need of solid yirtue than is the.confessor; for the faithful in general are schooled in the p,rin~iple.t~hat;the sa.craments do not .depend ,gn the 'holiness of the~,min,ister for their efficacy. This principle does not hold for non-sacramental ministries. Hence, in o~, ~ense a~,.least,.,th~e third .requisite. m, entioned by th.e Rttual=- , goodness, ofl~ e'i"f . - ~ - . p e ritans more to the e-xtra-sacramental. guide, than to the confessor. - ".)It seems~.ob,~ious~ th,at, ,quite apart from the need pf confirming one's words by good example, the successful carrying %n of moral guidance calls for the practice of many virtues. I will not try to enumeral!e these virtues here, for r think tha~,~ is ~uniledessary: ~he requirede.virtiies can be epito~nized.,.~iia ,~dne,:,.~ charit~r~, harity ,tow, ards God ,,and ctiaritg:towards the neighbor. - :.- . ,-, ~.r~ -,~. ,~., ~292 8eptember~ 194~ ~UAL'ITIES OF MORAL GUIDES . Love:.of .God is e~se~itial; for, the'~ direction,of souls :is His work.~i.nd it>must be.unequivocaIly:~onsecrated to Him. Some: :guides apparently have great success', even;though they seem to be impelled mostly, by a-.natural love" fo.r the ~ork~.and by the nattiral satisfaction they obtairi ',from having 6thers" ".dep.endent on them, confiding in-them; and flattering them. This may seem to be the case;,, yet I wonder if it is actually so. No doubt God can work wonders with cheap instruments. Yet.it is,~ardly according to His ordi-nary providence, to do so. , Normally He works His marvels of grace through the, instrumentality of those who-are closely joined to Him by love. ._ : , .Charity toward'the neighborAs also necessary. .The guide needs it first arid foremost" to give. him a ,vital super_- natural motivation. ; F,6r: even" though~ it be',trhe, that_some ean be-carried f6rward in: this wo'tk by some natural:~liking --becahselthey like,to, deal with" people,°like to'engage,,in externaLoccupations, and, so' forth--this is by no means universally>true. Most of those .who are assigned fo guidance work find that many who, need their help are not naturally, attractive. The guide needs to see these and, all souls with "the' eyes of,Christ;, he ',has to realize that these souls, who come to hiin for help are:Christ's ".~least.br~th~ ren"; that' they were redeem~d,by;_t.he Blood of (~hrist; that they bel6ng,'or should belong, to theMystical. Body of Christ. Motivation on some .16wer,pla.ne easily~ springs from or degenerat4s into'sheer selfqove:,,which usesghidance only as a "means bf serf-expression and self-glorification a sterile ihing in the propagation of, ihe Kifigdom of God: " Charity. t0wardslthe neighbor is not merely a~ motive force in guidance, Jris also,a supernatural', toot:.that must. be used constantly. :,In this regard.I can' think,.of nokhing more-appropriate than St. Paul'!s subhme eulogy,.:,: -Chanty is~ patient, is°kind; charity envieth not, ~dealeth, not per.- 293 GERALD KELLY Review [or Religious vgrsely, i~ n~ot puffed up, is ndt ambitious, seeketh not her own, is not provoked to anger, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth witla the trtith: beareth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things." These inspired wor°ds merit constant meditation by the spiritual guide. But we shall have to leave them for medi-tation. I can but say a few words here about the first two qualities, "Charity is patient, is kind." ¯ The ideal for all spiritual guides is, of course, Our Lord Himself. Among the fruits of meditation on His life should be a sympathetic attitude towards others and an eagerness to help them; a desire to see the .good in them and draw it to the surface ;.a readiness for the little couitesies and kindnesse~ that mean so much to the human heart, After all, if these little thing~ mean much in ordinary life, they must mean even more to those who are seeking guidance and "who are often nervous, despondent, and even frightened. As for patience, the spiritual guide has countless occa-sions to practice it. Consultants are sometimes unpleasant in their manner; t,hey fail to cooperate; they c6me at incon-venient times; they dwell lengthily on irrelevant triviali-ties; they occasionally manifest a 'gross selfishness by need-lessly consuming time, as if under the impression that the guide has nothing to do but listen to them. Such things o are apt to test patience to the breaking point. And then there is always the possibility of impatience v$ith one's own s~lfmthat is, with one's inabi!ity to handle a case~ ,~ Some theologians advise priests to leave the ~onfes~ sion~aI for a while when they find that they are becoming irritable: to wal, k for a few minutes in the fresh air, or to ~ relax for a~short time in the rectory. It is better to keep the people waiting for a little while than to run the risk of being sharp or rude. Similar ~idvice may be profitable to all counselors. If one feels so ill-disposed that he cannot 294 September, 1946 QUALITIES OF MORAL GUIDES trust himself it is better to avoid an interview or at least to keep it short and continue it later. " ¯ SECRECY The fo~urth requisite for good spiritual .guidance ~is respect for confidences. Religious, perhaps more than any others, should realize the importance of this qualification. They know the great peace and sense of security enjoyed by. individuals and by communities when superiors and direc-tors are careful about respecting confidences; and they know what evils can result from the mere suspicion that someone in authority uses confidential information too freely. Only the sacramental secret is abs61utely inviolable. Other secrets admit at least theoretical and rare exceptions~ BUt it is safe to say 'that, with the exception of the very rare cases wJ~en confidential knowledge may be disclosed, the spiritual ~guide should have a similar ideal with regard to s, ecrecy that the Church constantly pu'ts before her con-fessors. This ideal is succinctl.y proposed by St. Augustine as follows: "I know less about what I hear in confession than I know about those things about which I know no'hinge" Much more could be said about the obligation of secrecy; but I believe that for our present pu~rpose it is suf-ficient to call attention to its importance. It puts what one might call the "finishing touch" on all the other quali-ties. If a director of souls lacks this quality, the others (even if possessed) will be useless; for the person Who does not feel sure that his confidences will be respected simply will not seek guidance. On the other hand, if the director possesses this and the other qualities explaified in this article and uses them for the .good of souls, he will accomplish great things for God and will earn for himself the reward promised to those who instruct others unto justice. 295 N " I't:y fo !:h Old l:::xamen ~ichard L.'Rooney, S.J. ' "" : ~n sea syhsq w.uhla.dt simply ,repeat the verse o~r s, entence over, and over w!tho~.t bejn, g con--. cerned about finish, i.ng .the. prayer or psalm. A month of consistent work at the al~ov~ method of ~xamining on-e's conscience will yield ~uch light :and life to the exercise as to make'it, the exciting cdnt~ict with God that it~can" be and was.meant t6 be. It~will help'too to fuse one's private prayers and liturgical prayers ,'iri~o the unified wholeness that should be the mark Of "the adult ieligious. , , ,OUR CONTRIBUTORS CLAUDE'KEAN, formerly,professor of chant and homiletics at Holy Name, Col-lege, Washington, D. C., is now principal of Timon High,~ School, .,Buffalo, New York. RICHARD L. ROONEY, after serving as a chaplain m the armed forces of the United States during the war, recently joined the staff of The Queen's Work. St.:,Louis,-Missouri. JOHN A. HARDON. who has done much work with high school students in't1~e fiei~l ~f debating and i~ublic speaking,-is'a~ tl~eological s~udent at West Baden College, West Baden Sprifigs, Indiana. [~ATRICK~ M.'REGAN, until r~ecently ,professor of-fundamental theology at St. Mary's C~ollege; St. Marys, Kansas, is sp.iritual director of the junior scholastics at St. Stanislaus Sem!nary, Florissant, Missouri. ~D^M C. ~ELLIg' anal ~EI~.~ED KELLY are"prof~s~ors of canon law m~)ral, theolog~, 'respectively at St'. Mary's .College, St. M~ys. Kdnsas, and are mem-bers of the Editorial Boaid of,REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS. ~. 300 . )~'E~ENTL~ a non-Cath0hc journal of theology printed ~1~ ~aff~ditdfial ~n freed~N d{religion. After an.~lysis ~ - of-the' concept of freed5~, ~Yb~ author 6rew tb~s cob; c]usion: "Freedom i~?th~ ~fruit"of~]legxance~ given "to God .~f~ne."v 'He then c~htinued~ VGr~nfing only~a~truly re]i-giSus man-is ~u]ly'~fre~, .,wfi~tL'd0~ fr~edo~ Col: r~]igion mean? . It means, fi~st bf ~]l,a fr~edbm to .cHb~s~sn~s re]i; God resultsqn;freedom td~ ch00se, bne: s own:~religi6nq.~ Why;~ We "w6nde ~t produce allegmnce'to;Go6 s r~l.igion,~ r~veal~d4or all me~ b~ll:' ages? A~ain,,~:sffan~eg;10gic ~that;e:xpl'ai~s there a:fe assortment~of Chr~stmn~ tell: , one .as.good,as. anotHefl. ,~ In,. l'{~'s concern God~ ~s left-us to 'belleve~contrad~ctory doctnnes; to~,}fbllow Lconflietigg~ p~adric~s ~' "all~.this~the fruit , ~' That in the very worship of-God, ~an andnot the' norm~ ~s' contradzctory; "yet-that is precisely~ the~ daffy pracnce of mdhons of Chnstmns. "~s a matter'of factJ'zt - _does noi even occur to them that there is such a thing as one , true religion excludin~ M1 o~fiers as false. When on rare occasions someone institutes ,a s~arc~ for .[ehg~on, t[ut~ consloeranon, because sofew realize that '~ree'~d~m"i?' the' right to CBOose only', what xs gqod ahd t~ue, Godis almost unlvers~lly ~gnored.m matters religious: Truth in Revelation . . ,.:.,: ~o. ' In this whole question. ~f belief, erflphasis must be .laid 301 PATRICK M.R.EGAN R.eview for Religious on tfie'fact that there can bi~ no choice between true and false. GodHiinself in.m~kin.g a revelation could not ignore truth but had:t0, m, an~ifest divine reality as.it actually exists. In a Word, God revealed Himself; and since God cannot .possibly be altered to conform to human opioi0ns,-,man must nece,,,ssafily conform his intellect to the.,truth about God. This he,,does .by believ!ng .the. revealed word. describing God's essence and His relations to man. Now.the first step in,,,the act whereb.y we assent to this .~ruth~ is submission of.the intellect to God's au~h0rity. Thus at the very. outset we must establish direct.,communication with God. Catholics, even though blessed with the true faith and filled .with .high religi'0us id.eals, must, pay special heed to this need of.intellectual contact with God. Though not as vulnerable as those outside the fold, they still may be pron.e ,to give God a sub'ordinate place in their intellectual life of faith, or, even forget Him altogether. Many, for instance, never realize that faith first, last, and always reaches up, to God as the One revealing and the Reality revealed. In the matter of divine charity most of us under-stand clearly enough the necessity of going straight to God without detours through selfish interests, and so strive valiantly for perfect love and perfect contrition. But just as sure as the will embraces God in love,, so the mind is united to Him. in divine faith. God Overlobked However, in. our very zeal for the faith we incline to overlook this intellectual union with God. Bechuse of our tendency to concentrate on the truth, we are quite apt to forget God revealing and even God revealed. Nowadays with so many facilities for stu'dying our religion, wi,th so much urging to understand it and to be able to explain it, we are particularly inclined to focus'attention on its e~pla- 302 September, 1946 Hov~ IS YOUR FAITHi' nation or on a set of questions, thus.overlooking its divine Author as well as tl~e Reality revealed. Quite regularly it happens that, while probing the depths of-the mystery of the Trinity and answering objections proposed, we never even think of the Triune God. Or to take another setting, how many ever think to re, pel a. temptation against faith with: Can'I possibly doubt God's word? Only too.many, terrori.zed by the temptation against faith, wrestle with the truth itself, trying to comprehend, for example, how Christ can be really present in the Eucharist. The Church's Contribution What may prove another obstacle to the union of faith is the relation of the Church to our belief. If this is not dearly understood, it confuses us and may lead even to the Church's supplanting God in our mental attitude towards matters of faith. Any number of Catholics would sub-scribe to: "Because the infallible Church teaches "this doc-trine, it is true, and I believe it." By stopping there the~, profess faith in the Church's teaching with6ut advertence to the real.motive of faith. Following an accepted axiom in the Church th~at prayer conforms to truth (lex orandi, lex credendi), we can verify the motive from our ordinary act of faith: "I believe what the Church teaches, because Thou hast revealed it." Hence the act of faith in its full-ness erriphasizes God's place: "Because God has revealed this, it is true, and I believeAt." " To cede God's place to the Church, even unwittingly, is to lose the advantage'of the. power, beauty, intimacy, and the vision of faith; the com- -'munication of the divine mind to ours. Even though by faith we see God only as "a confused reflection in a mirror" (I Corinthians 13: 12), still it is God, as surely and really as if we saw Him face to face in heaven, and it is He who revealed the reflection. ~ 303 - PATRICK M, REGAN ,.~ Review for 'Religious ,,~; The~primary'office, of the Church is to give us an in,, fallibl guarantee', "This is God's~ messa.ge:r' , This prd: nouncement ig;for ub but a stage On the.way to faith; we must not make-it, a,~ goal. Pius IX in his definition of the Immaculate Conception emphhsized tile duty of.submission both, to the:Chu¢ch and to God;, to fail in the :latter.means, shipwreck for" the faith; °to fail in~ th~ former in~ w6id, w}itihg or ex~er, nal act subjects the offender to alLpefialties of Church Law. ~. The Church's contribution is further cl~irified by St. Paul's distinction: "It was for me to plant the seed, for Apollo to water it, but it was God ~vho gave the increase" (I Corinthians 3: 6). Like:~paul's, the Church!s missi6n is limited to Planting the seed and wateriffg it; it is gtill God who gives the increase. W~ too must beware the error of ¯ Corinth, decried by Paul: "Why, what is Apollo,. What Paul? Only ~the mlnis~er of God in whom your faith rests,. who have brought the.faith to each of you in the measure God granted" (I Corinthians 3:5). We must beware mistaking the gardener for God, to whom the life and. beauty of faith's garden is.realjy doe, Incidentally, we must 'also guard lest the beauty of the flowers of revealed: truth blind us to the beauty of God from whom all beauty comes. Contact with God .One more comparison will clarify and emphasize this ¯ fa~t of intellectual contact with God in faith., A telephffne operatorrs main work is to connect us With our party; tha( done, she maintains the connection and.finally breaks it ,at th~ e'nd of the conversation. While, the office of the infal-lible. :teaching Church' is .far more important than an operator's, involving~fa~, greater power arid ac'tivity,, still there is a :resemblance. It consists in this that the first duty and wish of the Church is to put us in communication with 304 Septe~b'er, 1946o HOW IS 'YbOR FAITHi~ Gbd. ~:Of::~burse,.i ~minirhizing ~her activity wand influence must be,.avoided., She is.not'.,a mechariic~il operhtor,:merely establishing communi~ation Vcith God,that wbuld involve exclusi~cely private 'in~piration. ~ind ~inter~pretatiofi' for a.n3? and.all. No,: she is God%~.own:guardian Of. the whole of His message, teaching it .~ithout possibility 6f er'~or to~.all men, ~xplaining" it, adapting it to our understar;ding, and applyirig,itto current problems. Thus, as mediator ' of God's truth," she is~ His supernatural instrum~nt~ for many~ an i~nspiration and clearer interpretation* in individual souls. -God's then is the,task of love,~'to aid the intellect, engaged with the dogma proposed by the Chu°r~h, to a free assent, and then to admit it~to the mysterious, counsels of the Trinity. It is the: ope~ration of His~ grace, ~silent, effica-cious, mysterious, as is every great work of G6d. Message of the Inffividu~t " Wha(has the individual to say to God, once he has con-tacted. Him th~rodgh the Church? By-passing theological ~ontroversies on ~he prea,~ble.s of faith and on the act i~self, we may say its ~es~a.ge~would be briefly: "Eord, through your Church I have learned of your r~velation to men, now contained in Scripture and tradition. Thes( truths-=I believe because You have revealed them wh~ 'can neither deceive nor be deceived. But more importan~ still, since Your truth is li~ing reality, I wish~ to explore:itslength ~:~ ' an~ ~ ~ depth, b~ead~h and height for. a ~f~r clearer~ arid m~r~ in-timate apprehension. On the Church I rely for explanation. direction, exhortation; but it is only by communicating "with You that I can share more fully in the knowledge of Your intimate nature." Faith Must Grow This contact established, answering divine communi= cationsare set in~mbtion as God through graces and~ inspi: 305 PATRICK M. REGAN ~ Reoi~to for Relioious rations opens .up new vistas of ~,understanding. for the believing soul.,~ To be sure, the.soul mustkeep the line of communication operi throi~gh an attentive mind, remem-bering a distracted or disinterested mind cannot capture the full imports of a messa.ge. This dedper, understanding cbmes, .therefore, during periods of special activity in spiritual matters: in meditation, in vocal prayer, during periods of recollection~, during attentive reading or listening to sermons; in. time of Mass, Communion, thi~nksgiving. Particularly. a recollected rnihd will be quick to recognize God's~inspiratibn, desiroias of profiting by it. Very. rich and elevat~ed is this concept of divifie faith ~:ompared to the all-too-frequent notion that it is mainly a vice-like grip on revealed truth. Thus many 'err in thinking that the more we grit our teeth and. the tighter we clench our fists, the strdnger our faith. Such an attitude exposes faith to the danger .of becoming a lifeless formality., a bone clenched between the teeth; it saps its vitality and dynamic force. In this atmosphere profession of faith can "quickly deteriorate into, "I believe, and that's that; now to Catholic Action, study clubs~ social.uplift, and the rest of the Church's activity." "I believe" should introduce the intellect to a whole world of reality, which like a greaLpainting grows on us through contemplating it. "Gbd revealed" ,challenges the mind to intense activity and will tax it to the limit~ of its capac.ity. Co-operating with "God revealing" by being ever attentive-to His illuminati6ns, we stimulate our life of faith, growing to fuller comprehension of the Reality that is God. In this manner our mental gaze is focused on the God-man,.forinstance, not as He appears in thee light of weak human reason -an-historical personage of the past but, as He is comprehended in all His mysteriousness by God Himself. For in this ihtimate union of faith, God shares 306 September, 1946~ HOW IS YOUR F~AIT~I.;' His own knowledge with us. It is quite detrimental, therefore, to the whole spiritual life to mistake faith as mainly tenacity in clinging to revealed truth. While~striving for ~the union of love, our minds do not meet God's to participate in its treasures. ' To be sure, tenacity has its own importance since we must hold ,fast to the faith. But revelation is not a bodyof truth delivered two thousand years ago, passed on from age I~o age as a sort of sacred fossil guarded by the Church, and exhib~ ited to our astonished gaze as an archaeological phenom-enon. True, "God revealed" does not change; there is no change in the Three Persons who are God. But our knowl-edge of '-'God revealed" changes, and that very rhuch, if we nurture it zealously to a robust growth; in fact, it will neve~ cease to grow as long as we tend it. Even in the Church there has been development in ufiderstanding doc-trine since the time of the Apos, tles, for living truth must grow. Our own individual growth must be fostered by a mind attentiv~ and a will docile to divine illuhaination; necessary too is our own burning desire and resolute will to overcome our natural dislike for contemplating truth. Steadt:ast in Faith " ~ome~of the foregoing strictures may give the impres-sion that constancy in faith is of minor importance. Such an impressi6n would be erroneous since tenacity has its place and importance as one of the essential properti~es of faith. Thus millions of martyrs through the centuries demonstrate and emphasize the need of cons(ancy; because they professed the faith even in the jaws of death, they were gloriously, crowned. This constancy is also living and dynamic enabling us to face the trials and difficulties of faith perseveringly to the end. It involves cooperation with God's activity in our souls. ~ This constancy, as a living thing, must also grow. For 307 P2(TRiCK-M. REGAN Ret~ieto [or Rel]oiou~ -one ~hi~g it will grow apace with our increasing intellectual apptehensior~ of God's.mysteries through our grac.e-assisted contemplation'of truth. The more peni~trating our. faith and the more real, the~deeper our convictions that make. for steadfastness: :No man.ever,laid down his life for a cold, unrealized .proposition; 'but millions; have died for God who through faith, bec~ime a g~eat and loved reality. ~Every element~,of,~.faith, therefore, must ,be ~arefull~r fostered to ~ttain full and healthy growth. God sets no limits to 'His~ graces to enable-us to accomplish this: Brighter and brighter will be °the~'illuminations~as We make progress, clearer and-clearer the vision, until only a thin veil. as~ it, were separates us from th~ i~naccessible light ,of "God revealed.'[ .Co-operating generously, with grace, m~ny; a~ saint ha~ attained to that sublim~ height,of intel~ lectual realization of~':God revealed." _ . Pihs XII Exhorts The majority of us, perhaps,~are altogether tOO supine about contemplating' ~evealed truth, even fighting shy of mysteries. Pope Pius XII in his encyclical on the Mystical Body writes:. ,- So'he through empty fear look upon so profound a doctrine . (of the Mystical 'Body) as something-dangerous, and so,they fight shy of it as~ the, be~autiful-~but.~forbidden ifrtiit of,~paradis_e.~. ,It is:not s0: Mysteries-revealed~ by God. cannot: be harmful to men; nor should they remain as treasures.hidden in a field, useless.° . : These words a~one if taken seriousl~'~at f~ll face vai, u~ should.inspire us to a study of mysteries, a study which is capable of ~assisting,.us to the heights :of. contemplative u~ion.~ ~ ~ery hexf ~brds 0~ the ~offti~m~l~ this: "~ysteries ,~ve been given .from on high preqisely ,to hel~ th~ spiritugl progress of those who stud~ them ~ a ~pjrit of-piety~ This would seem to be. a fruitful_source itual advance which manz~0~erlo~k ~rneglect.," " .". - 3O8 ¯ Septelnb"er, 1946. ,, HOW IS -YdlJR"FAITH? < ,7 ,,Makir~9, G~d Real -~' This~sthdy of.mysteries; thotigh ,it can be promoted throu~gl~ ,stu~ty ,clubs, ,doctrinal ;lectures;'assimila tiv~e .readin'g, does not necessarily involve such formal methods. Inq?act, if s~iritual p'rogtess is to result, it is only ac(omplished Under the tutelage of ~God Hims~elf, "in a spiri~ of.piety," as the ~oritiff puts it. ~ A fei?vent ~so~il, 'filled vith grow, will b'e0,greatly encouraged and , orisoled by its noticeable progress in spiritual insight into mysteries. making dailymeditation in this way in.~the presence of Christ, reflecting on th~ mysteries, prayihgfor light, in-voking the ~intercession of "the saints for grace, a s0ul will t~avel far toward making God very real to itself. Nor are these" exhortations to contemplate rev.ealed truth only f6r the highly educated and'for those learned in theology. It is the only way I~o make God real to the soul. Hence many uneducated and simple people have attained . brilliant success, not 0nly canonized saints, but hidden ones als0. ~rchbish6p Goodier in his booklet, "Some Hints on Prayer," tells the story of a poor woman., bedridder~ for years. When she-first became ill she arranged some daily prayers for~ herself, resolving to say them slowly to make them go bett~r. But soon the Our Father had gr6~n so much that.it took her a wh01eweek to'get.,through it. She often prayed~ that many otlfers wot~ld"find how much¯ ~s ~hidden in'~the Our Father. Through the grace of ~.God, therefore, through patient endurance of her sufferings, and through ridding herself of haste, which according to St. Francis de Sales is the ruin bf devotion, this poor, uneducated-woman reached "sublime heights of contempla-tion. Week after week the mystery of the fatherhoodof . G6d and the brotherhood of men.filled her thoughts as the ~reat reality it is. Her method was simplicity itself, yet few follow her example. _: ~ ~09 PATRICK M. REGAN Review for Religious Method. of Vatican Council The identical method for the st-udy of mysteries, explained in more technical language, is outlined in the encyclical: For, as the Vatican Council teaches, ;'reason illumined by faith, if it seeks earnestly, piously and wisely, does attain, under God, to a certaiti knowled, ge.and a most helpful knowledge of mysteries, by considering their analogy with what it knows naturally, and their mutual relations and their common relation with man's last end," although, as the same hol~r Synod observes, reason even thus illumined ~'is never made capable of understanding these mysteries as it does those truths which form its proper object." Undoubtedly, the poor woman in meditating the fatherhood of God was unaware she was using analogy and was integrating the mysteries, but she did that nonetheless. There is no other Way. Application Even a few meditations on this method of studying revealed mysteries would bring immediate advantage to any soul striving for spiritual progress. Such considerations as the following would be profitable: ( 1 ) Since an ecumen-ical council proposes this method and stamps it With its approval, we have antecedent certitude of its efficacy. (2) The first requisite is to "seek," and this involves the intellectual effort always required in the search for truth. (3) We must be "earnest, pious, wise" (each word fur-riishes enough matter for a meditation) in our search. (4) All'this leads to "a certain knowledge .and a helpful knowledge of mysteries." Having pkescribed the proper attitude and indicated the certain goal, the council then tells us how this is to be reached. Three lines of procedure are indicated._ .We must consider,the analogy of mysteries with what we know naturally. " Since God is mirrored in His creation, we can consequently always find at least a faint resemblance" 310 September, 1946 HOW IS YOUR FAITH? . for a mental take-off into the stratosphere of divine reality. The shamrock,indeed, has but a very remote resemblance to the Trinity; yet St. Patrick, according to tradition, used it successfully tb teach that mystery to the Irish. St. Augus-fine's mirror of the Trinity was the human soul with its being, knowing, willing. Ever.y successflil catechism teacher has learned by experience the practical value of clear, striking examples, which is nothing else but the method of analogy applied. The second line of procedure indicated b~ the Vatican Council is to consider the "mutual relations of mysteries." Thus a consideration of the relation of the Trinity to the Incarnation, of this to the Redemption, of this to the Mysr tical Body (to indicate only one .chain of mysteries) will astonish most of us by the abundant fruits of progress in knowledge of God. , The third line of procedure is a consideration of the "common relation of mysteries with man's last end." It too will delight us with the new superna[ural world it pre-sents to our wondering gaze. An Example An outstanding example of .the application of this method is to be found in the encyclical on the Mystical Body itself. This doctrine .is a strict mystery.involving very many other revealed mysteries. The main purpose of-the encyclical is to explain the doctrine. The entire first part is an explanation in three sections of the terms, ,Body," "of Christ," and "Mystical." The explanation of "Body" is an unfolding of the analogy of this Body to physical and moral bodies found amongst us. "Of Christ" is explained .by interrelating the mysteries of the Incarna~ tion, redemption, and sanctification to our union with Christ :for our eternal salvation. "Mystical" summarizes the two preceding expl~inations. Other mysteries involved 31i PATRICK M. "REc.~N Re~ieu~ for Religious in .the furtherexplanation are: union in faith, hope, and charity through .the Holy Spirit, the divine indwelling, and the sacrifice, of the Mass. An Application The" very intellectual life of faith we are treating is mysterious. It will not be amiss to apply what we have been l~earning from the° Vi~tican Council to throw new light on it. We shall employ an analogy. Suppose a sci-entist made a radar contact with an inhabited planet~ learning much of the nature of the place ahd its inhabitants. This scientist ~e would accept as an authqrity, studying with avidity the information he 1Sassed on. We would be most eager for mdre and more informati6n, ff by some chance" the ficientist enabled us personally ti~ communicatd in amystefious way with the ~uler of the. planet, we would seize every opportunity with miser's greed. Slow and imperfect though the method might be, we would l~atiently persevere, wqlcoming every new. bit of information, rejoic-ing that first crude ideas were being gradually clarifiedl Now the Church presents us th~ revealed facts of heaven, its citizens, its nature. As intermediary she guar-antees °the facts as ,revealed by God. The personal com-munication with God she makes.possible to us,~and, daily we speak familiarly with God, His Mother, the angels, and the saints. "We really live in .that atmosphere of the super~ nati~ral life, with God 'and its ~charac_ters growing more and more. real:with the passing of time~ Surely it all should~ be as ;~ctual as'any ~tadar communication'with a distant planet might be. : " ° '~ " ~ " ~' A East Applicatio~n But ,.rfght here on earth there is quite a bi.t Of heaven,," what with, the~. ~r.ii~ity ~indwellifig in our souls, the, Real Presence, the Holy Sacrifice. The Adoro Te of St. Thomas 312 September, 1946 How IS YOUR FAITh? Aquinas will furnish bur last application: Sight, touch and taste in Thee are each deceived, The ear alone most safel~l is believed, I believe all the Son of. God has spoken Than Truth's own word there is no truer token. If a blind man lived in paradise, how eagerly he would Hsten to every description and explanation of his surround-ings. His would be a very real world; and he would act accordingly, e.njoying every delight to the utmost of his limited capacity. In fadt' his very handicap would result -in sharpening other faculties" to chmpensate for his defect of vision. His prayer would be-ceaseless for full vision. his ~whole b~ing rejoicln~ at °every slightest advance to the goal. Now it is an astoun~dirig reality that every element of the beatific vision is so proximate to us. With Father, Son, and Holy Spirit dwelling in us through sanctifying grace, only mortal bodies and the obscurity of faith prevent full vision. This will come after we pass through the portal of death; but meanwhile immelisurable p~rogress toward vision is within our pdwer. T.he blind man is hopeless compared to us aided by God revealing Himself to us ceaselessly. How is 'Your Faith? In the light o~f all that has gone b~fore, we should be able to get a clear picture of the st/fie of our ow.n intellectual life of faith. ~re are halrdly in the class of those outside 'the fold for.whom God .means so little in faith and religion that freedom of reli~i.on means .the right to choose any re!igion you like. But if faith is mere words, a jumble.of words wi.tb no~.'ireality ~be~ind them, if praye~ is nothi~ng.but the droning of words, and spiritual reading a study of literary form and style, then God is'not a great r~ality in our, spit,] itual life. But perhaps many do actually glimpse a vague vision 31,3 PATRICK M~ REGAN of God as a great reality. Their faith Will still be weak unless daily they exert themselves constantly to keep in contact with "God revealing" Himself personally to them. This is our life's work and, faithfully followed, it leads to great heights. While checking the foregoing, we can also profitably~ examine our attitude towards the office of the Church and towards~ the function of steadfastness in our faith. All will be well if we find that for us faith is a first link with a supernatural world that is very real, and that through grace we contemplate that world, making God ever more real to us. In such a case we will welcome the helpful sug-gestions of the Vatican Council for studying mysteries, and the exhortation of our Holy Father to do this in a spirit of piety to promote our spiritual progress. In Case You Donq: Know ~Twelve years ago the Salvatorian Fathers inaugurated ~he devotion known as the "Priest's Saturday." It consists essentially in offering Holy Mass, Hbly Com-munion, all prayers, labors, sacrifices, joys, and sorrows on the Saturday f011owing the First Friday of each month for the sanctification of all priests and students for the priesthood throughout the world. Literature explaining the devotion in detail may be obtained from the Salvatorian Fathers, Publishing Department, St. Nazianz0 Wisconsin. "To de~,elop in souls a strong permanent devotion toward Our Lord in the Sacrament of His Love by concentrating attention on the Eucharist during thirty consecutive days," the Fathers of.the Blessed Sacrament organized a movement, which is now enriched with indulgences, fo~ the observance of April as the "Month of the Holy Eucharist." For full information wirite to.the Fathers of the Blessed Sacrament, Desk: M.H.E., 184 East 76th Street, New York 2, N. Y~ ~ new quarterly review, Catholic Action, is now published to provid~ for the special conditions, needL and opportunities of Catholic Action in India. The magazie is published at 2, Armenian Street, George Town, Madras, India. Ann.ual Subs.cription Re. 1-4-0. Our Lady's Press Mart, P. O. Box 122, Passaic, New 3ersey, offers gratis attractive "Go to Mass Sunday" ~tamps suitable for use on letters, packages, and so forth. Requests for stamps must be accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope. 314 On Reading a!: e Claude Kean, O.F.M. ~T CAN hardly fail to Strike the newcomer to religious life as odd--this reading aloud of pious books during meals. What, he wonders, is the purpose of it? Is it to expedite meals? Or to safeguard communal charity? Or to expiate the self-concession inherent in eating? Or, at least on fast days, to divert the mind from the menu? It is not long, of course, till he finds the answer: that, just as restaurants add music to meals for the consumer's pleasure, religious refectories add reading to meals for the consumer's profit. This profit can,. undoubtedly, be substantial. The refectory reading can draw our minds, after a morning or an afternoon of distracting duties, back from the perimeter of religious life to the Center; can "knit up the the ravell'd sleave of care"; can freshen our spirit and fill anew the wells of our motives. But it can do these things only if several conditions--quite .obvious, yet quite often ignored are posited. First, the reading must be heard. Normally, it will be heard if the reader observes Father Pardow's simple rubric: Open, your mouth, and,read slowly. There is the whole crux of the matter. A lectern, rightly placed, can help; and, in large refectories, a public-address system can help even more. But, as trained actors have proved a thousand times over in whispered lines, the audibility of a voice depends not primarily on bigness of volume, but on sharp-ness of diction. Barring marked impediments of speech, then, there is not one reader in the religious community who cannot be easily understood if, in the phrase of Canon Sheehan, he will "~bite off:. his words, as riflemen bite their 315 CLAUDE KEAN Review for Religio'~s cartridges,, and chisel:every~ consonant, and giv~ full scope to every vowel. Nekt to ~nunciation comes .interpretation. It would seem that, under this heading, a curious tradition governs mu~b bf our refectory reading:xhe traditiori°ofut'ter~.imp~r~: sonali'ty. Perhaps from"promptings~of humility, we'strive to sou:nd not like ourselves Or. lille any recognizable person at all, but like some generic concept of a religious. To that end we affect a voice suggestive of a~cold in the head: a voice - that is toneless, lifeless, remote, altogether detached from its posseskor; a voice that, shorn of allaccidents, comes forth before mafiklnd as a, sheer essence. We read .every word like every other word. We reduce all the author's thoughts " to a common denominator of impassivity. His challenging ~question-marks and his indighant exclamation-points w.e turn ~like'into prosaic periods. If dialog odcurs, we flatten it into monolog. If we come to a passage of poetic beauty.- we read it as dispiritedly as though w~ were reading the cdnstitutions of the community. And this is.passing strange. An hour or two ago, in a classroom, We read aloud a story so imaginatively that our young listeners hung on our every word; and now, inca refectory; we read aloud another story, or at least another book, so'perfunctoriIy that our religious hearers nod' over their plates. Why the sudden declension.from Dr.Jekyll to~'Mr.' Hyde? °WSy the horreht change~ fro~ entirely natfiral reading to entirely unnatural chanting? from a "stylethat vivifies a text to a style.l:hat embalms it? We .are, indeed, not to "tear passion t6 tatters" in our reading: we are not to over-read. -~But neither are we to under;read. Good reading is nothing but intelligent reading. And religious self-effacement demands neither the privat.e nor the public abstention from the. use of intelligence. The Horation precept still' holds: ""If you want me ,to 316 ~epte~nber, 1946 ON READING AT TABLE weep, yoti yourself" must-first grlev .'- The :interested listener still 15resupposes'the interested reader. A,nd, instead of a. drably~ ascetic feature of our daily schedule, what a profitable and pleasurable pastime might our table reading become if all our readers were, to read, not "in.,mournful numbers," but,in~tories thatovariously "echoed the sense" Of what. they read! Much of the prosperity_ of reading, it is true, depends upon the book: And 14ere let superiors remember that books, like music, fit particular purposes and occasions. Bach and Beethoven and B'rahms are masterly music indeed; but, as tests have proved (as though proof were needed!-), they are not good dinner music:, The subtlety of Bach~ tl'ie e/no-. tional inten~ity~of.Beethoven, the massiveness of' Brahms impede digestion, instead of promoting it. On the other hand, Strausi is ggod dinner music:~ for the most part light-some; melodious, and not too profound. In'a similar~ay, many books of devotion, :though in themselves excellent;-are not good table reading. -Contro-versial works aye not, nor are scholarly works of apologet-ics, nor are solid treatises on asceticism. Close concentration and happy digestion do not get along well together. Saint FranCis de gales, .for "that~ reason, advises against mental prayer ~immediately after a. meal, "before digestion-, is adxianced;" .citing.~not Only the diffidulty of concentration when-ori~:is "heavy .and drowsy," but the positive danger to.14ealthinoit. And is it hot at[ least conceivable thxt.some off,the stomach ~disofde'rs n'ot uncommon.among religious can~be~ofra~ed0to the tieayy.literary fare.serv_ed at our m~als.: thd .bookS:of unrelenti.ng s¢tf-an, alysis,.~the pon~derousotrea-tises on ,th~'~irows,; the.~un.relie.vedly.,statistical bi~graphi~sof the'saints? ~ ¯ One mother superior told the writer not long ago that, weary of high and dry books, she had appointed for table 3 CLAUDE KEAN reading an excelleiit novel by an excellent novelist, White Fire, by FatherE. J. Edwards. S.V.D. Though a few rigogists in the communiyy frowned at the, innovation; the majority of the sisters rejoiced. Here, for once, was a book to which they could listen without effort; indeed, a book which they could follow daily with bated interest and yet not without genuine spiritual profit. From the trials of a real flesh-and-blood nun, "Sister Agnes," they derived more practical wisdom than from whole libraries of abstract ascetics: Would the ~xperiment of that superior not be ~orth duplicating in al! communities? Is it against a book that it excite interest? that on occasiofi it even provoke good-humoredlaughter? Must we eoer eat our bread in serious-. nes~ and sorrow, as though joy w~re not a gift of theHoly Ghost? If Our Lord "taught in parables," is it undignified for us to listen to parables in the form of religious nov.els? If almost every word that He utterid was fringed with the pictoriM and often even the poetic, do we indulge in unseemly leyity by preferring the colorful and concrete religious bool( to the vaporous and abstract? We,live in an age of excellent, Catholic writing: of first;rate biographies[ such as .Walsh's Theresa of Aoila. Feeney's American Woman, Maynard's Too Small a World, O'Brien's Enter Saint Antl~on!1,~Sargent's Mitri, Repplier's dunipero Sera or Mere. Marie of the Ursulines; of well-Written novels, such as'those of Benson and Shee-ban and more recent writers like Edwards; of attractive works of apologetics, such as thoseof Chesterton and Lunn; of Nell-edited Catholic rnagazines and papers, replete with articles of current "interest and importance. Why, in the midst of such plenty, should we keep to a starvation diet? 318 ' Preparing t:or t:he Lay Apos!:oh !:e 3ohn A. Hardon, S.3. SOME time ago, one thousand Detroit public high school students and their teachers filled the Rackham Memorial Hall to listen to the devout recitation.of the Hail Mary! The Ave Maria was part of a dramatic story a young man was telling about a Canadian commando who seems to have been miraculous!~ cured of blindness by our Blessed Mother. o How did such a Catholic subject as. devotion to Mary ever get a hearing in a public speech exhibition? before an auditorium full of non_-Catholics? and .the whole affa~ir sponsored by a large secular university? The answer-is: Catholic Action through t~e Sodality. We must all be aware of the interest manifested by the late Holy Father and by the present Pontiff in the forming of a lay apostolate and of their wish that the Catholic school be made a training ground for such an apostolate. These facts were made quite evident by the letter to the superiors general of all religious institutes on the "Pro-motion of Catholic Action.'~' This letter, written in 1936 by the Cardinal Secretary of State in the name of Plus XI, was quoted in full in REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS (September, 1945), and was accom-panied by a very complete commentary by Father F~fincis B. Don-nelly. It is one thing to know the fact that the Holy See. wishes our Catholic schools to be a training groun~ for the formation Of lay apostles; it is quite another thing to determine the meang o~f accom-plishing this purpose. Space fdrbids our giving ~ here an extended study of all the different ways in which training lay apostles can be integrated into the regular program of a Catholic grammar school, high school, or college. There are many methods of doing this:, and the teacher's own ingenuity will suggest scores of ways besides the one here detailed. But the writer's experience is limited to the effective-ness of one method of" dovetailing Catholic Action with Catholic education. The method in question is extra-curricular speech wbrk in high school elocution and debatifig. Elocution in its variant fo~ms---oratory, declama'tion, and dra- 319 JOHN A. HARDON Review for Religious matic dialog has long been recognized as an excellent medium for "d~vel6}ing the-intellectual and emotional talents of young students. But it can b'e much more than that. It can become the instrument f~f~aining"them tO give'that evidence of the faith within them of which we'American Catholics are so sorely in need. Once a teachdr df eloquence becomes convinced that his or her trainees can be inspired by higher ideals than mere excellence in vocal expression, then what began as-at~ elementary ~btirse in speech:culture become~ overnigh~'~ dyn~'.mi~ an~t almost r~sistless force of tl~e 'apostolate. No secular sub-jec(, be'it ever so nbble, has the power ofqhspiring young minds with ~the s~me enthusiasm that is evoked by the simplest truths of our ¯ Catholic 'faith. But there is more than inspirational value to this change of atti-tudd. As soon as a definite apostolic turn is given to elocution sub-ject matter ~nd technique, oppdrtunities will be found without even lookir~g'for them top~ut the ammumnon°t9 immediate use. In many ci'ti~'s tl~er°~ are forensic l~a.gues with mixed Catholic and non- Cat.holic membership. Ih such places Catholic studenf's have all the room they.w.ant to give express.ion to the ideals and principles of the religion th,ey profess/ This does not mean that every elocution, piece ips9 fdcto becomes a vehicle for Catholic propaganda: but it does ,mean that eyeiy speech cariies.enough of the substance of the faith to impress the ndn-Catholic 'audience that, "Here i~ something dif-fe'rdnt. It's good:and it's Catholic: ': " 3~V'hen,. for ek.ample, a young man gives 'a,n' oratorical piece like "T'h~ Easter 'Message from Co'r~regidor~'' even the most blas~ are bound to li~te~n sy~mpatbetica, lly. He quotes, the words of the an-nouncer of the Voice ~'o~ Freedom thht" fateful Easter morning of 1942: "People of the Philippines, .do nbt despair. Your deliverance is near at hand. Likh your Mas~t~r before°':you, you have been betrayed into the hands of your enemies. Like your Lord and Mas-~ tel you have been beaten and tortured and put to death. But like Him tOO, you will soon rise again to a glory and a peace that you have never known before. People of the Philippines do not despair." When words like that are spoken,, it doesn't take a Catholic or iven a Christian to appreciate the depth of human, feeling hidden behind ihem. But the important thing for our purpose is that they were_ originally spoken-by a devout Catholic, Colonel Romulo, aide to the late President Quezon of the Philippines. And they carry the sub- 320 September, 1946 PREPARING LAY APosTLES stance of a penetrating truth: the rederfiption of mankind by the death of Christ on the, Cross. So much for elocution as a suitable medium for cultivating~the apostolic spirii in our students by .giving them first hand oppor-tunities of'putting this spirit into practice. Another means'that has _been found even more effective in this respect is interscholastic debating. As an outlet for Catholic ~Action, debating is~only just beginning to be exploite~d .by our teaches of forensics. A case in point is the State of Michigan where out of two hundred high schools in the'forensic league all but five or so are secular institu-tions. .This argues to~ an oversight somewhere. Either the p~blic schools are~ misguided in the emphasis they place on" forensics, or we Catholics have not yet come to realize that there are more than~ edu-cational possibilities hidden in this field. It may sound romantic to talk about high school teensters,getting up in a ~ublic forum to defend some elemental troth like the charity of Christ in a godless world. But they doit. The aildience may be indifferent or unfriendly, and there is always the clever witticism to take from "the gentleman on the opposition." This offers no diffi-culty at all. The teensters enjoy the smell of battle aiid soon develop a cast of mind that practically nullifies a purely secular approach to'any stibject, political, social, or economic. Many examples could be given to illustrate the effectiveness of debating as an entree into the lay apostolate. On one occasion, during a city wide tournament, twelve of our debaters were defending Pope Pius XII's Five-Point Plan for World peace.Their opponents were eight ottier groups of high school students from as many dif-ferent secular institutions. One of the coaches openly criticized the program our young men were following: "Cut out that religion stuff. R~ligion is all right iri church, but it has no place on a debate platform. If~you want to get any decision from the judges, you'd better change your method of argument. ,You'll never win a debate that"way." Well, he was wrong; because the young Ciceros not only Won a debate but ran off'with the whole.tournament. Another timei~while debating with an out-of-town fsublic school on thd'question of a federal world government, the,first speaker on the affirmative did not defend.the affirmative. He brok~ into a tirade that lasted ten minutes, defending a world order in ~vhicb the Providence of God woul~l' not"be recognized. "What has .religion got us any-way~ Nothing but wars 'and misery: After all, we are masters of 321 JOHN A. HARDON Reoieto for Religious our own destiny. Let us work out a plan of world peace in which every notion of a power higher than man's will be scuttled." This might have beeh ranting nonsense, except that the poor fellow was dead serious about what hewas saying. The logical thing for our first speaker to do was to forget all about his own prepared talk 'and answer the blasphemy. So be spent his ten minutes of allbted time defending, not a substitute for a world government, but the recog-nition of Almighty God in the world which He created. Incidentally there is a peculiar significance in th~ choice of sub-jects or resolutions for. interscholastic debates. Individual schools do not choose a subject but the choice is made for them, apparentl~, through the National Educational Association and according to the recommendation of the Federal Government. Only one subject is given out each" year. It is the same for all the high schools and col- . leges throughout the country, As a matter of policy, the annual debate topic is being discussed in Congress during the very time that student polemists are threshing out the subject among themselves. All of th~s is part of our democratic system, whereby national issues are first ~ired among thg people before official action is taken upon ¯ them by the government. This emphasizes the.importance of our Catholic schools' . taking advantage of their democratic privilege to instil some of the principles of Christ into the minds and hearts of those who hardly know Him. And along with this positive indoc-trination of others, the students are training themselves to become what the late Holy Father made bold to call, "Bearers of light, helpers of the Holy Spirit, auxiliary light-armed soldiers of the Church."' A word is in place on the ranks from which the young men' were drawn for this basic training in the apostolate that we have reviewed. They were Sodalists, actively interested in promotiiag the apostolic aims of the Sodality. Many of them were members of a local Catholic Action cell where they received the backgroflnd and inspiration necessary to appear in public as youthful exponents of their faith. It took courage to do what they did; but the courage was never lacking. Sometimes their efforts were repaid with the high compliment of imitation. They might come back to a return engagement in debate and listen to the opposition non-Catholic, of course defending -the Pope as" an authority in politics and the social sciences. , An objection might be raised that it is time enough to introduce Catholic students inl~o the lay apostolate after they have finished their 322 September, 1946 PREPARING LAY APOSTLES formal studies. Then too there is the question whether the secular clergy and not religious are to take the 15fimar~r'.and~almost exclusive initiative in the promotion of Catholic Action. To both these ques-tions we have the authoritative answer of Plus XI in~his Apostolic Letter to the Brazilian hierarchy, October 27, 1935. His words deserve to be me, moriz, ed ~by every religious who is sincerely interested in th~ apostolate of the laity: "Surely the most p6werful and far-flung support o~f Catl~oli~ Action may be expected from the numerous religious institutes of men and vi'omen wl~ich have already rendered such signal services to the'Church . Religiofis men and women will he!p'Catholic Action in.~a very.spec!al way if they strive to prepare for it from their earF, est years the boys and girls whom they have in their schools and academies. These young people should at first be g~ntlV drawn to a desire for the apostolate, and then should be steadily ~nd earnestly urged to join the associations of Catholic. Action; and ,where such associations are wanting, they should be promoted by the religibus tb~rnselt~. Surely there is no bettdr way and no better opportunity for training young people in Catholic Actioia, than those which exist in schobls and cblleges.~' -One las~"pbint needs to be cleared up. The objection might be made that our Catholic schools already have as many organizations as the student body and teachers can manage. More additions would be useless'~here they would not be a positive.burden. In any case, there is no rriore room for organizations of a spe.cifically apostolic, cl'iar-acter. It will have been noticed in the present review of "apostolized'" speech activities that they were first and foremost,a sodality activity, o In other words, promoting the work of the apostolate among our students can and in most cases.should be the immediate work of school organizations which are riot. 0penly and avowedly "Catholic Actionist." Pius XI is explicit on this point, in the letter which he wrote to the Hierarchy of Brazil iff 1935. Touching this very ques-tion, he says: "Thus also the associations and institutions which have for their purpose the spread of piety, the teaching of Christian doc-trine, or any other form of social apos~01ate, will bec6me ai~xiliary forces of Catholic Action. and without departing in any way from each one's peculiar sphere, will happily secure that concord and har-mony, that organized co-operation, and that mutual understanding, which We have ceaselessly recommended." 323 . ur Lady s Rosary . A Adam C.-ElliS, S.J:,, ". "- ~ . . ~ " ~C~6BER is. t~e', month~ p~ OuE Lady'~ Rbs~ry. Throfighout ~the Catholic ~world pri~st~,,-,.rgligio~s~ and men and~women of,every walk of life vie with ~ach other to,do honor to ~Our Lady by the daily recitation "0f the ros?ry? R may be hel~ful-~as-a ~timulant ~'for 6u~ ~evo~i6n,~'t6~re~all the 6rigin, hature; and onditi6ns of this p0pp[ar devotion. , . .~ ~ . . :, ~- ° ~" " " o The Our Father ¯ T~e most . precl,o, us of~fie 3ral pr ~r~ ~n t~ tr~as~r tb~.~Ch~r~h ,is un~oubt~)y th~ Q6r.Fath~T. ~Cbri~t Him; s~l~ taught this prayer to His,disciples when they ~arn~stly as~d~Hxm.: ;Eord~.;~acb' 6s to pray,~ ~wn as ~ohn~likd~is~ ta~t,~i~ 'disqi~l~s" (U~k~ 1'i": '1~) :~" '~nd'th~'~t~Xv%~ ~or~-s Prayer as g~wn to.us by Saint Matthew m hxs Gos-pel'S( 6:9-.13) became the daffy prayer ~, tile first.Chns~ fiansz.as, w~ll,as,~o~ alhth~ ~a.kh~Ldo~-,.through ,th~ ~n~ "" I( We f&~ll'that :6~"~t3 the~l~ttdr half'of ~ntur~, ~h~ ~h~ art ot p~ntmg. ~s ~nwnt~d, ~only th~ nob~l~t~ could r~ad.an~ wnt~, a r~. not surprised; to l~arn that,th~ p~i~cip~! d~vo~ion~ ~a~th~ul~ at~.larg~was.,th~ r~p~tition~o~ th~ Ofir Fath~i~ th~ 9~ghth c~ntury, th~ p~mt~nt~als, .or books.r~lat~ng t0 p~mt~nts, pr~scr~o~d, var~ous p~nanc~s ot tw~nty,,,ntty, o~ mor~ Pat~r.Nost~rs. ~gain, in th~ cours~ o~ th~ early.c~n-turi~ s o~"t~ ~Middl~ ~.g~s~ w~n-.th~ lay 'brothers "in r~ligious orders b~cam~ .distinct ~mm'~h~ choir mofiks~ th~ ~orm~r, who w~r~ illiterate, r~cit~d on~ hundred and fifty 324 OUR LADY'S ROSARY ISater Nosters in~plhce'ofithe one.hundred hiid fi~ty psalms which were recited .in choir.as part ,of" the~DixCine O~ce. O~rig'in' and U~e of P~r B~ads use of One and the same prayer spon-a methqd Q( counting ~the number of p~ayers recited. At ~st ~e count was kept o~ one's fi~- gers. Then ~he Fathers of t~e ,Desert, following t~e example of St. Anthony, t~e F~rst Hermit, collected a.num-ber of pebbles and laid,them aside one by one as they recited t~e~r prayers. In the West th~ uAe of pebbles was soon replaced by gg~ins of bernes, seeds, bone,~or ~ood, ~attache~ to ~ach other by a cord. In~.the course of time such a string~of grains o~ beads was c~lled a paterno~ter~since it~ .~as. used ~o~t freq~e~ptly~ for the. recitation o~,,the Our Fath~r.~ .In ~be thirteenth centut~ the ~anufac~urers o~_ these,, articles. ,. ~ere known as paternosterersi and, almost everyx~here~ i~, Europe ~hey formed a recognized craft guild of consider. hble importante. P~,t3rnoster-Row in ~ondon preserves the memory of the strest in which th~.ngl~sh craft-fellows ~o~regated. That such beads ~ere in use in the ele~en~lf century is evident fr~ M~lmesbur~-who relates that the Countess Godiva bf Covehtry (circa 1075) left by w~l(to the ~statue of a certain_ monastery."the,,ci[clet 0f precious stones wfiich she. had.threaded on a cord in orderthat fin-gering them qne aft~ a~other Sh~ might count-tier, prayers exactly.'~ .The ._~ilit~rY ~orders, ~otably the. ~nights Templar of St. 3ohn, adopted the paternoster beads as p~art ~f.~he,e~uip~ent of hY members., The~e paternoster beads were also.,used ~by ,the laity in general and were,openly, carried as a s~gn~ of penance,, espdcia~ly bY b~nds of pilgrims who v~sited the ,shrines,~ churches, ~and other holy places, of Rome in procession: ~ : -" ~ 325 ADAM C. ELLIS Review/:or Religious "'Ave Maria" _or "'Hail Mary'" The .Hail Mary owes its'origin to certain pious persons who joined the words of the Angel Gabriel" with those of St. Elizabeth to form a greeti~ng and salutation in honor of the Mother of Christ, hence the name-"Angelic Salutation." It was .repeated many times in succession, accompanied by genuflections or some other.external acts of reverence. Thus a contemporary biographer of St. Albert (died 1140). tells us: "A hundred times a day he bent his knees, and fifty times he prostrated himself raising his body again by his fingers and toes, while he repeated at every genuflection: 'Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.' " This form constituted the whole of the Hail Mary as then said, and"the fact that all the. words are set down in this biography seems to imply that the formula had not yet become universally familiar. But by the end of the' twelfth century it was in common use in many parts~ of Europe. Pope Urban IV, who died in 1264, granted an indul-genc~ to all Who added the'words ",Iesus Christ, Amen" to the form quoted above. It was in this form that~Thomas ~ Kempis recited the Hail Mary at the ~nd of the thirteenth cent.ury. The second half of the Hail Mary begins to appear in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. St. gernardine of Siena added to the Angelic Salutation the words: "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us.sinners;" And at the end of the fifteenth century, in an ordinance of the Arch-bishop of Mayence (1493) the longer formula, "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us now and at the hour of our death, Amen" appears, perhaps for the first time. The complete form of the Hail Mary, as we have it .today, was included in the various breviaries used by the diocesan 326 September, 1946 OUR LADY'S ROSARY i~lergy and by the religious orders, though occasional ~light variations in form are found. This complete form is recommended b~r the Roman Catechism in 1566. It received final approval when Pope St. Pius V, in'the new edition of the Roman Breviary promulgated by him in 1568, ordered it to be recited by .all priests before the singl~ canonical hours, together with the Pater Noster. From tl~e breviary the complete form passed into general use ~amo~g the faith-ful. Rosary Beads As we saw above, the paternoster beads were used by the laity as a substitute for the Divine Office, and for this reason were sometimes called "the psalter of the laity." At the 'beginning bf the eleventh century, the custom was introduced of adding the angelic salutation to the Our Father, and for a while some of the clergy, religioias, and laity recited 50 or 150 Pater~ and Aves on the paternoster beads. Gradually thecustom of reciting 50 or 150 Aves only on the beads came into vogue, and it was probably this form of prayer which was popularized by St. Dominic at the suggestion of the Blessed Virgin. 'The Roman Breviary, in the fourth lesson for the Feast of the Most Holy Rosary, tells us ~hat when the Albigensian heresy was devastating the country of Toulouse, St. Dominic earnestly besought the help of Our Lady and Was instructed by her (so tradition asserts) to preach the Rosary among the people as an antidote to heres.y and sin. That this form of devotion was known before the birth of St. Dominic is clear especially from two sources. The first is the so-called "Mary-legends" according to one of wl~ich, ~ating bac~k to the early twelfth century, a client of Our Lady who had been wont to recite one hundred and fifty Ayes every day was bidden by her to say only fifty, but more slowly. Again 327 ADAM C. ELLIS Review for,Relioious iu~,the~'~twelfth centur¢ this form bf prayer was, recom-mended' to, the.: anchoresses of~ England-and practiced by. them, as aplSearg from the ancient Ancren Riwte which was written~abotit the middle of' the ~tw.elfth centur~y. In th~ course of:time the one.hundred and fifty beads ivhich the Ave'Maria was recited b~came distribute'd into decades~ or' seriesof ten, separated from one another by a large,grain or bead on which is r~cited a Pater Noster; and by the middle of th~ fourteenth century the use of such beads had spread rapidly. In 1469 Sixtus IV called these beads the "Psalter of Our Lady" and encouraged their u~e by grantin~ ind~ulgences. The° religious orders, notably,~, the Benedi~ctines, .t_he Cartbusians, and the.Dominicans, retaingd the use bf the b~ads made u~'~f fifteen dedades. But amon~th~e,faithful-the, o smaller beads o of. five decades., became;., popular., in¯ .~ the~ c~ourse ot~time~ The Gloria Patti .wa.s-added to each decade 9~n1~i in,~ the seventeentfi ce~n.tu~ry in Italy. The custorfi o~ reciting; the Creed, a Pater, and .three Aves a! the:beg!nnil~g of ther~s~ary, i~ l~udai~ie'; but it . is . not necessary for the g~ining of~any ind~t~lgences. It originated in Germany,'-fir~t by ~cii~i.n~ ,the Creed at the beginning, ~o ,w,bich was,a.d~$,d, about the middle Of tiae 18tb century~, a~ Pa~ter,,, and three Ayes for an increase in the three t.h,eo, logical~ virtues.-- faith, ho~e,o.~and cha~rity. In Spain a~d in Spanish spea.king countries, the Creed, Pater, and three Ayes are addedat the end of the rosary. Meditation on the. Mysteries ,.~ . Thus in its external form the rosary was established little by little; and' it was a long time bef0re.,the custom ~f meditating on the mysteries of Our Lord's ~ind Our Lady's' li~res.while saying it,was introduced.~ At the beginning of the fifteenth century a Carthusian of Wreqes is-~aid to have 328 September; 1946 OUR LADY'S ROSARY "first introduced into '~the: rosary a~mystery of. the-lives~of Jesus and Ma.ry by ~a, ddi~g,~some w~ord~ to the end of the first half .of the° Hail,Mar~;~. His "ros~ar~ ~as composed of-fifty, Ayes arid fifty mysteries. ~ ~s still done ~n Germany and other ~arts of the world today, the firstAve ran thus: ,.-Ha~l Mary, .full of .grace, the Lord.~s w th t~ee, blesped ar~ thou amongst )vomen, ~ndblessed ~s the frmtof thy womb, Jesus, whom, by the message qf.-the angel,~thou didst c0h: ce,ve of the Holy G~ost, Amen. Th~s innovation met w~th a hearty reception and was taken up by the faithful. ~]an ~ Rupe,,~ famous D6~nlcan preacher, CbmpoSed one hun-dr~ d ~and fif[y phrases one for each of t~e Aves of Mary s Psalter. Later these numerous mysteries were lessensd, an~ a~gq~ the year 1500 the Carthus~an Landsberger guid~.f0r the ~i~a~ion 0f ~e~r o~sary (of fi~e dec~des)' "in Wfii'ch ~e.ass~g;s'~o the:first ~tW~'decade~ the m~ditation on the p~incipal joys'6f'Mhry; for ~h~ twd fol10wing, the" meditafion on the sorrows of Jesus and.Mary; and f6r the fifth, ~he mgs~e~es of'the glor~ficatioff'~f Jesus and Mary. In 1483 we find a~'r~sary bf fifteen mYsterieso~ly~ne mys~er~6; ~each decade;" Und they c0rr~spond with Our present m~gtefies ~xqe~t for the ~last, which was the L~st Judgment instead of the Coronation of Our Lady. In~ 152:1 the D6minican, Albert 0~ Ca~tell6,:phbli'~hed ~in Italy his book 6nth~ Ro~afy.~ In it~he' indicates ,various ~ethods'6f'- saying ~he rosary; among others, that of the fifteeff teries in actual ~use today . ~ ~ In his Bu.lk0f September 17,: 1569, P0~e St.~Piu~°V for~he'first ~ti~e 0~ei~l~y~efitions meditad0n on tbe~li~s of~Chrb~'"~fi~::gf H~s M0~ber t0'~ be .m~de ~whiie :s~.in~.~th~ rosary-. ~:H~ states'.~Bat~.~p to tfiht't~me~med~tat~bn~on mysteries was not required; but he also a~rms tha~ from that d~y on'fifteen':Pat~rs ~with,dne hundred and fifty Ayes, distribute~,~in decades~ with ~editation on.rthefifteeh ~mys~ _ 329 ADAM C. ELLIS ~ Review for Religious teries, constitutes the rosary essentially. Indulgences for Saying the Rosary " The Official Collection of Indulgences, ,published by the Holy See in 1938 under the title Preces et Pia Opera lists the following indulgences which may be gained by .any Catholic who recites the rosary, even though the beads used are not blessed (No. 360) : 1. An indulgence of five years whenever a third part (five~decades) of the rosary is recited with devotion; " 2. An indulgence of ten years, once a day, whenever a third part of the rosary is recited in company with others, whether in public or in private; also a plenary indulgence on the last Sunday of each month, provided the rosary has been recited in common at least three times in any of the preceding:weeks; confession, Co~munion,'and a visit to a church or public oratory is also required to gain this plenary indulgence. 3. A plenary in~tulgence, on condition of confession and Communion, is granted to those who piously recite .a third part of the rosary in the presence of the Blessed Sacra-ment, either publicly exposed, or at least reserved in the tabernacle. Note one: The decades may be separated, provided the entire rosary (five or fifteen decades) is'said on one and the same day. Note tu~o: If, while reciting the rosary, the faithful are wont to use a pair of beads blessed by a. priest of the Order of, Preachers, or some "other priest having special faculties, they may gain other indulgences in addition t6 those enum-erated above. Thus far the Official Collection of Indul-gences. It may be well to mention here that ordinarily one can-not gain various indulgences attached.to one and the same 330 September, "1946 OUR LADY'S RO~ARY pious worl~ unless.one repeats the pious work for each indulgence. However, in virtue of a privilege granted by Pius X on Jurie 12, 1907, one may gain not only"the indul2 gences mentioned above but also the Dominican and the Crosier indulgences provided the beads have been specially blessed for these latter; and on February 17, 1922, Pius XI included .the Apostolic Indulgences. Jt would take too long to enumerate all the indulgences which may be attac.hed to rosaries by way of a special bles-sing. Suffice it tc; say here that the Dominican blessing enables one to gain 100 days indulgence for each Pater and Ave;j the Crosier indulgence, 500 days on. each bead. Conditions for Gaining Indulgences To gain the indulgences one must observe the following conditions: 1. One must hold a rosary in one's hand and tell the beads as the Aves are recited. This is the general rule. How-ever, if two or more persons recite the rosary in common, it suffices that one of them use a rosary to guide the recitation; but the others must abstain from all external occupation which would imp~d~ interior recollection and unite them-selves with him who holds the beads (S. Congregation of Indulgences, January 22, 1858). This condition was explained and mitigated by another rescript of the same S. Congregation (November 13, 1893) to mean that the faithful need not abstain from certain small manual tasks which are sometimes performed in .religious h6uses during the common recitation of the rosary, but only from those occupations which impede interior recollection. Even in the case of a person saying,his rosary by him-self, Pope Pius XI (October 20, 1933) "deigned to grant that, whenever either manual labor or some reasonable cause prevents the faithful from carrying in their hands 331 ADAM C. ELLIS Reoieto.[or Religio~s according to prescription, either, tbe-rosary,.'or,a crucifix which has been" blessed for the" g~iining of indulgences of l~he~.r6saby or,of ,the ~,rYray of the C, ross, the faithful ma'y gain. those indulge/aces, provided that, -during~ the recitation of the prayers in ttuestion., they carry with them in,any way,the rosary or crucifix " 2. One must m'editate On the mysteries of the rosary. This was first prescribed by Pope St. Pitis V, and was con-firmed by'Pope" Leo XIII in his Bull,on"theMost Holy Rosar~r (No. xiii). Hence. as Leo XIII~poiiated out, one must meditate on the mysteries prescribed,, not on other great truths, for example the four last things. Nor is, it sufficient to meditate on only one or two of these mysteries during the ~ecitation'of the entire ro~ary. " 'In order to'facilitate the m~ditati0n"on the mysti~ries of the rosary, the custom has been introduced of ari'/it3uncing bfiefl~r, eitlSer .bef~r~ eacl5 ide~ade; or~ after the' firsv?part of each Hail Ma~y/the-mystery of tha( decade.~ Both methods aye usi~ful; 15iat'.'. fleitlSer :is- fiecessi~ty ~f6r gaining~the indul-geflces, ~in~eito~uffices to¯ c6flsider ~h~ m-~csteries ~mentally. " Pope Be~aedict'X~I:I in hi~s coh~ti~ution Pret[osius, ~May 26, .1 727, de~lares that. Simple,pers0ns wtio are incapable m~ditati.rig off the myste'ries 'fiaay conthrit themsel~c~s with the deVou[ reditation of the ro,sa~y in. °order to giin th~ indtilg~rice's: he "adds, nevertheless," hi~-ex'p~ess ffish°th~tt such persons ~raduaily~fbrm the habit.,of meditatin'~ on hol~ mys~fies?ofoOur Redee~e~r-and6f His Bl~sed M6ther'~ con formably" to the purigose of the rosary." In: practice,' a - sincere effort t6 meditate; even if the effort fails, suffices ~ to gain the indulgences." For~ the gainiiig ~f~th~ Crosier/and Brigittine. indulgences, meditation on the mysteries is not required. . " ¯. -Among' the faithful who ,recite the ,rosary of five decades every day the custom has established itself of medi- 332 September, 1946 OUR LADY'S ROSARY tating°ori the joyous mysteries on Monday and Thursday; oh the sorrowful rdysteries on Tuesday and Friday; and'on the .glorious. mysteries on Sunday, Wednesday and Satur-. day. During!Advent one ,may meditate on the joyful mys-teries on Sunday~, -during Lent on the sorrowful mysteries~ 3. Thebeads Used must be of solid material,, not easily broken, Otherwise indulgence~ may not be attached to them. Glass or crystal beads may be used, provided they are solid an~d compact, (S.~ Apostolic Penitentiary, ,December 21, 1925)" The indul~gCriees'~ are~attached to the grains or beads, not to the' cbainor cord which-holds them together. Hence a pair of beads may be restrung in any order without losing 4ts indulgences. A broken bead or two may replaced from-time to time, since the indulgences are put on the beads of the rosary as a whole. Our Lad~t'~s Garland of Roses The word "rosary" means a garland, wreath, or crown of roses. An early legend, which spread over all of Europe and penetrated even-to Abyssinia, connects this name with a story of Our Lady who was seen to take rosebuds from the lips~.of~ a youpg monk, when he was reciting Hail Marys, a~nd to weave them into a garland which she placed uppn her head. Devo.ut clients of Mary like to think that the five joyful mysteries constitute a garlan.d of white roses for Our Lady, the ~sorrowful mysterigs .a garland of °red roses, and the .glorigus mys.t.eri~es a garland o~ g.olden roses. -, .LAndiOur ,Lad~r ha~ show.nher"appreciation.of this devo-tion ~y giv. ing,o,her:protection,to.the Church, at large as well as to~individual memb~rs.ino:every walk¯ of ,life. ,.P0pe St: Plus V-~.~ttributed to her. inter~ession~.~gained, through the public recitation-6f th~ rbsary, by rhembers~of the.~R-osary Confraternity marching through~th,e:,streets ofoRome;, the gte~at~,v, ictory~.0f~ the ~Chtistian forces ino:,the" Battle of ADAM C. ELLIS Review for Religious Lepanto. This battle, in" which~the sea power of the Turks was brok'~n forever, was fought on the first Sunday in October, 1571. In gratitude for the victory, ,,the Pope ordered that a CommemOration" of the Rosary be made each, year on that day. Two years later, Pope Gregory XIII, at tl-ie request 0f the Dom_inican Order, allowed the ,feast to be celebrated in all churches which possessed an altar dedicated to the Hol.y Rosary. Similarly, after the great land victory over the Turks at Temesvar in Hungary on August 5, 1716 (the feast of Our Lady Of the Snows),.,Pope Clement XI ordered that the feast of-the Most Holy Rosary should be celebrated throughout the Universal Church, since the v.ictory was attributed to °the recitation of the rosary by the whole Christian world, as ordered by the Pope, to invoke Our Lady's aid in behalf of the Christian troops. When Our Lady'appeared to Bernadette at Lourdes and -to the children at Fatima. it was not by chance°that she held a rosary in her hands and taught them to recite it, telling them that she would bring peace to the world and to the hearts of herdevout clients'if they practiced the"de~cotion of the.Rosary. Today the Turks are no longer besieging the ramparts of Christendom, but a more "formidable enemy, modern pagan civilization, is threatening not only the Church at large but the hearts of her individual chil-" dren. Hence the need of an enthusiastic revival of the devotion of Our Lady's Rosary. Religious can contribute their share to this revival by renewing their fervor in regard to this devotion, and by inspiring their charges, young and old, with a love for Our Lady's Rosary., To attain this objective, it is .suggested that the various letters' and writings of Pope Leo,XHI on the devotion to the Rosary be read in the refectory or for spiritual reading during the month of October. They have been collected and edited in 334 Septernb~er, 19 4 6 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS English by "Father William Raymond Isawlor, O.P., and are pub!isB~d by tile St.~Anthony Guild Press, Pate~s~on, New 3erse~: Tile beautiful ,encyclical letter of Pope Plus XI on the Rosa'r~y "i-nay also be-read with p~r0fi~.,~ It appeared in-an English translation ifi the Catholic Mind, November 8.1-9 3 7., -.Our eonsfitutiohs state: "In order that~ they be valid, confessions of ~ellcjious women mus:f be made in a place lawfully deslcjnated for the con-fesslons of women.~'- What. is the superior to do if the retreat master orders that all the confessions will ~be heard in the parlor because of the long hours required for.the many retreatanfs? The statement quoted from your constitutions refers only ~to con~. fessions of religious women made to a priest who has no special faculties to hear the confessions~of religious women. The retreat master, like the.ordinary?and extraordinary confessor, u.sually receives special faculties from the l~ocal ordinary to hear the confessions of the community to which he is to give the'retreat. Hence, as ~ar as the place is concerned, he can hear these confessions oalidly anywhere, But for the licitness of such confessions the place must be one approved for hearing the confessions of women._ Ordinarily the superior may take it for grarfted that the retreat master has obtained permission from the local ordinary to hear con-fessions in the-parlgr during the retreat if he states that he will hear the confessions there.- Should any serious doubts arise abbut the matter, they should be referred to the local ordinary. °3' May a reh~;ous put aside moriey, in the keepin~j of the superior tO be used as an offerln~ for a~ number of Masses to be sa~d' for her May the~ s6perlor general allow Sisters who have received money gifts on the occasion" of their golden jubilee to deposit a part of the money ¯ received with')he tre~surer°inrorder'~o ha\~e Masses sald-for themselves 335 QUESTIONS 'AND ANSWER~ ~S~ Review [or Religio~ aff_er, their death? M~n9 of these Sisters~ rio ,Ionggr~ h.age reJaf~lve~ who would,.;n a!l char!fy, haye the Masses said ~r fh~ [~pose of their .souls. ~ @hough received from different sources, we ~ve, put these two questions t0g~thel, ~i~ce they deal wi~h ~e k~mg~-'~u~jd~t: They differ only with r~gard to 'the source from ~hich the money for the stipend is ~derivgd. ~ ~ To begin wiih: unless the constitutions forbid it, a religious superior may allow her subjects to use small gifts for Mass stipends without any violation of poverty. If this can be done during life, there seems to be no reason why such sums may not be put aside for a fium~er of Masses to be said after the Sister's'death. The prescriptions o~ common life must alsb be considered in this matter. This requires that ordinarily the same permission would be granted tb all the Sisters;u~der the same dircumstances. For instance, it shofild ~e undelstoodthat this permission Wo~Id~ be~ given~tb all jubilarians. Or; ~n ohr first case,-t~e shperior must~be willing t0 allo~,all ~the~istdrs to set aside small~giftsuntil the required amount is reached. All such sums,df'm0ney, should be:d~posited with the treasurer"acCording tb~the regulations of the superior: " ~0~, ~'ln."Qhesqlons and~Answers'~ ~fo~ March, 1946, you slated~ thaf reli- ~i0us I;~;ng~ ih commdnffy ~ay ~alny~he lfidulgen~es ~f the ~onfrafernff~ of the~MosfHolyr Rog~ry, includlng~the tofies quofies~ indul~enc6~ on~ Rosa~ Sunday, by making the visits in thei~ o~n ¢bmmuhffy Chapel, provided they are enr611ed in ~the ~onfr~t~rnit~. ~hls dbes not seem fo bein-con, formity with a reply given by the~Sacre8 Penffegfiary on ~ovember 20, 1923. Please explaln. " ":~ Whe~ the ~nswer referred to above was written, it was based upo~ a,b~ief- dat~ August 1 1, 1871, and on a~escript d~ed~February 8, 1874, gr~ntin~ the privilege mentioned, to me~bers~ of the'Con-fraternity of the Most Holy Rosary. ~ We: mus~, co-bless-that the answer of the Sacred Penitentiary given on November 20, ]92~ escaped us. ~hile it is true that [~is was a private answer which ~as never publishe~ in th~ ~cta ~postoffcae Sedis, the o~cial organ of.the Holy Se~, still from the nature of the reply we most ~oncIude that i~ -is binding upon all, not merely upon those to whom the answer~ was given. This is ~the opinion of Roman canonists who ~ere con-sulted. " For'the benefit of our reade~K, w~ give ~the question propose~ to the Sacred Penitentiary in 1923, together with its teply: 336 September, 1946 .~ Q~/ESTIONS AND ANSWERS "Question: Do ~vords bf such a general import (that is, the privilege of gaining albindulgences in one's owri chapel) ,apply also to the toties quoties indulgence which may be gained on" the feast of the Most Holy-Rosary~ by,thosE visiting 'an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary exposed in a.church in-which the confraternity is canonically erected ? Reply: In the -negative." However; thos~ religious mentione~d above who are impeded from visiting such a church (becauseoof physical or moral disability) may ask ,their confessor ~to commute ~,the required visit to the specified church ,so that"they;-may- make the visit in.their own chapel (Code Commission, 3an. 19/1940): -, ¯ Has ~e Church granted ,an indulgence to relicjious for'the renew.al" of their, vows after receiving Holy Communion? +,Yes.~ On-Ai6ril !0, 1937~; the. Sacred Penitentia.ry granted~ an indulgence of-three years ~'to religious ~ of any order or congregation "who,. after offering the0H61y Sacrifice of the M~ss or after receiv!ng H61WCommunion privately renew their vows at least with a contrite heart." (Preces et Pia Opera, n. 695). ~33~ . May the profits from the sale of stationery and religious articles in a convent school be used to help students who seem to have a religious vocation to finish their education and to provide them with a froi~sseau ~and money for the trip fo the novltlafe? In either case the profits do not revert to the religious community, but actually go back to the students, though not to all of them. St_ill, if the other students are informed that the profits will be u.sed for_ these purposes, and if they do not object, the practice seems to be' permissible;o ¯ - ¯ May the profits of a school store be used fo buy refeE~nce book's, duplicat=ors;'and the like for the use of teachers in that school? May.they be ~pplled for correspondenc~ courses for the religious teacffers,~ especially when.the salaries'of these teachers are, not sufficient tO cover .the expenses for s~ch courses? (There i~ question here only of schools~ that. are :not owned .by rife Sisters themselves, but are'owned by~ the p,~rlsh or the dlo-cese. o ' ° 337 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Reoieto for Religious Since reference books, duplicators, and the lik'e are normal schbol equ'ipinent, they should be supplied to teachers by the school, and they remain the property of the school. Hence there can be no objection~(o using the profits of the school store for such items. Regarding the use of'such profits~to pay for correspondence courses for the religious t~achers, a distinction must be made. If these courses ate requi~ed by the,state law or by particular local circumstances to maintain the standing of,the religious teachers in the school in which they are now teaching, then the profits of the book store may be used for that purpose since such special courses may be regarded as a. part of the expense of running the school. By such use the profits are equivalently returned to the pupils, inasmuch as their teachers are better prepared to serve them in the class room in conformity with local regulations. If, however, these courses are intended merely for the personal improvement of the individual religious, the profits~of the book store may not be used to pay. for them, since the religious congregation has the obligation to provide for .~uch'courses. We suppose that the religious teachers are receiving an adequate salary. If the salaries of the religious teachers are not adequate, and the pastor tells them to use the profits of the book store as a supplement to their salary, then such profits" may be used by the religious teachers for any purpose whatsoever since they constitute a part of their salary. ~35~ Can ordinary flour, that is, the same kind of flour "l'ha'l" is used for baking bread, be used for making altar breads? What percent of wheat stated by the company would be valid for this purpose? How can one determine whether this flour has the ricjht amount of Whea~? The principles concerning valid and lawful matter for consecra-tion are found in dogmatic theology, canon law, and certain instruc-tions issued by the Holy See, p~irticularly an instruction issued by the Sacred Congregation of the Sacraments on March 26, 1929 (cf. AAS 21-'631; Canon Law Digest I, p. 353). From these sources we draw the following conclusions concerning the material, for making altar breads: 1. To be certainly valid and lawful material for consecration, altar breads must be made of pure wheat baked with water. 2. If another substance is mixed with the wheat to such an extent that bread made from the mixture would no longer be 338 September, 1946 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS monly considere~d as wheat bread (for example, if the other substance would be of a quantity equa! to or greater than the wheat)-, this bread is.certainly not valid matter for consecration. 3': If another substance is~mixed with the wheat in a notable, .~hough .not an equal, quantit~,.'the br~ad is:to be ~considered~ dubious matter for consecration and is therefore not to b'e used. - 4. 'If only a slight quantity of some othe_r substance.is mixed with the wheat, the bread is.v.alid, but not lawful, matter for conse-o cration. ~. 5. Th£se who make altar breads should either make the flour themselves or should have some means of being sure that the. flour they procure is made of pure ~vheat.o ~- 6. Those who procure altar breads from others should take .appropriate means of knowing that the makers .of the altar breads are above suspicion and can safely certify that the altar bread~.are made of pure wheat. The foregoing are principles; and we can state them without \ hesitation. But we are hOt'equally prepared to answer the practical points brought;out by our correspondent. The editors have-fried to get some information concerning the contents of ordinary flour, but the information thus far obtained is too vague to serve as the basis for answering the questions. We shall continue to try to get reliable information; but it has occurred to us that in the meantime we might get much valuable information from some of our readers who make, altar breads. Hence, we should like to throw this question "open to the house." Can any of our readers supply us with helpful details concerning such points as the contents of ordinary flour and how to be sure one is getting pure wheat flour? Please send the informatign immediately, as we wish to publish it in our next number. '1646 Saint Isaac Josues Saint CRene ~oupil (164~2) Saint John l~alande 1946 339 THE MYSTERIES OF CHRISTIANITY~ ~ByM. ~J. Scheeben. Tr~nshted by Cyril ¥ollert.-S.J. ,, Pp. ix ~- ,834.,~ ~B. ,Herder, Book Company, It isn't often that~ comprehensive study of dogmatic theology appears in. the English l~inguage, arid much rareP still 'that such work addresses itself to the widest circles of the reading publ~ic, religious, lay, and secular. .,The work now appdaring in a crisp, moder~ English translation was first published in Germany in 1865, and was repeatedly~judged by stich competent seholars as Msgr. Martin Grabmann, Dora L. 3anss~ns, O.S.B.,~and-/~/. M:. Weiss':O.P., as (the Words are those of the last-named), '"'Ehe'rmost: origihal, profound and" brilliant work that recent [nineteenth century] theology has produced." " ~Time Yeas when °the very word th'eol6gical would deter all but tlid 15retlirdn of that ¢r~ft~°from reading, a work. Fortunately that da~r ~s~ passing: and the~non-theologians ~in ever'-greater numbers ar~ treatin~g themselves to the satisfying (and Sanctifying)." experience.' of learning m~,re about the doctrines ot~ theft faith.-~ The ~vieWer: orice encountered a" high-sch6~61~"gifl' ~eading~:athe'r' Ricl~i~by'~ tr~hslati6n of St, Thomas' Cor~tra Get, tiles., Oh being a~l~ed ho~ ~he liked it, she fe151ie~ v~iffi zest: "Oh, there's a lot~in it I don'toundefstand, but wh~t I, d6 ~n~/erstand, I really like!''~ In similar fashion readers of this,Scheeben w~ll find sections they will grasp.but vaguely, for mys-terids aremyster~e~ still .even to the theologically schooled; but they will gratefully go on tsoe'c't~io n"s thrilling ii~ their understandable depth and brilliance: ~ ~ -~ " It w, as the author's aimto deal directly 9nly with the most mys-terious phases of the Christian revelation, and to show how those great wellsprings of verity, when c6nsulted in succession, illumine and illustrate each other. He shows, for example, how the com-munication of the Divine Nature,in the proce_ssions of the Holy Trin-ity is the model, so to say, for the Incarriation of the Word, and how this communication projects the interior life'-streams of the Trinity into the external world of creation. -Man's-primordial integrity and original sanctity is seen to be the four~datio~i for the Godward devel-opment of created rational nature; but the awful drama of sin ("an ineffably great sin" as Augustine said) intervenes and leads in turn '- 340 BOOK REVIEWS~ to.~the detail~d)study of the ~r~atest revelation~ of all, Gbd~great pla.n of redeeming the slave by delFcering~up the Son.~of His love; in whom the.Fat~i~r ',~sees His own' image in a man" (p.~358). ~ ¯ ~_ ' The allur{ng presentation of redemption is straightway follbwed by its fullest realizatio.n,,the Holy, Eucharist. ¯ "Therefore the sig-nificance 'of the Eucharist comes to this;,- that the real union of.~.the Son of'God.with all men is ratified, completed, and sealed in it, a.nd that men are perfectly incorporated in'Him in,the most intimate, real. and substantial manner" (p: 482). " The section on the C~urch is a cogent handlin~ of that _now promin~.nt, doctrine of the Mystical Body, while that on .the_ Sacra-ments is focussed and~ sharpened by a~masterful essay on the. sacra, mental character, But such section-h~adings and short quotations do .s~cant ~ustice to the dept~h~ ar~d~: brilliance of the author's treatme, nr. This is a volume that will be gratefully received and pondered, for dt. enlarges our app~raisal of that pearl of.great price, ours since baptism,. our Catholic faith. I allow myself on~eomore sampling of the.styl~:i "The enlightened Christian need envy no one but ~th~ blessed in heax;enoon account of the ~ficidity, the depth, and the fullness of. their~ k~wledge.~But the same faith ~s that in which we a_~ticipate their. vision holds out to US ~he sure promise that its imperfections and_ obsc'urity will vanish if, ~ollowing its directions, we strive devotedly and persevering.ly.'to reach its divine object. Faith is the prophet within -~ur ~very spir~it, presaging t.he full unveiling of the mysteries oP God, the morning star o~ the da~i of eternity, the bread of.our child-hood in the kingdom of God, which rears us to the maturity of:.the wisdom of Christ" (p. 796.) GERALD ELLARD, S.,J. MAJ~OR TRENDS IN AMERICAN CHURCH HISTORY. By Francis X. Curran, S.J. Pp. xvili -]- 198. The America Press, New York, 1946. $2.so. Most readers of this REVIEW will be interested in Father Curran's sprightly volume, which might be described as a thumb-nail history° of Christianity in the United States. The author was interested in contrasting the steady "fi~suring" of the multiple non-Catholic sects with the continued expansion in our country of Catholic Chris-- tianity~ "Why has the Catholic Church in America the preeminent posii~ion it now holds? Could it have acquired strength, if it were unsuited to American conditions, if it were not as truly American as \it is Catholic?'" (pp. xiv, xv.) BOOK. REVIEWS Re

Issue 55.2 of the Review for Religious, March/April 1996. ; lived experience of all who find that the churcfl's rich heritages of spirituality support their personal and apostolic Christian lives. The articles in the journal are :meant to be informative, practical, or inspirational, written from a theological or spiritual or sometimes canonical point of view. Review for Religious (ISSN 0034-639X) is published bi-monthly at Saint Louis University. by the Jesuits of the Missouri Province. Editorial Office: 3601 Lindell Boulevard ¯ St. Louis, Missouri 63108-3393. Telephone: 314-977-7363 ¯ Fax: 314-977-7362 Manuscripts, books for review, and correspondence with the editor: Review for Religious ¯ 3601 Lindell Boulevard ¯ St. Louis, MO 63108-3393. Correspondence about the Canonical Counsel department: Elizabeth McDonough OP St. Bernadetie Convent ° 76 University Blvd. East ° Silver Spring, MI) 20901 POSTMASTER Send address changes to Review for Religious ¯ P.O. Box 6070 ¯ I)uluth, MN 55806. Second-class postage paid at St. Louis, Missouri, and additional mailing offices. See inside back cover for information on subscription rates. ©1996 Review for Religious Permission is herewith granted to copy an}, ~naterial (articles, poe,ns, reviews) contained in this issue of Review for Religious for personal or internal use, or for the personal or internal use of specific library clients within the limits outlined in Sections 107 and/or 108 of the United States Copyrigh~ Law. All copies made under this permission must bear notice of the source, date, and copyright owner on the first page. This permission is NOT extended to copying for commercial distribu-tion, advertising, institutional promotion, or for the creation of new collective works or anthologies. Such permission will only be considered on written application to the Editor, Review for Religious. for religious Editor Associate Editors Canonical Counsel Editor Editorial Staff Advisory Board David L. Fleming SJ Philip C. Fischer SJ Regina Siegfried ASC Elizabeth McDonough OP Mary Ann Foppe Tracy Gramm Jean Read James and Joan Felling Iris Ann Ledden SSND Joel Rippinger OSB Edmundo Rodriguez SJ David Werthmann CSSR Patricia Wittberg SC Christian Heritages and Contemporary Living MARCH/APRIL 1996 * VOLUME55 ¯ NUMBER2 contents 118 symposium - part I Religious Life's Ongoing Renewal: Will Good Intentions Suffice? Miriam Ukeritis CSJ provides some examples of actions taken by various religious congregations in their renewal and makes some evaluative reflections. 133 143 seeking God The Urban Hermit: Monastic Life in the City Theresa Mancuso describes the life of an urban hermit as integrating the contemplative life of the poustinia with the marketplace where a living is earned. Enclosed in the Mystery of Jesus Marie Beha OSC explores various aspects of enclosure as part of the Christian mystery into which we all are invited. Review for Religious 159 171 growing old Biblical Contributions to a Theology of Aging Daniel J. Harrington SJ offers reflections on a few biblical texts which contribute to constructing a theology and spirituality for us as we grow old as people of Christian faith. On Selling the Chalices: Vincent de Paul on Aging Robert P. Maloney CM shares the insights and feelings of Vincent de Paul in response to the process of aging. 185 report U.S. Hispanic Catholics: Trends and Works 1995 Kenneth G. Davis OFMConv and Eduardo C. Fern~indez SJ present a panoramic of the year's events within the U.S. Hispanic Catholic community. departments 116 Prisms 204 Canonical Counsel: Authority in Ingtitutes of Consecrated Life 209 Book Reviews March-April 1996 prisms Boundaries are a part of life. We think of how boundaries identify our countries and our states, our soccer fields and our tennis courts. Behavior to be proper and humor to be appreciated observe boundaries. There are time boundaries for speeches to be effective and financial limits for buying and selling. Sometimes we see boundaries through a negative fil-ter. We talk about how we do not want to feel bound in any way since that would close off possible opportunities for ourselves. Boundaries., we say, are restrictions on our human potential and freedom. Yet as a counterpoint we also experience that when cancer breaks down boundaries and has metastasized, life becomes diminished and threat-ened. So too, when people do not acknowledge certain boundaries to their own stamina, they can have a break-down or become sick. Although sometimes appearing to us to be restrictive, boundaries, then, can be appreciated in a life system for the part they play in maintaining good health and vibrant life. Witness the negative results when we humans do not observe boundaries in our polluting of streams and oceans, in our poisoning the atmosphere through chemical emissions, and in our destroying world weather patterns through the deforesting in the Amazon basin. Sometimes people, including women and men reli-gious, view religious life through the filter of boundaries which restrict. Whether it be the observance of the tra-ditional evangelical counsels of chastity, pove(ty, and obe-dience, the acceptance of a life in common, or the practice of enclosure, religious life has always had boundaries. But Review for Religious through an ecological perspective-- that ,is, religious life identi-fied as a life system--we can come to a fresh appreciation of the vital quality of the boundaries we find in it. T6day when membership inclusion for many religious con-gregations seems to eliminate all boundaries, we could ask our-selves whether in a life-system model this movement is going towards health. When there are no boundaries to the kinds of ministries taken on by members of a congregation and no bound-aries to what constitutes a life together, we might wonder whether a deadly cancer may likely enough be coursing through a life sys-tem. Since w~ are so conscious today of environmental and eco-logical concerns with a scientific realism never before possible, we need to apply a similar kind of care to religious life identified as an ecological system. Then our acceptance of certain boundaries will be situated within the .context of health and vitality. Our authors in this issue talk in one: way or another about boundaries. Evangelical counsels, community life, and the enclo-sure associated with contemplative life are all boundaries--bound-aries connected with a furtherance of life. Aging, tog, is a boundary~difficult to face for active, service-oriented people--but aging is seen by faith as another stage in our growing in Christ. Yet doubts, even so, assail us: How can the restrictions of aging, a kind of final boundary of human life, be seen as a growing? The church observance of the Lenten and Easter seasons invites us always to contemplate the growth potential of all the boundaries of human life portrayed in Jesus' paschal mystery. Jesus makes even death no longer a limitation but a boundary that issues into life. We see that Jesus does not take away the boundary of death, but rather allows it--in daily actions and in our final human act--to become the key to our entering into his own paschal mystery, culminating in new and surprising life. Our desire to identify with this paschal mystery as a way of daily living leads us to view all boundaries through the perspective of the risen Jesus. Boundaries, it seems, bring home to us how much we find life as Easter people. David L. Fleming SJ Marcb-April 1996 MIRIAM D. UKERITIS Religious Life'.s Ongoing Renewal: Will Good Intentions Suffice? symposium part Since the publication of the FORUS study, several con-gregations have taken the time to assess their efforts at renewal and plan seriously for their futures.1 This article reviews some of these efforts and identifies areas that con-tinue to require attention. Background Thirty years ago the Decree on the Adaptation and Renewal of the Religious Life (Perfectae caritatis, 1965) urged a process of renewal that would include returning constantly both to the sources of all Christian life and to the original spirit of one's institute and 'also adapting to the changed conditions of our time (PC §2). The council fathers said that the manner of living, praying, and work-ing should everywhere--especially in mission territories-- be suitably adapted to the modern physical and psychological circumstances of the members and also, as required by the nature of each institute, to the necessi-ties of the apostolate and to cultural, social, and economic Miriam Ukeritis csJ collaborated with David Nygren CM in producing the study "The Future of Religious Orders in the United States" (FORUS). The current article is one of four preo ¯ sentations made at an October 1995 symposium, "Religious Life 30 Years Later: Is This What Vatican II Intended?" held at the Jesuit Center for Spiritual Growth in Wernersville, Pennsylvania. Correspondence with Miriam Ukeritis should be addressed: De Paul University;' Center for Applied Social Research; 2219 North Kenmore Avenue; Chicago, Illinois 60614. Review.[br Religious demands (§3). Considering the various interpretations of this mandate and the various implementations and results, there can be little wonder that this symposium commemorating Perfectae caritatis is subtitled, "Is This What Vatican II Intended?-2 This question of the council's intent was not a new one. Echoes of such wonderment were heard almost as soon as the period of experimentation began. Many books and articles have appeared, reflecting on the themes of renewing, reweaving, refounding, reclaiming, restructuring, reshaping, rekindling, reen-ergizing, and recreating religious life. Simultaneously, many signs of decline and diminishment have marked the landscape of reli-gious orders in the United States. As early as 1988, in an effort to address this issue, Lilly Endowment funded a three-year study to investigate these phenomena. The researchers, themselves mem-bers of religious orders and trained in the field of psychology, made public their findings in The Future of Religious Orders in the United States (FORUS) report. Almost immediately after its release in mid September 1992, headlines in the secular press proclaimed that "Catholic orders need dramatic change to survive" (New York Times 9/20/92), "Catholic orders shunning poor" (Chicago Tribune 9/16/92), "Roman Catholic orders in decline" (Washington Post 9/26/92), "Study sees Catholic orders losing their way" (Boston Globe 9/16/92), and "Religious orders dying out; hospitals, schools may suffer" (Sunday Denver Post 9/27/92). These reports roused both the interest and the ire of many. Some thought the study an accurate reflection of the state of religious life twenty-five years after Vatican Council II, while others saw it as an unnecessarily negative assessment of religious life's efforts at renewal. In light of the controversy surrounding the establish-ment of the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious only a few months before the publication of the FORUS findings, this sensitivity, particularly among apostolic women religious, is quite understandable. Too, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious had recently completed Threads for the Loom, its study of membership, some of whose results seemed to be contradicted by the FORUS findings.3 As serious scholars of religion and members-at-large of reli-gious orders pursued a more thorough reading of the results, and as others' reactions and interpretations began to appear in Catholic periodicals and internal newsletters, consensus emerged concerning the significance of the FORUS study.4 One of the most helpful ele- March-April 1996 Ukeritis ¯ Religious Life's Ongoing Renewal ments of the report was the summary chart, of factors shaping the future of religious life (Figure 1). This chart listed results of the study in a manner that provided agendas for many congregations, chapters, formation conferences, and planning endeavors. For that reason and because of its summary nature, this paper will refer to it in reflecting on how congregations have tried to integrate the research findings into their ongoing efforts at renewal. The diagram takes the form of a force field, a construct com-mon to social scientists. The center oval represents the current state while that on the far right depicts the desired future state. In this project it was defined as "Fidelity .to Purpose and Responsiveness to Absolute Human Need." "Restraining Forces" (left column of arrows) identifies factors which, if not inhibited, will keep a group or system in its current state or cause further decline. "Driving Forces" (right column of arrows) describes fac-tors which, if fostered/will support the movemeht of the group or system to its desired future. In this study the driving forces are portrayed as influenced by conversion, a process necessary'to respond consistently and faithfully to the Spirit of God. Co-opta-tion by the dehumanizing aspects of society permeates the restrain-ing forces. Moving toward the desired future is accomplished by attending to the driving forces and withdrawing energy from those that restrain. Unfortunately, groups tend to do the opposite, endeavoring to root out of what is undesirable and neglecting to put energy into what will take them in the desired direction. Figure 1: Shaping the Future of Religious Life in the U.S. Shaping the Future of Religious Life in the US ~ Driving Forces CONVERSION i-TExcellent Lea~ U ¯ [~ iAuthority ~ N ~ ~Corporate Idenlity T T T ~IThe GOSp~ ~ Review for Religious Overview Since the publication of the FORUS findings, the researchers have frequently been asked: Is there a future for religious life? Invariably they have responded, "Yes, definitely--if you want one and are willing to work for it!" Members of religious orders have devoted much time and effort to reading, attending conferences, and discussing the meaning of renewal. Too often their attention has been directed toward outside experts. Borrowing from the author of Deuteronomy, many act as if the answer were up in the sky or across the sea and others had to be sent to retrieve and interpret it (see Dt 30:12- 14). While consultation and input may be beneficial, the congregation must realize that ultimately the scriptural response applies here; the answer sought is "very near., already in your mouths and in your hearts; you have only to carry it out." It is here, in the imagining and implementing, that the difficulty occurs: As in many other change efforts--be it mastering a language or shedding pounds--good intentions are not enough. Effort is required. Neither Neither the FORUS study nor the presentation of any one of the scholars of religious life provides a quick and simple how-to response to renewal questions. the FORUS study nor the presentation of any one of the scholars of religious life provides a quick and simple how-to response to renewal questions. The finding and carrying out of the answer to the question of how to shape a congregation's future is as unique as the congregation and entails hard work.5 To get results, an action plan must be coupled with concerted and sustained implementation. The plan must take into account the current state of the congregation, the hopds and dreams of its members, the reality of its resources, the constraints and supports which the ~xternal environment brings to bear, and the needs of God's people. Openness to the work of the Spirit, through con-stant prayer, dialogue, and a continuous reading of the signs of the times, is critical. Evaluation and correctiori, during the process and at the conclusion,~will help keep all involved honest about their efforts and effective in the accomplishment of the group's mission. It is unfortunate that some perceive an honest assessment of a congregation's efforts toward renewal as an indictment of the March-April 1996 Uke~tis ¯ Religious Life's Ongoing Renewal work of previous leadership teams, chapters, or members-at-large. This is hardly so. With. the humble realization that the efforts of these often heroic women and men have brought a group to its current ability to be faithful to its purpose and to minister to God's people, it is only in a spirit of fidelity to the work begun by founders and foundresses, carried on through the decades by countless religious, and most recently updated by those who led initial efforts at renewal that any such critique is offered or may merit being initiated. As many have found, it is out of such love that a response of greater effort is often born. Review of Factors Among the ways that religious orders have used the findings of the FORUS study in their efforts at renewal, the most fre-quently cited areas have been "Individualism/Vocation" (in com-bination with "Role Clarity"), "Average/Excellent Leadership," and "Corporate Identity." The remainder of this reflection will consider these three areas one by one. After a brief discussion of the area, examples will be given of actions taken by some groups or congregations, and then some remaining questions will be examined. Individualism/Vocation Members of religious orders have not been alone in noting the negative consequences of exaggerated individualism. In the United States several commentaries have appeared lamenting what seemed to be an overemphasis on self and a loss of a sense of commu-nity. The work of Robert Bellah is probably the most familiar.6 Granted that a healthy sense of one's own personhood is a critical factor in one's development, it is no news that an overem-phasis on individual concerns can lead to a narcissistic self-absorp-tion. Admittedly, many of the practices and customs that marked religious life up to the time of the council could stifle the fragile sense of self that some brought their early training. Furthermore, for those who entered novitiates in late adolescence, when a per-son's developmental task is identity formation, the foreclosure of that process as they assumed the image of religious in their par-ticular institute left many aspects of these tasks incomplete and made the successful transition into mature adulthood difficult. Hence, the psychological climate in many groups tended to pro- Review for Religious duce individualism, with sentiments reflected in songs of the 1960s and 1970s such as "I Did It My Way" and "I Gotta Be Me." With the numbers of golden and diamond jubilarians far sur-passing the number of silver jubilarians in recent years, questions like "Why religious life?" and "What does it mean to be a reli-gious?" are increasingly relevant to a generation whose develop-mental task is now generativity. Hence, it is hardly surprising that the notion of "call"--particularly, "to or for what?"--is a frequent topic of conversation. (Patricia Wittberg SC reflects, in her writ-ing, on some of the elements involved in responding to a call or commitment, notably, sacrifice, common rituals and traditions, and a sense of boundaries.)7 These conversations may be fright-ening to some insofar as they seem to hark back to former prac-tices that long .ago lost their meaning. In times of transition, as the FORUS report noted, it can be particularly enticing to revert to old ways of being and doing. The challenge for religious today is to put creative energies into finding new ways:--and, in this case, identifying what the distinctive elements of the call to religious life are and how they are to be lived. One of these areas of energy is to be found in the realistic examination many congregations are conducting in the matter of associate programs. Involving laypersons in the congregation's spiritual or ministerial activities has a long history for many groups. Others have adopted it more recently as a means of wel-coming those who share in the charism of the group. Thanks to the work of RosemaryJeffries and others, there is increasing clar-ity as to how individuals who are members of associate commu-nities do and do not relate with vowed members of the congregation,s Appropriate boundaries, the meaning of mem-bership, and modes of belonging are increasingly common topics at formal convenings of religious and around the kitchen table. Such discussions serve to enhance an understanding of vocation in today's world. As a separate but related concern, the FORUS study cited role clarity as a significant issue for members of religious orders, par-ticularly women. There is abundant evidence that religious are struggling to address this. The energy displayed in this country as the Lineamenta document circulated before the 1994 Synod on Religious Life was striking. Intended or not, this event provided an excellent public forum for conversations concerning the role of religious. There can be no doubt tha't religious in the United ~qarcb-Aptql 1996 Ukeritis ¯ Religious Life's Ongo.ing Renewal States are directing their attention to self-definition rather than looking to outside bodies to provide the answer to the question "What does it mean to be a religious in the church today?" In general, it is encouraging to hear religious focused increas-ingly on the accomplishment of the mission of Jesus as expressed through their charism. While the funding of retirement contin-ues to be a concern in the face of dwindling material resources, the new energies that congregations have been devoting to ministries that address critical needs, to realistic ways of supporting new members, and to clarifying the meaning of membership are all signs of movement in the direction of a vital future.9 In reflecting on issues related to vocation, the meaning of membership in a community remains to be examined. Old ways of belonging (common ministry, common schedule, many restric-tions on external involvements) no longer seem functional, but what are the new ways to determine what being a member of a community means? The 1994 Synod .on Religious Life acknowl-edged that community does not necessarily involve the members' living together. Today, however, it is often easier to state what community is not than to describe what it is. Resistance encoun-tered in attempts to describe what it is may relate~to the reality that any definition will place demands or limits on those who choose to belong. The pull of individualism continues to be strong. There must be continuing efforts to grapple seriously with what vocation means to individuals and what its lived expres-sion should include. Undoubtedly, the lived expression of com-munity will take different forms in different groups. Average/Excellent Leadership Members of religious orders are not alone in expressing great interest in leadership and the development of leaders. Officers of major funding groups and administrators of sponsored institu-tions have, in conversations, voiced serious concern about the ability of religious to provide the leadership required to direct the efforts of religious organizations in an increasingly complex world. The absence of plans to address this concern, even after its identification, is even more alarming. Finally, the fact that the pool of religious from which to select and train leaders is dwin-dling adds to the urgency of this consideration. The search for opportunities for leadership training, based on a set of competencies demonstrated to be critical for religious Review for Rel(glous leadership, continues, Unfortunately but typically, this se~irch starts only after individuals or teams have already been selected for their position. Few congregations are at the point of developing a systematic means of providing their members with leadership training. This is complicated further by the fact that the cost of such programs may be or appear to be beyond the financial means of some congregations. One group reported dif-ficulty in finding a total of $1000 for three days of training for a five-member team. Yet, in the world of professional development, this sum is not an atypical cost for one individual to partic-ipate in a weekend program. Efforts to address seriously the leadership issues within congregations have taken many forms. One group devised a three-year series of four-day leadership-skills workshops. All mem-bers under a certain age were expected to par-ticipate in one cycle. The content of these sessions was basic, ranging from how to run a meeting to how to read a balance sheet. It included segments dealing with human-resource issues such as recruiting, hiring, supervising, and firing staff and managing volunteers as well. This not only provided busy people the opportunity to become acquainted with basics of leadership, but also assisted the congregation in identifying its members' var-ied gifts. It had the side effect of enabling participants to interact with one another in ways they might not otherwise experience and served as a means of encouraging some members who might be hesitant or reluctant to see themselves in positions of leader-ship to pursue additional education. Clearly, this congregation is providing for its own future leadership needs, for at some future time some members of this group will surely find themselves in positions of community leadership. The leadership group of another congregation instituted a mid-term evaluation of their ministry as leaders. Having developed at the beginning of their term a ministry plan for their four years in office, they conducted the evaluation at the end of their second year. Results of this effort provided information concerning where and how they might refocus their efforts, alter their strategy, or enhance communication on critical issues. It also gave them a sense of affirmation regarding work well done. Few congregations are at the point of developing a systematic means of providing their members with leadership training. March-April 1996 Ukeritis ¯ Religious Life's Ongoing Renewal Corporate identity provides an answer to the question "What is this group known for ?" The constant challenge, along with the gentle shift that is occurring with congregational leadership, manifests itself in the willingness of members to allow leaders to exercise their leader-ship skills. Given that many members are steeped, perhaps uncon-sciously, in a culture of individualism, it can be difficult to attend to the call of a leader or leadership group and to channel one's energy in a direction set by others, especially when it is not one that the member would choose. The good news is that capable leaders have learned much about the when and how of man-aging consensus. Paralysis resulting from rigid adherence to consensus processes is less fre-quent. Some of this is true because outstanding leaders have learned to listen to their members. They read the pulse of the community, under-stand what is said between the lines, and attend to the climate of the group. By doing this they are able to gauge thetiming of a program or intervention, frame it in a manner that enables members to receive it, and reframe it when resistance seems likely to thwart the outcome. The leader-ship of a large congregation encountered such resistance after announcing for the coming year a reflection process on the group's previously identified focus. The chapter's response was loud and clear: resistance, based on the complaint that the congregation's members had not been consulted before the announcement. Rather than insist on its prerogative to lead by setting the agenda for implementing congregational goals, the team responded by acknowledging the concern. In the face of time constraints and at the cost of additional effort willingly contributed by the team members, they amended the plan to include a consultation with the members. In the final analysis, the project ran almost exactly as initially presented--with the addition of the consultation step that ensured the success of the effort. The community experi-enced a year-long dialogue that resulted in deeper self-under-standing and greater commitment to the group's focus. It is not only within congregations that outstanding leaders exercise their ministry. Groups of leaders have joined together to influence not only the church and religious life but also soci-ety at large. One regional group has chosen to confront media use of negative stereotypes in portraying religious. They are deter- Review for Religious mined to educate local media personnel about the positive reali-ties of religious life. Calls by leadership for prayer and fasting are increasingly common and are taken seriously by members. A leadership team formally called its members to prayer and fasting on a set day each week as a means of discerning and seeking openness to the call of the Spirit regarding the future of their congregation. In terms of the questions remaining, the growing number and the growing complexity of contemporary needs appear to out-strip religious orders' ability to develop the leadership skills and organize themselves enough to address these needs. For some individuals, relinquishing both the satisfactions and the pains of direct apostolates in order to develop and use leadership skills to achieve systemic and organizational change may be the form of a new asceticism, For others, learning how to be effective board members of congregational and external institutions may be the way to exercise leadership. The critical issues outlined in the introduction to this section remain. They are summarized best in the question concerning the willingness and the ability of reli-gious congregations to provide leadership not only for themselves but also for the institutions they sponsor and the ministries in which they are involved. Corporate ldentity Of all the driving forces identified in the FORUS study, cor-porate identity was perhaps the most misunderstood. It does not imply a congregation's insistence on one type of ministry or one site at which all would live and work. Corporate identity is, rather, a common focus for the life of the ~roup. In a sense, corporate identity provides an answer to the question "What is this group known for?" Corporate. identity is not identical with charism, but flows" from charism. It is the manner in which a religious con-gregation, being faithful to its founding purpose, attempts to focus its many resources to respond to today's most pressing human needs. As avenues of ministry expanded after the council, it became increasingly common for members to be involved in any of the works in which a professional might be engaged. These ministe-rial moves--often in the form of entrepreneurial enterprises-- reflected the zeal of the members as they sought new ways to minister in today's world while simultaneously using both their March-April 1996 Ukeritis * Religious Life's Ongoing Rene~val innate gifts and the skills they had developed. At other times the forces of individualism moved members to pursue areas of inter-est regardless of the connection of their work with the congre-gation's mission. In both cases, this resulted in the dispersion of religious women and men. Religious came to be identified more and more as individual ministers, frequendy heroic in their efforts, frequently invisible as religious. The mutual relationship between the congregation and the individual member, particularly as related to the mission and ministry, was lost. Media reports that document the work of a religious priest, sister, or brother fre-quently fail to mention the member's congregation by name. Changes in the general population as regards violence, increased poverty, and widespread drug abuse--along with greater cultural diversity in the United States--have forced religious to rethink the locus and mode of their ministerial involvements. Increased complexity resulting from globalization and new tech-nologies has heightened the challenge. The overwhelming demand for new understandings and additional language skills, coupled with the shift in the ability of religious to respond .enthusiasti-cally with bodily presence to many of these situations, demands serious examination of how resources are used and immense cre-ativity in crafting responses. Many able leaders of congregations recognized their mem-bers' need for a focal point of congregational energies. Such a requirement is basic to the dynamics of any functioning group: all the more so for a group of individuals who have professed a life commitment in a religious congregation. In most cases these loci began as small endeavors. In some instances initial efforts seemed to fail, as in the case of one group's attempt to establish a shelter for adolescent girls. Examination of the situation and a willingness to admit shortcomings, learn from apparent .defeat, and directly address problem areas were critical in the. revitalization of that effort and its success today. A group with a long history of staffing private academies opted to replicate a successful project that another congregation had begun in the area. It took the form of a learning center for at-risk middle-school students in the inner city of a metropolitan area. The congregation took care to establish a focused sponsoring group as it missioned some members to initiate the work. This sponsoring group not only provided both the civic and religious communities with a sense of stability regarding the project, but Review for Religious also was a positive factor in securing funding and contributions from outside sources. For example, alumni/ae of other schools sponsored by the congregation (particularly schools that had been closed) found a type of kinship with the ministry. They were enthusiastic in their support of this new educational venture, which included a school, a pre- and after-school study center, summer camp experience, and a locus for parent education. In it they saw themselves forming a link with the next generation of those served by the very congregation that had given them an excellent education. As in the example described in the earlier FORUS report, sev-eral congregations--each one using a process that worked best for it--have selected an issue such as domestic violence, home-lessness, or ecological awareness as a focus for their corporate efforts. In such situations the members' activities range from let-ter writing to involving students or parishioners in direct-service projects. On a congregational scale, artists have pooled their tal-ents to create productions intended both to raise funds to sup-port the work and to raise consciousness about the issue. Members have encouraged their sponsored institutions to participate in walks to support the cause, again both to raise money and to make the public more aware of the issue. Congregations have pooled resources to provide salaries for state or regional advocacy. Once again, both direct action and efforts, at systemic change are crit-ical. As Amata Miller IHM noted in the video presentation that accompanied Threads for the Loom, one o~ the contributions that religious congregations can make is in their commitment to a geographic area. Few individuals are able to commit the twenty or more years required to make significant changes' in a neighbor-hood, but a religious congregation can make that commitment-- and ensure that change. For any group interested in addressing the question of cor-porate identity, several pitfalls remain. The. process requires, com-mitment from a core group. Obtaining a sense of the members--often in the face of great apathy--is key, for this pro-cess is aimed at group ownership of the. project. Congregations that have .experienced success in their efforts have' been willing to think small initially, to celebrate, the seemingly insignificant vic-tories, and to encourage their members to connect the focus with current ministerial efforts. In this process it will be a rare group that does not have members trying to define some issue so that it March-April 1996 Ukeritis ¯ Religious Life's Ongoing Renewal will encompass everything: ecology and AIDS and educational reform. No one would deny the significance of any of these issues. No one group, in this day, can focus simultaneously and effec-tively on all three. Corporate America provided us recently with this lesson when Anheuser-Busch and AT&T recognized publicly the need to define themselves more clearly in order to provide better service. In 1995 Busch announced its plans to divest itself of both the Eagle snack-foods division and its entertainment parks, and AT&T made public its plans to split into three companies, each focusing on a different service or product area. Admittedly, religious orders are not major for-profit corpo-rations. They do, however, stand to learn something from the world around them. Ultimately, of course, they must make sure that any such efforts of theirs are connected with the mission of Jesus, as expressed by the congregation and its charism. Without this spiritual connection, any such efforts would be a sort of fla-vor- of-the-month dilettantism. Conclusion As the reader may have noted, it is difficult to hold separate the three factors selected for review. Issues of individual mem-bership, and call (individualism/vocation), group identity (corpo-rate identity), and ways of enabling the group to accomplish its task (average/excellent leadership) do not exist in isolation from one another. Given the limits of human abilities, focus on one or another at a given time may be not only appropriate but necessary. Considering one area as the place to find "the answer," however, while ignoring the other areas of concern may lead. away from a successful resolution of a problem or to the ineffective imple-mentation of an intervention. As noted above, the hold of indi-vidualism may tend to block the best efforts of successful leaders. Ineffective leaders may not be able to make good use of a newly focused corporate identity. Clear corporate identity may enable individuals to determine the appropriateness of their member-ship in a given community. Unlike the Israelites who ultimately arrived at the Promised Land, it is not probable--and is very likely undesirable--that reli-gious life will attain the stability it seems to have experienced as late as the early 1960s.I° It is imperative, however, that members of religious orders address realistically the issues related to their Review for Religious viability and vitality)1 More than the ordinary members, religious who have been entrusted with greater responsibility for the charism of their congregation must strive to ensure that the gift given them for all of God's people is passed on. Admittedly, for some, this may entail suppression of an institute or evolution to some new form. Modeling death with dignity, in a Christian atmo-sphere of letting go, may prove to be a great lesson for a society inclined increasingly to resist surrender to the paschal-mystery cycle of life-death-resurrection. However, to fail to address the questions honesdy and work earnestly toward answers and imple-mentation might be a great infidelity to the ever present grace of God. To face all of this, We will need courage. We will need energy. We will need vision. We will need to be at ease with ourselves and our decisions. Above all, like the psalmist, we will need to keep our eyes fixed on the Lord, our God, until God lets us rest. And then we will know, as we have always known, that the effort was worth the gift of our lives, the best of our years, the length of our days.'z The title of this article reflecting on continuing efforts in the renewal of religious life 'contains the question "Will Good Intentions Suffice?" Hopefully, an answer key is not necessary to determine this author's response. Notes ~ See David Nygren CM and Miriam Ukeritis CSJ, The Future of Religious Orders in the United States: Tran~Cormation and Commitment (New York: Praeger, 1993). 2 The Jesuit Center for Spiritual Growth in Wernersville, Pennsylvania, with the cosponsorship of Review for Religious, hosted the 26-29 October 1995 symposium "Religious Life 30 Years Later: Is This What Vatican II Intended?" 3 Anne Munley IHM, Threads for the Loom: LCWR Planning and Ministry Studies (Silver Spring, Maryland: Leadership Conference of Women Religious, 1992). 4 For an executive summary of this project, see Review for Religious 52, no. 1 (January-February 1993): 6-55, or Origins 22, no. 15 (24 September 1992). See also n. 1 above. Marcb-Aptql 1996 Ukeritis ¯ Religious Life's Ongoing Renewal s While levels of energy and constraints of calendar are realities, a mantra-like refrain of "We're too tired!" or "We don't have time!" among members of religious orders would signal a host of issues more critical than age or schedules. 6 Bellah's works on this subject, each with several other authors, include Habits of the Heart (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985) and The Good Society (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1991). 7 Patricia Wittberg SC, Creating a Future for Religious Life: A Sociological Perspective (New York: Paulist Press, 1991). 8 "Results of the Survey on Associate Membership," Horizon 16, no. 2 (Winter 1991). 9 In the early 1980s, one external observer of the religious-forma-tion process likened the care given the few members who entered religious orders to the attention lavished on chicks of a nearly extinct species of birds. Resources were lavished on a few in the hope that they would sur-vive to adulthood. At times formation personnel felt as thpugh they were held hostage by both the candidates and the vowed members until they produced conditions that would get the candidates to make a life com-mitment. ,0 See Patricia Wittberg SC, The Rise and Fall of Catholic Religious Orders (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1994), for an his-torical perspective on this notion. ,1 In November 1994, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious convened a think tank on the viability of religious institutes. As reported in that month's LCWR Update, the group searched experience for lessons. After looking at examples of the merger or reconfiguration of religious institutes, the suppression of institutes to create a new congregation, and the decision of a congregation to die with grace, the group concluded that the key element in each case was leadership. In every instance the out-come was shaped by the kind of leadership that had been exercised. 12 Clare Dunn CSJ and Judy Lovchik CSJ. Playmates Winter and springtime playing leapfrog together in March, April, May, Dorothy Forman OSF Review for Religious THERESA MANCUSO The Urban Hermit: Monastic Life in the City Does urban monasticism work? What is an urban hermit? How and why live a solitary monastic lifestyle in the midst of the city? Who are these people? New forms and expressions of monastic life have occurred historically throughout the centuries in both Eastern and Western Christian tradition. They continue to evolve today in the new landscape of the modem world where the hermit's life--the monk in solitude--is not lim-ited to a rural setting, but has found its plake in the city. Monks and nuns in the twentieth and twenty-first cen-turies will be eremitical and cenobitical; they will live in communities and alone, in the country and in the. city. Monastic life has but one rule: the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The goal and purpose of the monas-tic way is union with God, the unification of the person, human salvation, enlightenment, and wisdomuin a word, happiness. Accordingly, monastic life in every time and place is a committed and consecrated endeavor to live faithfully by the precepts of Christ. The monastic voca-tion arises when and where it will in direct response to the call of grace. The urban hermit finds himself or her-self immersed in the spiritual treasures of monastic tra-dition, an integral expression here and now of that same tradition. Theresa Mancuso published "Reflection on the Solitary Life'-' in our September-October 1994 issue. She lives at 310 Beverly Road #4F; Brooklyn, New York 11218. seeking God March-April 1996 Mancuso ¯ The Urban Hermit Bede Griffiths, the charismatic, daring Benedictine who took his monastic vocation to India and back, wrote in The Marriage of East and l/Vest that: ¯. whatever the fate of this present world, the real need is to find a way of life which is able to survive all such disas-ters. In the Roman Empire it was monastic life which saved the world . . . monks who fled to the deserts of Egypt, Palestine and Mesopotamia founded a way of life based on prayer and work in conditions of the utmost poverty and simplicity and alone survived the collapse of the Roman Empire . . . [their] teaching and example led to the foun-dation of monasteries all over Eur6pe, in which the basis of a new civilization could be found. Today. there has been a revival of monastic life all over the world., centers of ferment which [may] gradually trans-form society and make possible a new civilization. The world of Bede Griffiths appears, perhaps, far removed from the noisy metropolis of New York, Chicago, Washington, Paris, Ba'rcelona, or Hong Kong. Nevertheless, the same ageless truths of which Bede spoke are the Gospel imperatives that call monastic life into being--new forms and old, today like yesterday. That which impelled Bede Griffiths to live his own monastic life a world away in the Hindu ashram is the same impetus that has given rise to solitary monastic ventures in the heart of the city. There is no geography, no time or place, in which monasticism cannot thrive and contemplative life grow. Prayer, work, poverty, and simplicity are the bedrock of a monastic heart. Alone as solitary or hermit or in the midst of community, the monk's path (monk meaning male and female) is to be immersed in God, preoccupied with the Gospel of Christ, living its life, breathing its breath, soaked in the perennial abso-lutes about which there is no ~luestion, no geography, no barrier of age, time, place, culture, or condition. In days of old, the desert was a city, according to D.J. Chitty in his classic work about early monasticism, The Desert a City. Today, perhaps, we can say it another way: the city a desert. What is this desert, then, so fundamental to the monk's life? Desert is wasteland, wilderness, barren solitude, profound silence. Desert is seclusion where the monk searches in prayer and penance, self-emptying (kenosis), th(deliberate renunciation of selfish desires, striving for inner emptiness, awaiting the hour of God's time (kairos), the manifestation of divine grace. Review for Religious The urban hermit is a kind of monk among many. Like monks everywhere, the urban hermit is consecrated to God by vows, sacred promises public or private, temporary or perpetual, worded traditionally--poverty, chastity, obedience, stability--or stated in creative new expressions. The meaning is the same. The monk is one, consecrated, offered, surrendered in complete dedication to God, steadfast in love, permeated with an all-encompassing charity that defines the heart of the monk as lover of God, com-passionate toward all God's creatures. Love sustains the lifestyle of the monastic vocation. Monasticism is a life of union and unity, communion and com-munity, silence and solitude, depth and diver-sity. Love is the call; love, the vocation; love, the path, the way, the meaning, and the reward. God, not a human inventor, makes monks. And this God does when and where he pleases. With the entire focus of the heart fixed on God, the monastic way may weave a strange thread indeed, not perhaps the dream one had in first embarking on the monastic journey. As life unfolds, so does the call of God. Consecration, dedication, immer-sion in Christ--these are what remains. All the rest is incidental. Accordingly, as the grace of God unfolds in pers.onal human history, the fine tuning of a monastic vocation eventually comes to fit the individual. In other words, who and what we are from the hand of God and our mother's womb finally dictates who and what we must become. The mystery of sanctification is some-times conditioned by transition, but it is always and everywhere in God's hands. To be consecrated means to live in the presence of God, to be centered in him, devoted to him, belonging to him, regardless of the conditions of life which are--after all--only the environment, not the essence of the monastic vocation. It is not surprising, then, or at least it should not be, that we have come to find monks and nuns living alone in the city, years and miles from where their monastic journey began. This, too, is caught up in the mystery of salvation. The beautiful Rule of Life created nearly twenty years ago by Father Pierre-Marie Delfieux for the Jerusalem Community-- monks of the city--says: ". You can live in God's heart at the heart of the city because it is his dwelling place. Be monk and nun in the very heart of the city of God" (No. 128). This is true What is this desert so fundamental to the monk's life? Marcb-dp~ql 1996 Mancuso ¯ The Urban Hermit of individuals as well as communities. Lacking financial endow-ment that might create the illusion of security, safety, and afford complete separation from the world, the urban hermit must go out every single day into the hustle and busde of the city just to make a living. And this is exactly as it should be. To be "monk and nun in the very heart of the city of God" is to work in the midst of humanity, to suffer the problems and dif-ficulties of the job, the discipline of tasks that await one at the workplace. It is not a distraction to work in the real world. It is, rather, a call to the most generous and absolute imperative: to center one's heart by turning inward at the same time as one must turn outward in labor. There is no duality in this process; it is an act of unification, part and parcel of monastic experience. Laborare et orate. The work of balancing internal contemplative life with exter-nal work in the center of the city requires a kind of persever-ance. In the beginning, it may seem impossible to remain contemplative in the busy atmosphere of city life. But, no, it is not impossible. The heart cries out to God, "Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner," and learns, bit by bit, to pray easily in the midst of all the noisy activity and wild frenzy of the city. Over time, the monk in the world realizes the deep-est center to be one's own impenetrable fortress of joy, faith, Spirit, and Life. Later in his Rule, Father Pierre-Marie says: "What the early monks set out to seek yesterday in the desert, you will find today in the city. All monastic life is a fight and urban monasticism calls for fighters. Followers of Christ, the Beatitudes summon you to a life of real struggle in the heart of the city" (No. 129). There is no protection but God's for the urban hermit who lives and dwells in the real world, as stark and naked a reality as ever there was in the heart of the desert. Like the Desert Fathers and Mothers, the urban hermit knows the isolation and threat of the wilderness, the roar of beasts and the temptation of the heart. To find peace in the city is to walk with God in the deepest center of one's being. " The Monastic Typicon ofNeTv Skete (1980) says this about work: "Throughout history, our fathers and brethren in monastic life have taught that work is not only required to sustain oneself, but that it is equally important as a means of self-discipline and as an adiunct to prayer and worship and individual total growth. Review for Religious Work, therefore,ds part and parcel of our life, first of all, because it;is essential to monastic life in general" (Nos. 71 and 72). The urban hermit, bound by the same need to work that char-acterizes all persons, is fortunate if livelihood can be obtained working at home within the poustinia, but this is not always the case. In fact, it is rarely possible. The monk in the world must learn to accommodate to working conditions in the professions or elsewhere, whether the work~is manual or intellectual. Work joins the monk to all people of all time and place. "With the sweat of your brow shall you earn your bread" (Gn 3:19). Over time, work itself becomes sweet to the monk, for it is but another expres-sion of the inner song of the heart: "Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." It has been said that it is not the habit that makes the monk. Nor is it the work. What is essential in mdnastic spirituality is that work and every other dimension of life be characterized by the interior spirit of recollection, purity of intention, and single-mindedness. Work is a sanctifying process, it is not a distraction. By reaching down deeper and deeper into the pool of faith in order to carry out one's work properly, the work and the worker will be immersed and bathed in the light of divine presence. Thus the monk in the marketplace is at home in God's world. In Contemplation in a World of Action, Thomas Merton wrote decades ago, perhaps the prelude for today's monk in the world: "Do we really choose between the world and Christ as between two conflicting realities absolutely opposed? Or do we choose Christ by choosing the world as it really is in Him, that is to say, created and redeemed by him? Do we really renounce ourselves and the world in order to find Christ, or do we renounce our alienated and false selves in order to choose our own deepest truth in choosing both the world and Christ at the same time?" The urban hermit, immersed now in solitude, now in actual labor outside the hermitage, seeks to integrate the contemplative life of the poustinia with the, marketplace where a living is earned. Renunciation of the false self and transcendence over the spirit of the world through the practice of interior recollection and con-templative prayer purify the heart and transform the effort to do one's best into the peaceful harmony that defines right livelihood. The monk is called by God to live alone in him--monos-- monacbos--one--single--alone. In community or in the hermitage wherever it may be, the monk strives to be of single .'focus. In the March-Apt41 1996 Mancuso ¯ The Urban Hermit marketplace the monk is living witness to the holiness of work, the goodness of the world, and the salvation of the earth by the mercy of God. As humility should characterize the soul of a monk, so, too, simplicity, charity, gentleness, tenderness, compassion will exemplify the detachment of heart that frees the religious hermit and enables the monk to live in the world without becoming worldly. The urban hermit strives to renounce that which is worldly (self-centered, egotistical, arrogant, profit-seeking, and decep-tive), to cast out and obliterate those attitudes of mind that block communion with God and harmony with one's fellow creatures on this fragile planet. The pure heart of God's solitary learns to return to the world as often as necessary, not as an adventurer seeking new pleasures or material power, but as one crucified in Christ, transfigured ,by Christ, restored to innocence and holi-ness of life. The soul of the monk, one would hope, gradually becomes transparent, clean, empty, full and brimming over with the joy that comes only from God. The Monastic Typicon of New Skete states that: "Prayer and worship are the major concerns of monastic life. Through the liturgical celebrations [monks] participate in the mysteries of the life and death of Christ, thus moving toward the universal reali-ties of resurrection and transfiguration" (No. 60). The urban her-mit, in communion with monks and nuns of every time and place, lives in the. paschal mystery of the Lord by entering into liturgi-cal celebrations, whether the Liturgy of the Hours or the Eucharist. The "divine office" marks the hours of the day, spiraling the soul in and out of psalmody, uplifting, descending, flying to God, returning to earth. The urban hermit, at work in the marketplace of the world, simply does not have the luxury of stopping to chant the Third Hour, the Sixth Hour, or the Ninth Hour of the day. Nevertheless, interior prayer should never cease, but accompany all our actions, those of labor and social intercourse, as well as the times and places when we are free to enter most deeply into the prayer of the church. Urban hermits try to celebrate as many hours of the "divine office" as are possible in the demands of every day, for life in the world requires the monk to be present to its concerns without losing the focus of vocation. Prime. Lauds. Matins. Vespers. Compline. At least pa~'t of the regular Hours m'ust be celebrated Review for Religio1~s alone or in the parish church if possible. Sometimes the urban hermit may join a religious community for the observance of litur-gical prayer. The wisdom of the desert is today the wisdom of the city-- that is, the city of God. It would be foolishness to overburden one-self by attempting to work a required 35 6r 40 hour week outside the hermitage and expect to be able to complete all the Liturgy of the Hours. Certainly, God does not require the impossible. The rule of faith is simple: Do what is possible. Do what you can. But do everything you can as best you can, with your whole heart, your whole soul, and your whole being. Concentrate the very fiber of your existence on that which is given to God without neglect-ing that which is given to people. What is the difference anyway between the basket-weaving monk in the wilderness of Egypt who goes down to sell wares at the marketplace from time to time and the computer-opera-tor monk in the center of Manhattan who commutes to Brooklyn or Queens by subway after work? It is the spirit, the heart of the monk---interior substance--that matters. That which defines the monastic vocation is singleness of focus. Prayer that is intimate and ongoing moment by moment, hour by hour, cements our union with God and prompts the conversion of our hearts over and over again, making holy not only our poor, fragile lives, but everything we touch and everyone we love. The monk is leaven in the marketplace and remains so by cherishing and using advantageously the secret silenc~e and deep seclusion of the hermitage, even when many hours must be spent outside. The Liturgy of the Hours is first and finally the greatest cel-ebration of the heart and the center of monastic life. It is the joy of Christians and the soul of monasticism. To chant the "divine office" is to enter again and again into the ageless mystery of Christ. Season by season, liturgical texts teach the heart, renew the spirit, and join humanity to God in the person of Christ, the only lover of humanity. Simplicity, charity, gentleness, tenderness, compassion will exemplify the detachment of heart that frees the religious hermit and enables the monk to live in the world without becoming worldly. MarclJ-Aptql 1996 Mancuso ¯ The Urban Hermit The monk at large may celebrate the Liturgy of the Hours in a monastery church with a community of brother or sister monks or in the parish church anywhere in the city or countryside of his or her abode. It does not matter. At the heart of the liturgy is found the whole meaning of the monastic vocation: to die and rise with Christ in fulfillment of the Father's will for the redemp-tion of the world. The Eucharist is the food of monastic life, its sustenance and joy. To find a monk who does not deeply love the liturgy is to find a sorry sort of monk. Therefore, time and energy must be made available to participate properly in the celebration, of the Eucharist. This is the heart and center of the monastic life. As practiced by Pachomius and the monks of Eastern Christendom, the Eucharist was celebrated weekly, not daily, though it remains the privilege and practice in the Latin rite to celebrate Eucharist daily. The liturgical chants that surround the Eucharist provide spiritual nourishment and food for contemplation. The urban hermit goes forth from the church after participation in the liturgy, and carries back to the city and back to the hidden place of his or her own poustinia the wealth of Scripture that echoes in the prayers of the Eucharist. Be it a tiny .apartment in a busy housing complex or a huge industrial or professional workplace, the chants and meaning of the Liturgy of the Hours and the Eucharist remain with the urban hermit all day, eveory day, feed-ing heart and mind with those things which endure, the living breath of contemplative life. Finally, the urban hermit learns to safeguard religious seclu-sion and solitude which provide the depth of silence and cen-teredness that is indispensable to the monastic way. The integrity of monastic life and the monk's personal steadfastness in this voca-tion arise from that wellspring of silence and solitude that ripened by seclusion. Nevertheless, the monk in the city must never become a self-preoccupied hermit whose reclusive tendencies spring from self-deception as if the world were a contagion to be avoided at all cost. A balance of solitude is derived from a healthy view of reality. The opposite is unsound. To live in the midst of the world as an urban hermit is not to sacrifice or minimize the essential quality of seclusion and solitude necessary for ctntemplative prayer. Urban hermits are usually not reclusive. To go inward for the sake of contemplation is a dis- Review for Refigious cipline of the heart, not an act of walls and fences. Monks in the world must come and go; while cherishing and protecting the inner sanctuary of monastic seclusion that is an essential element of the hermit's life. They accomplish this by setting and main-taining proper boundaries. Hospitality and social needs are part of reality--essential for psychological and spiritual balance, no more, no less. They, too, like everything else, must be harmonized with reality in the vocation of the city monk. All the more must the urban hermit learn to bal-ance seclusion and secular involvement, for, being alone, he or she needs to understand what constitutes a necessary monastic enclo-sure in the world and what constitutes run-ning away. Extremes can best be avoided by studying the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Lord went apart to pray; he rested in the desert and returned to the city. So, too, the monk in the marketplace needs separation from the world. If monks today are to be the salt of society, "the monastery" must be accessible to all, so that they (those in the world who come into contact with monastic life) "may savor its life, its worship, and its message" (Monastic Typicon of New Skete, No. 28). The monk who goes forth from the silent sanctuary of a quiet hidden hermitage in the midst of the city to work and walk among the people of the world does so from necessity and generosity to let the world taste and savor the consecrated life, what it is and what it means, inviting the world to share in the worship and message of the monastic vocation. We must not hide from life, but embrace it, immersing every aspect of it into the mystery of Christ as we ourselves plunge our entire existence into the paschal real-ity, first at baptism, then throughout the day~ of our vocation. It is thus that all is transfigured b,y the grace of God and the entire cosmos shares in the transfiguration of Christ. For the urban hermit, this harmonious integration of all things is at the center of the monastic vocation. But tha~ is exacdy as it has always been for monastic life today and throughout its history--the still point in the turning world, where God and humanity meet and the spark of wisdom is given to illuminate the earth. To find a monk who does not deeply love the liturgy is to find a sorry sort of monk. Marcb-Aptql 1996 Mancuso ¯ The Urban Hermit I like to think Bede Griffiths or Thomas Merton, or indeed any of the great monks and nuns who are our spiritual forebears, might share a day or week in the life of an urban monk and find themselves altogether quite comfortable. They would recognize the rhythm of prayer, silence, solitude, work, hospitality, study, lec-tio divina, and liturgy. Those great followers of St. Anthony, father of Egyptian monasticism, or those who walk with St. Benedict, who codified monastic life--and all the others in between--should recognize in the urban hermit, monk in the world, the same hunger for God that led them in their own spiritual journeys. They would know the path, for it is one: forsaking all, embracing all, a voyage of the heart through dark and desolate places, remote and wild, desert and city, places where the monastic vocation thrives and God meets humanity in a singular embrace of love. References Chitty, D.J. The Desert a City. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1961. Griffiths, Bede. The Marriage of East and West. Springfield, Illinois: Templegate Publishers, 1982. Merton, Thomas. Contemplation in a World of Action. New York: Doubleday, 1971. At Hand but Unattended I spend my foolish life in search of marvels, of wonders to delight and startle me. The ordinary could not hold my interest, my soul each da. y demanded mystery.~ I envied those who lived when. Christ was preaching, who saw him work his wonders with a word. What drama to have seen a blind man sighted, the lepers cleansed, the deaf when first they heard. But, oh, how stupid I with all my longing, my searching for a miracle to see. I let my days go by, not ever grasping my miracle was God creating me. James F. Finley Review for Religious MARIE BEHA Enclosed in the Mystery of Jesus My " stery is a reality which we must explore from within, .a. ¯ .~. enter into, and live with. In contrast, a problem is some-thing we must externalize, be objective about, and solve. We pre-fer the latter, delighting in the challenge, the sense of mastery and control which it gives us. So we relish a "mystery" story just because it presents us with a whole set of "problems" to be solved. And we resist the mysteries in our lives even though we are fas-cinated by the breadth and depth of the big questions like "Where do we come from?" and "What is life?" Religious who freely choose to live enclosed lives present problems for many, even for many Catholics, just because they are so mysterious. Why would persons choose to confine them-selves within a drastically limited geographic space, associating, for the most part, with the same few people for the rest of their lives? It sounds as dismal as life-in-prison. But this is to make the mis-take of seeing enclosure in a problematic context. It is to bang our fists demanding an answer that satisfies us. It als0 misses the invitation to explore a mystery. Unfortunately, not much has been written on enclosure, and much of what has been done approaches it from its more prob-lematic side, presenting its canonical aspects, pointing out its rea-sonableness, or seeking to justify its continuance. Valid, certainly, since enclosure, like other incarnational realities, has external shape and form. Far more importantly, it also has a heart of mys-tery that invites exploration. Two contemporary efforts present the basic meaning of enclo-sure, inviting the reader to explore the reality to appreciate its Marie Beha OSC may be addressed at 1916 N. Pleasantburg Drive; Greenville, South Carolina 29609. March-April 1996 Beha * Enclosed in the Mystery of Jerus mystery. The first of these interpretations has been articulated by Sister Chiara Lainati in an article in Forma Sororum (vol. 4/5 [1983]: 200-203) where she describes it as a "particular way in the church of living out the paschal mystery . . . the emptying out of Christ on the cross" (p. 201). The second is that of Father Herbert Schneider:, who in his Commentary on the General Constitutions (private!y publ!shed, 1992, pp. 14-15), p[esents enclo-sure as "the place of decision to remain with the Lord" related to the statement of the Lord, "Remain in my love" (Jn 15:4). Each of our interpreters has the credentials to present this mystery of enclosure. Sister Chiara Lainati is a Poor Clare nun, a member of the protomonastery in Assisi, where she has served as abbess while continuing to do writing and research on topics related to the Poor Clare way of life. Presently she is the abbess of the small group of Clares pioneering a new contemplative foun-dation in the Vatican. Father Herbert Schneider has been provin-cial of the Franciscan province of Cologne and spiritual assistant of the Federation of German-speaking Poor Clares. At present he is in Rome as the delegate general to all communities who claim affiliation with the Franciscan Order, including the Poor Clares, In this office he has visited monasteries all over the world, presenting workshops as well as attending chapters of Poor Clare federations. Although papal enclosure directly involves only a few Christians, the reality which it symbolizes is a staple of Christian living. Each of us in our own style of life needs to incorporate such values as stability, participating in the paschal mystery, and remaining in Christ. To do this we have to accept many kinds of limits, including geographic ones. Enclosed in the Paschal Mystery Sister Chiara Lainati's "Enclosure: Characteristic Way for Clare to Express the Paschal Mystery" begins by rejecting the more traditional interpretations of enclosure as a "means" of pro-tecting chastity or of promoting the life of contemplation. In cri-tiquing the latter she points out that today there are other more suitable means, such as courses on prayer or the word of God. In her view, enclosure, like the other vows, is a way of entering more deeply into the self-emptying of Jesus. Just as poverty is described traditionally as a renunciation of material possessions, chastity as; Review for Religio us renunciation of sexual intimacy, marriage, and family, and obedi-ence as renunciation of one'~ self-will and determination, enclo-sure "limits a person in space, impoverishes her in her possibilities of action and of spatial liberty." This points out the "underside" of all the vows; they all include a saying "no" to some important human values, but only for the sake of a saying "yes" to some-thing else. "In this perspective enclosure has value in itself, as an opening of oneself to grace, just as Christ, alone on the mountain, was open to the contemplation of the Father" (p. 14). Sister Chiara treats of the origins of Clare's profession of enclosure. She believes that it originated during her brief stay at Sant' Angelo di Panzo, after she had left the Benedictine Monastery of San Paolo and before Francis took her to San Damiano, which was to become her true home. According to Sister Chiara, the group at Sant' Angelo was a community of recluses and penitents from whom Clare took "the completely new and revolutionary idea of a bond of deeper union in that kenosis of Christ which is his solitude of death on the cross" (p. ,1'5). Parenthetically Sister Chiara mentions that enclosure was not forced upon IZlare but was' her own free choice; there were other options even in her own .day. Witness the Beguine movement in which groups of pious women lived in common and practiced the corporal works of mercy. Clare could have chosen a similar form of active ministry, but she seems to have felt called to a lifestyle that included the discipline of enclosure. The question, then, is not whether Clare was enclosed, but the why and the bow of her choice. Both, according to Sister Chiara, evolved as expressions of the mystery of the kenosis of Jesus. Over and over again, Clare emphasizes the importance of "keeping one's eyes fixed on Jesus" (Heb 3:1). Specifically she urges Agnes of Prague to look in the mirror that is Jesus and to see reflected there the Infant Christ and the Crucified One: Look at the border of this mirror, that is; the poverty of him who was placed in a manger and wrapped in swaddling clothes. Then at the surface of the mirror, consider the holy humility, the blessed poverty, the untold labors and bur-dens that he endured for the redemption of the whole human race. Then in the depth of this same mirror, con-template the ineffable charity that led him to suffer on the " wood of the cross and to die there the most shameful kind of death. March-April 1996 Beba * Enclosed in the Mystery of Jesus Let us respond with one voice, with one spirit, to him crying and grieving who said: Remembering this over and over leaves my soul downcast within me (IV LAg. 19:22- 26). Looking at Jesus Crucified was not idle speculation for Clare, nor just an exercise in contemplative piety. For her, seeing involved not only believing but also living out of that belief. It meant imitation, a putting on the Lord Jesus that brought about a profound interior change. It was participation in the mystery of Jesus. As Clare looked at Jesus, what she saw was not only his bod-ily suffering but at a deeper level the. self-emptying that was sur-render to the Father's will. It was the same self-emptying that marked the incarnation ("He emptied himself, taking the form' of a servant" Ph 2:7), continued all through his active ministry ("My food is to do the will of the one who sent me" Jn 4:34), and culminated in that last triumphant cry, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit" (Lk 23:46). What does it mean to empty oneself?. At first glance this seems a contradiction. To let go of externals, persons, or things, is theoretically possible, though dif-ficult, but to empty self of self?. How can that be? It sounds, at best, like looking for a way to lift oneself by oneself. Where could one stand, take hold of oneself, to initiate the process? Mystery again. First of all is the mystery of what we mean by self. And if that were not enough, there is the still greater mystery of the process itself. Self, as well as self-emptying, like all mysteries, can only be discovered from inside ourselves. Each of us already has some experience of what we mean by se/fwhen we say, "I am not my best self .today," or affirm, "Yes, that is true of me. That is the way I am." In each instance we have some core experience to which we turn, the bedrock of our personal identity. We recognize ourselves even when we cannot give anything like an adequate description of who we are. This is so because the self that I am is a very sim-ple concept, one that cannot easily be broken down. There is no simple recipe that will blend the right ingredients into a whole we can identify as myself Adding up qualities never sums identity. We can only work toward self-knowledge within the revelatory context of our everyday-lives. This process of self-discovery is initiated with the beginnings of consciousness and continues till death. It is dynamic, a lesson Review for Religious never completely learned but essentially ongoing. Initially the focus is on relating self to an external world, distinguishing myself from other realities. So the baby discovers: I am separate from the surrounding bed, different from mother. How separate? How different? The former distinction will be discovered quite easily; the latter may never be completely accomplished! But this is only negative knowledge: I am not .Ahead lies the whole range of positive identification: "I am .". Others hold up a mirror of how they see us and we begin to discover ourselves in that reflection. I am. baby. I am. good baby., sometimes! Fortunate the individual whose first feedback from others is real-istic and basically positive. Inevitably some of it will be neither. Others may identify us with their problems, ignore us, threaten us, deny us, abuse us. Initially we are almost completely dependent on these impressions received from others; that is why these are so formative. Most of the rest of our lives, we will experience some flashback of these first experiences of who we are. As time goes on, we begin to accumulate a growing memory bank of others' perceptions and of our own self-reflection; together these become the core of our identity We learn how we relate and are related to others, what we can and cannot do, and why we choose or refuse as we do. We come to describe ourselves in such obvious ways as age, sex, size, and shape but much more significandy as smart or stupid, as lovable or unlovable, as good enough or not good enough. Over time these labels take on the reality of personal identity; true or false, they are who we think we are and so tend to become self-fulfilling prophecy. Still, this self-concept that forms me is not written in stone; rather it is as fluid as the flow of time and changing life circum-stances. I can and do become a different person, changing in ways that are more or less profound. Acquaintances who say "I hardly recognize you" may be noting only superficial characteristics. Others who know us better remind us, in the face of surprising changes in the externals of our lives, "I always thought you might. ," under-lining the continuity that is our basic identity. So where does self-emptying come into the picture? What could it mean? On one level it can mean that openness to change which allows us to grow and develop. Unless we are willing to let go of some of our past and present identity, our self-concept remains the same. Detachment is needed if we are to move away from previous self-definition. So change, even freely chosen and Marcb-~lplql 1996 Beba ¯ Enclosed in tbe Mystery of yesus The more significant the change the greater the threat, but conversion never comes without a price tag. desired change, can be painful. It poses risks; our self will never be the same, and We have grown accustomed to its face. The more significant the change the greater the threat, but conversion never comes without a price tag. Yet this is not the fullest meaning of self-emptying. Change is self-improvement or self-destruction, depending on its direc-tion, but self is still very much in the picture. We want it to be; this is how our functional self will grow. Even when we make a destructive choice, we do so under the delusion that this is somehow to our imme-diate advantage, mistakenly opting for imme-diate gratification rather than wait for the slower-appearing benefits of disciplined effort. As our functional self becomes more clearly delineated, we find ourselves growing in per-sonal security. Faithful response to the chal-lenge of ongoing conversion prepares us for another level of letting go; we begin to be capa-ble of self-forgetfulness. The focus shifts from me at the center of the world to a broader view that is increasingly other-centered. The inse-cure .adolescent (of whatever age) grows into the generous adult capable of entering the world of the other with fewer repeated nervous glances back to "how am I doing?" Who of us has not admired individuals mature enough to hold in creative tension the concerns of self with those of oth-ers. Secure in their self-identity, they are not so preoccupied with their own needs that they cannot even see those of others. Nor are they so involved in meeting the neediness of others that the self is at risk of'being destroyed in the process. The latter is only a dis-gnised form of self-gratification that threatens dual destruction. The maturity that makes self-forgetfulness possible opens the self to the world of others, allowing for a truly personal rela-tionship, a dialogue of love. The bonding of parent and child, of a long-married couple, of friends, all exemplify letting go of self for the sake of being with, being for, another. In these experi-ences we begin to discover the paradox that in losing ourselves we find ourselves. We become more ourselves because of the other, and we are grateful. These loving relationships that are first lessons in self-for-getfulness can begin at any age level; they continue for life and are Review for Religious always maturing. But they are not self-emptying. In self-forget-fulness there is still a self, with the focus shifting back and forth between self,and others. We are ourselves and we identify our-selves in loving the others, as loving the other. Self-emptying goes deeper still. Preliminary to it is our will-ingness to allow it to happen. "Let this attitude be in you which was also in Christ Jesus" (Ph 2:5). The self needs to accept self-emp-tying, such is the exquisite courtesy of God who always waits on the consent of our freedom. Still, the initiative is God's inviting us, gradually readying us, then asking us if we are ready. Our hearts must answer, not just our heads. The question: Where is your trea-sure; what do you really want? If our wholehearted response is: God, first of all, more than all, most of all, then the center of self changes. We are no longer just ourselves; our life "is hidden now with Christ, in God" (Col 3:3). This is where "we live and move and have our being" (Ac 17:28), and "I live now, not I . " (Ga 2:20). What was formerly said as pious slogan, then desired more or less seriously, now begins to be realized in our "mortal flesh." This is first experienced with the same sense of awkwardness that accompanies other beginnings. More than just strange, the loss of self is painful. Where is the I? What is happening? Even to ask these questions is to focus back on self. We might expect such a return to normal self-reflectiveness to feel familiar; it may not, and this will be even more disturbing. Who am I and who am I becoming? These questions may be natural enough, but they are no longer important or even relevant. We have to let them go, never mind the risk. This shift from I to the Other of God is as gradual as all other growth. For' a period of time, more or less prolonged, the self is sometimes operative and sometimes gone. We lose ourselves and then recover ourselves. Sometimes our activity will seem self-directed, self-reflective; at other times our focus will move to a self-forgetfulness that allows for a going beyond self. In all of this, though, we are free to say "yes" or "no." We cannot make it happen; that is beyond us. What is ours to do is to accept the divine action or refuse it. The latter occurs when we become afraid, clinging nervously to self; when we yield to the pseudosecurity of self-directed activity; when we try looking back over our shoulder to see ourselves. All of these are perfectly nat-ural, not supernatural; nor do they represent the level on which we are being invited to live. March-April 1996 Beha * Enclosed in the Mystery of yesus The simple truth is that we are no longer our own. We belong to another. "We are God's people, the sheep of God's flock" (Ps 100:3). It sounds fine in general! However, in all the particular-ity of our own experience it presents the most intriguing of mys-teries. Only through generous participation will we be able to share the new life being offered to us. While it is certainly true that we are experiencing a loss of self, it is even truer that we have never been more ourselves. This is who we really are: a creature, created in God's image, redeemed, sanctified and enabled to live divinely./~ are in Christ Jesus. Our truest self exists, lives, only in God, our beginning and our end. This is the self we are called to be "now and forever and forever." How does enclosure further this process of self-emptying? Sister Chiara Lainati states this without developing specifics. I believe the answer lies in the way that enclosure loosens the hold of the functional self and at the same time makes more possible a kind of primary centering on the other that is God. At- least that is its potential; like all of the other vows, enclosure provides an opportunity but does not automatically accomplish what it offers. Let us begin with the loosening of the grip of the functional self. Enclosure clearly limits personal geography so that we become very familiar with our surroundings; we are freer, then, to let go of our self-regarding, cautionary self without endangering life or limb. Contrast this with the degree of anxious concern that marks our traveling into strange space. In the same way, customary rela-tionships with familiar persons relax the ego's grip. We are freed from such self-regarding questions as: Who are we in this new relationship? How are we affected by it? Those are always self-regarding questions. At home and relaxed, we can be ourselves, forget ourselves, and be readied to go beyond ourselves. Similarly, within enclosure, simple, familiar work frees from those compet-itive, complex work situations that underline self-achievement, self-accomplishment, and the building up of the functional self. Put in a more positive way, by limiting one's field of vision, enclosure intensifies the seeing. Like a spotlight, it centers atten-tion on Another. This is illustrated by the inscription over many medieval monastery gates, "God alone," that was both a warning and a promise. Nothing else would be found within; self-seeking would find itself either badly malnourished, trying to satisfy itself on meager rations or starving to death; that was the warning. The promise: Beyond the self God was waiting. Review for Religious But only if the asceticism of an enclosed life was accepted graciously and lived faithfully. Included in the discipline: fidelity to the limits of physical geography, to intracommunity relation-ships and noncompetitive work. But none ,of these can be inter-preted in too materialistic a way. It is the heart that matters, the spirit that must be set free. Limited physical geography can imprison, circumscribed relationships can shrink one's world, and simple work can leave the mind dangerously idle. All such prac-tices can also become self-congratulatory, just as fasting can feed the ego. Each individual must discover for herself and then incorpo-rate into life the particular practices that will allow her to go deeper into the paschal mystery of Jesus. For example: Curiosity may need to be controlled though its object is legitimate; reading, even of a spiritual character, may need restriction lest the func-tional self become too active; even some self-satisfying forms of vocal or mental prayer may need to be abandoned. Examples could be multiplied; what they would have in common is the self-emptying that allows for a more complete immersion into the mystery of God. To the degree that this occurs, enclosure comes to partake in the paradox of the beatitudes. Emptiness will be filled with the fullness of God; being confined will bring greater freedom. Going apart will result in being still more a part; limited apostolic oppor-tunity will hasten the coming of the kingdom through a deepen-ing of the baptismal grace of being "buried with Christ" to "rise to new life with Christ" (Col 2:12). Relating enclosure to the paschal mystery of Jesus as Sister Chiara does permits new emphasis on its sacramental character. It has outward signs, but these point toward a deeper interior reality. But the new life within that is the exciting possibility of enclosure is not guaranteed. Nor is enclosure in the canonical sense of the term the only means. The same process of self-emp-tying for the sake of deeper immersion in the mystery of God can be accomplished in many different life circumstances. For example, fidelity to the limits of a geography circumscribed by poverty or illness, of family relationships stressed by contempo-rary nonvalues, of routine work that offers little room for self-congratulation-- all these can become occasions for self-emptying or for self-seeking. The choice is ours. Freely choosing to live ¯ within the limits of enclosure of whatever kind can be fruitful. March-April 1996 Beha ¯ Enclosed in the Mystery of yesus Though the limits and limitations of any kind of enclosure are real and should not be diluted, its basic purpose is positive: fuller participation in the mystery of God and growing freedom. When chosen as part of an ongoing vocational commitment, it becomes a way of waiting on God, of bringing forth new life in the church and the world, of growing in the freedom that is the power of Christ's redemptive death. Remaining in Jesus Father Herbert Schneider centers his presentation of enclo-sure around the gospel words "Remain in my love" (Jn 15:4). As he explains in his Commentary on the Poor Clare Constitutions, "Enclosure is the place of decision to remain with the Lord. The innermost enclosure is the space of the heart. In relationship to that, the enclosure of the building is a sign and a help" (p. ~14). Because enclosure is primarily a matter of the heart, Schneider suggests that a variety of interpretations may be given to its exter-nal form without changing its essential meaning. What is true is that enclosure has a value of itself and belongs to the basic ~ele-ments of contemplative life (p. 14). ~ Each life has a where, expressed on the geographic level when we say "My address is. ," or "I live in." and rephrased more significantly as ',IYm at home here" or "I no longer know where I am." In the latter two examples ~we begin to explore the way in which external space relates to the world of the psyche and, ulti-mately, to that of the spirit. In everyday parlance, we frequently use spatial metaphors to refer to internal realities: "personal space" and "individual direction." "Don't crowd me" can be meant lit-erally or it can be a graphic way of asking for more time, more space for personal considei, ation. Similarly, when we ask someone to show us the way, we may be hoping for directions on a map or direction fo~: life. As Schneider points out, enclosure is a spatial metaphor for the contemplative desire to remain with God. It is an incarna-tional reality, having both an external form and an interior real-ity. Either one without the other would be less than human, iust as an inanimate body is.only.a corpse and a disembodied soul seems conceivable only as a ghost (or an .angel). Viewed exter-nally, enclosure spells imprisonment, but for a contemplative spirit it provides necessary boundaries. Review for Religio~,s To live contemplatively requires space; that is the basic truth Schneider emphasizes. The external boundaries of enclosure pro-vide sacred space where the heart can find a home. This experi-ence of at-homeness is a familiar one, hopefully, to most of us. Although it may be difficult, even impossible to explain, we know there are places, circumstances, relationships in which we can relax, be ourselves, be at peace. We cher-ish these places, seek to find them, even try to create them. So where is a contemplative at home? Essentially, there is only one place, one circumstance, one relationship: in God. "Our hearts are restless till they rest in thee." Augustine knew from personal experience that we are at home nowhere else. Remain in me, dwell in me, abide in me--the same central truth is nuanced in a changing variety of translations. All use the imperative. We are told in the most direct of terms what we are to do: make our home in God. Though we might like to reduce this to a harmless figure of speech, the gospel command is insistent in its reality. In John's Gospel the details are spelled out with evangelical insistence: "Remain in my love" On 15:9) and "Remain in me, as I remain in you" On 15:4), Where can we find a lasting home? Only by living in love, .remaining there, abiding there. We like the idea, but we protest its impossibility. The world in which we live is not a very loving place:' Unfortunately, that misses the point completely. At issue is not the world around us as much as the world inside us. It is we, .at the very center of our being, who are to abide in love; it is our choice, our decision. No one, nothing outside, can evict us from this home. I may not wish to remain there; I may prefer to roam, seek-ing diversion anywhere I can find it. I am restlessly on the move, changing geography or just changing the subjecwI may look for diversion in the media or seek distraction in idle chatter. I may even allow my mind to slip down into dark valleys of personal gloom or climb the bright uneasy slopes of critical judgment. Any Although it may be difficult, even impossible to expla!n, we know there are places, circumstances, relationships in which we can relax, be ourselves, be at pe.ace. March-April 1996 Beba * Enclosed in the Mystery of yesus escape seems better than no escape. All such forms of selfishness seem to promise oases, but prove to be only deserted places. We need to remain where we are in the reality that is ours: present space, immediate situation, personal relationship, even when this is not comfortable, even when we might prefer to be some place., any place., else. Here is the geography of our real-ity, the enclosed space, that allows us to live in truth and in love. Only when we attempt to remain in this loving truth of pre-sent reality do we discover how much unreality pollutes our human situation. Where we try to live is too often only a castle in the air, a mirage. No wonder we cannot find much of a living there. We cannot dwell where we are not. So we must move on. If the direc-tion of our seeking moves us toward home, then we call our change conversion. The moving now becomes a pilgrimaging, a seeking for our true home. Pilgrims we will always be in this life since the only place where we can have a lasting abode is in our eternal dwelling place. But already in this life we do have a home in God, the God who dwells in the center of our hearts. This is where we must remain in the here and now, loving God, ourselves, others. Then we expe-rience ourselves at home. It is the remaining that often becomes problematic. Monastic enclosure is meant to offer a way of doing so. Time and space for God are its first promise. By setting boundaries on who comes and goes, it reserves a generous amount of time and space that Can be filled with the things of God. Again, what is offered is the opporttmity; what is necessary is faithfulness, not just to making use of the time that is available, but also to the specifics of our own personal vocation. What prayer is God inviting me to here, now? ~- At variant times we may find ourselves called to renewed litur-gical dedication or to a silent waiting on the Lord. Ours may be a prayer of pain or one of more generous service. There will be seasons when we will easily dedicate ourselves to thankfulness and other times when it will be all we can do to muster a decent amount of joy. What remains the same: Be faithful in prayer and you will find the Lord. And find yourselfl This can be even more problematic. People expect to find God (perhaps a "dream" God) within the enclo-sure; they may not be as acceptive or expective of the self they will discover as well. Limited space inevitably brings one face to Review for Religiot~s face with self. Lacking a place to hide, we must face ourselves and learn to love the self that we really are, not the self that we often pretend to be. It is the reality of ourselves just as we are presently that God loves, so we do not have an option about self-acceptance. Remaining true to ourselves opens the door to real love of neighbor. Again, we need to embrace others, not as we would like to remake them, but as they are in Christ Jesus. When we mistake our self-centered labeling of others as lovable/unlovable for the judgment of God, we are left in the darkness of untruth. We do not dare stay there. The only place we can remain is in the all-inclusive tenderness of God's love. Life within an enclosed space is meant to make possible such a love, providing opportunities for in-depth relationships that are tested in the crucible of close living, that endure over a lifetime and bear fruit for eternity. The hope of life enclosed, as Schrieider points out, is that it "leads to nearness and to the ability for relationships" (p. 14). This capacity for relationships extends beyond the monastery. Again it is a matter of the heart. In the bond that is God's life-giv-ing love, all are potentially one. This essential unity is lived out in a faith that makes enclosure as wide as divine mercy and as tender as infinite compassion. Again, no pious dream, but vital enough, to inspire a life of everyday sacrifice and self-giving for the building up of the Body of Christ (Ep 2:20)! This is enclosure's spaciousness, its redemptive power. Slowly, gradually, what was once.intellectual assent to faith's truths becomes experience. We are so united "in Jesus" that each person embracing truth and growing in freedom affects the life of all. We never act alone, because we never are alone; our soli-tude is peopled with all the people of God. When these experi-ences become personal, the contemplative no longer feels constrained by enclosure's limits, but, rather, finds fulfillment in remaining there~ at home in the heart of God. The gospel speaks of such remainirig as living in love and also as living in Jesus. There is a sense in which the two descriptions are redundant; to remain in love is to remain in Jesus. What the latter expression adds is helpful personalization along with the unbelievable promise of a certain reciprocity. We live, are, in Jesus and Jesus lives, is, in us On 14: 20). What does it mean to live in Jesus? For one thing, it requires us to remain in the word of God, allowing it to penetrate our March-Aplql 1996 Beha * Enclosed in the Mystery of yesus very being, shaping all our beliefs, our actions. It means living according to the holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ as every Christian professes to do. In practice, this may begin with a sim-ple willingness to takeup the Scriptures each day, remaining with them until the word of God sounds deep in our hearts, At each fresh reading of the gospel message, we ask: What is God's good news for me, today? What am I being called to say, to do, to refrain from saying, from doing? Over the course of time this abiding in the word of God begins to shape me, to shape us into gospel people. We become good news in our immediate environment, voices of encourage-ment, sources of strength even as we continue to grow in healthy awareness of our own weakness, for "when we are weak, then we are strong" (2 Co 12:10). As gospel people, we evangelize just in the living of our everyday lives. This remaining in the word of God that is an abiding in Jesus asks that more and more we live as Jesus lived. We think as Jesus thinks, "Let this mind be in you" (Ph 2:4), turning away from the preoccupation with self as well as the defensive criticism of oth-ers that often fill our thinking. Empowered by the Spirit of Jesus we speak as Jesus spoke, "with authority" (Mk 1:22), no longer threatened by fear or plagued by self-doubt. In Jesus, our lives teach, our touch heals. In Jesus we reach out to the poor, the sick, the troubled, the outcasts. The point of our remaining is not to recreate the past of Jesus' life in any literal sort of way. We are not first-century Palestinian Jews. For each of us, to live in Jesus requires fidelity to the cir-cumstances of'our lives. I need to ask: What is the mind of Jesus on my questions, the problematic situations of my days? What does Jesus say to the pleasure and pain that texture my days, the dailyness of my work, my leisure? In the silent spaciousness of the enclosure, these questions become, not pious, exercises, but literal necessities. I need to discover some specifics of an answer. Essential to such remaining in Jesus is the conviction that Jesus already remains in me. "Abide, dwell, live, in me, as I in you." How does Jesus live in me? In the constancy of faithful commitment, a covenant relationship begun in baptism and endur-ing through .all the circumstances of my life, unless repudiated by a definitive rejection on my part. Jesus lives my every activity; none are excluded as too ordinary, too human, too trivial. That is the truth revealed in the incarnation; it is the possibility of my Review for Religious baptism, but a reality that waits on the yes of my desire. Jesus enioys my joys, suffers in my pains, grows weary at the end of my days. His abiding presence remains a loving constant; only the unreali~ of sinfulness reduces my responsiveness. Unbelievably, we can and often do choose our own way rather than the way of Jesus. We temporize: not here, not yet. We assume control, seek-ing to fulfill ourselves. Fortunate the individuals who are open enough to realize such resistance and turn back. They find Jesus waiting, always there. Within enclosure the realization of our withdrawal, of the unsatisfying nature of our selfish pursuits, can come more quickly.There are fewer places to turn, more helps in returning and remaining faithful to Jesus living in us. Gradually, as Jesus lives more fully in us, we come to pray as he did: "Your kingdom come; your will be done" (Mt 6:10). This is where Jesus lived, where he remained: in the will of the Father. From the beginning of "I come to do your will" (Ps 40:8) to the end of "Not as I will but as you will" (Mk 32:36), Jesus had only one center, one place of peace, the will of the Father. If Jesus is to live ever more fully in us, we must stay in the same place. It must be at our every beginning so that it may be the end of all our endings. Sometimes it will be easy to accept God's will; at other times, costly. Ultimately, it will cost everything as we hand over our lives, with the same surrender of "into your hands" (Lk 23:46). This at the hour of death, but alsb in all the immediacy of today's letting go, for to live in Jesus is to die in daily surrender. Then eternity will be iust a continuation of that "remaining in Jesus" which has been the enclosed dwelling place of all our living. At each fresh reading of the gospel message we ask: What is God's good news for me, today? Conclusion Entering into enclosure is a matter of faith and hope. It is a lived expression of the belief that God is worth a whole life's seek-ing. Those who embrace the limits of enclosure find themselves freed for the paschal mystery of risen life through a going down into the valley of death-to-self and daily surrender. If they remain faithful, remaining in Jesus as Jesus remains in them, they will be March-April 1996 Beba ¯ Enclosed in the Mystery of Jesus transformed. No longe~: living for themselves, their lives "will be hidden now, with Christ, in God" (Col 3:3). This is what it means to live within the enclosure. This is to abide in the glory of that promise, "When Christ, who is your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory" (Col 3:4). Who Am I? I am the woman tentatively touching the hem of Jesus' garment for healing, and having to tell what it is that ails me, and who and what have failed to heal me until now, all of Which was so much rubbish! I am the woman anxiously sweeping my floor in searchof the lost coin, the last coin I had to.live on. How happy I will be when I see it shining in the dust at my fee!! I am the Woman going into the temple putting that last coin of mine into the treasury. Then I will go home wondering whether it was wise of me to have relinquished the only treasure that I had! Bernadette McC~rrick RSM Review for Religiou.~ DANIEL J. HARRINGTON Biblical Contributions to a Theology of Aging This year I celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of my ordination to the Catholic priesthood in the New England province of the Society of Jesus. This year no one will be ordained a priest in our province. This year ten men will celebrate fifty years as priests, and fifteen men will observe their fiftieth anniversary as Jesuits. Priests and religious in the U.S.A. and Europe are aging, and so, too, religious life. As we grow older together, we surely need the intel-lectual and spiritual resources of our biblical tradition to help us along the way. Many people assume that aging and the elderly are major topics in the Bible. Perhaps they make this assump-tion because the early chapters of Genesis feature char-acters like Methuselah who live to great ages. Perhaps the reason is that the Bible, as an ancient and wise book, must have something important to say on these matters. But from a quantitative perspective aging and the elderly are not central concerns of the Bible. There is no lengthy biblical treatise.on aging and the elderly. Nor is there any uniform perspective in the rela-tively few texts that do deal with these topics. The more explicit treatments appear in the Old Testament. Old Testament Perspectives The people of the Old Testament lived in a traditional Daniel J. Harrington SJ is editor of New Testament Abstracts. His address is Weston Jesuit School of Theology; 3 Phillips Place; Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138. March-April 1996 Harrin~ton * Biblical Contributions to a Theology of Aging, The elderly were expected to be exemplars of wisdom and fear of the Lord. society in which the elderly were held in respect. Most biblical people did not reach the kind of old age that has become common at least in the U.S.A. and parts of Europe since 1950. And so in searching the Scriptures for wisdom on aging and the elderly we need to face from the start the differences between the Old Testament world and our own. We live in a society with little respect for tradition and social .status based on age, and with a great demandfor material productivity and accom-plishment. Moreover, our expanding life spans may be creating problems and possibilities that the bib-lical writers never imagined. Nevertheless, the Bible can contribute to developing a theology of aging today despite these obvious differences. Whatever one makes out of the life spans attributed to the patriarchs in Genesis 5 (930 years for Adam, 912 for Seth, 905 for Enosh, and so on), ordinary Israelites in the period covered in the his-torical books lived much shorter lives. It is safe to say that the lower classes lived between thirty years and fifty years (if they reached adulthood), that aris-tocrats lived between forty and sixty years, and that all regarded a life between seventy and eighty years as an elusive ideal. It was assumed that the elderly showed signs of aging (gray hair, beards for men), and began to experience physical infirmities. The com-mandment to honor one's parents in the Decalogue (Ex 20:12; Dt 5:16) was understood as applying primarily to adults and as urging them to care for their aging parents. It was regarded as a social norm and a divine command to respect older people: "You shall rise before the aged, and defer to the old; and you shall fear your God: 'I am the Lord'" (Lv 19:32). The elderly themselves were expected to be exemplars of wis-dom and fear of the Lord. Male and female elders had the task and privilege of handing on the social and religious tradit~ions. The critical treatments of elders in .lob and Qoheleth only serve to emphasize that in this traditional society the elderly were sup-posed to have an important place. As the testament-of-Jacob scene (see Gn 49) shows, the ideal was to die surrounded by many off-spring and to hand on property and land to one's children. The positive picture of old age in the Old Testament tradition is best stated in a block of random sayings in Sirach 25:3-6. Ben ' Sira, a wisdom teacher of Jerusalem around 200 B.C., concluded Review for Religious his lists of pleasant and hateful things (25:1-2) by expressing a loathing for "an old fool who commits adultery." By a thematic connection he then outlines some positive teachings about aging and the elderly: 3. If you gathered nothing in your youth, how can you find anything in our old age? 4. How attractive is sound judg-ment in the gray-haired, and for the aged to possess good counsel! 5. How attractive is wisdom in the aged, and under-standing and counsel in the venerable! 6. Rich experience is the crown of the aged, and their boast is the fear of the Lord. The three sayings (25:3, 4-5, 6) are only loosely connected by subject matter. The first saying (25:3) makes the point that the quality of one's old age--wise or foolish--grows out of the quality of one's youth. A foolish young person will probably grow into a foolish old person. The mere fact of old age does not work a drastic personal transformation. The second saying (25:4-5) lists the ideal characteristics of the elderly as sound judgment, good counsel, wisdom, and under-standing. These characteristics are basically synonyms; they all refer to the wisdom that is attractive in all people, especially in the elderly. The third saying (2 5:6) acknowledges the life experience of the elderly as a "crown" and holds out as the most important quality of the elderly the "fear of the Lord." Fear of the Lord is one of the chief themes in the biblical wisdom books and in Sirach in particular. It proceeds from an accurate assessment of who God is and who we are before God. It is not the fear that proceeds from anxiety and issues in avoidance or flight. Rather, it refers to the respect and awe that God deserves. That attitude of respect is the beginning of wisdom (see Si 1:14). From it, according to Ben Sira and the other sages, will flow whatever wisdom is necessary for finding one's way through the tests and trials of life. Wisdom and fear of the Lord are two sides of the same coin and express the positive ideal of aging in the Bible. The negative aspects of old age are best described in another wisdom book, Qoheleth (or Ecclesiastes). Here the focus is the decrepitude and death that are part of old age. In the final chap-ter (12) of his book, Qoheleth has clothed a depressing message in a series of exquisitely drawn images. The message is that old age means loss of pleasure, physical infirmity, fear, and death. Qoheleth's picture of the afterlife is shadowy at best: "The dead March-April 1996 Harrington ¯ Biblical Contributions to a Theology of Aging know nothing; they have no more reward, and even the memory of them is lost" (9:5). So for him the death that accompanies old age is all the more final. 1. Remember your creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come, and the years draw near when you will say, "I have no pleasure in them"; 2. before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return with the rain; 3. in the day when the guards of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the women who grind cease working because they are few, and those who look through the windows see dimly; 4. when the doors on the street are shut, and the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low; 5. when one is afraid of heights, and terrors are in the road; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along and desire fails; because all must go to their eternal home, and the mourners will go about the streets; 6. before the silver cord is snapped, and the golden bowl is broken, and the pitcher is broken at.the fountain, and the wheel broken at the cis-tern, 7. and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the breath returns to God who gave it. 8 Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher; all is vanity. The one addressed is urged to face the negative realities of old age ("days of trouble") when even the prospect of the years to come gives no pleasure and life seems to be dark and stormy (12:1-2). In a beautiful but disquieting set of images Qoheleth compares the process of aging to the decay of a house fallen into disrepair (12:3-4): loss of eyesight and hearing, loss of teeth with which to chew, and inability to sleep soundly. Then with other images he calls attention to the fear, the loss of desire, and the obsession with death that can be part of old age (12:5). Death is described with images of breaking the silver cord, the golden bowl, the pitcher, and the wheel (12:6). In death the body becomes dust and returns to the earth, while the breath "returns to God who gave it" (12:7), not to immortality or resurrection but at best to the shadowy existence described in 9:5. Death, like all of life (see 1:1- 11), is empty, mere "wind," without lasting substance (12:8). Old age as Qoheleth paints it with his marvelous images is painful and depressing. Young people should enjoy life while they can. The ideal of old age is fullness of wisdom and fear of the Lord (Si 25:3-6). The reality of old age may well involve bodily infir-mity, loss of physical and emotional powers, and fear; death is Review Jbr Religious inevitable (Qoh 12:1-8). In the Jewish tradition it is the duty of adult children to care for their aging parents. That obligation is clearly stated in the Decalogue: "Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you" (Ex 20:12; Dt 5:16). Starting from the commandment in the Decalogue, Ben Sira in Sirach 3:1-16 presents an instruction on the duties of adult children to their aging parents. After addressing his pupils as a father addresses a son (3:1), he gives some reasons why children should care for their parents: 1. Listen to me your father, O children; act accordingly, that you may be kept in safety. 2. For the Lord honors a father above his children, and he confirms a mother's right over her children. 3. Those who honor their father atone for sins, 4. and those who respect their mother are like those who lay up treasure. 5. Those who honor their father will have joy in their own children, and when they pray they will be heard. 6. Those who respect their father will have a long life, and those who honor their mother obey the Lord; 7. they will serve their parents as their masters. Caring for one's elderly parents conforms to the divine order of creation (3:2), atones for sins and merits spiritual treasures (3:3-4), gives good example to one's own children (3:5a), ensures that one's prayers will be heard (3:5b) and that one will live a long life (3:6a), and honors God (3:6b). Ben Sira (and all the biblical writers) lived in a society in which honor and shame were important values. How one appeared to others and in relation to them was very significant, far more so than in our modern individualistic cultures. Failure to honor one's parents brings a curse from them and disgrace in the eyes of others: 8. Honor your father by word and deed, that his blessing may come upon you. 9. For a father's blessing strengthens the houses of the children, but a mother's curse uproots their foundations. 10. Do not glorify yourself by dishon-oring your father, for your father's dishonor is no glory to you. 11. The glory of one's father is one's own glory, and it is a disgrace for children not to respect their mother. The final part (3:12-16) of Ben Sira's instruction gives par-ticular attention to the situation of caring for a parent who loses mental abilities ("even if his mind fails"). It recommends patience and fidelity and promises a reward from God: March-April 1996 Harrington ¯ Biblical Contributions to a Theology of Aging 12. My child, help your father in his old age, and do not grieve him as long as he lives; 13. even if his mind fails, be patient with him; because you have all your faculties do not despise him. 14. For kindness to a fathe~ will not be for-gotten, and will be credited to you against your sins; 15. in the day of your distress it will be remembered in your favor; like frost in fair weather, your sins will melt away. 16. Whoever forsakes a father is like a blasphemer, and whoever angers a mother is cursed by the Lord. Ben Sira's insistence on care for one's parents as leading to forgiveness of sins (3.'3, 14) is especially interesting in light of his own shadowy concepts of afterlife and his enthusiastic support for the Temple's system of sin-offerings and sacrifices. He appar-ently regarded faithful and patient service of one's parents as a privileged way of atoning for one's sins in this life. The three wisdom texts that we have looked at say much of what there is to say about old age and the elderly in the Old Testament. Indeed, they summarize most of the wisdom about these topics outside the Bible and into the present. Their con-tent would have been taken for granted by people in New Testament times. New Testament Perspectives The New Testament does not explicitly offer new and radically different teachings on aging and the elderly. What it does offer is an outline of spirituality that can help aging people and others to confront the reality of old age in faith and confidence. The Old Testament story of salvation began with God's call to Abraham in Genesis 12 and the promise to make of his descen-dants % great nation." We are told that Abraham was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran (12:4). God's promise was then fulfilled through the birth of Isaac when "Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age" (18:11). Thus the history of God's people begins in an unlikely and improbable way--from a child born to a very old couple (21:5). According to Luke, the story of salvation through Jesus Christ began with the elderly couple Zechariah and Elizabeth and with the birth of John the Baptist to them. Likewise, the birth of Jesus is properly evaluated and proclaimed by Simeon and Anna in the Jerusalem Temple. These two figures represent the best features of Old Testament piety. Simeon is described as "righteous and Review for Religiotls devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel" (Lk 2:25). He is granted the privilege of seeing and proclaiming the newborn Messiah before his death: "Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace." (Lk 2:29). Anna also, at the age of eighty-four, culminates a long life of piety by praising God and speaking "about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem" (2:38). These two elderly representatives of God's people see in the child Jesus what the religious and political lead-ers of Israel failed to see in Jesus the adult. It is intriguing that elderly people--Abraham and Sarah-- begin the history of salvation according to Genesis, and that elderly people-~Zechariah and Elizabeth, and Simeon and Anna-- recognize clearly the new and definitive chapter in this history that began with the birth of Jesus. These elderly people exem-plify the wisdom and fear of the Lord that are the biblical ideals of old age. They speak the language of the Scriptures (especially Second Isaiah) to proclaim eschatological fullness in Jesus the Messiah. Their openness to God and trust in God allow God to use them as unlikely instruments in the history of salvation. The ways of God are very surprising. While Simeon and Anna provide positive models for elderly people who are serious about the surprising ways of God, we can-not disregard the negative aspects of old age so well described by Qoheleth. Although the New Testament does not deal explicitly with this topic, there are New Testament texts that speak elo-quently to us as we face the physical infirmities and fears that accompany old age. Like Ben Sira and Qoheleth, Jesus was a wisdom teacher. One of the earliest and most eloquent teachings we have from Jesus is his instruction about dealing with anxiety in Luke 12:22-31 (see Mt 6:25-34): 22. He said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. 23. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24. Consider the ravens: they nei-ther sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 25. And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? 26. If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? 27. Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 28. But if God so clothes the Marcb-~lpril 1996 Ha~ngton ¯ Biblical Cont~butions to a Theology of Aging grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you-- you of little faith! 29. And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. 30. For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31. Insteakl strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given ~o you as well. Though not directly addressed to elderly people, this instruc-tion concerns issues and questions that disturb elderly people especially: How long will I live? What will I eat? What about my health? What will I.wear? Jesus deals with these issues on two fronts. On the one hand, he exposes the futility of anxiety: It does not achieve anything positive (see 12:25-26). Simply telling peo-ple not to worry is not enough to combat anxiety. Jesus places before us some positive considerations about God's care for us and about God's kingdom as the goal of our lives. He first insists that life is more than food or clothing (12:23), and then urges us to consider how God feeds the birds (12:24) and clothes the lilies in splendor (12:27-28). If God so cares for birds and flowers, how much more does God care for us human beings. Jesus reminds us that God already knows what we need (12:30). The primary goal should be striving for God's kingdom, and everything else will fall into place. (12:31). There is great wisdom in this instruction, and it is particularly pertinent to elderly people. But sometimes anxiety turns into reality. Few of us leave this world without experiencing physical or emotional suffering. Here the apostle Paul has some eloquent things to say. Paul took over early Christian formulas of faith that describe Jesus' suffering and death as "for us" or "for our sins" (see Rm 3:25-26; 1 Co 11:24; 15:3). He himself used similar formulas as a matter of course (see Rm 5:6; 14:15; 2 Co 5:14,'21; Ga 1:4; 3:13). These expressions affirm that Jesus as God's servant (see Is 52:13-53:12) suffered and died on our behalf, and so made available to all--Jews and Gentiles alike--right relationship with God and the possibility of eternal salvation. We are saved through Christ's suffering. According to Paul, Christian life involves participation in Jesus' suffering and death as well as his resurrection: "We have been buried with him by baptism into death" (Rm 6:4). This shar-ing continues after baptism: "For just as the sufferings of Christ are abundant for us, so also our consolation is abundant through Christ" (2 Co 1:5). Elsewhere Paul says that we always carry "in Review for Religious the body the death of Jesus" (2 Co 4:10). Paul's ideal for himself and for every Christian is to be "conformed" to Christ; that is, to take on the very "shape" (morphe) of Christ: "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his suf-ferings by becoming like him in his death" (Ph 3:10). For mil-lions of suffering Christians, identification with Christ and participation in his sufferings have provided meaning and comfort in the midst of suffer-ing, and still do. In the Deuteropauline letter to the Colossians the theme of sharing Christ's suf-ferings takes an unusual turn: "In my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church" (Col 1:24). This cannot mean that there is something deficient in the rec-onciliation brought about by Jesus' death and resurrection. The whole New Testament and Colossians 1:19-20 in particular stress the sufficiency of Jesus' sacrificial death. What then does Paul's suffering fill up? The key expression is "Christ's afflictions," or, more accurately, the "tribu-lations (or, woes) of the Messiah." According to contemporary Jewish texts (I Enoch 47:1-4; 2 Baruch 30:2) God has set a limit to the tribulations associated with the Messiah's coming. The state-ment in Colossians 1:24 applies Paul's sufferings to that fixed amount of suffering that must occur before God's kingdom arrives in its fullness. Thus Paul's suffering shortens the time before the fullness of God's kingdom (see Mk 13:20) and contributes to the faster vindication of God's church. This text, which has been a great inspiration to suffering (elderly or not) people, needs to be understood in its proper theological and historical context. Other Pauline texts provide important advice for elderly per-sons (and others) who suffer. In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul, in answer-ing the critics of his ministry as an apostle, boasts about his weaknesses rather than about his strengths and accomplishments. He does so on the basis of what the Lord said to him: "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Co 12:9). In a world that associates power with strength, Paul reminds us that the true power of God is manifested most bril-liantly in the weak---as was the case with Abraham and Sarah, and with Simeon and Anna. Few of us leave this world without experiencing physical or emotional suffering. March-April 1996 Harrington ¯ Biblical Contributio~.~n~.to~ Tb__eo,~lo.~f~A.~n,.g' Eternal life for Christians, according to Paul, begins with baptism, since eternal life comes from participating in Jesus' death and resurrection (see Rm 6:1-11). Therefore death and sin no longer exercise absolute dominion over us. We are already living our eternal life. It does not begin at the moment of our death. The line between physical life and physical death is no longer de

Issue 54.4 of the Review for Religious, July/August 1995. ; Review for Religious (ISSN 0034-639X) is published bi-monthly at Saint Louis University by the Jesuits of the Mis'souri Province. Editorial Office: 3601 Lindell Boulevard ¯ St. Louis, Missouri 63108-3393. Telephone: 314-977-7363 ¯ Fax: 314-977-7362 Manuscripts, books for review, and correspondence with the editor: Review for Religious ° 3601 Lindell Boulevard ¯ St. Louis, MO 63108-3393. Correspondence about the Canonical Counsel department: Elizabeth McDonough OP ¯ P.O. Box 29260 ° Washington, DC 20017. POSTMASTER Send address changes to Review for Religious ¯ P.O. Box 6070 ° Duluth, MN 55806. Second-class postage paid at St. Louis, Missouri, and additional mailing offices. See inside back cover for information on subscription rates. ©1995Review for Religious Permission is herewith granted to copy any material (articles, poems, reviews) contained in this issue of Review for Religious for personal or internal use, or for the personal or internal use of specific library, clients within the limits outlined in Sections 107 and/or 108 of the United States Copyright Law. All copies made under this permission must bear notice of the source, date, and copyright owner on the first page. This permission is NOT extended to copying for com~nercial distribu-tion, advertising, institutional promotion, or for the creation of new collective works or anthologies. Such permission will only be considered on written application to the Editor, Review for Religious. for religious Editor Associate Editors Canonical Counsel Editor Editorial Staff Advisory Board David L. Fleming SJ Philip C. Fischer SJ Regina Siegfried ASC Elizabeth McDonough OP Mary Ann Foppe Tracy Gramm Jean Read Joann Wolski Conn PhD Iris Ann Ledden SSND Joel Rippinger OSB Edmundo Rodriguez SJ David Werthmann CSSR Patricia Wittberg SC Christian Heritages and Contemporary Living JULY-AUGUST 1995 ¯ VOLUME54 ¯ NVUMBER4 contents 486 499 5O8 mission Twenty Inner-City Years Joanna Bramble, CSJ explores feelings, questions, and insights from her effort to revitalize an inner-city neighborhood and empower its people. Corporate Sponsorship: The 1990s and the Fruits of Our Labor Margaret MaW Knittel RSM raises some questions which suggest a fluidity of vision and a loosening of ties in regard to corporate sponsorship and the fruits of our labor. Retirement's Wisdom Years Catherine M. Harmer MMS proposes that retirement for religious may be a time of deepening wisdom and individuation and a time for a greater spirituality to emerge. 519 531 guidance The Enneagram Tad Dunne examines understandings of the enneagram and suggests ways of moving to a larger world of meaning and values. Imaging Spiritual Direction Mary Vginifred CHS discusses guidelines for spiritual direction and presents three images illustrative of the relationship between director and directee. 535 56O heritage The Brazier That Is My God: Teresa on True Prayer's Dispositions, Gifts, and Signs Mary C. Sullivan RSM highlights the prayer of personal conversion wi{h its many gifts as captured by Teresa of Avila in her rich metaphor of "dwelling places." Playing with Edged Tools Donald Macdonald SMNI allows the thought of John Henry Newman to enter us into a richer appreciation of vowed public profession as a part of radical gospel living. 482 Review for Religious spirituality 566 How Am I Doing? Signs of a Healthy Spirituality Melannie Svoboda SND suggests some indicators for checking on how healthy our spirituality is. 573 Appreciating God through Creation Roderick Payne OFM illuminates the heritage of St. Francis to draw attention to some aspects of prayer through creation. 585 589 594 6OO religious life Individualism and Rel!gious Life John Gallagher CSB reflects on three options dealing with the compatibility of contemporary individualism in relation to religious life. Psychological Screening for Religious Life Kevin E. McKenna reviews the help given by the Code of Canon Law for religious congregations attempting to form a consistent policy regarding psychological reports at the time of admission and the maintenance of personnel records. Reformulating the Religious Vows William Reiser SJ reviews the meaning of vows in religious life and suggests that an option for the poor might be a promise for our times. Let's Talk Again about Poverty Richard J. DeMaria CFC probes the meaning of poverty for religious-life practice today. ¯departments 484 Prisms 615 Canonical Counsel: Cloister for Nuns: From the Early Centuries to the 1917 Code 622 Book Reviews ~tuly-August 1995 483 prisms Pope John Paul's two recent docu-ments offer vision and direction: the apostolic letter Orientale lumen (The Light of the East) and the encyclical Ut unum sint (On Commitment to Ecumenism). More than helps to enter into the third millennium, they issue a call to conversion. In Orientale lumen the pope emphasizes that our Eastern Catholic and our Orthodox brothers and sisters are earnest bearers of a venerable and ancient tradition integral to the church's heritage. He calls for all members of the church's Latin tradition to become fully acquainted with this treasure. He desires us all to be fired by a pas-sionate longing that the church's catholicity become man-ifest to church members themselves and to the world, a catholicity comprising the several traditions together rather than in opposition to one another. John Paul uses monasticism as a special vantage point from which we can identify values important today for expressing the contribution of the Christian East to the journey of Christ's church towards the kingdom. In the East, monasticism, which did not experience the differ-ent kinds of apostolic life as in the West, is seen not merely as a separate category of Christians, but rather as a refer-ence point for all the baptized, according to the gifts offered to each by the Lord. John Paul singles out the common traits uniting the monastic experience of the East and the West and forming a bridge of fellowship, "where unity as it is lived shines even more brightly than may appear in the dialogue between the churches." lie empha-sizes the splendid witness of nuns in the Christian East: "This witness has offered an example of giving full value in the church to what is specifically feminine, even break- 484 Review for Religious ing through the mentality of the time. During recent persecu-tions, especially in Eastern European countries, when many male monasteries were forcibly closed, female monasticism kept the torch of the monastic life burning. The nun's charism, with its own specific characteristics, is a visible sign of that motherhood of God to which Sacred Scripture often refers" (9). Among the values reflected in monasticism for the life of the church, the pope highlights 1) a balance in Christian life lived as a personal response to an individual call and as an ecclesial and community event; 2) a liturgy revealing the proper harmony of the baptized-in-Christ and the eucharistic meaning of all creation; 3) a maturing journey in terms of knowing self and being free and able to love as Jesus loves; 4) a tradition of spiritual guidance from brothers and sisters to whom the Spirit has granted this gift; 5) a community showing us a life of communion and service beginning in the family and extending to the wider community; 6) a unity of theology and spirituality deriving from the triune God--the principle and foundation of the Christian understand-ing that the human person is meant for and made for relation-ship; and 7) an all-pervading mystery, enveloped in awe, with which the face of our God presents us. In still wider ways the encyclical Ut unum sint continues the call to deepen the unity we seek with one another and with God. Insisting that the unity of all Christians is God's will and is at the heart of the mission Christ entrusted to his followers, John Paul begs forgiveness for times when Catholics and the papacy itself have contributed to the divisions among Christians and calls for discussion about ways in which the pope can exercise power and authority in a reunited church. He notes that a heritage of saints belonging to all communities provides hope for the dialogue of conversion. "When we speak of a common heritage, we must acknowledge as part of it not only the institutions, rites, means of salvation and the traditions which all the communities have pre-served and by which they have been shaped, but first and foremost this reality of holiness" (84). The urgency of building for the future out of the strengths of Christian heritages marks both of these papal writings. We, like the pope, need to set our sights on this unifying and evangelizing mission of all Christians, thereby living up to religious life's own spiritual heritages. David L. Fleming sJ a~uly-August 1995 485 rnissJon JOANNA BRAMBLE Twenty Inner-City Years After almost twenty years of working towards the revital-ization of West Oakland, a depressed inner-city neigh-borhood, I took a year's sabbatical of travel and spiritual enrichment. In the middle of that year, I decided not to return as director of Jubilee West, the Community Development Corporation I had helped to create. I real-ized that I had unresolved feelings about my years in West Oakland, feelings and questions that I needed to work through before I could move on to the next steps in my work for justice. The reflections below document my liv-ing with those questions. What are my usual feelings about Jubilee West? I feel proud of what it has accomplished, but often I feel deep sadness for the people whose lives have changed very lit-tle, especially the ones I knew well and tried the hardest to help. I feel deep sadness at the unemployment, the drugs, the depressed people, and the piles of garbage that are evident with only a brief drive through the neighbor-hood. I often have an overwhelming sense of failure and powerlessness: so much of my life, love, work, anxiety, joy, hope . . . and so many people still with such con-stricted lives! I feel sadness and grief that the neighbor-hood where I worked for so long was worse after twenty Joanna Bramble CSJ is a consultant to nonprofit organizations in management and program analysis and a member of the provincial council of the Los Angeles province of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. Her address is 529 Jean Street; Oakland, California 94610. 486 Review for Religious years than it was before. It is not that our work did not change anything or made it worse; it just could never do enough. But the main cause of continuing disintegration in that neigh-borhood is not my and others' lack of effort or creative ideas. It is high unemployment and the increasing sale and use of drugs, along with other systemic oppression. How do I keep aware of the interrelatedness of many situations and people and things and somehow see my place as both important and unimportant? What was the situation I came to in 1973? And what did I want to achieve? The 1970 census and the Oakland 701 Study gave the following statistics about the West of Cypress area: ¯ 80 percent black and 18 percent Mexican American ¯ median family income: $3,941 ¯ unemployment rate 26.3 percent for men, 35.7 percent for women ¯ 50 percent of families on welfare; mean welfare income $2,110 ¯ 90 percent of the houses had been expected to be unusable by 1969 (most of these houses are still standing in 1995) ¯ median number of school years completed: 8.4 ¯ 24 percent of people over twenty-five years of age were high school graduates Residents listed their major problems as limited incomes and a high rate of unemployment, extremely poor housing, and poor-quality education. All of these problems still exist and are complex and interrelated. I chose to come to this depressed environment from eleven years of teaching English in white, suburban Catholic high schools. I had interest, concern, compassion, energy, enthusiasm, high hopes . . . and two months of training in community orga-nizing. I remember walking through the neighborhood and mentally singing the words to "Anatevka" from Fiddler on the Roof, newly popular then. The song speaks of the nothingness of the town: "people who pass through Anatevka do not even know they have been here., someone should have set a match to this place years ago." That is what West Oakland looked like to me. But the song goes on to describe Anatevka as home: "where else could Sabbath be so sweet., where I know everyone I meet." That too was West Oakland. It did not take me long to get to know friendly people, many of whom had lived there for years. I walked the streets and .~ly-August 199~ 487 Bramble ¯ Twenty Inner-City Years sat in people's kitchens to discuss neighborhood problems. Soon some longtime residents and I started the West Oakland Improvement Association. What did I want to achieve? Mainly, I did not want a repeat of Anatevka; I did not want people displaced to make room for gentrification or other forms of development. In 1974 I wrote that my major goal was to help increase the peo-ple's awareness of their power to direct their own lives. Over the next twenty years, I became more deeply aware of the immense problems in people's lives and in the physical neigh-borhood. What I wanted to do both stayed the same and evolved, as did the strategies we used. Always there was the goal of empow-erment. As a community organizer I wanted us to win on issues that people had chosen as urgent concerns. More importantly, I wanted to build an organization that could continue to empower people and revitalize the neighborhood. We won on many issues. Our victories brought pride and increased self-confidence to a number of neighborhood people. But building an organization never really happened. People seemed too concerned with per-sonal survival to stay involved very long. It became more and more difficult to talk with people about community problems when they were concerned with getting enough food for their kids, paying the rent, and dealing with drug problems. These survival issues prompted me and my good friend Sister Pat Sears to start St. Patrick's Center at the Campbell Village Housing Project, where we saw to basic necessities, providing food, clothes, counseling, and a youth program. But decent afford-able housing remained the most urgent problem. Concern about people who were being displaced or were living in substandard housing, inspiration from Jubilee Housing in Washington, D.C., lots of participation from neighborhood people and suburban friends, and awillingness to step into the unknown with faith and hope led me and Pat to start Jubilee West as a nonprofit Community Development Corporation in 1980. We immediately began to buy and fix houses for poverty-level people even though we knew nothing about real estate or construction and had almost no money. Jubilee West also continued and expanded the com-munity services and youth programs begun at St. Patrick's Center. What successes can Jubilee West celebrate over the last fifteen years? Eighty units of scattered-site housing, most of it perma-nently affordable to poverty-level families: five million dollars in property assets removed from speculation and able to be con- 488 Review for Religious trolled by the community far into the future; hundreds of children helped with tutoring and enrichment; many others helped with mentoring and private scholarships to attend college; hundreds of adults placed in jobs, coming to literacy and ESL classes, or receiv- .ing emergency food, clothing, and needed counseling; and an his-toric building rehabilitated to accommodate various community events and to house the offices for other services. When I left, Jubilee West had a committed board of directors, a staff of varying degrees of competence, and a good funding base, although financial crises were and continue to be frequent. So why do I frequently feel like a failure? Mainly because I very much wanted to do something "for the people in the houses" more than just fixing houses and lowering rents and because I feel that most people's lives are not changed very much from what they were before. As I grew to know West Oakland people, I came to be most concerned about what I experienced as the "typical" resident. She is a woman about thirty years old, never mar-ried, with three or four children from different fathers. She has about a tenth-grade education, has never held a paying job, has very poor nutrition, and probably has an alcohol or drug problem. If she is not in JW housing or other subsidized housing, she may pay as much as 60 or 70 percent of her AFDC income in rent, leaving her less than $200 per month for all other expenses. She has no car, and so her experiences and those of her children are mostly limited to the West Oakland neighborhood. She appears depressed and apathetic or else quite hostile. So what did I wantJW to do for this woman? I wanted us to empower her to enrich her own life. What did I mean by this? How would I hope to be able to describe her after a .few years? I have thought a lot about my hopes for her, and I recently became aware that they are similar to my unrealistic goals for myself: As I grew to know West Oakland people, I came to be most concerned about what I experienced as the "typical" resident. She is a woman about thirty years old, never married, with three or four children from different fathers. .~uly-/lugust 199~ 489 Bramble ¯ Twenty Inner-City Years I want her to have succeeded in or be in the process of get-ting off drugs, getting more education, finding a job and then a better job, stabilizing her family, getting enough income to move out of subsidized housing, deepening her spiritual values, becoming more psychologically whole, building community with her neighbors, keeping her house clean, taking care of her kids, and working for change in the neighborhood through participating in JW and other organizations. I want her to stay in the neighborhood or come back after she succeeds in order to help the commu-nity work for justice. As I write this, it seems so unrealistic that I want to add face-tiously that she should also be thin and beautiful, but not care too much about her looks. Obviously, one reason I feel like a fail-ure is that I had very unrealizable expectations. Only a few peo-ple could achieve the hbove, and only with superhuman effort or lots of good luck. I wanted my "typical" person to be aware of her power to change and control her own life. That sounds like a good goal. But perhaps my biggest mistake was that I did not give enough conscious acknowledgment to the reality of systemic oppression. When she tries to change in other than very small ways, she runs up against huge obstacles that make it exceedingly difficult if not impossible for her to "control her own life." Only a few really "win" in her situation; but, because those few do win, she feels that she too should be able to win. She blames herself and society also blames her, telling her in many ways that it is her fault. In some ways I contribute to this when I talk about "self-help" without at the same time talking about systemic oppres-sion. Her self-blame does not give her more energy to "fight the system" and to make small and then larger changes in her life; instead it leads to depression, apathy, or hostility. Similarly my self-blame, my feeling myself a failure for not being able to empower her, does not give me more energy to fight the system; in me also it leads to depression, apathy, and sometimes hostility. Issues of injustice in economics, politics, and education are profoundly interrelated. A minimum wage that inserts working people into the poverty level without enough money to pay the rent, a business economy dependent on a certain percent of unem-ployment, thousands of job layoffs so that even many people with good educations are unlikely to keep their jobs that pay a living wage, unjust distribution of wealth including "hidden" subsidies 490 Review for Religious for the rich (whereby more money is "spent" on tax write-offs for interest on home-ownership loans than on all the housing programs for the poor), drug traffic that brings huge profits to a few wealthy people, a welfare system that discourages work, the worst schools usually in the poorest areas, housing thought of as an investment for profit rather than a home to live in, pervasive discrimination against minorities, especially African-American males--these are only a few examples of the interconnected sys-tems that cause my "typical" person's situation. I have known all this for a long time. Did I fail to keep it in my awareness because I felt I could do little about it and I like solvable problems? In any case, I concentrated on self-help pro-grams-- how soon I found that often they do not succeed either! Each person in any self-help program must "choose life" for her-self, of course, and begin to act on her own behalf while at the same time society, "the system," must stop oppressing her. Both are interrelated. But as I reflected on my Jubilee West experience, I still heard the same familiar inner voices of my own self-blame. If only I had been smarter, worked harder, tried something more creative, then I could have made a bigger dent in solving these problems. At this point I was fortunate to come across the book Surplus Powerlessness by Michael Lerner. Lerner first talks about real pow-erlessness, the reality of an unequal distribution of power in this society: If a small number of us try to change things, we will run up against a brick wall. In fact, even if millions of people were to engage in activity to change things, in the short run we would find our society very difficult to change. The brick wall is not just a subjective illusion. The basic fact is this: American society is a class-dom-inated society. A small number of people have vast eco-nomic power while the overwhelming.majority has almost no power in the economic realm. Economic power gives that small group a huge amount of political power. While the rest of us have some political power, it takes vast expen-ditures of energy and time to win small victories. But to say that the elites of wealth and power have over-whelming power is not to say that they have absolute power. Things could be quite different if many people were to engage in the struggle for change. It would be a real strug-gle- and there would be many difficult defeats.~ After talking about realpowerlessness, Lerner describes surplus ~uly-Augus~ 199Y 4.91 Bramble ¯ Twenty Inner-City Years powerlessness as "the set of feelings and beliefs that make people think of themselves as even more powerless than the actual power sit-uation requires, and then leads them to act in ways that actually con-firm them in their powerlessness." He is describing me when he shows how many activists continually manage to redefine the con-ditions of success in such a way that they always feel "one down" for not having accomplished enough; they redefine their victo-ries as failures and do not credit their own real accomplishments. I certainly do that often. Lerner reminds us that when society claims it is set up in a fundamentally fair way, in which people can make it if they really try, powerlessness is seen as a product of the individual's personal failures. Thus self-blame becomes the central element in surplus powerlessness. It grows stronger every time we blame ourselves for having failed in some important way and have no compassion for ourselves in view of all the ways that reality pushes us to be less than we want to be. Taking responsibility for one's own life works only for the part of the population and for the societal issues where objective conditions allow for real change. People need help to distinguish between factors out of their control about which they could be legitimately angry and factors that would change if they changed how they thought about themselves and how they lived their own lives. Surplus powerlessness, self-blame, deflects attention from the real problems and hence from any real solutions. The anger that might be reasonably directed against a social order which gener-ates personal unhappiness is instead directed inwards and becomes depression or a dangerous buildup of repressed violence. But Lerner's next point is also part of my" experience. Once people are no longer disempowered by self-blaming, they are in a better position to change their environment. Surplus power-lessness can be lessened by supportive group interaction and by developing compassion, showing people that the problems they face do not come from personal inadequacies, but are faced by others as well, and that people need one another's help in facing these problems. My reflection on Lerner's concept of surplus powerlessness shows me that I have been blaming the victims, both my typical West Oakland person and myself. I have definitely internalized the American way that tells me that, if I have a problem, I should take care of it, work to change it, and not blame someone else. 492 Review for Religious But, to avoid the extreme of blaming others for my problems, I frequently go to the extreme of not giving much acknowledg-ment to the real powerlessness in my life, to the real systems that are oppressing me as well as my typical West Oakland person. At this point in my reflection, I read Joanna Macy's books Despair and Personal Power and World as Lover, World as Self about the need to feel pain, experience it, work through it: my pain and the pain of others. I see that as a big clue for me. I went back to my sabbatical journal written in Washington, D.C., in 1992. One of the questions in Mary Cosby's class on "call" was "What is your deepest pain?" I wrote, "I'm not aware of very much personal pain. Actually my greatest pain seems to be feel-ing the pain of others: so many homeless people on the street, so many hurting children, so much violence in the world., and feel-ing powerless to do very much about any of this." A few days later at a creative-movement session I felt overcome by sorrow and tears. I kept feeling, saying, crying to myself: "I didn't know how to make it better for people. I am so sad about that ¯ ¯ . sad because people were not helped, not so much that I couldn't help but that they weren't helped., thinking of Sylvia, Spring, Connie, Deedee, Charetta, Pat, A1, Brenda . . . tears because I couldn't do it, but more because life did not change for them . " I remember feeling that I must be avoiding some deeper personal pain if the major pain I was aware of was pain for the world, for other people. Now I see that a major need for me is to feel my pain, which greatly includes pain for the world. Joanna Macy says in Despair and Personal Power: "We have trouble cred-iting the notion that concerns for the general welfare might be acute enough to cause distress., but pain for our world touches each of us, and this pain is rooted in caring., our apparent pub-lic apathy is but a fear of experiencing and expressing this pain, and once it is acknowledged and shared it opens the way to our power." 2 I have definitely internalized the American way that tells me that, if I have a problem, I should take care of it, work to change it, and not blame someone else. July-August 199Y 493 Bramble ¯ Twenty Inner-City Years During that semester in 1992, I picked up an old journal from 1988, specifically looking for how I dealt at that time with my pain over the distressing situations I experienced daily at Jubilee West. A pattern seemed to be: I would run into a small or large problem that was usually a symptom of a larger systemic problem; feel frustrated and ptwerless; think I should be able to solve it; blame myself because I could not; go to bed depressed, wake up with somehow more energy ready to try again, to think up some new way to address the problem . . . but rarely allow myself to really feel my own pain and sadness. Although many people were involved in Jubilee West, I always felt myself ultimately respon-sible. I also frequently neglected my deep need to gift myself with beauty and nourishment for my soul. I have always felt a great desire for silence, solitude, beauty, prayer--for finding ways to experience the sacred in all of life. But I often let compulsive efforts to solve problems rob me of the centeredness necessary for living and acting from a contemplative way of being. As a step in the process of"living the questions" and of writ-ing this article, I walked around the West Oakland neighborhood visiting some of my longtime friends. I had not been able to do this since leaving Jubilee West three years ago; when we moved away last fall, I just disappeared without telling many people that I was going. So this walk was a pilgrimage for remembering and finding cause to grieve and cause to rejoice. What do I learn for myself from all of this reading and reflec-tion and from my recent pilgrimage of walking in West Oakland? What does my inner wisdom tell me? What follows are some exploratory answers as I live the questions: 1. Feel your pain, take time for it. your personal pain and that of the West Oakland people that you care about, and the world that 'faces the possibility of total destruction. Allowing myself to feel pain is hard to do; I am more used to giving thirty seconds to pain and then moving on to possible solu-tions. But, on my walk through West Oakland, I was more able to be with the pain of what I experienced: my own fear when I went into Campbell Village by myself because of what I know of the violence, drugs, and crime that are always there; the usual mounds of garbage everywhere, especially in front of my friend Sally's apartment; Sally's son in jail for using and selling drugs--I remem-ber him as a cute, loving eight-year-old; the fifteen or twenty men on the corner of 14th and Peralta as they always are--drink- 494 Review for Reh~ious ing and buying drugs; Trisha's house boarded up because she was evicted for drug activity, when she had been one of Jubilee West's most promising tenants. 2. Feelyourjoy also and others' joy as well: celebrate small suc-cesses, continue the lifelong task of dealing with your inner judge that says, "but it isn't enough." My walk through West Oakland gave me many opportunities for experiencing joy. It felt good to remember all the times I have been in people's houses having coffee and conversation. My friend Joanne greeted me with a big hug, and we laughed over old times together. Two of her children are doing very well, she is enjoying her job taking care of hand-icapped people, she still feels empow-ered by the victories we achieved together many years ago, and her sense of humor is still spectacular. Annie also greeted me with open arms; she is an elderly woman who owns her own home and several oth-ers in the neighborhood, though all of them are in various stages of disrepair. As I sat in her tiny kitchen, she asked me who she could get to help her change her will, and I remembered how hard it was, many years ago, to convince her to make a will at all. My last stop was Charles Garcia, who because of our orga-nizing efforts scraped up $1,700 twenty years ago to buy the falling-apart house he was living in--a small amount, even in 1974, but monumental to him. Although he was not home, his pride of ownership was evident everywhere: lots of beautiful roses in the front yard, a stained-glass window over the door; his daugh-ter spoke of wanting to. move her own growing family back to that neighborhood. I was pleased to see that there was only one burned-out house on Chester Street, when there had been many a few years ago, and I felt pride as always at Jubilee West's twenty-two new-con-struction apartments on Goss Street, definitely the ~best-looking housing anywhere in the neighborhood. My experience of joy on my walk through the West of Cypress neighborhood brought home to me the truth of Joanna Macy's Celebrate small successes, continue the life-long task of dealing with your inner judge that says, "but it isn't enough." jUuly-August 199Y 495 Bramble ¯ Twenty Inner-City Years words: "When we open our awareness to the web of life, we con-nect not only with the sufferings of others, but to the same mea-sure, with their gifts and powers . . . if we can grieve with the griefs of others, so, by the same token, by the same openness, can we find strength in their strengths, bolstering our own individual supplies of courage, commitment, and endurance."3 3. Acknowledge real powerlessness and systemic oppression. Deepen awareness of this as a reality check, as the main reason for not continuing self-blame, as a step to determining at which point to try to intervene. Catch yourself when you are blaming the vic-tim, whether that victim is yourself or someone else. 4. Acknowledge surplus powerlessness in yourself and in others, and try to find ways to deal with it, mainly by group sharing and by compassion for yourself and others. 5. Give up the myth that there is one key to changing the world. I have had the fantasy hope that there is one key to changing oppres-sive systems and that, if I could just find it, I would know what to do. Now I am more aware that transformation is happening on many levels at once and that it is not necessarily more important to work on one rather than another; I have lots of options for where I can best use my gifts to work for change. 6. Give up the myth that I am totally responsible (even when and if it is my job to be in charge), that I necessarily have the power to create the changes I want. Sometimes I have that power, often I do not. Any transformation will take many people working in many ways. A friend told me recently that she has become passionately committed to nudging the world toward justice and ecological san-ity. The idea of nudging shows a good grasp of reality and the pos-sible, and many people are doing this all over the world. 7. Give as much time as possible to the beauty, silence, and soli-tude that I so long for and know is essential to the life of my soul. My greatest desire is to act from a deeply contemplative stance. I do not always live that way, but I become more and more con-vinced that it is the only way to be who I am, to be at peace with myself and the world. Many questions remain as I come to the end of these reflec-tions, but hopefully every deepened insight leads to new possi-bilities and changes in my way of being, feeling, and acting. My questions will take more than my lifetime to answer. I am reminded of a vivid memory from a few years ago. I was in the midst of a crisis at Jubilee West, and I went to walk around the 496 Review for Religious lake to try to think of what to do. As I walked, I would come up with an idea about a next step, bu~ a voice in me kept asking, "What if you can't solve the problem?" I would be with that ques-tion for a few minutes and then start again to plan strategies. But the voice was persistent: "What if you can't solve the problem?" I have been brought up to believe that, ifI have a problem or see a problem, I should try to solve it. In fact, I very frequently have been able to find solutions to problems, to achieve what-ever I put my mind to achieve. Similarly, in World as Love~; World as Self, Joanna Macy quotes Lyndon B. Johnson as saying during the Vietnam War: "Don't come to me with a problem unless you have a solution." She tells of some colleagues in France who, ridi-culing our American culture for demanding instant solutions to problems, said we should "let the difficulties reveal themselves first before rushing for a ready-made solution, or else you will not understand them.''4 And so, as I walked around the lake struggling with the com-plexities of my crisis, the persistent voice asking "What if you can't solve the problem?" was actually a blessing. It pushed me to experience that often I cannot solve the problem. What is needed then is not more strategies, but waiting in openness: openness to the unfathomable presence, power, energy, connectedness in the universe, in me, in other people, and in all situations--which I call God. What is needed is sitting with open hands and open heart in deep silence and solitude, or dancing with abandonment to powerful music, or walking on the beach feeling the immensity of the ocean, or remembering my redwood tree. What is needed is anything that brings home to me the sacredness of all beings. I am remembering also the poem by Wendell Berry that I first saw on the kitchen wall at Genesis Farm, the environmental study center where I spent six weeks in the spring of 1992. It moved me deeply then and still does, giving me a powerful image of commitment to the possible in the darkest of times: "In the dark of the moon, / In flying snow,/. / The world in danger. / I walk the rocky hillsides / Sowing clover." I wonder what forms my clover will take? In looking through my 1991-92 .journal, I rediscovered another powerful image, a dream I had on 1 February 1992 and had forgotten. The image of wholeness in my dream links with Joanna Macy's wisdom about the interconnected whole in Despair and Personal Power: "What is it that allows us to feel pain for our Bramble ¯ Twenty Inner-City Years world? And what do we discover as we move through it? What awaits us there on the other side of despair? To all these ques-tions there is one answer. It is interconnectedness with life and all other beings. It is the living web out of which our individual, sep-arate existences have risen, and in which we are interwoven."s Deep implications of this dream are gradually surfacing as I continue to reflect on it more than three years later: I am in a house with many people., much chaos., there is a cupboard with a lot of jigsaw puzzles., suddenly they all fall out and come crashing down . . . so there are hun-dreds of puzzle pieces all over the floor., all from differ-ent puzzles . . . instead of feeling hopeless, like I would never be able to sort out the pieces and put each puzzle together again . . . in the dream I feel hopeful . . . like what was individual puzzles is now one big whole . . . and the challenge is to make a new picture in a new way. Soon after I wrote the pages above, my friend Sister Pat, cofounder of Jubilee West, died unexpectedly while we were vaca-tioning in Vermont. We had worked, argued, dreamed, planned, and enjoyed life together in West Oakland for nineteen years of a longer close friendship. Pat was "home" to me; now I feel like a homeless person. In my grief I have felt that God is burning himself into my soul, in intense pain and intense beauty. Was it in another lifetime that I wrote, "I'm not aware of very much per-sonal pain"? I am amazed that "Feel your pain" was one of my "exploratory answers." It has helped me take time for the sadness of my loss. I am hopeful that my pain will give me strength and wisdom to respond to the world's pain in new ways. My under-standing of my own "answers" is deeper than when I wrote them. Hopefully, I am more ready to keep working to create a new pic-ture, a new wholeness. Notes ~ Michael Lerner, Surplus Powerlessness (Oakland: Institute for Labor and Mental Health, 1986). These and other quotations from Lerner are a combination of a variety of pages in this book. 2 Joanna Macy, Despair and Personal Power in the Nuclear Age (Baltimore: New Society Publishers, 1983). These quotations are a com-bination of a variety of pages in chapters 1 and 2. 3 Macy, Despair, p. 32. 4 Joanna Macy, World as Love~; World as Self(Berkeley: Parallax Press, 1991), p. 18. s Macy, Despair, p. 24. 498 Review for Religious MARGARET MARY KNITTEL Corporate Sponsorship: The 1990s and the Fruits of Our Labor I alternate between thinking of the planet as home--dear and familiar stone hearth and garden--and as a hard land of exile in which we are all sojourners. --Annie Dillard, "Sojourner" Mey mother had lived in this home, built by her father, ver since she was eighteen, and now sixty years later she was selling the stained-glass windows, the hardwood floors, everything. All went well but for that last moment holding all the pain. We walked away bearing the image of strangers in that beloved doorway, frame of four generations. Doorways of insti-tutions, too, owned and operated by generations of women reli-gious, hold countless emotionally freighted moments, and near the close of the 20th century the terms "corporate sponsorship" and "fruits of our labor" have become and remain inextricably bound. In one ethical frame come three questions that are relevant to these two realities, corporate sponsorship and fruits of our labor. The three questions suggest a fluidity of vision, a loo'sening of ties. The questions are: Who are we? Who are we becoming? Who are we called to be? Who Are We? Over successive generations the corporately sponsored institutional ministry increasingly became for Catholic women religious in the United States their "hearth and garden," Margaret Mary Knittel RSM served as director of personnel services at Saint Xavier University in Chicago from 1981 to 1987. Presently, as a consultant for nonprofit organizations, she writes to us from I 1 Simpson, H; Geneva, Illinois 60134. ~uly-Aug~st 1995 499 Knittel ¯ Corporate Sponsorship the consummate fruits of their labor, our labor. Hospitals, nurs-ing homes, orphanages, .high schools, and colleges together form a litany of dedicated achievement, of the brick-by-brick accom-plishments of many dedicated women. Annie Dillard's feelings about this planet as hearth and garden and land of exile help identify three groups or generations of women religious who for a hundred years have owned and operated those institutions.1 These generations we shall call the exiles, the arrived, and the The first generation, the exiles, traveled from countries like Ireland, Germany, and Italy to North American mission lands. The second generation, the arrived (or arriv&s), lived in an at-homeness within their institutions in the burgeoning years. Now, in these closing years of the 20th century, we have a third gen-eration, the sojourners, seeking a new way to live their profes-sional commitments and their personal lives as vowed women religious upon finding themselves living in smaller and smaller groupings on a planet presenting challenges and opportunities their pioneering sisters in exile--their grandsisters--would not recognize. For the exiles--pioneers, all of them--the missions of the late 19th and early 20th century meant lives of physical sacrifice and economic deprivation well beyond the virtue or vow of poverty. Those women pieced together budgets, scraping their ingenuity for survival. Having come intent upon working hard, they strove to build hearths and gardens and kept striving and struggling, remaining and reminding themselves to be exiles at heart, women in a foreign land. Echoing the economy at large, the institutional ministries they had founded and maintained boomed after the lean years of the Great Depression. The second generation, the arrived, brought forward personal and corporate energies to build up edu-cational, social-service, and healthcare institutions surpassing the dreams of the earlier immigrant generation, the exiles. With increased settling in, this hearth of the religious women's profes-sional lives, this sponsored work, began for some to take on near-salvific powers. This hospital, this academy, began to hold terrestrial hopes and dreams, promised a salvation, and hinted of a this-side immortality. Plaudits, awards, and status were afforded to this generation of women who had arrived, who in some cases had left a humble family circle for what was increasingly becom- 500 Review for Religious ing an educated, secure middle-class community. They, we, by one definition indeed had arrived. For the arrived, their hospital or academy chapel began to localize the garden of the spirit. Here each morning and evening, all, regardless of professional status, gathered together at prayer. Here the contemplative "side" sought nourishment as the apostolic "side" waited just outside the chapel door. Hearth of work and garden of spirit, these became fix-tures within the corporate institu-tions cared for by the members of this second generation. Who Are We Becoming? In the movie "What's Eating Gilbert Grape?" the central figure, an exceedingly obese mother of four, says to her teenage son in a moment of reconciliation, "I never wanted to be like this." She had eaten her way to virtual immobility after her husband walked away from her and their children. Do we women religious, as this 20th cen-tury of ours draws to a close, gaze at our corporate body and say to ot~rselves, "We never wanted to be like this"? The founders of mis-sions here in the United States began on an inspiration to do good The second generation, the arrived, brought forward personal and corporate energies to build up educational, social-service, and healthcare institutions surpassing the dreams of the earlier immigrant generation, the exiles. in the sight of the God, and now, one or two hundred years later, their legatee corporate body has perhaps come to he something overly substantial: substantial hearth and garden, substantial fruits of our labor. These places, these institutions, became the symbolic body of our corporate identity within the church and the symbolic immortality within our destinies. Boards, philanthropic individ-uals, committees, friendships have been cultivated in the name of a hospital, an orphanage, or a school, and individual women's identities have been formed by and dedicated to bricks and steam pipes and windows. And then, as a distant window opened in the early 1960s and Vatican Council II convened, the corporate body ~ly-August 1995 501 Knittel * Corporate Sponsorship began to be looked at and came into question: "Is this who we are becoming?" For some women and men, in and out of religious life, the signs of the times appealed to in the council documents began to replace the signs of success. The prophet Jeremiah's call to voca- Women religious know that an additional thirty years, like those since the council, will not be afforded them. A sizable amount of post-Vatican time has quickly become history, and religious can recite lists of classrooms already vacated, hospital beds unused, and doors closed. tion describes a people God observes burning incense to strange gods and "adoring their own hand-iwork" (Jr 1:16). The prophetic began to ease itself forward. The work of our hands, the fruits of our labor, came into question. Now, in these late days of the 20th century, the hearth lies gray with embers and the garden shows signs of late-summer exhaustion. Women religious know that an additional thirty years, like those since the council, will not be afforded them. A sizable amount of post-Vatican time has quickly become history, and religious can recite lists of classrooms already vacated, hospital beds unused, and doors closed. Worse, we know in our aging the lists of needs more acute, more violent, than our grandsisters might have dared imagine. With abuses crowding our culture into corners that seem to offer no choice, we acknowl-edge there has to be more to this journey. Who Are We Called to Be? Our third generation, the would-be sojourners, wonder at this late-20th-century hour: "Is this our time of exile? Shall we be graced to select to become sojourners. Selecting to be sojourners, to move from being securely settled to securely unsettled, recalls the, sweep of the Hebrew Scriptures showing us a people finding centers other than God. The king-dom, the temple, the land--here was the answer. No, not here, there. No, not there, here. Efforts to restore the earthly kingdom kept centering on realities other than God. But Yahweh contin-ued to insist. 502 Review for Religious Selecting to be sojourners calls us to know how to go into exile, how to travel. Traveling, what shall we pack? Timing, how to schedule transportation, stopovers? And we cannot forget those allowances of minutes and hours, those sponges of time, to absorb this unfamiliar territory, this plan, these new connections. We will not know the language, but will need to interact and relate with others in order to continue on the journey and will have to search our imaginations for ways to communicate constructively. Life will move more slowly even as we continually need to cope with myriad details. Knowing exile, we will know ourselves anew. A clock continues to tick, and while many individual women religious hear it, the instinct to muffle its sound remains. "Enough!" we hear. Our alternative thoughts drift to sojourning, but graying embers say "Enough." We lived through the changes of the 1960s and '70s immediately after the council. No more traveling, turning, leaving, remembering, forgetting, previsioning, refashioning, or paradigm shifting for us! Just leave me alone. Enough. Give me the basics for survival and let me live out my life, here. Give me my job, my position, my power. Give me space. But a clock continues to tick. Learning to Mourn Henri Nouwen has said, "Yes, we must mourn our losses. We cannot talk or act them away, but we can shed tears over them and allow ourselves to grieve deeply. To grieve is to allow our losses to tear apart feelings of security and safety and lead us to the painful truth of our brokenness. Our grief makes us experience the abyss of our own life in which nothing is settled, clear, or obvious, but everything constantly shifting and changing.''2 At issue here is whether or not women religious have the energy to mourn. There have been deaths--countless funerals, remembered rejec-tions, and downright hostilities and hatreds. Yes, death seems to have been an integral part of this life once so much idealized--the youth and the joy! But, through all of these deaths, have we short-circuited a certain human pathos, admixing theologies and spiri-tualities, being at times more stoic than Christian? Several weeks after the death of my mother, an acquaintance asked, "How are you doing?" An incident, fresh that day, helped me to describe a way of being that I would later learn is common to us and may be where the corporate person of religious life .~ly-Auguyt 1995 503 Knittel * Corporate Sponsorship finds itself today. I told him of my standing in the middle of a room that morning, about to clean, but not knowing what to do next. My emotional energy was somehow separated from me as a person. As women religious, do we stand in the middle of a room and not know how to clean it, with our individual and corpgrate emo-tional energy elsewhere? Solneone has said, "Leaders are people who do the right thing; managers are people who do things right.''3 Is there a sense that somehow our corporate energy has separated itself from the corporate body so that with our corpo-rate leadership we continue doing things right rather than doing the right thing? Walter Brueggemann has observed that "reli-gious practitioners are often easy and unwitting conspirators with such denial. We become the good-humor men and women, for who among us does not want to rush in and smooth things out, to reassure, to cover grief?.''4 Rush in, smooth out, reassure--sounds familiar. What and where are the deep-down places in which we will individually and corporately rejoin our emotional energies, find ourselves? While sometimes we feel sublimely practiced in the various forms of grief, having experienced death in many forms, have we mourned? Have we cared enough about ourselves individually and corporately to let in the slow, mysterious loneliness, the ever changing healing of life after a death, a shocking, numbing death, has occurred? This work of mourning looks not only to the past but also to the future, fully realizing that new steps must be taken. The ability to bear wholesome and healing grief is every bit as much a fruit of our labor as the most imposing achievement of our corporate endeavors. Who are we called to be in this late 20th century, and is God directly and immediately in charge? Given our status and our connections, have we--women religious who have arrived--cor-porately capitulated to others' being in charge, someone else's agenda. "The task of the prophetic imagination is to cut through the numbness, to penetrate the self-deception, so that the God of endings is confessed as Lord.''s We come through the numbing to learn from a God in charge that the fruit of our labor may be "only" to know Jesus the Christ once again as way, as truth, as life. In this late 20th century, the fruits of our having arrived carry the exotically sweet flavor of success taken for granted and of 504 Review for Religious controlling power. In some instances we think it necessary to cling to these fruits with an even tighter grip. What sadder use of our time than participating in meetings with unseen forces with a view to reconstituting yesteryear rather than working with hope for tomorrow! Is there true conversation within our communi-ties, or merely some talk while waiting for followers to follow? Whether we would speak with Brueggemann's "prophetic imagination" or Philip Keane's "moral imagination," can we imag-ine imagining? Keane has said, "Communities as well as persons need t6 develop moral character and exercise moral imagination as they seek to address the great issues of our times.''6 When a loved one dies, a significant part of our grieving may involve imagining the future without them. We have known and loved them, but deep down we grieve for ourselves in an unknown future--a birthday or a Christmas--without their presence. We deeply miss this lost past. The exile has begun, with or without us. We need to acknowl-edge it, learning more and imagining more about what it means to mourn. We will be sojourners, like our grandsisters before us, leaving the comforts of home, however we currently define and hold on to them. "A number of factors can hinder persons from being genuinely reflective and playful in their moral thinking," says Keane; "power or force is one such factor.''7 Shall we become more reflective, more playful, and imagine leaving our present "homes" of wrongfully constructed political power, of oppressive behaviors? What prevents us from asking: Who are we? Who are we becoming? and Who are we called to be? The answer from some, if not all, may lie in these processes of the prophetic, these questions. Land of Exile: Corporate Sojournership "Fairly often," says Keane, "I run into persons whose image of God is that God is out to get us. Such persons want to be told what to do, and they are afraid of using their moral imaginations. Their religious or prayer lives will often be quite limited because their fear keeps them from really being open to the power of the Gospel stories.''8 As women religious we seek the courage to imag-ine and do corporately what many individual women and men have already wrestled with in their lives. We need, corporately, to turn in the keys, have a good cry, and move on. 3~uly-Al¢g'ust 199Y 505 Knittel * Corporate Sponsorship Turning in the keys does not necessarily mean a wholesale closing of eacli and every institution. Some would like that, but it could indeed prove shortsighted and definitely unimaginative, even though some say the community's need for money is a good reason for selling this hospital or that academy and others say, "If we sell, we would be doing something holy." Abandoning an inner-city hospital without recourse to imaginative possibilities of how this long-cared-for space--the land's square feet and the buildings' cubic feet--could now serve the poor better might well become a new urban tragedy. We will need to go after anew, with all the civic clout that our years of being respectable arrivges can muster, the neighborhood's endemic and systemic problems. The friends of our institutions of the past may not choose to be the companions of our sojourning in the years ahead. But, together with those who would stay with us, we n~ed to find out who we are called to be. In any new land such as the future, there will be questions, then some answers, and then new questions. Our bequest, the fruits of our labor--whether embodied in our present corporate buildings and our present apostolic endeavors or not--must always be directed towards common goods that our corporate resources and corporate energies can hope to accomplish. People reflecting on the conversion to which all of us are called expect that the hearth and garden that halve come down to tis from a former time, these substantial signs of our having arrived, will increasingly suggest to us new common and corpo-rate lives of sojourning exile. These and similar questions will keep occurring to us: How will we use the power and influence we have? What could the prayer of our community be like? How will we imagine and live appropriate ways of coming together and being together--or of being together and going out together? What can we do most effectively for the coming of the kingdom? Shall we be women of vision, corporately attending to the good? Shall we corporately prepare in earnest to live in exile, to be sojourners, persons consciously and deliberately ready for the journey that begins and ends in God? Notes l Annie Dillard, "Sojourner," in Teaching a Stone to Talk (New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, 1988), p. 150. 506 Review for Religious 2 Henri J.M. Nouwen, With Hearts Burning (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1994), p. 27. 3 Warren Bennis, Why Leaders Can't Lead (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1989), p. 18. 4 Walter Brueggemann, The Prophetic hnagination (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1978), p. 49. s Brueggemann, p. 49. 6 Philip S. Keane, Christian Ethics and Imagination (New York: Paulist Press, 1984), p. 104. 7 Keane, p. 107. 8 Keane, p. 107. Tourist Your T-shirt's stamped in letters large across your chest: KATMANDU. Your bike is labeled with a hundred road resorts. Your car is dotted round with all your touring triumphs . So, why not take another route today? A low-cost tour to that other inner world inside. Stay quiet by that vast unbounded inner ocean in your mind. Dive, swim and surf. Fly free. Ride high the inner waves of thought and feeling endlessly exhilarated, or delve into the dark and secret untrod cavern of your soul. Discover now the mystery of creation; confront the abyss unending of your own nothing-self becoming. And meet in that remote mysterious empty temple, far inside, your God. Cothrai Gogan CSSP .y~uly-August 199Y 507 CATHERINE M. HARMER Retirement's Wisdom Years One of the recurring discussions at assemblies and chap-ters of religious revolves around the rising median age, the need to care for our elderly, and more subtly the growing costs of such caring. The issue is an important one in that most United States congregations have median ages over sixty. An examination of congregational budgets shows that increasingly large amounts of money are dedicated to the care of the elderly. The National Conference of Catholic Bishops has been sponsor-ing a special collection for aging religious that people contribute to with great generosity, but it covers only a small part of the actual costs. A visit to the motherhouse of almost any group of sisters will show that a large part of what was housing for novices in the past is now dedicated to the aging members. Some motherhouses have very fine infirmaries for the sick elderly. There is no question that religious leaders are making great efforts to provide the best they can for their members through all stages of life. I would like, however, to examine two aspects of that effort. The first has to do with the nursing-home care that many of the sick elderly need. The second has to do with the concept of retirement for religious and the way it has been handled over the last twenty years or so. The Sick Elderly The first topic is the simpler one and will get less treatment in this article. In the care of our sick elderly, the emphasis has Catherine M. Harmer MMS wrote "Election: A Call to Service" for our September-October 1994 issue. Her address is Medical Mission Sisters; 300 W. Wellens Street; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19120. 508 Review for Religious been changed from the simple caring for them "at home" that was possible when the median age was much lower and the num-ber of elderly religious was either smaller or relatively smaller. When that was the case, at the motherhouse a small staff assisted by novices and postulants could care for them in much the same way that a family could take care of any sick or elderly member of it. Gradually, as the numbers increased and the sick elderly lived longer, a more professional model, that of the nursing home, became more common. As this was happen-ing, the percentage of vigorously active members was decreasing. At present, in most of the retirement facilities I have visited over the years, the staff is largely lay with very few religious among them. In some very large congrega-tions, with several hundred sick elderly members, the facilities com-pare well with any licensed nursing home, often providing much better care and definitely offering more loving care than in the average nurs-ing home for the laity. In smaller congregations the attempt to pro-vide quality nursing care results in Some small congregations in a given area are studying the feasibility of establishing an intercon gregational nursing home. A few religious leaders are looking at ways to provide for their members in general nursing homes in their area. small facilities that are as expensive to maintain as considerably larger ones would be. In some cases a nursing staff (composed mainly of nurse aides) that could care for thirty patients is taking care of ten or fifteen, sometimes fewer. As congregations face the heavy financial drain, there is a movement toward collaboration among the congregations in a geographic area. This is a positive development that could lead to good care for the religious and lower financial costs. Some groups that have larger facilities are opening them to other congrega-tions. Some small congregations in a given area are studying the feasibility of establishing an intercongregational nursing home. A few religious leaders are looking at ways to provide for their mem-bers in general nursing homes in their area. All of these steps are difficult. Often the members of a con-gregation are very unwilling to have their elderly cared for away .~dy-August 199Y 509 Harmer ¯ Retirement's Wisdom Years from their own motherhouse. At times the elderly themselves feel that they are being mistreated by being separated from their tra-ditional homes. Only a few consider it a good thing to be in a nursing home of mixed patients, men and women, religious and lay, in spite of the pastoral potential of such a model. The efforts of leaders and the combined efforts of congrega-tions to deal with both the physical realities and the psychologi-cal and religious values are important ones. Key for the leaders will be understanding, patience, and collaborative stances. For the members, those who are elderly and those who are not, it is important to develop an acceptance of the reality they face and a willingness to keep their last days congruent with what has gone before. I suggest that this requires ongoing education for every-one and a spirituality that looks at one's last days as continuous with the dedication of earlier days. Religious Retirement In our efforts to prepare one another for "retirement," we may have bought into a model that was emerging after World War II and continues to develop in terms of what aging and retir-ing are all about. This brings me to the second topic, the one which will constitute the major portion of this article. It is all the more important because it bears upon the first as well. It has to do with how we are viewing retirement. I believe that we have accepted a way of looking at retirement which is increasingly being challenged in the population at large and that we need to study it in the light of what our entire religious life is about. Several aspects of this model of retirement raise new questions. The current model in the United States assumes that people will retire at sixty-five if not earlier. When Social Security became a reality in the 1930s, life expectancy was lower, many people did hard physical labor and had relatively poor nutritional histories, and their hope was simply that at retirement they could stop working without worry about becoming dependent on their chil-dren or "ending up in the poorhouse." Today life expectancy is much higher, and the reality is that many people stay active, healthy, and alert for twenty years and longer after they retire. A second aspect, then, is that retirement is a time of not work-ing and, instead, spending one's time and energy at play of one sort or another. (Married women often have less of the play since 510 Review for Religious they are still expected to do the work of keeping up the home.) A problem here is that many retired people soon become bored with the play aspect. Some move toward part-time jobs or vol-unteer work, while others become captives of the television or the endless bingo games of our less creative senior centers. A third aspect of the current model that deserves examina-tion is the tendency to move away from the place where most of life was spent. This sometimes has to do with seeking a warmer climate or more economical housing. The result is that, as peo-ple age, they are out of regular con-tact with their family and must develop new friends. Even the elderly who manage well on their own in their original home are often under pressure from relatives and friends to find a smaller place-- which often takes them away from the community in which they have close ties and away from some sig-nificant activities that they could otherwise keep up. People are living longer while remaining physically and mentally vigorous, and yet the model of retirement continues to treat them as if they cannot do anything but play. What is being lost is the opportunity for them to contribute to family, to friends, to com-munity, in a different way than during their working years, but a way that is significant and needed. What is being lost to society at large is the accumulated wisdom of the elderly, a loss our soci-ety cannot afford. It would be a shame for religious congregations to follow the national model for retirement too closely. While few if any con-gregations have fixed ages of retirement from major involvement in ministries, there has been a subtle movement over the last few decades to start "thinking about retirement" while the religious are in their fifties. Without necessarily meaning to do so, this has too frequently led to a mentality that places retiring somewhere in the sixties, even if there is no real reason to do so. I have vis-ited motherhouses where some of the sisters appear to have retired Although the idea that play is the major activity of the retired has not taken hold so completely in religious congregations, what has developed is a sense that this is my time to do with as I wish. J-uly-dugust 199Y 511 Harmer ¯ Retirement's Wisdom Years far too soon and are desperate for some way to be involved in ministry. Mthough the idea that play is the major activity of the retired has not taken hold so completely in religious congregations, what has developed is a sense that this is my time to do with as I wish. Especially in motherhouses, which tend to be out in the country or relatively isolated, this leads to a combination of small tasks around the motherhouse, activities that mimic the senior citizens' centers, and some increased emphasis on the spiritual life without much attention to how that might be different at this stage of life. Often when I talk with the retired themselves I find a deep longing for two things: to find some meaningful part-time min-istry and to explore what spiritual life means at this latter stage of life. When retirement takes place at a motherhouse, you find the same isolation from community that the lay elderly experience who move to Florida. While most religious have lived and worked in a number of places, there was always the parish, the school or hospital, sometimes the neighborhood, as a framework for involve-ment and support. This is now gone, and the beautiful grounds of the motherhouse, the special facilities, and sometimes the large numbers (for those, notably, who were used to smaller groups) are no substitute for what has been lost. Religious do not, on the whole, do a lot of complaining, but the sense of loss is often heard in the undertones of a conversation. We hear ". everything is so nice here., everyone is so kind . . . but."--and the long-ing is very real. I am increasingly convinced that elderly religious should, whenever possible, have the same choices as the younger members. This stage of life is important, and it needs to be rec-ognized as such. In the remainder of this article, I want to address two impor-tant things about aging and retirement for religious: (1) the sec-ond half of life as a time of deepening wisdom and individuation, a time for a greater spirituality to emerge, and (2) the role of elderly religious in continuing the mission of Jesus. For many ideas here, it will be evident that I am indebted to Carl Jung, but also to a fascinating book by Jane R. Pr~tat on the croning years (1994). As I read her book, I found myself dwelling on several ideas: that our society wastes the wisdom of the elderly at a time when we need it most; that aging is not just something that hap-pens, but a part of the whole picture of life; and that much of 512 Review for Religious what is wrong in contemporary ways of looking at and dealing with aging in general are found also in regard to aging among religious, especially in how we treat the reality we call "retire-ment." The Second Half of Life Some years ago a large number of articles, workshops, and counseling programs focused on a particular transition seen as noteworthy, the "mid-life crisis." This concept seems, from a Jungian point of view, relevant to the developmental model's tran-sition from the first to the second half of life. This division into two halves does not have a chronological point, just ~s mid-life cannot be tied to a specific number of years of life. The first half of life is devoted to infancy, childhood, and young adulthood inso-far as these parts of life have to do with coming to know the world around ourselves, coming to an understanding of who we are as separate from our parents, learning, developing a working career, and moving to success within that career. At the midpoint, we might wake up in the morning and ask: Is this all there is to life? How we answer that question may indicate if the second half of life is about to begin. If the answer is "Yes, this is it!" we could spend the rest of our life simply as a continuation of the first half until death. If the answer is "No, there is something more!" we could enter into the second half of life. In the second half of life, the tasks shift to integration of the parts that have been separated during the first half, the move-ment toward individuation, coming to know ourselves in a dif-ferent way, and the decision to move toward wisdom. The "wise old man" and "wise old woman" archetypes begin to emerge dur-ing the early part of this second half of life. I believe that many people make the shift to the second half of life without ever hear-ing about Jung or his developmental theories. They recognize that something is changing in themselves, and they move with those changes. Some of the "play" elements of retirement--the programs for senior citizens that involve bingo, excursions, and hobbies--could be considered a return to an early part of the first half of lifel Now that we have done our work, earned our pension, we can again become the children whose task is play. For people with a limited field of interests, this may mean watching television for ffuly-August 1995 513 Harmer ¯ Retirement's Wisdom Years As we age; there is often a longing for a deeper understanding, a greater closeness to God. It is a normal part of the second half of life. long hours of the day and night. This is to remain in the first half of life, possibly until death, without ever taking the step into the second half. For other people, the leisure activities are part of their under-standing of where they are in terms of age, but other aspects also begin to emerge. Spending time with their children and grand-children can be a way of being the elder who is communicating the lore and the wisdom of life. This is a second-half activity and one much needed in today's culture, in which single-parent families and families with both parents working are becoming the norm. Contact with the older generation, with grandparents, . uncles, and aunts, which for long years was the norm, now is the excep-tion in many families. Wisdom also has to do with com-ing to a deeper knowledge of God, a greater and deeper integration of the spiritual life. For many people, life has been so busy, so full of duties, that the spiritual life was relegated to a set of rituals honored on a daily, weekly, or yearly basis. As we age, there is often a longing for a deeper understanding, a greater closeness to God. It is a normal part of the second half of life. In some cases it is connected with daily Mass for people who during their working years were quite con-tent with the Sunday Mass; it may mean a return to some of the religious practices of childhood; sometimes it is :a search for deeper intimacy with God. This longing belongs to the wisdom quest of this second stage. Religious, hopefully, have not stinted on their attention to the spiritual and to God's presence all through the active first half of their life. Yet the sense that the latter half of life has some-thing special to offer is found among them as well. One cannot deny, though, that some religious at this stage seem to put i:he haain emphasis on play. Their way of playing may be different, but it is still play and may involve television, novel reading, trips to the casino with the senior citizens' group, and considerable family visiting. 514 Review for Religious As a country we have to explore how to make the wisdom of the elders available to our children and to our busy adults. In the extended family of the past, this happened very simply. At one time in my childhood, I went every Friday after school to my grandparents' home so that on Saturday morning I could help .my grandmother with some of the cleaning she found difficult to do. What I remember most is conversations after supper on Friday with my grandfather, who told me the stories of his youth when he was an organizer of the unions in the steel mills of Pittsburgh. I also remember listening to music on the radio, and all three of us reading our separate books or magazines. Elderly religious off in motherhouses and retirement centers lose their easy contact with yoilnger religious, lose casual opportunities to share their wisdom with them, just as grandparents nowadays are often in other states where spending time with their grandchildren is no longer 'possible. In some motherhouses there are now prayer centers and renewal centers that give workshops and courses for sisters and lay people who are interested. At one point I had a constant flow of their catalogues coming across my desk. Fine as many of these centers are, I rarely saw anything that addressed the need for exploring the spirituality of the latter half of life, of the retirement years. Yet in those same houses I often met older sisters who longed for scripture study, for prayer assistance, for some way of understanding and developing the spirit life for this special part of their earthly sojourn. Some Strategies for the Second Half of Life It seems to me, then, that there are two things leadership would do well to do~ (1)to make it possible for elderly religious (granted their varying degrees of diminished energy) to continue to be involved in meaningful ministries that connect with the congregation's charism and mission and (2) to make conscious efforts to help the elderly religious move through the integrative work of the second half of their life in a way that is just as appro-priate as the novitiate training was for the first half. ., I live in a parish at present where more than half of the sis-ters in the local convent are well into the second half of their life and thus are no longer able to be involved full-time in the min-istries of their congregation. The congregation is a teaching one, jg~uly-August 1995 515 Harmer ¯ Retirement's Wisdom Years staffing many parish and,diocesan schools. A few of the sisters teach in the parish school, others commute to diocesan high schools, and the older sisters are engaged in time,limited but very vital ministries, These include teaching and tutoring in the adult literacy center, tutoring children from the grade school, and vis-iting elderly shut-ins 'in the neighborhood. None of these are full-time involvements. In some cases the sisters go to the school, in others the students come to them in the convent. Whenever I meet with these women, I am struck by the joy and peace that are obvious in them. Not everyone can be placed in a parish convent. Some of our elderly need to be in places like motherhouses where their greater physical needs can be provided for. It is sometimes possible to bring ministries to these motherhouses and at the same time pro-vide a wonderful service to others. I have been to motherhouses where there was day care for children in some parts of the build-ing and day care for ~he elderly in other parts. Two wonderful things happened there daily. The children and the elderly spent some time together every day, and both benefited by the experi-ence. The staff of both facilities had "assistants" from among the retired sisters who, like the women in my parish, could not work full-time, but could be counted on for blocks of time on .a regu-lar basis to help with both groups of day-care clients. o To keep our religious involved as long as possible has another imp.ortant benefit. Most o£ the research on the aging process shows that, if people stay physically and mentally active, they stay healthy longer and age more slowly. We have wonderful examples of very elderly people maintaining their mental and physical capacities long past the expected time and making contributions to art, 'literature,. and the commonweal. Even more important, this is a time when .religious can begin to share the wisdom that has come to them with age, experience, and deep reflection on the meaning of life. This is a wisdom that is very much needed in our culture, a wisdom that too often the children and young peo-ple do.not find around them. Religious can become, in~ a very real way, the grandparent figures ifi their parishes, neighborhoods, and institutions. This is the wisdom of experience joined with reflec-tion upon that experience. 0 The second thing needing attention from leadership is the effort to help religious .use their latter years creatively in order to move toward the union with God that has been such a part of our 516 Review for Religious thinking throughout life. Many of the forms of prayer and spiri-tuality that are helpful to members of active religious congrega-tions during their early and middle years are apostolically oriented. Appropriately, the religious appreciate seeing a close connection between their ministry and their spirituality. The inner life and the outer life are integrated, ideally, in a rich and vibrant way. Changes take place as religious move through the early years of the second half of life. Spending less time and energy in direct apostolic efforts, they have more time for more leisurely ways of praying. They are ready for the next stage of devel-opment of their inner life. Their focus at this stage is somewhat different from that of their early and middle years. It has within it many of the same elements, but also some new ones. In this stage the elderly may desire to recall or renew some of the things they learned in earlier years, but did not have time to savor and assim-ilate. Frequently they speak of their desire for scripture classes, for prayer workshops. These can be useful, but they need to be focused clearly and carefully on the latter years. Now the emphasis is not on quantities of information, but rather on depth, on quiet composure and integration within each individual's inner reality. The wisdom years are the time when the. "wise old woman" and "wise old man" archetypes come to the fore. While the wis-dom can be for oneself, it is even more for others. At this stage there is not likely to be any necessity to go out and preach or teach, but there should be a simple and peaceful realization that the wisdom being garnered is also for others. This is why it is important during these years: for religious to have two areas of concern: one for the continuing development of the wisdom that has been growing in them over the years, and the other for shar-ing that wisdom, very simply and directly, with others. As religious move along through this final stage of life, it is essential that they have the assistance they need to foster the growth of their inner life, to be more open to wisdom, and that they have opportunity to share it with others. Thus, the ending of Most of the research on the aging process shows that, if people stay physically and mentally active, they stay healthy longer and age more slowly. ~uly-August 199Y 517 Harmer ¯ Retirement's Wisdom Years life can be as full and as rich spiritually as any of the earlier stages, and it can be lived out in a truly mission-centered way. This will enrich the lives of the elderly religious themselves, but also of those who are yearning for that wisdom and do not yet know where to find it. It will bring a fullness to the lives of the "retired" and of those around them. It will be a far happier period than one given to play, television, and various excursions. Religious have frequently been the pacesetters in ministry. Perhaps it is time for the "retired" religious to begin to model to other retirees a richer, fuller, and more outwardly directed wisdom retirement. References Johnston, Charles M. Necessary Wisdom: Meeting the Challenge of a New Cultural Maturity. Seattle: ICD Press, 1991. Pr~tat, Jane R. Coming to Age: The Croning Years and Late-Life Transformations. Toronto: Inner City Books, 1994. Exposition Bless you, caress you~ enfold and possess you. Blessed by you, caressed by you, enfolded within you. Possessed. Chris Mannion FMS 518 Review for Religious TAD DUNNE The Enneagram Since the. early 1970s, religious educators, spiritual men-tors, retreat directors, and, most recently, management trainers have been talking about the "enneagram." 1 The theory proposes that each person is hooked by one of nine psychological compulsions--similar to the seven "capital" sins in classical Christian literature? Dozens of authors. and lecturers nowadays are teaching the theory to help people discover which of the nine compulsions is theirs and bow to accomplish their psychological liberation from it. The nine types are often referred to in caricatures: the Perfectionist, the Helper, ~he Status Seeker, the Sensitive Artist, the Observer, the Accuser, the Planner, the Bully, and the Slug.3 To edch of these descriptions, enneagram teachers attach longer descriptions of phobias, ambitions, expectations, learning style, sexual dynamics, management style, virtues, prides, blind spots, fixations, senses of time, and so on. The r~lations among the com-pulsions are represented by a circle whose circumference is numbered, at nine equidistant points. Within the circle is a triangle drawn from points three to six to nine. Also within the circle is a folded hexagon drawn through the Tad Dunne is an adjunct professor of medical ethics at Marygrove College, Detroit, and a management consultant for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan. He has published Spiritual Mentoring (HarperSanFrancisco) and Lonergan and Spirituality (Loyola University Press). He may be addressed at 2923 Woodslee; Royal Oak, Michigan 48073. guidance July-August 199Y 519 Dunne ¯ The Enneagram cycle 1-4-2-8-5-7-1. This strange figure has become the logo of the enneagram system. Enneagram and Myers-Briggs People often compare the enneagram to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, which classifies sixteen personality types accord-ing to one's preference for ways of noticing experience and mak-ing decisions. The chief difference between them is that the Myers-Briggs instrument indicates personal preferences, all of which are psychologically normal, while the enneagram indicates pathologies. That is, in the Myers-Briggs'all the types are healthy, while in the enneagram all the types are sick. So the Myers-Briggs is useful for accommodating one's own thinking style with col-laborators'; it helps groups identify the preferences for ways of learning and evaluating that exist,among their members and to deploy their relative .strengths accordingly. The enneagram, in contrast, is useful for identifying neuroses, mostly in oneself. The Myers-Briggs indicator, rooted in Jungian psychology, carries a positive attitude toward human consciousness, whereas the ennea-gram, rooted partly in Freudian psychology, takes a more suspi-cious stand. Few psyqhologists, however, rely on either tool for diagnostic purposes, because of an absence of empirical studies that correlate with validated' tests. Among other helping professionals, the Myers-Briggs indi-cator enjoys a wider and less controversial reputation than the enneagram. The sixteen preferences are easily understood; one can readily find Jung's comments on people's preferences between extraversion and introversion, between sensate observation and intuition, and between thinking and feeling.4 The enneagram, in contrast, has sources shrouded in arcane knowledge from a cor-ner of the Sufi tradition unknown to most Sufis and from George Ivanovich Gurdjieff, a self-styled visionary from Russia with dubi-ous credentials. The many enneagram books and tapes that have been published in the last decade tend to describe each of the nine compialsions in dogmatic terms--a style of presentation that allures some but alienates others,s 520 Some Positive Aspects of the Enneagram One of the most disturbing claims made by enneagram devo- Review for Religious tees is that these nine types cover the total human range of com-pulsions. Not ten, not eight.6 There are subsets among the nine, but these supposedly cover all possibilities. Devotees base this claim on an unfamiliar model of personality and on the ennea-gram logo, whose origins are untraceable.7 But what is really dis-turbing is that, despite the dogmatic claims of the theory and an absence of experiment-based research, it is difficult to find any-one who fails to fit one of the types. Enneagram fans in the help-ing professions, after years of working with the tool, feel that these nine are just about right. And individuals claim that the enneagram has helped them to reach a deeper understanding of their personal compulsions than any other self-help system has, In other words, this weird, unempirical, upsetting, gnostic, and mys-tifying map of the psyche seems to work. In 1990 Claudio Naranjo MD published Ennea-Type Structures: Self-Analysis for the Seeker. Enneagram students were eager to read what he had to say, since he led the development o_f the the-ory among English-speaking publics. His book, the smallest I know of on the subject, builds the theory on much more solid ground. That book is now out of print, but has been incorpo-rated in Naranjo's new and expanded volume, Character and Neurosis, published in 1994. Naranjo lends legitimacy to the theory in several ways. Unlike most other enneag.ram authors, who tend to pile adjective upon adjective and style upon style to cover the many variations possi-ble within each compulsion, Naranjo,keeps the set of descriptors limited. He wants these descriptors to function the way they func-tion in clinical manuals such as the DSM tli, namely, as a list of discreet phenomena sufficient to distinguish one type from another? By describing diseases with as little overlap as possible, he enables therapists to spot the core problem more quickly and waste less time on manifestations of the problem shared with other compulsions. Naranjo also takes pains to make a distinction between pas-sions (anger, envy, gluttony, and so forth) and the cognitive errors that underlie each passion. These errors amount to uncrit-ical assumptions about what life is like--the kind of oversimpli-fied worldview (and subsequent inappropriate adaptive routines) that Ellis deals with in his rational-emotive therapy.9 By pin-pointing cognitive errors, Naranjo believes, a person can iden-tify and dissolve his or her pet myths in order to rob the j~uly-August 199~ 521 Dunne * The Enneagram corresponding passion of its rationale and thereby weaken its grip on the psyche. Another contribution Naranjo makes to the theory is that he consistently explains the psychological dynamics at work in each compulsion, rather than just stating them. By appealing to his readers' understanding rather than their memory, he invites them to consult the workings of their own psyches to verify the pres-ence of certain subconscious routines. This is no small achievement. The mind is easily content with a notional familiarity with terms. Only under the whip of intel-lectual desire will we push forward to uncover for ourselves some of our psychic gremlins that have never seen the light of con-sciousness. Likewise the heart is easily comforted with comfort-able feelings; it takes an inner discipline, responsible to no one but oneself, to face up to the discomforts of acting responsibly. In my limited experience of teaching the theory, I found that many students find it too difficult to allow the teaching to break through their automatic defenses and deal with their hidden fears and cravings. The enneagram doctrine just feeds a ravenous compul-sion. So the Status Seeker uses the enneagram to advance her own reputation. The Observer uses it to gather yet further infor-mation before he ventiares out into the world. And so on. Enneagram work is particularly difficult for teachers. They are tempted to devour the lore with teaching in mind, not learn-ing. The work, however, is for people on a personal mission-- those who possess enough self-knowledge to know they are learners in the school of self-knowledge. Much of Naranjo's prose envisions a therapeutic setting in which a seeker looks to a men-tor for guidance. The aim of the therapy is not to settle what our basic compulsion is, as if from that point on we know what box we are in. The therapeutic outcome is not to identify a conceptual scheme that sometimes describes our behavior. The desired out-come is to understand specific experiences of being not our best selves, using conceptual schemes as initial indicators of what may be causing the trouble. This is why it is important to hold the enneagram types at arm's length. Although some people seem to fit a single type per-fectly, others seem to fit several types. Are these latter persons-- whose self-deceit eludes everyone's analysis--all the while being victims of only a single compulsion? Or have they really developed several distinct alternatives to authentic living? Practically speak- 522 Review for Religious ing, it makes no difference so long as users rely on the ennea-gram as nothing more than clusters of fixations and behaviors that logically hang together. Their conceptual consistency is merely a model to help people raise relevant questions about the inner events that possess a slippery logic of their own. Besides his economy of description and his reliance on per-sonal understanding, a further significant contribution Naranjo makes to the theory lies in how he has analyzed the connection between psychological difficulties and exis-tential decisions about being human. Going beyond Oscar Ichazo, from whom he first learned the theory, as well as beyond the people who had already published his enneagram material, Naranjo bases each psychological dynamic in a fundamental spiritual crisis he calls "ontic obscuration," which is a kind of a deafness to our inner drives to be authentic persons. He proposes that, just as certain cognitive errors under' lie each passion, so certain existential fail-ures underlie each cognitive error. This is significant because it puts the focus directly on the inner work of being fully human. Other authors settle for cate-gorizing people by behavior patterns or look to childhood trau-mas to explain present weirdness--the kinds of analyses commonly found in popular psychology. Indeed, popular psychology usually lacks the words and ideas with which to reflect on that innermost work of authenticity. But, by paying direct attention to "ontic obscuration," individuals can discover that a major driver behind their compulsive responses lies in how seriously they take those quiet impulses to be fully human or else how consistently they have avoided the inner work involved in staying human. This "ontic obscuration" underlies each compulsion in its own manner. The Slug stands at the center, having thoroughly obscured inner voices about how to be one's truest self. The Bully and the Perfectionist hear the voices dimly, but respond through a focus on externals, especially through various forms of anger they feel because things are not what they should be. The Helper, the Status Seeker, and the Sensitive Artist hear the voices, but they divert their desire to become fully human persons into Enneagram work is particularly difficult for teachers. They are tempted to devour the lore with teaching in mind, not learning. ~uly-Augtwt 199Y 523 Dunne ¯ The Enneag'ram becoming just persons whose image carries clout in the lives of o.thers. The Planner, the Accuser, and the Observer also hear the voiceS, but they divert a fear of not becoming fully human into strategies designed to protect the little bits of personhood they believe they possess.l° ¯ Naranjo refers to this approach as his "Nasruddin" theory. The story goes that this mullah was crawling around in an alley near a marketplace, searching for the key to his house. A friend joined in the search and, after finding nothing, asked the mul-lah, "Are you sure you lost the key around here?" The mullah responded, "No, I lost it at home." The friend naturally asked, "Then why are you looking for the key here?" The mullah replied, "The light is much better here." 1, The point is that we often look for the key to our house out under the sun, where everything seems clear. But the key is in the house, an~l the house is dark. The Existential Questign: How Should I Be? For all the benefits ofNaranjo's "ontic obscuration," he does not explain in precise terms what being human involves; he set-tles for a description of some effects of"obscuration." For exam-ple, "loss of a sense of I-am-ness" and "something missing inside.''12 At times he presumes that deep down people really know the experience of "ontic obscuration." At other times he claims that the obscuration itself prevents people from realizing that any kind of obscuration has occurred. So, while it is appro-priate for him to recommend that the seeker find a mentor to help recognize a compulsion, the theory would benefit also from a positive understanding of just what it is that "ontic obscura-tion" obscures. To uncover this prize, we need to reflect on how being human happens to be obscured ifi the first place. Most psychologists agree that the intellect of children develops not only in the amount of information they learn but, more significantly, in whether or not they learn certain higher-level intellectual skills for understanding their experiences. So Naranjo's "ontic obscura-tion'? indicates, not a breakdown in mental development, but rather an unfinished development. It is not a matter of having obscured what once was clear; it is a matter of having been born blind and gradually learning how to see. 524 Review for Religious The developmental problem is how to move from a world of images, behaviors, symbols, and external sensations to the larger world of meaning and values. As children we were able to pose questions about being human only by using images. Should I be pushy? Compliant? Generous? Teacherly? Observant? Like a lion? A turtle? A bird? A monkey? Early successful functioning of one of these styles sets up a habit and provides evidence that the world around us must be of such and such a nature--the one that matches our chosen strategy. To the Bully, then, the world is dog-eat- dog; to the Accuser, the world is ridden with crooks. We build up a behavioral style and support it with a cognitive belief in a par-ticular strategy like one of those described in .the enneagram: being correct, being related, being impressive, being the victim, being retentive, being wary, being pleasing, being pugnacious, or being deaf. We become capable of noticing our compulsions as such only later, when we learn that proper use of our minds and hearts is more important than proper behavior and that intelligent analy-sis and reasonable judgment put us in touch with the real world far better than myths and symbols can. Only p~ople who have learned to think about inner acts of meaning can make a statement such as "There I go again" as they catch on to unreal thinking and feeling. ~ .~ This learning represents a major jump in thinking skills. A person discovers that the world is not just "already out there.''Is The real world is also the invisible world made up of the acts of meaning that occur in people's minds and hearts: the agreements, the plans, the guiding ideas, the reigning values, the loyalties, the spites, the memories, the laws, and the internalized language of the place. Former precepts such as Be corre'ct~ Be connected, Be suc-cessful, and Be the martyr were established in the mind of a~child who had no alternative but to think with pictures and symbols. Bht, in the world of meaning and values, learning how to be human ought to transcend these image-based precepts and adopt precepts based on the functions of the mind and heart. Bernard Lonergan, the late Canadian philosopher whose Insight and Method in Theology have influenced many practitioners in the human and natural sciences, has identified five such func-tion- based precepts. They are: Be attentive, Be intelligent, Be reasonable, Be responsible, Be in love.'4 These voices are in all of us. They are active long before we notice them as distinct July-August 199Y 525 Dunne ¯ The Enneagram impuls.es. Although they still escape the notice of many psychol-ogists as being the most fundamental impulses that make us fully human, they are the living source of our ability to notice, under-stand, realize, take responsibility, and love, For Lonergan, these five precepts support a highly-structured method for the human sciences. But, for people seeking to under-stand their inner compulsions, they can also provide a normal way of referring to the task of being fully human. They can rep-resent the very operations that "ontic obscuration" obscures. These are the events that promise to bring a person to what Naranjo, in a more descriptive and less precise mode, calls "the integrated wholeness of one's experience"; "true aliveness, a sense of existing, a plenitude"; "finding value in the present and the actual.''ts These function-based ~precepts not only transcend image-based precepts; they also enable people to transcend who they are and to rise toward being who they are to be. Lonergan refers to these precepts as "the transcendental precepts." A Therapy of Love The question of how we should be does not end there. While people might rely on a diagnostic tool such as the enneagram to recognize self-defeating thoughts before they become actions, they also need a therapy to help recognize self-transcending thoughts and feelings. This means learning firsthand the differ-ence between the transcendental precepts and their opposites: between being attentive and being oblivious, being intelligent and being stupid, being reasonable and being silly, being respon-sible and being irresponsible, and being loving and being hateful. While anyone can recognize abstractly the contrast between these words, the right-hand members of the pairs conspire quite suc-cessfully to obscure their own functioning right behind our eyes. Fortunately, this conspiracy can be caught in the act. By know-ingly paying attention to the transcendental precepts, we can be more attentive to inner experience. We can be more intelligent about how certain cognitive errors and existential decisions sup-port our compulsions. We can be more reasonable as we admit the truth of how thoroughly our fixation may have dominated our psyches. We can be more responsible in accepting guilt that belongs to us, in shunning guilt that is unreasonable, and in sup-pressing what compulsions we can as they arise. Most wisely, we 526 Review for Religious can let our love for others take the lead more often, including and especially our love for God. When a person falls in love, he or she suddenly sees the exter-nal world as more beautiful, more full of potential, more worthy of respect and care. What has occurred, though, is not a change in the external world one views; it is a self-transcending change in the viewer. Being in love heals much of ~' what was crippled in the other four levels of the person's self-transcendence. That is, being in love gives courage to respon-sibility, realism to reason, insight to intel-ligence, and acumen to attention. The person has risen above the imprisoned self and realized something of the profound marvels of life, nature, and the friendly character of the universe. Love's healing power is evident in the love between friends, within a family, and among fellow citizens and members of a group. It is also evident in the love of God. People who have undergone a religious conversion, whether in a sudden inner revolution or a gradual takeover, experience three new powers. The~y see goodness where the unconverted see only evil. They feel a power to reach out to others at a higher risk to themselves than self-protecting reason would allow. And, after the worst setbacks, they find themselves soon on their feet, mys-teriously alive and submissive to the impulse to love again26 More can be said about the healing effects of religious love, but this milch illustrates how an analysis of our self-transcending acts clar-ifibs'what "being human" means and reveals the available powers that "o'ntic obscuration" obscures. Further analysis along these lines would complement any instance of healing with a thera-peutic theory consistent with religious love. Notice especially how the addition of this account of self-transcendence avoids the typi~cal trap of self-help psychologies. It makes clear that people do not help themselves all by them-selves. When i't is the self that needs help, "self-help" is a con-tradiction in terms. Genuine help must be imported. We rely on each other and we rely on God. In order to let go of our worries that our failures will be someh6w held against us, we rely on the fact that we are loved. Being in love gives courage to responsibility, realism to reason, insight to intelligence, and acumen to attention. Ju~-August199y 527 Dunne ¯ The Enneagram The work of making all this real for oneself is long and hard. It might go something like this: Suppose I typically play the Sensitive Artist, envious of the personas of others and absorbing my injuries in quiet melancholy. I should first keep a diary to log the times I notice my compulsion at work, in order to grow in the habit of noticing, t~nderstanding~ and gradually realizing how precisely my frustrated desire to be a notable person works. (Naranjo suggests that this work on autobiography may take three or four months.) ~7 At the same time, as I grow in self-realization, I should grow in self-responsibility. When I hear the inner voice saying "Be sensitive, be like so-and-so," I should say "Shut up!" and then bend an ear to the quieter voices of authenticity whis-pering, "Just be attentive, intelligent, reasonable, responsible, and in love. Being that is a quite good enough way to be your best." Then, alongside the inner work of self-reflection, I should let myself connect with others. Although Naranjo believes that his book can help a person avoid high-minded and patronizing therapists, I find it hard to imagine people really benefiting from it unless they talk about this inner work with others. Being con-nected to others means obeying the transcendental precept to Be in love. That means letting my love for others be the light that revdals what is truly worth doing, rather than mere consistency or some private ethical principle. Because genuine love heals irre-sponsibility, silliness, stupidity, and inattention, the test of genuine love will be just that: Does it make me more responsible, more ready to face truth, more functionally intelligent, more on the lookout for what really counts? If it does not, it is not love. The inner work also means letting myself be loved. For most of us, with our distorted self-images, this means facing the fact that despite our faults, despite the injuries we have caused others, the person who claims to love us is telling the truth. It means dropping the flimsy defense that "you don't really know me" and admitting that the point is not whether we are fully known, but whether we are appreciated and valued for ourselves. It means realizing that we will never be perfect, that we do not need to expend that much energy defending ourselves, that we do not even need to "fix" ourselves through diligent self-therapy. Unless we rely on God and other people for forgiveness, tolerance, and patience, no pathology or self-help therapy will work. This is only an example of finding our way home. Different people will find different paths. But at least knowing what being 528 Review.for Religious human is about shows us what our home looks like. Gradually-- never fully being, but always becoming, human--we will have returned. We can come in and go out as we please. We will have found our home's key: the house is no longer dark. Notes ~ Enneagram, coined from Greek, means "ninefold marking." 2 Capital means that the sins are principal or "head" (capita) sins from which people's other sins flow. Althofigh the enneagram seems to have arisen independently of the Christian tradition, seven of its compulsions match the seven capital sins. The remaining two are bogus morality (Accuser) and bogus success (Status Seeker). 3 No two authors agree on these generic names, but there is general agreement about the descriptions of each type~ Devotees often refer just to the number, as in "She's a raving Two!" (a Helper). 4 See C.G. Jung, Paychological Types (New York: Harcourt, Brace, and Co., 1926), chap. 10. Isabel Briggs Myers and her mother, Katharine C. Briggs, developed the fourth pair of preferences, judging and perceiv-ing, based on further observations made byJung. Note that they realize that its usefulness applies mainly to the young. See Isabel Briggs Myers, Introduction to Type (Gainesville, Florida: Center for Publications' of Psychological Types, 1962), p. 8. s The works on which I have based my remarks are: Maria Beesing et al., The Enneagram: A Journey of Self Discovery (Denville: Dimension Books, 1984); Kathleen Hurley and Theodore Dobson, What's My Type? Use the Enneagram and My Best Self (HarperSanFrancisco, 1991 and 1993); Claudio Naranjo, Ennea-Type Structures: Self-Analysis for the Seeker and Character and Neurosis: An Integrative View (Nevada City: Gateways, 1990 and 1994); Helen Pahner, The Enneagram (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1988); Don Richard Riso, Personality Types: Using the Enneagram for Self-Discovery (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987). I have also relied on various notes taken by students participating in workshops given by Naranjo and others who derive the substance of their doctrine from him. 6 An exception'is Hurley and Dobson, My Best Self, identifying two distinct compulsions in both the Status Seeker and the Accuser, making a total of eleven compulsions. In .any case, there are no enneagram the-orists I know of who have dealt with the fundamental problem of how to set a limit to types. If there is such a limit, then the types will have to be defined by a set of psychological conditions that are limited and verifiable. For example, Karen Horney's division of three reactions to conflict (against people, toward people, away from people) might be matched against three I-world comparisons (bigger than, equal to, smaller than) to generate exactly nine types. Or against the trio Denial, Overconfidence, Underconfidence. The trio Ignorance, Craving, and Fear seems to under-lie Naranjo's thinking. There are many possibilities. This kind of work will 3~ly-August 1995 529 Dunne ¯ The Enneagram be necessary if the professional psychological community is ever to give credence to the theory and, more to the point, if the theory is ever to be shown to explain the actual range of human compulsions. 7 Gurdjieff, the teacher of this model of personality, claims to have discovered the enneagram in the Sufi tradition, but there is little evi-dence in Sufism of any of the heavy interpretative overlay that it now carries. Gurdjieff's confidence in the diagram seems based on numerol-ogy rather than experiment, and he expected that the diagram could rep-resent any human or natural process. 8 Diagnostic and Stat#tical Manual of Mental Disorders III (Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Association, 1987). 0 9 See Albert Ellis, Reason and Emotion in Psychotherapy (New York: Lyle Stuart, 1963), chap. 3, "Irrational Ideas Which Cause and Sustain Emotional Disturbances," pp, 60-88. l0 The reader should note inconsistencies in the enneagram designs. In Naranjo's Character and Neurosis, pp. 199 and 245, and throughout his Ennea-Type Structures, the triangle arrows run clockwise. Everywhere else in Character and Neurosis, they run counterclockwise. tt Naranjo, Ennea-Type Structures, pp. xix-xx, and Character and Neurosis, p 36. Hereafter page references will be to Ennea-Type Structures, with corresponding references to Character and Neurosis in italics. ~2 See pp. 30/61 and 63/219. He also describes ontic obscuration as: "obscuration . . . of the natural, original, and truest support for one's sense of personal value" (45/196); "the universal pain of fallen con-sciousness, beyond type-bound characteristics" (45/196); "lack of ground-ingin being" (107/197); and "loss of wholeness and sense of being" (138/150). o 13 Walter Burghardt SJ notes that John Courtney Murray relies on this distinction to clarify how weak the old Catholic reliance on dogma-tism really was. See "The Richness of a Resource," in A Spirituality for Contemporary Life, ed. David L. Fleming SJ (St. Louis: Review for Religious, 1991). Murray may well have relied on Lonergan's Insight (New York: Philosophical Library, 1958) for this notion (for which, see real in its index). 14 See Method in Theology (New York: Herder and Herder, 1972), pp. 53, 55, and passim. I have developed these notions more at length in Lonergan and Spirituality (Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1985) and Spiritual Mentoring (HarperSanFrancisco, 199 I). Is Naranjo, pp. 47/197, 92/94, and 125/173. 16 These powers are traditionally called faith, charity, and hope. I have avoided the traditional terms in an effort to avoid conceptualism and to make clear how religious love heals the injured psyche. 17 Naranjo, p. 158/275. 530 Review for Religious MARY WINIFRED Imaging Spiritual Direction Ipn spite of a plethora of spiritual direction programs pur-orting to train those who would be spirithal directors, it remains a fact that gifts of direction are just that--gifts, not learned skills. Spiritual direction involves listening and hearing, discernment, clarity of vision, and assistance in the development of a relationship between an 'individual and God. While learned skills may assist a spiritual director, it is only deep sensitivity devel-oped through years of personal prayer that enables true spiritual direction. It is often easier to say what spiritual direction is not, than to describe what it is. For example, spiritual direction is not psychotherapy; it is not life skills taught by a social worker; it is not catechistic training for specific church membership. " In a pamphlet entitled Spiritual Direction, Henri Nouwen says: "It is of great value to submit our prayer life from time to time to the supervision of a spiritual guide. A spiritual director in this strict sense is not a counselor, a therapist, or an analyst, but a mature fellow Christian to whom we choose to be accountable for our spiritual life and from whom we can expect prayerful guid-ance in our constant struggle to discern God's active presence in our lives, A spiritual director can be called 'soul friend' (Kenneth I2eech) or a" 'spiritual friend' (Tilden Edwards). It is important that he or she practice the disciplines of the Church and the Book and thus become familiar with.the space in which we try to listen to God's voice. The way we relate to our spiritual director depends very much on our needs, our personalities, and external circum-stances. Some people may want to see their spiritual director Mary Winifred CtlS is the Sister-in-Charge of St. Cuthbert's Retreat House; Federal Hill Road; Brewster, New York 10509. ¯ July-August 199Y S31 Winifred ¯ Imaging Spiritual Direction biweekly or monthly, others will find it sufficient to be in touch only when the occasion asks for it. Some people may feel the need for a more extensive sharing with their spiritual director, while others will find seeing him or her once in a while for a few short moments to be sufficient. It is essential that one Christian helps another Christian to enter without fear into the presence of God and there to discern God's call" (8-9). Because the singular aim of spiritual direction is to assist in growth toward God, there are no set guidelines, no conventional measuring sticks, no right or wrong answers, and no concretely attainable goals. While training in prayer and meditation may certainly make one a more articulate spiritual director, neverthe-less spiritual direction remains a vocation unfettered by rules and regulations, by industry standards, or by a financial fee scale. Most spiritual directees practice St. Paul's suggestion in the Letter to the Galatians, "Those who are taught the word must share in all good things with their teacher" (6:6), by making some gift to their directors: homemade bread, flowers from the garden, a book or tape, or some other item; money does not usually enter into a spiritual direction agreement, nor should it. Unlike therapy or counseling, which are professional relationships between a ther-apist or counselor and a client, spiritual direction is a relation-ship of charity and generosity between fellow Christians. Spiritual gifts cannot be purchased; they are not for sale. Three images of the spiritual life may help to indicate ways in which the presence of a director (or mentor or soul friend) may effectively aid us in our growth Godwards. The first image, offered by Thomas H. Green, is :that of a marketplace. The marketplace--or, as Green also labels it, the ldtchen!--is the part of our lives that encompasses a multitude of small, necessary, sometimes tedious tasks which can seem to draw us away from the richness and quiet of our interior lives. "Frequently," Green says, "the demands and frustrations of the apostolate, or of raising a family and earning a living, seem to be merely obstacles to a genuine and deep prayer life. But if I am right in explaining the way the Lord works through these exter-nal activities and events, then we should see them quite differ-ently. Far from being obstacles to our interior growth, they become for us the very sandpaper of our sanctification, at least as important to our growth as what happens in the solitude of for-mal prayer" (121). 532 Review for Religious These are not particularly comfortable thoughts, especially for those of~us who would like to discover a large block of unin-terrupted quiet. Often it is only with the help of a wise spiritual director that we can begin to uncover and acknowledge the wealth of spiritual graces hidden in our routine daily tasks and to see opportunities in what have earlier appeared to be only obstacles. Another, who listens with detached concern, will not only listen to the occasional frustration, tiredness, or boredom in our every-day tasks, but will also hear the voice of God calling to us from what may, on the surface, seem to be 'merely dull routine. As surely as God works in this world, God is also available to us in our work, however .tedious and distracting our marketplace--or kitchen--may feel at times. Another ancient and popular image for the spiritual life is that of a journey or pilgrimage. John Gorsuch describes such a spiri-tual journey as a moving out from a place of assumed comfort, beckoned on by God into the unknown. The image of a journey is particularly apt if considered in its various stages: there is a beginning, with its preparations and planning; the travel itself; and the goal of the journey. In the early stages of beginning a journey, there may be excitement and feverish planning--a guide is helpful here in focusing our attention and helping us to leave behind our unnecessary baggage. I once watched my sister prepar-ing for a backpacking trip: with the advice of an experienced back-packer friend, she was encouraged to take only the essential objects, leaving her backpack light enough to carry and yet stocked with exactly what she would need. But traveling, no matter how well it is planned and prepared, is nevertheless an adventure into the unknown. Often we must stop to ask for directions or other help. In traveling this may be as simple as "Yes, you're on the right road" or "Two more blocks Because the singular aim of spiritual direction is to assist in growth toward God, there are no set guidelines, no conventional measuring sticks, no right or wrong answers, and no concretely attainable goals. July-August 199Y 533 Winifred ¯ Imaging Spiritual Direction and then turn left"; on a spiritual journey, as simple as "Keep lis-tening in your prayer" or "Look in the mirror every morning: you will see a person God loves profoundly." If we are fortunate enough to have a good and reliable guide or director, we are soon back on track. At times, too, the journey's route may seem long and wearisome--turning aside or even giving up altogether may look like the most positive option. Then a wise mentor's word of encouragement may challenge and enliven us to continue with new energy and zeal. And then there is the goal to our journey. Sometimes we are so caught up in the travel itself that we lose sight of the goal. A friend and I once planned to spend a restful week together; iron-ically, we also planned too many sight-seeing activities, with the result that the true goals of the week--to ,rest and enjoy each other's company--were lost. So, on a spiritual journey, it is easy to be distracted by circumstances and surroundings from our true goal of knowing God. We need a wise and discerning director to help us in maintaining a clarity of vision about our goal. A third image is that of epiphany. Adrian van Kaam, from whom I have borrowed this image, describes an epiphany as the "shining forth of eternity in daily people, in often unnoticed events and things" (8). It is an epiphany that comes through in the openness and vulnerability of spiritual direction. Van Kaam goes on to say: "The risen Lord is our life now. Our life must become a hymn of praise to Jesus rising in us . Jesus tells us that the kingdom of God is at hand in each of us. It is already here and now, for we are called to share his resurrection in humanity and history" (65). And surely this is the heart of spiritual direction, that one Christian shares freely with another a word of help, a message of encouragement, a glimpse of eternity. Bibliography Gorsuch, John R An Invitation to the Spiritual Journey. Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1990. Green, Thomas H. Darkness in the Marketplace. Notre Dame: Ave Maria Press, 1981. Nouwen, Henri. Spiritual Direction. Cincinnati: Forward Movement Publications, 1981. Van Kaam, Adrian. The Music of Eternity. Notre Dame: Ave Maria Press, 1990, 534 Review for Religious MARY C. SULLIVAN The Brazier That Is My God: Teresa on True Prayer's Dispositions, Gifts, and Signs It is 2 June 1577. Teresa of Avila is, in effect, under house arrest in the convent of the Discalced Carmelites in Toledo, Spain--a community she founded in 1569.1 She has been on the road for almost ten years, establishing reformed monasteries of Carmelite women and even of Carmelite men committed to the poverty, silence, soli-tude, penance, prayer, and detachment she believes are envisioned in the primitive Rule. But now for the last year she has been ordered to remain in one of her convents (she chooses Toledo) because of political tensions between the Calced and Discalced Carmelites. She is regarded by the Calced as a ringleader who must be kept out of cir-culation. To add to her isolation, on 18 June 1577 the papal nuncio Nicol~is Ormaneto, who has been friendly to the reform, will die, and his successor, Felipe Sega, will come to Spain in August already prejudiced against Teresa and her work. He will later call her "a. restless gadabout woman, disobedient and stubborn, who under the cloak of devotion invented wicked opinions, going about breaking enclosure, contrary to the decree of the Council of Trent and the orders of her superiors, teaching as if she were a doctor, in contempt of the teaching of St. Paul, who com-manded women not to teach."2 Mary C. Sullivan RSM works in the College of Liberal Arts of Rochester Institute of Technology. She may be addressed at Sisters of Mercy; 18 Upton Park; Rochester, New York 14607. heritage j~uly-August 1995 535 Sullivan ¯ The Brazier That Is My God Prologue But now, in early June 1577, during her enforced reclusion, Teresa is in Toledo, writing a book on prayer at the request of her confessor, Jer6nimo Gracifin, a Discalced priest. By the end of July, after one month of work on Las Moradas (The Interior Castle, or The Dwelling Places3), she will be recalled to Avila, where against her own desire she has again been elected prioress of Incarnation, the Carmelite convent she entered as a young woman and from which in 1562 she will found San Jos4, the first convent of the Reform, across town in Avila. But the Carmelite authorities do not want Teresa to be the prioress of Incarnation. They will call for a second vote, and when fifty-four sisters at Incarnation persist in electing Teresa, these sisters will be ex-communicated and denied the sacraments. On 3 December of this same year, John of the Cross, the confessor and spiritual director at Incarnation, will be abducted from Avila at night by Calced friars and taken to the windowless closet cell in the Toledo monastery of the Calced Carmelites where he will remain impris-oned for six months. Simultaneous with all this, the modern form of the Spanish Inquisition is in full swing in Seville, having been operating as a powerful ecclesiastical tribunal for almost a hundred years. The manuscript of Teresa's Life has been in the Inquisition's possession for two years, after being denounced to it by the dis-appointed and vindictive Princess of Eboli.4 In the midst of all this difficulty, most of which deeply dis-tressed her, in the six-month period from 2 June to 29 November 1577 (which will actually amount to only two months of writing time), Teresa will start and complete her masterwork, The Dwelling Places, the treatise on prayer and virtue which more than any other of her writings led Pope Paul VI in 1970 to declare her a doctor of the universal church. Not once in this volume does Teresa refer explicitly to the external affairs which weigh so heavily on her mind and heart, though her letters of this period amply demon-strate her concern, and dismay. Rather, in this magnificent book about a human person's gradually increasing communion with the God dwelling within her, Teresa speaks about the prayer of per-sonal conversion, the prayer of reordering and reordered charity within the human heart. And so The Dwelling Places is a book which may contribute immeasurably to the present-day conversion of the church, of religious life, and of the hearts of individual Christian women and men. 536 Review for Reli

Issue 1.2 of the Review for Religious, 1942. ; A. M. D. G. Review for Religious MARCH 15, 1942 S,~f. Joseph's Titles to Honor ¯ . .Aloysius C. Kemper The Scapular Devotion. : . William A. Donaghy Perfection and +he Religious . Augustine Kl~as LeoJ on the Incarnation . Cyril Vollert Profession of a Dying No,~ice . Adam C. Ellis The S+udy of +he Decalogue ¯ .- . Gerald Kelly Some Recommended Spiritual Books Book Reviews (~ues÷ions Answered Decisions of the Holy See VOLUME I "" "~-':. NUMBER 2 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS ¯ VOLUME' I MARCH 15, 1942 NUMBER 2 CONTENTS SAINT JOSEPH'S TITLES TO RELIGIOUS HONOR Aloysius C. Kemper, S:J . 74 THE SCAPULAR DEVOTION AND THE SABBATINE PRIVILEGE William A. PERFECTION AND THE RELIGIOUS--Augustine Klaas, S.J. 9.4 ANNOUNCEMENT --'The Editors . ¯ . SOME RECOMMENDED SPIRITUAL BOOKS . 105 THE DOCTRINAL LETTER OF LEO I ON THE INCARNATION Cyril Vollert, S.J . 112 PROFESSION OF A NOVICE IN DANGER OF DEATH Adam C. Ellis, S.J . ¯ . 117 PAMPHLET REVIEWS . 122 RELIGIOUS AND. THE STUDY OF THE DECALOGUE Gerald Kelly, S,J . 123 BOOKS RECEIVED . ' 135 BOOK REVIEWS PROGRESS IN DIVINE UNION. By the Reverend Raoul Plus, S.J. 136 COLORED CATHOLICS IN THE UNITED STATES By the Reverend John T. Gillard. S.SIJ. 136 ONE INCH OF SPLENDOR. By Sister Rosalia of Maryknoll . 137- LITURGICAL WORSHIP. By the Reverend J. A. Jungmann, S.J. 138 MARYKNOLL MISSION LETTERS ~ . , . . 140 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 7,. Communion on Holy Thursday . 1,41 8. Obligation of Sponsor in Baptism or Confirmation . 141 9. Separation of Novices and Postulants at Recreation . 142 10. Superior's Right to Read.Mail of Subjects . . . 142 DECISIONS OF THE HOLY SEE OF INTEREST TO RELIGIOUS 143 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, March, 1942. Vol. I. No. 2. Published bi-monthly: January, March, May, July, September, and November, at The College Pre~s, 606 Harrison Street, Tope~ka~ Kansas, by St. Mary's College, St. Marys, Kansas, with ecclesiastical approbation. Application for second class entry pending. Editorial Board: Adam C. Ellis, S.J., G. Augustine Ellard, S.J., Gerald Kelly, S.J. Copyright, 1942, by Adam C. Ellis. Permission is hereby granted for quotations of reasonable length, provided due credit be given this review and the author. Subscription price: 2 dollars a year. Printed in U. S'. A. Saint: Joseph's Titles t:o Religious Honor Aloysius C. Kemper, S.J. THERE is no need at the present day to undertake a § vindication of the honor paid to St. 'joseph, foster-father of our Lord and most chaste spouse of Mary. Devotion to. him has taken so firm a hold on the popular mind, and his cult hag been so repeatedly and unstintingly approved by the Church, that St. ,Joseph stands next to Mary as the Saint °most highly esteemed and honored in the celestial hierar~chy. It is perhaps no vain hope to look for a marked increase in devotion to him and in a more insistent, confident appeal to his mighty intercession in the stress of the actual national and international crisis. St. ,Joseph ~was indeed from time immemorial regarded as eminently a social patron by various groups and religious families, in view of his headship of that singular holy group, the Family of Nazareth.- In 1621 the General Chapter of the Carmelites chose him officially as patron of the whole Reformed Order. Soon after began to appear for the first time the title of Patronage of St. 'jose~ph under which the holy Patriarch was'honored by numerous orders, religious bOdies, kingdoms and states both in the old and new world. It was not until 1847, however, that Plus IX extended the feast of the Patronage to the universal Church. From that papal grant the devotion received a new, vivifying impulse that resulted in a truly phenomenal growth. It was again Pius IX who, during a particularly calamitous period of his pontificate, bethought himself of a new title which had not until then been bestowed on any angel or saint. 'On the feast of the Immaculate Conception, in 1870, the " 74 ST. J,OSEPH'S~ TITLES TO HONOR Holy Father declared St. Joseph Patron of the Universal Church, the proximate motive for this elevatioff, being that "at this most sorrowful time the Church herself is beset by enemies on every side,, and oppressed by grievous cidamities, so that .wicked men imagine that at last the gates of hell are prevailing against her." The immediate occasion, then, for the new title was the urgent crisis of the Church at the moment. But in the same decree a more general motive for the papal action is al!eged: '"On account of this sublime dignity (of foster-father of Jesus) which God conferred on His most faithful servant, the Church has always most highly honored and lauded the most Blessed Joseph next after his Spouse, the Virgin Mother of God, and. has implored his intercession in all her great necessities." No one can fail to detect in this pontifical utterance a very sig-nificant placing of St. Joseph as one to be honored next to Mary. Nearly twenty years later, on August 15, 1889, Leo XIII issued a warmly enthusiastic encyclical letter1 -on devotion to St. Joseph. It is worthy of note that he ~hose another principal feast of Mary for this pronouncement. In it, in a more explicit manner, he placed Joseph after Mary . in the hierarchyof the Blessed, insisting "that the Christiafl people should grow accustomed to implore with an especial piety and confidence, together with the Virgin Mother of God, also her rnos~ chaste spouse, the Blessed Joseph." After recognizing that the cult of St. Joseph had advanced notably since the declaration of the Universal Patronage, Leo XIII wished to add his own authority in moving Chris-tian piety to new endeavors. He not only vindicated to St. Joseph his proper place in the devotion of the faithful next to the Virgin Mary, but for this he assigned two out- 1Quaraquarn pluries. Cf. The Ecclesiastical Review, Vol. 1, P. 362. 75 AI~OYSIUS C. KEMPI~R standing reasons, whicl~ he first briefly Stated, then feelingly expounded: "Jos.eph was the husband of Mary and the reputed father of Jesus Christ. From these two prerogatives derive all his dignity, grace, sanctity, and glory. Undoubtedly the dignity of the Mother of God is so sublime that nothing can excel it. Yet because between ,Joseph and the Blessed Virgin there existed the bond of matrimony, there can be no doubt that he approached more closely than any One else to that most lofty dignity by which the Mother of God sofar surpassed all other creatures . . . Again" he alone stands forth amongst all men by the singular dignity of having been divinely chosen to be the guardian of the Son of God, and considered by men to be His father." Here, then, is officially stated the basis of all solid devo-tion to St. Joseph, namely, his eminent dignity which sur-passes that of all the saints excepting only the Blessed Mother of the Redeemer. This dignity moreover is due to Joseph's position in the Holy Family of which he is the divinely appointed head and guardian, as husband of Mary and foster-father of Jesus. The marital and parental func-tions which he thus exercised in that l~lessed Family impli-cate him as closely as may be in the carrying into execution of the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God. "When the fulness of~ time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, that he might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adop-tion of sons" (Galatians 4:4). In tha~ tremendous drama 3oseph had more than an accessory par~ to play. His coop-eration was essential. He was appointed to live and labor within the inner circle of the Incarnation, and his whole activity was displayed in the secret unfolding of this mystery. 76 ST. JOSEPH'S TITLES TO HONOR Joseph's actual presence and operation .within the circle of the Incarnation is vouched for by the simple gospel nar-rative familiar to every child. Je,sus, Mary, andJoseph are there always found together, the latter as husband of Mary and father of Jesus. In the genealogy according to St. Mat- . thew (1: 16) we read, "And Jacob begot Joseph the hus-band of Mary." Again (1:18) "When Mary his Mother was betrothed to Joseph"; ( 1 : 19) "But Joseph her husband being a just man. "; (1:20) "Do not be afraid' Joseph ¯. to take to thee Mary thy u2ife"; (1:24) "So Joseph. to0k.unto him his u2ife.'" The relation of husband and wife between Mary and Joseph is thus plainly asserted in St. Matthew. Both Matthew and Luke frequently place the three holy persons inimmediate j.uxta-position. Thus, (Matthew 2:13) "An angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph, saying, 'Arise, and take the child and his mother, and flee into.Egypt'." Four times in the brief nar-rative of the flight into Egypt are the three names thus brought together. St.Luke (2-:16) tells us of the shep-herds that "they found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in the manger." This Evangelist is particularly intent on calling attention to a true parental relationship that bound .Joseph .to the divine Child. Thus (2:27) "And when his parents brought in the child Jesus" (at the Purification); (2:33) "And his father and mother were marvelling at the things spoken concerning him"; (2:41) "His parents were wont to go every year to J.erusalem"; (2:48) "Behold thy father and I have been seeking thee. sorrowing." These latter words, spoken under stress of strong emotion, quite unconsciously reproduce the manner of address current in the holy house at Nazareth. The character of the mutual relations within the Holy Family is thus clearly established in the gospel; Joseph is the bus- 77 ALOY$1US C. KEMPER band of Mary and in a true sense the father of Jesus. The point that should be emphasized on reading this narrative is, that Joseph is not an extrinsic companion to a closely united pair, nor a mere accessory, interested specta-tor, or helper, but is an integral and essential member of this sacred trio. This is a truth that seems often not to have been fully recognized even by those bent on showing Joseph ~his due honor. In the popular mind particularly,due per-haps inpart to catechetical instruction that was calculated to.be both safe and adequate, St. Joseph is the victim of a minimizing p~ocess that deprives him of his full dignity. Frequently the negative statement is stressed that as man 3esus had no father, and that consequently all genuine paternity should be denied his appointed guardian; or that Joseph was merely reputed to be the father by men who mistakenly looked upon Jesus as the carpenter's Son, Jesus not being his Son at all. Similarly it is often thought that ~Joseph was not the real husband of Mary, but only a faith, ful protector, serving as a safeguard to Mary's undoubted ¯ genuine motherhood in. the public eye, a consort-in name but not in reality. Besides, Mary's ~rirginity, sealed by vow, might seem to preclude the possibility of a true mar- ¯ .riage contract that would mak~ the two strictly man and wife. As a result of this endeavor to shield the exclusive divine sonship of the Child, and the virginal conception of the Mother, Joseph's full dignity is sacrificed; and he is denied the glory of the very position whence "derives all his dignity, grace, sanctity and glory," as we heard Leo XIII claim. Joseph is thus reduced almost to the status of an honorary member of the Holy Family and counts for little in the scheme of the Incarnation, Indeed, what appear to us unworthy travesties of the true glory of St. Joseph were 78 ST. JOSEPH'S TITLES TO HONOR seriously maintained and defended by more than one Cath-olic author even during the pontificate Of Leo XIII. How false such a rating of the position of the great Patrihrch would be becomes at once evident if we briefly examine the reasons that underlie the succinct gospel state-ments above enumerated. First of all, the Blessed Virgin contracted a true and proper marriage with Joseph, and this is a truth of faith according to all theologians. There was, therefore, no true sense in which it might .have been said of Mary that she was the reputed wife of Joseph. In the case of both, virginity and marriage were most perfectly con-joined, so that, as LeoXIII strongly urges, bothoare at the same time perfect exemplars of virgins and spouses. The teaching of the Church, confirmed by the Council of Trent, supposes that a true and perfect marriage bond subsists, even ihough the parties do not consummate their union. Such a marriage bond, with all its consequent .rights and duties, existed between the virgin Joseph and the Virgin Mary. They were mutually possessors and guardians of each other's spotless virginity. In the second place, it must ever be borne in mind that Joseph was the father of Jesus in a very real sense. The express statement of the gospel to this effect is not-to ~be qualified by reducing this relationship to a paternity that was only apparent. It was indeed a paternity entirely unique in kind, but most true in every, sense except the one which would make Jesus the Son of Joseph by natural gen-eration. This latter relation Scripture itself is careful to exclude; and it is with reference to this wholly natural paternity that Joseph is asserted to have been merely the reputed father of the Child. Jesus was not the carpenter's Son in the only way the people probably suspected. But He was the virginal, fruit of Mary's womb which could 79 ALOYSIUS C. KEMPER never becomingly and above suspicion have been brought into the world except within the chaste union and intimacy of two virginal spouses. It was entirely necessary for the blessed consort to shield in public esteem the fruitful vir-ginity of his true spouse: and even in this restiicted sense his paternity was no empty name. In what other sense it was real and w~olly admirable will be presently shown. Another consideration to be carefully weighed is this. In the divine plan the whole mystery of God becoming man was to remain profoundly hidden until such time as the reality of this divine prodigy of love could profitably be made public. 3esus Himseff only very gradually and with consummate prudence revealed His divine filiation during His public ministry; and its full import, inclusive of the virgin birth, was scarcely even surmised during Christ's earthly lifetime except by a favored few. Before it became finally known, 3oseph had already departed~this life, when his office of duly obscuring and shielding both the divine Son and the Virgin Mother bad been brought to a close. But this function of obscuring for a time both the Son and the Mother, necessary though it was for the proper execution of the divine decree, was neither the only one nor the most important one to give reality and splendor to the paternity of 3oseph. Suarez2 tersely says: "The Blessed 3oseph not only bore the name of father, but also the sub- Stance and reality which belongs to this name, in as far as it can be participated by any man, carnal_ generation alone excepted. He possessed accordingly a father's affection, solicitude, and even authority." He was fully and admi-rably a father to 3esus in providing Him a true home with all its unspeakable, charming intimacy, with early educa-tion, protection against danger, sustenance earned in the ZDe M~Isteriis Vitae Cbristif'Q. 29, Disp. 8, Sect. 1, n. 4. 80 ST. JOSI~PH'S TITLES TO HONOR sweat of his brow, and all of these exercised in a most per-fect and holy way, towards a Son truly his, as no father either before or after him, In addition to this intimacy Leo XIII, in the encyclical already referred to, thus expresses the reality of Joseph's fatherly office: "Accordingly, from this double dignity (as husband of Mary and father of Jesus) there followed spon-taneously the duties which nature prescribes for fathers of families, so that Joseph was the legitimate and natural guardian, curator, and defender of the divine house over which' he presided. These offices and duties he zealously exercised until the end of his lifel He strove to protect his spouse and the divine Child with supreme love and daily assiduity. He provided by his labor whatever was neces-sary in diet and maintenance for both. He was ever the unfailing companion, helper and consoler of the Virgin and Jesus." These are titles to a singularly sublime father-hood that is ill served by heaping about it the familiai denaturing negatives: "as man, Jesus had no earthly father; Joseph was only/ the foster-father, the reputed father of Jesus, not His real father in any sense." Such, then, are the titles on which isbased the dignity of St. Joseph: he is the true husband of Mary, a real father of Jesus, and an intimate, necessary cooperator in the strategic~ us.hdring into the world of the Incarnate Word. We haye. already heard two popes conclude frbm this unique and exalted position of Joseph that in dignity he excelled all the saints except bnly Mary Immaculate. It is true the Imitation (Book III, 58, n. 2) cautions us not to compa.re the saints one with another or to dispute their relative graces and merits. But for the Virgin and St. Joseph the comparative method alone does justice to the father and mother of Jesus, and most of the Fathers and ecclesiastical ALOYSIUS C. KEMPER writers have resorted to it in their case. Mary's incompa-rable excellence amongst the saints as the Mother of God entitles.her to a special worship reserved exclusively to her which, theologians style h~/perdatia. Since St. 2oseph is now by common consent ranked next to her as belonging to the hypostatic order, as we have seen, attempts hace been made to secure for him also a singular worship to be styled protoclalia, that is, the highest honor paid to any saint after Mary. The Church has not yet yielded to these entreaties, as she has also thus far refused to admit his name into the Cor~iiteor and the Canon of the Mass. On the other hand she has not shown herself averse to the claim now every-where urged that ~loseph is after Mary the greatest of the saints. Rival claims might be made in the case of St. ,lohn the Baptist and the Apostles, and these claims have been care-fully weighed by theologians. Of the Baptist our Lord Himself declared, "Amen I say to you, among those born of women there has ndt risen a greater than ,lohn the Bap-tist" (Matthew 11: 11). Yet our Lord could not have meant tl~is in an absolute sense, for He immediately adds, "Yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." Relatively to all the patriarchs and prophets of the Old Law the Precursor of the Lamb of God must be placed at the head of them all. It is revealed that he was cleansed from original sin before his birth, but even this extraordinary privilege leaves him still outside the exalted circle of the Holy Family and the immediate actors in the execution of the Incarnation. The question of the superiority of the Apostles in dig-nity over all the other saints except the Mother of God has been reverently asked through the centuries, and conflicting answers have been given. St. Anselm amongst others 82 ST. JOSEPH'S TITLES TO HONOR declares: "Even the Baptist was inferior to'the Apostles in dignity for there is no ministry greater than the aposto-late." St. Thomas seems to favor this view. Suarez~ how-ever; ventures it as a probable opinion that the ministry of St. 3osepb was of a higher order than that of the Apostles for the reason that the latter pertained to the simple order of grace, while Joseph was immediately associated with the Author of grace within the order of the hypostatic union. Hence this theologian modestly concludes, "it is not temer-arious or improbable, but on the contrary a pious and very likely opinion thatSt. 3oseph excelled all other saints in grace and beatitude." The view of St. Thomas he explains by remarking that the Angelic Doctor regarded the aposto-late as the highest ministry in the New Testament; whereas the office of the foster-father of Jesusbelonged properly neither to the 01d nor to the New Testament, but to the Author of both who as the "cornerstone joined them into one." This probable and still too conservative opinion of Suarez, however, has long ago yielded to the unquestioned belief voiced by Leo XIII when he unhesitatingly declares: "There can be no doubt that he (Joseph) approached more closely than any one else .to that most lofty dignity by which the Mother of God so far excelled all other creatures. " We have thus considered the sublime dignity attaching to the double office of Joseph as father of JeSus and spouse of Mary. From this dignity may at once be deduced the eminent gifts of grace with which he was endowed and the incomparable sanctity he attained. It is a theological axiom that God duly apportions grace according to the state and office to Which He calls a soul. Joseph's correspondence with this grace was so perfect that Scripture is content to style him, even before his union with Mary, simply "a just BLoc. tit. sect. 1, n. 10; sect. 2, n. 6. ALOYSIUS C. KEMPER man." How he must have advanced to unspeakable per-fection of sanctity through all the years of daily contem-plation and intimate association with the holy and Immacu-late Virgin, his spouse, and the Holy of Holies, the Incar-nate Son of God! Truly, the life of heaven on earth! A second corollary is deduced by Leo XIII from Joseph's position in the Holy Family. "The divine house," says the.Pontiff, "which Joseph ruled by. fatherly author-ity contained the beginnings of the nascent Church." As a consequence "the blessed Patriarch considers the innu-merable multitudes of Christians that compose the family of the universal Church as entrusted to him in a .special way, and that in it, as the husband of Mary and the father of Jesus, he enjoys practically paternal authority." The dig-nity, sanctity, and power of Joseph, these three are on a par in the mind of the Holy Father; hence his whole ericyclical is a ringing exhortation to all the faithful and to the uni-versal Church to "go to Joseph," to honor him as his exalted dignity demands, to emulate the virtues of his sanc-tity which are resplendent for all classes in the Church, and to have recourse with unfailing confidence to his very real 'fatherly authority by which he is still "lord over his house-hold and ruler of all his possessions." The exhortation of Leo XIII is as timely today as when first uttered; nay if possible, it has grown in timeliness and urgency. Today more than ever, under stress of the most colossal menace that has ever threatened Church, .state, and civilization itself, we shall not fhil to remember one cer-tain haven of refuge, and to make it a precious habit of our spiritual life' in all our needs, to "go to Joseph," after Mary, the greatest of saints. 84 The Scapular Devo!:ion and !:he Sabba!:ine Privilege William A. Donaghy, S.3. ALTHOUGH thousands of Catholic~ loyally wear the little cloth yoke which is the symbol of their ~levo. tion to our Lad~, many of them are unaware of the Spiritual wealth with which the Church has endowed the Scapular. Most Catholics~ moreover; are ignorant of the wide variety of scapulars; and there are many minor points and problems connected with the devotion that even reli-gious might profitably consider. It is the purpose of this article to present a brief sketch of the devotion's historical background, to give some of the theology connected with it, and to indicate moral and pastoral aspects of it. The traditional account of the rise and growth of the Scapular devotion brings us back tO the thirteenth cen-tury. In those ancient days, the English Crusaders brought back to England from Palestine a little group of .hermits who had been living the religious life on Mount Carmel, the rugged backdrop against which Elias the prophet had confounded the priests of Baal, as the Third Book of Kings recounts. In England, these brethern were joined by a fiery hermit named Stock--so called, because he had been living peni-tentially in the trunk, or stock, of a tree. Much like the Baptist was this shaggy zealot, in his rough clothing, his gauntness, and his white-hot devotion to God. When he attached himself to the Carmelites, he took tl~e significant name of Simon, a name wealthy in memories and prophetic of leadership. The tiny band prospered so well in England that soon WILLIAM A. DONAGHY their numbers demanded some sort of local supervision and jurisdiction. Simon Stock was named Vicar-General and, in the year 1245, he was designated General of the whole. ¯ order. ~ All along, the ideal of these holy men had been one of strict seclusion, prayer, and penance. But at that time, even as in our own, students were thronging to the universi-ties; and the need of a highly educated clergy to guide this intellectual generation became increasingly apparent. Simon decided to train his younger members to meet this demand: buk some of the elders regarded his decision as a desertion of the cloister and a dangerous innovation against which they "firmly set their faces. Meanwhile, outside the cloister walls, jealous eyes had been observing the rise and growing influ-ence of the Friars, and now these enemies raised an outcry for the suppression of this "upstart" order. Sagging beneath his ninety years and the burdens of office, besieged from Without and suspected within his own household, Simon Stock withdrew, in 125f, to the mon-astery at Cambridge, where he begged a sign of solace from the Queen of Heaven. Apparelled in light and attended by angels our Lady appeared to him holding in her hand the- B~own"Scapular: "Receive, my beloved son," she said, "this habit of thy order; this shall be to thee and to all Carmel-ites a privilege, that whosoever dies clothed in this shall never suffer eternal fire." Almost a century later, Mary appeared again, this time to the man who was short!y to become Pope 3ohn XXII. To the future Pontiff, she gave new evidence of her gener-osity and extended and enlarged the Scapular Promise by an addition which has come to be known as the Sabbatine or Saturday Privilege." Afterhis elevation to Peter's chair, 3ohn published this private revelation in a Papal Bull. Our 86 THE SCAPULAR DEVOTION Lady had assured him that she would release from Purga-tory any members of her order on the Saturday following their deaths. Let us now examine these promises more in detail to see what they mean and imply: The Scapular promise, in the first place, comprises.two elements: 1) "Whoever dies clothed in this habit"; 2) "shall not suffer the fires of Hell." Now, only the members of the Carmelite Confraternity are entitled to wear the "habit," that is, the Brown Scapu~ lar. Hence the words of our Lady, "clothed in this habit," involve membership in that confraternity. One must, therefore, voluntarily enlist in Mary's great brotherhood before a priest authorized either by the Holy See or by the Carmelite General, to receive members. The officiating priest, moreover, unless he has a special privilege to the contrary, must enter the name of any new confrfire in a reg-ister of the Confraternity. Now formally admitted, the candidate is allowed to wear the Scapular; he is now "clothed in this habit." Obviously the large habit of Carmel fulfills this condi-tion; as does its small imitation, the Brown Scapular. And by grant of Plus X, in 1910, the scapular medal may now take the place of any cloth scapular in which one has been validly ~nrolled1. The subsequent words of the Scapular promise guaran-. tee that any wearer of the "habit" will escape the fires of hell. We must not, however, interpret this falsely. A man who dies in mortal sin, no matter what his garb, cannot be saved; that is eternal truth. What, then, does the assurance 1In allowing the substitution of the medal for the various scapulars, Pins X stated that those wearing the medal could gain all indulgences and participate in all spiritual favors attached to the scapulars. Nevertheless, some consider it safer to use the Brown Scapular itself when trying to bring about the death-bed conversion of impeni-tent sinners. Cf, The Ecclesiastical Reoiew, 3ul~r, 1941, p. 43. reED. 87 WILLIAM A. DONAGHY . mean? To determine the meaning, it will help to recall the general nature of the various scapular confraternities. As we shall see later, there are many scapulars and many ¯ scapular confraternities. Through the years, the Popes have decreed the patronage, ,guidance, and control of these pious org:inizations to different religiqus orders and con-gregations of the Church., When, therefore, a man joins a confraternity, he aggregates himself in some degree to the religious body which has special control of that confra-ternity; and he thereby participates in the end and purpose of that order or congregation. All these great religious :communities have this in common, that it is their aim and intent to strive towards perfection in the spirit and accord-ing to the path of the three evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and. obedience. In their .degree, the scapular con,- fraternities share the aim and object of the parent order or congregation; .hence the confreres, to a limited extent, pledge fidelity, to the same high evangelical ideal. Merely to wear the scapular without baying this spirit in the soul would not only not be virtuous; it would be perilously close to, the,dry and sterile Pharisaism which our Lord so mercilessly, .ondemned. The scapular, .too, is a link which binds the wearer to the members of the first and second orders and to his fellow .members in the confraternity, thus enabling him to share on earth some of .the special fruits of the communion of saints. How absi~rd'and dangerous it would be, then, to imag-ine that th~ scapular is a magical amulet, charm, or fool-proofs. passport to heaven! Against the Semi-Pelagians who exalted man's natural powers and self-sufficiency the Coun-cil of Orange hurled a definition which re-echoed in Trent. For the Church teaches that even for the just man, the actual grace of perseverance requires a special help from 88 THE SCAPULAR DEVOTION God. It is in the light of this dogma, in fact, that some great theologians seem to understand the Scapular p.romise; for they interpret it to mean that anyone dying in our Lady's . confraternity and wearing her scapular will receive through her at the hour of death either t.he grace of perseverance or the grace of final contrition. The lessons for the office of St. Simon Stock quote the promise. But before he sanc-tioned- the office, Pope Leo XIII inserted the adverb "piously" ("pie"), to make the promise read: "Whoever dies piously wearing this habit will not suffer the flames of hell." Turning now to the Sabbatine or Saturday Privilege, .we find that the Bull of John XXII proclaiming the privi-lege declares that our Lady wanted John "to. make known to all that on the Saturday following their death she would deliver from Purgatory all who wore the Carmelite Scapu-lar." In a Bull of approbation, Paul V confirms the prom-ise but confines its application to those "who in life wore our Lady's habit, were chaste according to their state, recited the Little Office, and abstained on Wednesdays and Satur-days except when Christmas fell on one of those days. These: clients will Mary help by her intercession and her special protection after their death, especially on Saturday, the day which the Church has especially dedicated to. her." It is worthy of note that a priest who has the faculty of receiving candidates into the Scapulhr Confraternity. has also the power to commute the conditions necessary for the Sabbatine Privilege and to substitute other devotional practices. As Pope Paul. lays them down, the requirements whereby one renders oneself eligible for the Sabbatine privilege are too clear to need further explanation. Once again the shining sanity and unshakable love of truth WILLIAM A. DONAGHY which characterize the Church have removed any danger of pre.sumption or superstition. Thus far we have given the traditionally accepted accounts 6f these two private revelations to St. Simon Stock and Pope 3ohn XXII and have made the obvious commentary on them. However, it is only fair to admit that these revelations have been attacked not only by non- Catholics but by sincere Catholic scholars as well.- For-tunately, ¯ we do not have to examine the evidence of the conflicting parties and decide the matter for ourselves. .We can raise the whole controversy to the higher plane of dogmatic values. Several Pontiffs have blessed and approved the scapular promise and the Sabbatine privi-lege; under the watchful eye of the Church, thesedevotions have been preached for centuries; and such confirmation of their validity is sufficient proof for the Catholic mind which realizes that the living, teaching Church rests not on the cornerstone of a library but on the Rock that is°Peter. It is true, .of course, that the great public revelation which Christ committed to His Apostles closed with the death of the last Apostle. It is this. fixed and unchanging body of truth which the Church guards. When from time totime She defines a dogma; she affirms that the truth in question,, actually and really is part of ,that' Apostolic deposit of faith. Other private revelations which have come to individuals down through the ages/neither augment nor complement the Apostolic revelation. Strictly speaking, therefore, one is not bound ,to beli~v,e in them; nor, do they. as such, pertain to the authority of the Church. But it is the office of the Church authentically to interpret and authoritatively to decide whether or not the content of such revelations agrees with the eternal truth of which she is divinely instituted custodian. She could not condone any 90 THE SCAPULAR DEVOTION offense against either faith or morals. In his great work on the Sacred Heart devotion, which was privately revealed to St. Margaret Mary, Father Bain-vel points out that the Church's approbation signifies that there is nothing in the devotion contrary to faith or morals. Moreover, Margaret Mary's holiness, on which the Church has set the crown of canonization, is ampl~ testimony of her right to,be believed. The apparition to her is, as Father Pesch notes, only the occasion of public worship of the Sacred Heart; the real reason for the worship is the author-ity of the teaching Church accepting the devotion and incorporating it into her liturgy. So, too, with the Scapular devotion. No matter what one may think of its historical foundations, it rests on the bed-rock of divine authority. Perhaps there is no bette~r proof of the Church's attitude towards the Scapular than the indulgences, almost "innumerable" as St. Alphonsus exclaims, which she has heaped on it. Best known and most widespread of all scapulars is the Carmelite Brown Scapular, to which the foregoing remarks apply. But there are many other scapulars. One fre-quently hears references to the "five scapulars"; and it might be interesting to mention and describe them sketchily. The white scapular of the Most Bleised Trinity, marked by a blue and red cross, is the badge of the confraternity associ-ated with the ~Trinitarians. Then there is the red scapular of the Passion, control and direction of which Pius IX com-mitted to the Lazarists; the blue scapular of the Immaculate Conception, under the Theatine Fathers; the black scapular .of the Seven Dolors represents the confraternity which the Servite Fathers direct. These, with the Carmelite scapular, are the "five scapulars." As we have mentioned, a priest receives the faculty to 91 WILLIAM A. DONAGHY admit members into these various confraternities either from the Holy See or from the General Superior ofthe reli-gious family in charge of the confraternity. The receiving priest must-bless the scapular and invest the candidate with it, although it is sufficient investitureif the priest simply lays the scapular across the shoulder of the recipient. During a mission, or when there is a great crowd of candidates to be admitted, some priests have the power of enrolling people in the scapular without personally placing it on the person who is to wear it. For the blessing of a scapular, the simple .sign of the cross is not sufficient; the priest must use the prescribed formula, which is necessary for validity, though he may always use the shortest of the three blessings given in the Roman Ritual. Furthermore, any priest who has the faculty to bless scapulars and the resultant power to enroll candidates in the corresponding confraternities, has also the power to enroll himself. What of the scapulars themselves? They must not be round or oval but must be square or oblong; they must be made Qf wool, and, although it is permitted to ornament them with needlework.or painting,, the color proper to each must prevail. These conditions all affect validity. In the Ecclesiastical. Review for August, 19411 Mr. John Haffert pointed out that approximately half a million worthless Scapulars are bought annually in the United States. Unscrupulous dealers make them of felt, which is cheaper ¯ than wool. The cords binding the oblongs of the scapular may be of any material or color, except for the scapular of the Pas-sion which requires red woolen strings. The scapulars must be. worn constantly, but if one has laid them aside for a perio~t, he may resume wearing them and thus revive his title to the privileges and indulgences attached to them. 92 THE SCAPUL,~R DEVOTION Only the first scapular needs to be blessed; after that, one simply get a new pair and puts them on. The scapular medal is a substitute for the cloth scapu-lar, granted by Plus X, in 1910. Missionaries request~ed the concession, because the wearing of the cloth scapular was a great inconvenience for their native converts. The l~ontiff did not wish to have the medal supplant the cloth scapular, however: and his successor Plus XI permitted a protected scapular, enclosed in ~loth, to overcome objec-tions of a sanitary sort. Other great theologians look with regret on the passing of the cloth scapular and the popu-larity of the medal; but the medal has official approval and styles have changed so radically since 1910 that many more now have reason to substitute the medal for the cloth scapu-lar. ~!~rho may bles~ the scapular medal? Any priest having the power to bless that scapular which the medal is to replace; and a simple sign of the cross is sufficient to endow the medal with precisely the same indulgences which the cloth- scapular would enjoy.° In fact, the priest may bless many scapular medals, even if he cannot see them--as would be the case in a crowded church. But if a medal is to represent several different scapulars, the Sign of the cross should be repeated for each of those different scapulars. These are only a few aspec[s of, the scapular, the humble heraldic symbol of devotion to the Queen of Heaveri. There are many others and one might write a long work on the subject. But the whole matter is .admirably summed up for us, as far as its practical side goes, in the words of St. J~lphonsus de Liguori, the Church's great Doctor of Morals. He epitomizes his own attitude towards this devo-tion briefly and significantly: "For my own part," he writes, "I havebeen careful.to receive all these scapulars." Pert:ec!:ion and !:he Religious Augustine Klaas, S.J. " I. Introduction //r~EI~FECTION is for priests and religious. I am only a layman. I am fortunate to keep my soul in sanc-tifying grace. Perfection is not for me." --- Religious have often enough heard similar views expressed by good, exemplary layfolk, who seem to imply that they would lead the perfect life if only it were "for them." Is the life of perfection "'for them" ? Most certainly it is. Priests and religious have no monopoly on perfection. The invitation to it comes to the laity from the lips of Our Lord, Who, after He had explained the principles of perfection in the Sermon on the Mount, said to the multitude: "You there-fore are to be perfect, even as your heavenly Father is per.- .fect" (Matthew 5:48). St. Peter echoes these words in a letter to the Christian communities of Asia Minor: "As the One who called you is holy, be you also holy in all your behavior" (I Peter 1 : 15). And St. Paul: "This is the will ofGod,your sanctification". (I Thessalonians 4:3). Later St. Paul clarifies this. idea when he transmits to the Colos-sians the greetings of Epaphras, "who is ever solicitous for you in his prayers, that you may remain perfect and com-pl'etely in accord with all the will of God" (Colossians 4:12). That this is not an easy task was declared by Christ Himielf when He said to all: "If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me" (Luke 9:23). Though not always cor-rectly understood, even by religious, this doctrine of uni-versal perfection has been the constant teaching of the Cath- 94 PERFECTION AND THE RELIGIOUS olic Church. It is forcefully reiterated by Pius XI in his encyclical on St. Francis de Sales ($anuary 26, 1923) ;. "We cannot accept the belief that this command of' Christ (Matthew 5:48 above, previously cited by the Holy Father) concerns only a select and privileged group of souls and that all others may consider themselves pleasing to Him if they have attained to a lower degree of holiness. Quite. the contrary is true, as appears from the very generality of His words. The law of holiness embraces all men and admits of no exception. What is more, it appears that Francis de Sales was given to the Church by God for a very special mission. His task was to give the lie to the prejudice which in his lifetime was deeply rooted and has not been destroyed even today, that the ideal of genuine sanctity held UP for our imitation by the Church is impossible of attain-ment or, at best, is so difficult that it surpasses the capabili-ties of the great majority of the faithful and is, therefore, to be thought of as the exclusive possession of a few great souls. St. Francis likewise disproved the false idea that holiness was so hedged around by annoyances and hard-ships that it is inadaptable to a life lived outside cloister walls." Again, in the Encyclical on Marriage (December 31, 1930) : "For all men, of every condition and in whatever honorable walk of life they may be, can and ought to imi-tate that most perfect example of holiness, placed before man by God, namely, Christ our Lord, and by God's grace to arrive at the summit of perfection:" Hence, we see that men, women, and children, of every age, condition of society, and state of life not only can but should ascend the mountain of perfection even to its lofty summits. And they have done so. Some, like King Louis of 95 AUGUSTINE KLAAS France or Henry Of Germany, Queen Elizabeth of Hun-gary, Chancellor Thomas More of England or the lowly Benedict Labre of France, have been declared officially to have reached a heroic degree of perfection. Many more, like Matt Talbot, the lumberyard worker; Jerome Jaegen, the banker; Anna-Maria Taigi, the housewife; Frederick Ozanam, the professor; and Guy de Fontgalland, the pupil, have not yet been canonized. Tens of thousands more have their lives of heroic perfection writtdn only in the Book of' Life!. If the laity have a.strong invitation to strive for perfec-tion, the clergyhave a~command to seek that perfection implied in their high vocation. The Canon Law of the Church declares that "clerics must lead an interior and exterior life holiertha'n that of the laity and give thes~ the good example of virtu'e and good works." The .Bishop must see to it "that allclerics receive.~frequently the Sacra-ment of Pen;ince to be purified of their faults; that each day they apply themselves duriffg a certain length of time to the exercise of mental prayer, visit the Most Blessed Sacrament, recite the beads in honor of the Blessed M6ther of God, and make their examination of conscience . . . " (Cf. Canons 124-127). These-are essential spiritual practices leading directly to that high spiritual perfection demanded of the priesthood by.Christ and His Church., No one~ can read the ',Exhortation to the Catholic Clergy" of Pius X or.the Encyclical of Plus XI on the Priesthoodwithout being con-vinced of the necessity of perfection for the clergy. Their sublime calling to be "other Christs," their daily ministry 1Canon Arendzen raises an interesting question in The Clergg Review for October, 1941, p. 248. He wants to know whether the Church has ever canonized a married saint, apar~ from martyrdom? By married person he means one who ,actually lived in conjugal life till death, not widowers or widows, or persons who, though m~rried. lived as brother and Sister, at least for many years. If the answer is negative, it Would seem to indicate that abstinence from conjugal life is a prerequisite of heroic sanctity, or at least of canonization. What do our readers think about it? 96 PERFECTION AND THE RELIGIOUS of offering the Holy Sacrifice and of dispensing the Sacra-ments to the faithful requires much more than ordinary holiness of life. indeed, St. Thomas says that to serve Christ - in the Sacrament of the Altar "a greater interior sanctity is required than even the religious state demands." Then, too, effectiveness in apostolic work is altogether bound up with spiritual perfection. The Cur~ of Ars brought an averag~ of three hundred penitents a day to his confessional, not so much by eloquence of sermon or exactitude of litur-gical function as by his eminent personal holiness. So important is perfection for the clergy that theologians speak of a "state of perfection" for him who has the plentitude of the priesthood, the Bishop: his consecration presupposes in him a high degree of perfection already attained. Religious also are said tO be in the "state of perfection," that is, the state of perfection to be acquired. Religious are not necessarily perfect when they enter into the religious life, but they have the obligation to strive for perfection; they must put forth an honest effort to attain to it. The Canon Law of the Church defines the religious state as "the firmly established manner of living in community, by which the faithful undertake to observe not only the ordinary pre-cepts but also the ~vangelical counsels, by means of the vows of obedience, chastity, and poverty" (Canon 487), ~and declares that "each and every religious, superior as well as subject, is bound to tend toward the perfection of his state" (Canon 593). Hence, perfection is the specialty of reli-gious, the object and goal of their whole lives. They must strive earnestly for it, according to their particular institute and rule. Indeed, to refuse outright to do so, cannot-be excused from sin. The nature and limits of this obligation upon religious to strive for perfection will be discussed in a later section of thi~ article. This, at least, is true: there is AUGUSTINE KLAAS no state of life in which perfection is easier of attainment,. since in the religious life so many obstacles t6 it are removed and so many efficacious means to achieve it ~are provided. Hence, .it is not at all surprising to note the preponderance of religious who have been raised to the honors Of the altar. Statistics show that of the one hundred and forty-six saints canonized between 1600 and 1926, one hundred and ten were religious~. In a world-wide radio broadcast on Febru-ary 12, 1931, Pope Pius XI addressed to the religious of the Whole world these encouragin~ words on the excellence Of the religious life: "Sfriving after thebetter gifts and observing not only ' the precepts but also the wishes and counsels of the Divine King and Spouse by the faithful observance of your holy vows and by the religious discipli.ne of your entire lives, you render the Church of God fragrant with the odor Of vir-ginity, you enlighten her by your contemplations, you support her by your prayers, you enrich her by your knowl-edge and teaching, you daily perfect and strengthen her by your ministry of the word and by the works of your apos: tolate. Therefore, as you are partakers of a truly heavenly and angelical vocation, the more precious the treasure you carry, the,more careful watch you must keep, so that you do Got only make. your vocation and election certain, but also .that in you, as in most faithful and devoted servants, the Heart of .the King and Spouse may find some consolation and reparation for the infinite offenses and negligences with which men requite His ineffable love." II. Perfection, In General Perfection, then, is for the layman, the cleric, anti in a peiuliar way for the religious. Whatever may be the pre- 2Incidentall~r. the first nun to be solemnl~r canonized b~i the Church was Saint Clare of Assisi. She died in 1253 and was canonized in 1255. Her feast is celebrated on August 12. PERFECTION AND THE RELIGIOUS cise nature of the obligation and invitation to perfection, it is certain that perfection is possible for all. and strongly urged upon every one without exception. Does this mean that perfection is manifold? Is there one kind of perfection for the layman, another for the priest, and still another for the religious? By no m~ans. Perfection is one. Essentially, perfection is the sameforall. It is the same as to object and general means. What differences occur, are only incidental, a matter of different specific means employed, a matter of different circumstances, environment, and opportunity. Nor do religious orders and dongregations differ essentially as to the perfection for which they strive, each in its own particular way. Basically, the perfection of Francis of Assisi, Benedict, Dominic, or Ignatius Loyola does not differ from that of Theresa of Avila, 2oan of Arc, Sophie Barat, .Pius the Fifth, Charles Borromeo, John Vianney, Thomas More, or Francis de Sales. There are many lanes and many types of ~ars On the lanes and various travellers in the cars, but there is only one broad highway of perfed-tion leading to God. What is the nature of this common essential perfec-tionmperfection in the strict sense--sought after by lay-man, priest, and religious alike? A simple illustration or two will help to clarify our ideas. A watch is perfect when~ it fulfills the purpose for whic~ it was made, namely,, to tell the correct time. This it will unfa!lingly do if all its parts are in place and if it functions exactly. Presupposing the parts, a watch's perfection lies mainly in its functioning, in its faultless activity. Not that a perfect watch must always be running. It must however be capableof running per-fectly, capable of achieving its purpose, the telling of ,the exact time. Hence, we may say that the perfection of a watch consists in its habitual disposition to' function so as 99 AUGUSTINE KLAAS to unerringly tell the time. Or consider the student. The purpose of the student is to acquire the knowledge and intellectual proficiency demanded by the academic degree he is seeking. Granted that he has talent, sufgicient health, books, and other necessary acquirements, he will secure this kriowledge and consequently his degree by his activity,, his mental activity reflection, study, and research. And, other things being equa.1, the more develof0ed and precise his intellectual activity~ is, the .more perfectly will he achieve his purpose, the acquirement of knowledge and his degree. The perfection of the student therefore consists mainly in his intellectual activity. This does not mean that he ceases "to be a student the moment he stops studying, for he remains a student even though he '. sleeps~-of course, at-the proper time and place! What~makes him a student is an acquired disposition, a habit of intellectual activity in the pursuit of knowledge. The m6re perfect his mental habit and activity are, the more perfect a student will he be and the more per, fectly .will he .acqui/e knowledge and his degree. The purpose for which God. made man is that~ ulti-mately man be united to God in the enjoyment of the beatific vision in heaven. Now, this union admits of degrees. It will be more perfect in proportion as-sancti, lying grace is gr~eater in the soul when man comes :to the end of his earthly life. Thus, practically speaking, man's~per~ fection in this life consists in maintaining and increasing sanctifying grace in his soul, so that this life of grace may grow more and more "to perfect manhood, to the mature measure of the fulness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13). How is this sanctifying grace increased in the soul? In two ways: first, by the worthy reception of the sacraments, which of themselves, as God's instruments for imparting grace,---ex, opere operato, as the theologians say,mincrease 100 PERFECTION AND THE RELIGIOU6 sanctifying grace in the soul; and secondly, by our activ-ity, bex opere operantis which can merit an increase of sanctifying grace. Like .that of the watch and student above, our perfection will consist principally in our activity. But what kind of activity? Not necessarilyphysical activity, for the Brother who excels as an athlete will not inevitably be more perfect than the Brother bound by paralysis to a wheel-chair. Neither does perfec~tion consist in mere intellectual activity, since Sister Mary Sapientia hugging her doctorate of philosophy is not necessarily more perfect than Sister Mary Martha hugging her pots and pans in the kitchen. Possibly Anna-Maria Taigi, that incom-parable plebeian housewife and mother, was more perfect than her learned confessor, and Guy de Fontgalland than some of his professors. Perfection does not consist in physi-cal prowess or intellectual acumen; perfection is concerned principally with will activity, that is, moral activity, the doing of good. And this moral activity is not merely natural: many pagans in the modern world do an immense amount of good but they are far from the perfection we are speaking of. When we speak of perfection we mean super-natural moral activity, that will activity which presupposes sanctifying grace in the soul and has the assistance of actual grace in its performance. Furthermore, perfection does not mean a bare minimum of doing good, but the utmost in quantity and quality, according to our capacities of nature and of grace, according to our circumstances of time, place, and opportunity. By frequent acts of doing good we merit an increase of sanctifying grace in the soul. By frequent acts of doing good a stable disposition or readiness" to do good. is formed, which in turn facilitates further good acts. Hence,- spiritual perfection may be defined as fi habitual supernatural disposition or readiness to accomplish as much good as one's IOL . AUGUSTINE KLAAS capac.ities and opportunities permit. By the' acts that flow from this disposition, by doing the maximum good, we achieve our life's purpose, the maximum growth of sancti-fying- grace in our souls and ultimately a greater union with God in the happiness of heavens. In heaven alone shall we ac.complish good to the t:ult extent of our capacities of nature and of grace. On earth, only two persons have done so, Jesus Christ, because He was the God-Man, and the Blessed Virgin, by special privi-lege. Ordinarily, however, it is impossible to realize this supreme ideal of perfection. In fact, it could be heresy to say that it were possible, for Catholic theology teaches that without a special privilege we cannot abstain for a lengthy period of time from committing at least semi-deliberate venial sins, that is,.sins of frailty and surprise, and hence, to that extent, we shall always fail to do our full measure of good. To the end of our lives we shall ever sincerely pray "forgive us this day our trespasses." The Church has condemned repiatedly the doctrine of an entirely~ sinless perfection in thisworld, as was taught by Pelagius, Molin0s, and others. On the other hand, the Church has also con-demhed in no uncertain terms the Alumbrados and the Qaietists for maintaining that we can arrive at such a state of lofty perfection that, overflowing~ with divine grace, we can neither progress nor regress any more in the spiritual life. Now, if there are limits to our sinlessness and limits tff our positive capacity for doing good, we can never accom-plish all the good of which we are theoretically capable: we can never reach the ideal norm of perfection. Neither did the saints attain tO it upon this earth. What, then, does aFor a fuller development of these ideas, confer Zimmerm~nn, Otto, S.J., Lebrbacb dee Aszetik, Herder, 1932, p. 16 ft. 102 DERFECTION AND THE RELIGIOUS perfection in this life really mean? It means an ~ver closer approximation to the ideal, the getting as near to the ideal as is humanly possible with the measure of God's grace.- given to us. This is exactly what the saints did. It means negatively, the avoidance of. deliberate venial sins and the greatest possible avoidance, of imperfections and semi-deliberate venial sins; and positively, the utmost perform-ance ofall good, whether¯ of precept or of counsel. Coun~ sel, of course, as here understood, is not restricted to the evangelical olaes of poverty, chastity, and obedience, but is taken in its w~dest sense, as referring to anything not of obligation: for example, to hear Mass on Sunday is a pre-cept, but to hear Mass on an ~ ordinary week-day may be a counsel for a particular individual. There is now no ques-tion of ~mortal sin. The ,battle against fully deliberate venial sin has been won, though occasional lapses may still . occur. Imperfections and semi-deliberate venial sins are avoided as much as possible. God's commandments and precepts, and above all. His counsels are faithfully carried out as far as is humhnly possible with the aid of God's grace in our particular position and circumstances of life. Hence, practically speaking, spiritual perfection consists in the habitual disposition and readiness of soul tO avoid imper-fections" and semi-deliberate venial sins as much as possible and, presupposing the observance of the precepts, in the utmost carrying out of the counsels, according to one's par-ticular circumstances of life and measure of God's grace imparted. This common perfection, sought after so earnestly by priests, religious, and laity, cannot be computed mathe-matically; it will vary with the individual, according to the many factors involved. ~lust as we cannot estimate the heroic perfection of the canonized saints relative to each 103 AUGUSTINE KLAA8 other or indeed to uncanonized ones, so we cannot estimate the perfection of individuals on this earth, except in a very general way: Perhaps spiritual perfection may be com-pared to exquisite perfume; individuals to vials. The vials are of various types, colors, capacities, artistic designs, and values: the excellent perfume in them is of almost countless blends, some very rare and costly. All, however, have a quality in common; all give forth the sweet fragrance of perfection, so pleasing to God and to. man. Perfection, as we have said, consists mainly in activity. Now, spiritual activity implies the possession and exercise of the virtues. Among the varied combination of virtues found in persons striving for perfection, is there one which always predominates? Is there one virtue which rules all the others like a queen and may be called the essence of perfe.ction? (To be continued) ANNOUNCEMENT After the publication of the first issue of REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, we received many kind letters ofcommendation. We tried to answer ¯ each.letter, but we found that impossible. We wish to take the pres-ent occasion of thanking all who have sent us encouragement and suggestions. When the ,January issue was published, we printed what we con-sidered an amply sufl~cien~ number to satisfy all requests for back numbers and sample copies. But our supply was soon exhausted. However, we have arranged for a reprinting, and we shall soon be ablk to satisfy those who wish their subscriptions to begin with Volume 1, Number 1. --THE EDITORS. 104 RecornrnendecJ Spiritual Books THE PRESENT list of spiritual books and those that will follow from time to time are designed to be of practical assistance to religious, who by rule and inclination do a considerable amount of spiritual reading each year. The lists will include the spiritual classics of the past and also those more modern sl~iritual books which are of greater worth to religious. Only works written in English or that have been translated into English will be listed. Communities that are gradually building up a spiritual library will find in these guiding lists that fundamental nucleus of worthwhile books that must be the foundation of any spiritual library. No attempt was made to make this list complete, as it will be added to periodically. The books listed are for genera/, spiritual reading, unless otherwise indicated. Another list for general use will appear in an early issue of the REVIEW; and these will be fol-lowed by lists of a more specialized nature, for example, books for young religious, for more mature religious, meditation books, books on higher prayer, and so forth. Suggestions will be welcomed. In citing the books, it was deemed sufficient to give the name of the author in alphabetical order, the yearof his death if he is no loriger living, and the title of the book. Occasionally a short com-ment is added. Publishers are not mentioned, as these books can be procured through any large publishing house or bookstore. Read-ers may find it helpful to make a card-index list of these authors, as this can be conveniently augmented. I would suggest to those who are beginning a library to purchase the more modern books first, and then add the older classics progres-sively. Specifically, I would recommend starting with the following authors: Goodier, Leen, Marmion, Maturin, Mother Loyola, ~Plus, Pourrat, Saudreau, and Tanquerey. Of course, spiritual books per-tinent to one's own order or congregation will generally be given the ~reference in any library. Small communities that cannot afford a large library might obtain the advantages of such a library by pooling resources with other houses, and establishing some practical circulating system. ---~UGUSTINE KLAAS, S.J. 105 RECOMMENDED SPIRITUAL BOOKS ADAM, KARL The Spirit ,of Catholicism. Christ Our Brother. The Son of God. All excellent books for inspiration. ALPHONSUS LIGUORI, SAINT (1787) Ascetical Works, transJated by Grimm. 12 vols. AUGUSTINE, SAINT (430) The Confessions, edited by Dora ¯Roger Huddleston. Readings from St. Augustine on the Psalms, edited by Jos. Rickaby, S.J. The Teachings of St. Augustine on Prayer and the Contempla-tive Life, by Hugh Pope, O.P. BASIL, SAINT (379) Ascetical Works, edited by W. Clarke. 1 volume. These works describe the fundamental principles of monastic asceticism. BENEDICT, SAINT (543) The Rule of St. Benedict, translated with an introduction by Cardinal Gasquet. .The Rule of St. Benedict: A Commentary, by D0m Paul De-latte. Benedictine' Monachisrn, by Dom Cuthbert Butler. BERNARD, SAINT (1 153) Treatise on Consideration. translated by a priest of Mount Melleray. Treatise on the Love of God, translated by R. Terence Connolly. The Steps of Humility, translated by G~ B. Burch. The Life and Teachings of St. Bernard, by A. 3. Luddy, O. Cist. (Expensive.) Plus XI, in an Apostolic Letter recommended the reading of St. Bernard to religious. BLOS!US, ABBOT LOUIS, O.S.B. (1566) Spiritual Works. 6 volumes. ~ BONAVENTURE, SAINT (1274) Holiness of Life, edited by Ft. Wilfrid, O.F.M. Franciscan View of the Spiritual and Religious Life,mthree ,treatisds of St. Bonaventure, translated by P. D. Devas. Meditations on the Life of Christ, translated by Sister M. Em-manuel, O:S.B. (Excellent Fianciscan meditations, but of doubtful authenticity.) The works of St. Bonaventure were also recommended by Pius XI. 106 RECOLLV~NDED SPIRITUAL BOOKS BRUYERE, MADAME CECILIA (1909) Spiritual Life and Prayer. CABROL, ABBOT ~'-'ERNAND, O.S.B. Liturgical Prayer, Its History and Spirit. The Mass, Its Doctrine, Its History. The Year's Liturgy: Volume I, The Seasons; Volume II, The Sanctoral. CATHERINE OF SIENA, SAINT (1380) The Dialogue, translated by A. Thorold. Letters, edited by V. D. Scudder. CHAOTARD, JOHN B., O. CIST. (1936) The True Apostolate, translated by F. Girardey,C.SS.R. (On the relation of spiritual life to apostolic activity.) FABER FREDERICK W. (1863) Bethlehem. At the Foot of the Cross. All for Jesus. The Creator and the Creature. The Blessed Sacrament. Growth in Holiness. The Precious Blood. Spiritual Conferences. Faber's works are devotional and acutely psychological. FARGES, MSGR. ALBERT The Ordinary Ways of the Spiritual Life. (One of the best treatises on ascetical life.) FRANCIS DE SALES, SAINT (1622) Library of St. Francis de Sales. 7 volumes. St. Francis is the patron Saint of spiritual writers. His works were also recommended to religious by Plus XI. All religious should read them. FRANCIS OF ASSISI, SAINT (1226) The Wdtings of St. Francis of Assisi, translated by P. Robin-son, O.F.M. The Little Flowers of St. Francis of Assisi. The Ideals of St. Francis of Assisi, by H. Felder, O.M.Cap. GARRIGOU-LAGRANGE, REGINALD, O.P. Christian Perfection and Contemplation, translated by Sister M. Timothea, O.P. (One of the most widely discussed books in recent years.) GASQUET, F.AIDAN CARDINAL (1929) Religio Religiosi, (On the purpose and end of the religious life.) GAY, BISHOP CHARLES (1892) Christian Life and Virtues. Religious Life and Vows. 107 RECOMMENDED SPIRITUAL BOOI~ GOODIER, ARCHBISHOP ALBAN (1939) The Public Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 vols. The Passion and Death of. Our Lord Jesus Christ. Ascetical and Mgstical Theologg. The Life that is Light. 3 vols. (Meditation Outlines.) The Meaning of Life, and Other Essags." Witnesses to .Christ: Studies in the Gospels. Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Jesus Christ, the Model of Manhood. A More Excellent .Wag. (A ~pamphlet.) The School of Love. The Prince of Peace, Meditations. The Crown of Sorrow, Meditations~ Fiftg Meditations on the Passion. The Risen Jesus, Meditations. GOURAUD, MSGR. ALSlME. A Return to the Novitiate. (For monthly recollection.) GUARDINI, ROMANO The Spirit of the Lit~rgg. The Church and the Catholic. Sacred Signs. HEDLEY, BISHOP JOHN (19,15) The Holg Eucharist. The Light of Life. "['he Spirit of Faith. Wisdom from Abooe. Our Divine Saviour and Other Discourses. Lex Levitarum. or Preparation for the Cure o( Souls. A Spiritual Retreat for Priests. : A Spiritual Retreat for Religious. A Retreat: Thirtg-Three Discourses. IGNATIUS LOYOLA, SAINT (1556) The Spiritual Exercises. The Spiritual Exercises of ~St. Ignati'us, translation and commen-tary by J. Rickaby, S.J. The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, .with commentary by A. Ambruzzi, S.J. A Companion to the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, by A. Ambruzzi, S.J. JANE FRANCES DE CHANTAL, SAINT (1641 ): The "Spiritual Life. JOHN OF THE CROSS, SAINT (15 91 )' Complete Works. translated and edited by E. Allison Peers. 3 vols. (For mature religious.) 108 RECO/vIMENDED SPIRITUAL BOOKS JUERGENSMEIER, FRIEDRICH The Mystical Body of Christ as the Basic Principle of Religious Life. (A complete treatise on the spiritual life in terms ¯ . of the Mystical Body.) KEPPLER, BISHOP PAUL WILHELM (1926) " More Joy. On Suffering. LALLEMANT, LOUIS, S.3. ' (1635) Spiritual Doctrine. (For mature religious.) LEEN, EDWARD, C.S.SP. Progress through Mental Prayer. In the Likeness of Christ. The Holy Ghost and His Work in.Souls. Why the Cross? The True Vine and Its Branches. All are highly recommended. LOYOLA, MOTHER MARY (1933 The Child of God. Confession and Communion. Trust, A Book of Meditations. Welcome! Holy Communion: Before and :~fter. Hail Full of Gracer. Thoughts on the Rosary. With the Church. 2 vols. CoramSanct~simo desus of Nazareth. Heavenwards. MARMION, ABBOT COLUMBA, O.S.B. (1923)~ Christ the Life of the Soul. ,~ Christ in His Mysteries. Christ the Ideal o~ the Monk. Sponsa Verbi. The Way of the Cross. Words of Life on ~he Margin of the M~ssal. Sayings of Abbot Marmion, edited by Mother Mary St. Thomas. Certainly one of the greatest spiritual masters. MATURIN, BASLE WILLIAM. (1915) Self-knowledge and Self-discipline. Some Principles and Practices ~of t,h.e Spiritual ,Life. Laws of the Spiritual Life. Practical Studies on the Parables. MESCHLER, MAURICE, S.J. (1912) ~ Three Fundamental Principles of the Spiritual Life. Life of Our Lord desus Christ, in Meditations. 2 x~61s.' The Humanity of desus. St. doseph. The Gift of Pentecost. RECOMMENDED SPIRITUAL BOOKS MULLALY, CHARLES, J., S.J. Spiritual ReHections for Sisters. 2 volume series. NEWMAN, JOHN HENRY CARDINAL (1890) Favorite Newman Sermons, selected, by Daniel M. O'Con-nell, $.J. Heart to Heart: a Cardinal Newman Pra~lerbook, compiled by same. Kindhj Light: a Second Cardinal Newman Pra~lerbooh, com-piled by same. The Spiritual Le.qac.u of Newman, by William Robert Lamm. S.M. (A splendid synthesis of Newman's spirituality.) POURRAT, PIERRE Christian Spirituality. 3 vols. (A basic work; the only history of spirituality in English. The final fourth volume has not yet appeared in translation. A "must'; book. for serious study. Rather expensive.) PLUS, RAOUL, S.J. God Within Us. Living with God. Reparation. In Christ Jesus. Radiating Christ. The Eucharist. How to Pra[t Alwa[ls. How to pra[t Well. Facing Life---Series I: --Series H: Christ in His Brethren. The Folly of the Cross. " The Ideal of Reparation. Mary in Our Soul-life. Baptism and Confirmation. Meditations for Religious. Holiness in the Church. Progress in Divine Union. Meditations for Young Men. Meditations for Young Women. Dust, Remember Thou Art Splendor. RODRIGUEZ, ALPHONSUS, S.J. (1616) Practice of Perfection and Christian Virtues, translated by J. Rickaby, S.J. (Also recommended to religious by Plus XI.) SAUDREAU, MSGR. AUGUSTE The Degrees of the Spiritual Life. 2 vols. The Wail that Leads to God. The Life of Union with God. The Ideal of ~he Fervent Soul, These books cover all phases of the spiritual life; originally de-livered as instructions to nuns. SCARAMELLI, JOHN, S.J. (1752) The Oirectorium Asceticum, or Guide to the Spiritual Life'. 4 vols. 110 RECOMMENDED SPIRITUAL BOOKS TANQUEREY,ADOLPHE, S.S. (1932) Doctrine and Deootion. ~ The Spiritual Life. (This is the best'systematic work on ascetical theology in English. It is used as a text-book in some colleges. A "mus.t".) THERESA OF AVILA, SAINT (1582) Complete Works, translated by L~wis, edited by B. Zimmer- .man, O.C.D. (For mature religious.) THERESA OF LISIEUX, SAINT Autobiography. THOMAS A KEMPIS (1471) The Imitation of Christ. Groote or others.) (1897) (Sometimes attributed to Gerard THOMAS AQUINAS, SAINT (1274) Apology for Religious Orders. Religious State, Episcopate and Priestly Office. The Commandments of God. The Three Greatest Prayers. On Prayer and Thb Contemplative L~fe. These books must be studied, not merely read. TISSOT, JOSEPH (1894) The Interior Life Simplified. ULLATHORNE, BISHOP WILLIAM B. (1889) The Endowments of Man. Groundwork of theChristian.Virtues. Christian Patience. VONIER, ABBOT ANSCAR, O.S.B. (1938) Christ the King of Glory. A Key to the Doctrine of the Eucharist. The New and Eternal Covenant. Death and Judgement. The Life of the World t~ Come. The Angels. The Divine Motherhood. WILL)~M, DR. FRANZ The Life of desus Christ. Mary the Mother of Jesus. These books place Christ and His Blessed Mother against a background of Jewish life and customs, minutely but interest-ingly described. 11.1. The Doct:rinal Le!:!:er ot: Leo I on !:he Incarna!:ion Cyril Vollert, 8.3. THE recurrence of the Feast of the Annunciation centers our attention on an event which is never very far from the consciousness of a religious. It is the most astounding event that ever took place on this earth, the Incarnation of the Son of God. We shake our heads help-lessly when we try to appreciate what happened that day. It is too vast for the imagination to picture, too tremendous for the mind to grasp. How can we understand, with our feeble intellects, a Being who is both God and man? How can human language explain such a fact? Here, if any-where, we have need of a teacher, an interpreter. And such alone is the Church. He who will not hear the Church will go astray. No wonder, then, that throughout these two thou-sand years those who reject the Church reject this truth or, impatierit with God's revelation, pare down the truth to fit their own narrow minds. Some have insisted thai the Ttiing is impossible; and therefore Christ is only God, not man; or He is only man, not God. Others have taught that Christ was not a single Person, but two persons, God with His own divine nature, man with his own human nature. Still others, rebelling against this absurdity, and seeing in Christ only a single Person, concluded that He could have only one nature; and so, while before God became man there were two natures, one divine and one human, after the union of the two the human nature was swallowed up in the divine. Such was the notion of an ignorant and opin-ionated old monk, Eutyches by name, who in the fifth cen- 112. LEO I ON THE INCARNATION tury started a heresy which caused a theological hurricane in his own day, and which, with variations, still persists. But by the Providence of God the See of Peter was at thatl, turbulent moment Occupied by a saint and a learned theologian, Pope Leo I. Upon receipt of a full report of the error of Eutyches and the commotion stirred up by his heresy, Leo wrote a doctrinal letter about the matter to Flavian, then Bishop of Constantinople. In this letter the Pope set forth the truth in a statement so clear and exact that the Bishops assembled at the General Council of Chal-cedon a few years later acclaimed with enthusiasm. "Peter himself has spoken by the mouth of Leo"; and, "whoever does not accept the letter of our sainted Bishop Leo is a heretic." This is the famous dogmatic epistle or so-called "Tome" of Pope Saint Leo, an epistle justly cele-brated as one of the most important documents ever penned by a Roman Pontiff. In the conviction that the golden words of Leo are too precious to remain locked up in the Latin language and stored away in Volumes thumbed only by theologians and research scholars, the editors ~)f this REVIEW have desired that the principal sections of this letter be made available in an English translation. The rest of this article is devoted to such an attempt. St. Leo's Letter . All the faithful knowthe creed by which we profess belief in God the Father Almighty and in Jesus Christ His only Son, our Lord, who was born by the Holy Spirit of Mary the Virgin. By these'three propositions the machina-tions of almost all the heretics are thwarted. For belief in the omnipotent Father points out the Son, who is co-eternal ¯ with the Father and in nothing differs from the Father. because He is God born of God, Omnipotent of Omnipo- 113 CYRIL VOLLERT tint, Co-eternal of Eteraal; not later in time, not less 'in power, not Unequal in majesty, not divided in essence: And this same eternal, only-begotten Son of the eternal Father Was born by the Holy Spirit of Mary the Virgin. His birth in time, however, has taken nothing from that other divine and eternal birth from the Father; nor did it add anything, but was wholly contrived .for the redemption of man, who had been ensnared; for its purpose was to conquer death, and by its power to overthrow the tyiann~r Which the'devil exercised over death. We could not overcome the author of sin and death, unless He whom neither sin could besmirch nor death hold captive had taken.up our nature and made it His own. And so by the power ofthe Holy Spirit He was conceived in the Womb of His Virgin Mother, who gave birth to Him without hurt to her viriginity, just as she had conceived Himi without loss of the same. But we must take care not to misunders~tand this birth, which is so uniquely wonderful and so wonderfully unique. The nature proper, to the human race was not takefi away, by this new and unheard of procreation. The Ho~ly S16iri~, it is true, gave fruitfulness to the'Vir~gin, but the real body of the Son was derived from (he bod~r of the Mother. And so "the Word was made flesh, and"dwelt among hs"; .that is, the Wisdom of God built a house in the flesh which He took from a human being, and which He animated with a rational soul. ~ Thus, then, with everything pertaining to both of these natures and: substances remaining intact and coming together in one P~rson, lowliness was taken over by Majesty, weakness by Strength, mortality by Eternity. In order to pay the debt of our deplorable state, an inviolable nature was united to one that could suffer, so that one and the same Mediator between God and man, the man Jesus 114 LEO I ON THE INCARNATION Christ, could die according to one nature, even though in the other He could not die. Such was the remedy suitable to our distress. Therefore the true God was born with the complete and perfect nature of a real man, whole and entire in His own divinity, whole and entire in our humanity; in our humanity, I mean, such as the Creator made it in the beginning. This nature Christ assumed in order to restore it. The Son of God, then, has come upon our lowly earth, descending from His celestial throne without quitting the glo~ of His Father, heralding a new order of things, with a birth that is utterly unique. A new order: that is to say, He who is invisible in His own nature, has become visible in ours; He who is incomprehensible has will'ed to be com-prehended; He who exists before all time began to exist in time; the Lord of the universe, veiling His ihfinite majesty,. took the form of a servant; God incapable of suffering did not disdain to become a suffering man; God immortal did not refuse tO submit to the laws of death. And His birth was unique: for undefiled virginity, without experiencing con-cupiscence, has furnished a body of flesh. He received human nature from His Mother, but assumed no sin. But His miraculous birth does not make the human nature of our Lord ~lesus Christ, born of a Virgin, different from ours. For He who is truly God is also truly man; and although the lowliness of man and the sublimity of Deity are con-joined, there is nothing contradictory in this union. For just as God is not changed by the mercy which caused Him to become man, so neither is His humanity absorbed by His divine majesty. Each of these .natures, though in union with the other, performs functions proper to itself: ~the. Word does that which belongs to the Word, and the flesh does that which belongs to the flesh. One of these is resplend-ent with miracles, the other succumbs to injuries. And 115 CYRIL VOLLERT just as the Wor~l does not relinquish equality with the glory of the. Father, the flesh does not surrender the nature belonging to our race. One and the same Person, as we cannot repeat too often, is really the Son of God and really the son of man; God, because "in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God"; man, because "the Word was made-flesh and dwelt among us"; God, because "all things were made through Him, and without Him was made nothing"; man, because he was "born of a woman, born under the Law." His birth according to the flesh is proof of His human nature, birth from a Virgin is a sign of His divine power. Surely when He says, "I and the Father are one," He is not speaking of the same nature as when He says, "the Father is greater than I." In a word., then, although in our Lord Jesus Christ. there is only one Person, who is both God and man, the lowliness which He~ has in common with us is from a dif-ferent source than the grandeur which He has in common with the Father. From us He has the humanity in which He is inferior to the Father, from the Father He has the divinity in which He is equal to the Father. ' This,. then, is the faith in which the Catholic Church lives, in this she grows: we believe that in Christ Jesus there is neither humanity without true divinity, nor divinity without true humanity. ~ Such in part, and without any indication of the sec-tions omitted, is the authoritative dogmatic letter written by Pope Leo I, on the 13th of June, 449. Several General Councils later incorporated some of its phrases into infallible pronouncements which in the face of heretical, opposition defined-the true. doctrine concerning Christ as revealed to the world byGod. 116 ¯ Prot:ession ot: a Novice in Danger of: Deat:h Adam C. Ellis, S.~I. pOPE Saint Pius V, a member of the Order of Preachers, issued a Constitution called Summi" Sacerdotii on August 23, 1570, whereby he allowed any novice of the second order of Dominican nuns who was in danger of death ~to make her religious profession, even though she had not completed her canonical novitiate.His motive in doing so, as stated in the Constitution, was to provide spiritual consolation for the dying novice who would otherwise be deprived of the merit of the religious profession inheaven. To the onovice thus professed at the hour of death he fur~ thermore granted all the indulgences and Other favors which the professed nuns enjoyed in the same dircumstances, and added a plenary indulgence to be gainedat the moment 6f death. By reason ~f the communication ot~ privili~ges wiaich existed between the first and second orders of St. DominiC, this favor of Saint Pius V was extendedto the first order of Friars Preachers. Later on othe~r~religious institutes obtained the same favor from the Holy See by special indult or by way of. approval of their constitutions in which it was con-tained. Pope Pius X extended this privilege to all novices of every religious order or congregation or religious society by the Decree Spirituali Consolationi of September 3, 1912, which was published by the S. Congregation Of Religious on September 10, 1912. This Decree laid down detailed regulations regarding the profession tO be made by a novice at the hour of death and regulated its effects: 117 ADAM C. ELLIS The new Code of Canon Law, which was promulgated in 1917, made no mention of the aforesaid privilege; hence the question was raised whether it was still in effect. At a -.,plenary session Of the Eminent Cardinals who form the S. Congregation of Religious, held on December 29, 1922, it was decided that the privilege still existed, and the pro-visions for this profession established by Pius X were repeated with certain additions, .and approved by Pius XI on December 30, 1922,. and ordered published the same day. We shall give the text of this document of the S. Con-gregation of Religious with a brief explanation of each point. In everg order, congregation, religious societg, or mon-asterg of men or women, likewise in institutes in which common life is observed although Oows are not taken, henceforth it is allowed to admit to profession, consecration or promise, according to the rules and constitutions, novices or probationers who, in the opinion of a doctor, are so gravely ill that they are considered to be at the point of death, even though they have not completed the period of novitiate or probation. The privilege is general, and extends to all novices, not ~onty in an order or congregation or society in which vows are taken,, but also in institutes whose members live a com- .mon life without taking public vows, but who usually, according to their constitutions, make some form of conse-cration or promise of perseverance. The only condition laid down in the general grant is that the novice, in the opinion of a ,doctor, is sick unto death. However, in order that novices or probationers ma~l be admitted to the above-mentioned profession or consecration-or promise, it is necessary: I. That they shall have canonically begun their novi-tiate or probation. 118 PROFESSION OF A DYING NOVICE The text is the same as that issued by the S. Congrega-tion of Religious in 1912. Up to that time the terms "novitiate" and "probation," "novice" and "probationer" were used synonymously. In the Code, however, the terms "probation" and "probationer" have been omitted in favor of "novitiate" and "novice", which are used exclusively to indicate those who hax;e been admitted to the period of trial preceding the religious profession. Canon 553 tells us that the novitiate begins with the reception of the habit, or in some other manner prescribed by the constitutions. This is what is meant here by beginning the novitiate or probation canonically. Postulants have not as yet begun their canon-ical novitiat.e; hence they are excluded from the privilege in question. Such is the opinion followed in practice by the S. Congregation of Religious. 2. That the superior who admits the novice or proba-tioner to the pro[ession or consecration or promise mag be, not onlg the respective major superior to whom this power belongs bg reason of the constitutions, but also the actual superior of the monasterg or novitiate or house of proba-tion, or a delegate of ang one of these superiors. Under normal' circumstances only the superior indi-cated in the constitutions can admit a novice to the profes-sion of vows. UsuallTthis power is reserved by the consti-tutions either to the superior general or to major superiors such as provincials~or their equivalent. In the case of the novice who is at the point o.f death, the local superiorof the monastery or no;gitiate house also has this power. If time permits, however, it would seem proper to refer the case t~ the major superior. To admit to profession means to give the novice permission to make his profession. The superior who does so in the case of a novice at the point of death does ¯ not need to .refer the case to his. council or to the chapter. 119 ADAM C. ELLIS Even though the dying novice be outside the monastery or novitiate house, in a hospital or sanatorium, for instance, he may be admitted to his profession, so long as .he is a canonical novice. Superiors may delegate their power of admitting the dying novice to profession, either to some other member of their institute, or to any other religious or priest, e.g. to the superior or to the chaplain of a hospital. 3. That the formula of profession or consecration or promise shall be that in use in the institute outside the case of sickness; and the vows, if taken, shall be made without determination of time or of perpetuitg. The ordinary formula of the vows, consecration, or promise is to be used, without any reference to time. There-fore such terms as: "for three years," "for ever," "for my entire life," are to be omitted. 4. That the novice who made such a profession or con-secration or promise shall share in all the indulgences, suf-frages, and other graces which the trulg professed religious receive at death; the dging novice is moreover mercifultg granted in the Lord the remission of all his sins in the form of a plenarg indulgence. This provision of the original decree of Pius X has been incorporated into .the Code in canon 567, except for the plenary indulgence. Hence every novice shares in all the privileges and spiritual graces granted to his institute, and if he dies, even though he does not make the profession in question, he has a right to the same suffrage.s which are pre.: scribed for the professed. If the novice does make his pro-fession before death, he receives a plenary indulgence granted him by the Holy See. This plenary indulgence is enjoyed only at the moment of death, since Pius V expressly states this, and Plus X intended to grant this favor in the same way in which it was originally granted. 120 PROFESSION OF A DYING NOVICE 5. That this profession or consec?ation or promise shall have no effect other than to confer the graces' (favors) men-tioned in the precedingonumber. Hence: (A) If the no~2ice 6r probationer dies intestate after ~uch 'a profession or con-secration or promise, the institute cannot lay claim .to any of the property or rights which belonged to him. (B) If the novice recovers before the expiration, of the time required for his, noviceship or pr.obation, he shall be in exactly the same condition as if he had made no profession. Accord- .inglg : a) he may freetg return to the world if he wishes to do so; b) superiors can dismiss him; c) he must fill out the entire time prescribed in each institute for the novitiate or probation, even though it eJcceed one year; d) at the expira-tion of this time, if he perseveres, the novice must make a new profession or consecration or promise. ¯ The profession made by the novice at the hour of death is personal 'and conditional. If ,the novice dies, he enters eternity as-a true religious, and receivesthe same merit as any other religious by reason of his corisecration of himself to God. " I.f he recovers, the profession made has no, canoni-cal effect whatsoever. The novice is in the same condition as he was before be .fell ill, and consequently, he, on his part, must fulfill .all the requirements of the law for his subse-quent profession. He is canonically free to leave.the novi-tiate at any time, if he so desires: Superiors, on their part, may dismiss him as they may dismiss any other novic~. The entire purpose of allowing a novice to make his profession at the hour of death is to give him the spiritual consolation of dying as a religious. Finally, the Sacred Congregation declares that there is no objection to inserting the foregoing provision in consti-tutions of orders and congregations, if the institutes them-selves ask to do so~ i21 ADAM C. ELLIS The use of the privilege contained in the declaration of the S: Congregation given above does not depend upon its being inserted in the constitutions of an institute. All dying ¯ ~novices may be allowed the use of the privilege, even though it is not contained in the constitutions of their institute. But if the institute wishes to insert the provisions of this instruc-tion in its constitutions, it must first obtain the permission of the S. Congregation of Religious, which will grant it for the asking. PAMPHLET REVIEWS ~ We have received several booklets that are deserving of special notice in a periodical such as ours. A Novena to St. Francis Xavier is a series of reflections on salva-tion and missionary work, written especially for children. The Wag of the Cross, by a Maryknoll Missionary, is a manual for the Stations which is particularly interesting because the illustrations are artistic woodcuts representing the characters of the Passion as Chinese. For information about the booklets, write to The Maryknoll Bookshelf, Maryknoll P.O., New York. A Saintly Shepherd of Souls is a pamphlet life of the Venerable John Neumann, C.SS.R., the fourth Bishop of Philadelphia. Itcon-tains 47 pages of interesting and inspiring facts. The author is the Reverend Albert Waible, C.SS.R., Vice-Postulator ofthe cause of the Venerable Neumann. The pamphlet may be procured from the Mis-sion Church Press, 1545 Tremont St., Boston, Mass. 5 cents a copy: $3.50 per hundred. Besides the foregoing, we have received two booklets by the Right Reverend Raphael J. Markham, S.T.D. : Apostolate to Assist Dying Non-Catholics; and Apostolate of Prayer for S~roinarians. We hope to treat Monsignor Markham's messages at some length in future issues of THE REVIEW. 122 I eligious and 0t: he Decalogue Gerald Kelly, S,J. I1| T IS the imperative duty of the pastor to give his days I and nights to the consideration of it (the Decalogue) : and to this he should be prompted by a desire not only to regulate his own life by its precepts, but also to instruct in the law of God th~ people committed to his care." These very strong words are quoted from the most authoritative of all catechisms, Tl~e Catechism of the Council of Trent, (also called The Ro~an Catechism). The injunction is, of course, directed to pastors of souls: but it scarcely need be pointed out howap ipropr¯iate it is for all religious, even though they be n0~ pastors, or even priests. The per-sonal reason is applid~ble to all of us; the fact that we have embraced the life of t,he Counsels does not exempt us from a careful observance of: the Commandments, The apostolic reason is also apphc,able to a very large percentage of us. Comparatively few of us.are not called upon at one time or another to:give catechetical instruction. I. Content of the Decalogue One may state, therefore, without fear of contradic-tion that religious should study and meditate over the Commandments of God. But a further question might well be asked: What should they study? What ought they to know as an aid to their personal observance of the Deca-logue and as the proper and sufficient equipment for apos- ~tolic work, should they be called upon to catechize? ~Thi~s is an important practical question, and it can hardly be answered without a few preliminary remarks concerning the content, or subject-matter, of the Decalogue. 123 GERALD KELLY It is sometimes said that every Commandment, even though it be phrased negatively ("Thou shalt not") ,, really contains two sides, an affirmative and a negative. It com-mands some things and forbids Others. This statement is a step in the right direction. It helps to counteract a purely negative attitude toward God's law. But, though a step in the right direction, the statement does not go far enough. It stil! leaves the Commandments difficult to explain. It is, perhaps, better to say that each Commandment, even though phrased in a purely negative manner, really does three things: First, it indicates a whole field of virtuous acts which it is both natural and becoming for a human being to perform; secondly, it commands certain minimum essentials of.virtue necessary for preserving the dignity of a o human being; and thirdly, it forbids certain thoughts and acts which either mar or destroy thebeauty of human nature. In subsequent issues of~this REVIEW we shall give thor-ough explanations of these Various aspects of the Com-mandments., For the present purpose, each aspect can be illustrated by a brief reference to the First Commandment. At the beginning of the Decalogue, we find the expres-sion: "I am the Lord, thy God." This is rather the foun-dation of the Commandments than a part of any one of them. It expresses a great and fundamental truth from which the Commandments flow in logical,' natural sequence. Itpresents us with a sublime picture of reality.~ On the one hand is God, almighty, eternal, a being 0f supreme and infinite excellence, and the Creator of the world; on the other hand is man; a creature endowed with intellect and free will, produced entirely by God and depending absolutely on God for all the good that he is or has or does. One who appreciates this basic relationship between 124 THE STUDY OF THE DECALOGUE man and God will not find it difficult to conclude that man ought to acknowledge his. relationship. A whole-souled devotion to his Creator is a good thing for man; and-any: acts by which he can honor God are good and appropriate for him. Fit expressions of his place with referenc~ to God are such things as adoration, the prayer of petition,~ praise, or thanksgiving. If God should speak to him, man should listen reverently and should place the most absolute faith in His word and the most unhesitating trust in His promises and in His power, and so forth. Thus, even the first glance at the reality of God and man, shows a whole field of per-fection that it is appropriate for man to cultivate. That is What is mean~ by saying that each Commandment ir~dicates a sphere of virtuous acts that it is natural and becoming fdr man to perform. From the point of view of mere appro-priateness, there is no limit to this sphere of action; the more frequently and the more fervently man can thus honor God, the better it is, The only actual limit is man's small capacity and the fact that his other needs and duties in life must necessarily prevent him from spending his entire time in explicit acts of worship. Realizing now the fitness of man's worshipping God, We come to the Second point. Are all of these acts of wor-ship optional for man, or are some of them obligatory? The very law of nature answers the question. Man must per-form some of these acts of virtue; without some worship of God, he fails to live up to the dignity of his created human nature. So this is the second thing that the Commandment does: it prescribes the minimum essentials of virtue in this field, some acts of adoration, some prayer, and so forth. Finally, we come logically to the third aspect. If acts of divine worship are appropriate for human nature, and certain acts are obligatory, it follows that any acts which conflict with~ this fundamental law of worship are 125 GERALD KELLY unworthy of man. Thus, he is forbidden to give to a crea-ture the honor belonging uniquely to God, forbidden to worship God in an unbecoming manner. These prohibi- ¯tio, s form an important part of the Commandment, bht by no means the principal part of it. They are not even understood without some reference to the positive side. The foregoing brief analysis of the First Commandment illustrates the statement that each Commandment may-be considered under three heads: the virtue indicated; the vir-tuous acts.prescribed; and the vicious acts t:orbidden. With this divisidn clearly in mind, we are now in a position to take up the question: what should a religious study in regard to the Decalogue? II. What a Religious Should Know To reverse the order and begin with the prohibitions, all religious should have a clear, well-defined knowledge of those things in which they themselves are likely to be tempted. They should know what precisely is forbidden, and to what extent it is forbidden, .that is, whether a viola-tion would be a mortal or a venial sin. This degree of knowledge is necessary for personal peace of conscience, and it should be imparted bymeans of adequate instruction. The policy of leaving all personal perplexities of conscience to be solved by an occasional word from a confessor is not a sound one. Very often a person who has not received ade-quate instruction is unable to express his difficulty to the confessor or unable to appreciatethe congessor's advice, and this sometimes leads to long periods of racking and entirely needless doubt. Moreover, the policy of hedging when explaining moral obligations to religious, of confusing ascetical norms with moral norms, slight obligations with serious obligations, is also difficult to justify. It breeds false consciences and often enough is the cause of scruples. 126 THE STUDY OF THE DECALOGUE Of course, it may be said that many of the prohibitions of the Decalogue will not affect religious: they will be seldom or never tempted in some matters. However, there is the further fact that a large percentage of our religious do give catechetical instruction on the Commandments. Now, even the small Baltimore Catechism, treating of the First Commandment, lists suchforbidden things as these: making use of spells and charms; belief in dreams, spiritists. and fortune-tellers: presumption; despair. The ability to teach the First Commandment requires that one have a. dear, soundly-theologicalknowledge of~ what constitutes sin in these matters. And the ability to teach the other Commandments requires, among other things, that one know the difference bdtween such things as blasphemy, cursing, and profane words; between just anger and inex-cusable anger; between thoughts and actions which are directly against purity and thoughts and actions which are merely dangerous to purity. A teacher should know these differences, should know also what makes a sin of injustice, disobedience, hatred: and when such sins are venial, when mortal. One does nbt get these notions by intuition: nor do the simple ,definitions of the c~itechism furnish a sufficient knowledge fo~? the teacher, inregard to almost; every sin listed here, great theologians draw sharp distinctions. These distinctions can be known only when they are studied and competently explaine& As fbr the things prescribed by the Commandments, the same:limits may be set for the minimum essentials of knowledge demanded of the' religious. He should know precisely what is commanded, and. whether itis commanded under pain of serious or Venial sin. He should know these things f0i his own peace of conscience; he should know them as a necessfiry background for his teaching, in case he should ,be called upon to instruct others ~,' i27" GERALD KELLY All this is not intended to carry the inference that reli-gious need a confessor's knowledge of the Decalogue. Nor is it even insinuated that teachers of the catechism should give their pupils complete descriptions of all the sins listed in the catechism or all the subtle distinctions that can be made between mortal and venial sin. But religious should know what is necessary for their own peace of conscience, as well as those things that form a necessary background for giving catechetical instruction, so that, when called upon for an explanation, they can give something that is simple and adapted to the listener and, above all, that they may avoid giving inaccurate answers that imbed themselves into a young soul like a malignant germ and that breed what eventually becomes a practically incurable case of scruples. Strictly speaking, the Commandments, in the sense of Divine Laws imposing moral obligations under pain of sin, consist only in preceptsand prohibitions~ Yet the study of the Commandments should not be limited to such things. These obligations cannot be correc~tly understood without some appreciation of what has been called the first aspect of the Commandments, that is, the virtues indicated by them, For how is. one to perceive the reason why he must worsbilo at some time and in some manner, unless he first realizes that the worship of God is a good and beauti-ful thing in itself? How is one to understand the obliga-tion of obedience, unless he first perceives the inherent good-ness of respect for legitimate authority? How is one to appreciate the obligations of chastity unless he first, becomes conscious of the dignity and beauty of the divine plan of paternity and family life, of which chastity is the guardian? Evidently, for th~ religious themselves, this first and eminently positive phase of the Comma'ndments is a decid-edly salutary subject of study and meditation. They may have relatively few temptations to violate them; but they 128 THE STUDY OF THE DECALOGUE have abundant oppbrtunities for living them and for loving them. Surely the refrain of the ll8th Psalm, "O Lord, how have I loved Thy law," should fill the soul of every-one dedicated to the service of God. It ~should lighten an'd make joyous the burden of his own obligations; it should communicate inspiration tO those with whom he exercises his apostolate. And the,people with whom we deal are sadly in need of inspiration; it is surprising how many of them, even ~he good people, have a decidedly negative and uninspired attitude towards the Commandments. All of us are, no doubt, familiar with the following typical scene of boy life. ~We can call the boy 3ohn, aged ten. He has finished his supper and is paging somewhat listlessly through the newspaper. He has seen the comics and the sports page' so there is reall~r nothing in the paper to-interest him. Actually he is not perfectly at ease. One gloomy eye is straining toward his bedroom where certain evil things called schoolbooks await him, another gloomy eye is straining toward the' kitchen, whence his mother will presently emerge' and order him to betake himself to those same sctiool books. (There are still some mothers like that.) Suddenly he h~ars welcome sounds. He rushes to the door and peers Out. Yes, it's "the gang" getting ready for an evening game. No more gloom in his eyes now; ~hey are all eagerness. ' "Morn," he calls, "How about letting me go out and play just one game? I'll be back in a little while." "No, 3ohn," comes the firm answer. "You've had plenty of platy today. It's time to study now, so get to your books." No amount of coaxing prevails over his mother's firm-ness, and finally 3ohn turns from the door. But the bright-ness is gone again from his eyes. Heavy feet, heavy heart, 129 GERALD KELLY slumping shoulders: he is the picture of youthful misery as he trudges his way from the sounds of boyish delight and slumps down into a chair over the dreaded school books. "She's a good mother," would run his thoughts translated into words, "but she doesn't understand. Otherwise she wouldn't make it so hard." That little drama of the child-world exemplifies the negative attitude of many even good people toward the Commandments. They find in the Commandments only ten negations of comfort and ease and content, ten privations of pleasure and freedom. They turn away from these for-bidden pleasures with a heavy Step and a heavy heart. They find no thrill in the keeping of the Commandments: often they seem to have a sneaking suspicion that God, like 3ohn's mother, just doesn't understand: otherwise He -would not make it so hard. In the various moral crises of life they overcome themselves, they keep the law, but even their victories are dulled by that boy-like heaviness of soul. They will be faithful, cost what it may: but the only joy of it lies in the subsequent good conscience. They deny them-selves, they repress themselves, and in these conflicts with self, it never occurs to them to lift up their heads and lighten their hearts with the thought that in thus repressing their lower selves they are really expressing their better selves. If possible, we should prevent or change this negative attitude. But we shall hardly do this unless we ourselves appreciate the beauty of God's law. The Roraar~ Cate-chism suggests several motives calculated to inspire a love of the Decalogue, and in particular it. stresses the fact that the observance of the moral law "proclaims more eloquently the .glory and the majesty of God than even the celestial bodies, which by their beauty and order excite the admira-tion of the most barbarous nations and compel them to acknowledge and proclaim the glory, the wisdom, and the 130 THE STUDY OF THE DECALOGUE power, of the Creator arid Architect of the universe." These solemn words touch on something fundamental to the Commandments: their relation to the glory of God. This theme is too large for fuli~ treatmen~ here. " The next section of this article contains a merely partial development of it, an indication of one kind of prayerful reflection that may serve to increase our appreciation of the Decalogue as a code of moral beauty. III. The Decalogue and Moral Beautg The observance of the Decalogue gives God great glory. In order to avoid theological technicalities in expanding on this motive, it will not be out of place for us to indul'ge in. the following bit of reverent fantasy. Imagine you have a pair of wings that will take yo~u back through time'. Swiftly you pass the century marks, the nineteenth, eighteenth., first., on into the ages before Christ, before Moses, until at last you come to the dividing line between time and eternity. You cross that line, then you turn back and rub it out; and, though it all seems quite absurd and impossible, you are alone with God before the creation of the world! You are alone with God, and you have this problem ~to solve: Why might God create the world? Remember that God is an intelligent being, and if He is to create, He must have a reason; yes, and a reason that is worthy of Himself. You are looking for that reason. Where shall you look for this reason for creating? Only in God; nothing else exists. So you must look intently upon God; you must, so to speak, search the depths of God for some possible reason for the existence of creatures. Your first search, though filled with wonders, is a dis-appointment. ,Here in God is all perfection in an infinite degree; here is the marvelous inner life, the Blessed Trinity. revealed: the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, infinitely 131 GERALD KELLY happy and blessed in Their possession of the Divine Essence and of One Another. But this is no reason for creating; this is rather a reason for not creating. There appears to be neither need, 'nor use, nor even the possibility of any other being. So you shake your head and turn away; you have not solved the riddle of creation. But look again, look deeper, as it were; and in- the clear placid ocean of Divine perfection you begin to see-the pat-terns of a limitless number of tiny beings, none of them equal to God, but each of them reflecting something of God. Here is one of the vast treasures of the Divinity, the tremen-dous possibility of s~arino His loveliness. Here you see the types of a great variety of beings, each of which God could bring into existence, each of which in its own way and according to its own limited capacity,, could manifest some-thing of the Divine Perfection. You have solved the riddle; you have discovered a reason for creation worthy of God Himself. It is His own Goodness which is, so to speak, a fountain of perfection that He can share with others, without loss to Himself. Thus, our little trip of fantasy has brought us face to face with the truth solemnly defined by the Vatican Council, that God created the world, not to acquire anything for Him-self or to increase His own perfection; but simply to com-municate it to otl~ers. This sublime truth, the object of our fantastic journey into the creative mind of God is intimately associated with the glory that man gives to God by the observance of the Commandments. If we return now from the mind of God into the realm of creatures, we na~turally expect to find that every creature, be it tiny, be it great; is a finite.expression of God, a reflection of some divine perfection. The drop of water, the grain of sand, the flower in the field, the family kitten, the sun, the moon, the stars, the entire universe-- 132 THE STUDY OF THE DECALOGUE each and all of these things show forth in some way the beauty, the loveliness, the majesty .of God. And they do this simply/~ beir~g tt~emseloes, by being faithful copies of~ the original masterpiece hidden within the depths of God. Everything in the world reflects God's goodness, and thus gives God glory, by following the law of its nature. Even those who never think of God are constantlT recognizing this law of the nature of things in their search for comfort and beauty and goodness. The cook enters her kitchen and bakes a cake that makes one's mouth ,water. She does not do this by seizing a. number of things at ran-dom, kneading them into some kind of dough, and tossing the mixture into the oven. She follows a definite recipe, and this recipe is only a formula worked out on the prin~ ciple that certain things react in a certain way with other things and produce a definite result. The engineer goes into his laboratory and plans a stream-lined train or some elec-trical marvel. He is searching for the laws that God wrote into the materials. The physical culturist who specializes in the body beautiful simply makes use of God's laws of sound and symmetrical bodies. The orchestra, playing a symphony that almost transports one into another world, follows the same notes that once burned through the brain of the composer. The composer is called a creator, yet he has not created. The music is also God's creature; the com-poser merely discovered .and applied the laws of harmony to produce this thing of entrancing beauty. So it is all through nature, true beauty is achieved by having things act according to their natures. That law is apparent in the simplest and in the grandest things---in the cake, in the symphony, in the splendors of the heavens. And the same law holds for man's contribution to the beauty of the universe; he must follow the law of his na-ture, the Decalogue. Man's duty and privilege is to sing 133 . GERALD KELLY unto God a glorious hymn of praise; the notes are the Com-mandments. Following these notes faithfully; he constantly ¯ raises toward heaven a sweet-toned benedicite which far ,surpasses any human composition. His unique contribu-tion to the beauty of the universe is moral beauty, and this, as The Roman Catechism points out, excels all the splen-dors of the irrational world. We all know something of the beauty of a single human soul in which the divine likeness is unblemished by sin. What if all souls were like that; what if all men at all times and in all places observed the Commandments of God! The combined interior beauty of all those souis 'would be indescribable; and exteriorly also the world would be a paradise. The one true God would be worshipped every-where according to His will; His holy name would be sounded only in reverence; all authority, as it comes from Him, would be pledged to Him .and exercised only according to His wise laws; parents would be devoted to their children, and children to their parents; human life and property and honor would be sacred;~ purity and marital fidelity would be everywhere esteemed. No idolatry, no persecutions, no blasphemies, no murder, no thefts, no .unjust. wages,, no obscenity, no backbiting or slander, no wars, no class conflict!! We could close our jails, divorce courts, reform schools; we could do away with burglar alarms and safes. There would be noarmaments to con-sume our capital, no death-weapons to slay our youth. A picture such as this reminds one of the Garden of Eden. Of course, when we view the moral turmoil that actually exists, we must label such a picture another fantasy. Yet it is .well for us to contemplate it, unreal though it happens to be; for it shows us the beauty and harmony the Com-mandments are supposed to produce. It shows us what the world could be, if man, like the irrational things, lived up 134 THE STUDY OF THE DECALOGUE to his nature. In the last section of this article, some considerations were offered that may help towards an appreciation of the Commandments as laws of moral beauty. Only the Deca-logue was mentioned exp!icitly, but for their personal meditations, religious might easily build upon that notion and see how all the laws that govern them are intended to bring out more sharply.some form of goodness. For in-stance, we know that God has given us not merely human natures, but super-natures; the life of Grace; and for pre-serving and developing this higher form of goodness He has supplemented the Decalogue with the laws of the super-natural life. The Church, legislating with authority from God, has given .us other laws, planned to make us good Catholics. The founders and foundresses of our religious societies, captivated by some particular form of Christlike-hess, have drawn up their constitutions with the aim of developing this Christlikeness in their followers. By the observance of these various laws, we can scale a tall pyramid of moral beauty. But we should ever keep in mind that at the base of this pyramid is the law that St. Augustine rightly called the foundation and epitome of all laws, the Decalogue. BOOKS RECEIVED (To be reviewed later.) MEDIEVAL HUMANISM. pan),. New York. THE CATHOLIC REVIVAL IN ENGLAND. By John J. O'Connor. MacMillan Compan),. New York. FAST BY THE ROAD. B), John Mood),. The MacMillan Compan)'. York. PRINCIPLES OF CHRISTIAN AND RELIGIOUS PERFECTIOI~L Brothers. Poughkeepsie, N. Y. By Gerald G, Walsh, S.J. The MacMillan Coat- The . New Marist 135 ook Reviews PROGRESS IN DIVINE UNION. By the R6~,erend Raoul Phs, S.J. Pp. 142. Translated from the French by Sister M. Bertlile and Sister iVl. St. Thomas, Sisters of Notre Dame, of Cleveland, Ohio. Frederick Pustet, Inc., New York, 1941. $1.S0. This little work of the well-known French ascetical writer treats cl~arly and forcefully of two. great means of making progress in union with God: namely, "generous self-conquest," and "the spirit of prayer." To the former, four chapters are devoted, each one devel-oping a major motive for self-conquest: self:preservation, expiation, imitation of our Lord, and redemption. If the redemptive process is to be completedby the Mystical Christ, that is, if more and more individual soul~ are actually to be brought to the divine life, then it is simply necessary that more and more good Chri.~tians, themselves already members, should make up in their persons what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ and thus put themselves into condition to enable others to enter that mystical incorporation or to grow in it. Christians need not only to be assimilated to Christ themselves and to be united with Him; they must go beyond this point and carry out the work of Christ in bringing others, as many as possible, to the saving knowledge and love of God. But self-conquest alone is not sufficient. To it must be added prayer, especially mental prayer, in it one learns "to experience in one's wh01e being the reality considered: the greatness of God, the immensity of His love, the infinite mercy of our Savior . the expiatory or redemptive pow. er of suffering, the incomparable price of life, or the splendor of deatfi." The work closes with a section on recollection and th~ continuous maintenance of union with God throughout all of one's occupations. No doubt this little book of Fr. Plus's xvill be much welcomed by the many for whom he has become a favorite devotional author:--G. A. ELLARD, S.,J. COLORED CATHOLICS IN THE UNITED STATES. By the Reverend John T. Gillard, S.S.J. Pp. x -f- 298. Josephlte Press, Baltimore, 1941. $3.00. All who are interested in, the Negro problem, whether from a purely scholarly or a practical point of view, will welcome this new 136 BOOK REVIEWS statistical study. Father Gillard is a well known authority on the Negro question. This, together with the care with which he has gathered his statistics and the caution with which he presents his findings, renders Colored Catholics in the United States a valuable reference book. It is not a new venture for Father Gillard. Rather it is an improvement and amplification of an earlier volume published in 1929. The book contains a pleasant mixture of facts and comment. The facts were gathered from the dioceses of the United States and the numerous organized enterprises that are predominantly Negro, and are presented in convenient tables. They cover: the Colored Catholic population according to dioceses, sections, states; free colored, slave, and white population for Southern and Northern Louisiana for the years 1810 and 1860; capacity of Negro Catholic churches in Louisi. ana in 1860; a scholarly estimate of the number of Negro Catholics in the United States at the time of emancipation; and statistics, on the churches, schools, missions, priests, nuns, and welfare works dedicated to Colored Catholics. Throughout the book Father Gillard contrasts the condition of the various fields of work in the past with the present, and offers some explanation of the losses and gains. He gives a full treatment of the difficult problems of indifference, prejudice, and migration. Since this book is something of the nature of an almanac, it is unfortunate that it is not available in an inexpensive paper-bound edition. While there is need of a well-bound edition for schools and libraries, a paper-covered copy would be convenient on the desk of every student of the race problem or worker in any of the many fields of endeavor for the betterment of the Colored race. This is especially true since the available census statistics on Colored Catholics are admittedly inaccurate.--J. T. WHITE, 8.3. [NOTE: Our readers are very likely aware of the fact that Father Gillard died quite unexpe.ctedly since this book review was written, mED.] ONE INCH OF SPLENDOR. By Sister Maw Rosalla of Ma~knoll. Pp. 90. Field Afar Press, New York, 1941. $1.00. It is good for us all to realize that the Catholic Church is truly catholic. This is one of the effects of this book. Here is a tale of old China, a whitened harvest field of souls crying for reapers. It is into this distant land that the Sisters of Maryknoll carry the torch of faith. ¯. 137 BOOK REVIEWS We go at once into the home of Chinese peasants, we see the women fingering and studying the crucifix on the Sisters' habits. The Sisters go on from village to village0 from that of Long Sand Bar to Dangerous Rapids and farther to the village of the Fr~igrance of. the Cinnamon Tree. And everywhere, into both Catholic and pagan homes, they bring the good news, the truth of the Lord of Heaven. In towns, far removed from priest and chapel, they form Rosary Sodalities which will meet on Sunday for the benefit of those unable to travel the 19ng distance to the mission church. Everywhere they recruit members for the Study-the-Doctrine- Time, the catechumenate, to be held within a few months at Rosary Convent. All their work is directed towards this goal f to get pagans to come to this instructiori class. Then, at the convent, during forty days, intensive instruction is given the neophytes. We see old women, young children, all trying to master the fundamentals of our religion. Red marks appear on brown foreheads, as the long nails of Chinese fingers bruise the skin in their effort to trace the sign of the cross. Finally, the examinations are held and the three score and odd pagans are baptized. The Church has grown another inch irr China. This book is recommended for convent community reading. Readers will find that the problems of missionary Sisters are not altogether different from those which they themselves experience. And a greater love for our Faith, which is so eagerly embraced by the Chinese, should spring up in the soul. An'inspiring oneness will.be experienced with these courageous Sisters who have left home, with all the word means, to bring light where before there had been 0nly darknes~.--M. J. DONNELLY, S.~I'. LITURGICAL WORSHIP. By ~1. A. Jungmann, S,J. Translated by a monk of St. John's Abbey, Collegeville: foreword by Rt. Ray. Alculn Deufsch, ¯ Abbot of Collecjeville. Pp.xil -k 141. Frederick Pustet, Inc., New York. 1941. $1.2S. This is a very precious little book, the best in its field known to the reviewer, and, though meant in~fiist instance for priests, both in subject-matter and in presentation, it' should appeal to all religious as Christians and as worshippers of God. In the late Summer of 1938 the Carffsianam at Innsbruck held an institute for priests on "The Theology of Today," at which '~the 138 BOOK REVIEW8 central topic of discussion was the matter of giving a mor~ forceful and dynamic expression to'abstract theological truths." Father 3ung-mann's lectures there delivered, although advanced by the author as something of a rough sketch, were demanded for publication, The German original appeared, in consequence, in 1939. The present reviewer has had the work within arm's length since then and has read it, not once or twice, but six or seven times. No author, so it seemed, had so clearly "isolated" the essentials of Christian worship, none so felicitously outlined the basic laws of development inherent in the very nature of theliturgy. Whether one is interested in some small point" of the present stiucture of the Office, or concerned with the place of the vernacular in modern Dialog Mass, the ultimate a'nswer, illustrated, by historical facts and instances, was almost sure to be indicated in 2ungmann's slender book. It is a great boon to have this now. made available in the.incomparably wider circles of the English-language public. One can list in a moment the themes handled in the volume, but only familiarity with the book itself can convey an idea of how much light is shed on a whole array of pointsall to the fore in the current liturgical movement. Starting with the elemental definition, "Liturgy is the public worship of the Church," the author with skill, and logic, and tact, shows the shortcomings of other definitions, while he draws out the unsuspected depths contained in the formula defended. The second chapter, "In Whom is the Liturgy Reposed?," deals with priesthood, the Priesthood of Christ in Head and members, and the relation of.the ministerial priesthood of Holy Orders towards both Head' and members. "Two Tendencies" are briefly sketched in Chapter Three, that of liturgy toward the beautiful and that of liturgy toward popular appeal. In tracing the working out of these tendencies, a good deal of basic religious psychology is mirrored in miniature. Chapter Four is the kernel of the book: it deals With the Ground- Plan, that worship (ideally) begins with a reading, which is followed by a song, then prayer by the people, and finally, prayer by the priest. In the remaining chapters each of these elements is handled at greater length by itself: The Reading (V), The Singing .(VI), The Prgyer of the People (VII), and The Prayer of the Priest (VIII). Each chapter is scholarly, each chapter is valuable, and their cumulative effect is irresistible. 139 ¯ BOOK. R