Suchergebnisse

The Dept of Soc-Anthrop has recently made studies of elites in a Ewe community at Keta on the Gold Coast & the Birom tribe of central Nigeria. Ewe culture is relatively complex. The people are influenced by Western educ, though 75% of the adult pop is illiterate. Among the Keta, the direction of societal change is largely under the hand of the literate but not highly educated individuals. Among the Birom, the material standard of living is one of the most meagre in Africa. Though their mode of existence is quite primitive, some gov officials say that the Birom are about to surpass all other northern Nigerians. This change toward a great desire for educ & progress is due not only to the influence of a few British pol'al officers & European missionaries but certainly to the intelligence of the people through their educ & personal qualities. These new wise men of the tribe are respected, trusted, & imitated. No longer do these once 'primitive' people feel themselves despised. B. J. Keeley.

A review & critique of AMERICA AS A CIVILIZATION (See SA 5664). Lerner's middlebrowism in the 1950's is what his radicalism was in the 1930's-the unexamined (& almost unrecognized) habitat of his mind where he makes some of the archetypal errors of conventional thought. Thus, one of the blind spots of his book is that, though it speaks of the highbrow lowbrow, it says next to nothing about the middlebrow. This is astonishing in a book.which purports to comment on the cultural scene at the present time when middlebrowism complacently rules our intellectual life. The question to test Lerner's analytic prowess would be, why, despite the energies of mobility, so conformist, so smug, & so rich in power over opinion? Criticism is meaningless if it cannot detect the place of cultural power in the life of intelligence. But, instead of confronting the reigning middlebrowism, Lerner is content, on the one hand, to warn us about certain potential shortcomings in popular culture, & on the other, to snipe away at the `intellectuals' (See also SA 7332). J. A. Fishman.

A Committee of Congress & the press finds the existing morality in broadcasting disturbing. However, those primarily at fault, the broadcasters, have escaped attention. The intended benefits of the Communications Act were: (1) a rich diversity of programs, (2) provision for the needs of cultural & soc minorities, (3) broad interpretation by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of what constitutes the public interest & (4) regulatory control of licensees in the performance of public service. The changes during the past quarter cent underscore the wisdom & foresight of those framing the original Act. A world undergoing rapid change esp in technological spheres demands the utmost in intelligence & refined sensibility to avoid destruction. In the race to establish a moral order the mass communications media are not a luxury but services that must be harnessed to democracy's needs. Broadcasters at first thought of the future as bringing widespread educ'al & cultural benefits but the proportion of programs devoted to human betterment has diminished relative to the increase in the number of radio & TV stations. The FCC has not been the consistent, careful, devoted guardian of the public interest that was originally envisioned. The following policies of change are recommended: (1) revised procedures respecting FCC appointments which ignore party labels & focus on proven integrity, intelligence & distinguished public service of the candidates, (2) recovery of the Blue Book & enforcement of its provisions as a condition of every license renewal, (3) appropriations by the Congress sufficient for staff to permit careful scrutiny & appraisal of services rendered before license renewal, (4) the holding of license renewal hearings should be held in the locality served by the licensee, (5) the creation of a nat advisory commission representing major cultural & other interests throughout the nation to advise the FCC on matters relating to broadcasting & the public interest, (6) a minimum of a half hr nightly devoted to serving the interests of lesser majorities & major minorities in the arts & discussion of public issues, be required of each licensee, (7) the (total - sum) divorce of advertising from determination of program content & the limiting of advertising time to 3 minutes per half hr to be filled only by an announcer, (8) congressional grants-in-aid for activation & sustenance of all the 258 frequencies reserved for non-profit educ'al TV, (9) consideration of ways & means to implement the recommendation of the Luce Commission on Freedom of the Press involving a continuing content analysis of the broadcasting media. G. M. Coughenour.

In pre-WW II industrial development in Palestine was retarded when compared to industrialized countries; but soc conditions were favorable toward such development when compared to many Oriental countries. Since the 1948 creation of the Israeli State, industrialization has proceeded rapidly because of the impetus of national policy & assistance from the US. During this period the accelerated immigration into the new State has radically changed the composition of the pop. There has been a huge increase in the % of new-comers to resident pop & the character of the immigration has shifted from a predominantly Western to an Oriental one. These changes have led to problems of econ & soc adjustment. In effect this has put two contrasting societies vis-a-vis each other: the Ur, industrialized society with its special traits of acquisitiveness & aggressive att's toward SE change facing the pre-industrial, agri'al society with its traditionalism & its high valuation of leisure. Contrary to expectations, no major breakdown in the process of absorption ensued. The adjustment of the newcomers to industrial employment became the subject of the UNESCO investigation here described. The most important inquiries undertaken were those which covered 11 modern industrial enterprises in the Haifa district. The results were verified by a survey taken in the Tel-Aviv district. Information on the vocational preferences of young workers was provided by a statist analysis carried out by the Vocational Guidance Dept of the Hadassah Educ'al Services in Jerusalem. The Haifa investigation covered 420 workers in 11 industrial enterprises organized largely on the assembly line system. The majority of these were employed at spinning, weaving, sewing, glass manufacture, & railway shops. Most of the workers were immigrants from Iraq, Morocco, Egypt, & other Oriental countries. The immigrants were less likely to be employed in the old-established factories not greatly expanded since 1948. That most workers interviewed were resigned to their status as workers is indicated by the fact that 332 of 420 did not contemplate leaving their present employment in the near future. Acceptance of present status was high among immigrants from Yemen, India, Turkey, & Bulgaria. Discontent was high among those from Egypt, Iraq, & Morocco, countries where a large part of the Jews belong to the Mc. Dissatisfaction was generally low among F's, perhaps because they regarded the arrangement as a temporary one. 25% of M's below 25 years in age were discontent & 11% of those above. Factory managers held their chief complaint against workers from Oriental countries to be their lack of punctuality & absenteeism. They agreed, however, that these immigrants can be easily influenced & in time become excellent workers. Because of this some managers preferred to employ Oriental over European immigrants. Management tried to treat all workers equally: only 37 of the 420 expressed dissatisfaction with the attitude of management. The managers interviewed indicated that workers were quite sensitive to any form of discrimination, real or imagined. Soc contacts with Oriental workers was limited. Trade union organization, unknown to Oriental Workers, was associated by them with the Israeli authorities who rule over them. There was no serious attempt to educate workers in respect to their union organization (Histadrut). There was a greater knowledge & appreciation of the operations & signif of trade unionism among workers in the smaller enterprises (up to 100 workers). There appeared to be no serious friction among workers themselves regardless of recentness of immigration or source. This is in accord with community philosophy which considers all soc discrimination as immoral. Most immigrants were convinced that they are discriminated against in situations which are not work-related, but few could name instances to prove it. Contrary to popular opinion, normal working relations were not observed to lead to closer personal contacts. Specific adjustment to factory work was easier among those who found the greatest number of common elements between their previous & their new job. The following conclusions are reported: (1) the general adjustment of the immigrants to the industrial way of life is satisfactory; (2) educ is important in-so-far as it facilitates training & work assignment; consequently, educ is more functional with some types of jobs than others; (3) desire for security of employment motivates the immigrant to strive for a skilled type of job; (4) F's adjust to industrial work more smoothly than M's; (5) the adjustment to specific job requirements is somewhat impeded by the relative unfamiliarity of the immigrant with machinery & its operation; (6) managers & forement disagree on the intelligence & perception of the new immigrants, but studies of Einstein suggest that certain initial differences in perception & abstract thinking exist between the various ethnic groups of the pop; (7) wages are not an incentive & positive factor in adjustment; (8) there is virtually no discrimination against newcomers on the part of management or veteran workers (except for some discrimination against Oriental workers), but there seems to be a spectacular indifference to & ignorance of the special problems of the newcomers on the part of the Histadrut (General Jewish Labor Federation). It can be concluded that the process of adjustment of new immigrants to the requirements of an industrial society has proceeded with remarkable promise. B. J. Keeley.

In a comparison of studies on problems of compromise by R. H. Lowie (see SA 2143-iB0690) & C. Moraze (see SA 2143-B0694) sponsored by the Liternat'l Soc Sci Council (UNESCO, UN), it is emphasized that the dyadic roles of reciprocity in the interplay of soc instit's follow the `law of exchange' in primitive as well as modern societies. There is no gap in intelligence or reasoning between primitive & modern peoples - but, the range of situations responsive to rational treatment is wider in modern groups. Studies were conducted by specialist assistants of Lowie on certain 'primitive' civilizations which showed that all societies are concerned with self-preservation, & in the face of conflict, adopt varying techniques of compromise depending on the value placed on 'conciliation & flexibility of customs & laws.' Eg, (1) Islam; although believed to oppose compromise, the Koranic law contains various clauses with the `spirit of conciliation' (including references re the equality of women), & Moslem Legislation favors prevention of conflicts. (2) India; caste, cultural diversity, & the religious trends of non-violence & asceticism foster compromise. (3) China; mediation through skillful negotiators in the feudal period established a tradition of compromise through reconciliation. P. D. Montagna.

A polemical exchange touched off by an earlier article by Meyerhoff. McCall: Many of the eulogists, including Mr. Meyerhoff, used the occasion of the centennial for broadsides against the so-called cultural deviationists. The revisionists are highly vulnerable targets. They substitute one monism for another, their theories are as unsusceptible as Freud's to verification, & the results of their treatment are equally questionable. But the Freudians do not attack them on methodological but on philosophical grounds. To attack them methodologically would mean opening the Freudian system itself to examination. Instead, the revisionists are accused of being light-minded optimists. But is a pessimistic theory founded on false premises any `deeper' than an optimistic theory founded on false premises? The Freudians are attacking, through the revisionists, the tradition of the Enlightenment which holds that man is a rational animal who can solve his problems through the use of his intelligence. Meyerhoff: Freud never claimed infallibility for himself- as Jones has shown abundantly in his biography. Greatness will do for praise. There is little enough in our world as it is; & compared with his critics & his epigones, Freud looms like a giant. It is embarrassing to have to defend him again--at this time, in these pages, & against such scurrilous charges. Freud would not have thought it worth bothering. J. A. Fishman.

Issue 20.4 of the Review for Religious, 1961. ; JOSEPH F.~ GALLEN, s.J. Femininity and Spirituality A female insight of Gertrud von le Fort~ is the theme of this article. She writes: "L~on Bloy's words, 'The holier a woman, the more she .is a woman,' are valid also in re-verse; for the truly feminine role in every situation is i(retrievably bound to her religious character.''1 There-fore, it is likewise true that the more she is a woman, the holier she is. This principle extends also to the i:eligious state, and our topic.is that the holiness of the "sister must be built on her feminine nature and thus be distinctively feminine. Woman in the Gospel The women close to our Lord ir~ the CO, spel were femi-nine women. This is evidently true of the Blessed Virgin. She was the mother of mothers. Divine motherhood ele-vated her above all other mothers not "only in grace and sanctity but also naturally. "We often fail to re-member to what extent Mary is the most perfectly developed of all creatures, not only on the supernatural but also on the human level. Yet, it is a fact. There has been no other human being whose personality was de-veloped to such a pitch, to such a fullness of harmony and strength. In her, every power was fully cultivated and brought to the highest degree of accomplisliment. In her heart, all the delicacy of a virgin and all the ardor of a bride's love are joined to all the tenderness and gentleness of a mother. Purity, fervor, kindness, the strength to persevere, merciful understanding, the, power to forgive, a source of continual renewal and of refound enthusiasm . the heart of our Lady draws this unique treasure from her participation in the mystery of the Re-demption. In the Redemption were revealed all the potentialities' of her being. God Himself allowed this de- 1 Gertrud von le Fort, The Eternal Woman (Milwaukee: Bruce, 1954), 57. + 4- + Jose~ph F. Gallen, S.J. is pr0tessor of canon law at Woodstock College, Woodstock, Maryland. VOLUME 20, 1961" 4" 4. 4.~ REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 238 sire for sacrifice and the gift of self, which is in the heart of every woman and mo.ther, and which was in Mary to a supreme degree, to be realized to the full.''2 M6ther-hood, physical or spiritu.al, is the full development of the female personality, and in Mary this development reached its perfection. She is not only the saint of saints; she is the woman of women and the supernatural and natural ideal of all women. A devoted band of women disciples, with feminine spontaneity and. generosity, followed our Lord from Gali-lee and ministered to Him.8 A sinful woman bathed His feet with her tears, wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and anointed them.4 Martha and Mary had the faith of the heart in our Lord: "Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother would not have died.''5 The femininity of Mary, who sat in such confidence at His feet,e in no way repelled ou~ Lord: "Now J~sus loved Martha and her sister Mary, and Lazarus.''7 Women com[ort'ed our Lord on the way to Calvary,8 stood at the foot of the cross,9 and would not depart from the cross.10 When the tomb was sealed, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph Could not leave it.11 They left fin.a, lly onl~ to think. of Him~and to prepare spices and ointments for His body~12 At the earliest moment after the Sabbath rest, at dawn on the third day, they returned to the tombA8 When the risen Christ appeared to them, they embraced His feet and worshipped Him.x4 Our faith is founded on the. Resurrection of our Lord. According to the Gospel story, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene; by His commigsion, this feminine ~oman became the hei'ald of the Resurred: tion to the ~pogtle~ a'nd, in the liturgy of the Church, the apostle to the apostles,x5 Woman in 'the Litu.rgy The same feminine tone is found throughout the liturgy ~and in the approved prayer of the Church. We have only to recall the titles in the Litany of Loretto: Mother most amiable, Virgin most merciful, Cause of ~ Paul-Marie de la Croix, O.C.D. ~hastity (Westminster: Newman; 1955), 145. tMt 27:55; Mk 15:.41; Lk 23:55. ~Lk 7:38. ~ Jn 11:21, 32. eLk 10:39. ~Jn 11:5. s Lk 23 : 27. OJn 19:25. ~o Mk 15= 40; Lk 23:49. ~a Mt 27 : 61 ; Mk 15 : 47; Lk 23 : 55. ~Mk 16:1; Lk 24:1. ~ Mt 28: 1; Mk 16: I-2; Lk 24: 1/ t' Mt 28:9. ~Mt 28:!0; Jn 20:17-18. our joy, Mystical rose, Health of the sick, Refuge of sinners, Comforter of the afflicted. We know that in the liturgy the Christian virgin is the bride of Christ and the bridal theme is: found frequently in Masses of the Blessed Mother and :of virgins,. In one,of the prayers from the common office of a virgin, we ask the grace to learn loving devotion to God from the virgin. In the third responsoryo of the feast of the Maternity of the Blessed Mother, we read: "Thou art made :beautiful and gentle in thy delights, O holy mother of,God,, and in the same responsory of the feast of St. Agnes:. "When I love Him, I am chaste; when I touch Him, I am pure; when I possess Him, I am :a virginY The hymn of Vespers of the feast of St. Mary Magdalene reads: "Source .and giver of heavenly light, with a glance You lit a fire o[ love in Magdalene and thawed the icy coldness of ~her heart. Wounded by love of You, she ran to anoint Your sacred feet, wash them~,with her ~tears, wipe ~hem With her hair and kiss them with her lips. She was not afraid to stand by the cross; in anguish of'soul she, stayed near Your tomb with-out any fear of the cruel soldiers, for love casts out fear. Lord Christ; love most true, cleanse us from our sins, fill our heart with grace and grant uvthereward of heaven/'16 Finally, the woman, in the office for holy women is a motherly woman. Woman in the .Doctrine ol the Church Doctrinally, the Church proclaims the distinctively feminine temperament in declaring that the mutual as-sistance or complementing of the sexes is an end of marriage. A fundamental reason for the " Church's re-strictions on coeducation is the specific feminine psy-chology. Pius XI stated in the Encyclical on Catholic education: "There is not in nature itself, which fashions the two quite different in organism, in temperament, in abilities, anything to suggest that there,can be or ought. to be intermingling, much less equality in the training of the two sexes."17 Plus XII reaffirmed the same principle: "Education proper to the sex of the young girl, and not rarely also of'the grown woman, is therefore a necessary condition of her preparation and formation for a life worthy of her.''Is Nature and Grace Sanctity, and also apostolic sanctity, can be defined as God giving me His grace and my c6rrespondence with 1BTranslation of the Reverend Joseph Connelly, H~mns'ot the Roman Liturgy (London: Longmans, Green, !~957), 214. x~ Acta Apostolicae Sedis, 22 (1930), 72. ~S Allocution to the Women Delegates oI the Christian Societies o! Italy, October 21, 1945, Acta Apostolicae Sedis, 37 (1945), 293-94. + + Femininity spirituality VOLUME 20, 1961 ~9 ÷ ÷ ÷ Jowph F. Ga//en, $4. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 240 that grace. In our present context, God gives the grace to a human being, but to a woman, not to an angel nor to a man. It is evidently true that grace builds on nature and on the whole nature of the individual. Grace does not destroy but elevates and helps nature. Christian spiritu-ality does not annihilate our natural tendencies but orientates them properly, directs them to their proper end, turns them to God. It follows that grace does not destroy the feminine nature, that the more fully de-veloped the feminine nature the more effective grace will ordinarily be, and that the saintly woman is not an un-sexed woman but a feminine woman dominated by grace. Bainvel says of the saints: "Grace extinguished nothing of the light of their-intelligence, did not deprive~.them of .any strength of will, nor of their tenderness of heart, norof the delicacy of their sentiments.''19 There can be an obstacle, and a serious obstacle, to the sanctity of sisters by a spiritual formation, direction, and a concept of spirituality that tend to defeminize them. An antecedent possibility of this error exists. In-stitutes of religious women are based, and some of them very directly and immediately, on those of men; men have been the founders or cofounders of many institutes of women; men write the spiritual books that sisters read; and they instruct and direct sisters. The general observa-tion of Fitzsimons can be applicable here: ". and I noted how often, both in the secular and religious sphere, in small matters as in great, women had to be content with an adaptation of something masculine.''a0 The re-ligious life has to be essentially the same for both men and women; but that of women should have a feminine soul, atmosphere, and tone. In this matter, man can be a sound observer; he can point out defects, show the gen-eral direction, but he cannot be a master. Only women can fully understand and create this feminine atmosphere. Gina Lombroso tells women: "If we suffer, it is not be-cause we are different from him but because man does not realize in what way we are different.''21 Priests are not exempt from this common male ignorance of the female temperament. We exhort them to be Christian soldiers despite the fact that their destiny is physical or spiritual motherhood and that "woman attains her fullness as a mother whenever she holds our her hands to the weak and abandoned, to those who have need of care and pro- ~j. v. Bainvel, Nature et surnaturel (Paris: Beauchesne, 1920), 160. ~" John Fitzsimons, Woman Today (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1952), vii. aa Gina Lombroso, The Soul oI Woman (New York: Dutton, 1923), 94-95. tection."~z Moralists have sound reasons for counseling brevity in hearing the confessions of women, but it can be that they and we other priests are unaware of the fact that woman often dislikes to speak of her interior and that her diffuseness can frequently be merely the'inability to express her interior. "Furthermore, the feminine in-stinct is to hide deep emotions, and as woman can divine other people's sentiments she cannot understand that man cannot divine hers but demands that she put her most sacred feelings into words.''z3 We can and often do instruct and guide women with no attention to their distinctive temperament and thereby fall at least 'partially into the error underscored by Leclercq: "Every system, every institution, every social practice, every 'legal meas-ure that ignores what is specifically feminine in woman's make-up denatures the personality of the woman under the false pretense of developing it.''~4 Differences Between Man and Woman A detailed study of this subject must begin from the basic fact, evident objectively but ignored too much in practice, of the differences between man and woman. Plus XII instructed us: "'it is true that man and woman are, with regard to their personality, of equal dignity, honor, merit, and esteem. But they do not~ compare equally in everything. Definite abilities, inclinations, and natural dispositions belong solely to the man or the woman.''2~ Alexis Carrel, whom all quote on this topic, emphasizes the same principle in greater detail: "The differences ex-isting between man and woman do not come from the particular form of the sexual organs, the presence of the uterus, from gestation, or from the mode of education. They are of a more fundamental nature. They are caused by the very structure of the tissues and by the impregna-tion of the entire organism with specific chemical sub-stances secreted by the ovary. Ignorance of these funda-mental facts has led promoters of feminism to believe that both sexes should have the same education, the same powers, and the same responsibilities. In reality, woman differs profoundly from man. Every one of the cells of her body bears the mark of her sex. The same is true of her organs and, above, all, of her nervous system. Physio-logical laws are as inexorable as those of the sidereal world. They cannot be replaced by human wishes. We ~Fitzsimons, op. cit., I00. ~Lombroso, op. cit., 89. ~'Eugene Duthoit, quoted by Jacques Leclercq, Marriage and the Fam:si lAy l(lNoecwut iYoonr kto: Pthuset eGt,i 1rl9s4 o9)!, C29a2th-9o3l.ic Action, April 24, 1945, Acta Apostolicae Sedis, 35 (1943), 137. + + + Femininit~ and Spirituality VOLUME 20, 1961 241 4. + Joseph F. Gallen, S.]. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS are obliged to accept them just as they are. Women should develop their aptitudes in accordance with their own nature, without trying to imitate the males. Their part in the progress of civilization is higher than that of men. They should not abandon their specific functions.''26 Two other doctors, Strecker and Lathbury, are equally force-ful: "Will it never be learned that men and women can-not be reduced to a test-tube level? There are immense differences, including chemical ones and profound psy-~ chological differences which persist to the end of life.''27 These profound psychological differences evidently de-mand that the spiritual education, training, formation, direction, and government of religious women be dis-tinctively feminine. To ignore this principle is to re-tard and distort woman's spiritual growth.The sister is to develop herself, to sanctify herself, but in a dif-ferent and feminine way. "Like the man, the woman is.a human person, with all the dignity of a human being. But she is a human person in another manner than the man. She has, therefore, the same right as the man to unfold her personality, the same right to seek. after her perfection. Yet she is different, and as a consequence. her personality unfolds itself under other conditions. The rule of equality between man and woman is a rule of differentiated equality. The woman not only has an equal right with the man to the full development of her being; she has an equal right to develop herself in .a different way. To impose man's manner of life upon the woman, or to give her the same status, is to violate her right, which is to be different from him.''2s Man is Egocentric; Woman is "Alterocentric" Students of this question inform us that man is ego-centric, is centered on his own activities and pleasures, is interested in and devotes himself to things. But a very fundamental fact about woman is that she is "altero-centric"; she centers her attention, feelings, ambition, and enjoyment in other persons; she is not interested in things but in persons; her satisfaction is in other persons whom she can love and from whom she can receive love. A distinctive property of this attribute is that of great generosityl a woman has the capacity of giving and de-voting herself completely to other persons. "A woman is much more likely to become emotional about somebody: Her greater affectivity is towards persons; she is a more social person. She is interested in the living human being; ~eAlexis Carrel, Man the Unknown (New York: Halcyon House, 1938), 89-90. ~ Edward A. Strecker,. M.D., and Vincent T. Lathbury, M.D., Their Mother's Daughters (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1956), 26. ~ ts Leclercq, op. cit., 292. not in things, actions, accomplishments, theories, sta-tistics, or impersonal plans as such.'~29~:"~To be religiously alive needs precisely those qualities~with which woman is so richly endowed, the .gift of personal' relationship, instinct for vita]ovalues, and :the capacity for giving one-self completely to another, ,to The Other.''30 If this personal relation is'so~ deewin the nature of~ woman, why is it that God is not-more prominent in the spirituality of sisters? If woman is~not interested in things, why.are rule, regulatibn, custom, practice, and observance so characteristic ~of her spirituality? Why do~s she look on a thing~ the.Holy Rule, as,the ultimate norm of her conduct and not merely as a means to s6mething per-sonal, identification with Christ? Why does she consider herfoundress as a lawmaker, dot 'asa spiritual mother, a giver of spiritual life? .Why does she narrow her vision to the details of the rule of the foundress .and forget the rule as the~path to the distinctive virtues of~the fouhdress? Why does she place so much of her spirituality iri ex-ternals and not in the _Persons of the Trinity; Who dwell ~¢ithin her,° and in Jesus ,Christ? Doesn't the womanly-aatfire, of a sister, her spirituality, apostolic efficacy, and aappiness demand that we decrease the insistence on ex- :ernals and. emphasize much more the~interior life? Isn:v , theological training necessary.so,that she will have the- ;olid truth that nourishes such a li~e?~ Doesn't that same ;enerous nature require that we abandon the spirituality ff uiere morality, sin a;ad no sin, of the mere practice of ~irtue; and that we emphasize the personal truths of the firitual life, the fatherhood of God, the love ofGod° "or each one of us, the indwelling of the Trinity, the~ ~erson of Christ, the Mystical'Body, the life of grace, and he motherhood of Mary? The spirituality of the sister hould be distinctively a person-to-person relation to God. ~piritual Motherhood The great ~characteristic of wom~n is motherliness. P~us' (II affirmed.~ "Every woman is destined to be a m(~ther, notl~er in the physical s~n~e o~ 'the word, or in a rriore p.iritual and elevated but no less true sense.''31 On an- )ther occasion, he stated: "But with you We see around J~ today a gathering q~ religious ~omen, teachers and thers engaged in ihe work0f Christian education. They re. m~thers, too, not by.{aaiure nor by blood but by the ~Lucius F. Cervantes, S.J., And God" Made Man and Woman 2hicago:-Regnery, 1959), 88. ~Eva Firkel, Woman in the Modern W~'rl~l (Chicago: Fides0~1957), a~Allocution to the Women Delegates o! the Christian Societies Italy, October 21, 1945, Acta ~postolicae.$edis, $7 (19~5), 287: Femininity an~ Spirituality VoLuME 20, 1961 ÷ ÷ ÷ Joseph "F~. Gallen, S.]. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 244 love that they bear to the young.''32 Gertrud von le Fort expresses the same truth in womanly fashion: "Whereso-ever woman is most profoundly herself, she is not as her-self but as surrendered; and wherever she is surrendered, there she is also bride and mother. The nun dedicated to adoration, to works of mercy, to the mission field, carries the title of mother; she bears it as virgin mother.''a3 Eva Firkel asserts the same principle: "All feminine ac-tivity is shot through with protective motherly qualities, These emanate from every healthy woman, no matter whether she be married or single, whether she has children or not.''34 Here we touch the apostolic field more immediately. The sister teacher, nurse, social worker is not.a professional woman; for her these are a form and exercise of spiritual motherhood~3a If she does not under-take and perform them with the instinctive and spon-taneous devotion and.love of mother; if her relation to others in her work is not a complete motherly "other-ness," total and instinctive lack of self-interest and self-~ regard; if it is lacking in motherly generosity, tact, sensi-tivity ~to others and their 'sufferings and weaknesses, delicacy, sympathy, and compassion, she is not carrying out her apostolate according to the mind of the Church. The reason is that her.spirituality is not fused with a great endowment of her feminine nature. A mother is attractive and lovable. Even the very accurate and sharp-edged arrows against "Momism" have failed ,to lessen the truth that all the world loves a mother. It follows that the sister apostle should be attractive and lovable. As Mary, her own mother arid ideal, the sister should primarily attractoothers to God, not to herself nor for herself. The apostolic life also is a complete com-mitment and detachment; we are not in it for ourselves but only for God and souls. It is tobe remembered that' there is no imperfection in liking others and being liked by them when this is no obstacle to the greater sanctifica-tion of either, and much less if thereby we lead souls to God.' A sister can fail here. She can be unattractive in her. personality, conduct,, and manner to those for whom she is laboring, and especially to girls. The apostle sym bolizes the things of God; we cannot expect others be drawn to the things 'of God if they dislike the apostle. This apostolic loss is the primary.consideration. There is a secondary aspect but one that is Of great importanc.e. Isn't the attractive or unattractive Sister apostle a highly important, factor in the vocation problem with school ~Allocution to the Women o] Catholic Action of the Dioceses oJ Italy, ~October 21, 1941, Acta ApostolicaeSedis, 33 (1941), 457. =Von le Fort, op. cir., 7. ~Firkel, op. cir., 22. ==Von le Fort, op, cit., 87. girls and even more so with' nurses? I believe it is an incontrovertible fact that ~irls and young women will be drawn to a particular institute, generally speaking, in direct proportion to their liking for the sisters of that institute. There will be no profitand less sense in fight-ing this fact. We can state the present truth harshly but briefly: an unloved apostle very frequently at least means an unloved God; and we can add a second axiom: there is nothing in the love of God that ~should make us um loved by man. "Look at~Jesus, the :supernatural in-carnatedl Is he not,the ineffably beautiful and attractive ideal of human nature, isn't He, ag it~were, a living invitation to elevate ourselves to the supreme perfection of humanity?''s~'''Or Mary, is she not, after Jesus, the ideal of humanity,.and .should we not say, with due proportion, of her what we say of Him?''3~ If dislike, opposition, hos-tility, and enmity arise, the fault should not be in the apostle. The world hated Christ, our Lord, but the fault was not His. Woman is Made to Love and to be Loved A third characteristic of woman is that she is made to love and to be loved. Psychology and poetry emphasize this pervasive quality of the 'life of woman. "She is im-pelled by her very nature to share the joys and sorrows of others, she is made to love and to' be loved, and she can-not find her~ sufficiency in herself. That is' why a woman who is selfish in a self-centered kin~l of way is an anomal~, more distressing to encounter than a selfish man. She ha~ denied her nature f6r she :liag ceased to exist for 3thers, and in so doing she'has dried up at its source the possibility of those emotion~il experiences which ~are'vital _o her femininity.''as Man's spirituality may be founded :,n mere principle, supernatural truth, obligation, and _-luty; the spirituality of ~ womaff should be characterized ¯ y love of God. Man can work for others in an objectiye, letached, and impersonal manner; the apostolic woman nust work for others with love. Otherwise, she is Untrue o her feminine nature and is not utilizing that nature ully for God. As a woman, Janet Kalven, sums it up: 'Woman's essential mission in the world is to be for nankind a living example of the spirit of total dedication o God. To love God with her whole .heart, her whole hind, her whole strength, and to radiate that love to the ;,orldthis is the universal task ofwoman."s~ If woman's spirituality is to b'e dominated by love of ~ Bainvel, op. cir., 158. ¯ ~ Bainvel, op. cit., 159. ~s Fitzsimons, op. cir., 89. ~ ° ~Janet Kaiven, quoted b~ William B. Flaheity, S.J., The Destiny I Modern Woman (Westminster: Newman, 1950), 189-90. ÷ 4. Femininity and Spirituality VOLUME 20~ 1961 Joseph F. Gallen, $.]. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 246 God, if through her "otherness," generosity, motherliness, and loving nature, she. is more capable than man of un-selfish and disinterested love of 'God, why should the mental prayer of a sister be an abstract discursive prayer, not affective prayer? a prayer of the mind and not of the affections? a mere abstract study of virtue and examina tion of conscience? Why shouldn't her feminine nature, which dislikes the abstract and is endowed with a livelie imagination, her logic, which is more of the heart than o reason, lead her naturallyr to affective .prayer? If he thought and speech are infused and even permeate with emotion in ordinary life, why should they be coldl intellectual and lifeless with God? "Even at the highes levels of the spiritual life this distinction is clear. In th writings of St. John of the Cross and of St. Teresa of Avil one can sense the two approaches: St. John in his writing remains always ~he philosopher, having made a complet gift.of himself in the abyss of faith, whereas St. Teres loves God tenderly and has made her love of Him as he heavenly spouse into a second nature.''40 Why shoul the sister's examination of conscience be a mere countin of defects and reading of an act of contrition? Why ar rule and observance so marked a note of her spirituality not consecration to God and .generosity? How many re ligious women undeista_nd that there is nothing purel negative in the spiritual life, that abnegation, self-denial mortification, and purification are only means to some thing positive, to the love of God? "For in Christianit there is no place for a love of death; death occurs to liv more fully. From the spiritual point of view, asceticis is not unlike what the. wrong.side~ of. a material is to it right side. There is no right-side without a wrong side but the wrong side is inseparable from the right sid and only subsists through it."~, ~ It has been aptly ren~arked that all schools of spiritu ality are distinguished by the emphasis they place on th love of God or on mortification and detachment as lea i.ng to~ the love of God. In the former, the love of Go draws the soul away from affections that would imped this love; in the latter schools, the. affections are turne away from other things to attain and increase the love o God. Both approaches should be used throughout lif but it seems to me that the affective nature of woma should more frequently incline to and follow the fir approach. Mortification and detachment are an essenti part of both systems.In the first, the love of God dra the soul to mortification and detachment; in the secbn ~ Fitzsimons, op. cir., 115. "tFran~ois de Saint-Marie, O.C.D., Chastity (Westminster: Ne man, 1955), 239. mortification and detachment are the means of attaining and perfecting love of God. Woman is Emotional Doctors Strecker and Lathhury mfiintain: "L'ife ~is lived largely not by the intellect but by maturely motivated emotions.''42 Emotion can not only be immature; it can also be wholly unreasonable, even though the first law of a human being is~to be guided by reason. This ir-rational characteris'tic is particularly true of fear in woman, and there is a danger that the spiritual life of the religious woman will be tyrannized and weakened by countless unreasonable and persistent fears. She can fail to distinguish between a fearful thought and a fear that has foundation, can allow the mere presence or recur-rence of a fearful thought to endow it automatically with objective validity, omit all reflection on whether the fear-ful thought 1.s supported by any tea_son ,n fact, pray for release from fear but fail to advert to the obvious fact that God cannot ordinarily be expected to do for us what we can do for ourselves. God not only gives us grace; He has also given us a mind that can ascertain whether a tear is unreasonable and~ a will that enables us to ignore the unreasonable fear. When it exists, this paralysis of fear proves that woman has not built her spirituality on her feminine nature. Love drives out or attenuates fear, and the spiritual life of a woman should be preeminently love of God. An incomplete and misguided spiritual forma-tion is a serious cqntributory factor to the habit of fear. Fear will readily and forcefully fill up the vacuum of an interior life in the externalist and devotionalist. The emotional nature of woman tends also to senti-mentality and to a shallow and superficial spirituality~ This is the cause of the widespread externalism and de-votionalism, of the endless non-liturgic~il vocal prayer, the prevalence of "novena" spirituality, 'the scurrying ~bout for additional Masses, and the sufficiently excessive ,ddiction to articles of devotion. An interior soul is one a, hose growing love of God, living of the participation of .he divine nature, divine adoption, and of the indwelling )f the Trinity have led to identification with Christ in hought, will, desire, and affection. Such a soul has little :apacity and less desire for devotionalism. Devotionalism s a symptom and proof of the lack of a true interior life. Fhe cure is a~ solid education at the beginning of the eligious life, a solid spiritual formation, and theological raining. An emotional nature is also impressionable, unstable, ,ariable. A formation and direction that are aware of "~ Strecker-Lathbury. op. cir., 1 I. 4- 4- ÷ Femininity and Spirituality VOLIJME ~0~ 1961. ÷ ÷ Joseph F. Gallen, ~gVIEW I:OR RELIGIOUS 248 these facts will strive to give the sister the strength and constancy of will that are more proper to man. A solid education at the beginning of the .religious life will again be a most effective auxiliary. Woman is Compassionate The next characteristic of woman is her love of the afflicted. She loves the weak, the sick, the suffering, the wretched, the oppressed, the disgraced, the victims of ill fortune; and her love does not distinguish between the worthy and unworthy. In the thought of Gina Lombroso, to woman whatever causes suffering and is avoidable is unjust, whatever causes happiness is just,4a Gertrud von le Fort concurs: "As the motherly woman feeds the hungry, so also does she console the afflicted. The weak and the guilty, the neglected and the persecuted, even the justly punished, all those whom a judicial world no longer wishes to support and protect, find their ultimate rights vindicated in the consolation and the compassion that the maternal woman gives.''44 Eva Firkel repeats the same thought: "A mother knows how helpless creature., can be; she will support, give and care, without troubling too much whether the objects of her love are worthy of it She will not constantly rub up against the defects ot others, but hide and mitigate them. One might also say it the other way round: wherever there is need for help motherly women will be found.''4~ Certainly an intui tively compassionate religious woman is a most attractiv~ apostle of the good news of God. She is a born shepherd of souls, the natural comforter of the least of Christ'., brethren. Nature has endowed her with a fundamenta! trait of the apostle of Christ, to comfort the suffering and her intuition leads her to seek them out and discerr them instinctively. There should be no limit to the degre~ of learning that sisters are to seek and attain; but, if the] are to be true to their womanly nature and to use it f01 God and God's Church, the apostolate of their institute. should always be characterized by works for the poor, tht working class, the lowly, the unfortunate, the handi capped, suffering, and despised. The gift of compassior should also tend to facility in affective mental prayer. Woman Wishes to be Appreciated for Herself Fitzsimons states: ". men are more concerned to shin, and be noticed for their achievements, for the things the. have made, the result of their creative effort, wherea women wish to be appreciated for themselves, for thei a Lombroso, op. cit., 256. "Von le Fort, op. cir., 80. ~ Firkelo op. cit., 148. own personality.''46 Woman also needs support and di-rection and she is highly, even fiercely, individual. "Al-though one often hears the contrary and in spite of the fact that there is more apparent monotony in women's lives than in men's, woman is.much more individual than man.''4r We certainly should not satisfy mere vanity, childishness, nor make the sister an immature weakling, However, the attributes described above evidently de-mand a greater care in the formation and government of a sister as an individual, a greater attention to persons rather than things in government, and a manner of government that tends more to recognition, enc0iarage-ment, and praise than to criticism and correction. Gertrud yon le Fort says of the maternal woman and thus of the maternal superior: "It belongs to the ominous errors'of the world, to the fundamental reason of its lack of peace, to believe that it must always uncover and condemn all that is wrong. Every wise and kindly mother knows that sometimes it is right to do exactly the opposite.''4s Correction is necessary, and too many superiors of both men and women neglect this obligation; 'but I am con-vinced .that very many superiors of sisters are too quick in their corrections and entirely too prone~ to correct publicly. A delay will usually render the correction calmer and more effective, and relatively very few defects de, mand a public correction. No superior has to correct im-mediately and publicly every defect that she observes in the refectory or community room. A sister should always be conscious that she is an .in-dividual in the mind of the superior and of the com-munity. A male religious can be left in great part to himself and his work; one of the most fervent desires of many religious men is to be left alone. This is not true of women. A greater recognition and esteem of the religious as an individual person is one of the ,purposes of renova-tion and adaptation. The spirituality of the sister is to be built on her individualized feminine nature. All spir-itual authorities warn that it is dangerous ,to try to di-rect all souls by exactly the same path. Woman as. a per-son is highly individual, but woman in authority is more prone than man to regimentation. God mad~ us inde-structibly as individuals; let us build on His handiwork, not attempt to destroy it. Woman has a Capability [or Details All students of woman proclaim her great capability for details. Nature has endowed her with this talent to ,e Fitzsimons, op. cir., 92. '~ Lombroso, op. cir., 86. ~ Von le Fort, op; cir., 81. + + + Femininity and Spirituality VOLUME 20, 1961 249 4" 4" 4" Joseph F. Gailen~ S,]~ REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 250 enable her to take care of a family and home. All also affirm that woman gets lost in details, that she dislikes the abstract and cannot analyze and reduce details to their principles; she occupies herself with the details and does not perceive the essential, and consequently .has difficulty in orienting her life~ The preoccupation with details tends also to a narrowness of outlook and a lack of breadth in ideas. "The foundress of a congregation said one day: 'Sisters often attribute the greatest importance things that are silly and no importance to things that truly great.'-49 The talent for details is undoubtedly asset to the sister in her apostolate, especially in works such as those of hospitals and institutions. However, is~also the cause of the excessive details in the religious. life of women, the hundreds of customs, observances, and practices, the spiritual dusting, the ascetical fussing, religious "redding up." Here woman is to be comple-mented by man~s logiC. Those observances are to be re-tained and chosen that are most efficacious in producing interior virtue, especially the virtues more necessary the religious life; and such observances are not to be un-reasonable either in number or detail. Woman's proneness to imitation multiplies these details. The individual sister takes them unthinkingly from other sisters, and one stitute copies them from another. Once they are accepted, the natural conservatism of woman opposes and resents any change. Esther E. Brooke rightly admires the ef-ficiency of woman: "Woman is the only creature on earth able to multiply nothing by nothing and get something out of it. She is inherently a bookkeeper with an ac-countant's delight in the profit column and a determined broom oto sweep away the loss.''50 It is at least impolite to spoil a well.turned sentence, but woman is also the on!y creature on earth who can multiply something something and get nothing out of it. The multiplication of details is an unproductive approach to an interior life. The bookkeeper may be good at figures but this does not necessarily nor ordinarily imply the ability to enrich Allied to her talent for detail~ is the tendency of woman to be busy for the sake of being busy. Simone de Beauvoir aptly observes: "The worst of it all is that this labor does not even tend toward the creation of anything durable. Woman is tempted--and the more so the greater pains she takes--to regard her work as an end in itself. She sighs as she contemplates the perfect cake just out the oven: 'It's a shame to eat itl' It is really too bad ~A. Ehl, Direction spirituelle des religieuses (Brussels: L'edition universelle, 1948), 79. ~Esther E. Brooke in The Spiritual Woman, Trustee of the Future edited by Marion T. Sheehan (New York: Harper, 1955), 17. have husband and children tramping with their muddy feet all over her waxed hardwood floorslTM This ten-dency seems to explain the over-emphasis on domestic work in convents, the chronic fever of housecleaning, and the innumerable woman hours~wasted in polishing0and re-polishing floors and furniture. It is also the reason why sisters cannot perceive-the contradiction-of a religious habit that demands a disproportionate amount of time to launder and of the~excessive emplbyment of novices and postulants in domestic work. ' ~ A similar defect is the literalness-of,religious women. They interpret a minor observance as rigidly and ab-solutely as if it were the prohibition of hating, God; it admits of no excuse or exception. In h~r meditation, the sister.may observe every step of a'method~of prayer but be unmoved by the fact~ that she is not praying: All her life she may mechanically recite twice a day the'acts ~f thanksgiving.and contrition in' the examen book but never think of giving thanks to'God, of being sorry for her sins, imperfections, and r6jections,. 0f grace-bbcause of motives that appeal to her individually. She may. be fiercely individual but she is~also a passionate routinist. The same concentration onlittle things'can b~ true.~of the apostolate. Our own spirituality conditions our ap-proach to the apostolate; if our spirituality is dominated by trifles, we shall preach and insist on ~trifles: in the apostolate. The life of the religious apostle is ~obviously to be dominated by. God, Who is infinite, and 'the,eternal value,-of a human soul,-not by ,trifles. Woman has ~ids in overcoming this addiction to detail. She .is more objective than man, she sees reality more clearly,~and she .is mor~ practical. If something does not work, she g~ves itup, even though she does not see the reason why it does not work. It is amplifying the obvious to state~that~a re-ligious life or an ,apostolate dominated by. detail does not work. It is a proper e~phasis,of important and prac-tical truth to add that a petty life,will not be. a happy life. Woman ~s Spi'ritUal ~nd her ~nlSuence~ is~ SpjrituaJ Marion T. Sheehan writes: "Man in his leadership oi society has a basic protectiveness and a supportive attitude toward life. His special prerogatives are.strength and ag-gressiveness. Woman has a sense of trusteeship of life in both the spiritual and physical meaning. The spiritual qualities in woman--her reserv~e, refinement, and com-passion- complement man's characteristics by modera-tion. The source of these complementary qua, lities is in her spiritu~al life. For centuries, man has publicly ackn.0wl- *~ Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex (New York: KnopL 1955), 454. + 4. 4. Femininity and, spirituality voLUME 20," ÷ ÷ ÷ Joseph F. Gallon, $.]. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 252 edged this spiritual influence of woman by his expressions in art, poetry, and literature.''52 Woman is therefore more spiritual than man and her influence is spiritual. She should consequently be more prominent than man in her contribution to the note of sanctity in the" Church. W~e can readily admit that we have enough good re-ligious women; we may question whether we have a sufficient number of outstanding holiness. Learning and other gifts can be helpful, but only sanctity is true great-ness in the Mystical Body of Christ. Several authors state that woman geniuses are almost non-existent in history. Women are not found among the great theologians, phi-losophe~ s, writers, poets, composers, sculptors, painters, or scientists. Acompletely satisfactory .answer has yet to be found for this fact. No one merits the title of great and genius more than the saint. He has the talents of mind, will, and heart that conquer the measureless distance be-tween heaven and earth. He possesses the daring and originality to leap over reason into divine love. Can it be that the spiritual nature of woman is retarded because she is also too pedestrian? too restricted in her vision to the average,, the ordinary, the routine, the good? lacking in the vision and constancy demanded for greatness? Woman is likewise naturally more cultured and her in-fluence is more cultural than that of man. The Church may also ar.d justifiably look to religious women for a notable cultural influence. This is a wide field, and the cultural influence of the sister has been admittedly handi-capped by the lack of a proper education at the beginning of her religious life. To arouse sisters to reflection on this important matter, ,we .can be content with inquiring whether the statues in convents generally manifest the taste of a cultured person and whether the articles of de-votion made and used by sisters reveal the same taste. Must the inexpensive be tawdry and loud? Aren't Catholic repugnance and Protestant prejudice readily created and confirmed by some of the~se articles of devotion? "While he is still a child, woman.leads man to an understanding of art, to the integrity and power that goes into its crea-tion. She shows him that beauty is not only pleasing to the eye, but that through the eye it reaches every corner of the human soul. We may well ask ourselves.where we have failed in this sacred trust. Would so many of our churches be filled with the horrors they contain, the painted mon-strosities called statues which distract instead of embel-lish, which sicken instead of elevate, if the mothers of our priests and ministers had made the art gallery, the mu-seum, the concert hall as intimately part of their chil-~ Sheehan, op. cir., 155256. dren,s early training as the movies, the radio, the corn, ics?"53 Woman ancl Other Women One of the outstanding defects o~ woman, emphasized by practically all students of the subject, is the difficulty she has.in getting along with other women and'in friend-ship with other Women. Gina Lombroso again enlightens us: "Individually the.mani~ to be first prevents .the ~form-ing of real friendship among women, and hinders the'es-tablishment of that current of expansion and confidence among young girls and bider'women 6~hich would b~ of so much use and comfort in life: Woman does not-trust woman, because each one wants to be first and knowg that her best friend is ready to march'over her in-ordei" to be first, when her turn. comes.TM "Wom~n's inordinate self-confidence is, I believe, the Cause of w6men's lack of'con-fidence ir~ each other, as it is the reason for their failure to respect each other. :. This distiust is~the cause of the cordial animosity that reigns between women, and of the discredit which any woman in particular thr6ws,on-all~ women in general."5~ Woman is also more sociable than man, a more dependent', being; and more dependent on her environ~ment.These facts make common'life at once a necessity and a difficulty. ~The remedy is instruction and formation from the beginning of the religious life; to point out the difficulty to the young, to instruct them that their gifts of unselfishness, spofitaneous generosity, intui: rive perception of the difficulties~of others, iSf seeking the happiness of others are to be~ turned and devoted pri-marily to their own sisters. A happy community life is far more indispensable to a religious woman than to-a re-ligious man. It must have the climate that her nature de-mands and give her affection, satisfactory personal rela-tionships, sympathy, underst.anding, recognition, support, and help. The more she is a woman, the holier she is; but the more she walks alone, the less she is a woman. The current of resistance from woman to woman is also a basic reason for the relative unwillihgness and. slowness of sis-ters to talk about spiritual matters with their superiors. Spiritual direction presupposes mutual trust, and a su-perior of sisters will not attract confidences unless she~has given an almost bverwhelming and sustained proof of her spirituality, unselfishness, and trustworthiness. This mat-ter '6f~woman to woman also has deep apostolic implica-tions. In Christian education according to the mind of the Church, sisters are destined at least primarily as educators r~ Eloise $paeth" in $heehan, op. cir., 5. ~ Lombroso, op. cir., 57. ~ Lombroso, op. cir., $2-33. ÷ ÷ Femininity and , spirituality VOLUME 20, 1961 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS £54 of girls.A liking for our work and for those for whom we work is an important factor for success, and we do not in-fluence too many people that we dislike or who dislike us. Woraa.n. and Chastity ChastitLis a r~6c~e.~sity for the state of complete Christian per~fection:, It is also highly necessary for the apostolate of the nun. She is destined to be the spiritual mother of re. any "souls. In-.woman, chastity is a most extensive re-nunclauon. She re.nounces not only physical love but also the love of a husband and children. Because of her na-ture, these last two renunciations are~much deeper in woman than in man. They are the sacrifice of an affective life that is almost her very n.ature, almost herself. This re-nunciation must be complete anti absolute; she sacrifices forever.any affecti~)n that would impede the greater love of God and not merely the affection that would lead her into sin. The postulant, novice, and junior professed are to be pr~operly instructed on chastity. This is necessary from a physical and moral standpoint; .it is evoen more necessary from the spiritual aspect. Our consecration to God is, not to be blur~'d, confused, and diminished by artificial a_.n~puritanica! ignorance. The vow,, of_chastity is not merely to give up~marri.age; it is to give UP marriage, which is good and holy, for a greater_ good, .~the love of God_ and the virgi~nal love of s.o.uls.I.n his Encyclical o.n~ sacred, virgi.nity, Pius XII re-itera_ t~ed the traditional teaching of the Church the mo-t. ivg .t, hat leads a girl to the,religious life is love of God; her purpose is. to attain a, greater love of God in her own soul; and this greater and pure love is the source of her apostol~c.leal. Chastity is. not mere~ renuncia, tion, mere sacrifice; it is not mere.ly a moralistic and defensive virtue, not a mere exercise of vigilance. C.ha~s(ity is all of these things and demands all of them. Here~passion is strong and affections wayward and blind. Common-sense dic-tates constant vigilan.ce. The difficulty is that- chastity has been too much merely a negative and defensive virtue, the avoidance of sin and fidelity to the .precautions against sin. This is not in .agreement with the Pope's description~ that the motive of religious chastity is the love of God and its purpose the attainment of a greater love of God. Chastity must be made much more positive. Its purpose is union with G6d and a constantly increasing love oo~ God. This lov~ i~ spiritual. It is not in the same order as human lov.e, much less is ,it a disguised sexual love. The attainment of such a union demands that the spirituality of a sister be centered far more on the Person of Christ than in rule, ._regulation, and observance; that her mental prayer be centered on Him, not merely on abstract prin- ciplesl and that: it be distinctly affective. She. is to: e~.tehd this same approach to all other religious~exercises~ e.g,, .the examen, liturgical and other vocal prayer, and ~spir.itual reading. The close and intimate doctrines of our faith, such as the Mystical Body, the indwelling of the~Trg~nity, and the life of grace are to be made prominent in her life. She is to be drawn away from a concentration on the [earsome doctrines and is to base herspirituality primar, ily on the goodness and attractiveness of God, Whether or not a sister is attainihg the purpose o.[ ~haStiiy will be proved not by a mere absence of sin but by the Correlative virtues and signs that manifest an increased love of God. Is her prayer and life more familiar, closer to God? Is she less materialistic, less inclined to sensual indulgence, more mortified, more detached, of a more delicate conscience, nstinctively but not ~scrupulously apprehending sin and anything that could lessen her love of God? Is she a more ,piritually agreeable person? Although love of God is not ~n the same level as human love, by fidelity it becomes 3rogressively closer, more intimate, more real. It is the rue love of religious chastity only if it becomes increas-ngly less selfish, if its tendency is to give to God, not to ¯ eceive. This positive chastity produces the really apostolic woman, the sincere spiritual mother of mankind. A sister, )y the perception of the heart more than of the mind, will aave attained a knowledge and participation of God's ore for man; she will long to give to God and this she an do only by bringing herself and souls to a knowledge tnd love of Him; her peace and joy in the possession of god within her own soul will lead. her to the love of God n others who possess Him and to bring this possession to hose who are deprived of it; true love of God will urge ~er constantly to give to God; and her apostolate will hereby be maternal, because it will be distinguished by mselfishness, generosity, dedication, universality, and ~urity of intention. "Noble-mimled women, those in chom the spirit preponderates, succeed somehow in spir-tualizing the physical and in developing within them-elves an intensity and purity of spfritual love which pro-uces types of mystics, wives, and mothers who are the dmiration of: mankind."~ ?oncIusion Personal and apostolic sanctity are one. Our theme has een that the sanctity of the sister must be developed on er feminine nature and that sanctity implies no maim-ag or distortion of this nature bu.t its perfect develop- ~ent. Father Valentine, by a concentration on his main ~ Leclercq, op. cit., 296-97. Femininity and Spirituality VOLUME 201 1961 thought, may be underestimating learning and efficiency, but his words sum up and can aptly close this article: "One of the greatest needs in the apostolate is the woman. It matters little comparatively speaking whether she is learned or even efficient: but she must be a woman, as ma-ture, unpretentious, work-a-day, self-forgetful as the mother of many children, if she is to be worthy of the privilege of caring for souls in Christ's name.''57 m Ferdinand Valentine, O. P., The Apostolate o! Chasity (~ est-minster: Newman, 1954), 45. 4. ÷ 4. ANASTASIO GUTIERREZ, C.M.F. Teaching Brothers in the Church What I propose to say about the subject on which I was asked to speak by the presiding body1 can be summed up in the simple words: lay, teaching, religious. Anyone's rights and duties toward the Church constitute his juri-dical statug. The juridical pers¢.nality of these brothers can be no better defined than by the terms: religious, laymen, apostles. Religious The lay teaching brother is above all a religious. His rights and his'duties and at the same time his dignity flow especially from this character. First of all, there is no opposition between layman in its canonical sense and religious. Canon 107 teaches that there are in the Church by divine institution clerics and lay-men, and that both may be religious. This is why canon 488, 7°, defines the religious as one who has pronounced vows in a religious institute; and religious institutes~ may be, according to 4° of the canon, clerical or lay. Strictly, the religious state is no other than the means, perfect in itself, of professing socially and juridically the integral morality of Christ, His precepts and counsels, that is, evangelical perfection, the Gospel in its full integrity. It is obvious that this high duty of tending toward perfec-tion cannot be exclusively reserved for clerics, but that it must as well remain open to laymen. The religious state both considers itself as existing outside of the priesthood and actually does exist outside of the priesthood. In this connection it is proper to note that the .organization of the state of perfection arose in the Church as a lay state and that clerical religious congregations are not to be found before the latter part of the Middle Ages. Even the x This article is a translation of a talk given at the Second Congress of Major Superiors of Religious Orders and Congregations, October 29, 1957. Anastasio Guti~rrez, C.M.F., is a consultor of the Sacred Congrega-tion of the Council and an official of the Sacred Congregation of Relig-gious. vOLUME 20, 1961 257 ÷ ÷ ÷ A. Gugffrreg, C,.M.F. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 258 mendicant orders, not to speak of the Benedictines, did not at first imply the priesthood. St. Francis of Assisi him-self never received the priesthood. Not only is there no opposition between the lay state and the religious state, but one may with good reason add that the elements proper to the religious state are found to be distinguished and delineated more clearly among lay religious, because if these elements are common to both lay and clerical religious, they are then more pure unmixed among lay religious. As a matter of fact, priesthood imposes numerous obligations of its own which coincide, at least partially, with those of the religious state: celibacy, canonical obedience, apostolic obligations, abstention from secular affairs that are formally for profit. The same thing may be said of its rights: the person of priest is sacred, protected by the privilege of canon 119; he enjoys as his full right the privileges of the clergy; is owed special honor aside from whether or not he pro-fesses the religious state. Religious priests share these rights and these obligations independently of their religious character. Actually, with respect to his rights, the lay religious a person worthy of honor in the Church, for, "the religious state., is to be held in honor by all" (c. 487); and this respect is due to religious as well as to clerics (c. 614). The person of the lay religious is sacred because of the public consecration of his life and person exclusively to the service. Even if his profession acts in many ways contract between the religious and his congregation, it cannot be reduced to the category of business contracts, private, voluntary relationships binding in commutative justice. Profession, theologically and also juridically is seen from its effects) is the consecration of a person and a human life to the exclusive service of God and to practice of the integral moral code of Jesus: ". besides the common precepts, the evangelical counsels are also be kept" (all of them, none excepted) ',by the vows obedience, chastity and poverty." (c. 487). Of course, the individual makes this consecration; but it is ratified by the Church. Such a profession is the religious' holo-caust, but a holocaust which the Church accepts officially and which she offers in turn to God in her own name. The profound and consoling meaning of the public nature the vows is in this, that public vows are vows accepted the Church. The immediate juridical effect of this public and official consecration, this public holocaust, is the sacredness of the person. The consequence of this character of sacredness is immunity, in virtue of which the violation of such a by exterior sin against chastity or by a real injury -119) constitutes a sacrilege. Moreover, this': sacrilege im-plies, on the part of the subject, a new sin against the virtue of religion; and for the other party, in the case of a real injury, brings with it excommunication (c. 2343, § 4). Under another aspect .the dignity of lay brotherd, pri-marily because they are religious, demands consideration by reason of the public nature of their state, in. the exact and strict sense of public. In the Church the religious state is a public state because religious constitute the sec-ond category of canonical persons (cc., 107, 487). Iri other words, by her public and organic constitution, the Church today is constitutionally composed of clerics, laymen, and religious (c. 107). All the faithful belong necessarily to one or other of these specifically distinct categories. It ought also to be noted here that the public character of the religious state does not come from the priesthood which is often joined to religious profession. It comes from the religious character, itself, in so far as there is question of a social and constitutionally organized profession of the evangelical counsels. That is why the:religious 'state even among laymen is a public state. What is called the "domi-native power" of superiors is supernatural, canonical (c. 101, § 1) and public. Also, this power is exercised in the same way as jurisdiction, according to a,declaration of the interpretative Commission of the Code and, recently, of the, Oriental Code of Canon Law. Religious superi6rs are ecclesiastical superiors (c. 1308, § 1; coll. 572, § 1, 6c) in those affairs which concern the state of perfection as such, and for many which relate merel~ to the simple Christian life of the religious. Among the rights and privileges of lay religious;finally, may be counted those of clerics themselves.The Church does not wish to treat religious differently frbm clerics, so in many respects: she puts'the consecration" conferred by religious profession and the consecration-of Holy Orders upon an equal ~footing. Moreover, this similarity~, of treat-ment is only right. Finally, let us consider only the duties of the lay re-ligious: To the obligations, of all the faithful ("besides those precepts common to all") and to those which are proper to all religious ("ev~angelical counsels, canonical religious discipline"), lay religious add the obligations common to clerics, according to the tenor of canon 592. This completes, in its fundamental outlines, the jurid-ical picture of the lay brother as a religious. Layman . . Let us now examine themeaning of the word layman. When we apply this designation both "to a.religious and to a person in the world," it is clear that we are using the + + + Teach~ng Brothers in the Church VOLUME 20, 1961 4. 4. 4. A. Guti~,rre~, C.M.F. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 260 word in equivocal senses with very great difference in con-tent. It is terminology which certain authors, perhaps, are justified in criticizing. Applied to people in the worl'd the term layman in-cludes, canonically, a two-fold meaning, one negative and one positive. Negatively and in the unrestricted sense lay-men are those who are neither clerics nor religious. In a more restricted, but still canonical sense, they are those who are not clerics. This real but negative aspect is per-haps the one which first strikes anyone considering the or-ganic ~nd,constitutional structure of the Church. The lay-man as such can exercise no power, either of orders or of jurisdiction, these being ireserved to clerics, as stated in canon 118. With respect to the power of orders~ he cannot celebrate Mass~ consecrate or offer the sacrifice ',ex off~cio" (c. 802), nor perform any acts of public worship' (c. ,1256); he cannot administer the sacrament of penance (c. 871), nor confirmation (c. 951), nor" extreme unction (c, 938), nor in general the other sacraments (c. 1146). With respect to jurisdiction, the layman can have no share in it, neither in its teaching authority, nor in any of its governing au-thority, whether legislative, judicial, penal, or .executive, so long as these functions are free and discretionary. As a consequence, he is incapable of having an ecclesiastical office in the strict sense of the term (c. 145). This is the negative side of being a layman in the Church, a real as-pect which is fully applicable to the lay religious in'the more restricted sense of the word layman. This negative idea, which has prevailed down to our time, is incomplete, Postitively, the layman is characterized by a public juridical condition resulting from his own set of canonical rights and duties. But as a matter of fact this juridical con-dition is of little relevance here since in so far as rights and duties arise from this condition, they suppose a life in the world, which is the negation or the absence of the religious character. Neither are the relations between lay-men in the world and religious of interest here, nor matri-monial rights and family relationships, the rights of lay-men in a canonical process ,and in the admisistration of ecclesiastical non-religious goods, the whole section in the code "On Lay.Persons'~ (Book II, Part $), and right of lay association and so on. Here rather there arises spontaneously the idea of the constitutional character of the religious state in canon law. As baptism transforms man from citizen to Christian; and sacred orders, the Christian into the cleric; so profession transforms a member of the faithful into a religious. In, spite of its superiority, the religious state maintains itsi canonical,genus as a lay state. But the specific elementi religious, profoundly affects this generic element, as the species man is profoundly set off from the genus animal. Nevertheless, the following points, common to laymen in religion and laymen in the world, merit a particular emphasis. In relations with the hierarchy, "laymen have the right of receiving spiritual goods from a cleric accord-ing to the discipline of the Ctiurch, especially ~hos~ helps which are necessary for salvation" (c. 682).These are in particular apostolic preaching, divine worship, and the sacraments. Laymen can participate in the exercise of functions in the area of liturgy and ritual, such as active participation in the Eucharistic Sacrifice, serving Mass, acting as sacristan, choir member, organist; sexton, and so on important responsibilities which women ought not to exercise and upon which depend, in great measure, the full dignity of di~cine worship. They can also'participate in the domain of the apostolate. Here we approach the area of the third point of our triplet:' brothers, laymen, teachers; that is, religious as apogtles. Apostle The vocation of teaching lay religious is a canor~ical vo-cation that is essentially apostolic. Teaching constitutes their specific end, and it is clear that a specific end cannot be separated logically, psychologically, or juridically from the generic end. This is why it is that as their state of perfection, the re-ligious state, is public, so also their apostolic activity is not simply private activity which is praised and com-mended as private by the Church. It is certainly an apos-tolate that is in some sense official in the Church. Teach-ing religious have as it were a mission or a mandate of the Church, even of the Holy See if they are of pontifical status. The Roman Pontiff, writing to the Cardinal Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Religious on March 31, 1954, about lay teaching religious expressed himself in this way: "Let them form in Christian virtue the students given into their care as the office entrusted to them by the .Church certainly demands." Evidently the apostolate of those who teach is reducible to the authority of the magisterium of the Church. The Roman Pontiff affirmed this in a recent address to the Second World Congress of the Lay Apostolate (October 5, 1957) in defining the nature of this apostolate and of the mandate of the Church. "In the present case there is no question of the power of orders, but of that of teaching. The depositaries of this power are only those who possess ecclesiastical authority. Others, priests or laymen, collabo-rate with them in proportion as this power has been con-fided to them for the faithful teaching and directing of the ~aithful (cf. cc. 1327, 1328). Priests and also laymen can receive such a mandate, which may be, according to the situation, the same for one as for the other. Nevertheless ÷ ÷ ÷ Teaching Brothers in the Church VOLUME 20, 19~1 261 4- A. Guti~rre~', REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 262 such mandates are distinguished by the fact that one group is of priests, the other of laymen. As a consequence, the apostolate of the first group is priestly, and that of the second is a lay apostolate" (Civilt~ Cattolica~ 1957, p. 183, n. 9). And again:, "We are explaining here the concept: of the lay apostolate in its strict sense, according ,to what we have :explained above about the hierarchical apostolate. It consists, then, in this fact, that laymen assume tasks which flow from the mission confided by Christ to his Church. We have seen that this apostolate remains always an apostolate of laymen and that it never becomes a 'hier-archical apostolate,' even when it is exercised by a man-date of the hierarchy" (ibid. p. 186, n. 22); This directly includes laymen living in the world, not clerics or reli-gious; but it may be understood of teaching religious. The Pope speaks clearly of a mandate, but the qualified sense which he gives to this concept is clear,,even for the designa-tion of a task that is very noble. This.power. to teach, received by a mandate from the hierarchy, is rooted in the authority of the magisterium. It is not strictly jurisdiction, and :consequently laymen do not become clerics by virtue of participating in ecclesiasti-cal power, because they. are incapable of jurisdiction (c. 118) as the Sovereign Pontiff has eneregetically affirmed. This is why the teaching office of laymen is not authorita-tive and cannot of itself oblige one either to intellectual submission or to moral practice, except in so far as this office faithfully reproduces the authentic rriagisterium of the hierarchy. Moreover, the Roman Pontiff adds: "As far as the value and efficacy of the apostolate that has been developed,by teaching religious is Eoncerned, it depends on the capacity of each one and his own supernatural gifts. The words of our Lord may well be applied to lay teachers, to religious, and to all those whom the Church has charged with;, the teaching-of the.truths of the faith: 'You are the salt of the earth, you are the light of the world' (Mt 5:13~14)" (ibid. p. 183, n. 9). In conclusion, the .mandate to teach religion confers upon the layman, an ecclesiastical power, but this power is not that of jurisdiction. Rather it must be said that it is a purely executive power, not a discretionary one~ a "mere mission to.execute" which laymen are capable of having: Since it is socially and publicly organized, this aposto~ late, even though it is simply executive, cannot escape be-ing one of the Church's broad commitments; for she is to a great extent responsible to the world for the accomplish-ment of' her mandate. So it is that .teaching laymen have a great responsibility. It is necessary to add that besides the efficacy of their mandate, religious have an intrinsic union with the Church and her interest, a perpetual, necessary, and in-tegral union, They are fully united to her in virtue of their state of life, even in virtue of religion or of the vow of obedience (c. 499; § 1). This is why the religious apostolate, apart from its public organization, is in itself superior by its nature to Catholic Action. Catholic Action groups turn over their cooperation and their activity to the Church, but these are always freely given and for the most part temporarily and partially. The Church, while she tends to hold Catholic Action within proper limits, actually places more confidence in religious in all areas of the apostolate. The object of this vocation is related to the nature of the apostolate of teaching, Concerning this object, the Church certainly commissions her religious to teach pro-fane disciplines in proportion as human progress fulfills the providence of God for the world and for man elevated to the supernatural order. As a matter of fact, she claims as her own the right of erecting schools of all kinds (c. 1375). And let us note that this is a deep and very extensive area in which the mission of lay religious coincides with that of lay Christians living in the world, one which we cannot develop here. But the principal object of the Church's mandate is the teaching of religion: the Church wishes religious to be her collaborators in her specifically divine and supernatural mission. Allow me to single out here three matters or conclusions of a practical nature: First, there is need for a demanding preparation in the teaching of religion. This is demanded by the Church and by the spread of the kingdom of God, both of which are very much bound up with the teaching of religion. It is also demanded by the current of the times. Superiors of teaching religious are much preoccupied with all this; and the Holy See has wished to put herself in the lead in this solicitude by creating recently at Rome the pontifical institute, Jesus Magister, for the higher scien-tific and religious formation of lay brothers, as she did three years ago in creating the institute, Regina Mundi, for religious women. Second, the schools of religious, even lay religious, are, rigorously speaking, "Church schools." If other schools can receive a mandate from the bishops, those of religious, especially, if they are of pontifical rank, have a mission from the Holy See. Thirdly, teaching lay brothers have the duty and the mandate to teach religion; but they have also a certain right. This is why it is that, under the supposition that they are well prepared, they cannot without injustice be deprived of this right and hin-dered from exercising it. According to canon 1373, § 2, the ordinary of the place must take care that religion be taught in secondary schools and places of higher education by zealous and learned priests. This does not apply to the colleges of religious, but to the schools of secular laymen + + + Teaching Brothers in the Church VOLUME 20, 196i about which the same canon, is speaking (cf. c. 1379, § 1). In each case it is incumbent on the ordinary of the place: to approve of the teachers (when they are not already ap-proved by institutes of pontifical rank) and of the religion books; to exercise vigilance for the faith and good morals; to make a visitation of the college in connection with the teaching of religion and of morals (c. 1373, § 2; 1381; 1382; 336; 618, § 2, 2°). In general he can examine teachers and forbid one or another to teach religion; but he cannot ab-solutely deprive a college of religious of the right to teach religion in order to confide this task to a priest. In this matter, for religious of pontifical rank, it is possible to bor-row a good practical juridical criterion from canon 880, § 3: "But in the case of a formal religious house, a bishop is not permitted, without consulting the Apostolic See, to take away at one and the same time the jurisdiction of all the confessors of the religious house." Conclusion From what we have said, we may conclude that the lay teaching brother represents an altogether special type of person in the Church. He is a person who, without be-longing to the class of clerics, enjoys its generic rights, ob-serves obligations common to clerics, and participates, in a certain measure, in the power of the magisterium of the hierarchy, in this way becoming a powerful and very effi-cient collaborator with the priesthood. This is said of re-ligious as such, that is, those entirely vowed to the state of total evangelical perfection and to the discipline of this state as the Church has organized it. Nevertheless, he has points in common with laymen living in the world in what pertains to the concept of a layman in the restricted sense of the word. In the Church, the lay religious represents, then, a special vocation, divine and canonical, tenderly defended and protected by the Holy See. A. ~,~l~rre~, (~.~.~. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 264 MICHAEL NOVAK The Priest in the "Modern World Part of tl~e difficulty in establishing the role of the priest in the modern world is due to the historical changes in society: the separation of Church and State, pluralism, popular education, and the like.~ Part is also due '~o the spiritual, inheritance of the American C~ttholicisrh. What happens to the priest in America ;is important for the world because it is in America that the new forms of civilization are being nurtured and that a new Christian humanism is taking root, as both Christ.0ph~r Dawson and Jacques Maritain have noticed. But many things in our land conspire to confuse the role of the priest. The recent~ presidential campaign showed .that in many ~areas of our country the words "ecclesiastical pressures" conjured up an ominous and ugly image and that "priesthood" is still a word of super-stition. On the other hand, the Hollywood image, as in Going My Way, seems intent on proving that the priest is a "regul-.,- guy";: even in Pollyanna the fearsome min-ister had to be converted and become a friend of all. It is as though the psyche.of America, deeply scarred by its experiences with theocratic Protestantism in its early history and with the more or less autocratic clerical types which it knew in Europe, is engaged in a struggle to as-similate a difficult figure in its world view. Early propa-ganda explicitly described America as a new world and as a p.aradise; and perhaps implicitly as an es,cape from the sinful and tangled past of Europe. It was as- though America would be the land without original sin, the land of a new humanism built by reason in the high flood of the Enlightenment. In this view, expressed in the writings of Thomas Paine and the good but secular life of Benjamin Franklin and preserved in many of our academic environments, today, a role for the priest is difficult to find. He is a relic of the past, a past that is not admired. The modern Protestant, Michael Novak, who is studying at Harvard University, is living at William James Hall 109A, Harvard Univer-sity, ~Cambridge 38, Massachusetts. VOLUME 20, 1961 265 Michael Novak REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 266 proud of the influenc~ his congregationalist and indi-vidualist theory have had upon the formation of Ameri-can democracy, has more and more democratized his own clergy. The transition in Pollyanna from fire-and-brim-stone to friendliness seems to symbolize quite well spiritual and social ~volution of the Protestant clergy. But in Italy too ~he American priest and seminarian probably distinguishable from his European counter-parts by a humanness and humor of view that is quite As Father Ong has pointed out, the American pastor is also a building pastor, who knows the language of builders and fund raisers; he has thus kept himself the everyday world of men. His European counterpart often far more aloof, even austere. It is even likely that younger American priests inherit the congenial, friendly attitudes more markedly than their elders who are closer to Europe. But at what point can the young priest draw the line in being a regular guy? Where does his identification with the laity begin and where does it end? The modern emphasis upon the apostolate of the laity has also, like the [actors mentioned above, helped confuse the_role the priest. Externally, the expectations of people° around him, within the flock and without, have ,changed. his own spiritual development is pulled in way and that: to silence and to action, to human develop-ment and denial, to affability and'restraint. It is diffi-cult [or the priest to find himself. In nearly every culture but our own, the social sig-nificance of the priesthood was not only great but central. Whether by special talent of mind or imagination, physical appearance, or early consecration, a priest was chosen to stand apart~ from and above other men. His counsels were important if not crucial; often he was highest leader; if not, his knowledge about the past, opinions about the future, and symbolic power over unknown forces of life were essential to the man who was. The early priest seemed to have combined in his person the.roles of priest, prophet,~and king; in fact, it was into this pattern b[ symbolism that Christ Himself was born, though the three functions had by that time been separated in practice. The splitting of these [unc-tions began early, but the social symbolism remained in the days of Greece and Rffme the power of the priest in civic matters was very great. Only in early Christian culture did ecclesiastical affairs begin to stoutl y defended as independent of secular affairs, and historical process~o[ distinction begin. In the Nestorian councils, the Church fought bitterly for the right to her own doctrine and her own line of bishops, independently of questions of empire and political peace. In later times, emperors and kings grew restive under clerical power, and the people grew restive under the kings. A thousand years of political evolution have given .us democracies and republics in which the role of the priest has changed often and'nearly always in a .fashion that has delimited his functions more :and more narrowly. Still, even today, the stature of a priest as "another Christ" and as a man of education and authority is carried over to some extent into social and~civic matters. Thus the priest of today has behind him a long histo.ry in which he has possessed at least a twofold status.He has repre-sented not only the -spiritual authority of Christ (which extends to some temporal:spiritual or "mixed:' matters like marriage) but also the social authority of secular prestige and influence. ,Modern times, however, have marked a decline in this second status, for widespread higher education and the maturing of the modern fields of specialization have produced many other leaders than the priest: lawyers, .doctors, business and labor leaders, intellectuals and artists, the ministers of many religions, and even many from~among the ordinary public. The priest, then, can no longer take for granted his place of prestige in secular society; he is one among many and will have little more influence than his energy and talents .earn. Given the tradition of anti-clericalism, which lives on in its, own forms even in America, he will ha,~e even less. . Moreover, the leadership in education which the priest once held has gradually been lost since the Enlighten-ment. Modern education no longer follows the curricula of the medieval universities; most men seem to feel that our civilization, with whatever loss, owes many of its ad-vances, political, and humane as well as material, to the shift~ At any rate, the priest is no longer among the few who are educated; he is among the many; and the main-stream of education does not parallel his own but diverges [rom it. His education is now seen as specialized, with its own jargon and viewpoints. It is no longer a classical education, "universal" or "liberal" in Cardinal Newman's sense; rare is the seminary in which, the classes in Greek and in Latin are not simply a gesture towards a dying or dead tradition and in which classes in modern literature, history, and social studies have taken up the slack. The seminary is isolated; it is not ordinarily in a university milieu. The professors in the nonecclesiastical subjects are not ordinarily specialis~ts, producing and creative in their fields; sometimes they are teaching merely because as-signed to teach. The seminary library is ordinarily thin in literature, sociology, politics, psychology, economics; the periodicals are mainly religious, Catholic, and popu-lar. In the isolation of the seminary, the professors of 4- 4. Th~ Priest in th~ Modern World VOLUME 20, 1961 267 4. 4. 4. Michael No~ak REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 268 philosophy and theology rarely have an opportunity take an active contemporary part in modern political, literary, scientific, and even religious discussions. Their fields no longer represent leadership in modern intel-lectual circles; and even within their fields, Catholic work is, not without some justice, in poor repute. There are exceptions to these strictures, of course; but I be-lieve it will be found that they are exceptions in great part because they fulfill the criteria mentioned and have grown strong in swimming against the stream. The facul-ties of many seminaries are small, ingrown, overworked, and not contemporary in their outlook. A seminary stu-dent once said a professor of his had "one of the best minds of the fifteenth century"; and the humor of the lay in the ingenuity of expressing the professor,s com-petence together with his liability. Another change in modern civilization is that art longer looks to the Church for patronage; young artists, in fact, are often among the most anti-clerical, while priests are among the least appreciative of the arts, clas-sical and especially modern. Of course, ordinary people in general have lost touch with the arts, and it is to be expected that the priest rise always above his origins. Many of the difficulties in the matter of censor-ship arise from this alienation of artist from people, and artist from priest; where there is little sympathy, is blocked. In politics, too, the priest plays lesser part than he was wont to do; when he does try use influence by swaying others, even through non-violent picketing or letter-writing, it is resented. Perhaps springs from memories of the past, perhaps part from the ambiguities of role still inherent in situation. At any rate, in most lands the priest plays greater part in politics than other professional men other men in general, exception'made perhaps for influence and kind of his opposition to Communism. Just as men today are more educated than before, so the social arrangement is more sensitive. ~Powers are better defined, and organized pressures are more quickly felt and more deeply resented. Even on religious and theological subjects, the ordinary people hear many speakers, gain many ideas and in-sights, see many varied forms of worship, apart from what they learn from their own priest. The result is that our pluralistic civilization, the people are free in priest's presence in a way never experienced before. When they submit to him in doctrinal and moral matters, not because they are overawed by his social stature greater learning or because they have nothing else against, which to compare what he tells them. It is because they make an act of faith that his authority comes from Christ. It is because they possess the simplicity of free and willing obedience, precisely one of the notes most proper to the Gospels. The attitude of the laity towards the priest can perhaps be more definite and single-minded now than befqre. Western culture is perhaps losing the layers of non-essential clerical authority. It is true that in some lands the transition to this new freedom has at first been tragic. New freedom tends to be intoxicating; the old confusion of spiritual and social status is slow.to clarify. For a whole generation or two or more, the transition can wreak disastrous gaps in the prac-tice of the love that should be shown to God and neigh-bor. On the other hand, for those persons and those lands who do mature to such obedience in faith, the obedience of free men standing erect as Charles P~guy used to say, there is a great gain in clarity of motive and relationship. The priest does not rule the flock as a tyrant does his subject peoples, or even as a paterfamilias used to rule his slaves, but as a father does his grown and free sons~ "not as the rulers of the gentiles . " And perhaps it is true that the good father puts himself in second place. The peasant classes of Europe were wont to invest the priest with much more authority than this, perhaps a little as the rulers of the gentiles. In Italy it is still the custom .to kiss the priest's hand, while kneeling be-fore him, as it was once the custom to greet a liege lord; the respect of the Irish for the priest and, perhaps similarly, of the peopl~ of the Tyrol for their priests (the cultural leaders in the enduring attempt to maintain independence from England and Italy) is quite well known. But the descendants of these peasants, in America now, may well be beginning to deny to the ,priest some of the attributes, like quasi-infallibility, they once im-plicitly seemed to grant-him. They may reason that if the Popes have recently had to call for liturgical reform, for a revival of Thomism, and for several other new currents of activity, then things have not been all they should. When they see priests disagreeing among them-selves, they begin to understand the freedom that is al-lowed to prudential judgment of concrete situations, on which differences are bound to thrive. Thus, due to the social changes of the last centuries, not yet at their culmination in the civilization that is to take shape from our own, the role of the priest in a pluralistic land is trying. A vast range of excellences is required of him. His every fault grates on sophisticated, and specialized, nerves. The freedom of the layman is a heady freedom; habits of anti-clericalism persist, espe-cially where they are stimulated by habits of clericalism that have not yet disappeared. In a transition period genial equilibirum is hard to maintain. Only the sim~- 4. The Priest in Mo~ World VOLUME 20, 1961 269 4" Michael Novak REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 270 plicity of freely yielded intelligence, in faith, gives the priest effective authority, and even then not in his own name, but in Christ's. And yet this yielding is at the heart of Christianity, a splendid ever-renewed miracle. Priest and people take up mature relationship, as fallibl~ human beings, at this font. If the priest's relations with others were the only diffi-culty with the pressure of modern change, his lot would be easier than it is. His most painful' task is in the orienta-tion of his own inner life. It is often, though, it must be stressed, not always observable that the spiritual forma-tion given in the seminary has its roots in cultures far different from our own, ones whose obstacles to Chris-tian life and advantages for Christian life were different from our own. In such cases much of seminary spiritual formation is irrelevant and could not in fact be con-tinued except in the hothouse isolation of ithe seminary; in priestly practice it wilts away. Where the public prayers, rules, and mental attitudes inculcated in the seminary derive from the European piety of the last few centuries, they are not simple, in touch with contem-porary reality, or directly reminiscent of the Gospels. To the American of our day, they seem overlaid with un-congenial sentiment, a strange legalistic attitude toward God, and narrow suspicion. Not a few books on the seminary rule and on growth in spiritual perfection seem to delight in driving the soul to more and more precise observance; there is in them little sense of enlargement, wholesomeness, freedom, and love, such as one gets~in reading'the Gospels. They !cad away from the experience of God to the observance of discipline; yet they are not so demanding and deep-searching as the works of St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa, which may not be read with near the frequency or attention. It might even be said that by their dwelling on the observance of discipline they conduce to a comfortable mediocrity and the easy appea~:ance of platitudes on the lips. The young priest has to make'up his own mind on each of these questions, but the difficulty is that the more in-tent on spiritual growth he is, the more he may, have given himself to uncritical docility. His spirituality, there-fore, may end up being a borrowed light, never seized by his owri independent judgment and rooted perma-nently and pei~sonally in his own intellect and will. The danger 'is great that the Jansenist strain so deeply rooted in most of the national stocks from which Our priests spring will be passed on uncritically from generation 'to generation and that .some young American clerics will strain every nerve during their seminary days to convince themselves of last century European attitudes which they do not share. It*is a shame When afterwards, as priests, they scuttle much of what they spent years trying to learn because it is unrealistic. Then,. Comes the tempta-tion to throw out everything that they learned. The task of the seminarian to grow up into the stature of a full human being of the late twentieth century and to grow up into the stature of Christ, is terribly difficult, because, for the most part, it must be done without guides. The riches of spirituality in the American spirit have hardly been noticed, let alone tapped; often the typically American virtues are stifled or at least warned against, perhaps because of the misunderstandings about "Ameri-canism" a half-century ago. The. young American priest, when he is faithful to his own best insights and spirit, is a new kind of priest and is working out a new image of spirituality. Perhaps some day one of them will set the new way d~wn in writing, and tl~e man~ will not feel so much alone. As the external social events of the c'enturie~ have served to strip down the ~ole of the pries~t t9 its priestly, Christlike essentials, so perhaps the new kind of. holiness will be only "the more excellent way" of which St. Paul speaks,'less legalist, more fully hum~in because divine, rddolent of freedom and love. To mfi'int~iin such holiness in the complexities of our age will be witness indeed to Christ. It will reach to the heart of our civilizati~6n. 4. 4. 4. The Priest in the Modern World VOLUME 20, 1961 - JOHN C. SCHWARZ, S,J. Journey into God ÷ ÷ John C. Schwarz, $.J., writes from 899 West Boston Boulevard, De: troit 2, Michigan. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 272 The Christian heart has always taken reverent inspira-tion from pilgrimage. But, in a certain real sense, the most sacred pilgrimage of all is traveled daily without a step taken or a sea crossed. This pilgrimage occurs i.n the Mass, a pilgrimage with vast practical significance for the dail,y life of the religious. Each morning at Mass the religious (and any partici-pant in the Holy Sacrifice, of course) travels a four-stage journey into God, a pilgrimage culminating in a renewal of abiding union wiih Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This journey's firslt stage begins with the introductory psalm and succeeding prayers at the foot of the altar, at a respectful distance from God. God is truly present, but priest and peop, le stand off, as at the entrance of a sacred shrine. God is present, but somewhat remote. The Mass moves on. The Consecration ushers man into the second stage of his journey, for now the once remote Lord becomes close at hand, warm and near, yet remain-ing exterior. God has drawn near, but union with Him remains incomplete. In the reception of Holy Communion the Lord dra-matically enters the human body and soul, _establishing a profoundly intimate union. So long as the sacred species remain, the humanity of the Word Incarnate abides. This union, though no longer exterior, remains temporary. This has brought the pilgrim to stage three. The final stage of the journey toward and even into God begins at last when the humanity of Christ Jesus departs with the Eucharist. The divine Persons remain-- in a union both interior and permanent. Only rejection by serious, wilful 'sin severs this union. Father, His eternal Son, and Spirit now reside within in a deeper, greater way. And thus a silent journey terminates in God. Significantly t,his renewal of union with the Triune God will occur for most religious as they conclude the time of Mass and meditation, setting forth into another' apostolic day. In God's designs Ithe Eucharist daily provides a visible, tangible reminder of the Christian's personal union with the indwelling God. This sacred symbol of grace and indwelling Love is held by the celebrant °above the ciborium, with the words "Ecce Agnus Dei . " Moments later, Christ Himself 'enters the body of those who re-ceive. Sensibly seen by the eyes and felt upon the tongue, the host is the living symbol and reminder of what the eyes can not see nor the tongue feel: sanctifying grace and union with the indwelling Lord. So "Communion is both a symbol and a cause of the inner'union which is aimed at.~'1 Nor is this profound union a fixed, static relationship. "The Eucharist is a food and presupposes the existence of life,''-~ and all life implies growth. The life of grace, so intimately linked to the indwelling, is.no exception. In fact, as Canon Cuttaz notes in his excellent study of grace? "The purpose and effect of Communion are to intensify God's presence in the soul by increasing grace." The Holy Spirit, sent initially in Baptism, is sent anew to the .soul with every increase of sanctifying grace. Hence wholehearted selfgiving in the Mass and Communion is the basis for a new sending 6f the Spirit and a deepening of the Trinitarian life within us. At this point a word of caution is appropriate. The heart of the Mass lies, of course, in the sacrifice of Christ and our privileged participation in that Godward act, not in Holy Communion. For Holy Communion derives its full meaning from its function in the sacrifice (and not vice versa), and it leads to divine fulfillment in the souls of those who have offered themselves to God "through Him, with Him, and in Him." God's indwelling fulfillment of His own desire to live in the human soul expresses the final perfection of His love. ~Nhat further can even God do while man remains in his time of growth and probation? Raoul Plus ob-serves that "This is the last word in the great secret of the Christian life." One often hears a certain school, automobile, book, or church structure praised, as "the last word, the finest, the ultimate perfection, superior to all others. The revealed fact of God indwelling stands as the "last word in the great secret," the ultimate gift. Even the stigmata of a St. Francis or the appearances granted to a Berna-dette ranked far below the Presence in their souls. But man's capacity for dull insensitivity in the presence of divine generosity rates high on the list of earth's won- ~"Sanctifying Grace" by E. Towers in The Teaching o] the Catholic Church (New York: Macmillan, 1954), v. 1, p. 564. 2 What is the Eucharist? by Marie-Joseph Nicolas, O.P. (New York: Hawthorn, 1960), p. 91. s Our Lile o] Grace (Chicago: Fides, 1958), p. 167. The essay on the indwelling, Chapter 6, is of particular value. ]ourney into God VOLUME 20, 196]. 273 ÷ + ÷ John C. $chwarz, S.J. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 274 ders. Imagine a man who barehandedly grasps a high-voltage cable exposed and sputtering, yet continues to converse amiably with bystanders while a stream of current charges through him! Transferred to matters spiritual, the image is not without value for stressing the fact that we comparably and steadfastly refuse to be impressed by the revealed fact of the omnipotent Creator's dwelling within us. Granted, voltage is felt, while God is noL Nevertheless, divine revelation confronts man with .the [act of the Trinity within when the soul possesses sanctifying grace. Such opportunity, provided by His presence, must be seized, utilized to the utmost; it should make a difference, shatter lethargy, produce results. Of what sort? Father Plus again: The imitation of the Lord Jesus should not be an imitation from without. We are not to copy Him in order to be able to reproduce Jesus Christ; we are to copy Him in order to be able to continue Him. Christ wishes to enjoy continuity in each one of us~ This is.the last word in the great secret of the Christian life . Our poor humanity is called to share, thanks to Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ, the life of the three Persons.' The daily Mass-journey into God (or perhaps equally accurately, God's journey into the soul) provides a daily fresh start in one's continuance of Christ's life. Deliberate efforts at patience and love, at self-sacrifice and under-standing, at prayer and obedience, are merely efforts to present to Christ a mature and maturing personality which He can use. Refusal and culpable failure (that is, when cupable) in such efforts produce a serious restric-tion of Christ's intent to continue His life through this human being. A personality of harshness, 6f resentment, of careful focusing on the almighty minimum scarcely serves Christ's uses and designs, just as a child's violin, with three strings missing, would thwart even the great-est virtuoso. God must not be relegated to the shadows of the soul. Recently a portrait by the French impressionist, Cezanne, sold for $616,000 to a wealthy connoisseur and his wife. Will these new owners place this valued masterwork a shadowy cellar or storeroom? Yet God indwelling may be, in practical el~ect, reduced to a comparable insignifi-cance. Elizabeth of the Trinity, saintly young Carmelite of our own century, considered the Divine Guest as a singularly practical, albeit sublime, influence; practical results are expected: "He is ever living in ore: souls and ever at work there. Let us allow ourselves to be built up by Him, ' In Christ Jesus (London: Burns, Oates, and Washbourne, 1923), p. 26. May He be the soul of our soul, [he life of our life, so that we may be able to say with Paul I live, now not I." Perhaps the personal frustration vaguely felt by "shine religious springs from their practidal refusal "to be built up" by Christ, refusing'to relinquish habits,and attitudes ininiicable to Christ. One ffbui~ e~pect that the Infinite Lord can not be constrained without some degree of un-easy tension developing ~as a consequence." One is re-minded of the massive tension generated when aircraft engines are gunned to full power while the plane stands motionless, braked tightly, just before its take-off run down the airstrip. The plane thrpbs, with power con-strained. Then, engines subsided~ brakes released, the craft sweeps into smooth, swift motion down the airstrip and gracefully aloft. Engine powerhas been channeled into its normal fulfillment. Smooth performance results. Ten-sion resolves into flight. Perhaps the tension in some religious lives is, at least in part, comparable in origin, stemming at least to an extent from constraining the 'Lord :within. His dynamic life and love seeks cooperative expression in the life and love of a religious. Refusal to make a lifetime relation-ship out of this can 'produce only frustration and con-flict. ~ . ~." . ~ '" ' The four-phase Mass-journeys, into God brings ~the re-ligious once again to the .threshold.oLanother day where our_hUman efforts at charity will;as two voices harmonize in one song, blend into Christ's charity:Our human pa, tience, compassion, teaching, courtesy, gentleness; work, will blend into Christ's. ~.~ The Christ-union in this life, so, rich a delight, prepares the soul for a future prize indescribably richer so states Gerard-Manley Hopkins:° "r Be our delight, 0 Jesu now ~ As by and by our pri[e art Thou, And grant our glorying may be World with end alone in Thee. 5In asserting .the possibility of supernatural sources of tension, there is no intention of denying the importhnce and prevalence o[ natural soui'ces of tension, culpable and inculpable~, i:onscious and unconscious. ~ Translating :the "Jesu Dulcis Memoria." VOLUME 20, 1961 CARL LOFY, ,s.J. Finding God's Will Through the Discernment of Spirits Carl Lo~/, S.J., who is studying at the Univer-sity of Innsbruck, lives at Sillgasse 6, Inns-bruck, Austria. REVIEW FOR ~ELIGIOUS 276 In a book published to help commemorate the fourth centenary of the death of St. Ignatius Loyola? a group of leading experts~on Ignatian spirituality has gathered a series of essays which, taken as a whole, constitutes one of the most valuable contributions to this field in the past decade. The profound insights it furnishes into the most fundamental aspects of the Spiritual Exercises make the book required reading for anyone seriously interested in retreat work and/or Ignatian spirituality. The most im-portant essay is that by Father Hugo Rahner on the dis-cernment of spirits. Most of the other~ eight articles pattern themselves ar6und that of Father Rahner's, espe-cially Father Heinrich Bacht's discussion of the discern-ment of spirits according to the early Church Fathers and Father Karl Rahner's study of the dogmatic implica-tions of finding the wili of God through the discernment of spirits. Hugo Rahner's Article ' ~ugo' Rahner's article can be summarized under the following po!nts: 1) For St. Ignatius the most important part of the retreatwas the election. Everything else in the Spiritual Exercises either builds towards this or is meant to strengthen it. 2) Among the three times outlined by. the saint for making the election, St. Ignatius felt that the second (that is, when the soul is moved by consolations and desolations) is and should be the most common. 3) As a result, the rules for the discernment of spirits take a Ignatius yon Loyola: Seine geistliche Gestalt und sein Ver-miichtnis. Edited by Friedrich Wulf, S.J., Wiirzburg; Echter Verlag, 1956. Hereafter this work will be referred to as Ignatiu.~. on extreme importance, since it is precisely through these rules that the retreatant distinguishes the different effects (consolations and desolations) of God, the good angel, and the devil in his. soul; moreover, it is through such dis-cernment that~the exercitant comes to a certain' election concerning God's will for him. In all this St. Ignatius had to presuppose several points as e~cident. The first of these is that~God does have a distinct will for each individual. Secondly, it is not al-ways possible to know that will simply by applying gen~ eral moral principles to particular~ situations, To know that each of two acts would be prudent ~ind good ,does not yet assure one to which of these two God is calling him. Finally, God can and often does manifest His will for the individual through consolations and desolations. When He so acts, His will can be discovered by applying the rules for the discernment of spirits to the different consolations and desolations one experiences in his prayer as he considers against the background of the life of Christ the alternatives of election. Father Rahner insists that this should be the most common way of making the election. ~ ~ ' "Impliqations ol This~ View,~ Let us consider for a moment some of the implications of this interpretation. In most present,day practice2 it is taken for granted that the'third time for making the election (that is, when the person is not moved by~ the different spirits) iSthe most common. Why this is so is not immediately evident. Perhaps we are afraid to attribute our consolations and desolations to supernatural causes when we know today how much can be caused naturally by the subconscious forces at work in us. (Father Karl Rahner handles this p~obl~m explicitly in his article.) In any case, we tend rather to elect what we are going to_do for God rather, than to discover, what God wants of us. Confronted by a choice between two good or indifferent acts, we normally ask ourselves: "Where can I most 2See, for example, John A. Hardon, S.J:~ All My Liberty: The Theology oI the Spiritual Exercises 0Nes[minster: Newman, 1959), p. 66: "This [the third time for an election] is the most ordinary. time [or reaching a decision." Father Hardon reduces the first time to a "miraculous grace" (an opinion quite co,ntrary to that of both Father Hugo Rahner and Father Ignacio Iparraguirre [Ignatius, pp. 305 ands311]) and handles the second time in three sentences. For him the third time is also '~the most securE" time. "]'his is some-what difficult to understand since, by defimtlon, ~n the first time the person "neither doubts nor as capable of doubting' (Sptr, tual Exer-ctses, n. 175). For Father Hardon t.he third ttme ~s valuable as a check on the second time, which Father Rahner also admits (Ignatius, p. 311). Yet it is interesting to note that for St. Ignatius the second time is the check on the third time and not vice versa; on this see. foot-note 3. + ÷ ÷ The Discernment of Spirit~ VOLUME~ .20, 19~1 277 " 4. Carl Lo~y, S.]. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 278 certainly save my soul? Where'can I be of more help others?~Along what lines d~o my talents run?" and so f6rth. All this is good, 'Fffther Rahner' would say, if we-have first tried the first two times of election and have dis- ,covered that the different spirits are .in fact not at work in us. Moreover, we should recall that St. Ignatius ques-tioned the earnestness of one who is :not so moved. other words, the presupposition that we are not and 'will not be moved by the different spirits is directly foreign to the saint's thinking, For St. Ignatius, the main task of.the exercitant is try to :get into vital, personal contact with God and this contact to ask God what He wants of him. Only God does not "answer" is the exercitant to consider quietly the. pros and cons; and~even in this case, after ar-riving at his decision, he is to ask God for confirmation in the form of consolation.3 Instinctively perhaps we find such language strange: ."How can God tell us His will through consolations and desolations?" And yet it re-mains true that Ignatius was convinced that God can and does "talk" to us through consolations and that ~e can interpret His "words" to us through the rules for the discernment of spirits. Once this fundamental position of the saint is accepted, ~°ne Sees these rules in their proximity to the election at the very heart of the Spiritual Exercises~ The same can also be said for our daily prayer as well. For, as Father Josef Stierli points' out in his article, "Ignatian Prayer: Seeking God in All Things," the search for God in all things is primarily a search for the will of God°in all things; only secondarily is it an affective con~ templation of Him in His creatures, In our daily prayer we are to ask~God what His will~i~ifor us, "not only in our state of life but also in. all particulars.''4 Father Adolf Haas shows ,us in his article, "The Mys-ticism of Saint Ignatius as Seen in His Spiritual Diary," how St. Ignatius did this in his own daily prayer. Here see the saint seeking, in the heights :of mystical union with the different Persons of the Trinity confirmation of his 8 spiritual Exercises, n. 178: "If a choice of a way of life has not been made in the first and second time, below are given two ways of making ~/ choice of a way of life in the third time." See also n. 180, where even in the third time of election we are told to "beg God our Lord to deign to move my will, and to bring to my mind what I ought to do in this matter fhat would be more for His praise and glory"--as 'though in one final attempt to r~main in the ~econd time. Only after this' request are we to "use the understanding to weigh the matter with care and fidelity." And after reaching a de-cision through this rational process, we are to "turn with great dili, gence to prayer in the presence of God our Lord, and offer Him this choice that the Divine Majesty may deign to accept and con-firm it if it is for His ~reater service and praise" (n. 183). ¯ Summary o] the Constitutions oI the Society oI Jesus, Rule 17. election concerning his order's poverty. "Eternal Father, confirm me in my election. Eternal Son, confirm me. Eternal Holy Spirit, confirm me. Holy Tri~nity, confirm me. Thou, my only God, confirm me.''~ The entire con-text of this prayer sho.ws, that Ignatius is here not seeking strength to carry out a.n'~ election already made, but the assurance that what he has elected is truly.the will of God. Confirmati.on means, therefore, the certitude, penetrating the entire personality, that one has really found Goffs will. It is--to use the phras~ found frequent!y in the letters of both St. Ignatius and St. Francis Xavier--"the grace to feel in the innermost part of ourbeing God's. will for us."O +, Role of the Retreat Director This interpretation of Father-Rahner, of course, raises serious dogmatic questions and difficulties. Can we really trust the rules for the discernment of spirits? Does God really make known to individuals His will for. them as' individuals? Are the first and second times for election really more secure than the more rational third time? What is the relation between God's will for~the individual and, the consolation experienced as confirmation? It was the task of Father Karl Rahner to answer these and other questions. He does so brilliantly; but .since his article will appear soon in English,7 we need, not discuss it here, especially since its complex reasoning processes would take us far beyond the scope of this present paper. What should be stressed here is that in the light of this interpretation ~ the role of the retreat director is seen under a new aspect. Retreat-giving need not involve so much the ability to give inspiring points' for meditation (Ignatius insisted that these be short and "to the point, that the main work be left to the exercitant"), as the ability to discern the spirits at work in the exercitant's soul in his search for the will of God. This is a pains-taking, delicate t~ask, not to be regarded lightly. Ignatius himself thought that of all the Jesuits of his day (over a thousand) he knew of only three who fulfilled his ex-pectation~ of,a good retreat master,s In this context the ~ Ignatius, p. 199. , 0 It:is astonishing to see how often this phrase occurs at the close )f the letters of both saints, In the original Spanish, Saint Ignatius )ften uses the word "sentir 'la voluntad de Dios," which means con-siderably more than "to know" and is better translated as~ "to feel" or "to. be deeply aware of." On this see Obras cornpletas~ de $. lgnacio de Loyola, edited by Ignacio Iparraguirre, S.J. (Madrid: BAG, 1952). ~ In the translation of the book Das Dynamische in der Kirche (Freiburg: Herder, 1958). a Ignatius, p. 257. ÷ 4- The Discernment VOLUME 20, 1961 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS last part of Father Bacht's article on the role of the re-treat director deserves careful study and restudy. Father Friedrich Wulf's article on Ignatius as director of souls is important in this connection, because it con-tains many remarkable, hitherto unpublished, texts which reveal the saint's personality. Here, too, we see the tre-mendous importance Ignatius placed on the discernment of spirits in his direction of others. The article furnishes rich food for thought for any spiritual director, Practical Importance of This Interpretation We have been able here to sketch only briefly the more important points of this book. There are many others. We can only encourage the reader to take the book and study it carefully; it is to be hoped that the work finds an early translation, for the ideas it contains are basic [or a proper understanding of the Spiritual Exercises and of Ignatian spirituality. Father Hugo Rahner's article is of special importance for it returns to the position of St. Ignatius that God really "talks" with us in prayer and in time of retreat, that He really makes His will known to us --His will for us as individuals. Retreat making is, there-fore, not so much a time of mere resolution making, as of finding God; not so much a renovation of spirit as an inner development in which the person strives for deep, personal contact with God and, in this contact, for God's will for him as an individual. This is the deeper meaning hidden in Ignatius' use of the word "election." This is a bold interpretation, but one which is receiv-ing more and more backing by recent research.9 It is an interpretation that deserves serious attention. One gets the impression at times that retreats are a trifle too volun-taristic, somewhat too impersonal, too separated from prayerful union with God. Do not many work out resolu-tions, make plans for the future, form new particular examens--all.quite independently of formal prayer? Of course, once we have made the resolutions and plans, we offer them to God, ask His grace to fulfill them, and so forth; but the resolution making process itself remains basically rounded-off in itself, shut off, completely (as it were) "our.own." Often we are n6t open to God during the process itself. "God, what will You have me do? What do You want of me?" Such an approach would open us to God within the very resolution making process. The latter would become, quite literally, a search for the will ~ See especially Gaston Fessard, S.J., La dialectique des Exercices Spirituels de Saint lgnace de Loyola (Paris: 1956) and August Brun-ner, S.J., "Die Erkenntnis des Willen Gottes nach den Geistlichen 3O0b u(n1g9e5n7 d),e ps ph. e1i9li9g-e2n1 2I.g Sneaeti ualss oy othne Lboibyloiolag,r"a pinhy G geivisetn u bnyd FLaethbeernll,l lv].[ Rahner in his footnotes, especially on pages 305, 312, and 313. o[ God. The dialogue with God would begin immediately (not merely after the formation of resolutions) and at a much deeper level of the indiyidual's personality. There would be (to use Browning's words) "no spot for the crea-ture to stand in," not even his good resolutions. For we are creatures in everything. We serve God only through His gift to us. He alone knows how we can serve Him as individuals with a radicality of dedication and surrender. He alone can break into the hard core that "protects" the inner core of a self and there touch us and so awaken us to life. It is possible and all too easy to form plans serving God which, although good, do not get down into the real self, do not take hold. of the Whole person, and which, when completed, contain the d.anger of being something "outside God," something strictly our own. To avoid this danger the use of the rules for the discern, merit of spirits in the second time to making an election can be of fundamental importance ~ind help. The Discernmt, nt o] Spirits VOLUME 20, 1951 281 WILLIAM H. QUIERY, S.J. Courage and Counseling William H. Quiery, &J., writes from Cam;, pion House, B29 West 108th Street; New Yolk 25, New York. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 282 Nothing has quite the' force to convince us that we are human as the phenomenon of fear. And nothing can ap-pear to be so ridiculous. Bruce Catton, in his account of the early years of the Civil War, Glory Road, records an amusing incident of a panic-stricken squad of Union troops put to flight by a rumor of a Rebel~breakthrough some miles ahead. As the men ran in disorder past a farm-house, a calm old lady sat on the porch enjoying the spectacle. The soldiers were almost out of their heads in the grip of mob hysteria, and the woman stood up and called to them, "What in the world are you boys running from? They're only men!" The soldiers had no answer for the jibe, of course. Each of them knew that he wasn't acting with cool reason at the moment. The enemy hadn't been seen and counted and a quiet estimation made of their striking force. The Northerners were simply running, that was all. It was the best they could do at the time. Terror had them by the throats. All the unknowns were jumbled and lumped to-gether and blown up into something like that horrifying ghost that children see leaning over their beds at night. That's what was chasing the squad of Yankees. Most of us have little trouble understanding this sort of panic because we have found ourselves in somewhat sim-ilar circumstances, in the grip of unreasonable fears and emotions. Everyone is acquainted with worry and anxiety and tension, at least of a minor sort: the "formless fears" of C. S. Lewis. What makes such fears particularly mysterious and exasperating is the fact that frequently.! enough we are fully conscious that there is nothing to be anxious about, or certainly nothing in the situation that calls for quite the emotional response we find ourselves giving it. We wonder where our courage is at times like these.' Yet strange to say, we have not lost our major life-ideals in any way: We would rather die than desert our cause, and we would never calmly choose to be traitors no mat-, ter what the threat. Still we find ourselves unnerved by ~' / a set of circumstances of small moment and reacting childishly while we know we are not childish at heart. And I am not speaking here of a. problem which i consider to be a specifically religious one.~.It would not be correct to say that there are special threats in the re-ligious or ,priestly life viewed in its spiritual aspects. For our consecration to God is nora gamble. On the contrary, vows are m.eans of making perfection of life more easy and secure. ~One. of the purposes of the vows, according to St. Thomas, is. to eliminate the "main 6bstacles to a perfect love and service of God, to,guarantee, as.much as is pos-sible on this earth, a secure hold on some of the most powerful spiritual means the Church knows of. If we are subject to worries and fears.of variou~ ~.kinds to a somewhat greater extent, than ordinary people, the reason is probably the simple fadt that we have taken owa rather ambitious form of life, that otir aim is high, that we make a more self-conscious effort right from the beginning to fill out and make use of our share of human talent. Our.,counterparts on the :non-religious level are the~politicians and the doctors and the scholars, yes, and those bent on heaping up a material fortune. It ivwith this group that we might find a compai~able level of tension~ anxiety, and worry: From this point of view, then, we, should not be sur-prised to discover that part Of the price of our spiritual ambitions will be some sort of, interior susceptibility to inner conflicts and phobias.~But we have far more reason for trying to control and limit our anxieties and fears ~ttian~ have other ambitious people. Out,target is not an earthly one, but the glory .of God and the sanctification of men. It will be a'great loss if we are kept from that. The panic of the Union troop was not a logical and calculated response to a threat, and this is the case'.with human fears generally.oOur responses are seldom exactly what they should be; and I am not referring to any sort of psychotic or compulsively neurotic reaction, but~just to the "off-balance" emotional reactions that perfectly normal people experience. For iristance, there is nothing unusually abnormal! in a religious who is worried, even greatly~ worried, abouf some truly risky situation: whether,~f0r example, a certain studefit should be. expelled for the good of the others or for the relief of the teacher. The trouble b~gins, though, when the legitimate and reas'6n~able worry develops into a permanent hnd troUblesome, anxiety that louvers his ef-ficiency and impairs the effectiveness, of his work. It is perfectly normal and rational to' experience the sensation of loneliness when one actually is ;ilone. The presence of God, for. the ordinary person, simply does + + + Courage and Counseling. VOLUME 20, 1961' 283 ÷ ÷ ÷ w. H. Qulery, s.l. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 28~4 not compensate for the absence of human companionship. Holiness does not change the social nature of man. But loneliness becomes an unreasonable thingwhen it carries us into a paralyzing depression despite all we do to pre-vent it. Such self-pity is not deliberately chosen. We not turn it on as we might a TV set. We should not be surprised, then, if it does not fade out with a simple flick of a switch. The ambitious role we have chosen in life often calls for public service. Religious frequently work in the public eye, teaching, lecturing, or representing their group in panel discussion or at a civic council of some kind. Every normal person will feel some sort of nervous excitement or self-consciousness in public appearances, particularly at first. But these normal emotional reactions can become unreasonable bullies. They can scare us out of our job and our vocation altogether; or, what is bad enough, ruin our performance. Nor does it satisfy us to say "God will supply" and done with it. We are not entitled to leave things to God until we have exhausted all our ordinary resources and our ingenuity as well. In action, it is a good rule to act though everything depends on our own work (as though God will not supply), provided we pray as though every-thing depends on .God. Other instances of normal emotions which get out hand are easy to find. To hesitate makes sense when much is at stake and when we are :all too conscious of our falli-bility. But excessive hesitancy and indecision can sap strength and waste our time. Again, discouragement an .understandable thing in view of our daily failings; but unfortunately this very subtle and dangerous emotion (Is it not a form of fear?) can grow into a sentimental resignation to mediocrity of a ruinous kind. Again, sense of guilt is common and healthy, scruples a torment-ing excess. Embarrassment is everyone's lot at one time another, but a perrilanent timidity is usually a limita-tion. All of us feel emotion at times; almost all suffer from excess of it at least occasionally. Under stress we feel con-fused. Some exasperating inner battle is'going on and must bear.it at least for a time. It is on such occasions, when we have only a blurred view of our value scale, that we make hurried and faulty decisions. If the instances emotional pressure are froequent, we may find ourselves regularly ,doing quite childish ,things. We know what right, but by a weird subconscious illogic, we do not feel that it is the right thing to do---at least not ~his time. We know we should not be timid or unnerved or so worried' as we are. It may even be clear to us that our state of mind is ridiculo~us, that we will laugh at ourselves later on. But at the time, it does not ]eel ridiculous at all. 'It is not a laughing matter. The philosophers can explain it all to us in technical terms. The mind, the); say~, exercises only political con-trol over the emotions. But what concerns the average person most is what in the world [o do about it.'What kind of interior politics will get the constituents back, into line? Prayer and the sacraments, mortification, sublima-tion, distraction, advice-seeking, rest--alL.of these we en-list in our cause and still we find ourselves over-reacting to minor threats, slipping into unreasonable depression, or harrassed by toll-taking inner unrest. Courage alone is not the cure. Nor,:in fact, can we-talk of a L complete cure in this world for this weakness in our make-up. A cure will only come in heaven with the restoration of the gift of integrity which the first human being lost for the whole family that follows him. A partial solution to this type of problem may very well be counseling--and that is.the burden of this article--but not just any kind~ of counseling will help. These are cases where information is not lacking--the sufferer ordi-narily knows the pertinent facts or at least knows where they can be found and so there is very little to be gained in having them told to him all. over again. And since the person's desire to get over the problem is very great to be-gin with, the type of counseling which includes strong urging on the counselor's part is .likewise of little use. Now this particular area is one that the so-called "client-centered" or "non-directive" or "self-directive" counseling is admirably suited to take care of. In practice such coun-seling has been found to help with many kinds of prob-lems, from normal everyday decision-making to the give-and- take of classroom discussion, from the troulSlesome minor f~irs we are discussing here to more serious per-sonality conflicts. Client-centered counseling is by no means a modern in-vention. In fact, some Catholic authorities claim that it is very similar to the approach'bf som~ traditional spir-itual directors. However, a new surge of interest has taken place in the field since the earlg. 1940's. Responsible for much of this new interest is Dr. Carl Rogers. His bobk, Client-Centered Therapy (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1951), is probably the most important book in the field today. In 1952 Reverend Charles A. Curran of Loyola University, chicago, published his well known book Counseling in Catholic LiIe and Education (New York: Macmillan, 1952), in which he demonstrated the relation of such counseling to Thomisti~ psychology and ex-plained how these psychological counseling skills can be 4- Courage and Counseling VOLUME 20, 1961 ÷ ÷ ÷ w. H. Q=,iery, s.1. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 286 applied to specifically Catholic problems. This book is still the standard Catholic~ treatment of the matter, and though directed primarily to psychologists, would be valuable reading for anyone interested in learning more about the subject. . In the past fifteen years the seeds sown by these write

Issue 19.4 of the Review for Religious, 1960. ; Review fOl" Religious The LordIs My Shepherd The Brothers',Vootion: Natural Ideal by Robert D. Cihlar, S.J. Problen~s of the Late Vocation , byDavid "B. IVadhams~ S.M.~ Is Religious DisObedience Al~ays, a Sin? by Joseph J. Farraher, S.J. The Problem of Transition for the Junior sister, by Sister Mary Magdalen, O.P. , Survey of Roman Documents Views, News, PreViews Questions and ,Answers Book Reviews 193 200 207 215 225 232 237 ,240 " 248 The Lord Is My Shepherd The Lord is my shepherd: I want for nothing; he makes me to lie in green pastures, He leads me to waters where I may rest; he restores my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name's sake. Although I walk in a darksome valley, I shall fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy crook and thy staff: these comf.o~:t me. Thou preparest a table for me before the eyes of my foes; Thou. anointest my head with oil; my cup brims over. Goodness and kindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord days without end. BY A SPECIAL INSPIRATION the Psalmist foresaw that the Redeemer would come in the flesh and that He would found a Church and that He would be a Shepherd over it. However, this is not the only instance in the Sacred Scriptures where God alludes in very distinct language to the "Shepherd" mentioned by the words of the Psalmist in this beautiful psalm; but the "Shepherd" whom God has set over His only true Church is also very clearly indicated in the words of Ezekiel where it is stated: "And I will set up one shepherd over them; and he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd" (Ez 34:23). Now what is significant in these words is that the same term is here used for "shepherd" and "to feed," so that the sense is that this Shepherd which God has set over His Church is both our Guide and our Food as well. The Lord is not only our Shepherd; but He is also the means by which we are kept in existence, both body and soul. The Lord is our Shepherd who feeds us with Himself; for by means of the Church which He established He continues to say, "Take and eat! This is My Body" (Mt 26:27). By means of His Church He is able to carry out the words of this psalm and fulfill their implication by feed-ing us with Himself; for that is what the words "the Lord is my Shepherd" mean or imply in the original Hebrew, since in The author of this article is an American layman who is living a contemplative life and who wish~s to rhmain anonymous. 193 THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD Review for Religious that language no distinction is made between tending, govern-ing, and guiding a flock and feeding it. What a wonderful thing it is to have such a Shepherd who is able to feed His sheep, namely, all the faithful, with His own Precious Body and Blood ! But God is not only our Shepherd ; He is also our companion and our friend, since this word shepherd is often used to des-ignate the idea of companionship and friendship. "How beautiful art thou, my love, how beautiful art thou" (Cant 4:1). It is significant that in addressing the souls of all who love Him, God should here make use of a word which is a derivative of the term used by the Psalmist when he refers to Him as his "Shepherd." And so by an extended use of the term shepherd we may refer to our Lord as someone whom we love and in whom we find our whole delight. The Lord is our Shepherd in the sense that it is in Him alone that we can find our whole delight. He alone is the sole object of our love: The Lord is my Shepherd because the guidance He exerts over me is the guid-ance of love and delight. He is Love in nature and essence. The Lord is my Shepherd in the sense that I am being ruled and governed by means of that everlasting love and delight which He is. The Shepherd here spoken of by'the Psalmist is none other than the King of love, and so the dominion He exercises over us is the dominion of love and love alone." God guides and governs us by mean of His love. "The Lo~:d is my Shepherd. I want for nothing." What can be lacking to him who is governed and guided by Love Itself? The Lord is my Shepherd in the sense that I have God Himself for my close com-panion and friend. From the day of my birth 'til the day of my death, this guide in the form of Love Incarnate will be my close companion and friend, so that no circumstance can arise in which His help and friendship will not be there to see me through everything I shall ever have to undergo. Having such a Shepherd we can all say, "I want nothing," that is to say, no circumstance will ever arise in our lives in which we shall suffer any sort of insufficiency; for we will always have what we need from this Divine Lover of our soul, this God who both created and re-deemed us. "I know mine," He tells us in the Gospel of St. John (10:15). He knows us better than we know ourselves, and no real want we can ever have will be overlooked by Him who has loved us from all eternity. There are times when we may think we need what this "Good Shepherd" sees we do not need, and which would not be 194 July, 1960 THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD of any value for our eternal salvation. One thing we can be sure of, and that is with such a lover as God is, anything we really need to advance in our effort to get to know and love Him better we will most certainly have; and so we shall never be 'devoid of the good necessary for our progress along our journey to our heavenly home. The whole Bible has often been compared to a medicine chest ¯ in which may be found remedies suitable to every need the soul can have on its journey through time. And so, just as we think it nothing at all to rush over to the drug store to get something to soothe our bodily aches, so in like manner we should never be slow to turn to the pages of Holy Writ whenever we feel we need some words of help and consolation in the troubles and trials of this life. Our Lord is often referred to as a physician in the Scriptures. By this it is meant that we should use the words He speaks to us in them as a sort of medicine to apply to the ills of our souls. "Honor the Physician," we read in the Book of Ecclesiasticus (38:1). "Honor the Physician for the need thou hast of Him. For all healing is from God . The most high hath created medicines . . . and the wise man will not abhor them." Though these words refer to the medicines the doctor prescribes for the ills of our bodies, we know that in addition to the literal meaning of these words, there is also a spiritual and a mystical one. They also refer to that Heavenly Physician which our Lord is and the many remedies He has devised for the many ills of our souls. "The most high hath created medicines" in the form of the Church with her entire sacramental system; and so, "a wise man will not abhor them." At present, though, we intend to limit our consideration to the medicines to be found in the Sacred Scriptures and especially as these may be had in the words of the twenty-second psalm, and in many others as well; for in one of them we actually see the Psalmist call upon God as we do on an earthly doctor and say to Him, "Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed." These two words heal and healed are so rich in Hebrew that we can hardly realize the comfort they bring when read in the original, since besides the connotation of healing they are also a metaphor for comfort and consolation. When in the words of the Psalmist we ask God to "heal" us, we include the petition that we should be restored to that pristine felicity we all posses-sed before we fell into sin. We ask God that we should one day win back that same unmarred happiness Adam once possessed in Paradise and which the words of the twenty-second psalm 195 THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD Review for Religious reawaken in our soul as often as the beauty of them comes to our mind: "The Lord is .my Shepherd; I shall not.want." The complete fulfillment of all that these words imply will take place after we have been completely healed of the effects of original sin and restored to the state of innocence Adam had before the Fall. "We shall not Want," because after this life is over all our desires shall be fulfilled and there will be nothing we have to have which God will not give us in the complete and perfect giving of Himself to us in the life to come. "We shall not want" because after we die God shall be all in all to us so that, having Him with all the fullness and completion in which we will then have Him, we shall .lack nothing to be eternally happy. God will then "spread a table" before us on which He will Himself be the food of our glorified state. For if even during this life "the Lord is our Shepherd," in the sense that it is in the possession of Him alone that we can find our true delight, what will it not be to have that same delight in Him when we shall become completely assimilated to all that He is in the life to come? If even on this earth we derive our whole satisfaction in the thought that we have God who is Love Itself for our companion and friend, what shall it not be for us to enjoy that companionship and friendship of His when we are where alone we can truly and fully partici-pate in it? And if even while we are on this earth we find i~ such a delight to be ruled and governed by Him who is Love Itself, what will it be when we shall have that guidance and governance in Heaven itself? "The Lord is my Shepherd." What a privilege it is to have God Himself to guide and conduct us through every vicissitude and event of this life ; for with such a guide, "even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil, for He guides me in the right paths." The Psalmist says that as long as he shall live he has nothing to fear, because it is the God of righteousness who con-ducts along the paths of His own righteousness, and that He does so for His name's sake, namely, for the sake of Jesus, since we could never have that original righteousness we once pos-sessed in Adam unless Christ offered Himself for us as a victim for our sins. And so it is for the sake of the sufferings of Christ that we are now able to tread those paths of righteousness that will lead us to the realms of unending bliss in Heaven. "And a path and a way shall be there," Isaiah tells us (35:8) "and it shall be called the holy way." Our Lord said He was that "holy way" when He said, "I am the Way." He is the right path of 196 J~tly, 1960 THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD which this Psalmist speaks and along which he is being guided by God. No wonder he can say that, "even though I walk in the dark valley, I fear no evil, for you are at my side." For what shall we be afraid of when.we realize that He who both made and re-deemed us is constantly on the lookout for our every need, and He will permit nothing to happen to us which will not conduce to the greater good of our soul both in time and in eternity? "In .verdant pastures He gives me repose; beside restful waters He leads me." In these words the Psalmist wishes to point out God's tender compassion for the human race and the many comforts and consolations with which we are provided from the very first days of our existence until our last breath. "Show me," the soul says to her Belgved, "Show-me, O Thou whom my soul loveth, where Thou feedest, wh~re Thou liest in the midday" (Cant 1:6). Thh "repose" here spoken of is that of reclining on the bosom of Christ, mentioned in the Gospel of St. John (13:25), for the soul's rest in Christ is here compared to the pleasant and refreshing experience we have when we lie down on the tender grass on a hot summer day. Another signifi-cation for "repose" is the idea of being interchanged. "Repose" refers to that immingling of the soul with that of her beloved Lord by means of some extraordinary grace which makes of the two one; so that the "verdant pastures" are those exquisite de-lights the soul finds as she feels herself being drawn into the inmost essence of Him whom she loves--namely, the beauty and comeliness of Christ. The soul speaks of the pleasure she has in Christ as a sort of lying down on the young, fresh, and tender grass, in order to indicate the pleasing sensation which the rest she finds in Him procures for her. "Beside restful waters He leads me." These restful waters are the vast number of bless-ings we receive from God and which afford us so much consola-tion in the sorrows we have to bear. "He refreshes my soul." God "refreshes" the soul when by means of His grace it is re-stored to that pristine beauty it had before it fell into si.n, for the word "refresh" means to convert, to bring back, to restore, and to renew. Whenever we are being renewed in Christ, we are being, refreshed in soul and reconverted to God. The fullness of conversion will take place by means of that renewal, that res-toration, that complete conversion and refreshing of the heaven and earth spoken of in the Apocalypse of St. John (21:1), where-in he tells us that he saw a "new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away." Through 197 THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD Re4)iew for Religious sin, Isaiah tells us (24:5), "the earth is infected by the in- .habi.tants thereof." And so the time will come when it will pass away and be recreated in Christ, so that at that time our souls will. be completely refreshed because of their being completely converted to God. At present our conversion is only partial; and so the refreshment of which this psalm speaks to us is not as perfect as we would desire it to be, since we still need many things which after we die we will no longer have to have in order to be perfectly and completely happy. It is only after this life is over that our soul will be completely refreshed with that refreshment and renewal in Christ of which this psalm speaks. "Even though I walk in the dark valley, I fear no evil." What is this "dark valley"? Literally, it is the valley of the shadow of death, which in Hebrew is used poetically for very thick darkness. When we read the Book of Job, we find this word shadow-of-death being used on five different occasions to denote what no other expressions convey. In order to express the contempt he had for the present life, Job says: "Let the day perish wherein I was born. Let the darkness and the shadow of death cover it" (3:3-4). On another occasion he character-izes our entire existence in this world as "a land of misery and darkness where the shadow of death dwelleth" (10:22). In the third verse of the twenty-eighth chapter, he again makes use of the same word in order to indicate that our whole life is lived in death's shadow and that we will never cease to be freed from its image until we are out of this world. And the Psalmist speaks of walking in the valley of the shadow of death, because as long as we live we are never free from the fear of our having to undergo the penalties we have to pay for the sin of our first parents. We walk in the valley of the shadow of death, because as long as we live we can never be free from the necessity of dying; and the thought of our death haunts us from the cradle to the grave. We are said to be walking in the valley of the shadow of death because we always live with its image before our eyes, since there is nothing we can see that will not some day have an end. As long as we live we walk, as it were, in the shadow of death, in that the calamities and miseries of life which will last as long as we will, are a sort of image of death, since they prepare us for its approach when the time will come for us to leave this vale of tears. And yet the Psalmist says- and we should all say with him: "Even though I walk in the dark valley -- the valley of the shadow of death -- I fear no evil ; for 198 July, 1960 THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD You are at my side." The Psalmist tells us that we have nothing to fear from death, because Christ has removed its sting. "He suffered death," St. Paul tells, us, "that He might by God's gracious bounty experience the throes of death for the sake of every human being . . . that through death He might destroy him who had control over death; that is, the devil, and deliver those whom throughout their lives the fear of death held in bondage" (Heb 2:9-15). "I will deliver them out of the hand of death," our Lord tells us through the words of Osee. "0 death, I will be thy death; 0 hell, I will be thy bite." The Psalmist knew this; and that is why he says, "Even though I walk in the dark valley, I fear no evil." He knew that Christ would one day die and that by means of His own sacred death we would be freed from the bondage of death, so that even though we die, yet we shall live forever that life He merited for us by all He underwent for our sake. "I fear no evil," we say to God, "for you are at my side." We are not afraid of anything that can happen to us in this life, in-cluding death itself, because we are assured by the words of this psalm that in everything we have to go through, God will assist us by His divine aid, and we will always find ourselves upheld by Him in a manner too marvelous to comprehend. "When thou shalt pass through the waters," that is, the trials and afflic-tions of this life, including the agony of dying, "I will be with thee," our Lord says to us in words we can no more question than we can question our own existence. "When thou _.shalt walk in the fire, thou shalt not be burnt: and the flames shall not burn thee" (Is 43:2). With this divine aid of God Himself before his miffd's eye, no wonder the Psalmist was able to say: "Even though I walk in the dark valley, I fear no evil." For what is there anyone can fear when he is given the strength to trust God in those most agonizing moments of his life when his soul will be wrenched from the flesh of which it formed such a close com-panionship all the time it was in the body? What can unduly alarm him who is not unduly frightened by what so many dread ? Christ has destroyed death's terrors, and so it is now nothing more than a sleep from which we will one day awake as gently as we rise up every morning from our previous night's rest. And so, if we are afraid to die, we should also be afraid to go to sleep every night as well. If we fear God with the filial and re-verential fear He wants to be feared with, we will not have to fear anything else--death included. 199 The Brothers' Vocation as a Natural Ideal Robert D. Cihlar, S.J. yOUTH is idealistic. Whatever appeals to it as the greater good, that it will seek. It will seek it with a determination seldom found in later life. The child's changing ideas of what it wants to be when it "grows up" is a simple confirmation of this fact. At one time it aspires to be a fireman, at another a doctor, and so on. The desire changes with the appreciation of the good to be attained- one's own personal good. The child is led, without knowing the meaning of the word, by an ideal. The ideal not o.nly fires the imagination but it must also be somethin$ within reach of the abilities a man knows are his. A child does not fully realize its limitations. As a consequence it aspires to things far above its present capabilities. For the adult and the young man,. however, the ideal must be something which is possible--and possible through one's own efforts, tal-ents, and opportunities. An ideal must be capable of satisfying a man's sense of personal worth. It must also be achievable by this man. He must be able to see himself as realizing this ideal. People he knows, others he has read about have reached this goal; why not he? Often, not fully appreciating his own limitations, he will, like the child, aspire to things which are not for him. As realization comes, so the ideal changes or deepens. For the time being, how-ever, the mere possession of an ideal is enough to cause him to strive for it. It is not difficult to see how the makings of an ideal ar~ to be found in the married state. It takes a little more discernment to find them in the other vocations; and perhaps this is the reason, naturally speaking, why most people find their vocation in marriage. To be looked up to, even in the small circle of the family, to be the head of that family, to be needed, to be loved and to love, all these satisfy a man's sense of personal worth. The fact that others have failed in this state does not deter him Brother Robert D. Cihlar is stationed at West Baden College, West Baden Springs, Indiana. 200 THE BROTHERS' VOCATION nor make it less available. Rather he is all the more convinced, because he possesses an ideal, that his case will be different. Now let us take up a comparison in religious life also based upon the supposition of the ideal as given above. The priesthood at one time or another seems to appeal to most Catholic boys. They are attracted by the reverence shown the priesthood, and this in turn gives them an appreciation of its dignity. They see themselves invested with this dignity, receiving the reverence now accorded to another. They see themselves at the altar, in the confessional, at the bedside of the sick and dyfng. Their sense of personal worth is satisfied, and they know that the goal is achievable because others have made it. Their efforts could bring them there. We have present then in the priesthood two of the elements which go to make up an ideal. This in turn:,Ldepending on the intensity of the desire, becomes a motivating force to (1) prayer, leading to a more obvious cooperation with grace; (2) reading, leading to a greater knowledge of the true meaning of the priest-hood; and (3) a greater application to study, since scholastic ability is necessary. One thing .leads gradually to another. A vocation does not appear all at once but comes, like the dawn; gradually. No one of these is sufficient in itself. Most x~ocations, however, can be traced back to the development of the ideal. Vocations to the pries.thood are more plentiful beca.use they follow the pattern and contain the essentials of an ideal. It .is not so, however, in the case of the lay brother. Public opinion, and consequently the general opinion of youth, is against such a vocation. It is looked down upon simply (and mainly) because it lacks those two motivationally essential parts of an ideal. A young man cannot imagine himself in the position of one who is looked down upon, who possesses in the eyes of the ldity, and often the clergy, no natural worth or dignity. Why is this? Why must there be a lack of this natural value in this way of life? Why must the motivation for accepting such a vocation be only and solely supernatural?. Obviously this is delicate ~round on which it behooves one to tread ever so lightly, if it is to be trod at all. But it is not my intention in any way to minimize the supernatural motive. A vocation without such is no vocation at all. Nor do I wish to say that it is of lesser importance, for even that which I choose to call natural motivation is in reality an action of grace building on nature. It is sometimes true that the natural motivation is 201 ROBERT D. CIHLAR Review for Religious the more obvious of the two, but in the course of, let us say, the preparation for the priesthood, grace builds on that natural motive to such an extent that the supernatural motive becomes the first consideration. My contention, therefore, is that both natural and supernatural motivation, though not of equal im-portance, are of equal necessity, simply because we are human beings. With this explanation, let us try for a subjective viewpoint of what a young man sees when he looks at the life of the lay brother. Perhaps from such a viewpoint we shall catch some hint of the defects in the presentation of this vocation and the possible errors in our thinking concerning it. Undoubtedly the greatest deterent to a young man is the prevalent attitude among the laity, and some clergy, that the brothers' life is a demeaning of self. They feel that the brother is an admitted failure--or becomes such whe~ he becomes a brother. It is rather hard to dislodge the idea that the lay brother is one who "could not" become a priest because of inferior mental ability or some other defect. Popular Catholic literature and various hagiographers of the past have contributed to this idea. The humility of some saints has been demonstrated by their wishing to be with the brothers or work with them (mean-ing to demean themselves). Among present-day Catholic books the Mass of Brother Michael, though a romantic and enter-taining story, is an example of extremely poor propaganda material. Yet it is from such weakly representative literature that attitudes are formed, and once having formed become tra-ditional. In short, the persistent idea is that a man who becomes a lay brother is exceptional, in either his holiness or his ignor- . ance. It is not a vocation "possible" to the average man because it offends his sense of personal worth. It is within reach of his abilities, but it is also often beneath them. It therefore does not fulfill the conditions of the ideal, in the natural order, as ex-pressed above. This idea poses a very thorny problem, but a problem which must be solved if the numbers of the brothers are to increase. A change is evidently necessary in our thinking--and actions-for the mass of tradition is against the brother. The Church, from earliest times, has made use of the principle of adaptation; and adaptation to the times and their needs is the thing to be considered. 202 July, 1960 THE BROTHERS' VOCATION Tradition dating from the Middle Ages has assigned the brothers' vocation to the uneducated and lower classes who, wishing to serve God more perfectly, seek this perfdction in the religious life. Now, going farther back to the natal days of monasticism, we find that this was not true then. The early "Fathers" were not Fathers at all, but in their manner of living the equivalent of the latter-day brother. They engaged in manual labor, meditation, penance, and so forth, but were seldom if ever ordained priests. Necessity, among which was an ever-widening ministry in the monastic groups, brought about the inclusion of priests in their ranks. As the accent on the ministry grew, 'grad-ually the bulk of membership became priestly. Men of education, since educated men were the exceptioh, were directed to the priesthood. Those without education could not hope to become priests ; but, still wishing to become rel!~ious, they were directed to the life of the lay brother. This insistence upon educated men for the priesthood was brought about as part of the much needed reform of the clergy at the time of the Reformation. It also, as a side result, brought about a complete reversal of the original scheme of monasticism; or at least it was the culmination of a reversal that had been taking place for some centuries. However, considering modern' ~i~nes we find the educational picture itself reversed (at least in most ~vestern countries) and the illiterate man becomes the exception. In the Unite'd States, for example, the major portion of the population has completed at least a high school education; and the years since the Second World War find more and more high school graduates going on to college. Superimpose this picture upon that of the time of the Reformation, and a natural explanation will appear for the decrease in brothers' vocations. However, it is only a natural explanation. This does not necessarily mean that God is calling fewer young men to His service as brothers. It does mean that these men, better educated and better qualified, no longer con-sider this vocation as an ideal or even an alternative, which it much more readily was considered a few centuries ago. The brothers' vocation offers them too little in the way of a sense of personal worth. Tell me that the reason for this is a lack of supernatural insight and I will readily admit that this is true. In the order of grace the brothers' vocation has both great dignity and value. But the young man of today, unfortunately, has a much more sophisticated attitude toward life and greater cultural advan- 203 ROBERT D. CIHLAR Review for Religious rages without the balance of living in an age of faith which would have fostered this insight. This is a fact, and we have to adapt ourselves and our methods to it. It need not be without its own peculiar blessing. We are, after all, instruments which God uses. We commit a heresy of sorts if we expect His grace alone to do the job of foster-ing vocations. We must be prepared to offer candidates opportuni-ties in their work for God which are suited to their greater educa-tion and better-develo.ped abilities. Certainly in the congregations of teaching brothers provision is made for this in the various ad-ministrative and educational aspects of school life. The boys see this and respect it. The primary concern here, however, is with those mixed orders or congregations composed of priests and lay brothers. Here the brothers' duties as a rule are menial as well as manual. If, for example, a brother is qualified by his talents and/or education to work in posts of considerable trust, dignitY, and even title, why should they not be given to them. Such posts as treasurer, registrar, superintendent of buildings and gro.unds, promotion, public relations, library, and so forth, occur as possibilities. I am sure there are many others. Given these posts, they should also be delegated enough authority to act freely in them. I might even say that should a brother be discovered to have talents in these lines .and.not be qualified by education, such education should be provided. All things being equal, there is really nothing that a priest does which cannot be done by a brother except in ,-the direct area of the ministry. I certainly do not wish to advocate the idea that the brotherhood is equal to the priesthood; but I do hold that in his capabilities he is often equal to and sometimes better than the priest. When this is so, prescinding from personalities and persons, should he not be allowed to fully employ these capabilities for God and for the benefit of those who would see him and get to know him? If we want to get brothers who are well-qualified in their lines, do we not also have the duty to God to make the best use of the men He sends us, even to the extent of. demonstrating their qualities to others as a means of influencing them? The introduction of the idea of example as influence pre-sents another aspect in the matter of vocations. Seeing is believing. With brothers openly shown in positions of responsi-bility, an acknowledgment of their abilities is forced upon the beholder. Association will gradually accord a greater respect, provided of course the man conducts himself as one worthy of 204 July, 1960 THE BROTHERS' VOCATION respect. Respect accorded in and out of the order or congrega-tion ought gradually to influence or raise the calling, from the natural viewp5int, to conform with the principles of the ideal. In effect, what I would maintain is that there is a need for a greater "going in their door to bring them out ours." But first, of course, there must also be a change in attitude from within the order or congregation itself, or more precisely, among the members of the order or congregation. It is axiomatic that young men have a sixth sense in de-tecting the defects of their teachers or superiors. It is at times disconcerting to have them expose our weakest points. Though we might all profess a great reverence and esteem for the brothers, too few of us really feel it. Too often, in a rare and honest moment, we find the prevailing attitude toward the brothers in ourselves. We have only a notional knowledge as opposed to a real conviction. This is readily detected and carried over to the students and is reproduced in them. A patronizing, condescending attitude, even one of pity, obliterates the rosy picture we would like to paint; and the student sees right through it. He sees, often more clearly than we, the idea of inequality, of superior and inferior, master and servant. And we should not be surprised that he does not find this attractive. Why is this? Is it possibly because the social attitude has evolved in contradistinction to our own at home? That is, do we in practice have a social attitude toward the brothers which does not correspond to what we hold for society in general? Is this contradiction at home possibly one o~ the reasons that we, who are exteriorly champions of this new social attitude, are not so readily accepted as its champions? Undoubtedly there must be a hierarchy of superiors and subjects for the preserva-tion of good order. This is a pure sociological fact. However, it is not necessary that there be superior and inferior on the social level in religious orders or congregations, which finds its equivalent in the caste system. We maintain the "fiction" of all being equally members of the order or congregation; but this is true only as regards spiritual matters. Actually it works out to the maxim that some are more equal than others as far as temporalities are concerned. If, for instance, the priests are allowed something, the equivalent to the brothers must be less good, and so on right down the line. This spells out to the laity what they assume is our real attitude. 205 ROBERT D. CIHLAR The purpose of pointing up these defects is most certainly not an attempt to antagonize. It is merely to point out things in our actions which negate our words, thereby withdrawing from this vocation some of the sense of personal worth. A prospect of such things, contained in the acceptance of a broth-er's vocation, cannot help but prove repugnant to the young men we would like to gain, for they both sense and see them. Con-sidering the society and cultural background in which they live, it is the only natural conclusion they can come to. We stand convicted by the principles we advocate and the profession we make. We ourselves are not without guilt in this lack of an "ideal" in the life of the brother. We seem to expect almost over-whelming actions of grace in the face of obstacles we have helped to erect, and it is unjust to do so. In becoming a brother, a young man today must surrender much more than did his predecessor of a few centuries ago. We have no ~-ight to expect miracles of grace. Very few Pauls have been thrown from their horses. There are no immediate conclusions this writer can come to or any pat solutions he can offer as regards these problems. Such, as a matter of fact, is not his aim. His aim is rather to raise a doubt in the minds of those who read this, to provoke discussion, to call attention to the possibility of error in our present thinking. As I have mentioned before, there is no intention of min-imizing the necessity of supernatural motivation, of the need of prayer and grace in the fostering of vocations. But I am deeply convinced that we have been seriously mistaken in not providing a so-called natural motivation to accompany it. When, together with the action of grace, we have provided the mak-ings of an ideal, then men will not be lacking who will wish to follow it. Problems of the Late Vocation David B. Wadhams, IF A MAN around thirty decides to begin studying for the priesthood, he is beginning a bold undertaking which entails the hazards, though not the romance, of real adventure. The difficulties he will face will not be those encountered by the man of action, but problems he will have in abundance. These problems are perhaps no more serious than those of his younger confreres in the seminary; but they have a complexity and an urgency which make them special, requiring special considera-tion. These problems must be faced if the man is to persevere; they must be solved if he is to be a happy and efficient priest. Religious congregations now seem more willing then ever before to accept older candidates who are qualified, and the religious life increases the problems the older man must face. How does an older man adjust to community life, the rule, the vows? How does he meet the demands of fraternal charity, surrounded as he is by men younger by ten or fifteen years and presumably more resilient psychically? Will his years in the seminary be a loss if he does not persevere? Is he not just burying himself there, during that crucial period when other men are carving out careers? What if he should fail? The problems are not limited to the older man himself; religious superiors must also face special problems in the case of older religious seminarians. Should they be given any sort of ~pecial consideration or exemption from ordinary seminary and religious discipline? Should they be given greater responsibili-ties because of the experience they bring with them to the seminary? Like superiors, spiritual directors also find that the presence of older seminarians is not without its perplexities. Should they be given more or less direction than the younger men? How should the direction of the older seminarian differ from that of the younger seminarian? Why does it seem so dif-ficult at times to make contact with the older seminarians? Mr. David B. Wadhams is presently studying theology at Marist College, 3875 Harewood Road, N. E., Washington 17, D. C. 207 DAVID B. WADHAMS Review ]or Religious The range and number of such difficulties could be extended indefinitely, but it will be sufficient here to limit consideration of the matter to five points where special difficulties would seem to be present for the older seminarian: (1) the older seminar-ian's special need for patience and humility; (2) his impatience with "unbusinesslike" administrative procedure; (3) his im-patience with superiors and directors; (4) his chafing at being classed with younger men; and (5) his nostalgia, more or less prolonged, for the lay state. The Need for Patience and Humility It seems very likely that special dispositions of Divine Providence are to be seen when a man of around the age of thirty becomes a seminarian. However deep the consolation may be for the older man in this thought (and it is a considera-tion that he must keep uppermost in his mind), yet it must also be realized that this very ordering of things by Divine Providence also entails a special exercise of patience and of humility--the patience and the humility of the old man on the bench with younger students. If this lesson of patience in the practice of humility is not learned, he will not be able to persevere. Of course, all seminarians must learn these virtues; and all of them haveindeed ample opportunity to practice them. But a younger man who knows that his priestly life will begin at, say, twenty-seven has the impatience of youthful impetuosity to tame. On the other hand, the older seminarian has the gnaw-ing discomfort of knowing that he must begin a life at forty. Nor is it much consolation to him when a bright-eyed funda-mentalist slaps him on the shoulder and says, "That's all right, Dad, life begins at forty!" This truism soon fails to elicit any but the feeblest enthusiasm in the older man. This general situation forms a sort of background against which the entire life of the older seminarian must be enacted; life, he knows, is short, and his own, despite his age, has not yet really begun. However manfully he may struggle to be patient and to overcome the sense of frustration and unrest that flows from such a situation, his general background of impatience cannot help but be increased by more specific difficulties which he encounters. 208 July, 1960 LATE VOCATION Impatience with the "Unbusinesslike" For the sake of concreteness, assume that a man comes to a religiousinstitute after ten years as a minor executive in the sales department of some large corporation. After an initial period in the religious life of great good will and satisfaction, he may begin to find himself becoming impatient with what he considers to be the "unbusinesslike" and "unrealistic" opera-tional methods of the seminary. He is told that he should bring suggestions and complaints to his superiors during regular interviews known as adminis-trative counseling. But he finds that his suggestions for improve-ment are met with aloofness and subsequently may be ignored. He may find the cordiality of his superiors somewhat strained and entirely different from the warm spontaneity of office good humor: The happy camaraderie of the old days in business seems to radiate friendliness and mutual good-will in contrast to the remote politeness of this administrative consulation. He finds, in short, that businesslike office methods may not always be found in religious congregationg; and that established cus-toms, even undesirable ones, have a tendency to cling. He may .be shocked that buildings and equipment have been allowed to ~leteriorate because of improper delegation of responsibility in maintaining them, or because of what~ he considers a misdirected cult of poverty. After years spent in surroundings presentable, if not luxurious, he may find cracked and peeling paint in sleeping rooms and officeg, together with ancient furniture, serviceable perhaps, but piteously unappealing to the eye. Administrative-duties may be relegated to a single over-worked lay brother who has to manage a coinplicated acc0unting system with machines years beyond their prime. "Duplicating equipment may be gently awry, p~'oducing legible but~scr.atchy copy. Cash accountihg may be quite nonchalarit. Public relations techniques may be hopelessly mismanaged or totally nonexistent. The man may tend to exaggerate these deficiencies as time goes on, and his itch to rearrange things increases. Why-don't they call someone in for an audit? Why must certain precious ma-chines be available for the indiscriminate and uncontrolled use of fifty people? Why does fresh paint seem incompatible with poverty- surely the walls were freshly painted once? If on the other hand he find~ himself in a congregation whose progressive foresight has placed men of vision in positions '209 DAVID B. WADHAMS Review for Religious of authority, the subject will surely find some evidences of inefficiency. The ease with which a man finds matter for criti-cism is a match for the most progressive system. Perhaps the very businesslike character of the place will strike him as out of place. A man's past will stand him in good stead when he becomes a religious; but the stresses and strains which this life imposes will affect him in those areas where he is mos~ vul-nerable- the sphere of his accumulated treasury of general know-how. Superiors and Spiritual Directors Then, too, the vow of obedience has a peculiar democratizing effect. Along with his deep respect for the office of superior, the subject realizes that both are bound by the same ties. The superior, no less than he, is directly subject to the authority of those above him; and this authority is just as stringent in its demands of obedience. Back in the office, the former senior accountant or advertising man saw his superior in a greatly privileged position within the circle of major executives. He was conscious of a degree of separation measured in terms of seniority and yearly income. Now he finds himself in the religious life where his superior, though he exerts the same authority as his former employer, may be a near contemporary, sleeping just down the hall, and using the same bath. The older seminarian realizes, to be sure, that the motive of his religious obedience is a supernatural one; but, being flesh and blood, in certain cases he cannot help but experience a sense of somewhat dis-mayed surprise at a superior-subject relationship that on the natural level may be so different from his previous relations with authority in the business and commercial world. Another problem for the older seminarian may be spiritual direction. He may find that he has difficulty "opening up." This will be especially so if his director is a younger man, or if he considers his director can have no comprehension of his char-acter. Suppose, for example, that the director is a younger man, that he entered religion on the completion of high school, and that he has had relatively little experience except in the direc-tion of seminarians. In such a case the older seminarian may find it difficult to talk about anything more dangerous than the weather, since he is aware of the considerable difference in background between himself and his director. This and similar cases may cause real difficulties in communication; the difficul-ties will be overcome only if the older seminarian recalls that 210 July, 1960 LATE VOCATION the same Providence which placed him in the seminary has also given him his superiors and directors. Armed with this con-sideration he must then put complete trust in his director, even if he finds it costs him dearly in wounded pride. As has been stated above, he has a special lesson in humility to learn. As a matter of fact, of course, younger directors can be quite satisfactory. Being aware of their relative inexperience, they tend to exercise great prudence in applying theological principles to concrete cases. Moreover, since many problems are solved by the mere telling, the seminarian should be quite con-tent if be can find a man to whom he can talk freely. Relations with the Younger Seminarians Probably the greatest trial which the older seminarian must undergo is being in a class of much younger men. Many institutes have a minor seminary to which they will send the older candidate for a year or so to give him some Latin and to observe him before sending him to the novitiate. The age dif-ference at this level is so great that he will usually be allowed certain privileges to make this period of adjustment easier. At the novitiate, however, he is considered for all practical pur-poses the contemporary of his fellow novices. Here the strict observance of the exterior prescriptions of the rule will place a heavy burden on a man who has enjoyed years of independ-ence. If, for example, he has been a heavy smoker for ten years or so and if he must observe a no-smoking rule, the damage to his good disposition will perhaps be compensated for in a cor-responding growth in character; but the sacrifice is sure to be severe--more so than for younger smokers. After leaving the novitiate where spiritual consolations and graces may have made the way easier for him, the older man' must still face years of study where the difference in age is no less than it was in the novitiate. These years of living with younger men un-questionably present a strain for his vocation; they will, how-ever, if properly met with patience and humility, give him his greatest opportunity for growth in emotional stability and for progress in the spiritual life. Most younger seminarians show brightness and intelligence in their speech and behavior. But at times this basie intelligence is accompanied by the thoughtlessness of immaturity. Many left their homes in middle adolescence; and sometimes their deport-ment tends to remain at the adolescent level, especially since 211 DAVID B. WADHAMS Review for Religion,s no one is constantly correcting them. This lack of maturity will be vexing for the older man, who is only too prone to see in the gaucherie of a few what he may tend to think of as the general boorishness of a class. Young men, for example, have an ex-tremely cavalier way of treating furniture. ,And if the older seminarian has spent the better part of three or four m~nths recovering and reupholstering the armchairs in the recreation room, he' has to swallow hard and bite his lip to keep from shouting at some young philosopher, blithely and quite uncon-sciously wiping'chocolate-covered fingers on the back of a newly covered chair, ¯ The older man must be careful in conversation too. His younger confreies will usually have no more than a ~udimentary background in the fields of non-religious knowledge.-Discussions of politics, art, the theater, economics, literature, all tend to be somewhat superficial. The younger man may often show a quick theoretical perception, yet he may lack sufficient critical discern-ment. Because of this the older man may find himself exercising an air of intellectual superiority and condescendingly needling his companions for their lack of sophistication. As one young seminarian has put it: "The older men ought to stop and think now and then that they have no monopoly on ideas. They could at least listen, even if they disagree." :o. In the midst of'such difficulties the older seminarian could well reflect that if he sometimes finds it difficult to be with the younger men, surely they too find his company occasionally try-ing. If he has passed through the fiery trials of the crucial years between twenty and thirty, his very scars should remind him that seminary life is not always easy for the young men who hunger for action and the exercise of their ministerial labors. Let him think back upon what he was doing at their age; the contrast should fill him with the desire for patience and for-bearance. If he was in the service, his amazement will be com-plete that fifty or more young men can .live together cheerfully, peacefully sharing a life of work, study, prayer, and play. oIn the service, as h~ knows, men behaved quite differently; by contrast, the charity of seminarians clearly shows the effect of supernatural grace. He should reflect maturely that if he is annoyed at little gaucheries and breaches of etiquette, some thoughtlessness and lack of discipline, he will never find more serious faults; for however much he may see of thoughtlessness in the seminary, he will encounter no deliberate malice. Indeed, 212 July, 1960 LATE VOCATION one of his greatest sufferings may be his anguish that he ~cannot accept the small shortcomings of others with greater grace and equanimity. Nostalgia for the Lay State During the first two or three years of his training the older man may be subject to a fierce nostalgia for the lay state. Just as the Jews hungered for the delights of their former, life in Egypt, the older seminarian may sometimes be seriously tempted to think of his life "in the world" as much more useful and vital. This feeling will be all the stronger in the man of great vitality. At times all the reasoning that brought him to his priestly studies will become darkened and submerged. He will forget that one great reason for his having left everything behind was a dissatisfaction with what he was doing. He may begin to chafe at certain restrictions, desiring freedom from the restraint of the seminary rule. What he begins to miss is the habitual adult independence he has always known. Sometimes he will think: "I am too fiercely independent; I am not tem-peramentally suited to the regular life; these habits of inde-pendence are ingrained." As serious as this temptation may be, it will tend to dis-appear as his security in his vocation grows; and in most cases it will not be a source of great anxiety after the~pronouncement of perpetual vows. The nostalgia for the lay state is one temp-tation which .can best be handled in spiritual direction. The subject should regard it as a serious temptation and conscien-tiously follow the course his director prescribes for him. Once a man finds himself in the major seminary of a religious con-gregation, he can rest in complete confidence as to his choice of a state in life. He has chosen by heeding the call; whether he should continue is for his superiors and spiritual :directors to decide. The cool and firm acceptance of this fact will save. the man the added anguish of continually doubting his vocation when the temptation arises to return to his former state of life. Conclusion The older seminarian must train himself to face his trials and difficulties peacefully and tranquilly. His age may indeed tend to make him less flexible in certain respects; he will be less subject to "formation," more set in his attitudes and out-look on life. But this very situation may also be an advantage. If he is mentally awake, he will be at the very., peak of his learning powers. Years of training in judgment will compensate 213 DAVID B. WADHAMS for any alleged diminution of learning powers said to begin after full adulthood is reached. Although the older seminarian may be tempted to think that his best years are being wasted in the seminary, he should remember that, just because he is older, he will see more deeply into the problems of philosophy and theology and that he will draw from them a greater intel-lectual enrichment and practical value. Finally, there are two general attitudes that will greatly .help an older man along in his seminary life. The two attitudes, one natural, the other supernatural, are so diverse as to be almost incongruous when juxtaposed together. Yet the two can work together to ease the trials of seminary life for him. The first attitude is that of a sense of humor. The man who finds his own idiosyncrasies laughable has a safety valve which he will need to use frequently. Since he is constantly confronted with human foibles, especially his own, it is far better to laugh at them with hearty, tolerant, and loving amusement than to dwell on them as consant pricks to pride and self-esteem. The second attitude is one that has been hinted at above; it is a complete trust in Divine Providence. Whatever can be said on the human level of religious life, there is never any waste in the management of things by the fatherly hand of God. The years the older seminarian spent "in the world" as well as the protracted time spent in seminary life before ordination are not useless but completely functional from the viewpoint of the Father who has counted even the hairs of our head. In this sense there is no such thing as a late vocation; the call came and was answered at the time chosen by Divine Wisdom. In this con-nection it will assist the older seminarian to reflect and meditate upon the role of late vocations in the history of the Church; it is not mere fancy to say that without late vocations the entire history of the Church would assume a different cast and com-plexion. Remove, for instance, the three late vocations of Ambrose, Augustine, and Loyola from the history of the Church and consider the difference the removal would make in the course of the Church's history. Indeed it would seem safe to say that of the confessor saints who lived before modern times, a large part of them, if not the majority, were what are called today late vocations. Having seen the finger of Providence with regard to late vocations in the history of the Church, the older sem-inarian will be able to draw therefrom a greater trust in that same Providence with regard to his own late vocation. 214 Is Religious Disobedience Always a Sin? Joseph J. Farraher, S.J. THE CONSTITUTIONS of most religious institutes state explicitly that they do not bind under pain of s{n, even venial sin, except where the vow of obedience is explicitly invoked, or where they determine the matter of the other vows. Most also state explicitly, or at least imply, that the same holds for orders of superiors. Why then do some spiritual writers imply otherwise? For example, Father Cotel in the Catechism of the Vows, says: One sins against the virtue of obedience when one does not carry out a formal order of a legitimate superior. If an order of a superior only recalls an obligation of rule or a com-mandment of God or of the Church, failure to observe it is not a fault against the special virtue of obedience. Such conduct often involves a sin against another virtue.1 In a footnote he adds: According to very famous theologians (St. Thomas, Suarez and others) a simple act of disobedience does not constitute a sin against the special virtue of obedience, but it contains nearly always one or more sins against other virtues.2 And in a later section, he says: Unless the Constitutions determine otherwise, simple injunctions of superiors, commands which are not. made in virtue of the vow, do not always oblige under pain of sin. If the superior formally commands a particular act not determined by the Constitutions, but in conformity with them, it is our opinion that disobedience is always sinful.:~ Again he adds a footnote: "Some thhologians seem ho~v-ever to admit the contrary:''4 And Father Kirsch in his Spi~'itual Di~'ection of Siste'rs under the heading "Sins against the Virtue of Obedience" says: "A religious offends against the virtue of obedience by disobey- 'Peter Cotel, S.J., and Emile Jombart, S.J., Catechis~n of the Vows (New York: Benziger, 1945), pp. 83-84. ~Ibid. ~Ibid., p. 85. ~Ibid. The Reverend Joseph J. Farraher is stationed at Alma College, Los Gatos, California 215 JOSEPH J', FARRAHER Review for Religious ing without reason, the usual commands, regulations, counsels and wishes of the superiors.''5 How can these statements be reconciled with the explicit statement of the constitutions of most religious institutes that fione of the rules or orders of superiors bind under pain of sin unless they explicitly invoke the vow? First of all, Father Kirsch and Father Cotel's Catechism imply that there could be a sin against the virtue of obedience as distinct from the vow of obedience. In this matter, wh usually think of the Fourth Commandment as commanding obedience to all legitimate superiors. Are not religious superiors legitimate superiors? However, the Fourth Commandment commands us to obey all legitimate superiors according to their authority. For ex-ample, children are obliged to obey their parents in all things, except where there is sin, and except in the choice of a state of life: marriage or the religious life. In this last the parents have no authority, and therefore there is no sin of disobedience if children disobey their parents in their choice of life. What is the source of the authority i~f religious superiors to give commands which would be binding under pain of sin by the virtue of obedience? It is not from the natural law, since religious communities are not natural societies, but rather conventional, that is, they are formed by the mutual agreement of the members. Therefore, if there is authority in religious superiors, it will be according to the form under which the in-stitute was organized. But most modern religious institutes (and even some ancient ones) state in their constitutions that. orders of superiors will bind under pain of sin only when they command explicitly in virtue of the vow of obedience. Therefore, there is here no source of authority to command under pain of sin apart from invoking the vow. But some authors, even when they admit that disobedience would not be a sin against the virtue of obedience (which even Cotel seems grudgingly to admit in a later passage), still insist that it almost always involves a sin against some other virtue.6 This brings up the question, certainly a theoretical one but one with very important practical applications, of whether or not a positive imperfection is a venial sin. By a positive imper-fection is meant the deliberate choice of a less perfect action, 5Felix M. Kirsch, O.F.M.Cap., The Spiritual Direction of Sisters (New York: Benziger, 1930), pp. 483-84. 6Cotel, op. cir., pp. 86-87. 216 J~dy, 1960 RELIGIOUS DISOBEDIENCE or the deliberate omission of the better action. For example, I realize that it would be better for me to make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament at this. time; but I deliberately decide not to do so, with no question of the alternative being a sin in itself-- perhaps to continue reading a book. Some theologians have held that every such positive imperfection would be a venial sin. They base their argument on the principle that we are obliged to seek our last end in the best way possible. But this contradicts the opinion of the majority of theologians. We are certainly obliged to seek our last end, but not necessarily in the best way possible. And it seems to me that we have a very strong argument from Holy Scripture itself, in several places, that it is not sinful to choose the less perfect. The most explicit example, I think, is in St. Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians, in the seventh chapter, where he is talking about virginity and marriage. In verses seven and eight, he says: "I would that all men were even as myself [the im-plication is: virginal].; but everyone hath his proper gift from God: one after this manner, and another after that. But I say to the unmarried and. to the widows: it is good for them if they continue, even as I." And later in the same chapter: "Now con-cerning virgins, I have no commandment of the Lord, but I give counsel, as having obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful. I think therefore that this is good for the present necessity : that it is good for a man so to be. Art thou bound to a wife? Seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? Seek not a wife. But if thou take a wife, thou hast not sinned. And if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned" (vv. 25ff.). And still a little further on, where St. Paul is talking about a father giving his daughter in marriage: "Therefore, both he that giveth his virgin in marriage doth well: and he that giveth her not doth better" (v. 38). Is not St. Paul saying explicitly here that while it is better to remain virginal, nevertheless it is not a sin to marry? This certainly is the choice between the better and the less good. And he does not qualify it by saying that if one cannot do the better, it is all right to do the less good. He simply gives a comparison: that for the same man, it is better if he does not marry, but it is good if he does, and he does not sin in marrying. So, this is at least one example where deliberately choosing the lesser good is 217 JOSEPH J. FARRAHER Review for Religious not a sin: which proves that the universal statement to the contrary is false. But some adversaries answer: At least to disobey a rule or order of superiors would almost always be a sin because it will involve a bad motive. They give as examples, that it will be done out of laziness or sensuality or human respect. For this, Father Gerald Kelly, S.J., has a good answer in his book on Guidance for Religious (pp. 258-59).7 He is talking about the obligation of daily morning and evening prayers; but, as he himself says, it applies also to the obligation of rules: They would say (i.e., those holding for sin): "Theoretically there is no obligation to pray every day: but in practice there is usually a sin in the omission of these prayers, because when daily prayers are omitted without a sufficient reason this is often due to a small fault of laziness, sensuality, or human respect." This formula, or a somewhat similar one, is sponsored by eminent theologians; and catechists who wish to follow it in explaining the duty of praying are certainly justified in doing so. But I would not recommend it. I find it confusing. It says, on the one hand, that daily prayers are not of obligation, yet on the other, it demands a sufficient reason under pain of sin for omitting them. This seems to beg the entire question; for if there is no obligation to say daily prayers, why should a reason be required under pain of sin for omitting them? As for the statement that failure to say these prayers could be a sin of laziness, it seems to ignore completely the distinction between imperfection and venial sin. [In a footnote at this point, Fr. Kelly admits that those who hold that every positive im-perfection is a venial sin would logically hold this doctrine.] Laziness is not a sin in the strict sense; it is an inordinate disposition or tendency, and it becomes sinful only when it leads to the neglect of some duty binding under pain of sin. In other words, laziness is an imperfection when it induces one to act against a counsel (for instance, to break a rule which does not bind under pain of sin), and it is a sin when it leads one to violate a precept (for instance, to miss Sunday Mass in whole or in part). And what I have said of laziness is similarly true of such things as sensuality and human respect. According to this doctrine of Father Kelly, if a person de-liberately violates a rule or ordination of superiors, because it is easier not to do the thing ordered, for love of comfort, or for laziness, if you want to call it that, it is not a sin. Obviously, to seek comfort is not of itself a sin, or we could not have any cushions, soft beds, pillows, or anything of the kind. A certain amount of comfort is even necessary. The love of comfort there-fore is not wrong in itself; it is wrong only when it leads one to do something that is sinful, or to omit something to which one is bound under pain of sin. To omit something to which one is not bound, because of the love of comfort, is not therefore a sin. 7Westminster: Newman, 1956. 218 July, 1960 RELIGIOUS DISOBEDIENCE Obviously, if the action one chooses in place of obeying the rule is something sinful in itself, it will be a sin. But the mere fact that it is breaking the rule, will not of itself ever make an action a sin that would not be a sin even if there were no rule. How then does one sin against obedience? Aside from dis-obeying those commands which are given in virtue of the vow of obedience, one can also sin against obedience by formal con-tempt for authority. All the authors agree that this does not mean contempt for the person who holds authority, but formal contempt for authority itself. One can also sin against other virtues in disobeying the rules. Formal contempt for religious life and religious rule in general would be a sin against the virtue of religion. And, as was said before, if there is a really sinful motive in one's action and not ,just a less perfect motive, then there will be a sin; but that is apart from the fact that a rule is being violated. There is a further way in which one might sin by dis-obedience to rules and regulations: if one does it habitually, one might very well be getting into a proximate danger of losing his vocation. For a novice, that would not be sinful, because a novice is not bound to that vocation. But one who has taken perpetual vows is bound for life. Therefore, to endanger the perpetuity of his vows knowingly and willingly could be a sin. Generally speaking, an individual violation of a rule or an order of superiors not invoking the vow of obedience would not be a sin in itself, unless the act is sinful apart: from any violation of the rule. I hope that it is cl,early understood that I am not suggesting that we should violate rules or orders of superiors. Certainly, if we truly want to signalize ourselves in the more perfect following of our Lord, we shall ordinarily do our best to observe all rules and regulations. But our motive should be the love of God, not the fear of sin. But is not the rule the will of God for us? Is it not wrong to go against God's will? It would be wrong to go against the preceptive will of God. But the rule is not the preceptive will of God; it is a counsel, a guidepost or directive to the better way of serving and loving God. And even then the statement must be qualified: ordinarily the rule indicates the better thing to be done. But, as we know, no rule made by a human being can be so perfect that it could not admit of exceptions in extraordinary circumstances. But at least ordinarily, in ordinary circumstances, 219 JOSEPH J. FARRAHER Review for Religious the rule is for us the indication of the better way of serving God. But what about the form of the rules? Some will say that they are in the form of laws and all true laws bind in conscience. Some thelogians, myself included, would not agree that all laws must bind in conscience,s But if such a statement is admitted, then the rules are not laws. Because they do not intend to bind in conscience, regardless of how they are worded. This is clear from the constitutions themelves in stating that they do not bind under pain of sin. So, regardless of their wording, they are meant as mere directives to the more perfect following of Christ. Is there any sense in which they contain an obligation? Yes, I think there is- but not under pain of sin. What does obligation mean ? It seems to be a form of necessity in the moral order. When I say moral order here, I mean not in the physical or metaphysical order, but in the order of human conduct. It is a conditional necessity. If we want to achieve a certain end, we must do this particular thing. When we speak of a moral obli-gation, not simply an obligation in the moral order, but an obligation binding under pain of sin, we mean this: that if we want to achieve our ultimate end, we must do a certain thing. Now, we are obliged to seek our ultimate end, therefore we have an absolute necessity to take the necessary means. But if the end itself is not absolutely necessary, then we have no absolute necessity to take the means. We have only a conditional necessity. If we want this particular end, we must take these means. There are obvious examples of this use of words implying obligation which are certainly outside the realm of sin. For instance, if you are playing bridge and bid two spades, you must take eight tricks. That is an obligation, an obligation not under Pain of sin, but an obligation of the game. If you do not take eight tricks, you will receive a penalty. There is no moral fault in not taking the required number of tricks, nor does the in-flicting of a penalty imply this. But there is a certain necessity to take the eight tricks, if you want to succeed at the game. So also in the moral order : we might speak of the conditions of gaining an indulgence. One must fulfill all the conditions, if one wants to gain the indulgence. But one is not obliged to gain the indulgence. Therefore, one is not obliged absolutely to do these things required for the indulgence. For ihstance, if one sSt. Thomas also holds that counsels are an ordinary part of the law, Summa Theologiae, 1-2, 104, 4. 220 J~dy, 1960 RELIGIOUS DISOBEDIENCE wishes to say the same prayer, but not fulfill the conditions of the indulgence, he is free to do so. But if one wants to gain the indulgence, one must fulfill the conditions. You can call that a form of obligation, but not under pain of sin. So also with the rules. If we want to follow the more perfect way, we must do what the rule commands. But are we not obliged to seek.the more. perfect way by our profession as religious? No, the religious profession binds us under pain of sin only to those.things which are explicitly vowed, ~vhich are poverty according to the constitutions, chastity in its perfection, including celibacy or virginity, and obedience in those things which are commanded in virtue of the vow. This is a more perfect way of life, and to this much we are strictly obliged under pain of sin. But we are not obliged by the vows to seek the most perfect in everything we do: If we want to be more perfect still, we must follow the rules and regular;ions. But we are not obliged to them under pain of sin. If we so neglect them that we proximately endanger the fulfillment of our vows or their perpetuity, then of course we are sinni.ng,. Are we not obliged under pain of sin at least by the law.of the Church, which in canon 593 says that religious should order their lives in accordance with the rules and constitutions of their own order and so strive for perfection? A Claretian moralist, Father A. Peinador recently proposed this argument.9 But practically all authorities on canon law, including the out-standing Claretian expert on the canon law of religious, Father Goyeneche,1° agree that this canon adds no new obligation, and that, in fact, a religious can sin against the specific obligation of striving for perfection only by contempt, and not even by individual violations of his vows. In spite of Father Peinador's worries, the individuality of each order is still preserved by the fact that the rules and constitutions determine the matter of the vows and further determine the matter in ~vhich superiors can invoke the vow of obedience. Two. other arguments are proposed by Father Peinador in his effort to prove that the rules and constitutions, oblige under pain of sin in spite of his admission, that this is contrary ~"'Obligan o no obligan las reglas?" Vida Religiosa, 16 (1959), 149-52, 216-20. I°Qt~aestio~es Ca~tonicae de Ittre Religiosor~¢~, 2 (Naples: D'Auria, 1955), 8. Cf. also Bouscaren-Ellis, C(t~ton Law (Milwaukee: Bruce, 1953), p. 285. 221 JOSEPH J. FARRAHER Review for Religious to the wishes of both-their authors and the Church herself. The first is based on the expression, used by St. Thomas and others, that the rules oblige ad poenam: It is true that some authors have interpreted this to mean that, although the rules do not oblige to their immediate object, they do impose an obligation under pain of sin to accept any penance imposed for their viola-tion. Father Peinador thinks that it is absurd to hold that the rules would impose a heavier obligation to accept a penance than to do what is enjoined in the first place. But if it is an absurdity (and I am among those who agree that it is), the conclusion should not be that "therefore the rules oblige under pain of sin," but rather, "therefore there is no obligation under pain of sin to accept a penance imposed by rule or by superiors unless it is imposed in virtue of the vow (as some few are in some con-stitutions), or unless the avoidance of the penance would be a sin for some other reason.''11 Some further explanation may seem required here; but as was hinted above, to discuss the whole question of the obligation of law in general and of purely penal laws in particular, would take too much time and space. Let it suffice for now to point out two briefer answers: either that the constitutions and rules are not truly laws, as Father Peinador himself holds; or, that the expression ad poenam,really means what we would usually indicate by sub poena. This is clear from St. Thomas's use of the expression in opposition to ~d culpam, in English we might translate sub poena (and hence ad poenam as used by St. Thomas) as under threat of penalty, just as we usually translate ad culpam or sub culpa as under pain of sin. Finally, Father Peinador complains that if the rules do not oblige "under pain of sin" (sub culpa), they oblige only "under pain of imperfection" (ba]o imperfecci6n), which to him does not make sense. The expression does sound peculiar; I have never before seen it used. What is usually held is that the violation of a rule is usually an imperfection. I do not think that anyone considers this a threat, as ba]o would seem to imply. It does imply that desire for perfection for love of God rather than fear of sin should be our motive for obeying the rule. If Father Peina-dor means to imply that every positive imperfection is a sin, his objection has already been answered above. l~That this is true of purely penal laws is taught by Vermeersch, I, n. 472, and St. Alphonsus, Theologia moralis, lib. I, n. 145. 222 July, 1960 RELIGIOUS DISOBEDIENCE To summarize: one would sin against religious obedience only on two scores: by a direct violation of an order given in virtue of the vow, or by formal contempt for authority (admit-tedly a very rare form of sin). Endangering the fulfillment of the vows, or contempt for religious life or constitutions could be a sin against religion. Otherwise, a violation of a rule or regulation will be a sin only if the act would be sinful apart from all idea of disobedience. An example of what might be a sin on the occasion of a violation of a rule would be a violation of silence in sfich a way as to disrupt the common order and to cause real inconvenience and mental suffering to those who are trying to serve God in a more perfect way according to the rule. The principles of what is given above are those taught by practically all theologians, including St. Thomas Aquinas,I~ St. Alphonsus,13 and Suarez.14 The practical application as to how often a violation of a rule may involve a sin for some other reason differs from Suarez, who judges that a violation will almost always involve a venial sin because of a venially sinful motive. In this he is correctly cited in Father Cotel's footnote cited earlier. St. Thomas and St. Alphonsus hold that a violation can and perhaps often does involve a venial sin because of a venially sinful motive. All three agree that no violation of a rule will be a venial sin because it is a violation of a rule, but only if the act would be a sin apart from any violation of the rule. Some who follow Suarez' rather severe judgment of fact are heard at times to say such things as: a violation of the rule of silence almost always (or very frequently) involves a venial sin against charity. That seems a rather severe judgment. If one sincerely held that, he would have to hold that almost all conversation, even during recreation times, involves sins against charity. I would not like to admit that. 1"-'Summa Theologiae, 2-2, 186, 9, for the rule; 104, 5, for orders of superiors; 186, 3, on the obligation to perfection. ~'~Theologi~ moralis, lib. IV, n. 38, for the rule; n. 42 for orders of superiors.In both places he simply gives the text of Busenbaum without further comment. ~4De religione, tract. 8, lib. 1, "De obligationibus religiosorum . . . ," cap. IV, nn. 12-13. 223 JOSEPH J. FARRAHER In a'll this we must always remember that the chief motive for embracing religious life should be the more perfect serving of God, and that love of God, not fear of sin, should lead all religious ordinarily to follow all rules and regulations of superiors.15. -. l~Father Rene Carpentier, S.J., in his Life in the City of God (New York: Benziger, 1959), ~vhich according to the title-page is "a completely recast edition, of A Catcchis~t of the Vows," emphasizes the motive of love throughout the book. He also states the obligations of religious obedience under pain of sin, pp. 158-63, much more in the manner outlined in this article. 224 The Problem of Transition for the Junior Sister Sister Mary Magdalen, OoP. In a narrow circle the mind contracts; Man grows with his expanded needs.I THESE WORDS of the eighteenth-century poet apply to any of us at any one stage of our lives; and we who have the rich treasury of the Church always at our disposal must, indeed, blush if our needs do not precipitate that growth which "enriches the harvest o~ charity so that [we] will have abun-dant means of every kind for all that generosity which gives proof of our gratitude toward G6d" (2 Cor 9:10-11). At certain times in our life of grace we reach a plane where a marked change or growth takes place, from which we emerge with new attitudes, firmer convictions to reach for higher alti-tudes. We are not "that which we have been.''2 We have expe-rienced a transition, a "development or evolution from one clearly-defined stage to another"; a "changing from an earlier to a later form with the blending of old and new features"; a building-up which enhances and brings to completion the foun-dation already laid. Such transitions we will experience often enough as we go life's journey; one such is the particular aim of the juniorate period, following the novitiate formation in religious houses. The areas of sensitivity in this development are not difficult to ascertain as we watch the junior sister try to find her place in professed life. She must adapt herself to a more intensive study program, to a more mature assuming of responsibility under obedience, to new social relations that include some secular contacts, to a wider range of age levels and interests in her own religious family. She finds herself being urged toward develop-ing her individuality, yet toward a more virile obedience ; toward creativity, yet toward a zealous dedication to the common life; 1Schiller, Prologues, 1.59. :Byron, Childe Harold, Canto 4, stanza 185. Sister Mary Magdalen is Mistress of Jt~niors at St. Catherine's Convent, Racine, Wisconsin. 225 SISTER ~/~ARY MAGDALEN Review for Religious she is confused in her new environment of "thinking for your-self" and "thinking with the community." Above all, she is not a little appalled by the large issue of resolving~everything within her obligation to grow daily in the love of God, a duty she freely assumed ~with her vows. "How," she asks, bewildered, "do I harmonize it all?" It becomes the task of the junior mistress, then, and of all who deal with the juniors, to analyze the situation, to provide gradually the helps they need to adapt, to take root, and to grow. Since the juniorate provides an intensive study program, what transition will be involved here? Perhaps this is the place, if it has not been previously achieved, to give a clearer under-standing of a truly integrated liberal arts program and the end toward which it aims. We find that though this has been dis-cussed from the postulant's beginning year, the junior sister, probably entering her junior academic year in college, will now be more ready to appreciate such a program. Study is much more the dominant activity of her day than in the earlier years when the novelty of the life, novitiate formation, absence of stability of profession--all militated somewhat against an inten-sive concentrated life of study. Indeed, it may even be somewhat of a problem to convince all junior sisters of the proportionate importance of study in their lives. To sound this note last August we prepared a sym-posium and informal discussion before college classes began on: "The Place of Study in Religious Life." The outline used follows at the end of this paper. Since at this time some of the young sisters still need help with the self-discipline of study, a candid reporting and dis-cussion of these difficulties individually with the mistress offers a helpful way to arouse the sincere desire and effort to establish the habit. Study time must, of course, be provided, and the course load be kept within limits, credit-wise. Long periods of study from two to three hours, at least sometimes, are a real necessity. Along with developing an attitude toward study, these are the years during which to build an attitude toward a habit of broad and well-chosen reading. The young sister must be helped in this by providing the right reading matter, by dis-cussion and motivation toward the choice she will be required to make. The sister must be shown that the need for a profes-sional woman is to keep well-informed on current trends, cul-tural, economic, scientific, to know the mind of the Church on 226 July, 1960 THE JUNIOR SISTER controversial matters, to discuss opinions intelligently (first, to have some), and to choose books that will broaden her ability to evaluate literature, history, the arts, and contemporary move-ments. Here the college instructors must be interested, as, indeed, we find them to be. The Directed Readings courses in the various fields of concentration challenge the sisters to a critical evalua-tion of works ranging through Plato, Aristotle, and Longinus to Tawney's Religion and the Rise of Capitalism, Karl Marx's Kapital, Veblen's Theory of the Leisure Class, works of Newman, Maritain, Hemingway, and Riesman. This practice in seeing'rela-tion of parts to a whole, in evaluation, and in individual and group critical thinking is a facility that can be used by way of transition in attitudes toward religious life. At a recent Chicago meeting of the AHE (Association for Higher Education) the emphasis in a sectional discussion centered on the need for a right conformity along with creativity in thinking and adting. Mr. Kenneth Little of the University of Wisconsin, quoting St. Augustine, reminded the educators present that "the best indi-viduality will ultimately lead to a slavery to God." The whole trend of thinking was that basic disciplines in the classical tradi-tions alone will prepare the mind to develop its own freedom in thinking on contemporary issues and problems. Conformity, rightly understood, and creativity must be seen to be comple-mentary rather than incompatible. The thoughtful junior sister will soon transfer this understanding to' her life of obedience and the development of her own personality. The principles of integration found in the curriculum will take on a new meaning for the sister student at this level. She will begin to relate her biological and physical sciences to the philosophical concepts at her disposal, and her theology, besides becoming a stronger personal defense in her religious life, will serve as a norm to which each discipline will look, while retain-ing its individual distinction as a science. Literature will become a laboratory in which human problems are tested and tried but never completely solved and from which vision .will often arise; contemporary changes on the technological, political, economic scene will prove a challenge, fitting themselves into place in human history, posing questions for the present, challenges for the immediate future. From these understandings and attitudes we can help the young sister in her personal problem of living her vows. From conformity and individuality in analyzing literature, art; and 227 SISTER MARY MAGDALEN Review for Religious history, we can lead her to a clearer appreciation of the en-nobling power of obedience, of her duty to expand her talents, to enrich her personality, and to strengthen her character. She can find her penance in the long hours of severe mental and physical discipline demanded by study; she can direct this pen-ance by her will to love ; she will find her reward both in growth in grace and in love of learning. Father Gustave Weigel, S.J., puts it thus: "Esteem for scholarship will not be produced by legislation or even construction of programs. It is a matter of creative love. To love you must be acquainted. To look for new acquaintances, there must be dissatisfaction with what is at hand.'''~ This dissatisfaction will prompt her to forge ahead in both her intellectual and her supernatural life, for we must help her constantly to see these as one. When to interpret for herself, when to seek advice, when the letter, when the spirit of the law--these knowledges must come to her somewhat through experience, even, as to all of us, through trial and error. No-where will she find the standard rule, the "capsuled" formula, though she will eagerly seek it. We can instruct with examples, but we must also leave room for failure, that necessary human-izing experience from which we as a people shrink. The junior sister must be encouraged to think out her own problems, to do some interpreting of emergency situations, to come out with the wrong answer and face her own mistake. She must be helped through this to the courage to start over, to smile through difficulties, to laugh at herself at times. Many of these understandings and developed appreciations of her religious life, then, will be incidental, casual, imbibed along with her daily living. A formal program of instruction, is, of course, necessary also. We have found the third part of Father McElhone, C.S.C.'s, Spirituality for Postulate, No~)itiate, Scholasticatea an excellent and practical guide for weekly instruc-tions. It lends itelf to natural deviations as the needs of the group demand. The divisions are: Sacrifice, Charity, Humility, Offense to God, Love of God, Accusation of Faults and Sins, Security of Rules and Vows, Temptation, Identification with Christ, Communion, Authority, The Trinity, Eternal Life. The material will easily spread itself over a two-year period. In covering "Sacrifice" we spent some weeks discussing sacrifice 3Gustave Weigel, S.J., "American Catholic Intellectualism," Review Politics, 19 (July, 1957), 275-307. 4Notre Dame: Ave Maria Press, 1955. 228 July, 1960 THE JUNIOR SISTER and renewing our undertanding and appreciation of the Mass, concentrating especially on My Mass by Joseph Putz, S.J.5 Then the virtues of sacrifice, humility, and charity were studied as they w~re portrayed in the lives of our Dominican Saints and our foundress, Mother Benedicta Bauer, O.P. This carried us through the first semester. "Offense to God" and "Accusation of Faults and Sins" we combined in a study of the use of the sacrament of penance, of general and particular examen of ~onscience, and the relation of these to meditation and recol-lection. Our object here was to challenge the sister to see these aspects of her religious growth as a unit, to help her approach her subject of particular examen positively, through the practice of recollection, through harmonizing it .when possible with meditation and mental prayer, with her efforts at self-knowledge. This is to militate against the discouragement commonly ex-pressed by the young sister: "If I make a resolution after meditation, one in my particular examen, one after confession, if I try to concentrate on something quite different during silence by way of recollection, where do I end?--in confusion!" We make an effort, then to "integrate" here, though admittedly it is uphill work, one which is only begun, since it involves patient waiting for the Holy Spirit. Meanwhile we show the importan'ce of constantly striving anew, of making consistent efforts at particular examen, recollection, and mental prayer, cardinal points on which ultimate success hinges. One can help the sister here, individually again; but the approach to the individual conference should put the burden of effort, at least apparently, on the sister herself. Does she need help? Does she want help? Let her go on from there. In still another sphere, we find the junior sister facing a transition--that of adjusting to secular companions in some of her classes and to a more mature group of sisters. We believe in having the juniors mix with the other professed. While we do have provisions for separate recreations, our junior sisters have free contact with all the sisters and join them in many of their recreations. This is an idea] situation for their better under-standing of the older s~sters, for a new relationship with their college teachers. It gives them an insight into the life and valuable services of our nurses and domestic sisters. There are opportunities to observe and test their own youthful impru- ~Westminster: Newman, 1958. 229 SISTER MARY MAGDALEN Review for Religious dences; to visit the sick and read to them; to share experiences with sisters who are not engaged in the schools; to get a better picture of the personnel needed to do all of the community's work. In the classroom situation, too, ihey meet secular students. They are sometimes confronted with unexpected competition, with views, outlooks, examples which alert them to problems of a world from which they are otherwise easily removed. They are challenged at making small decisions as to conversation, explanation, to a sense of poise and graciousness expected of them, to a loyalty to their community, experienced in practice for the first time. We might ask, now, besides the religious instruction and individual counselling, what other approaches can be t~sed to help the juniors in these important transitions? Here, more than ever before in the formation period, must we help her to help herself. An effective and appealing method to face and penetrate mutual problems is the group discussion--in any form. We mentioned earlier an orientation-to-school discussion on "The Place of Study in the Religious Life." The topic was broken down thus : I. Definition of Terms. II. St. Thomas and Study. The virtue of studiousness. a. What it is. b. What it is not. III. Study and the Religious Life. a. Purpose. b. Integration. IV. Practical Considerations. a. Attitudes: . b. Motives. c. Advantages. V. The Apostolate and Study. a. Need for preparation. b. Responsibility of an "apostle." The sisters admitted to a new alertness in the importance of the role of study in their lives. We feel it convinced them that study was truly the chief duty of their state for the time being. Another topic for discussion suggested by the young sisters themselves later in the year as representing a direct need was: "Practical Aspects of Poverty." Our approach this time: Each 230 Ju~, 1960 THE ,.]'UNIOR SISTER sister was asked to submit a question of her own on the subject. These were classified and duplicated so that all might consider, discuss, investigate, and mull over in informal conversation before the final discussion. Other discussions fruitful in broad-ening and stabilizing the sisters' views were centered on "Criti-cism and Censorship in Art and Literature," and on two rather controversial lectures delivered by Ashley Montagu and Vance Packard respectively. We hold, also, weekly, an informal dis-cussion of the Sunday Gospel with the question in mind: "What is Christ telling or asking of us in these words of His?" Quite frequently the discussion leads to a healthy "housecleaning" on points of courtesy, rule, and schedule, and to a group resolution, spontaneously arrived at. Summarily, if the atmosphere of the juniorate and of the sister's entire environment is one of mutual generosity and sin-cere desire to help them make the most of this valuable time, if they are encouraged in the virtues of honesty, candor, and justice, if they are helped to.appreciate somewhat the challenge of the complexities of life, no matter where it is lived, the efforts of all involved will be greatly repaid. We can, then, app~:oach this transition period with the junior sister, aware of the challenge, alert to the possibilities for development, humbly confident that "according to the grace that is given us" (Rom 5:2) we can help .her grow up toward her full stature in Christ. 231 Survey of Roman Documents R. I~. Smith, S.J. IN THIS ARTICLE a summary will be given of the documents that appeared in Acta Apostolicae Sedis (AAS) during January, February, and March, 1960. All references throughout the survey will be to the 1960 AAS (v. 52). The Christmas Message The 1959 Christmas message (pp. 27-35) was devoted by John XXIII to the subject of peace. The first and most important part of the message was concerned with three types of peace and the conditions under which each type can exist, l~eace, His Holiness said, is first of all peace of heart, an interior state of the spirit of each individual. The condition for this kind of peace, he added, is a loving and filial dependence on the will of God. The Second type of peace considered by the Holy Father was social peace, harmony within nations. This peace, he stated, must be based on a deep respect for the personal dignity of each man. ~Christ's incarnation and redemption, he continued, has dignified not only the human race, but each individual of the race. For if He has so loved the individual as to give Himself for him (Gal 2:20), then each man deserves to be given an absolute respect. This attitude is fundamental to all the Church's social teaching, according to which wealth, economy,, and the state are for man, and not man for them. The internal peace of nations, he warned, is threatened by treating men as mere instruments, simple means of production. Contrariwise only by recognizing the dignity of man will a natioa be able to dissolve civil discord. The Vicar of Christ then discussed the third type of peace, inter-national peace. The basis for this peace according to the Pope's message ¯ is truth. The Christian saying that the truth will make men free is also valid on the level of international relations. Hence in the pursuit of peace on the international level, force, nationalism, and the like must be sur-passed; and attempts towards peace must be based on rational and Christian moral principles. From truth, he added, proceeds justice; and justice in turn must be sustained by Christian charity which by its nature embraces all men. Then only will there be a real international life and not merely a coexistence. In the second part of the message the Holy Father pointed out errors b~eing made today by those who are striving to bring peace to the world. Peace, he said in this connection, is indivisible; hence it must be present in all its elements. Accordingly social and international peace are impossible without peace of heart. For true peace men must first of all 232 ROMAN DOCUMENTS be "men of good will." Hence the first step towards peace must be to remove the moral obstacles to it, especially in view of the present dis-equilibrium between scientific progress and moral progress. In the third part of the message the Pope spoke of the work of the Church for peace. He pointed out that she prays for peace; moreover she uses all her means, especially the treasures of her doctrine, to produce peace. It is indeed in and through her doctrine that she has been able to formulate the leading causes of modern international disturbance. These causes are the following: violations of the human person, of the family, and of labor; a disregard of the true and Christian idea of the state; the deprivation of the liberty of other nations; the systematic oppression of the cultural and linguistic characteristics of national minorities; a selfish use of economic resources to the damage and injury of other nations; and the persecution of religion and of the Church. In the fourth and final part of the message John XXIII called on all Catholics to be active in the work for peace and to be conscious of the fact that they have a command from on high for such activity. He then expressed his best wishes to all men especially the poor, the humble, and the suffering. The Consistories On December 14 and December 17, 1959 (pp. 5-24), the Pontiff held three consistories for the creation of eight new cardinals. In the first consistory, which was a secret one, the Pope delivered an allocution in which he stated that his choice of the new cardinals had been governed by a desire to show forth not only the unity of the Church but her univer-sality as well. The rest of his allocution was concerned with a summary of the principal events in the preceding year of his pontificate. Thereafter there took place the creation of the new cardinals; Cardinals Cicognani and Copello changed their cardinalatial churches; appointments to the hierarchy since the last consistory were read out; and the consistory closed with the postulation of the pallium b y newly appointed archbishops. In the second and public consistory the Holy Father imposed the red hat on the new cardinals. In the third consistory, which again was a secret one, the latest appointments to the hierarchy were announced and cardinalatial churches were assigned to the new members of the Sacred College. To the Laity On January 10, 1960 (pp. 83-90), His Holiness addressed an allocution to members of Catholic Action of the diocese of Rome. In the first part of the allocution the Pontiff detailed his long interest in Catholic Action, remarking that he has been actively associated with it since the year 1922. He also expressed his utmost confidence in Catholic Action for the future. In the second part of the allocution the Vicar of Christ developed some of the characteristics of Catholic Action. He told his listeners that Catholic Action was first of all a help to the clergy, as its classic definition 233 R. F. SMITH Review for Religious as the collaboration of the laity in the a~ostolate of the hierarchy shows. The work of Catholic Action, he pointed out, is an effort towards the ful-fillment of that part of the Our Father which reads,."Thy kingdom come." This work of the laity began already in ~he time of the apbstles; it was in this time too that the principle was laid down that nothing should be done without the bishop. The work of Catholic Action, however, can never be achieved without a solid spiritual formation of the individual member. Hence he exhorted his listeners to a life of habitual prayer accompanied by a deep liturgical spirit and a profound sense of the Church. Catholic Action, the Pope continued, is also a spectacle of disciplined unity. The unity of the Church, he said, has an irresistible attractiveness for men. Accordingly Catholic Action must be and appear an organization of union and concord; and this harmony must be shown simultaneously on the level of ideas, of plans, and of execution. Finally the Pontiff said that Catholic Action must be a luminous sign for modern times; it must be the angel in Apoc 14:6 wl~ich carried aloft the eternal gospel. Catholic Action will be. such a sign by defending the fundamental principles of Christian social order, by safeguarding the rights of man, and by validating the things that constitute man's dignity, his liberty, and his inalienable rights. The subject of education was also treated by the Pope in another written message of January 10, 1960 (pp. 100-103). This message was directed to the Interamerican Congress of Catholic Education held at Ciudad de San Josg in Costa Rica. In the message he told the congress that every true and deep education is the work of grace; hence the chief work of the educator is to cooperate with that grace. In order that an adolescent will persevere in the spiritual life given to him by the school, it is necessary, said the Pope, that the school develop in the child a spirit of initiative and an atmo~sphere of spontaneity and sincerity. Moreover, religious training must be directed not only to the intellect but to the will and heart as well. Furthermore, the Pontiff continued, religious culture should parallel the youth's growth in literary and scientific matters. Finally, religiou~ training should prepare the youth for his future family~ civic, and professional responsibilities; it should also provide him with an exercise of the apostolate and of charity. On November 25, 1959 (pp. 54-55), John XXIII directed a written message to the International Federation of Catholic Youth, meeting in Buenos Aires. Among ~other pieces of advice to them, the Vicar of Christ urged them to a great love and respect for their priests and chaplains, telling them that it is these priests who will open to them the sources of Christian doctrine, imbue them with the spirit of sacrifice and self-mastery, and lead them to a generous life of prayer and self-giving. A written message of December 8, 1959 (pp. 96-98), was directed by the Vicar of Christ to the meeting of Pax Romana held in Manila and devoted to the theme of the social responsibility of the student and the intellectual. He told the group that they should be proud of having been. chosen by 234 July, 1960 ROMAN DOCUMENTS Christ to be His witnesses even to the ends of the world. They must, he wrote, make themselves worthy of their call by living a profoundly Christian life; and they must endeavor to gain the respect of their col-leagues by their professional and moral competence. He also bade them to direct their studies to the Church's social doctrine, since the countries of Asia are now in a period of rapid economic growth. Finally he urged them to translate the message of Christian truth into forms appropriate to the Oriental soul. On February 9, 1960 (pp. 158-60), the Holy Father sent a written message to the school children of the United States asking them to pray for the needy children of other lands that they may be kept free from sin and have the strength to overcome temptation. He also asked them to be generous in contributing gifts, clothes, and money to such children. On December 8, 1959 (AAS, pp. 45-50), His Holiness addressed a group of Italian Catholic lawyers. Since the group had previously dis-cussed the subject of freedom of the press, it was this subject that the Pontiff considered in his allocution to them. He disclosed to his listeners his grave anxiety over much that is being printed today and its effects on the young and the innocent. In the matter.of the liberty of the press, he continued, it is always.necessary to have a clear conscience as well as one that is balanced, not insensitive, and not lax. The right to truth, he said, and the right to an objective morality based on the permanence of divine law is anterior and superior to every other right and need. Accord~ ingly there are necessary limitations to the freedom of the press and these limitations are found especially in matters that may do violence to the innocence of the child and the adolescent. Is it ever licit, he asked his listeners, to make a criminal deed the occasion of description and narration that are nothing else than a school of sin and an incentive to vice? In this area, the Pope insisted, the limitations of the press must be rigorously defined; and he called on his audience to study the matter carefully. He also told the lawyers that they should not fea~ to reprove the press and should endeavor to subject it to a human, civil, and Christian discipline. They should especially see to it that the press does not violate fundamental human rights. It would, he concluded, be the legalization of license, if the press were fred to subvert the r.eligious and moral foundations of the people. On December 30, 1959 (pp. 57-59), the Holy Father sent a written message to a meeting at Utrecht of the International Office of Catholic Education; the meeting had been called to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of Pius XI's encyclical on education, Divini illius Magistri. The encyclical, the Pope told the group, has lost none of its truth; today as then the Church still declares the rights of herself and of the family in regard to education to be anterior to those of the state in the same matter. He also mentioned that since at the present moment national and international authorities are anxious about the intellectual and moral elevation of the human race, it is now more important than ever to have active members of the Church who are ready to explain and defend 235 R. F. SMITH Review for Religious the Church's point of view. They should also strive to adapt the principles of the encyclical to the new situations that have arisen since its publica-tion; and on the personal level they should strive to become the profes-sional and moral elite which the world and the Church need. Miscellaneous Documents On December 18, 1959 (pp. 166-69), the Sacred Congregation of Rites officially affirmed the heroicity of the virtues of the Servant of God, Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774-1821). On February 17,' 1960 (pp. 91-94), the Pope delivered an allocution at the solemn obsequies h~ld for Cardinal Stepinac in St. Peter's, telling the congregation that the deceased cardinal gave a modern example of Christ's words that a true pastor gives his life for his flock. By the Apostolic Letter, Maiora in dies, dated December 8, 1959 (pp. 24-26), the International Marian Academy was made a Pontifical Academy. On February 17, 1960 (pp. 152-58), the Pope delivered an allocution to the faculty and student body of the Pontifical Biblical Institute on the fiftieth anniversary of its foundation. After recalling the Institute's work and success during the last fifty years, he told the Institute to look forward to the future. He urged them to a life of scientific serious-ness which would employ all modern means of investigation and work and which would have the courage to face the problems aroused by recent research and discoveries. Their work, however, should also be characterized by prudence and sobriety, so that they do not propose as definitive that which is only a working hypothesis. He pointed out to the Institute and its members that their work was not merely to form Biblical specialists, but also men who are filled with sacredotal zeal and who brave the souls of prophets and apostles. The work of the Institute, therefore, is a truly priestly work. In all their work they must also have an absolute fidelity to the deposit of faith and to the teaching authority of the Church. Finally in their efforts to understand the pages of Scripture," they must recall the advice of St. Augustine: "Pray in order that you may understand." On December 6, 1959 (pp. 51-52), the Pontiff broadcast a message to the faithful of the Philippines at the beginning of their national mission year. On December 13, 1959 (pp. 52-53), the Pope sent a radio message to the people of Ecuador on the occasion of their presentation of a crown to a statue of our Lady of the Rosary. On January 1, 1960 (pp. 98-100), he sent a written message to the people of Nicaragua on the occasion of the nation's consecration to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. On January 22, 1960 (pp. 90-91), John XXIII addressed an allocution to Konrad Adenauer, Chancellor of Germany, and on February 22, 1960 (pp. 95-96), to President Manuel Prado of Peru. Under the date of December 22, 1959 (pp. 61-62), the Sacred Apostolic Penitentiary issued the text of a prayer composed by the Pope to be recited by members of newly-founded churches. Faithful of such churches can gain an indulgence of three years each time they recite the prayer devoutly and with contrite heart. Moreover once a month they 236 July, 1960 VIEWS, NEWS, PREVIEWS may gain a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions provided they have recited the prayer daily for a month. 0n.December 14, 1959 (p. 105), the Sacred Consistorial Congregation named Cardinal Caggiano, archbishop of Buenos Aires, as military vicar of Argentina. A decree of the same congregation dated December 29, 1959 (pp. 164-65), provided for the continuation of ecclesiastical jurisdiction in the military vicariate of Colombia when the office of military vicar becomes vacant; it also assigned the proper tribunals for ecclesiastical cases of the same military vicariate. In a decree of January 5, 1960 (p. 60), the Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office placed the follow-ing anonymous volumes on the Index: Il Poema di Gesu and Il Poema dell'UomooDio (Isola del Liri: Tipografia M. Pisani). Views, News, Previews Institute Jesus Magister Brother Cecilius, S.C., who is presently stationed in Rome at the Generalate of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, has sent the REVIEW information concerning the Institute Jesus Magister (Jesus the Teacher). The Institute, .which is now an integral part of the Lateran University, was founded by Pins XII with the purpose of providing for the intellec-tual, cultural, and religious development of teaching brothers. The foundation of' the Institute was announced in the summer of 1957; in the fall of the same year the Institute held its first academic courses°. Accordingly the academic year 1959-1960 was only the third in the history of the Institute. The president of the Institute is the rector of the Lateran" Univer-sity, who at present is Msgr. Antonio Piolanti. The vice-president and director of Jesus Magister is BrotKer Anselmo, F,S.C. The faculty for the academic year 1959-1960 was composed of twenty-six professors, nine of whom were diocesan priests, eleven were .religious 'priests, and six were brothers. During the same year ninety-five brothers attended the Institute. The brothers in attendance came from twenty-three countries and from nine different religious institutes as the following tables show: 237 VIEWS, NEWS, PREVIEWS Review for Religious Countries Represented Among the Students of Jesus Magister Number of Number of Country Students Country Students Canada 13 Mexico 3 U.S.A. 11 Chile 2 Spain 10 Nicaragua 2 Italy 9 Peru 2 Brasil 8 Ruanda 2 Australia 5 Cuba 1 France 5 Ecuador 1 Eire 5 Malay 1 Argentina 4 Portugal 1 England 4 South Africa 1 Colombia 3 Venezuela 1 Vietnam 1 Religious Institutes Among Students of Jesus Magister Institute Number of Students Brothers of Christian Schools 38 Marist Brothers 26 (Irish) Christian Brothers 11 Brothers of the Sacred Heart 7 Brothers of Mary (Marianists) 4 Brothers of Christian Instruction (Ploemel) 3 Xaverian Brothers 2 Brothers of Christian Instruction of St. Gabriel 2 Josephite Brothers of Ruanda 2 From the tables it can be seen that besides the intellectual development imparted to them by the Institute, the brothers also profit by contact with fellow brothers of other countries and institutes. At the present time the. Institute offers a four-year course. The first year of the course is chiefly devoted to Thomistic philosophy and fundamental theology; the last three years are concerned principally with dogmatic and moral theology, Sacred Scripture, ecclesiastical history, and catechetics. The courses are presently given in both English and French; other languages will be added as the need arises. At the end of two years of the course, the students are made bachelors in re-ligious sciences; and at the successful completion of the entire four-year program they are given a licentiate in religious sciences. There i~ a possibility that, as the Institute grows, an additional program leading to a doctorate in religious sciences will be added. Brothers interested in studying at the Institute must have a degree which permits them to enter a graduate faculty or a university of their own country. Moreover they are expected to have a sufficient reading knowledge of Latin to be able to handle the texts necessary for their 238 VIEWS, NEWS, PREVIEWS studies in the Institute; such texts, for example, would be the Vulgate, the works of St. Thomas, and the code of canon law. The candidate must also make a written application for admission into the Institute; with the application he must include a birth and a baptismal certificate, copies of degrees held, written authorization of his major superior, and two photographs (passport size). Auditors, that is, students not studying for a degree, are also admitted with the permission of their superiors. Finally laymen who are engaged in teaching religion on the primary or secondary level are admitted, provided they 'have the necessary quali-fications for the Institute's program. Persons interested in the Institute can obtain more information about it by writing: Ill.mus Fr. Anselmo Balocco, F.SoC. Instituto Jesus Magister Pontificia Universith Laterano Piazza S. Giovanni in Laterano, 4 Rome, Italy Christ to the World Founded three years ago, this "International Review of Apostolic Experiences" has spread to 125.countries and is contributing in a very efficacious way to the work of the apostolate among unbelievers. The aim of the review is to promote the apostolate in pagan and dechris-tianized environments by pooling apostolic experiences and making known the most fruitful apostolic efforts undertaken throughout the world. In presenting these experiences, the review stresses the method followed, the means used, the difficulties encountered and how they were overcome, the results obtained and the lessons drawn from the experience which will prevent future repetitions of the same mistakes. A sample copy of an issue dealing with the problems one indicates interest in will be sent on request by Reverend L. P. Bourassa, Circulation Manager, Christ to the World, Lungotevere dei Vallati, 1, Roma. Brothers' Newsletter: Menus and Recipes The Brothers' Newsletter reported in its November issue that Brother Herman Zaccarelli, C.S.C., has published a book on menu-planning and recipes for Catholic institutions. This is the first book ever to be written taking into account the specialized food problems of the vow of poverty, feasts, and fasts of the Church year. In the summer of 1960, Brother plans to direct the first school of culinary arts for religious at Stonehill College, North Easton, Massachusetts. He hopes to build this summer course up to a regular three-year program. For his work on the book, Brother received grants from several food com-panies serving Catholic institutions. 239 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Review for Religion,s The interesting facts and events relating to the life and training of brothers which the Newsletter contains are available without subscrip-tion fee. Write to Brother William Haas, S.J., West Baden College, West Baden Springs, Indiana, or to Brother Walter, S.V.D., Divine Word Seminary, Techny, Illinois. )uestions ond Answers [The following answers are given by Father Joseph F. Gallen, S.J., pro-fessor of canon law at Woodstock College, Woodstock, Maryland.] 24. I was teaching a summer course to sisters from several congregations. Canonical questions on the religious life occasionally arose. One sister told me that her constitutions state that a parish convent cannot be a canonically erected religious house because at the commencement of the scholastic year the community of such a house may be composed of new members. Another sister stated that in her congregation all houses of less than four sisters are filial houses, those of four or more are canon-ically erected houses. Difficulties on obedience, according to this sister, arise in filial houses because of the fact that the one at the head of a filial house is not a real superior. To avoid this, higher superiors strive to have all houses canonically erected; and they believe that this is accomplished by the mere fact of assigning at least four religious to a house. They also believe that the'sole fact of assigning three or less sisters to a house makes it filial. My reply to both sisters was in the negative. Was I correct? A canonically erected religious house, because it is a moral person, can cease only by suppression or extinction. A moral person in the Church is of its nature perpetual. If only one member remains in it, all rights of the moral person devolve on him. A moral person and therefore a religious house becomes extinct only when it has ceased to exist, that is, has had no members, for a hundred years (c. 102)'. As a collegiate moral person, a canonically erected house must consist of at least three religious at the time of its erection. Since a moral person is of its nature perpetual, it is evident that the continued existence of a religious house does not depend on the permanent residence. 5f the religious who originally constituted the community. These may constantly change, as they do in other moral persons, for example, an institute or province. The same juridical perpetuity proves that a religious house continues to exist as such if the number of religious assigned to it after its erection becomes less than three. The superior of such a reduced religious house remains a superior in the proper sense of the word, Since he is a superior of a canonically erected house. A higher superior cannot change a canonically erected house into a filial house merely by assigning less religious to it (cf. Larraona, Commentarium Pro Religiosis, 3 [1922], 48, note 176). This 240 July, 1960 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS change demands an extinction or the formalities of a suppression and the permission to open a filial house. Neither may he change a filial house into a canonically erected house merely by assigning more religious to it. This change requires the formalities for the canonical erection of a house. Goyeneche (Quaestiones Canonicae, I, 115) anal Jone (Com-mentarium in Codicem Iuris Canonici, I, 404) deny that such formalities are necessary in this case. They maintain that the change of a filial into a canonically erected house is a mere internal change and conse-quently demands no permission of external authority (cf. Question .17). But such a change certainly and evidently implies the erection 5f a moral person. Canon 497 does not grant the right of erecting a moral person, solely on their own authority, to the superiors of any religious institute. The law on internal and external changes presupposes an existing moral person and its purpose is to determine whether the change has so altered this existing moral person as to make it a different moral person. In the opinion of Goyeneche and Jone, an exempt in-stitute could open a filial house with th.e permission of only the local ordinary; and then, merely at the will of its superiors, with no further permission of the ordinary and no permission whatever of the Holy See, could canonically erect an exempt religious house. But canon 497, § 1, demands the permission of the Holy See for the canonical erection of any exempt religious house. A house becomes a new moral person when it undergoes a formal external change (Question 18) or is moved to such a distance (Question 19) that the formalities of a new erection are necessary and are obtained. It need not be mentioned that religious owe the same reverence and submission to delegated as to ordinary authority. The ultimate source of the authority is the same and the motive of religious obedience is the same in both cases. 25. If we are able to suppress the religious house mentioned in Question 23, to whom does the property of the suppressed house belong? Unless the particular constitutions contain a different enactment, the property of a suppressed or extinct house appertains to the im-mediately higher moral person, that is, to the province or, if there are no provinces, to the institute (c. 1501). The property of a sup-pressed or extinct separated establishment already appertains to the house to which it is attached. All obligations of justice, all rights ac-quired by others, and the intentions of founders and donors are to be respected and observed. 26. Are parish school convents of sisters in fact ~anonically erected or merely filial houses? It is presupposed that the house had the antecedent requisites for a canoncially erected house at the time of its erection (cf. Question 3). If so, such convents are canonically erected religious houses unless the 241 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Review for Religious explicit or implicit intention of the local ordinary in particular cases was merely for a filial house (cf. Questions 11-13). This follows from the fact that such convents are only exceptionally filial houses. Parish convents are termed houses in approved constitutions equally with other canonically erected houses, for example, academies, colleges, and hospitals. Their superiors are in the same way superiors in the proper sense of this word, and not mere delegates of a higher superior or another local superior. Their superiors are held to the limit of the three-year term and to two such consecutive terms in the samehouse (c. 505). These same superiors are also equally ex officio members of the provincial or general chapter. Parish convents have their own councilors and bursar or treasurer, and these are proper to canonically erected houses (c. 516, §§ 1-2; cf. Question 6). Furthermore, some constitutions make this general sense clear by stating that only the smaller houses of two or three sisters are to be filial houses (cf. Question 6). It is true that a moral person, by the positive law of the Church, should be perpetual (c. 102, § 1); but the sense is that it may not be erected for a definite time, for example, five years. It is perpetual in the sense of the law when it is erected for an indefinite time (cf. Michiels, Principia Gen-eralia de Personis in Ecclesia, 535). The particular constitutions may add requisites for a canonically erected house. If so, the petitioning of the consent for the establishment of houses is made according to such norms and the houses are canonically erected or filial according to the same norms. 27. What do you think of the enactment of our constitutions that the portress should every night carry the keys of the convent to the superioress? This enactment was contained in article 319 of the Normae of 1901, on which the constitutions of practically all lay congregations are based. However, it was not repeated in the similar norms of the Sacred Con-gregation of the Propagation of the .Faith of 1940, nor is it by any means contained in all constitutions. In some convents, the superior would be the nocturnal custodian of a sufficient number of keys. The efficiency and practicality of this practice are at once questionable. Its necessity is equally doubtful. I personally have never heard of any alarming number of attempts to break into convents at night. The doors should be securely locked at night, but it is not the custom in the United States to use locks that can be operated only by a key from inside. We may also question whether this type of lock is more secure, and a door is not the only means of entrance favored by burglars. The principal objection against the practice is the danger of fire and the fire regulations. To repeat what we have already stated on two occasions: "All doors used in connection with exits shall be so arranged as to be always readily opened from the side from which egress is made. Locks, if provided, shall not require a key to operate from the inside. Latches or other re-leasing devices to open doors shall be of simple types, the method of 242 July, 1960 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS operation of which is obvious even in darkness" (REVIEW FOR RE-LIGIOUS, 15 [1956], 284-85; 18 [1959], 165). It seems evident that all doors leading to the outside should be capable of being used as exits in case of fire; and an exit door locked from the inside, with the key in the superior's room, is a fire hazard of the first order. II. Local Superiors 28. Is a minimum age prescribed for local superiors? Every canonically erected religious house must have a local superior in the proper sense of this term. The prescriptions of canon 505 on the term of office and reappointment affect only minor local superiors. A minor local super

Issue 18.6 of the Review for Religious, 1959. ; Review Religious Ecclesiastical Formation by The Congregation.of Seminaries A Fuller Sense of Literature by Father Aidan, C.P. ~Examen on Renovation and Adaptation by Joseph F. Gallen, S.J. St. Lawrence of Brindisi by R. F. Smith, S.J. Current Spiritual Writing by Thomas G. O'Callaghan, S.J. Survey of Roman .Documents Views, News, Previews Questions and Answers Book Reviews and Notices Index to Volume 18 321 328 333 346 353 36O 365 367 370 381 Volume 18 November 15, 1959 Number 6 OUR CONTRIBUTORS FATHER AIDAN is stationed at St. Gabriel's College, Blythe Hall, Ormskirk, Lancs., England, JOSEPH F. GALLEN, the editor of our Question and Answer Department, is professor of canon law at Woodstock College, Woodstock, Maryland. R. F. SMITH, editor of the REVIEW, is professor of apologetics at St. Mary's College, St. Marys, Kansas. THOMAS G. O'CALLAGHAN is professor of ascetical and mystical theology at Weston College, Weston 93, Massachusetts. ~, REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, Nov., 1959. VOI. 18, No. 6, Published bi-monthly by The Queen's Work, 3115 South Grand Boulevard, St. Louis 18, Missouri. Edited by the Jesuit Fathers of St. Mary's College, St. Marys, Kansas, with ec-clesiastical approval. Second class mail privilege authorized at St. Louis, Mis-souri. Copyright, 1959, by TKe Queen's Work. Subscription price in U. S. A. and Canada: 3 dollars a year; 50 cents a copy. Printed in U. S. A. Editor: R. F. Smith, S.J. Associate Editors: Augustine G. Ellard, S.J.; Gerald Kelly, S.J.; Henry Willmering, S.J. Assistant Editors: John E. Becker, S.J.; Robert F. Weiss, S.J. Departmental Editors: Joseph F. Gallen, S.J.; Ehrl A. Weis, S.J.' Please send all renewals, new subscriptions, and business correspondence to: Review for Religious, 3115 South Grand Boulevard, St. Louis 18, Missouri. Please send all manuscripts and editorial correspondence to: Review for Religious, St. Mary's College, St. Marys, Kansas. Ecclesiastical Formation SACRED CONGREGATION OF SEMINARIES AND UNIVERSITIES Prot. N. 541/59 CIRCULAR LETTER ADDRESSED TO BISHOPS ON THE OCCASION OF THE FIRST CENTENARY Of THE DEATH OF THE CURI~ OF ARS CONCERNING CERTAIN PROBLEMS OF ECCLESIASTICAL FORMATION. Your Excellency, Not long ago pilgrims of every race and tongue Were gathered at the grotto of Massabielle to commemorate the centenary of the apparitions of Lourdes. And now, before the echo of these solemn celebrations has died awdy, our minds and hearts turn once more towards France, to a small village of that lalid which was the scene of the apostolic labors of a humble parish priest in whom our Lord saw fit to renew, with copious. 9utpourings .of grace, the portents of His public life. This Sacred Congregation of ~eminaries and Universities does not wish to let this year pass without recalling the attention of future priests to this humble son of the soil. For he, by corres-ponding faithfully with the grace of vocation, became in the hands of God a powerful instrument for the renewal and the deepening of the Christian life in many souls. The life of St. John Mary Vianney has many valuable lessons for the young levite of our own times. In fact, we may say that his message, implemented now by the lustre of his heavenly glory, carries a greater significance than ever before. I. First of all, he shines as an example of fidelity to the inspirations of grace. Once he had come to know the divine will in his regard, he pursued the priestly ideal with a tenacity of purpose that has rarely been equaled. He never allowed himself to be discouraged by the many obstacles which seemed to bar his way towards the goal he so ardently, yet so humbly desired. Rather was he guided always by a most profound appreciation of the greatness of the priesthood. Contemplating that greatness .he would exclaim in ecstasy, "Oh how wonderful is the priest! His greatness will only be seen in heaven. If a priest in this life 321 ECCLESIASTICAL FORMATION Review for Religious were to comprehend his real dignity, he would die -- not of fear but of love." It is this appreciation, this tenacity of purpose, this spirit of dedication which the Church wishes to bring home to the ecclesiastical youth of our time to urge them to cherish the ideal to which the Lord has called them. The present scarcity of voca-tions is a well known fact while the spiritual needs of the faithful are daily on the increase. It is not that the Lord scatters less abundantly the seed of the divine call. Alas! it is the fewness of those who gather it; and even of these, how many put their hand to the plough and then turn back, abandoning the work they have begun. The example of the Cur~ of Ars should urge all who have received a divine vocation to the priesthood to treasure it as a priceless gift. If there is a lack of generosity on their .part, the wiles of the evil one may well rob them of this hidden pearl. To safeguard it, everything should be willingly sacrificed. Clerics, as the very name implies, are the portion of the Lord and have been called by Him to a special destiny. They should, therefore, for their own encouragement and perseverance, be always mindful of the tender goodness and munificent kindness which has singled them out. If "the Apostle, reminding the early Christians of their redemption, could charge these laymen to live as children of light and heedless of the works of the flesh, how much more grave is such an obligation for clerics who are called not merely to share in the grace of Redemption but to follow in the footsteps of the Divine Master as its dispensers and ministers. Let them, therefore, give thought constantly to the gift of God and let them strive to make themsebfes more worthy of the divine choice, making a daffy offering of their youth to the Church for their own salvation and the salvation of their brethren. II. If we look at the figure of the saintly Cur~ of Ars, we will recognize in his shining virtue a supreme model of priestly excellence. He knew that the priesthood had, in some mysterious way, identified him with the one Eternal Priest, the Word incar-nate. It was such knowledge which inspired him to repeat phrases like these: "When you see the priest, think of our Lord Jesus Christ" or "The priesthood is the love of the Heart of Jesus." But even these sentiments, however beautiful and expressive of divine realities, were of secondary importance. For him the essential was to live the priegthood which the Lord exercised through him. Behold him, therefore, the holy Cur~, in the rSle outlined by the Apostle, a mediator for his people, devoted to a life of adoration, 322 November, 1959 ECCLESIASTICAL FORMATION of intercession, of total sacrifice; he too a victim like his Redeemer, ready day and night to implore "with unspeakable groans" the remission of sins, ready always to fill up in his body what is wanting in the Passion of Christ. This closeness to God and perfect conformity to the Eternal Priest inspired in him a deep appreciation of prayer and of the interior life, and were besides the secret of his "extraordinary success. He knew perfectly well that the: efficacy of his work for souls depended above all on prayer and on union with God. Conscious of his rSle as an instrument of divine grace, it was to grace alone that he looked for the success of his ministry. Not without reason, therefore, did the Supreme Pontiff Pius XI name St. John Mary Vianney the special patron of parish priests and those entrusted with the care of souls, wishing thereby to emphasize that the efficacy of all pastoral endeavor is directly dependent on the personal holiness and interior life of the priest. The Sacred Congregation of Seminaries is convinced that in this matter much is left to be done in institutes for clerical train-ing. In view of the attitude of young priests, particularly towards the problems of the ministry, the question arises whether the traditional principles of formation are not being overlooked. In most cases, it is true, there is no lack of zeal for the external works of the ministry; but such zeal, unsupported by prayer and morti-fication, issues only in vanity and disillusionment. The fact is that without the interior life there can be no true apostle. Apart from it the most elaborate and spectacular techniques of organization will achieve little of permanent value. The true apostle, conscious that he is but an instrument in the hands of God, knows that he has other and less fallible means at his disposal. He is aware that a spiritual edifice may be raised only by prayer and the power of grace. His labors will be successful in the measure of his reliance not on himself but on these God-given aids. "Therefore neither he who plants ~or he who waters is anything, but God who gives the increase . For we are God's helpers" (1 Cot 3:7-9). The Supreme Pontiff, Pope Pius XI says clearly: "It would be a very grave and dangerous error should the priest, carried away by a false zeal, become completely immersed in the external works of the ministry to the neglect of his own sanctification . Without piety, the holiest of actions, even the most solemn rites of the sacred ministry will be performed in a mechanical and routine manner, devoid of spirit, of unction and of life" (Ad catholici 323 ECCLESIASTICAL FORMATION Review for Religious sacerdotii [December 20, 1935] in Acta Apostolicae Sedis, 28 [1936], 23-24). Later, Pope Pius XII, in his apostolic exhortation Menti nostrae vigorously reiterated the same teaching. "An ardent spirit of prayer," he says, "is necessary today as never before, when so-called 'naturalism' has taken hold of men's minds and virtue is beset by dangers of every kind -- dangers which, at times, assail even those engaged in the sacred ministry. What more effective means can there be of avoiding these snares, what more apt to raise the mind to higher things and preserve its union with God than constant prayer and invocation of the divine assistance?" (Menti nostrae [September 23, 1950] in Acta Apos-tolicae Sedis, 42 [1950], 673). More recently still, Our Holy Father Pope John XXIII, happily reigning, has insisted on the need for an efficacious pastoral apostolate. In his discourse to the Apostolic Union of the Clergy (March 12, 1959), proposing the holy Cur~ of Ars as an apt model for the members, he addressed to them the following solemn considerations: "How is it that in the ministry so much labour frequently yields but meagre fruit? How is it that priests who seemingly neglect no weapon of the apostolate fail to bring back so many lapsed children of the Church who are dead to the life of grace? Perhaps it is because they are not single-minded in their ministry; perhaps because they do not always seek exclusively the good of souls; perhaps also, they place too much reliance on means that are human and therefore frail without giving due attention to prayer and sacrifice." We must insist therefore that teachers in seminaries, and particularly the rectors and spiritual fathers shall give adequate and timely instruction, especially to students approaching sacred orders, on the true nature of the priesthood, its mission, and the means to be relied on in the apostolate. Furthermore they shall be careful to base this in'struction on the traditional principles that are to be found in revelation and have been authoritatively interpreted by the Fathers and the magisterium of the Church. They shall not permit the introduction of any novelty which could undermine or alter the teaching of the Church in so delicate a matter. These instructions must be regarded as of the highest importance because upon the ideas instilled in them during semi-nary years will depend the future conduct of priests in the ministry. III. The loyalty of St. John Mary Vianney to the Church is well known. He had a most tender love for the Holy Mother 324 November, 1959 ECCLESIASTICAL FORMATION of all the faithful. Whenever he spoke about her his face appeared transfigured and his voice thrilled with emotioh. His love, it is true, embraced all the faithful and was not confined to the narrow circle of Ars -- in fact, people came from all over the world to lay siege to his pulpit and his confessional--but it was especially directed towards the visible head of the Church, the Pope, whom he venerated. It is clear from the process of canonization that he sought out every opportunity to testify his supreme devotion to the Roman Pontiff. He could not conceal his emotion when he spoke about the Mother and Teacher of all the Churches or heard her spoken about. He showed respect, love and obedience to his own Bishop "as to the Lord." And what obedience! Everyone knows that he was bent on withdrawing from the public eye to weep over what he called the emptiness of his life. For he was conscious of his unworthiness and dispirited by his increasing responsibility. But obedience, manifested in the will of his supe-riors, wished him at Ars; and at Ars he remained in a spirit of sub-mission and sacrifice. Those responsible for clerical education have here a matter for serious reflection. The virtue of obedience is absolutely funda-mental in the process of forming sacred ministers. It is necessary to engender in them a habit of obedience which reaches to the very fibre of their being. And this is particularly true in times like ours when the demon of pride bids everyone throw off restraint and indulge in unlimited liberty of thought and action. Such a norm of behaviour, hailed as progress, has crept into educational methods and threatens the very foundations of Catholic teaching on the principles of pedagogy. Cases are sometimes met with even in ecclesiastical colleges -- indeed this Sacred Congregation has had to intervene -- where attempts are made to exploit the methods of "self-education" with too great concession to individual caprice and too little thought for the frailty of human nature. To strive to develop in their charges a sense of responsibility, initiative~ and judgment is indeed the legitimate and necessary work of educators. But what must be deplored is the attitude of teachers who are afraid to command lest they invade the sanctuary of another man's mind and do violence to his personality. Such a teacher abdicates his position as superior and renders the very concept of discipline meaningless. It is a false approach; for it is only by discipline that one achieves a strong personality, endowed with that spirit of sacrifice which is required of all those who would follow in the footsteps of the Lord Jesus Christ. By means of this 325 ECCLESIASTICAL FORMATION Review for Religious discipline alone are formed genuine apostles bent on doing the will of God, as indicated by their superiors, rather than following their own c.apricious inclinations. Let discipline, therefore, joy-ously embraced, be the touchstone by which superiors test the vocation of their students. Let them demand an obedience, not merely theoretical, but effective, single-minded, and complete in all things, great and small, contained in the seminary rule. In requiring this obedience and in putting it before the students, let them recall the supernatural motives which are its justification and its supreme model, Jesus Christ, who had only one purpose on earth: "To do thy will, O God" (Heb 10:7). Let them always remember that obedience primarily involves "obsequium," that. is, a total submission of mind and heart which makes our actions pleasing to God. If superiors can achieve this much they can be assured that their students will also acquire the other virtues proper to a priest, especially those, like chastity, which require manly will-power and perfect self-control. For the members of all pious institutes, therefore, the prin-ciple must hold that the rule is the will of God manifested in their regard and consequently of obligation as a necessary means of their formation. The vigilant presence of a superior must not be regarded as something injurious to personality but rather as a help towards securing that spiritual development which is re- 'quired of a priest and is his glory: "All things are yours; you are Christ's; and Christ is God's" (1 Cor 3:22-23). Addressing our beloved seminarians we would exhort them to keep before their minds the repeated teaching of the Church which compares the clergy to an army, carefully chosen and proper-ly trained, ~in object 6f terror to enemies because of its disciplined might. During the long and arduous period of training let them cultivate a spirit of discipline, sound convictions, and an un-questioning obedience to those placed over them. Thus will they acquire that perfect "thinking with the Church" which will enable them. at a later stage, to fight the battles of the Kingdom of God "prepared to act and to endure bravely for the salvation of all" (Leo XIII, Alacritas ista [January 18, 1885] in Enchiridion Cleri-corurn [Rome: Vatican Polyglot Press, 1938], n. 458). However arduous the preparation for the priesthood may be and however toilsome and full of sacrifice the life of the future priest, the reward for valiant service under the banner of the Lord is very great indeed. St. Augustine, who was called to the apostolate in times as difficult as our own, affirms: "Nothing in 326 November, 1959 ECCLESIASTICAL FORMATION this life and especially at this time is more difficult, laborious, and dangerous than the work of a bishop, priest, or deacon; but God's view nothing is more blessed, provided one conducts one-self in the way our King orders" (Letters 21:1). Your Excellency, much more might be said in pursuance of the example of the holy Cur~ of Ars; relevant to the right formation of candidates for the priesthood and therefore helpful to the better administration of seminaries. We have confined our attention however to those matters which have come to our notice through the reports of apostolic visitators and which seem peculiarly related to the needs of our time. We wish to emphasize the need for a deepening of the sense of responsibili~ty in relation to the grace of vocation, to insist on the primacy of the interior life as an essential condition for the pastoral ministry, and finally to establish the formative value of a discipline which is accepted willingly and conscientiously. In this way, the truly priestly life will be protected and developed and it will be able to meet the needs of the time and adapt itself to the pastoral circumstances of the moment, never forgetting the sources from which its super-natural fecundity and its truly noble character derive. We are convinced that these principles added to the essential requirement of knowledge -- which, let us remember, was not wanting in the case of the Cur~ of Ars, for God enriched him won-derfully with the gifts of His Spirit -- are the solid foundation on which future apostles must raise the structure of their priest-hood. Only with this foundation may they go forth, the able workers of the Lord's vineyard "trained to do all good works" as heralded by St. Paul, and the good shepherds described by St. Peter as "from the heart a pattern to the flock" (2 Tim 3:17; 1 Pet 5:3). While we beg Your Excellency to ensure tha~ the contents of this letter are brought to the notice of your students with what-ever comments you consider opportune, we take the occasion to express to you the sentiments of our profound esteem and remain, Yours devotedly in Our Lord, Given at Rome on the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, June 5th, 1959, JOSEPH Cardinal PIZZARDO, Prefect DINO STAFFA, Secretary. 327 A Fuller Sense of I_iterature Father Aidan, C. P. AMONG THE MANY hardships incident to the student state, the writing of essays was one that could rarely be evaded. Of course, as one realizes -- later -- the correction of these'effusions must have been' an even more Herculean labour. It is only when we face an exercise-book armed with red ink in-stead of blue that we realize that sufferance is the badge of all our tribe. But all the same, we were rather surprised when one long-suffering student once plaintively, complained that we were always giving a religious turn to the development of our thought. "Isn't that a happy fault?" we replied. "Surely you should be pleased that we are so spiritually minded?" and so on ran the ready answers. And I think that, as the unspeakable vernacular has it, we'd got something there; a thought that has often recurred to me when the study of literature is discussed. I think it was Sir Roger de Coverley who preferred his parson rather to deliver the solid sermons of accredited authors than to drone out his own efforts; and while we would not perhaps care to descend to such utter conservatism, we ought not to despise learning aspects of truth, often brilliant and revealing, from the great minds of past ages. "A good book is the precious life-blood of a master spirit," and our own minds cannot fail to be improved by such a blood ~transfusion. Again, it strikes me very forcibly at times when "doing" (horrible word) literature in class that a statement in the texi is a very brilliant facet of a perhaps vaguely realized spiritual truth. One realizes that such and such a remark is capable of application on a plane of thought other than what the author intended. Its significance can be extended to shed a grateful ray of light on some spiritual principle whose full expres-siveness has perhaps been obscured by familiarity or neglect. What the author has said is perfectly true in its context, but it is also more profoundly true in a higher sense. In studying the acknowledged classics of English literature, we are surely not being disloyal to our author if we read with our ear attuned to the deeper harmonies that perhaps underlie the 328 A FULLER SENSE OF LITERATURE chord he strikes. If he has seized and expresse.d some truth for our benefit and we enlarge and enrich that truth on another plane of though't, we do him no disservice; in fact, we remember his phrase with greater gratitude and appreciation. He has l~ointed out the way, and we have followed out his directions with profit. My c]ass--I dare not say my audience--are often politely amused when I mention that such and such a poem, rightly taken, could be used for spiritual reading, and that several class periods could profitably be expended in exploiting its deeper treasures. A poem is a poem is a poem, their looks warn me; the life of a saint is a very different kettle of fish; and never the: twain shall meet. They are good enough to admit, however, when it is pointed out, that there is literally more than meets the eye. Wordsworth, for instance, has written much admirable poetry as well as much abominable verse; "Tintern Abbey" is as good an example of his vein of William the Conqueror as "We are Seven"--that playground of parodists--is of his unfortunate tendency to be merely Silly Billy. Of the joys of nhture he knew in childhood, he writes soberly: That time is past, And all its aching joys are now no more, And all its dizzy raptures. Not for this Faint I, nor mourn nor murmur; other gifts Have followed; for such loss, I would believe, Abundant recompense. This is clear enough certainly. Yet we may need to remind ourselveg that such a Clear-sighted attitude should also be ours in spiritual matters. What if we were mo~e obedient as novices, or more fervent as students? "That time is past." Our present duties are urgent, and we should know how to adapt ourselves to them, without sacrificing one whit of our essential obedience or fervour. With the passing of the years, our charity ought to become less natural, and our obedience more positively vigorous. There should be no sentimental looking back on those early days, no echoing Vaughan: Happy those early days, when I Shined in my Angel-infancy! . How I long to travel back, And tread again that ancient track! for "that time is past." We ought not depreciate the present in desiring again the past. We might as well face the facts: obedience, 329 FATHER AIDAN Review for Religious charity, patience, and the rest in those earlier days, with all their zest and novelty, came easier to us. But we should not "mourn nor murmur" that we have to put forth sterner effort now; still less should we "faint" and, discouraged, relax our exertions. We can surely say that "other gifts have followed," no less real for being less memorable; and, remembering the graces of the Mass and vocation, we should with all our heart believe "fer such loss, abundant recompense." The grace of God, too, has its seasons; to yearn for a perpetual spring is to show bad husbandry. Much Ado About Nothing is one of the most appropriately named plays that Shakespeare ever wrote. Yet amid all the bustle and much ado, there is much of permanent value that we can reflect on. Familiarity~ especially with spiritual things, may breed, if not contempt, at least insensibility. And we who grow accustomed to the daily miracle of the Mass and Holy Communion can learn from the remark of the Friar: What we have, we prize not to the worth Whiles it is ours; ~ut being lacked and lost, Why, then we rack the value; then we find The virtue that possession would not show us Whiles it was ours. Routine can be ruthless, if we allow it to become so; ~ind sheer regularity may prove a mere placebo if we are spiritually run-down. There is a false sense of security against which George Eliot warns us, which "more frequently springs from habit than from conviction," and which consequently persists even after warning signs should have alerted the victim. Our appreciation of God's gifts is a m£tter of conviction, not custom, a conviction which we ,try to make even deeper; to abandon ourselves to mere habit is to run the risk of undervaluing those gifts, even to ultimate ingratitude.: We should try to "find the virtue that possessio.n would not show us" even while we thankfully retain possession. No less than amuse, the elegant irony of Jane Austen can also instruct. Elizabeth Bennet's arch rebuke to Darcy is an example. Darcy admits that he has not the talent of easy conversation with those whom he has never met before, and appears to think that this handsome admission exonerates him completely from any charge of superciliousness. Elizabeth gently points out that her lack Of "masterly manner" in playing the piano is due to her own fault; she has not taken the trouble of practising. Possibly our own shortcomings, especially in the matter of charity, are capable 330 November, 1959 FULLER SENSE OF LITERATURE of similar diagnosis, Perhaps we too do not take the trouble of practising. It is easier to conclude that we have not the talent of a ready, friendly interest in others than to make the effort neces-sary to acquire it. As Jerome K. Jerome well said, "Don't bother yourself about how much nicer people might be; think how nice they are." A search for another's good points can be more profitable .than a murky exhumation of his less taking characteristics. Practice does make perfect, and if we h~ive not attained perfection --and who has?--perhaps the fault lies in our insufficient practice. Again, it seems to me that truths ~cquired in reading can sometimes reinforce by their very humour or poetry some point of. more specifically religious, life; or better still, the life of religious. There are many illuminating remarks scattered about in various places which may give rise to an uneasy searching of conscience, and may even enable ourselves to see ourselves as others see~us. Sheridan was--surely--not thinking of religious obedience when, in The Rivals, he put the following remark into thb mouth of Sir Anthony Absolute. Young Absolute has just affirmed, "I cannot obey you";'and his exasperated parent is led to lament, "You know I am compliance itself--when I am not thwarted; no one more easily led--when I have my own way; but don't put me in a frenzy." (I like that phrase; a religious frenzy is put in quite a novel perspective.) Dickens, I think, holds a mirror up to religious life when the delightful Mrs. Gamp is moved to declare her motto in life. No-one would accuse Dickens of interest in religious, still less of interest in religious poverty; and he has growled in approved Victorian fashion about processions of dirty ragged monks. Nevertheless, Mrs. Gamp's motto does warn us of the danger of too great com-placency in our vow, and indicates--malgrd elle--a practical way in which we can keep it better. "I'm easy pleased," she primly says. "It is but little as I wants; but I must have that little of the best, and to the minute." Indeed, earth has not anything to show more fair than that; but, it is to be hoped, a religious house has. Shakespeare, as might well have been expected, is a fertile source of inspiration. In the matter of chastity, we know, our natural obligation is reinforced by vow; yet, as a modern spiritual author has said, "There is nothing fireproof or asbestos-like about the cassock"--or, for that matter, about the religious habit. Our vow is no vaccine, no injection, to render us immune to attack. 331 FATHER AIDAN And well does Shakespeare understand this when in a powerful metaphor Prospero warns Ferdinand, lately engaged to Miranda: Do not give dalliance Too much the rein: the strongest oaths are straw To the fire i' the blood: be more abstemious, Or else, good night your vow! Finally, there is one very thought-provoking remark--again by Shakespeare--which, by shedding a dramatic light on the great mystery of Redemption, may help us to a richer estimation of its depths. Measure for Measure is often referred to as a gloomy comedy, but it abounds in brilliant lines. Isabella pleads with the inexorable Angelo for her brother's life, only to be told that he is ¯ . . a forfeit of the law And you but waste your words. "Alas!" she replies. "Why, all the souls that were were forfeit once; And He that might the vantage best have took Found out the remedy." Surely even theology would be hard put to it to find a o more succinct reference to the reconhiliation of the outraged Justice of God with the infinite Mercy of the redeeming Christ in His Sacred Passion. Why not a religious turn to our serious and literary reading? And why should not a religious turn to serious and literary reading? 332 Examen on Renovation and Adaptation Joseph F. Gallen, S. J. THE IMPLEMENTATION of renovation and adaptation depends primarily on higher superiors; but they are also the religious whose numerous duties can have impeded or pre-vented the reading, study, and attendance at courses and institutes that are necessary even for an understanding of this subject. The following questions and principles should make such a superior realize whether he or she is sufficiently conversant with the move-ment, These brief questions and principles are at least intended as a sufficiently complete and balanced picture of the nature, men-tality, and purposes of the movement. They should therefore be useful to all religious. The success of renovation and" adaptation depends on the intelligent and willing cooperation of all superiors and subjects. I. General Principles Is my principle rigorously what the founder did and said or also what the founder would now do and say? Do I adapt my institute to the present age as much as the founder did to his own age? Isn't resistance to intelligent and prudent adaptation opposi-tion to the will of the Holy See? Any adaptation should conform to expressed norms of the Holy See; but it is not to be thought that the Holy See will define exactly, impose, or even suggest every necessary or profitable adaptation. A fundamental purpose of renovation and adapta-tion is to quicken the life, energy, and self-initiative of all institutes. Do I understand that the purpose of adaptation is a more ¯ effective use of the means of self-~anctification and of the apos-tolate? Do I realize that everything in the religious life is only a means to its purpose? Am I choosing effective .means? Changing the ineffective? Do I understand that all human institutions ~ are capable of. change? that no human being could foresee all possible circum-stances of all ages? 333 JOSEPH F. GALLEN Review for Religious Do I realize that any idea decreases in universality of place and age in the degree that it is particular and determined? Do I admit in fact and practice that there are different customs, manners, and demands in different countries, nations, and ages? that all ideas, works, and practices of the past may not be suitable for the present? Am I holding on to any thing that was introduced only be-cause of particular circumstances of the past? Any artificial or affected practice or observance is repugnant to the doctrine and example of Christ. Do I prevent or impede adaptation by the rationalization that it is laxity, self-indulgence, and worldliness? Do I blind myself to the good in adaptation by concentration on its extremists? This is as much lacking in intelligence as it would be to seek the truth of Christianity in religious fanaticism. The greatest enemies of renovation and adaptation are those who hold that its purpose is to eliminate or diminish religious discipline. A regulated life, solidly productive of the virtues dis-tinctive of the religious state, is necessary for complete Christian perfection. Adaptation seeks to retain but to revivify the discipline that is good, to remove the idle and useless, to substitute the better for the less efficacious, and to effect the realization that an oppres-sive, merely annoying, and too minut~ religious discipline is self-destructive. "All counsels by which we are influenced to perfection are reduced .to this: that we be detached from affection for temporal things in order that the soul may more freely tend to God." This maxim of St. Thomas is eternally valid. Renovation does not seek to weaken or destroy but to animate the total dedication by which the religious renounces any earthly affection that could impede the greater love of God. Adaptation cannot and does not deny or enfeeble the complete detachment, mortification, and abnegation demanded by this purpose of the religious life. It strives to find, intensify, and promote the most suitable and efficacious means for this purpose. Renovation is not worldliness but greater sanctity; adaptation is not self-indulgence but more intelligent and appropriate mortification. Am I aware only of the old? suspicious of the new? Do I discourage or prevent talk and discussion on the new by subjects? It is not difficult to discern the blind conservative and the rash innovator. Adaptation is prudent progress. Its purpose is to 334 November, 1959 RENOVATION AND ADAPTATION preserve, protect, and improve the good, to change or remove only what is harmful, obstructive, or useless. There are consecrated immutables in the religious life. Only the religious nihilist attacks these. There are also many mutables, and only the blind conservative or religious zealot elevates these to the order of immutables. You are true to renovation and adaptation when your maxim in all aspects of the religious life is: hold on to the good but always seek the better. Do I discourage and repress new ideas in the general chapter, sessions of the council, in superiors and officials? Do I refuse my subjects publications that contain new ideas? Do my subjects understand that renovation and adaptation are to proceed slowly, by study, discussion, and persuasion, not by agitation? The superiors who do nothing are those most apt to have agitated subjects. Do I, a higher superior, read books, periodicals, and articles on renovation and adaptation? attend gatherings or courses that include this subject? Have I, on the. constant excuse of work, cut myself apart from this movement? I should lead the way, and nothing will be accomplished in fact without me. Am I willing to accept anything ~hat will lead the religious of today to greater sanctity or a more effective, ministry? Am I willing to consider any good idea, no matter what its source? Am I searching for or hiding from new ideas? Has our institute contributed any idea to the movement of renovation and adaptation? Do I favor or accept the new merely because it is new? Do I abandon the old only when I am convinced that it is useless, harm-ful, or that something better can be substituted? Do I readily adapt in hospital work, with difficulty in schools, but with much greater diffi5ulty or not ht all in religious and community,life? Why? Is our institute distinguished by a granite inflexibility or a living elasticity? Since the authoritative beginning of adaptation in 1950, what have we changed in our constitutions, customs, observances and practices, prayers, community life, formation, work, religious habit? Can I say that all of these are in all respects fully adapted to the present age? 335 JOSEPH F. GALLEN Review [or Religious Is my attachment to my institute so blindingly intense that I believe it admits of'no greater perfection in spirituality, govern-ment, formation, or external works? Love of my institute is a virtue, but not the love that smothers life and progress. Do I grasp the paradox that my institute will remain the same only if it changes? only if it receives the nourishment of new ideas? that otherwise it deteriorates to feebleness and senility? The only one who cannot progress but in whom all others should progress is God, and He is the God not only of infinite sanctity but also of infinite knowledge and truth. We may object that change is not always progres.s, but we are "certain that doing everything exactly as it was done in the past is not progress. Is my principle in fact that the good is what was done in the past and that the new is a synonym for the dangerous or evil? How would I prove that a good idea is better b~cause it arose in the sixteenth or nineteenth rather than in the twentieth century? It is true that to be modern is not necessarily to be spiritual. It is equally true that traditionalism is not necessarily sanctity. Do I realize that only the aged mentality lives completely in the past? Am I not immature to the degree that I refuse to face the present? Do I talk about adaptation but do nothing? Do I consider adaptation an unwelcome guest and hope to effect its speedy departure by my coldness and ~neglect? Are we cooperative and helpful to other religious institutes? Do I think that renovation and adaptation are only for religious women? Nothing is more blind.ing than our own customary and routine conduct. An efficacious way of learning what I should adapt is to go over everything we do daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly with an intelligent and spiritual religious Of another institute. II. Sanctity of Life How many and to what degree do our local superiors have a spiritual influence on their communities? Am I convinced that the holiness of our institute must always be measured by the extent, intensity, hnd constancy of its prayer an~" self-denial? Is conformity with the holy rule the ultimate norm of our life or is the rule a means to conformity with Christ? 336 November, 1959 RENOVATION AND ADAPTATION Rule, regulation, and regularity are important, but is our spirituality nothing but rule, regulation, and regularity? Have we little consciousness 0f the interior life? of the richness of the fatherhood of God? of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit? of the person of Christ? of the mystical body? of the life of grace? of the doctrine of Christ? of the motherhood of Mary? Am I disturbed at violations of silence, promptness, and regularity in my subjects but never think of their correspondence to grace, interior prayer, or interior virtue? Is the actual purpose of our institute the devout life, not the saintly life? What proportion of the members of my institute have a low idea of the purpose of the religious life? Is the actual tenor' of the spiritual .life of our institute a challenge to generous souls or the canonization, of little souls? Is our spirituality purely negative or positive? Do we always define humility as the lowering of self, never as the enthronement of God? mortification as the denial of self or preference for and love of God and of the things lof God? Do we curb ou2 passions for self-control or to grow into the fulness of Christ? Do we make God or self the center of our spiritual lives? .Do we love God or self-perfection? Are penance and mortification practiced? Are those who can and do fast thought peculiar? Are voluntary works of penance and mortification found in only a very few individuals? Is the atmosphere of my community spiritually inspiring? depressing? debilitating? . Are the influential members of our institute exemplary or mediocre religious? Do I realize that the fertile mother of mediocrity and tepidity in the religious life is bad example and that conspicuous reasons for this fact are that our religious have not been led to a convinced spirituality and have not been trained.to think for themselves? Spiritual direction should evidently have its proper place, but are the majority of those receiving spiritual direction in our institute religious from whom .no' proportionate profit can be expected? Is our library stiflingly sweet with pietistic books? Are the religi.ou~ allowed to choose their own book? Must spiritu.al reading be in common? Do we ever take Sacred Scripture as our spiritual reading? Do we realize that mental prayer is often weak and 337 JOSEPH F. GALLEN Review for Religious difficult because it is famished for proper and constant spiritual reading? III. Poverty Do I emphasize interior detachment from material things? Do I understand that moral uniformity in material things is necessary for community peace and fraternal charity? Do I give subjects permission because they get the money or the object from externs? Do many of our religious procure material things or the money for them from externs? Am I permitting or tolerating any custom or practice that is clearly opposed to poverty or that excludes its perfection? Do too many of our religious constantly ask for the newest and best? Do our religious understand that luxury is not a necessity but an obstacle to good work? Am I generous with material things to externs but not to our own religious? Do our buildings, the furnishings of our religious houses, and the personal lives of our subjects manifest to lay people the nothingness of material things in themselves? Do I accept modern inventions and improvements in so far as they increase efficiency but reject those that lead only to self-indulgence and luxury? Am I sensitive to the fact that the multiplication and constant increase of material improvements and conveniences tend to produce softness of character? Do I realize that the emphasis on interior mortification must be proportionately intensified? Is our life simple and poor? Do too many of our religious live an unmortified and soft life? Do we work for, attract, love and are loved by the poor and the working class? IV. Chastity Is chastity for too many of our religious merely obligatory celibacy or is it in fact their quickest means for attainment of unworldliness, of love of God, for clear vision of spiritual realities and values, a life of delicate familiarity with God in prayer and of pure love for others in zeal? 338 November, 1959 RENOVATION AND ADAPTATION Do our religious understand that marriage is not sinful or ugly but a good? that they renounce this good for a higher good, the attainment and perfection of the love of God? Are our postulants, novices, and junior professed properly and sufficiently instructed in chastity? V. Obedience and Government My subjects must obey me as manifesting to them the will of God. Is my government so elevated and enlightened as to reflect infinite sanctity, truth, knowledge, and widsom? Do I lead and govern or follow my community? Do I govern according to the lowest level of my community? Renovation is a quickening of the religious life. Have I, the superior, given up all effort to accomplish any-thing? "What's the use?" If I fail, will the community succeed? When I no longer have the vision, energy: or courage to try anything new, it is time to inform higher authorities that I should no longer be a superior. Am I more interested in housekeeping than in the intellectual life or sanctity of my subjects? Are the permissions we prescribe intelligent, reasonable, productive of solid religious virtue? What, how many, and how great are the purely secular norms of conduct that have taken root in my community? Do the ordinances of the general chapter, the exhortations, circular letters, regulations, and general corrections of superiors produce any effect? Do I enforce them? Do I realize that there is a hierarchy of values or does every-thing in the religious life have the same value for me? Could I give an average Catholic layman a readily intelli-gible reason for all our customs, practices, and observances? Are our written and unwritten customs, observances, and practices too numerous? too detailed? too minute? too insistent on everything being done in common? oppressive? Are we retaining customs, observances, and practices that are peculiar? antiquated? formalistic? externalistic? not productive of religious virtues? Is our horarium intelligently adapted to the demands of prayer? work? sufficient preparation for class and study? proper rest? When did we last change the horarium? Do we chart out every moment of the day for our subjects? 339 JOSEPH F. GALLEN Review for Religious Do I trust only the dlassroom, the chapel, the stove, and the broom? mistrust the r~ligious who is seen with a :book? Are our local superiors mere permissiori distributors? house-keepers? financiers? "public relations experts? principals or deans? Is obedience explained, demanded, ahd practiced-in~ such a way as to hinder or exclude the perfection of other virtues? Do I realize that the independence, autonomy, or rather autocracy of the individual existing in the youth of today demand a more protracted,~ patient, doctrinal, theological~, and: theocentric p~esentation and exercise'in obedience? Are too many of our religious so immature and undependable that the superior has 'to' go around the school, hospital, or institu-tion picking up their forgotten and careless work? In praising the docile, the conformist,"the conventionalist, am I glorifying the mediocre? .' o. Don't I pay an exorbitant price for my efforts to pacify the malcontents and worldly? Am I too fearful or slothful to correct my subjects? Do correct when it is necessary? patiently?, kindly? calmly? with due firmness when it is demanded? Do I correct too often? on minor details only? too frequently in public? too quickly? too impatiently or harshly? . VI. Prayer What proportion of our religious, especially in institutes of men, fail to make the daffy religious e~ercises? What have I done about it? Does our prescribed regime of prayer tend to produce a pious and devout but not a saintly religious? ~ Are we always praying and yetare not prayerful? is bur ~rescribed prayer sufficiently liturgical? Do we under-stand ~hat the liturg:~ does not exclude but presupposes, ~omple-inehts, and is complemented by individual' practices, for ex~imple, the individual ideals of sanctity Of life, correspondence to grace, and: the" individual and private types of prayer and religious exercises, such as meditation, examen, spiritual reading, retreats, and so forth? Have we so many prescribed exercises that there is no oppor-tuni[ y for 'indivi~lual prayer? Do we esteem mental prayer as the most necessary and valu-able prayer for sanctity of life? 340 November, 1959 RENOVATION AND ADAPTATION Is mental prayer in our institute a mere formality? Is our mental prayer a mere abstract study of virtue and ¯ examination of conscience, not a turning to,. a living 'in-and with God? Do I believe that a retreat'or any other special~religious exer-cises are a rest or recreation for my subjects? Are our retreats so encumbered 'with other religious exercises and .perhaps with work that the retreat ceases to be a period of deep recollection and reflection? , Are we suffocated by devotional practices? novenas? non-liturgical vocal prayers? Have we any periods of prayer 'so. long as to be unbearably burdensome? so long that we cannot reasonably hope for anything but a low fractional part of real prayer? .- Are our prescribed' prayers so numerous that. fervent and faithful religious find constant difficulty.in.,compldting them? Has the history of the prayer of our institute been ohe of pure addition? never of reflection as to whether the quality and quantity of our prayer were suitable or the, most suitable" for attaining the purpose of the religious life? VII. Formation Do I assign our best religious to the formation of our own subjects? What proportion 'of our-religious. 'are interested in or have ever done anything about fostering, vocations? Does our formation, discipline, community life, and govern-ment produce a type of religious who will not. attract vocations? Do we refuse in fact to admit that an unsuithble candidate lacks a vocation? Are we 'nursing along unsuitable postulants, novices, and junior professed? Do I realize that a middle-aged problem religious is nearly always a fully grown youthful problem religious? Am I nullifying the purpose of the postulancy and the second year of noviceship by devoting the postulants and second-year novices to the works of the institute? How does this harmonize with the warning of Pius XII to bishops that they should not rush inexperienced priests into the life of full activity? Are the postulants and novices give~ sufficient instruction in the religious life? Is it solidly doctrinal? Are they mere passive listeners? ~ 341 JOSEPH F. GALLEN Review for Religious Do I fear to give free time to postulants? novices? professed? How much individual and competent guidance and counseling do we have of postulants, novices, junior professed, and the younger professed of perpetual vows? Do I praise the juniorate but hold that it is for others, not for us? Do I say that it is now impossible for us? What arguments have I to show that it will be more possible in the future? Can I reasonably hold that a religious is properly prepared for his work at first profession? Am I fair to the religious in assign-ing him or her to work at such time? Am I fair to his students? What means have I taken to help young religious in their adjustment to the full active life? What have we done about a somewhat longer period of recollection before perpetual profession and a period of renovation? Have young religious ever been properly formed when their elders were left completely uncorrected? Does our formation produce a religious worker who can think for himself? possesses the power of self-initiative? self-decision? efficiency? dependability? responsibility? prudence? courage? perseverance? Do we check the postulant, novice, young or old religious who does his work childishly, inefficiently, carelessly? Are we training docile automatons or subjects equipped to face the inevitable doubts, difficulties, disillusionments, tempta-tions, demands of work, and personality clashes of life? Do we realize that a formation, in so far as it is insincere, unreal, antiquated, formalistic, legalistic, externalistic, leads the factual youth of today to cynicism? Do we form the impolite candidate of today into the polite, selfless, cultured religious? Do we guide our young subjects collectively ~nd individually to a personal esteem, conviction, acceptance, desire, and resolve of holiness of life? Do we yield to the youthful religious of today who in their studies so frequently give their attention and effort only to the interesting, the novel, the striking, .and habitually neglect those that are essential? The youth of today are not to be considered as glowingly virtuous nor as irreparably defective. As is true of any age, they have their characteristic virtues and defects; and their most conspicuous defects are merely the fuller development of those found in the generations immediately before them. 342 November, 1959 RENOVATION AND ADAPTATION Does our education, formation, community life, practices, and government make our subjects at least appear as antiquated and out of touch with the world they are striving to save? Does it make them appear as aloof and. superior or one with the poor, the afflicted, the unfortunate, the sinner? Have we any permanent plan or arrangement for assigning capable religious to higher studies? Do we properly prepare the religious who are sent to the foreign missions? VIII. Work Do we consider work as a distraction or obstacle to personal sanctification and not as another aspect of the same purpose? Is our formation producing intellectual, cultured, .spiritual subjects? .Are our schools turning out intellectual, cul. tured, and profoundly Catholic laymen and laywomen? What is the level of our schools and institutions compared to those of seculars? Have all our new ideas in education, hospital, and institutional work come from secular sources? What new ideas has our institute, have I, contributed? "Am I ashamed of the qualifications of our school and in-stitutional personnel in comparison with that of secular schools and institutions? Is the cultural level of our subjects equal to that of laymen engaged in the same work? Have I reflected that the publicized lack of sufficient Catholic scholarship may not be due entirely to institutions of higher learn-ing but partially or principally to our elementary and secondary schools? What proportion of students overcome a defective ele-mentary education? Wh~t proportion of our subjects are mere teachers or nurses, not religious teachers and nurses? What proportion of our subjects can be classed as spiritual religious, as proficient and dependable workmen? Are our religious so overburdened with work as to exclude a life of prayer? Overwork is to be eliminated, but isn't it true that very many of the individual religious who are overworked are spiritual? Isn't the lack of spirituality to be found also and principally in other causes? 343 JOSEPH F. GALLEN Review for Religious What prop~ortion of our religious adhere in fact to the heresy of activity, that is, to work to the exclusion of the ordinary means of self-sanctification? What proportion of our religious do. a minimum of work? Which is more harmful, the heresy of activity or the apostasy of idleness? Are many of our religious enfeebled and reduced to a childish life by an excessive use of television and the radio? Why do so many religious become intellectually inactive after completing their' studies? Do I suspect the intellectuals of my institute? Am I confusing ignorance, incompeten.ce, childishness, and lack of culture with simplicity and sanctity? What proportion of our subjects have the habit of reading? of striving constantly to advance in the knowledge'and practic~ of their matter and assignment? Ignorance and lack of progress in any field of endeavor are not virtues. Few classes of men can do such harm as the sincerely ignorant. An unsatisfactory apostolate is not always caused by incom-petence or sloth. Its cause can be and often is lack of spirituality in the apostle. Do we face the needs, problems, and evils of our day in the choice of works? the proportional emphasis on particular works? the education and formation of subjects? Or are we training re-ligious to meet and solve only the problems of past centuries? Have we at=least a satisfactory library in every religious house? Am I ashamed of the libraries or lack of them in any or all of our religious houses? In the assignment of religious, do I give sufficient thought to the full utilization of their individual abilities~ What have we done to lessen the habitual tension of so many religious? Have we changed an unsuitable horarium? diminished overwork? given a weekly holiday? an annual vaca-tion? removed or lessened added burdens from week-ends and such vacation seasons as Christmas and Easter? given private rooms? allowed the religious to study and do their other work in their rooms? lessened monotony? diminished routine? given sufficient rest and recreation? abandoned the insistence on every-thing being done in common? Is there sufficient sleep? a Sensible rising hour? proper food? 344 November, 1959 RENOVATION AND ADAPTATION Would a competent male dietitian give a favorable j~udgment on the diets in all institutes of religious women? Is our norm in undertaking new works the greater nec.ess.ity of the faithful? Is the horizon of. our zeal parochial or universal? Are we undertaking added.works at the expense of the.proper formation of our subjects? Do I. courageously and steadfastly refuse works, even if good in themselves, that would,deprive the religious of sufficient rest and.vacations? .~ : . .Has our institute a foreign mission? IX. The Religious Habit Wliat have we done to simplify the habit to one that continues to express the' consecration to Christ and retains its modesty but is simple, unaffected, inexpensive, hygienic, efficient, suited to the customs and ways of one's own country and nation, adaptable to the changing seasons, easily laundered, that does not imprison the face and head, eliminates starched parts, is of suitable color, not eccentric, not ostentatious? Can w~ reasonably hold that the simplification of the habit is a question that of its very nature is confined to institutes of women? 345 St. Lawrence of Brindisi Ro F. Smith, S. J. BY THE APOSTOLIC letter Celsitudo ex humilitate (Greatness from Humility) of March 19, 1959, Pope John XXIII by virtue of his apostolic power proclaimed St. Lawrence of Brindisi (1559-1619) a doctor of the universal Church. By that act St. Lawrence became the thirtieth saint to be honored with that title, the third Franciscan doctor, and the first of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin. He also brought to five the number of doctors of the Church who flourished in the latter half of the six-teenth and the early part of the seventeenth centuries, the other four being St. John of the Cross (1542-1591), St. Peter Canisius (1521-1597), St. Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621), and St. Francis of Sales (1567-1622). Childhood, Vocation, Priesthood The future doctor of the Church was born on July 22, 1559, at Brindisi, a town located on the Adriatic coast of the heel of Italy, reputedly founded by the'Greek hero Diomedes on his return from the Trojan war, the southern terminus of the Appian Way, and deathplace of the poet Virgil. The boy's father was William Rossi and his mother Elizabeth Masella Rossi; at baptism the infant was given the name Julius Caesar in honor of Sts. Julianus and Caesarius of Terracina, martyred, according to early martyrologies, in the persecution of Nero. Providence, which was to make the boy one of the most illustrious of the sons of St. Francis, saw to it that he was early brought under Franciscan influence; for at the age of four his education was entrusted to the Conventuals living at Brindisi. In 1573 after the death of his father he ov~ercame his mother's dislike for his desire to be a priest and went to Venice to begin his seminary work in a school whose rector at the time was his uncle, Don Peter Rossi. It was in Venice that the saint first came to have an intimate knowledge and love of the Capuchins; and on February 18, 1575, he received the Capuchin habit at the Verona novitiate of the Venice province, being given the name Lawrence of Brindisi. In 1576 he made his profession in the order and was thereupon sent to the University of Padua to make his studies 346 ~T. LAWRENCE OF BRINDISI in philosophy and theology. The university at that time was the focal point of an atheistic form of Aristotelianism; by reaction the young Capuchin acquired a lifelong distrust of Aristotelianism and was drawn instead to a Platonic way of thinking. The intellectual ability of Lawrence, which had already been noted and fostered by the Conventuals in Brind~si, now had full opportunity to develop itself in the university setting at Padua. His course of studies was brilliantly done; and realizing the in-creased importance of Scripture because of the Protestant defection from the Church, he especially set himself to learn all the languages needed for a mastery of Biblical studies; at the same time the international composition of the student body of the university enabled him to attain a mastery of most of the vernaculars of the European continent. There is in fact good reason for thinking that St. Lawrence was the greatest linguist among the doctors of the Church, for besides mastering Hebrew, Greek, Syriac, and Chaldaic for his Scripture studies, he also had command of Latin, German, Bohemian, French, and Spanish besides his native Italian in several dialects. In 1581 Friar Lawrence was ordained a deacon; such was his ability as preacher of the word of God that he was given the unusual permission to preach publicly; it was the beginning of what was to be the principal.apostolate of his life. He was ordained priest in 1582 and thereupon was commissioned to travel through-out Italy to reinvigorate Christian living;-through his unusual combination of holiness and intelligence, he was able to touch the hearts and minds of his hearers in a way that is remarkable in the history of popular preaching. Doctrinal Synthesis To the end of his life almost forty years later the saint con-tinued his apostolate of preaching. Of his collected works (S. Laurentius a Brundisio, O.F.M.Cap., Opera omnia. 10 volumes in 15 tomes. [Padua: Seminario Vescovile di Padova, 1928-1956]), no fewer than eight volumes are given to his collected sermons. Since the sermons of St. Lawrence are the best source from which a knowledge of his doctrinal synthesis can be made, it will be worthwhile to interrupt the course of the saint's life to give a brief sketch of his doctrine as described in A. Michel's. "Saint Laurent de Brindes docteur de l'Eglise" (L'ami bIu clergY, 69 [1959], 401-06.). 347 R. F. SMITH Review for Religious ¯ " St. Lawrence~ did not conceive of a philosophy with its own method and its own proper aim; for him all speculative thinking is subsumed under theology, of which he distinguishes two types. The first type he dalls mystical theology and.conceives of it as a negative, intellectual proces.s the aim of which is to show what God, Chri.st, the Church, the Blessed Virgin and other supernatural realities are not; this. type of theology must b~ rooted in prayer and it~ s.e.ek~ .to discov.e,r the. spiritua.1 .se.n~.e of the Bible. The second kind of theology is called b~ the saint symbblic theology; it studies the literal sense of.Scripture a~.d a~emP.ts to seek out the secrets of the ph.ysical.u.niverse. ~ Man, according'to St. Lawrence, is composed of sense, reason, and spirit (mens). Spirit receives from God an infused idea of the infinite, while reason, "using sensible creatures, is capable of arriv-ing ;at a .knowledge of .God who is pure being viewed under the 6spect ,of the good. This God of goodness has created the world out:of pure love. To all creatures God gives a general assistanc~ which permits each being to act according to its nature. From this it will be seen that St. Lawrence entered hardly at all into the Bafiez-Molina. controversy which was at. !ts height from the years 1590 to~1604. St. Lawrence's views on the state of the first man' and woman are not-without interest. The state ~oforiginal justice in which they w~re" created was constituted: by a 'gift distinct from sanc-tifying grace;, this gift of original justice is characterized by the saint as'a perfect tranquillity and friendship of. sense and reason. In accordar~ce With this view, St. Lawrence conceives of original sin as the loss of this gift of original justice; which loss necessarily entailed a further loss of sanctifying grace. After sin man is justi-fied by the rectitude of t~e soul when elevated by grace to the supernatu.ral, orde.r. God is the p~incipal efficient, cause of this justification; the Holy Spirit and His gift.s are the intrinsic formal cause; Christ, as exemplary cause, is the extrinsic formal cause of Justifica~!on; while the. humanity of, Christ and the sacraments are the instru.mental cause of justific.a~ion. Christ is presentetl in the theology of St. Lawrence as. the. king of angels and. of men. The salvation 6f the angels revolved around Christ, for. they were assured of eternal life only if they consented to adore Christ. Christ is the cause of all sanctification not only in the sense that He is its exemplary cause but alsd be-cause all graces given to angels and to men are given through the 348 November, 1959 ST. LAWRENCE OF BRINDISI instrumental causality of the humanity of Christ. After Christ the Blessed Virgin occupies the first place among all creatures. She is decisive even in the ca~e of the angels for at the time when the Incarnate Word was presented to themfor their adoration, Mary was also presented for their veneration. Because of her divine maternity the Blessed Virgin was conceived immaculately and given an initial fullness of grace that surpassed the final beauty of all the saints taken together. The motherhood of the. Blessed Virgin extends to all men, for all graces come to men through the prayers she addresses to God. The graces of Mary reach their final glory by the crowning gift of the Assumption whereby she now lives, body and soul, in heaven. Mission to the Jews . The success of St. Lawrence's first Commission .to preach throughout Italy came to the notice of Pope Gregory XIII; in 1584 he appointed the saint to .be apostolic preacher to the Jews of Rome and of Italy. Such was his zeal, his l~nowledge of the. Old Testament, and his manifest affection for the Jews that he was able, as he himself reported, to convert many-of theme All his life he retained h~s interest and zeal for the Jewish I~eople and whenever it was possible would seize the opportunityto preach Christ t~ the descendants of the people who had once rejected Him. This interest of St. Lawrence in the Jewish people is mani-fested in his collected works; for his Explanat!on of Genesis (Ex-planatio in Genesirn), which is the only exclusively exegetical work of his still extant, was conceived and written with the Jews in mind. The commentary extends only through the. first eleven chapters of Genesis. The purpose of the commentary was to achieve a scientific understanding of ~the literal sense .of the book; to achieve this the saint not only utilized the opinions of Christian exegetes, but also made wide use of Jewish commentators on the book. This .use of Jewish commentators makes the work unique in the writings Of the do.ctors~ of the Church. As one writer has put it: ". there is no Doctor, of the Church who. has given such prominence to Hebrew scholars as Lawrence has done. The opus will ever have a special value for the conversion of the Jewish people. For this it was intended; and who knows but that, in God's Providence, the book's mission will find its fulfillment in ways that we cannot foresee.'" ~Cuthbert Gumbinger,-O.F.M.Cap., "St. Lawrence of Brindisi, Exegete," Catholic Biblical Quarter:ly, 8 (1946), 268. 349 R. F. SMITH Review for Religious Counter-Reformation In 1590 St. Lawrence was elected provincial of th~ Tuscany province;., in 1592 he was reappointed .to a t~5-year term as apos- ¯ tolic preacher to the Jews. At the conclusion of this term he assumed the provinciala~e of the Venice province; in 1596 he was elected .Definitor General of the entire order, and in 1598 he became provinc~al~9f Switzerland. Up to this point the zeal and labors of St. Lawrence had been limited almost ~ entirely to the regions of Italy; now, however, hi~ sanctity and his learning were to be given a chance to radiate out into the other countries of the continent. In 1599 St. Lawrence was sent ~o Prague to establish the Capuchins as a source of help for the :Counte.r.:Reformation in Austria and Bohemia. Despite violent opposition., from the Protestants and notwithstanding the . initial indiffe~e6ce, if not the hostility, of the Emperor Rudolph II, St. Lawrence. was able to effect a permanent establishment of the ¯ friars and l~d his fellow religious in a spirited apostoiate to win back Proteit~ants and to '.save lukewarm Catholics from defection. That the Capuchin apostolate was¯ successful can be seen from the words of the papal nuncio: "Thanks be to God, the number of Catholics is increasing . I~ is esphcially the Capuchins who reap a rich harvest.'''~ As a result of, his contact with Protesta~nts the saint com-posed a three-tome work, called An Outline of Lutheranism (Lu-theranismi hypotyposii). The work ~was a long expo6ition and refutation of.Lutheranism together with an apology for the Catholic Church as the only true Church of Christ. This work; together with some of the.saint's sermons; gives some idea of his theology of the Church. According to St. Lawrence, the salvific action¯ of Christ with regard to the human race has a!ways-been¯ exercised through the Church; its.history then goes back to the very origins of humanity, and all persons who have been saved must.be .re~arded as 'constituting the fullness of Christ. The materiali cause of the Church is the entirety of the faithful; its l~nal cause is the glorification "of the ~elect; its efficient cause is Christ, His apostles,- and their successors; and its formal cause is the faith as taught'by the Church~s legitimate rulers. ¯ -~Cited in Ludwig von Pastor, The History of the Popes, 23 (St. Louis: Herder, 1933), 384-85. 350 November, 1959 ST. LAWRENCE OF ]~RINDISI Without neglecting the other marks of the Church, St. Lawrence finds holiness or sanctity to be the principal characteris-tic mark of the Church, for it was primary in Christ's plan that I-Iis people be a holy nation. This mark of sanctity is manifested in the Church throughout her entire history by the multiplicity of her saints. This does not mean, St. Lawrence admits, that every Catholic is holy; but just as we call man a rational animal even though not.every part of him is rational, so also we call the Church holy, not because every member of the Church is actually holy and saintly, but because only in the Church do we find that exalted purity of heart and exercise of virtues which Christ desired for his religious society. Chaplain, Superior, Diplomat St. Lawrence had already had contact with two of the great bodies alienated from the Church--Jews and Protestants; now, and in a much different way, he would meet the third great body that was inimical to the Church--the Turks. Because of the con-tinued military strength of the Turks, Pope Clement VIII had formed a league of Christian princes against them; and St. Law-rence was made chief chaplain of the army the emperor contributed to the league. In 1601 the Christian and Turkish forces met at Szekesfehervar, a town thirty-five miles southwest of Budapest and the place where the kings of Hungary had been crowned from 1027 to 1527. The Christian forces were outnumbered four to one; the generals of the league judged retreat the only feasible maneuver. Lawrence, however, opposed their decision and finally convinced them to attack the Turkish forces. He himself exhorted the soldiers to bravery and went into battle at their head, carrying his crucifix as his only source of protection. For five days the battle continued with the saint always in the lead of the Christian forces; at the end of the five days the Turkish forces had "been routed. A few months after this incident St. Lawrence was elected the head of his order with the title of Vicar-.General. As Vicar- General, St. Lawrence was obliged to visit all the houses of his order from Italy to Spain. He made his visitations on foot and was notably successful in deepening throughout the order the love of Capuchin poverty and austerity. In 1606 St. Lawrence returned to Germany at the request of Pope Paul V to assist once more in the, Counter-Reformation. 351 R.' F. SMITH In 1609 his mission in Germ~n~ was interrupted when he was sefit by the same Pope to Philip III of Spai~i to gain his support of ~h~ Ciitholic League recently founded by Maiimilian of Bavaria. Af~er successfully completing this commission, the saint returned to Munich as papal nuncio; in 1610 while still remaining nuncio, he was also made chief chaplain of the armed forces of the Catholic Leagu~.In 1613 the saint's health was broken and he returned to Itaiy.There he was Minister-Provincial of the Genoa province until 1616. In 1619 he'jburneyed to Lisbbfi to plead the cause of the people of Naples against their viceroy. While negotiating the matter he fell ill and died the{e on July 22, 1619. This sketch of the latest doctor of the Church may be fittingly concluded with the words Pope Leo xiII wrote about him at the time of his canonization in 1881: .".There were resplendent in .him all.virtues, especially those which bring us close to God, faith, hope, and charity, from which all the other .virtues spring and derive their supernatural value. Hence his diligent and fervent love of prayer during which he ~vas frequently rapt in ecstasy; hence his remarkable devotion to. the Blessed Sacrament and his constant grief over the sufferings and death of our Lord; hence his most tender love of the Mother' of God to whom he credited all that he had received from Christ; and hence also his stalwart love of the Catholic faith, his horror for heresy and error, and his rock-firm fidelity to the See of Peter.".~ It is regrettable that little has been written in English about St. Lawrence. The only lengthy life of the saint is the volume entitled Life o[ St. Lawrence of Brindisi Apostle and Diplomat by Anthony Brennan, O.F.M.Cap. (London: Washbourne, 1911). The saint and his activities figure prominently in the second volume of Father Cuthbert's The Capuchins (London: Sheed and Ward, 1928). The best general introduction in English to the saint is to be found at present in various issues of Round Table of Fran.ciscan Research, a quarterly published by St. Anthony Friary, Mara-thon, Wisconsin. Four issues of the magazine are especially valu-able: v. 14, n. 2 (February, 1949); v. 14, n. 4 (June, 1949); v. 15, n. 2 (/~pril, 1950); and v. 15, n. 4 (October, 1950). These issues have furnished much of the data given in the present article. :~Cited in Armand Dasseville, "Saint Lawrence of Brindisi," in ~Round Table of Franciscan Research, 14 (1948-1949), 59. 352 Current Spiritual Writing Thomas G. OTallaghan, $. J. Edification p, RIESTS AND RELIGIOUS are frequently exhorted by. their superiors, rules, and retreat directors, to the practice of edification. They might well:ask themselves, however,, wheth.er they are fully aware of the real m~aning, the ]biblical .m.eaning~ of this word edify, in a rece6t,, scholhrly,, and most interesting article, ' "Building the House Of the Lord,''1 George MacRae, S.J., examines the use of this word in the New Testament, especially in St. Paul, in order to discover what is its proper meaning. To edify in its original literal sense meant to build. But when it was used as a religio~s metaphor in the New Testament, what precisely did it fi~ean; what was being built, who was the builder, and how did he build? In the Gospels Christ uses the metaphor twice: once when He promises to build His Church, that is,'not a structure of stone 'and mortar, but the assembly of God's people, upo.n the rock foundation of Peter; the other occasion was when He spoke of building up in three days the Temple of Jerusalem, which He used as a metaphor for His own resurrected body. Analyzing these metaphors, es-pecially in the light of their Old Testament background, MacRae shows that in Christ's use of the term: the builder is God or the Son of God; what is being built is the Church, the permanent assembly of God's people, the spiritual temple; and the purpose is "to perpetuate God's presence among His people and to provide a vehicle for continuing the salvation accomplished by the death and Resurrection of the Son of God." St. Paul also uses the word edify in a metaphorical sense, but with some variati?ns. In his letter to the Ephesians, speaking of the Church as a spiritual temple, Paul tells his readers that they are "members of God's household, built up on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the keystone. In Him the whole building is joined together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord; in Him you are also built to-gether into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit" (2:19-22). 1American Ecclesiastical Review, 140 (1959), 361-76. 353 THOMAS G. 0'CALLAGHAN Review for Religious Through a careful analysis of this text, MacRae shows that the primary object of edification is the Church itself, to be edified or built in the first place by our Lord. But the task of edification is by no means confined to Christ alone. St. Paul more than once echoes the prophet Jeremiah in describing his own apostolic role as one of building up the faithful. He also at times makes it quite clear that edification is the work of every Christian: "Let us pursue the things that make for peace and mutual edification" (Rom 14:19); "Go on encouraging one another and edifying one another as you are doing" (1 Thess 5:11). Christ Himself, the apostles and their successors, all the faithful --these are the builders of the Church, the edifiers. In what does their edification consist? In regard to Christ, His "historical contribution to the building of the Church was His life's work of teaching, healing, sanctifying, redeeming man-kind by His death and Resurrection." This work He continues through grace which, says St. Paul, "has the power to edify" (Acts 20:32). As to the apostles, they must first "lay the founda-tion" (1 Cor 3:10) by preaching Christ and then "build up the Body of Christ" by their entire ministry (Eph 4:12). Finally, for all the faithful, Paul mentions several explicit means of edification: good example, love, personal integrity in dealing with others. In a word, all the good works that we perform as members of the Church are works of edification. There is one final problem to be considered in order to r.ecapture St. Paul's understanding of edification. If we examine all the pass-ages that mention edification, we find that at certain times the object of it is the Church as a whole, at others the individual member. Paul exhorts his readers to edify the Body of Christ and to edify one another. It can happen that too often we forget the collective aspect of edification and concentrate on the in-dividual. In fact, historically that has happened; and in the process there has been a distortion of St. Paul's original metaphor. A close study of the Epistles shows that he overwhelmingly stressed the collective aspect of edification. "Strive to be outstanding," he exhorts, "in.the edification of the Church" (1 Cor 14:42). The edification o~ individuals within the Church is only meaning-ful in relation to the Church as a whole. We should, therefore, try to rid our understanding of edification of any selfish or merely personal emphasis. "None of us lives for himself," the Apostle 354 November, 1959 CURRENT SPIRITUAL WRITING reminds us. "For if we live, we live for the Lord . We are the Lord's" (Rom 14:7-8). Edification is every Christian's partici-pation in the redemptive work of the Church, the Body of Christ and the Temple of His presence among us. Prayer For St. Teresa of Jesus mental prayer is an exercise of love, of personal love of God. It is an intimate, affective conversation with a loving God. Of the two major faculties which play a part in prayer, the intellect and will, it is the. will which is the more important. For, as the late Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D., the eminent commentator on Teresian prayer, pointed out more than once, it is from the will that love and the other basic affections flow; since it is these which are most effective and fruitful in uniting the soul with God, the will must hold the first place in prayer. That is not to deny to the intellect its own importance, but it is still secondary to the will. -In fact, the primary purpose of intellectual work in prayer is to prepare for the affections of the will. But, before the will can love God and pour out affections to Him, God must be present to the soul in some way. Thus, Teresa also stresses the importance of faith in the divine presence. For St. Teresa, then, to be with God and to speak intimately with Him, this is the substance of mental prayer. In the Way of Perfection, when commenting on the Our Father, the saint of Avila laid great stress on one way in particular of being with God. She tried to teach and impress on her nuns, many of whom were not learned in things theological, the extraordinary importance of the inhabitation of God in the soul. This doctrine of the presence of the triune God in the soul she made the basis of what she calls the Prayer of Recollection. Since God dwells in the soul, St. Teresa taught her nuns' to seek Him there, and there to speak intimately with Him as with a "Father, a Brother, a Lord and a Spouse -- and, sometimes in one way and sometimes in another . Remember how important it is for you to under-stand this truth--that the Lord is within us and that we should be there with Him.''~ This prayer Teresa calls the Prayer of Recollection because the soul collects together all the faculties, withdraws the senses from all outward things, and enters within itself to be with its 2The Complete Works of Saint Teresa of Jesus (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1946), 2, 115. 355 THOMAS G. O'CALLAGHAN Review for Religious Divine Guest. Thus, there is a detachment from. exterior things in order to center itself on God dwelling within the soul. This recollection; .Teresa of Avila warned her religious, is not an easy thing to acquire, especially at the beginning.It.demands ener-getic effort and mortification, and the soul should expect this. But if one continues faithfully to make the necessary effort--not only during prayer but. also at other times during the day--then the soul will gain .mastery over itself and will be able, without any great, fatiguing effort, to center itself on God within. ' Onde the soul has found God, it doesnot seem that the Prayer of.Recollection demands, any partidular way of praying. St. Teresa even susgests vocal prayer, that one recite very slowly the Our Fathei~. "Accustom yourselves, to saying the Paternoster'in :this recollected way, and before long you will see how you gain' by doing so. It is a method of prayer which establishes habits that prevent the soUl. from going astray and the faculties from becom-ing restless . I only beg~you to test it." ". But whether a person prays vocally or mentally, the general tendency of the Pray,er ,of. Recollection is .that it easily becomes simplified. That is why:some authors, i~ seems,, classify it as a PraYer of simple' regard or of active contemplation. Since it is not too often that one finds in American periodicals an e.xplanation oof St. Teresa's l~rayer of Recpllection,. some may be int.~rested in reading "The Prayer of Remembering" by Father I-linnebi~sch, O.P.3 Eyen better--wi~h all due respect to the learned author--those who are interested might prefer to read the Way Per[ection, especi.ally Chapters 28 and 29, and study there, the doctrine in the saint's own words. Abnegation Despite frequent substitution for one another, the words abnegation, renouncement, and mortification, although they have something in common, are strictly nbt synonyms, nor are they "used.-in Sacred Scripture as such. In order to determine their precise meaning, the very learned and scholarly Father Hausherr, $.J., examines each of th.ese.words in their evangelical context.4 Since his obser~atibns are most interesting, it might 'be useful 3Cro~ss and Crown, 11 (1959), 174-79. 4"Abnegation, Renouncement, Mortification," Christus, 6 (1959), 182-95. . . 356 November, 1959 CURRENT SPIRITUAL WR.ITING to mention¯ a¯ few of° them. But, because a summary of his explana-tion of mortification might easily distort his teaching, we will limit ourself to a few of his observations on" abnegation and re: nouncement. ~n abnegation there 'is hegation; and to deny (negate) is an intellectual operation. But when the Gospel, speaking of abnega1' "tion as some" sort of duty, uses the word abnegate (a'bnegare), it always has, but for one exception, the same direct object: to deny oneself (Mt~ 16:24; Mk 8:34; Lk 9i23). The abnegation which Christ, who is Truth, demands of us is that wedeny of ou~selves that which is not true. That seems to b~little, but it is ieally something enormous. For the great truth about ourselves is that we are creatures of God; .ne.gatively, that. we are not God. Thi~ fundamental negation cohstitutes the whole essence of .~bnegation, just as the essence of ~doration is the fundamental affirmation that God is God. Th~s~ two truths are reallyo~ly ~ne; there is no abnegation without adoration of God, and no adoration of God without abne-gation of oneself. Thus, abnegation taken in this proper sense will last forever. Perhaps the best° formula of ~he basic abnegation of oneself is that of the Baptist: "And he acknowledged and did not deny; and he acknowledged, 'I am not the Christ' " (Jn-1:20). ¯ " AbnegatiOn then, beipg primarily ~an intellectual" a.ct, an a~kfiowledgment of'truth, does ndt indicate any pain or suffering. On the ~ont~ary, itseems quite clear that there isno reai" happiness except in the truth; and in ~ohfirmati(>n of this, one may point to the joy which accompanies devout adoration. But abnegation, precisely because it is an intellectual act,. does entail some inescapable .consequences. Just as to know God in the biblical sense means to acknowledge and to' treat Him as God, so to deny myself means to ackpowledge that I am a.creature and to behave as such. Abneg6tionzadoration lived out in daily living becomes renouncement and mortification. The Greek word which we translate as .renounce means to set apart, to dismiss (Christ dismissed the crowd.before going ~nto the hills to pray), to take leave of (Paul took leave of the brethren and sailed for Syria). .- ~ .: The commandment of renouncement is contained in the~single text: "Every one of you who does not renounce all that h~possesses, 357 THOMAS G. 0'CALLAGHAN Review for Religious cannot be my disciple" (Lk 14:33). This commandment is addressed to all and pertains to all goods of whatever nature. While abnega-tion means that God is God and that we are not God, 'and consists in neither considering nor treating ourselves as God, renouncement emphasizes that God is God and nothing else is God, and consists in neither considering nor treating any created pers.on or thing as God. This then is an affair of the heart, a disposition of interior. detachment, of spiritual poverty. Nothing may be loved with the sovereign love due to God alone. Renouncement is thus the logical consequence of that basic truth: God is God, and neither I nor any created thing is God. ~ Complacency and Concern During the year there appeared in Theological Studies a very long and scholarly article entitled "Complacency and Concern in the Thought of St. Thomas.''5 It was written for experts in the field. But in another article under a similar title the author sum-marized in a simple and clear way a few of the more practical aspects of the matter.6 It might be of some interest to mention here a few of the points which he made. Human activity may be divided into the two compartments of necessity and possibility. Man reacts to these two in different ways. When one is faced with the possibility of accomplishing something of value, he rises to effort and action; but faced with necessity, he must submit. In order to live, then, with wisdom and get the most out of life, one must see clearly what are necessities and inevitable limitations, and be willing to submit to them; but one must also see what are possibilities, and then react with effort and concern. Thus, there are two attitudes towaid life, each complementing and moderating the other. On the one hand there is the rest and simple complacency which comes from acquiescing willingly to the necessities of life, to what must be. On the other hand there is the solicitude and concern of trying to attain certain attractive possible goals, of contending for what is not yet, but can be. To necessity there should correspond in our life the disposition of "complacency in the good that is"; and to possibility there should correspond "concern for the good that may be." ~Frederick E. Crowe, S.J., 20 (1959), 1-39, 198-230, 343-95. 6"Complacency and Concern," Cross and Crown, 11 (1959), 180-90. November, 1959 CURRENT SPIRITUAL WRITING There seems to be something of this division in Scripture. In reading the Written Word of God we meet at times what seem to be contradictory recommendations. If we examine them, perhaps we will find that these scriptural recommendations can be ordered around the two attitudes of complacency and concern, and that the situations to which they are to be applied correspond to what Father Crowe calls necessity and possibility. For example, we are told to strain forward to what is before, to press on to the goal, to fight the good fight. We must watch and pray, be vigilant; we have to serve God with a whole heart and with all our strength. All this suggests effort, drive, concern for goals which can be attained. Yet we are also told not to be anxious for life, to be willing to accept the order of divine Providence. For if, like the humble Christ, we accept the things which we cannot change, then we will find rest for our souls. This suggests complacency in the face of necessity. Although he does not mention the point, it seems that the distinction which the author makes between possibility and ne_ces-sity is very close to the distinction which many modern spiritual writers make between the signified will of God and the will of good pleasure. At least in practice it appears that they would work out to be just about the same thing. Also, what he calls concern and complacency is very similar to what spiritual writers mean by active and passive conformity. I-Iere also it seems that in practice they would more or less coincide. Perhaps these simi-larities are worth some consideration: One thing, however, is quite true. One of the reasons why many generous and dedicated religious do not enjoy the peace of soul which should rightly be theirs is that they d5 not dis-tinguish carefully between what Father Crowe defines and ex-plains as necessity and possibility. They become concerned about necessities and unavoidable limitations, about things which should be the object of peaceful complacency. (Of course, there are also those who are too often complacent when they should be concerned; this is basically laz.iness.) These souls who find themselves without interior peace, overconcerned and anxious about things which they cannot chan~e, might do well to read this article. They might find there a source of some help. 359 Survey of Roman DocUme nts R. F. Smith, S. J: THE DOCUMENTSWhich appeared in Acta (A~A pSo)stoiicae Sedis during June and July, 1959, will be surveyed in the' follow.ing article. Throughout the article all page references will be" to the 1959 AAS (v. 51). ¯ John XXIII's First Encyclical On the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, June 29, 1959 (AAS, pp. 497-531), John XXIII issued the first encyclical of his pontificate. Entitled Ad Petri cathedram, the document was divided into four parts, the first of which was concerned, with truth. The root caus.eof, all the evils that infect individuals and nations today, His Holiness began, is ignorance and even contempt of truth. This condition~ .has arisen, he continued, even though God has given man a reason cap'able Of l~now-ing natural truth and despite the. fact that the Word of God, became flesh to show man the plenitude of truth. Because of the latter fact, the Pontiff continued, all men. must a.dopt the do~trine of the gospe.l; and if they reject it,. they jeopardize the foundations of t~uth, probity,' and civilization and deprive themselves of'eternal life. In this connectior~ the Vicar of Christ warned thos~ ahsoci~t~d with the commucation arts of writing, radio, movies, hnd television to avoid deceit and evil especially 'in matteis intended for~ the ~neducated and the young. In concluding the first" part of .the encyclical the Holy Father lamented the indifference to truth that leads to religious in-difference and eventually to the denial of all religion. The men of today, he remarked, work tirelessly for the progress of human knowledge; should they not, he asked, exercise a similar zeal to acquire that knowl-edge which is concerned not with this earthly and mortal life but with the life of heaven which does not pass away? In the second part of the encyclical, John XXIII noted that from the acquisition of truth there must necessarily flow union and concord. God, he ins.isted, has created men to be brothers, not enemies. To them he has given the earth for their support and sustenance. Accordingly the different nations of the edith should be communities of brothers who should work together not only for their own individual purposes but also for the common good of all humanity. If, he added, brotherly union based on justice and nourished by charity does not prevail; then the world situation will continue to be grave. Shofild a war break out, both conquerors and conquered will reap nothing but disaster and universal ruin, so great is the power of modern weapons. Concord and unity must also exist between the social classes within a nation. Such class distinctions, he said, are necessary; but 360 ROMAN DOCUMENTS just as the different parts of the body form. a symmetrical whole, so also the various classes should by their mutual collaboration realize a harmonious equilibrium. The Vicar .of .Christ completed this part of the encyclical by.urging a similar unity and concord in the family, observing that if concord does not exist there it will never be achieved in society at large. The third and principal part of the encyclical was concerned with the unity of the Church. Noting that in recent times those who are separated from the Holy See have grown in sympathy towards the Catholic Church and at the same time have attempted to create a closer unity among themselves, the Pontiff proceeded to show how the unity Christ willed for His Church is to be found in the Catholic Church with her unity of doctrine, government, and worship. Unity of doctrine, he said, is possessed by the Church because she teaches all the truths of divine revelation as they are conserved in Scripture and tradition and-clarified, by the teaching power of .the Church. The Church's unity of government is easy to perceive: the faithful are subject to their priests; the priests to their bishops; the bishops to the Roman Pdntiff, successor of Peter, the foundation rock of the Church. 'A similar unity of worship is to be found in the Church, for she has always had the seven sacraments and has possessed but one sacrifice, that of the Eucharist. Addressing .himsel~ ~lirectly to those who are separated from the Holy S~e., the Pontiff asked them if this spectaclb of the unity of the Catholic Church .does not answer their own desire for unity; and he invited them to return to the Church which they will find is not a strange dwelling but the common house of the heavenly Father: Re-minding them that the troops of the saints which their nations have already sent to heaven urge them to. unity with the Holy See, the Pdntiff concluded, his plea by s.aying to all those who are separated from the chair of Peter: "I am your brother Joseph" (Gen 45:4) who desires nothin~ for you but your salvation and eternal happiness. In the 'fi~i~l part of the encyclical, John XXIII considered the various member's of the Church. He urged the bishops to fortify them-selves in their work to extend the kingdom of God by ~ecalling the words of St. Paul: "I can do all things in Him who strengthens me" (Phil 4:13). To the clergy he recommended respectful ,obedienc~ to the bishops and exhort&t them never to think that they havb done enough to further the reign of Christ. Having encouraged religions men to live the rule of their live~ in obedience to their superiors, he asked them to be especially zealous for prayer, works of penance,. ~ducation of the young, 'and the care of the needy. He assured the missionaries .of the Church that no enterprise is more pleasing to God than their own. He extolled the role of religious women in the Church as the brides of Christ and noted that their work 361 R. F. SMITH Review for Religious is of incalculable profit both for the Church and fort civil society. To members of Catholic Action he promised a special document later in his pontificate, contenting himself for the present with the remark that the zeal of the laity should be as great as the needs of our times. He consoled the afflicted and suffering by reminding them that we have not here a lasting city but seek one for the future; and he asked them to utilize their sufferings to expiate the sins of others and to obtain the return of those who have quitted the Church. He told the poor that the Church is not their enem. y but rather preaches a social doctrine that aims at a just distribution of material wealth. Above all he urged them not to allow false promi~.es of material goods to lead them to embrace doctrines c~ndemned by the Church. After detailing the unfortunate lot of the refugees in the world today and after describing the bitter situation of the persecute~ members of the Church, the Pontiff concluded his encyclical by .exhOrting all not only to pray for the Church's needs but to contribute to the flowering of the Church by a renovation of Christian living. Allocutions and Addresses At the solemn Vespers for Pentecost, May 17, 1959 (AAS," pp. 419-22), the Vicar of Christ delivered an allocution in which he shared with his listeners both joyful and sad news. The joyful announcement was concerned with the formation of a commission to prepare the work of the projected ecumenical council. The sad news was the worsening condition of the Church in China and .Hungary. After d, escribing the conditions now existing in those countries, the Pontiff promised prayer that Christ, who in founding the Church did not wish to exclude per-secution from her, might give the persecuted brethren cpnstancy and firmness and might bring the persecutors light, pardon, a~d conversion. On the same day (AAS, p. 430) the Pontiff also gave a brie~radio address to conclude an all-European broadcast Of the hymn Veni Creator. On June 28, 1959 (AAS, pp. 476-81), at the solemn First Vespers of the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, the Vicar of Christ delivered an o allocution on the liturgy of the feast and its accompanyipg blessing of the pallium. Just as, the Pope said, the brief dialogue between the angel and Mary in the sacred silence of Nazareth summed up the mystery of the Incarnation and of the redemption, so too the dialpgue between Peter and Christ at Caesarea Philippi established the structure of the Catholic Church. Peter then opens the line" of the Roman Pontiffs whose authority extends to the teaching work of the Church as well as to the organization of the Church's work throughout the world. The pallium, he concluded, which is blessed on the present occasion, is a symbol of unity and sign of perfect coinmunion with the Holy See; it is, as well, an indication of fidelity to the teaching of the head of the Church. On July 5, 1959 (AAS, pp. 536-38), John XXIII broadcast a message to those participating in the seventeenth Eucharistic Congress 362 November, 1959 ROMAN DOCUMENTS of France. Telling his listeners that a Eucharistic congress is nothing else than a long, fervent visit to the Blessed Sacrament, he warned them that the traditional practice of visits to the Blessed Sacrament is today neglected and even disparaged by some members of the Church. Accordingly he urged his listeners to retur~ to their homes persuaded of the excellence of this practice and desirous to make it loved by others. On May 17, 1959 (AAS, p. 431), the Pope radioed a message to the people of Portugal congratulating them on the completion of their national shrine to Christ the King. On May 26, 1959 (AAS, pp. 426-27), the Holy Father addressed the Order of Canons Regular of St. Augustine on the occasion of the federation of the four congregations° which compose the order. On the previous day (AAS, pp. 466-68) he had addressed a letter to Bishop Severinus Haller, newly chosen Abbot Primate of the order, 'in com-memoration Of the nine hundredth anniversary of the Lateran Synod which gave decisive shape and form to the order. The Pontiff encour-aged the members of the order to carry out the principal purposes of their institute; and after bidding them to emphasize common life, to reject worldly ways of thinking, and to practice obedience to superiors as to Christ, he urged them to continue that fraternal charity which has always b~en the characteristic of the order. On June 11, 1959 (AAS, pp. 470-73), John XXIII addressed a group of former chaplains of the Italian army. He told them that his own soldiering experience had led him to a deeper understanding of human nature and had also given him a great respect for the priesthood as he saw it exercised by his army chaplains.' Later as a chaplain, he continued, he had come into contact with the wounded and suffering; and their gro,ans brought home to him man's universal desire for peace. Hence, he said, all military chaplains should be men of peace who by their very presence bring serenity to souls. He reminded his listeners that the chaplain should always approach his men as a priest. The men, he emphasized, expect from their chaplains the light of the gospel and of sacrifi~ce; and they wish to see in the chaplain the minister of Christ and tl~e dispenser of the mysteries of God. On June 28, 1959 (AAS, pp. 481-83), the Pope gave a world broad-cast as part of the beginning of World Refugee Year. Exiles, he explained, have always 'been a special object of the Church's solicitude, for she can not forget the words of Christ: "I was a stranger and you took me I ~n; naked and you clothed me . I was in prison and you came to see me" (Mt 25:35-37). Today, he went on, hundreds of thousands of exiles are living in camps and barracks, are humiliated in their dignity as men, and are exposed to sharp temptations of discouragement and despair. The existence of such a state of affairs, he asserted, is an anomaly in a society so proud of its technical and social progress. The Holy Father exhorted all the faithful to cooperate in the Refugee Year and bade pastors to call the attention of their charges to this invitation of 363 R. F. SMITH Providence to exercise Christian charity. He also urged public authori-ties to' intensify their' efforts in behalf of refugees, expressing a wish that-countries open their frsntiers to them: ~ ¯ Five allocutions' given in the June and July issues of AAS were given to heads of state on thei~ official visits to the Holy Father. They were given to the regents of the Republic of San Marino (AAS, pp. 423-24), to the kirig dnd qdeen of Greece (AAS, pp. 424-26), to the president of the Republic of Turkey (AAS, pp. 427-29),' to the prince and princess of Monaco (AAS, pp. 473-74), and to the president of France (AAS, pp. 474-76). Miscellaneous Documents By th~ apostolic letter Celsitudo ex hurnilitate of March 19, 1959 (AAS,. pp. 456-61), Pope John XXIII declared St. Lawrence of Brindisi a doctor of the Church and established his feast day on July 21. By another apostolic letter "Agnes sepulchrum," February .27, 1959 (AAS, pp.,.415-17), the Church of St. Agnes Outside the .Walls was made a stational church (along with the previous station, St. John Before the Latin Gate) for the Saturday after Passion Sunday. On May 17, 1959 (AAS, ,pp. 401-03), the Pontiff's motu proprio Cum inde granted the Pontifical Lateran Athenaeum the status of a univeroity. On June 5, 1959 (AAS, p. 489), the Sacred Penitentiary released the text of a prayer composed by the Holy Father to be recited~by automobile drivers. Drivers who recite the prayer devoutly and with contrite heart may gain an indulgence of three years. . The Sacred Congregation of Rites on January 28, 1959 ~AA~,:pp. 4.8.5-88), approved the introduction of the cause of the Servant of God Mary Ann Sala (1829-1891) of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Marcellina (Marcellines). On May 8,-1959 .(AAS, pp. 484-85), the Holy .Office issued a warning concerning Giovanni Taddei, priest of the diocese of Biella, who had ,already been suspended and excluded from the wearing of ecclesiastical costume. Since he has subsequently joined a non-.Catholic sect and has received there episcopal consecration, he has merited excommunication and the other penalties of canon 2314, § 1. Moreover he has dared to confer sacred orders on Catholic subjects; such persons, are to be considered as heretics or 'at least as suspect of heresy; moreover their ordinations are not recognized by the .Church and the persons involved are to be treated as laymen in all things including the right to contract marriage. The same Holy Office in a decree of June 4,. 1958 (AAS, p. 432), placed the following books by Henri Dumdry on the Index: Philosophie de la religion, 2 v. (Paris: Presses. Universitaires de France, 1957); Critique.et religion (Paris: Socidtd d'Edition d'Enseignement Supdrieur, 1957); Le probl~rne de Dieu en la philosophie de. la religion (Bruges: Desclde de. Brouwer, 1957); and La foi' n'est pas un cri (Tournai: Caster-man, 1957). 364 Views, News, Previews UNDER THE AUSPICES of the Sacred Congregation of Religio.us there has been issued a volume entitled Directory of the Religious Women of Italy (Annuario delle religiose d'Italia). The volume, which is to be a quinquennial publication, provides a national directory of the various religious orders and congregations of women in Italy. According to the foreword of the directory the Sacred Congregation had four motives in view when sponsoring the publication: 1) The congregation wished to have a clear, systematic, and. complete view of the numerical, geographical, and social situation of the women religious of Italy. 2) It wished to manifest in a concrete way the importance it attaches to the 'use and proper interpretation of statistics on religious life. 3) The congregation wished to offer to all those interested in the problems of modern religious life an objective and complete view which would aid them to give a correct solution to those problems. 4)' Finally it wished to use the compilation of the directory as a pilot study for a future volume on all the states of perfection in the entire Church. The directory is divided into four parts. The first of these gives an alphabetical listing of all the religious institutes for women .to be found in Italy; and for each of them it gives its specific aim, briefly indicates its history, and notes the extent of its existence m countries other, than Italy. The second part follows the previous alphabetical list, this time noting after each institute the location of each Italian house. The third part provides an~ alphabetical list of the dioceses of Italy, noting in each diocese the location of all its houses of religious women. The fourth and final part is devoted to statistical tables on the number and distribution of religious women in Italy. The directory, which costs 4,000 life, may be purchased from the following address: Segreteria del .C.I.S. Piazza S. Callisto, 16, Rome, Italy The foreword of the directory mentioned in the preceding item includes some interesting statistics of the religious women of Italy. The following chart, taken from those statistics, shows the growth in numbers of religious women in Italy: Year Number ofreligious women 1881 28,172 1901 40,251. 1911 . 45,616 1921 71,679 . 1931 112,208 ~951 144,171 1957 152,312 Number of religious women per 10,000 population 9.9 12.4 13.~. .18.9 27.2 30.3 31.3 365 VIEWS, NEWS, PREVIEWS The directory also makes some important remarks on the geographical distribution of religious women in Italy. In 1881 the greater number of religious women was to be found in the central and southern parts of Italy. In 1957, however, 55% of .the religious women are found in northern Italy, 24 % in central Italy, and 21% in southern Italy. The July 15, 1959, issue of Informations catholiques internationales gave a panoramic view of every phase of the Church today; from it are taken the following statistics of interest to priests and religious. At the present time the Church has 381,500 priests, of which 116,000 are religious and 265,500 belong to the diocesan clergy. On this basis there is 1 priest for every 1,261 Catholics in the world. This propor-tion, however, does not indicate the wide variations in the geographical distribution of priests. Such variations are given in the following table which lists for each geographical division the number of Catholics for each priest as well as the total number of inhabitants for each priest: Number of Catholics Total population Region. per priest per priest Africa 1,538 16,555 Asia 1,531 75,827 Central America 5,077 5,257 Europe 925 2,510 North America 652 2,685 Oceania 588 3,763 South America 4,569 5,030 The same source reports that at present there are 283,640 men religious in the world; 58% of these are in Europe; 16% in North America, 14% in Latin America, 6% in Africa, 4.5% in Asia, and 1.5% in Oceania. Religious women of the world number about 930,000; of these 61% are in Europe, 21% in North America, 8% in Latin America, 4% in Asia, 2% in Africa, and 4% in Oceania. The United States and Italy together have one-third of the religious women in the world. September 27, 1960, will mark the three hundredth anniversary of the death of St. Vincent de Paul. The Vincentian Fathers and the Daughters of Charity throughout the world will celebrate this anni-versary of their founder by an entire preparatory Year of Observance. The year began in September, 1959, and will extend through September, 1960. Those interested in more information about the year may con-tact: Tercentenary Observance Committee, The Vincentian Fathers, 500 E. Chelten Avenue, Philadelphia 44, Pennsylvania. 366 ( uestions Answers [The following answers are given by Father Joseph F. Gallen, S. J., professor of canon law at Woodstock College, Woodstock, Maryland.] I believe that the proportion of very elderly members in the general chapters of our congregation of sisters is constantly too great. I admit the validity of the argument of wisdom and ex-perience, but this does not demand that so many capitulars be from the highest age level. Many elderly religious are simply out of touch. They understand neither the youth of today nor today itself. Is there any system of delegates that. apportions the delegates according to various age levels? I agree completely with the reasoning of this questioner. I know of no such system of delegates that has been actually approved by the Holy See, but one pontifical institute is considering a system of the following type for presentation to the Sacred Congregation. 1. In the election of delegates to the general (provincial) chapter, only the sisters of perpetual vows have active and passive voice. These sisters shall elect twenty-four delegates. 2. From a prepared list containing the names of all local superiors then in office, each sister shall vote for six delegates. 3. The mother general (provincial), with the consent of her council, will have divided into three equal groups according to precedence from first profession the sisters of perpetual vows who are neither local superiors nor members of the general (provincial) chapter in virtue of any office. She will also have made clear to the vocals just what sisters are in each group. 4. At the same time as the election of the superior delegates, each sister shall vote for six delegates from each of these three groups. This voting will be done on a ballot marked group 1, group 2, group 3. 5. In each house, on the day determined in the letter of convocation, the sisters shall assemble under the presidency of their local superior. The latter shall collect all the ballots without inspecting them and enclose them with her own ballots in an envelope, which she shall seal in the presence of the electors. She shall write on this inner envelope, "Election of Delegates, House N." and forward it immediately to the mother general (provincial). 6. As soon as possible after all the envelopes have been received, the mother general (provincial), with her council, shall open the envelopes and count the votes. The secretary general (provincial) shall record the votes. The elections are decided by a relative majority. The sub-stitutes are the local superiors and sisters of each group who in order received the next highest number of votes (c. 174; 101, § 1, 1°). 367 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Review for Religious The first article is to be omitted if stated elsewhere in the con-stitut. ions. Perpetual vows for a determined number of years may be demanded for passive voice or also for active voice, for example, of perpetual vows for at least five years. The delegates will be elected for the provincial chapter; if the institute is divided into provinces; other-wise for the general chapter. This system, as is true in general of group systems, will maintain the same number in the general or provincial chapter not~.'thstanding any increase in the number of members of the institute or province. I believe that the numbe~ in a chapter of lay i~stitutes should not be greater than forty. A chapter of fifty or more becomes progressively unwieldy and inefficient. The chapters of many clerical institutes are also too large for efficiency. Ordinarily seven general and provincial officials are members of the general or provincial chapter. There are frequently two or three added .members, for ~example, forme~ superiors general in the general, chapter. The present system would therefore givea chapter of thirty-one to thirty-five members. Some may prefer to elect twenty-eight delegates. The present system would give a proportion of eighteen subjects to thirteen superiors and officials, which seems appropria.te. ~. Local superiors are eligible by the mere fact that they hold this office. It does not seem practical to divide ttiem also accordihgto preceden~ce.The oldest eligible sisters will be in group one, the middle level in group two, and the youngest in group three. If the total numbe~ does not permit a division into three perfectly equal groups, the added members, according to the general norm of precedence, will be in the older group, for example, 51, 50, .50, or 51, 51, 50. A provincial chapter ordinarily elects two delegates to the general chapter, rarely three or four. The same system may be employed for these delegates by dividing the eligible .sisters into two, three, or four groups. Article six'states that the 'substitutes are thos~e who in order re-ceived the next highest number of votes. Therefore,' no matter how many substitutes are required or how many substitutes are also pre-vented from attending, the places are filled by taking'those with'the next highest number of votes. In institutes divided into provinces, it may be established that this norm of substitution from the. first group applies also to the mother provincial, if she cannot attend" the general chapter. Any tie vote is broken by the u~ual norm of lay institutes, that is, by seniority of first profession; but if the sisters made their first pro-fession on the same day, by seniority of age- I presume that this norm was previously stated i~i the constitutions in a ~eneral article on the number of votes required for an election. 368 November, 1959 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Religious institutes appear to me to be outstandingly lacking in cooperation with other religious institutes. The religious of one institute are at least very frequently aloof and distant in their attitude to other religious, and the institutes themselves often appear more as rivals than partners in carrying out the work of Christ. This does not seem to me to conform to the concept of the Mystical Body. Even in the Church of Chris~, we can have the human failing of being so intent on ourselves and our own work as to forget and neglect others. This is possible in religions and religions institutes; it is equally possible in other parts of the Church, for example, in the relation of one diocese to another and of the Church in one country in relation to the faithful in another. Love of our own nation can so readily and falsely lead ns to the unalterable assumption of its superiority over° ,other nations in everything and the same self-deception can occur with regard to our own institute.- The greatness of an institute i~ not necessarily the measure of such dorporate pride. Pride is not confined to the powerful and rich; it can be more intense, pervasive, and harmful in the weak and poor. Abbe Baechler aptly and beautifully expresse~ the right principle in this matter. It is noticeable that our time, in which institutions and customs change so rapidly and present so many problems, shows a special predilection for the dodtrine of the Mystical Body. It is equally providential that, not content with admiring the doctrine, it should be eager to make use of it in its life; to work together, to pray together, to collaborate as a team, all this is a distinctive feature of the young people of today. The "s~nse of the Church" is developing, and is inspiring many realizations from the top of the hier-archical ladder down to the least of the faithful. To have the "sense of the Church" will mean for a congregation and its members, first of all conscious-ness of being a part of Christ's great family, a branch of the Sacred Vine, a member of the Mystical Body. One of the first consequences of this great awakening will be a feeling of dependence and humility, very necessary in religious life; w~ are not a Whole, but a part: Christ is the whole: omnia in omnibus. This is the way to fight against .a kind of collective individualism, if I may say so, a kind of feeling of perfection and fullness, as well as of family exclusiveness, not unheard of in congregations, especially when they are large and well organized. Individual members feel so well off there that they think they can suffice to themselves. Actually, however glorious the history of an institute may be, however perfect its Constitutions, however enlightened its Superiors, it remains the servant of Christ and of His Church that prolongs and extends Him. It is not an only child; it has many b~oth~rs and sisters. Certainly it is not only legitimate but even h0nourable to be proud of one's Order, of its past, of its great men. But we must not for all that forget the Church,' nor despise the other members of the Mystical Body. St. Francis de Sales exhorted the Sisters of the Visitation in a charming page to complete their personal humility by collective humility: they were to look on theirs as the smallest and last of religious congregations, though they are to love it more than all the others, just as a child prefers his mother to any other woman even although there are others more .beautiful. (Communal Life, 200-201.) Although greater cooperation is always possible and desirable, I belieYe that the religions institutes of our time have not only awakened 369 BOOK REVIEWS Review [or Religious to the necessity but have manifested a heartening spirit of cooperation. This has been evident in the activities of educational and hospital associations; the confederations of higher superiors; the federations of monasteries of nuns; religious congresses, institutes, and workshops; and especially in so many aspects of the sister formation movement. Doesn't renovation and adaptation really imply reform? All writers deny this; but, if renovation means an increase of fer~?,or, doesn't this imply a reprehensible lack of fervor in the past? Renovation and adaptation can be said to imply reformation or reform only if these are taken in the sense of making better or improving, not if they imply moral evil or abuses in the past. The purpose of renovation and adaptation is not the correction of evil but the elimina-tion of a blind, unswerving, and material conformity to everything done in the past and of the lack of a true, constant, and universal spirit of progress. "A true adaptation is a modification of the constitutions and observances for a better realization of the spirit of the founder in given circumstances. The true adaptation arises not from a lessening of life but from an increase of fervor. The more fervent the life, the better it adapts itself" (Most Reverend A. Ancel in Acta et Documenta Congressus Generalis de Statibus Perfectionis, I [Rome: Pia Societh San Paolo, 1952], 124). "Even the Church has always admitted a certain evolution that the circumstances rendered necessary. Anyone who is opposed in principle to adaptations does not possess the spirit of the Church" (Ancel, ibid.). "The purpose is to give a new impetus to the religious life by rendering easier the development of its ti-ue values and remSving the obstacles in its externals that were established in human and social circumstances of life different from our own, no longer have any reason for existence, and can be profitably replaced by others that take. into account the changed conditions of life" (Reverend Gabriel of Saint Mary Magdalene, .O.C.D., ibid., 139). Booh Reviews [Material for this department should be sent directly to Book Review Editor, REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, West Baden College, West Baden Springs, Indiana.] THE BRIDE: ESSAYS IN THE CHURCH. By Daniel Berrigan, S.J. New York: Macmillan, 1959. Pp. 142. $3.50. The excellence of this book of reflections on the Church and her meaning in sacred history and in the life of the Christian will come as no surprise to those who have read Father Berrigan's highly acclaimed volume of poems, Time Without Number. This second book is not easy to classify; the publisher's 370 November, 1959 BooK REVIEWS dust jacket refers to it as a theological prose-poem; perhaps "variations on some theological themes" would serve as a description. In any case, The Bride is eminently worth reading, an unusually moving and beautiful book. Various chapters deal with Israel and her role in the history of salva-tion; with the event of the Incarnation; with the Church as extension of the incarnate Word; the Kingdom in history; the meaning of person in the light of faith; the Christian's knowledge of redeemed creation; the mission of the Church; various elements of the Christian life -- prayer, suffering, the sacrifice of the Mass, fulness in the Church, the saints. Throughout, every-thing is seen in the light of the risen Lord living in His Church. In every chapter the fine sensibility and intelligence of the poet accom-panies uncommon spiritual insight into the theological realities which bear on Christian existence and the ecclesial life~ and again and again the quality of Father Berrigan's writing wonderfully renews what it touches. True, The Bride is not, as Time Without Number was not, an "easy" book. The author is often content to "reveal" a truth in quick bold strokes, rapidly suggest its relevance, and pass on to other reflections. The unity of the chapters, as of the entire book, is to be looked for in the insights which illuminate various aspects of the themes treated. If the reading sometimes proves difficult (we trust the preparation of a second edition will allow the more painstaking editing this book deserves), it is nonetheless invariably rewarding. One hopes that this work will reach the hands of all thoughtful Christians --those above all who are engaged in various forms of the apostolic life--who need just such food for their minds and hearts as this. Religious will find here much that is fresh and valuable for their prayer and reflection, much to quicken true Christian love and apostolic concern. Few books we know impart so well and with such sincerity the breadth and beauty of the Christian vision and. the sense of the imperiousness anal urgency of the Christian vocation to share in the labor of the redemption.--C. G. AR~VALO, S.J. THE BIBLE IN THE CHURCH. By Bruce Vawter, C.M. New York: Sheed and Ward, 1959. Pp. 95. Paper $.75. PATTERN OF SCRIPTURE. By Cecily Hastings, Vincent Rochford, and Alexander Jones. New York: Sheed and Ward, 1959. Pp. 96. Paper $.75. Father Vawter, whose clarity of expression is happily matched by his ind.ustry, states his purpose in the first sentence of his foreword: "This little book is intended as a brief explanation of the role played by the Bible in the life of the Catholic Church." On this basis he divides his material into