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Issue 18.1 of the Review for Religious, 1959. ; A.M.D.G. Review for Religious JANUARY 15, 1959 Cloistered Contemplatives . Plus XII Keeping the Rules . p. DeLetter Mental Illness Among Religious . . . Ricl~arg P. Vaugl~an Christ and the Supernatural Life . Daniel ,J. M~ Callahan Book Reviews :(~.uestio~s and Answers Delayed Vocations Roman Documents about: China Sacred Music and the Liturgy VOLUME 18 NUMBER REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS VOLUME 18 JANUARY, 1959 NUI~IBER 1 CONTENTS EDITORIAL NOTE . 3 PIUS XII'S ALLOCUTION TO CLOISTERED CONTEMPLATIVES~ Translated by Frank C. Brennan, S.J . 4 KEEPING THE RULES~P. DeL~tter, S.J . 13 OUR CONTRIBUTORS . i . 24 DELAYED VOCATIONS . 24 SEVERE MENTAL ILLNESS AMONG RELIGIOUS-- Richard P. Vaughan, s.J . 25 COMMUNICATIONS . 36 CHRIST THE AUTHOR AND SOURCE OF THE SUPERNATURAL LIFE-- Daniel J. M. Callahan, s.J . ~ .37 SURVEY OF ROMAN DOCUMENTS~R. F. Smith, S.J . 42 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS: 1. "Brain-washed" Religious . i~ . 49 2. Custom of General Permission for Christmas Gift.s .50 3. Is Permission All That Is Required in Poverty . 51 4. Changing the Constitutions on the Eucharistic Fast .51 SOME BOOKS RECEIVED . 52 SUMMER INSTITUTES . 52 BOOK REVIEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS . 53 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, January, 1959. Vol. 18, No. 1. 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 ecclesiastical approval. Second class mail privilege authorized at St. Louis, Missouri. Copyright, 1958, by The 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 W'illmering, S.J. Assistant Editors: John E. Becker, S.J.; Robert F. W'eiss, S.J. Departmental Editors: Joseph F. Gallen, S.J.; E~arl 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. Review For Religious EDITOR R. F. Smith, S.J. ASSOCIATE EDITORS Augustine G. Pllard, S.J. Gerald Kelly, S.J. Nenry Willmering, S.d. ASSISTANT EDITORS John E. Becker, S.J. Robert F. Weiss, S.J. DEPARTMENTAL EDITORS Quest:ions and Answers-- Book Reviews-- Joseph P, Gallon, S.J. Earl A. Weis, S.J. Woodstock College West Baden College Woodstock, I~a~land West Baden Springs, Indiar~a Volume 18 1959 Editorial Office ST. MARY'S COLLEGE St:. Marys, Kansas Publisher THE QUEEN'S WORK St:. Louis, Missouri Published in January, March, May, July, September, November on the fifl;eenth of the month REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS is indexed in the CATHOLIC PERIODICAL INDEX EDITORIAL NOTE SEVENYETARES' agEo inNJanuary, 1942, REVIEW FOR "RELIGIOUS published its first issue. The publication of that issue was due to the initiative of three men: Father Augustine G. Ellard, Father Adam C. Ellis, and Father Gerald Kelly, all of the Society of Jesus .and members of the teaching staff of St. Mary's College, St. Marys, Kansas. As co-founders of the l/1WIE\\r, they also served as the editorial board for the new magazine, cbntinuing this to the° year 1955; ih that: year Father .Ellis, finding it necessary to curtail his work, withdrew from the editorial board of the I/ErIE\\;, being replaced by Father Henry Willmering, S.J. Now as REVIEW FOIl RELIGIOUS begins'its eighteenth' ye.ar of publication, further editorial changes have been found advisable. H~nceforth the editorship of the REVIEW will be entrusted to an individual, assisted by associate, assistant, and departmental editors. On the occasion of /uch a cha~ge it is only" fitting that the new editor should express in a public way hi/ appreciation and his congratulations to the members of the former editorial board for the time and effort [vhich they generously gave to the I/EVlEW aid which made of it so successful a magazine. It is a matter of great satisfaction to him that the members of the former editorial board will remain as associate editors to gi.v.e the REVIEW the frdit of their knowledge and their long experience. It is also fitting on this occasion that a special word of thanks be given to Father Gerald Kelly. .For a long time the major part of the editorial work" of the Ill;VIEW has been borne by him; ¯ accordingly, to a large extent the. godd that the RF.VIEW has done is due to ¯his ufistilating' ~fforts. From the rdaders of REVIEW FOIl RELIGIOUS the new editor seeks first of all prayers that the REVIEW in it~ future issues may continue to serve, religious as well as it has done in the past; .secgndly he requests suggestions for changes and improvements in the magazine. The Editor Plus XIl's AIIocu ion I:o Clois!:ered Cont:emplat:ives Translat:ed by Frank C. Brennan, S.J. [The successive parts of this allocution, which will" be published in this and two following issues of the REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, were broadcast by Plus XII on July 19, July 26, and August 2, 1958. The official text of the allocution is to be found in Acta Apostolicae Sedis (AAS), v. 50 (1958), pp. 562-86. All divisions and subtitles in the translation are also found in the official text.] GLADLY YIELDING to your many iequests, We are happy, beloved daughters, to address all the cloistered nuns of the Catholic world on the subject which is closest to their hearts: their vocation to the contemplative life. At times you have perhaps envied the joy of pilgrims who fill to overflowing the gre.at basilida of St. Peter and the audience chambers of the Vi~tican to assure Us of their pride in belonging to the Catholic Church and of their delight in welcoming the words of its universal head. At this time We are mindful- of your three thousand two hundred monasteries spread throughout the whole world and in each of them We visualize a recollected audience which, though silent and invisible, yet pulsates with the charity that unites you. How could you be absent from Our mind and Our heart--you who constitute a chosen group in the Church, called as you are to a more intimate participa-tion in the mystery of the redemption? Thus it is with all Our paternal affection that We wish you to preserve intact that religious life o~ yours which in its essential elements is identical for all of you but" whidh varies ~evertheless in accord-ance "with the inspiration of your different founders and according to the historical circumstances through which their work has lived. The canonical contemplative life is a path toward God, an ascent which is often rough and austere but in which the labor of each day, supported as it is by divine p~omises, is enlightened by the obscure yet certain possession of Him toward Whom you strive with all your strength. In order to CLOISTERED CONTEMPLATIVES respond better to your vocation, listen to Our message which will help you to understand it more, to love it~ with a purer and more generous love, and to realize it more perfectly in every detail of your lives. This ascent toward God is not the simple movement of inanimate creation, nor is it merely the impulse of beings who, endowed with reasofi, recognize God as their Creator and adore Him as the infiriite Being Who transcends immeas-urably all that is great and true and beautiful and good) It is more than the ascent of the ordinary Christian life, more even than the general tendency toward perfection'. It is an ideal of life, fixed by the laws of the Church, and for this reason called thecanonical contemplative life. Far from being restricted, however, to one rigidly determined form, it is of various types corresponding to the character and customs dis-tinctive of and proper to each of the various religious families such as the Carmelites, the Poor Clares, the Cistercians, the Carthusians, the Benedictines, the Dominicans, the Ursulines, and the Visitandines. This contemplative life; diversified as it is by the different religious orders and even within each of them by the subjects themselves, is a path toward God. God is the beginning and end of it; God it is who sustains its fervor and perva~es it entirely. PART I: KNOWLEDGE OF THE CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE Knowledge of the Contemplative Life as a Way Leading to God "First of all, We wish to speak to you of the knowledge of the contemplative life as a way leading to God. In order to live out in its fullness the ideal which you propose to your-selves, it ;is important .that you know what you are and just What you are seeking to accomplish. The apostolic constitution Sponsa Christi of November I, 1950, includes in its first part'-' a discussion of "virgins See the Vatican Council, Session III, Chapter 1; Denzinger n. 1782. 2AAS, v. 43 (1951), pp. 5-10. P~us,XII Review for Religious consecrated to God," as constituting a state of life which.has existed from the beginnings of Christianity down to the most recent, institutes of nuns. Without repeating what We there wrote, We' call to your attention the advantag~ which you reap from a knowledge, at least in summary form, of the evolution of the religious life for women, and of the different forms it has taken throughout the ages. Thus .you~ will better appre-ciate the dignity of your state of life, as well as the originality of the order to which you belong and its bond with the whole Catholic tradition. General Principles Concerning the Nature of the Contemplative Life At this time We shall dwell only on those general prin-ciples which distinguish your life from that of others. For this purpose we have recourse to the sound and reliable teach-ing of St. Thomas. According to this master of Catholic theology, human activity can be distinguished into active and contemplative, jugt as the unde'rstanding, that uniquely human power, can be considered either as active or passive.'~ The human intellect is ordered either to the knowledge of truth-- and this is the work of the contemplative understanding, or to external action--and this is proper to the active or practical intellect. But the contemplative life, according to St. Thomas, far from being confined to a lifeless intellectualism or abstract speculation, also brings into play the heart and the affections. The reason for this he finds in the very nature" of man. Since it is the human will which impels the other human faculties to act, it is likewise the will which moves the intellect to operation. Now the will belongs to the domain of the affections; accordingly it is love which moves the under-standing in all of its acts, whether it be love of knowledge itself or love of the thing which is known. Citing a text St. Gregory, St. Thomas underlines the part played by the love of God in the contemplative life in the expression ". Summa Theologiae, 2-2, q. 179, a. 1 ad 2; a. 2 in c. January, 1959 CLOISTERED CONTEMPLATIVES in quantum scilicet aliquis ex dilectione Dei inardescit ad eius pulchritudinem conspiciendam" (in as far as one is inflamed by love of God to seek the contemplation of His beauty). The love of God which St. Thomas places at the very beginning of contemplation he also proposes as its final goal, for contemplation reaches its fullness in 'that joy and peace which the soul tastes when it possesses the beloved object of its search) Thus the contemplative life is completely permeated by divine charity which, inspires its very. first steps and rewards its efforts. The object of contemplation for St. Thomas, is prin-cipally divine truth, the final goal of human life. Contem-plation requires, as a necessary preparation, the , subject's exercise of the moral virtues; and it is aided throughout its development by other acts of the understanding. Before arriv-ingat the end of its search, it is also aided by the visible works of creation which reflect invisible realities) But its ultimate perfection is achieved only in the contemplation of di, v.ine truth, the supeme beatitude of the human spirit." Misunder-standing, narrow mindedness, and. erroneous opinions will be avoided if in speaking of the contemplative life, care is taken to recall the Angelic Doctor's teaching which We have just outlined in its essentials." The Nature of the Contemplative Life According to the Apostolic Constitution Sponsa Christi We must now determine the nature of the canonical contemplative life which you are leading. We take our defini-tion of it from the apostolic constitution Sponsa Christi, Article 2, parggraph 2: "On the general statutes of cloistered nuns." "By the canonical contemplative life we do not mean that interior, God-centered life to which all sbuls living in religion and even in the world are called and which each one can lead individually. Rather we mean the external profession of a Summa Theologiae, 2-2, q. 180, a. 1 iffc. 5See Rom. 1:20. Sumraa Theologiae, 2-2, q. 180, a. 4 in c. PIus XII Review for Religion,s religious life which, whether by cloister or by exercises of piety, of prayer, and of mortification, or finally by the labor which is requii:ed of the nuns, is so ordered to interior con-templation that the whole of life and every detail of it can and should be easily and efficaciously penetrated by the search after this contemplation.''v Subsequent articles in the consti-tution single out other features in the canonical contemplative life for women. Among these are the solemn vows of religion, pontifical cloister, the divine o~ce, the autonomy of monas-teries, the federation and confederation of monasteries, monas-tic work, and .finally the apostolate. We do not propose to treat each of these points here but only to explain briefly the definition cited above. What the Contemplative Life is Not We shall first of all state what the canonical contempla-tive life is not. It is not, according to the constitution, "that interior, God-centered life to which all souls living in religion and'~even in the world are called and which each one can lead individually."s The constitution Sponsa Christi adds no further distinc-tion to this negative part of its definition. It makes it clearly understood that it will not discuss this aspect of the religious life and that it is not addressed to those who practice it exclu-sively. It further states that all are invited by Christ to this kind of life, even those who live in the world in whatever state of life, including that of marriage. But since the "apostolic constitution does not speak of this kind of contemplative life, We wish here to single out the existence of a contemplative life practiced in secret by a small number of persons who live in the world. In Our allocution of December 9, 19:57, to the Second International Congress of the States of Perfection,9 We said that there are today Christians "who, known to God alone, are engaging in the practice of the evangelical counsels AAS, v. 43 (1951), pp. 15-16. Ibid., p. 15. AAS, v. 50 (1958), pp. 34-43. Janl~ary, 1959 CLOISTERED CONTEMPLATIVES by private and secret vows, and are guided with respect to obedience and poverty by persons whom the Church has deemed fitted for this work and to whom she has entrusted the direction of others in the exercise of perfection." These people lead an authentic life of Christian perfection although it is outside any canonical form of the states of perfection. And We concluded this address by saying that "none of the elements which constitute Christian perfection is found want-ing among these men and women. They truly participate, therefore, in the life of perfection, even though they may not be engaged in any juridical or canonical state of perfection.''~° We can repeat this statement now in connection with a type of life wherein one strives toward perfection by living a contempla-tive life and by the practice of the three vows of religion, but privately and independently of the canonical forms envisioned by the apostolic constitution Sponsa Christi. No doubt, the external conditions necessary for such a life are more diffi-cult to verify than those required for the active .life; but they can be met. Since these persons are not protected by any kind of canonical cloister, they practice solitude and recollection in a heroic manner. We find a good example of this in the Gospel of St.~' Luke wl~ewree read of the prophetess Anna, a widow after seven years of marriage, who retired into the Temple wher~ she served the Lord night and day in prayer and fasting.'1 Such a private form of the con-templative life is not unknown in the Church, and the Church approves of it in principle. Primacy of Contemplation in the Canonical Conti~mplative Life The positive part of the definition given in paragraph 2 of the Constitution Sponsa Christi defines the canonical con-templative life as "the external profession of a religious life that is so ordered to interior contemplation that the whole of PIUS XII Review for Religious life and every detail of it can and should be easily and effica-ciously penetrated by the search after this contemplation." Among the prescriptions of religious discipline the text speci-fies cloister, exercises of piety, of prayer, of mortification, and finally the manual labor which is suitable for nuns. But these particulars are enumerated only as means of attaining the essential goal which is interior contemplation. What is first of all required of the nun is .that she so unite herself to God in prayer, meditation and ~ontemplation that. all herthoughts and actions be suffused with a realization of God's pr.esence and be ordered to His service. If that should ever be lack-ing, the very soul of the contemplative life would be lacking, and no canonical pr~scription could supply it. The contem-plative life, to be sure, is not restricted exclusively to contem-plation. It includes many other elements, but contempla-tion does occupy the first place. We might go so far as to say that contemplation completely pervades the contempla-tive life, not in the sense that it prevents one from thinking of anything else or from doing other things, but in the sense that in the ultimate analysis it is contemplation that gives meaning, value, and orientation to the contemplative life. What we wish to emphasize with all Our authority is the preemi-nence of meditation and contemplation over every other path to perfection, over all practices and all forms of organiza-tion and federation. If you are not firmly anchored in God, if your mind is not continually returning to Him as to a pole of irresistible attraction, then it must be said of your con-templative life what St. Paul in his First Epistle to the Corin-thians said of certair~ Christians who overestimated the charis-' matic gifts and failed to accord first place to charity: "If I have not charity, I am become as sounding brass or.a tinkling cymbal. If I have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.''1"~ It can rightly be said of a contemplative life without con-templation that "it profiteth nothing." 12 1 Cor. 13 : 1 and 3. 10 January, 1959 CLOISTERED CONTEMPLATIVES just as the human body in possession of all its organs but bereft of the soul. is not .a man, so all the rules and exer-cises of a religious order do .not constitute the' contemplative life when contemplation itself, the vital principle, is absent, Formation of Religious in the contemplative Life If the~reti~al comments, such as the one We have just sketched," can help" to enrich .your.okn~wledge of the con-templati~, e life, 'certainly. the daily practice of your vocation brings, for its part, an abundant variety of lessons/For cen- ~ur~!~s hol~" women, ~hether they be Carmelites, Ben~edictines, Poor Clares, Dominicans, Ursulines, or Visitan-din. es, have reached a profound under.standing of the nature and of the requirements .of. the canonical contemplative life. From their very entrance intg" t.h.e .cloiste~r, candidates are taught the rules and the customs of their order; and this fo'rmation 6f mind and will which" is .begun in the novitiate continues ~throughOut their entire religious life. Such is the purpose of the instruction and spiritual direction given by superiors of the order br by the priests who are confessors, spiritual directors, and retreat masters. Usually nuns Who live according" to a ~listinctive .spirituality are directed by priests belonging to the masculine branch of their, order and there-fore possessing the s~me"spi~ituality. In addition, the Church h~ts throughout the ages cultivated the science of mystical theology which "has proved itself not only useful but ever~ necessary for the direction of c~ontemplatives. It gives proper orientation and renders signal service by ferreting out illu-sions and by distinguishing what is authentically supernatural from what is pathological., In this delicate field women them-selves have been of great service to theology and to directors of souls. ,It is enough to mention here. the writings of-the great St. Theresa of Avila who, as we know, when ther~ was question of settling difficult proble~ms of.the contemplative life,~ preferred the advice of an experienced theologian to that of a mystic who lacked clear and precise theological knowledge. 11 P~us XII In order to deepen by daily practice your appreciation of. the contemplative life, it is important to remain receptive to the teaching that is provided, to welcome it with attention and with the desire of mastering it, each one according to her capacity and stage of development. It would be equally erroneous to let your aim be too high or too low, or to try following only one way identical for all, or to demand of all the same efforts. Superiors responsible for the formation of their subjects will know how to establish a just mean. They will not demand too much from the less gifted nor will they compel them to go beyond the limits of their abilities. Like-wise an Asian or an African will not be obliged to adopt religious attitudes that are natural for Europeans. A cultured and carefully'educated young girl will not be bound to a form of contemplation which is suited .to those who are less gifted. At times the invectives of St. Paul against worldly wis-dom, found in his First Epistle to the Corinthians, are cited to thwart the legitimate desire of nuns wishing to reach a degree of contemplation in keeping with their abilities. These words of the Apostle are quoted to them: "We preach Christ crucified'''~ and "I have desired to know nothing among you, except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.'''4 But this is a mis-understanding of St. Paul, who intends to denounce the vain pretensions of human knowledge. The desire to have an ade-quate spiritual formation is not at all reprehensible nor in any way opposed to tha~ spirit of humility and self-denial which a sincere love of the cross of Chris~ demands. We here conclude, beloved daughters, the first part of our discussion; and We call down upon you the light of the Holy Spirit that He may help you to understand the splendor of your vocation and to live it Out in all its fullness. As a pledge of these divine favors, We impart to you with all Our heart Our paternal and apostolic benediction. I Cor. 1:23. Ibid., 2:2. 12 Keeping !:he Rules P. DeLel:t:er, S.J. IWILL BURST ASUNDER rather than transgress volun-tarily even the least order or regulation." Thus resolved the young Jesuit saint, John Berchmans. And the future apostle of the Sacred Heart, Blessed Claude de la Colombi~re, when in tertianship, took a vow to keep his rules according to a formula approved by his director. Both this resolve and this vow express an identical faith in the religious rules and a like love for them. Both John and Claude believed in their rules as the divinely intended way to holiness, and they loved them as directing their eager desirefor progress along the way of the divine will and good pleasure. This faith and this love led them to a grim determination of fidelity at any price. But they were saints! and of another time! Today, religi-ous are liable to take a different view of the practice of their rules. Modern people, it is ~aid, and particularly the young, loathe regulations and constraint. They dream of a free expan-sion of their personalities; they have greater faith in their own initiative and personal inventions than they have in external laws and rules. Not surprisingly, they sometimes lose their balance and incline to depreciate and neglect accepted ways and customsla one-sidedness that is not without risk and dan-ger. Religious today~ who once lived according to these ideas of the "world" and who continue to live and work in the midst of this world without being of it may well fail to keep immune from this dangerous stand concerning rules and regulations. Unless they shield themselves against influences from the world by prayer and reflection, they gradually fall victims to this sort of practical "modernism," both in their theoretical views of the rules and in their practical observance or non-observance of them. They do believe, no doubt, that it is their duty to keep the rules', that. this fidelity is for them 13 P. DELETTER Review for Religious the safe way to sanctity and apostolic .fruitfulness traced out by unmistakable providential indications. But at times, particularly on busy days or at times of spiritual low ebb, they may feel perplexed about how to manage to keep all the rules. There are so many of them; it is scarcely possible to know and remem-ber, let alone to keep them! In those moments especially, the iriclination to depreciate and .neglect 'the rules is fanned by the breeze" that blows from the outside world into the precinct~ of the cloister. Unless they build up by prayer and meditation a firm motivation and an enlightened resolve to keep the rules, religious may unwittingly be contaminated by the modern dis-esteem for regulations. It may be well then to" ask ourselves: What do:we mean by keeping the rules? How shall we manage ifi practice? Why must we take the trouble? Rules of Two Kinds Among the religious rules which of themselves do not bind under sin--we leave aside the rules that determine the "matter of the vows and for that reason entail obligations under pain of sin--we should for our present purpose distinguish two cate-gories or kinds. There are the disciplinary'prescriptions which concern mainly external observances and community order. These aim in the first place at the common good of the insti-tute and the external discipline .of the religious communit~y. They impose on individual-religious, members of the community, some ways of speaking, acting, or dealing with people; an order of the day, times of silence and of talking, of work and rest or re.creation. They concern the religious as. members of the community .and .determine. their individual, contributions to the good of the community; they do not directly or primarily intend their personal spiritual profit, but only indirectly and consequently, 'to the extent that each individual religious cannot fail to profit by the regularity and'order' of a community life in which these rules are properly kept and by the° personal sacrifices this "regularity demands of each of them. 14 Jan~ary~ 1959 KEEPING THE RULES There are also in the religious rules spiritual directives that propose to our endeavors ideals for the spiritual life and for the Work of the apostolate and the means to strive after them. These determine the particular spirit of each institute, its. form of spirituality, and its apostolate. They often explicitly state the proper virtue of the institute. They aim directly at the spiritual perfection of individual religious' and at their spiritual apostolate, indirectly at ~he common spiritual good of the com-munity and the institute, since the fervor of a community and of an institute results from the spiritual and apostolic quality of its members. These rules prescribe and propose obligations that are more a matter of interior spirit than of external practice and, consequently, are less open to control and check than are disciplina.ry rules. It requires little reflection to see that keeping the rules means one thing with regard to the first category and another with regard to 'the second. Keeping Disciplinary Rules We keep disciplinary rules when we actually do what they prescribe, for example, keep silence, make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament, study, or follow the common exercises, and do not do what they forbid, for instance, not go out without due leave nor recreate outside the appointed time. This external fulfillment of the rule is an easy matter to control. We can easily know, and others too can see whether we do and omit what is expected of us. It may be well, however, to note that an occasional break-ing o~ a rule which is not frequent or habitual and happens out of human frailty and forgetfulness, however regrettable, need not and generally does not take away our real desire and resolve to keep the rules. Our fidelity remains intact even then, provided we endeavor to make good our neglect as far as we can and do penance for our transgression even on our own initiative and without awaiting official correction. These occa- 15 P. DELETTER Review for Religion,s sional failures generally imply, on the part of the religious, little guilt. They can and should be rather an occasion for humility and patience; never should they be a reason for open or hidden discouragement. They do not affect our fervor and, when taken humbly and patiently, can turn to greater spiritual good. Moreover, they gradually decrease in number and in guilt in the measure that our resolve of fidelity grows in intensity and we by practice acquire the habit of living according to the rules. Nor do these occasional lapses much affect the common good, which is the first purpose of disciplinary rules. They do not ruin the general discipline and regular observance. This regularity supposes that we habitually keep the rules and correct occasional failings. It does not demand of us the impossible ideal that human beings should as it were turn angels and be raised above all human frailty. It is a saint who said that the difference between a fervent and a lax community does not lie in this, that in the first no failings occur while in the second they do. No, failings happen in both; but in a fervent com-munity they are less frequent and are corrected, while in a lax community they go unpunished. On both counts, there-fore, that of the individual religious's conscience and that of the good of the community, occasional breaking of disciplinary " rules need not label a religious or a community as guilty of infidelity to the rules. Only those religious must be said not to keep their rules who neglect them habitually or frequently, who care little and take little trouble to regulate their manner of living according to the rules. These, in spite of occasional fidelity {for they need not be violating the rules all the time), do not bring to the common observance the share they are expected to con-tribute. Their negligence does harm to the regularity of the community and to the common discipline. And they them-selves suffer spiritual harm from their neglect and unconcern about the common good. For though the breaking of rules is 16 January, 1959 KEEPING THE RULES not of itself a sinful transgression, .yet in the habitually negligent a sinful motive all too often prompts their manner of a~ting and turns their infidelity into sin. Actually, the habitual observance of disciplinary rules, for all its being mainly a matter of external conduct, is not well possible without an interior spirit. Whether we view it from the angle of the community or from that of the indi-vidual religious, in both respects it supposes an interior dis-position that prompts the external fulfillment. Regula¥ observ-ance is the contribution each religious is to make to the com-mon discipline and order; it must be prompted by the genuine and effective desire for the good of the community and of the other members. Then only can religious infuse a living soul into their habitual fidelity. Without this soul, that fidelity is precarious and liable to decay. And for the religious them-selv, es, fidelity to disciplinary rules, besides being the fulfill-ment of God's express desire, is actually a practice of religious courtesy toward all members of the community. It demand~ that they inconvenience themselves in order not to inconveni-ence others. Seen in this 'light, it should not be difficult to say what is for every religious habitual fidelity to these disci-plinary rules. Following Spiritual Directives Less simple and definite is the idea of fidelity or infidelity to the rules that propose spiritual directives. This is not a matter of a mere yes or no. When religious rules prescribe humility or charity or right intention or a spirit of prayer, they do not just demand one or more definite acts, whether external or even purely internal. "They rather propose an ideal to be striven after; they demand an interior spirit that should animate our manner of living and our whole activity. Fidelity to these rules varies in perfection. All religious who are ever so little concerned to be what they are supposed to be may be said to keep these rules to some degree. But there are many degrees of fidelity, from" a minimum degree in the mediocre 17 P. DELETTER Review for Religion,s and tepid religious to an ever growing fidelity in the fervent who are keen on their spiritual progress. What these rules demand of religious may be reduced to two points.First of all, they require that religious wish to know and to grasp the ideal of spiritual and apostolic perfection propdr to their institute and the means it expects them to use for its realization. There are within Catholic spirituality different types of ascetical and apostolic ways. Some great schools of spirituality bear the name of a religious order, such as the Franciscan or Dominican or Benedictine schools. Actually it i's normal that a religious institute develop its own form of spirituality and of apostolate and wish to see in its members, unifying possibly wide individual varieties, some common family traits. These are generally summed up in what we call the spirit of the institute--a phrase whose meaning is more easily sensed and graspe~l from actual experience of the religious life than expressed in definite concepts and words. It always designates the proper manner in which a religious institute strives after perfection and practices the apostolate. And we find it laid down in the set of rules which give the spiritual directives we are considering. A first duty of religious then is evidently to know, less perhaps in theory than in actual practice, the spirit of their institute and its particular type of spirituality and spiritual perfection. A second duty these rules impose on religious is that they should make the effort necessary to acquire the virtues that belong to their proper spirituality. This is an objective never fully achieved; there always remains room for further progress. Consequently, these rules demand of religious that they endeavor to progress in the virtues proper to their institute and at all times keep up this effort. There never is a moment when they can say they have done what they had to do. Keeping these rules is an ever-unfinished task. Nor is fidelity to these rules impaired when religious see their efforts apparently rewarded with scant or no success. It is not success ~hat the rules demand, 18 January, 1959 KEEPING THE RULES but the effort. All this goes to show that there can be many degrees in fidelity to these rules of spirituality. The more genuine one's desire of perfection and apostolic usefulness, the more effective also grows this fidelity. On the other hand, infidelity in keeping these rules is no mere matter of saying no or of not doing. It is rather a question of a habitual disposition. Religiouswho do not care to know and to make their own the spirituality of their institute and who more or less deliberately warp their own outlook on the spiritual life and on the apostolate by adopting a spirit and ways tha~ are not in keeping with their vocation would evidently be unfaithful to these rules. It may be difficult to say definitely by what particular acts they break them, yet there is no doubt that these religious do not live up to the demands of their rules. Similarly, religious who would set aside the effort to put into practice, in the measure of the grace God deigns to give them, .the spiritual and apostolic ideal of their rules' and institute would fail to keep these rules. Even without such wholesale defeatism or practical scepticism and indifference toward their ideal of spirituality, religious incline to abandon the directives of these rules when they relax their effort for progress and allow it gradually to dwindle to less and less. Low spiritual fervor means in practice a declining fidelity to these rules. Exceptions to the Rules From the above it should be clear what keeping the rules means in actual practice. One more point remains to be made which is not unimportant. There are, proverbially, exceptions to all rules, also to religious rules." There are cases in which it is right and lawful to act in .a manner which on the face of it looks like breaking the rules. (We have in mind here mainly the disciplinary rules.) The question is this. At times we hear it said that religious rules do not bind under sin in theory but that in practice breaking the rules will more often than not, if not always, be sinful because of the wrong motive that prompts the violation or because of the scandal that folldws from it~ 19 P1. DELETTER Review fo~" Religious This seems to be an overstatement. If it were correct as a general statement, then the intention of religious founders who expressly said that the rules of themselves do not bind under sin would be more nominal than real and would never materialize in concrete facts. Actually, practical experience of the religious life shows that there are cases, and they are not altogether excel~tional, in which there is no such sinful motive for an apparent breaking of rules nor any attending scandal. This happens whenever a sincere desire of greater good, especially spiritual, promp.~s a manner of acting which is not in material conformity with the letter of the ~ules. Charity for a fellow religious may require that we speak in time of silence. A too rigid application of the rule of not interfering in another's office may preclude a useful and necessary help. In these and similar cases it is better to follow the spirit of the rule rather than its letter, for that is exactly what the exception comes to. Evidently, these cases are not of everyday or every-hour occurrence. The very approval of the religious rules by ecclesiastical authority is a guarantee that they are sufficently adapted to the common run of the religious life. Yet such situations are not so exceptional as hardly ever to arise. The reason for saying so is not mysterious. Religious legisl~ltors, as any other human lawgivers, are not in a position to foresee in detail ttie concrete and chang-ing circumstances in which their laws will have to be applied. They can foresee only the common and normal situations ,and legislate according to the general laws of human psychology and of Christian asceticism. Individual cases may arise--and in actual fact, all real cases are individual and not general--in which elements enter that no one could forecast and which may, as it were, reverse the whole situation in such manner that a material application of certain prescriptions would have the very opposite effect of what the legislator intended. In such cases it is clearly the spirit of the rule that one should follow. Then such exceptions merely confirm the rule. 20 January, 1959 KEEPING THE RULES In actual practice one should say that ordinarily the right thing for religious to do will be. to follow both the spirit and the letter of the rule, for generally these two do not clash. When, however, there is an opposition between them on account of special circumstances, then it is right to keep the spirit rather than the letter of the rules. But this manner of conduct supposes on the part of religious a thorough sincerity and purity of intention in desiring the greater good. Otherwise self-love too easily may blind them and turn this so-called sinless break-ing of a rule into a cloak for egoism and other unworthy motives. Breaking of Rules Besides these legitimate exceptions to the rules, there may be cases when it is not the desire to follow thdir spirit that prompts one.to :neglect them but a disordered.motive, such as laziness or selfishness or vanity. Must we say that such a breaking of disciplinary rules, which of themselves do not bind under gin, will always be sinful because of the disordered motive or because of the scandal following from the violation? The problem is delicate and difficult. It is delicate, for which religious will claim that he never breaks a rule out of more or less disorderly motives? Will he each time sin at least venially? It is difficult, because it involves the theological problem of positive imperfections. ,We do not wish to enter here upon a detailed discussion, but only to note that there are two opinions on the question. The more rigorous, and perhaps the more common, holds that the disorderly motives will always infect the violation of the rule in such manner as to make it sinful, at least venially. The more lenient opinion, and perhaps the more realistic, says that the disordered motive does not make a transgression of a rule sinful unless the rule binds under sin; the breaking of rules which do not bind under sin, such as disciplinary rules, even from a wrong motive, consti-tutes as such a positive imperfection. The two opinions also solve differently the question of scandal, supposing there was an occa- 21 P. DELETTER Review for Religious sion of scandal in the breaking of rules; the bad example may lead others to what is considered either as sinful or as a positive imperfection. Without definitely opting for one of these two opifiions, we may perhaps say this: for all practical purposes, the breakin~ of a disciplinary rule from a disordered motive will be sinful only when it would be sinful even supposing that there were no rule. Then the sinful motive clearly would make the action -or omission an act of selfishness or vanity or laziness. If this suggestion is acceptable, then we may say that in practice negli-gent or tepid religious, who care little about even deliberate venial sins and commit these rather frequently, may often be led by venially sinful motives when they break rules. Their breaking of rules more often than not may well be sinful. But with religious who earnestly endeavor to live up to their ideal, it need not be so. They may happen to neglect a rule now and then even from a wrong motive, but this will be more a "failing" ~han a "transgression." Ii: need not be sinful. Despite their failings in externals, they may. not mean deliberately to-neglect the spirit of their rules. The Spirit of Our Observance The preceding remarks point to the importance of the spirit in which we keep our rules. This is in a way. more important than the material fidelity to their prescriptions. It is, moveover, the only guarantee, of steadiness and thoroughness in our regular observance. What we must come to is this: to see the rules not merely as restrictions to our liberty and initia-tive- they are this/ no doubt, to some extent; and to some modern eyes they show mainly this unappealing aspect--but first and foremost as helps to our weakness and generous good-will, helps which we need badly to shield us against our own inconstancy and passions and against seductive influences from outside." This is true of both kinds of rules we considered above. The regularity and order in the community which are the .fruit of common fidelity to disciplinary rules are a great help 22 January, 1959 KEEPING THE RULES to all its members for both spiritual and apostolic effectiveness. By keeping these rules we ourselves are helped, and w'e help others as well. And the spiritual directives of our rules show the safe way in which our effort i~or spiritual progress should push on. The rule guarantees the ever-necessary help of grace, for all religious at all times, receive the graces necessary to fulfill the duties of their state. And keeping the rules is one of the main duties of their state. Accordingly, the spirit that must guide our endeavor in keeping the rules is one of gratitude and love. It should not be one of fear and anxiety, not even fear of doing wrong. It is precisely, we are told, to do away with a spirit of fear that religious founders, and Holy Church after them, do not wish the rules to bind under sin." Fe~lr, moreover, does not lead to generosity; and without generosity who could actually keep the ruleS? It is gratitude for the help the rules afford us that should inspire our fidelity in keeping them--a gratitude shown less in words than in deeds, in the very deeds of our fidelity. It is above all love for Christ, whose call to perfection and to the apostolate we answered with the help of grace when we joined, the religious life, that must motivate our fidelity to the rules. Actually, this fidelity is nothing less than our continued answer to His call. For every day and every hour He beckons us to draw nearer to Him and to bring others with us, and He does so particularly through the. i, ery directives of our rules. To do what the rules prescribe is nothing else but love for Christ in deed. This spirit of love for Christ will silently and effectively show us how to manage concretely to keep Our rules in such manner that we, as it were, feel at ease and happy in the practice of this fidelity. It will not, evidently, do away with every constraint and every sacrifice. To toe the line always means restrictions on our inclinations and whims. But, for love of Christ, we can come to love this very self-denial demanded by 23 P. DELETTER fidelity to the rules, love it as the way in which we can show Christ the genuineness of our love for Him--and for His. Love gives new eyes to see. And when we have under-stood, as the Lord cannot fail to teach us, that we cannot love Him iti truth unless we also love our neighbor and Him in our neighbor, then we shall also find other reasons for keeping our rules, particularly those that concern the good of the community. Regular external observance, animated by a genuine interior spirit, is a dut~ and help we owe to all members of our com-munity. Each one of us is responsible for the influence he has in the community. Whether we think of it or not, whether we intend it or not, our very manner of l~eeping the rules makes fidelity to them either easier or harder for our fellow religious. If we truly love Christ, we shall' not refuse Him the help He asks of us in our brethren, the help our regularity gives them in a silent but effective manner. He on His pare will not with-hold the help of His grace we need to be faithful. Thus keep-ing .the rules in union with our brethren we can steadily push on in the uphill climb to Christian perfection. OUR CONTRIBUTORS FRANK C. BRENNAN is stationed at St. Mary's College, St. Marys, Kansas. P. DE LETTER is a member of the faculty of St. Mary's Theological College, Kurseong N. E. Ry., India. RICHARD P. VAUGHAN, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of San Francisco and a staff member of the McAuley Clinic, St. Mary's Hospital, is currently engaged in psychotherapy with religious men and women. DANIEL J. M. CALLAHAN is professor of asceticM and mystical theology at Woodstock College, Woodstock, Maryland. DELAYED VOCATIONS In several previous issues of RJ~\'~I~\V ~:()R .qEI.It~U)US (November, 1957, p. 342'; March, 1958, p. 90; and July, 1958, p. 193) informa-tion has been published on religi.ous communities which will accept women who wish to dedicate their lives to God but who are older than the usual age limit for admission. Two other groups have asked to be mentioned. One group is the Daughters of St. Francis. The members of this lay apostolate live a semi-community life, become members of (Continued on page 36) 24 Severe AAeni:al Illness Among Religious Richard P. Yauc~han, S.J. LIKE ANY OTHER sickness, mental and emotional ill-ness has a wide range of variation. This variation extends anywhere from the common phobia or irrational fear of dogs or cats to the debilitating disorder which causes the' patient in the mental hospital to think that he is God. The minor manifestations of emotional disorder are more or less common in our civilization. They are accepted as inevitable parts of everyday living. There are few who do not have an occasional day when they seem to be more tense or anxious than usual, just as there are few who do not experience an occasional cold or upset stomach. Many refer to these bad days as times when their "nerves are .on edge." On these days their mental health is not perfect; but, on the other hand, they are far removed from serious mental illness. At the other end of the scale, there are those who are severely disturbed. In psychiatric language these people are usually described as psychotic. In times past, they were called insane. In any article dealing with the subject of serious mental illness, there always exists the potential danger that the reader will apply to himself or herself many of the symptoms which are described as typical of the psychotic and, as a result, come to the conclusion that he or she is severely disturbed. Hence, a word of caution to the reader is well in order. A serious mental disorder is both chronic and disabling. The psychotic is a person who carries truly debilitating symptoms with him month after month. This is what best distinguishes him from the average person who may occasionally have similar symptoms but whose symptoms are not chronic and severely handicapping over long periods of time. The ordinary person is able to cope with the symptoms that will be described during the course of 25 RICHARD P. VAUGHAN Review for Religious this article, should they occur. In spite of them, he is able to lead a fairly productive~ life. The psychotic collapses under the impact of his symptoms. As a result, he usually has little to offer the world and his fellow man. Characteristics of a Psychosis Perhaps the most significant quality of the psychotic is his reaction to the world in which he lives. As a general rule, he either has completely separated himself from reality or has drastically changed reality. Thus, it is not uncommon to find a psychotic experiencing hallucinations through which he is convinced that he sees the devil or hears the voice of the devil speaking to him. These hallucinations are as real to him, if not more real, than his dealing with his own family. Often it is following the advice given through the medium of a hallu-cination that leads the psychotic into some kind of anti-social behavior and eventually to commitment in a mental hospital. Other psychotics, beginning from ~/ false premise, develop a system of delusions through which they are convinced that mem-bers of their own families are spending most of their days and nights concocting new ways of persecuting them. These delu-sions are soreal to the psychotic that he sees no other alternative but to fight back so as to preserve his life and integrity. When severe mental illness has completely shattered the psychotic's personality, it produces prolonged states of stupor which may on occasion be broken by some form of incoherent speech. As can easily be gathered, most psychotic conditions are extremely debilitating and handicapping. The majority of psychotics are unable to carry on everyday activities, especially those activities which involve relationships with others. Few can assume and maintain the responsibilities involved in holding~ down a position. The greater majority are confined to hospitals, at least during the active phases of their illness. One of the most distressing qualities of the psychotic is the lack of insight into the nature of his condition. He seldom realizes or appreciates the seriousness of his disorder. 26 January, 1959 SEVERE MENTAL ILLNESS When he has hallucinations or delusions, he is firmly convinced that these phenomena are as true to reality as the fact that he is sitting in a chair before you. As a consequence of this convic-" tion, he builds many of his activities around these imagined events. This confusion of the imagined with the real not in-frequently makes him a menace to himself and others. The Psychotic Religious Since religious vocations are, for the most part, drawn from the same familial and environmental background that pro-duces psychotics among the laity, it should not be surprising that a certain small percentage of religious are afflicted with serious mental illness. Unfortunately, both the laity and i'eligious frequently are bewildered by the priest or sister who becomes psy-chotic~ This bewilderment can be attributed to two factors. The first is connected with "the humiliating symptoms of a psychosis. For this disorder strikesman's highest faculty, namely his intel-lectual ability. It generally deprives him of his power to think and reason clearly. In many ways it reduces the sufferer to a state which appears to be less than human. To see a priest or a sister (a chosen soul of God) so afflicted and acting accord-ingly is a traumatic experience for the religious and lay person alike. The second reason for bewilderment rests upon a false conception of the_cause of mental illness. I.n spite of research data to the contrary, there still persists a vague suspicion that mental illness is in some way connected with a sinful life or at least that it cannot occur if a person is leading a truly holy life. A psychosis is a type of sickness, just as are ulcers of the stomach or cirrhosis of the liver. Whether the cause of the psychotic condition is psychological or organic or a combination of both (which is more likely) has not yet been established. "It can, however, safely be stated that a psychosis (with the exception, perhaps, of a condition brought on by alcoholism or drug addiction) is not the result of a sinful life. The idea that it is the effect of sin is simply, a remnant of past attitudes which still prevail from an era when little was known about 27 RICHARD P VAUGHAN Rewew for Rehgwus psychiatry and psydhology. The fact, therefore, that a religious person becomes psychotic does not in any way imply past moral indiscretions. Religious, even though they follow a more perfect way of life, are no more immune from severe mental illness than the average lay person. Prepsychotics and Religious Li~e Unfortunately, there are certain aspects of the religious life which attract individuals who have a tendency toward a very prevalent type of psychotic disorder. This disorder is called schizophrenia and accounts for a large portion of the psychotics in our nation. The schizoid personality and the incipient schizophrenic are characterized by withdrawal from social contacts and a love of solitude. Generally speaking, they also find considerable comfort in a highly routinized form of life. These are the seeming characteristics of the religious life which attract t~e incipient schizophrenic and lead him to believe that he has a vocation. Father T. V. Moore conducted a study: on the prevalence of mental illness among religious. After polling 93 percent of the state and private mental hospitals, he was able to determine the number of religious confined to these institutions. Through the use of the Catholic Directory, he was then able to establish the ra~io of mental illness among religious and compare this ratio with that of the general population. One of the most significant conclusions of this study was the high rate of schizo-phrenia among religious women, particularly among those who follow the contemplative life. From these findings Father Moore concluded that preschizophrenic women tend to gravi-tate toward the religious life as an escape from the hard reality of the world outside the cloister. Psychological Screening One of the major functions of a psychological screening program is to point out just such individuals. To allow an incipient schizophrenic to enter the religious life does a positive The American Ecclesiastical Re~ie~v, 95 (1936), 485-96. 28 January, 1959 SEVERE MENTAL ILLNESS disservice both to the order or congregation and to the individual involved. Many a community has spent thousands of dollars for the hospitalization of a single psychoti~ member, and this at considerable sacrifice to the other members of the community. And then after all this expense, it not infrequently happens that the religious is finally d~agnosed as incurable. In such cases one might well ask whether such a diagnosis would have been r.eached if the psychotic religious had never been ~subj~cted to the strain and disillusionment of the religious life. Although personality evaluation through the medium of psychological testing and interview has proved useful, still it is a relativdly new pr6cess. Because this process is as yet in a developmental st~lge, it should be expected that for some time psychological screening will not be completely effective in fer-reting out those candidates who are incipient schizophrenics or who may become schizophrenic at some later date. Even with a greater understanding of the causes of mental illness and the development of more perfect screening devices, in all probability we will never reach that point where psychotic. disorders will be eliminated from the religious life. Charity, therefore, demands that we make an effort to understand the sufferings of our fellow religious who are afflicted with severe mental disorders, so that we can be more effective in bringing help and comfort to them. Schizophrenia As previously indicated, schizophrenia is the most preva-lent mental disease among both the laity and religious. It is the major mental health problem which faces our nation today. This particular type of psychosis, even in its incipient stages, is marked by a number of symptoms which seriously handicap community living. As a rule, the schizophrenic has consider-able difficulty adjusting to any situation which calls for social relationships. He is a person who has withdrawn from social contacts and lives within himself. He finds it almost impossibl~ to form any emotional response normally demanded by a close 29 RICHARD P. VAUGHAN Review ]or Religions friendship. Because he is convinced that others feel the same way about him as he feels about others, he spends most of his time by himself. He finds it difficult to talk to others. He has little to say. He absents himself from community recreations and will go to great lengths to avoid contact with other mem-bers of the community. Aside from this withdrawal symptom, he will sometimes make use of odd behavior which marks him out as different from the rest of the community. It is this behavior which is usually a prelude to the final breakdown. He may become re-bellious and rude toward superiors or develop unusual habits of dress and eating. It is usually such behavior, coupled with the increasing, withdrawal from community life, that calls a superior's attention to the fact that all is not right with a particular subject. When schizophrenia takes control of the various human powers, a marked deterioration becomes quite noticeable. The schizophrenic religious will often manifest an abnormal interest ¯ in abstract and philosophical thought, but the conclusions from his thinking will not follow the rules of logic. He may even lapse into heretical positions as a result of his faulty thinking processes. The part of his personality which probably is the most acutely affected is his emotions. Either he passes through long periods when he is completely apathetic and blasS, or he has violent emotional reactions which are totally out of propor- -tion to the stimuli producing them. Thus, for example, he may become extremely angry over some minor incident which the average religious would pass over almost unnoticed. In gen-eral, he manifests a loss of interest in the things ~which interest most religious. The religious life becomes empty and mean-ingless. In the active phase, hallucinations are not infrequent among religious who suffer from schizophrenia. These hallu-cinations may take the form of visions or the hearing of heavenly voices. Since the schizophrenic is convinced that these voices 30 January, 1959 SEVERE MENTAL ILLNESS are commands from God, he feels compelled to follow what-ever they suggest. The fact that much that they command may be entirely illogical and unbecoming the wisdom of God makes little or no difference to him. The discerning of hallu-cinations from true gifts of God has produced many a trying session for spiritual directors. For the ~chizophrenic, the most distressing feature of his disorder is a feeling of complete isolation. He is like a man totally cut off from the outside world. He is surrounded by towering walls. He can sit in a crowded recreation room and" still feel that he is alone. A sense of belonging is foreign to him. He is keenly aware that he is very different from his brethren. He is convinced that they look upon him as some-one very different from themselves. As much as he would like to get outside of himself, he is still unable to reach out to others. The wall must first be breached f~om the outside before he will ever be able to allow himself to reach out to others. In brief, fraternal charity in its fullest sense must inevitably play a part in the cure of the schizophrenic religious. Paranoia Of all the psychotic disorders, paranoia is the most dis-ruptive to community life. The priest, brother, or sister who becomes paranoid almost inevitably turns.against his or her community or certain members of the community. He sees his brethren as dangerous threats to his persorial integrity and sometimes even to his life. Starting from a few false premises which usually stem from his own deep feelings of inferiority and in-adequacy, he becomes convinced that the other members of the community are persecuting him in a variety of wgys. Thus, for example, a fellow priest may open a window to allow a little more air into a stuffy recreation room. He is immediately accused of deliberately trying to make the paranoid religious catch a cold. An unpleasant scene results with the paranoid slamming the window closed and storming out of the room. As the delusional system develops, the sick religious may no 31 RICHARD P. VAUGHAN Review for Religious longer trust the food that is offered at the regular meals. He may become convinced that the other members of the com-munity are trying to poison him. In an attempt to escape such a fate, he will make use of many forms of unusual behavior. The most distressing aspect of paranoia is the seeming normalcy of the individual in all other areas--those that are not connected with the delusion system. He can ,carry on a very intelligent conversation, and those who do not know him well can see nothing different about, him. Unfortunately, in the initial stages most religious fail to recognize the odd behavior of the paranoid as an indication of sickness. They interpret the threatening words and violent acts as simple manifestations 6f vice. Sometimes they lash back at him, only to make the psychotic episode worse. Had they calmly stood their ground and pointed out to the ailing religious that they had no intention of perseciating him by their action, they could have been of positive assistance. The apparent normalcy of the paranoid priest, brother, or sister causes him or h~r to become a great problem to the community. *Frequently, he or she is not sick enough to be hospitalized and thus must remain in the community. As a consequence; many a superior is at a loss as to just how such a subject should be treated. Should he be allowed to continue his provoking and sometimes destructive behavior, or should he be threatened with drastic action if he persists? Once a superior takes the latter stand, he immediately becomes deeply allied with the enemy.as far as the pa.ranoid is concerned. He then ceases to have any influence over the afflicted religious. If, on the other hand, he allows the outbursts of anger or even the physical assaults to continue, he is doing an injustice to the community. Expedience usually wins out, with the paranoid religious being moved from house to house or being left in a community where he can do the least damage. In general, it can be stated that paranoia is the least suscep-tible of all the psychotic disorders to the" influence of psycho- 32 January, 1959 SEVERE MENTAL ILLNESS kherapy. To break through a well-knit system of delusions that has been standing for some time is an almost Herculean task. The chief obstacle to therapy is the attitude of the para-noid toward the therapist, who is likely to become just one more in the ranks of the enemy. This is particularly true in the case of a religious, because he has usually been sent to the psychia-trist for help by a superior. The paranoid immediately suspects that the superior and the psychiatrist are plotting against him. The chance of a cure, therefore, is poor. The best solution to this vexing problem is the use of preventive measures. A well-conducted psychological screening program can detect paranoid tendencies. Moreover, if a religious manifests characteristics of a paranoid during his formative years, there should be serious question as to his suitability for community life. Severe Depressions A third psychotic disorder which occurs among religious is a state of severe depression. This condition is characterized by a deep sadness which completely overwhelms the individual. It is often "triggered" by some anxiety-provoking incident; but, instead of being able to handle the situation, the religious lapses into a state of profound grief and sorrow that closely approximates despair. This state is generally accompanied by restlessness and disturbances in sleeping and eating habits. The afflicted individual is filled with a deep sense of guilt and personal worthlessness. He is prone to worry and self-re-proach. Depression in some form is a component of almost all emotional and mental disorders. It becomes a psychotic symp-tom when the sufferer loses his grasp on reality. The religious who is so afflicted gives up all interest in living and, as a con-sequence, fails to care for the ordinary needs of life. He Will sit in his room by the hour in mute silence. He seems oblivious. to the comforting remarks of his fellow religious. He can see nothing, good in himself or his past life. He feels that he has 33 RICHARD P. VAUC, HAN Review for ReligioUs been a total failure. He sees no use in trying to continue in the religious state. Frequently he despairs of saving his sou!. He is convinced that God has justly abandoned him. Needless to say, when a priest, brother, or sister his reached this condi-tion of mind, the possibility of suicide is a factor which must be taken into consideration. A psychotic depression is more apt to strike a religious in the middle-forty years or later rather than in the earlier years of religious life. Sisters who are passing through that period which is called ~th~ change of life" are more prone to be so afflicted. If the religious is eventually going tb regain his or her mental balance, true understanding and immediate med-ical care are imperative." A psychotic depression is not a spiritual problem, even though the element of despair may be present. The condition cannot be eliminated by the more fruitful use of the sacraments and greater effort at prayer. The severely depressed religious has lost contact with God, just as he has lost contact with the rest of reality. This contact must be reestablished through the medium of competent psychiatric help. Attitude Toward Psychotics The attitude of a community plays 'a major role in the ultimate recovery or relapse of a psychotic member. Whether the severely ill member will accept psychiatric help frequently depends upon how such help is viewed by the other' members of the community. If being hospitalized or undergoing exten-sive psychotherapy becomes one of those issues that is hidden in the back closet of the cloister or convent and not even revealed to other members of the same order or congregation, then it can only be expected that this attitude will tend to isolate the psychotic'even more. He then becomes sure that he is entirely different from any other member in the community. As a consequence, he wil! be seriously handicapped in making the step which will allow him to undergo treatment willingly, for that °deep feeling of isolation will not permit him to reach 34 January, 1959 SEVERE MENTAL ILLNESS out even to the therapist who wants to help him. On the other hand, granted that he has assented to psychiatric treatment and has been helped, whether this help will be lasting will depend to a great extent upon how he is received once he has returned to his community. Perhaps there is no situation in community life where there is a. greater need of charity. Only charity can help the psychotic religious regain that sense of belonging with the community. Only charity; can give him confidence in himself and that sense of security which he so sadly lacks. If he can see that others are truly interested in him as a person, then perhaps he will gradually come to think of himself in a less derogato'ry manner. Eventually, it is hoped that .he will be able to view objectively some of his assets and see how he can put these assets to use by helping others. Left to himself, he and all that he is and has is locked within himself. Only understanding and love can open the door. Though the psychotic religious may not realize it at the time, he is very like to our Lord as He knelt 'in the Garden of Olives. The religious who has been psychotic, better than any other mortal, can appreciate this phase of the Passion. For, just as the Master felt the terrible weight of others' guilt pressing Him to the ground and almost crushing the life out of Him, so too has the psychotic been burdened and crushed by his own imagine~l guilt. He has known the meaning of abandonment. He has experienced loneliness. His disorder cuts him off from those who are near and dear to him. He feels that no one else can really understand what he is still suffering and has suffered. He too came to his brethren and, with a note of despair in his voice, pleaded, "Can you not watch one hour with me?" His words fell on deaf ears because ~they could not understand what he was enduring. Then, like our Blessed Lord, he returned alone to do battle with the violent conflict that was going on within his soul. He can only hope RICHARD P. VAUGHAN that one day his resurrection from this terrifying ordeal will be a full reality. That day can be hastened by the understanding and love of the members of his community. Corn m un ica!:ions Reverend Fathers: Just a word regarding one point of Fatt~er Thomas Dubay's "Retreats in Retrospect" in the January, 1958, issue. He says that "if there is such a thing as a psychology of religions women . it is the religious women themselves who must give an account of it." Many retreat masters (and any re!!gious women who are plan-ning to give an account of such a psychology) wiil find mostinter-esting and helpful paragraphs in the pamphlet, The Society of the Sacred Heart, by Janet Erskine Stuart. I believe it can be obtained from any convent of the Religious of the Sacred Heart. We hap-pened on it accidentally and have often mentioned the splendid points she develops regarding the particular needs of religious women and their particular failings, seldom, if ever, mentioned even in spir-itual books. Another thought occurs to me: that the presentation of the vow and virtue of chastity needs a slightly different emphasis for women religious, which is sometimes overlooked. The same blunt way which might be all right for men offends the sensibilities of women. A Sister DELAYED VOCATIONS ~Condnued from page 24) the Third Order Secular, and yearly make the vow of chastity and the promises of poverty and obedience. Catholic women eighteen years of age or older who are free from all legal impediments, who have the right intention, and who are capable of fulfilling the duties required of them can be admitted. There is no age limit, but certain restrictions are observed for women past fifty. For further information write to: Mother Superior, St. Francis Aposto-late, 114 East Kings Highway, San Antonio 12, Texas. The Sisters of Our Lady of Charity are also willing to consider the applications of candidates who are over thirty years of agd. Widows and married women who are legally and permanently sep-arated with ecclesiastical permission are acceptable if otherwise quali-fied. Address: Mother Superior, 485 Best Street, Buffalo 8, New York. 36 Christ: t:he Aut:hor and Source ot: :he Supernat:ural Lit:e Daniel J.'/~. Callahan, S.J. TO COUNTERACT prevalent errors, the Council of ~Frent devoted the entire sixth session to a succinct exposition of: "The true and salutary doctrine on justification which the 'Sun of Justice' (Mal. 4:2) Christ.Jesus, 'The Author and Finisher of faith' (Hebr. 12:2) taught, which the Apostles transmitted, and which the Catholic Church under the inspira-tion of the Holy Spirit has always maintained" (Introduction). Then, after a brief indication of our human weakness and helplessness in Chapter One, the next chapter unfolds for us the role of Christ in our rehabilitation.~ He offered abundant reparation for our sins, restored our adopted sonship of God, and, having thus redeemed us, became for us the source of all grace in the present life and of eternal glory in the next. In the first paragraph of the encyclical, Mediator Dei, Pope Plus XII stresses the identical truth in these words: Mediator between God and men and High Priest who has gone before us into heaven, Jesus the Son of God quite clearly had one aim in view when He undertook the mission of mercy which was to endow mankind, with the rich blessings of supernatural grace. Sin had dis-turbed the right relationship between man and his Creator; the son of God would restore it. The children of Adam were wretched heirs to the infection of original sin; He would bring them back to their heavenly Father, the primal source and final destiny of all things. He ¯ . . gave Himself besides in prayer and sacrifice to the task of saving souls, even to the point of offering Himself as He hung from the cross, a victim unspotted unto God, to purify our conscience of dead works, to serve the living God. Thus happily were all men summoned back from the byways leading them down to ruin and disaster, to be set squarely once again upon the path that leads to God. We shared in the lamentable sin of Adam, forfeited sanc-tifying grace and our celestial heritage; and of our unaided strength we never could have retrieved the loss. A mediator, one acceptable to God and to man because sharing the nature of each, was indispensable; and where could he be found? 37 DANIEL J. M. CALLAHAN Review for Religiou.u On.ly a divine person.incarnate could supply the need. The Second Divine Person became a member of the human family, substituted Himself for us, assumed our responsibility and in-debtedness, freely and lovingly submitted to humiliation and suffering of every description, made perfect atonement, ren-dered boundless honor, praise, and service to God, reopened heaven, and placed within our reach all the means requisite for holiness.of life here and endless happiness hereafter. Such was and is our compassionate and ideal Intermediary who re-leased us from the servitude of Satan, appeased His 'Father, reinstated us in the love and friendship of the adorable Trinity and proffered to us the priceless treasures of grace and of participation in His own life. Such is the revealed Catholic dogma on our redemption through the satisfaction and merits of Christ our M~diator with His Father. By satisfaction is meant the payment or restitution of What is due. When it is offered in reparation f6r personal offense, we call it moral; and it consists in the spontaneous submission and honor sufficient to make amends for the indig-nity and to conciliate the person offended. If it is morally equivalent to the affront, it is said to be condign; if it is not but is nonetheless accepted by the aggrieved party, we call. it con-gruous. Christ, really God and really man, in His. human nature became our sponsor offering to" God vicarious satisfac-tion. His least suffering, His slightest humiliation would have been amply su~cient to expiate every sin, for every action and suffering of His was of.infinite value since it was performed or accepted by a divine person. But, to bring home to us more impressively the infinite sanctity of God, the enormity of sin, and the ineffable love of Jesus for us, the eternal Father exacted from Him all the sacrifices of His earthly career and their consummation in His passion and death in ato.n.ement for our blindness, our ingratitude, our r~bellion, and our malice. Logically satisfaction precedes merit. The culprit must repent of his sin in order that it be pardoned and grace infused. 38 January, 1959 THE SUPERNATURAL LIFE Actually all the free acts of Christ were both satisfactory and meritorious. Supernatural merit is a right to a supernatural reward issuing from a supernatural deed freel~ accomplished ~or God's sake and from His promise to compensate for it. Christ's merit for us is founded on His grace as Head of the human race and on the supreme liberty and boundless love with which He" underwent His passion for all men. And, since He who thus merited is .God, His merits are of infinite value and inexhaustible efficacy. Though Christ's reparation was superabundant and readily accepted by God, it was achieved, not by us, but by our sponsor; and therefore God could and did attach compliance with definite conditions for its application to us individually. Though God created us without our cooperation, He will not sanctify nor save us apart from it. And provided we concur with Him, we have the divine assurance of the full remission of our sins, no matter how heinous they may be, and of our restoration to His grace and intimate friendship. Though the glorified Christ no longer makes reparation nor merits for us, His acquired satisfaction and merits are most advantageous to us. Ceaselessly He offers them for us: "To appear now before the face of God on our behalf. He is able to save those who come to God through Him, since He lives always to make intercession for them,", as St. Paul writes in Hebrews 9:24; 7:25. And in acknowledging our helplessness and unworthiness and in pleading with the Church through the satisfaction and merits of Jesus, we glorify God and proclaim that His Son is the omnipotent Mediator whom He has been pleased to give .us. We are to have a resolute faith and trust in the exhaustless riches amassed for us by our blessed Lord; and, receiving all from Jesus, we should render to Him and our common Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit praise, glory, and thanksgiving. United with Christ our Head, we have also been enabled to offer reparation for sin and to merit supernaturally. This 39 DANIEL J. M. CALLAHAN Review for Religious we accomplish by means of every good action done in the state of grace and with purity of intention, and thus we co-operate with Him in our personal growth in holiness and in that of the neighbor. Like the living cell~ in our body, each one of us can greatly contribute to the spiritual welfare and expansion of the Church, the Mystical Body.of Christ, of which He is the Head and we the members. And while thus assisting others, we effectively ~omote our own sanctity and together with our Head practicg:the purest charity and share in ~the same life. Such association with our Savior evidences the abundance of His redemption, is most glorious to Him and a tremendous comfort to us. We are not to infer that with His "Consummatum est" Christ terminated His activity on our behalf. He is still con-tinually operative in the sanctuary of our souls, imparting grace, enabling us to ~levelop our sup.ernatural life and to partake ever more of the life that is His. He remain~ our universal Mediator, High Priest, and Redeemer dispensing through His human nature divine blessing with a lavish hand. "Christ our Lord brings the Church to live His own supernatural life, by His divine power permeates His whole Body and nourishes and sustains each of the members according to the place which they occupy in the Body, very much as the vine nourishes and makes fruitful the branches which are joined to it" (Encyclical on the Mystical Body of Christ, n. 67). Since Christ's Ascension, He continues to dispense His .graces through the sacraments. It is He who through the Church baptizes, teaches, rules, looses, binds, offers, sacrifices . Holiness begins from Christ; by Christ it is effected. For no act conducive to salvation can be performed unless it proceeds from Him as its supernatural cause. "Without me," He says, "you can do nothing." If we grieve and do penance for our sins, if with filial fear and hope we turn again to God, it is because He is leading us. Grace and glory flow from His unfath-omed fulness. Our Saviour is continually pouring out His gifts of counsel, fortitude, fear and piety, especially on the leading members of His Body, so that the whole Body may grow daily more and 4O January, 1959 THE SUPERNATURAL LIFE more in spotless holiness. When the Sacraments of the Church are administered by external rite, it is He who produces their effect in souls. He nourishes the redeemed with His own flesh and blood, and thus calms the soul's turbulent passions; He gives increase of grace and is preparing future glory for souls and bodies. (Encyclical on the Mystical Body of Christ, nn. 67, 63) The Christian sacraments signify and produce grace; they envelop our entire life; at all its momentous stages they provide for our spiritual needs. They may be likened to so many channels through which the life of Christ is communicated to us. It remains for us to intensify our appreciation of them, to enlarge the capacity of our souls through rep.entance, hu-mility, confidence, and above all through love, thus rendering the efficacy of the sacraments more profound, vast, enduring. Even apart from the sacraments, Christ is energetic in us whenever we approach Him. Divine strength issues from Him and permeates our, souls. In the words of the Council of Trent: "As-the head in the members and as the vine in the branches, Christ Jesus constantly exercisesHis sanctifying power in the just, which salutary influenacleways precedes, accompanies, and follows their good works"(Sess. 6, Chap. 16). Animated faith in His divinity, His almighty power, and His undying love communicates to the soul the grace to elim-inate sin, imperfections, inordinate attachment to self and other creatures, the courage to eliminate all obstacles and thus effect our unconditioned surrender to Him. Dedicated to God and to the attainment of perfection, the better we religious understand the relation of our spiritual life to Christ, the more shall we love Him, the more shall we treasure our vocation, and the more shall we endeavor to attract others to Him. Then, too, shall we more readily appreciate why no sins are irremissible, why through the sacrifice of the Mass we can offer the most acceptable reparation for past sins and how by means of the remedial efficacy of the sacraments we can be loyal to Him for the future. 41 Survey of Roman Document:s R. F. Smit:h, S.J. [The present article wil! summarize the documents published in Acta Apos-tolicae Sedis (AAS) from August 1, 1958, to September 22, 1958, the latter date being that of the last issue of AAS that was published before the death of Pius XII. All page references throughout the survey are to the 1958 AAS (v. 50).] An Encyclical to Chinese Catholics U NDER "J'H.E. DATE of June 29, 1958 (AAS, pp. 601-14), the late Holy Father issued the encyclical Ad apostolorum prin-cipis sepu!chrum (At the Tomb of the Prince of the Apostles) directed to the hierarchy and the faithful~ of China. Having noted that the Church is foreign to no country and hostile to no land, the Po~pe expressed his alarm over a new association formed in China under civil auspices, membership in which is being forced upon Catholics. The association, he noted, ostensibly combines love of religion and country, desire for world peace, and devotion to religious liberty. In reality, however, the chief purpose of the association is to gradually lead Catholics to embrace atheistic materi-alism; it accuses Catholic bishops and even the Holy See of insane desires for temporal power and of extorting money from the people; and under a campaign for religious liberty it really seeks to make the Church completely subservient to civil authority. Because all this is attempted in the name of patriotism, Pius XII recalled to the minds of all Chinese Catholics their duty of loving their country with a strong, sincere affection; they must obey civil authority, provided nothing is commanded that is against divine law; and they nlust seek to foster and increase the prosperity of their country, fulfilling in these ways the saying of our Redeemer: "Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's" (Lk 20:25). Nevertheless, he added, they must also remember that if civil authority should command anything that is against the rights of God, then all Catholics must repeat and follow the words of St. Peter: "Man must obey God rather than man" (Acts 5:29). Having. reminded the Chinese Catholics that true peace can be had only by the i~rinciples of justice and love and that the" teach-ing power of the Church extends to all human actions in so far as they are morally good or bad, Plus XII went on to point out that 42 ROMAN DOCUMENTS the civil government in China has no right to appoint bishops; con-sequently bishops appointed by the Chinese government have no power of teaching or of ju~:isdiction. Moreover, even if they should be validly consecrated, their actions would nevertheless remain gravely illicit. The Holy Father concluded his encyclical by expressing the sorrow that the Church's condition in China has caused him and told the faithful ia China to strengthen themselves with the hope that the present persecution will lead to a new growtl~ of the Church and to days of happiness and joy. Sacred Music and the Liturgy On September 3, 1958 (AAS, pp. 630-63), the Sacred Congrega-tion of Rites issued an instruction on sacred music and the liturgy in accordance with the principles laid down by the encyclicals Musicae sacrae disciplina and Mediator Dei. The first of the three chapters that form the body of the instruction defines sacred liturgy as those actions which were insti-tuted by Christ or by the Church and which are performed in their names by legitimately designated persons according to the liturgical books approved by the Holy See. All other sacred functions, whether performed, in or outside a church, are to be called devotional exercises, even when they are conducted by a priest. The second chapter notes that devotional exercises should not be inserted into liturgical functions. It further states that the language of liturgical functions is Latin unless exceptions are made in certain cases in approved liturgical books. In sung Masses, every-thing must be in Latin, except where a hundred-year or immemorial custom allows the insertion of vernacular hymns after the liturgical words have been duly sung in Latin. At low Masses all those who directly participate in the Mass must use only Latin; other prayers, however, and hymns may be'in the vernacular. St is, however, desirable that on Sundays and feast days the Gospel and the Epistle be read by a lector in the vernacular. In the third chapter the document gives special norms to be observed in the various liturgical functions. It begins by taking up the matter of lay participation in sung Masses, pointing out that three levels of such participation a~re possible. The first level is had when" the faithful give all the liturgical responses; the second occurs when the laity sing all or some of the parts of the Ordinary of the Mass; while the third level of lay participation involves the 43 R. F. SMITH Review for Religious singing of the Proper of the Mass. This last level is urged especially for religious communities and for seminaries. The Congregation then adds various other regulations for sung Masses. A Latin hymn may be added after the Offertory and Communion Antiphons. The faithful who go to Communion may say the threefold Domine, non sum dignus with the celebrant. The Sanctus and ~lenedictus are not to be separated if they are sung in Gregorian chant; in other cases the Benedictus is to be sung after the Consecration. The Congregation suggests that silence be had from the Consecration to the Pater noster, unless the Benedictus is to be sung during that time. Finally the document notes that the organ should not be played during the priest's blessing at the conclusion of Mass. The instruction then considers the matter of lay participation in low Masses. The first level of such participation is had when the faithful join in the Mass by reading their Missals or by engaging privately in other suitable prayers and devotions. In these cases organ or other instrumental music may be played except during the following parts of the Mass: after the priest's arrival at the altar to the Offertory; from the verses preceding the preface to the Sanctus; where the custom exists, from the Consecration to the Pater noster; from the Pater noster to the dgnus Dei; during the Confiteor before the communion of the faithful; and during the last blessing. The second level of lay participation at low 'Mass is had when the faithful sing hymns or recite suitable prayers in common. The third level includes various grades of participation according as the faithful make all or some of the liturgical responses or, besides this, recite the Gloria, Credo, Sanctus-Benedictus, and Agnus Dei with the celebrant. The highest grade of this third level of participation in low Mass is had when the faithful, besides observing the foregoing, recite with the priest the Introit, the Gradual, the Offertory, and the Communion. Finally the instruction permits the faithful at low Masses to recite in Latin with the priest the Pater noster, adding the ~ltaen at its conclusion. The instruction then regulates conventual Masses, prescribing that these should be solemn Masses or at least high Masses to be celebrated after Terce, though the superior of the community may for grave reasons have it celebrated after Sext or None. The docu-ment then approves the practice on special occasions of many priests attending a Mass where they all receive communion but prohibits 44 January, 1959 ROMAN DOCUMENTS "synchronized" Masses wh~re two or more priests celebrate Mass simultaneously at different altars in the same church, each one keep-ing in complete unison with the other(s). With regard to the Divine Office, the instruction notes that the recitation of the Office by those obliged to it is always an act of public worship. It also urges that at least on some Sundays and feast days of the year Vespers should be sung with the people .and warns local ordinaries to see to it that evening Masses do not prevent such Vespers. Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, the document remarks, is a liturgical function and hence should be held in accordance with the prescriptions of the Roman Ritual, though other methods of conducting Benediction can be permitted by the local ordinary if these are based on immemorial tradition. In the next part the instruction notes that polyphonic music an~l modern sacred music used at liturgical functions must follow the norms set down in Musicae sacrae disciplina; it emphasizes the need of fostering popular religious hymns; and it forbids religious music, that is, music intended to arouse and foster pious sentiments but not composed for divine worship, to be played in church, though for exceptional reasons local ordinaries may. permit concerts of such music in church. After repeating existing legislation about liturgical chant books and after noting that some musical instruments are not fitted for Church use, the document points out that the principal instrument of the liturgy is the pipe organ, though a reed organ may also be used. Electrophonetic organs may be tolerated temporarily with the explicit permission of the local ordinary. Other instruments, espe-cially string instruments played with a bow, may be used provided they are played with religious gravity and decorum. All recorded or broadcast music is forbidden to be used during liturgical functions and during devotional exercikes, whether in or out of church; ampli-fiers, however, or loudspeakers may be used. No movies of any type may be shown in churches for any reason; liturgical functions, however, may be broadcast or televised if express permission for this is given by the local ordinary. The Congregation then notes that organ music, except for Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, is forbidden during Advent, Lent, Passiontide, at the Office and Mass of the Ember Days of September; and at all Offices and Masses for the dead. Other 45 R. F. SMITH Review for Religious instrumental music is prohibited besides on Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima Sundays and the ferials following these days. "Within these forbidden times for music, however, the Congregation lists certain exceptions. Thus organs and other instruments are permitted on holy days of obligat!on that fall on week days, on the feast of the principal .local patron, on the titular feast or on the dedication anniversary of the church, on the titular feast or founder's feast of a religious family, and wheneger an extraordinary solemnity takes place. Moreover, pipe and reed organs are permitted on the third Sunday of Advent and on the fourth Sunday of Lent, at the Mass of Chrism or/ Holy Thursday, and at evening Mass on Holy Thursday.from the beginning to the Gloria. During all the forbiddefi times pipe and reed organ.s may be tlsed at Mass and Vespers to accompany the chant; during the last three days of Holy Week; however, the organ may not be used even for this purpose, except for ¯ the exceptions on Holy Thursday noted above. Finally during the last three days of Holy Week all use of the organ, is prohibited during devotional exercises, even though a contrary custom may now exist. The instruction next insists that every effort be made that churches as well as public and semi-public oratories have one or two bells which should be consecrated or at least blessed. Carillons, however, are to be excluded from all liturgical use; nor may record-ings of bells be used. In the next section the document suggests that at Mass and at the more complicated liturgical functions use be made of a "com-mentator''~ who would briefly explain the individual parts of the services and direct the faithful's response and singing. If possible, the "commentator" should be a priest; if necessary, however, a lay man of upright life may perform this office. The rest of the document is concerned with" parish and diocesan organizations to foster proper execution and appreciation of sacred music. Finally, in its concluding paragraph the instruction notes that Plus XII approved in a special way all the contents of the document. Notice should also be taken here of an admonition of the Holy Office given on July 24, 1958 (AAS, p. 536). Having received a report that the phrase "the mystery of faith" had been omitted from the formula for the consecration of the wine in a vernacular trans- 46 January, 1959 ROMAN L)OCUMENTS lation of Holy Week Services and that some priests had omitted these words in celebrating Mass, the Holy Office recalled that it is forbidden to make such changes in the sacred rites or to remove anything from the liturgical books. Allocutions and Messages On July 19, J~uly 25, and August 2, 1958 (AAS, pp. 562-86), the late Holy Father broadcast a three-part aIlocution to the contempla-tive nuns of the world. Since the full text of the allocution will be given in REWEW ~:Og RELIGIOUS beginning in the present issue, no further notice need be taken of the address here. On July 2, 1958 (AAS, pp. 523-30), Plus XII spoke to the Women's Union of Italian Catholic Action. After giving a long history of the achievements of the Union since its founding by pope St. Plus X, the Holy Father recalled to his listeners what he termed "the triangle of Christian life": personal sanctity, external apostolate, socio-civic activity. He told them that of these three facets of Christian life, the first is the most important, since it must always be successful, even when because of external conditions the other two are not. The Union, he concluded, like all other apostolic groups in the Church, has no greater enemy than spiritual sterility. Later, on July 13, 1958 (AAS pp. 530-35), the Pope spoke to the young women's section of Italian Catholic Action, discussing with them the two main vocations of Christian womanhood: consecrated virginity and Christian motherhood. On June 29, 1958 (AAS, pp. 518-23), the Vicar of Christ spoke to an international group of ear, nose, and throat specialists. After considering the conditions necessary for progress in medical matters, he concluded by urging, the doctors to imitate Christ as He passed among the suffering of the human race. Like Him, they should seek to assuage the pain of men in the hope of preparing their hearts for the coming of the kingdom of God. To the members of the First International Catholic Conference on Health, Plus XII on July 27, 1958 /AAS, pp. 586-91), stressed the necessity of co-operation among all those who are concerned with private and public health matters. He also reminded them that as Christ healed physical and moral sickness in order to lead men to recognize Him as the resurrection and the life, so Catholics in health work should conduct themselves in such a way that observers may be able to divine from their conduct their attachment to the Church and to the Holy Spirit who animates the Church. 47 R. F. SMITH Review for Religion,s On June 22, 1958 (AAS, pp. 514-18), the Holy Father addressed a group of Italian brokers, telling them that economic activity, like every type of human activity, must submit itself to divine law. After recalling the moral duties of brokers, he concluded by urging his listeners to remember that there is onIy one mediator (the Italian word for broker is t~¢diat,,re) between God and man. Like Christ the Mediator, he said, the brokers in their professional work should try to be instruments of salvation a~3d of sanctification, thereby assist-ing the world of business to become a truly Christian world. Under the date of July 21, 1958 (AAS, pp. 592-93), Plus XII sent a written message to.an international group of workers on pilgrimage at Lourdes, bidding them to look at the Blessed Virgin and thereby realize that man's supreme goal is not an earthly, but a heavenly, one. On August 15, 1958 (AAS, pp. 622-25), the Holy Father despatched a written message to those present at the sacred functions held in the pontifical pavilion at the Brussels World Exposi-tion, telling them that the human accomplishments on exposition in the city are incomplete unless they lead to the adoration of God from whom all good .things come. He also expressed his satisfaction that in the pontifical pavilion Christ is really present in the Eucharist, for this is an attestation of those absolute values of religion and of morality without which all material things do not find their unity or their ultimate perfection. Miscellaneous Matters By an apostolic letter of February 14, 1958 (AAS, pp. 512-.13), Plus XII declared St. Clare to be patroness of television. On May 29, 1958 (AAS, pp. 544-46), the Sacred Congregation of Rites approved the introduction of the cause of the Servant of God Dominic of the Blessed Sacrament (1901-1927), professed priest of the Order. of the Most Holy Trinity. On the same date {AAS, pp. 594-98) the same Congregation si~nilarly approved the introduction of the cause of the Servant of God Emmanuel d'Alzon {1810-1880}, priest, founder of the Assumptionists as well as of the Oblate Sisters of the Assumption. In the issues of AAS under consideration the Sacred Penitentiary released the official text of two prayers written by Plus XII. The first, issued under the date August 2, 1957 (AAS, pp. 599-600), is a prayer to the Blessed Virgin to be recited by all Christian women who, when they recite the prayer devoutly, may gain an indulgence of three years. The second prayer, the text of which was published 48 January, 1959 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS under the date of June 24, 1958 (AAS, pp. 547-48), is a prayer be recited during the coming National Italian Eucharistic Congress; the faithful who say the prayers during the congress may gain an indulgence of three years. The final document to be noted here is one from the Pontifical Commission for the Oriental Code of Canon Law; the document gives a textua[ change that henceforth is to be incorporated in Canon 215, § 2 of the Oriental Code. Ques 'ons and Answers [The following answers are given by Father Joseph F. Gallen, S.J., professor of canon law at Woodstock College, Woodstock, Maryland.] ¯ How justifiable is the phrase "brain-washed" religious? Let us hope there is no justification. The essence of the religious life is a personal and complete consecration of one's self to God. A vow is a free promise made to God. This personal element can never be abandoned in the actual living of the religious life nor in forma-tion, direction, or government. The members of the one institute should manifest common traits but they should never lose their in-dividuality. All life demands a measure of adjustment and conformity, but not complete conformity. A formation that would stifle all in-" dividual thinking, judgment, initiative, and responsibility would be evidently defective and equally dangerous. All cannot be fitted into one mold; and if this is attempted, some will escape with no less violence than damage. Grace purifies, assists, and elevates natural abilities, but does not create them nor .destroy them. Perfect conform-ity is not even desirable, simply because the common way of thinking and acting is rarely the highest. An evident cause of the force of bad example is the fact that so few think for themselves. A religious institute should be grateful to its prudent dissenters. The soft bed of the same and of what everybody else is doing is molded so com-fortably to the many; but let us thank God that it is a torture to a few intelligent, spiritual, and prudent religious. "There are counterfeits of obedience. The ps);chological inferior-ity complex created by a habit of submission must not be confused with the virtue of obedience, which encourages in oneself many. quali- 49 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Review for Religious ties, much spontaneity, and interior freedom. The obedience oi: the perfect is not only perfection in obedience strictly so called; it is accompanied by perfection in all other virtues." Reverend M. J. Nicholas, O. P., Religious Sisters, 82. "Obedience should not be based on an excessive multiplicity of orders or be so minute as to fix every moment and action of the re-ligious life. The result would be to materialize obedience and the life it.self; and the religious, confined in such a circle, would end by acting as an automaton." Reverend Maurus a Grizzana, O. F. M. Cap., Acta et Documenta Congressus Generalis de Statibus Pertrectionis, II, 177. "The man should be formed in the religious. Isn't it highly proper that a formed r~ligious should be a man of principle, of char-acter, who is not in constant need of help and support from outside himself, who can find within himself the intelligence and the force necessary for action, at least in normal circumstances, in a word, a re,an, and not a perpetual infant?" Reverend R. Arnou, S.J., ihiJ., 542. "But in the convent, nearly everything is built on the passive. The activity of thesisters is directed in every detail. Nearly every minut~ has its task. The concept of obedience and detachment appeals more to the passive than the active type. But not all possess the ability to. put themselves into a mold. It is astonishing how men religious in general retain their personality in religious life, wh'ile nuns easily lose theirs because they try to conform themselves to the type their con-gregation sets up as an ideal, taking on their manners, style of lilCe, and mentality." Sister Agnes, S. H. C., Religious Life Today, 163. 12-- It is a rather generally accepted custom in our institute for the local superiors to give permission to the religious to retain and use the Christmas gifts they receive. May this custom be followed? We are to presume that the will of a superior is reasonable and in accbrd with the norms of the religious life. The reasonable inter-pretation of this custom is that the superior intends the religious to retain only the things that are necessary and proportionately useful. All other gifts are to be handed in. We are likewise to presume that a superior in no way intends to exclude mortification and detachment and "therefore is in no sense averse to religious handing in gifts that they could consider even necessary. ' 50 Jan~a~'y, 1959 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS I have heard many retreat masters say that the only thing de-manded by poverty is permission. Is this true? It is not complete and is misleading. Permission in poverty merely excludes sin from the action. To be fully accurate, it ex-cludes sin only t:rom the object of the action, not from its motive or circumstances. I do not say this frequently happens, but it is possible for a religious to have a sinful motive in something he secures permis'sion for. The statement is especially inadequate because it neglects the~ higher degrees of poverty-and minimizes the entire purpose of poverty in the religious life, which is detachment from material things. Securing permissiori is an aid to detachment, bdt it is obviously possible /:or a religious to b~ attached to something for which he has secured permission. "It seems that particularly in the study of moral theology and canon law a sufficient distinction is not made between the viewpoint of simple morality, sin and no sin, and that of Christian perfection. The norm of life of the religious is not merely the sin.less but the more perfect." Reverend Benjamin of the Most Holy Trinity, O~C.D., Acta et Documenta Congressus Genera~is de Statibus Per° fectionis, II, 195. "Moral theology is too often taught in a negative and legalistic way, which results in its boring those who require to live on what they are learning. One cannot live on prohibitions. In reality, the teaching of moral theology, rightfully understood, is the basis of spiritual theology." Reverend Lucien-Marie de St. Joseph, O.C.D., The Doctrinal Instruction of Religious Sisters,. 95.° The constitutions of our pontifical congregation of ~isters, in the chapter on the care of the sick, contain the following article: "The sick who have been in bed for a month and hav~ nb certain hope of speedy recovery, may, on the prudent advice, of their con-fessor, receive the Holy Eucharist once or twice a week even though they have taken medicine or something to drink." We were later instructed that this should be changdd to: "On "the prudent advice of a confessor, the sick; even though not confined to bed, may take something to drink before ~Communion~ if their sickness does not permit them to observe the full fast without real inconvenience; they may also take solid or liquid medicines. All alcoholic liquids are ~UESTIONS AND ANSWERS excluded." We are now told that the article should be changed to: "Without any limitation of time before the reception of Holy Com-munion, the sick, even though not confined to bed, may take non, alcoholic liquids and anything that is truly a medicine, whether liquid or solid." We are about to reprint our constitutions. Do .we need the permission of the Holy See to change the wording of. this article? No. It is true that a change in the constitutions demands the permission of the Holy See in a pontifical congregation and that of all the ordinaries in whose dioceses the institute has houses in the case of a diocesan congregation. However, the constitutions in this case are merely stating an enactment of the Church. Since the enactment has been changed, the statement of it in your constitu-tions should also be changed. SOME BOOKS RECEIVED [Only bobks sent directly to the Book Review Editor, West Baden College, West Baden Springs, Indiana, are included in our Reviews and Announcements. The following books were sent to St. Marys.] Saint Clare Patroness of Television. By Mabel Farnum. Society ¯ -of St. Paul, 2187 Victory Boulevard, Staten Island 14, New York. 25c (paper cover). Life in Christ: Instructions in the Catholic Faith, By Reverends James Killgallon and Gerard Weber. Life in Christ, 720 North Rush Street, Chicago 11, Illinois. $1.00 (paper cover). What Is Faith? By Eugene Joly. Translated by Dora Illtyd Trethowan. Hawthorn Books, 70 Fifth Avenue,. New York 11, New York. $2.95. What Is the Bible? By Henri Daniel-Rops. Translated by J. R. Foster. Hawthorn Books, 70 Fifth Avenue, New York 11, New York. $2.95. Bibliographie Ignatienne: 1894-1957. By J. F[ Gilmont, S.J., and P. Daman, S.J. Descl~e de Brouwer, Paris. 165 Belgian francs (paper cover). Education and the Liturgy: 18th North American Liturgical Week. The Liturgibal Conference, EIsberry, Missouri. $2.00 (paper Cover) . SUMMER INSTITUTES FOR RELIGIOUS The Reverend Owen M. Cloran, s.J., will conduct an institute in canon law for superiors of religious congregations of women at Loyola University, in Chicago, June 22-26. Applications should be directed to the Reverend Robert W. Mulligan, S.J., Lewis Towers, 820 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago 11, Illinois. 52 Book Reviews [Material for this department should be sent to Book Review Editor, REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, West Baden College, West Baden Springs, Indiana.] DIOCESAN PRIEST SAINTS. By Rev. R. A. Hutchinson. Pp. 219. B. Herder Book Company, St. Louis 2, Missouri. 1958. $3.95. The author gives us some insight into his purpose when he writes: "In the past quarter century the number of secular priests in the U. S. has increased 60% . Though encouraging this figure fails far short of the 125% increase in priests reported by religious orders in the same period. The discrepancy here is the result in part of skillful propaganda on the one hand and confusion about the nobility of the diocesan priesthood on the other." His book is intended to remedy this "situation, but it turns out to be propaganda for the other side. One example will suffice. He writes: "We may think of asceticism in terms of nocturnal prayer, flowing .robes, silent figures gliding down shadowy cloister walks, community life, and the monastery bell. But these are elements of just one kind of asceticism, not all kinds. The ascetical life of the secul:~r priest cannot be considered inferior to that of the monk because it excludes the capuche, shaved tonsure, and the weekly chapter of faults. It does include opportunities for endless self-control, the fostering of gentle-ness, tolerance, and consideration in dealing with the parishioners . . generosity to the needy. (Could a secular priest be generous to the needy if he had given away all his money because of some passage in a spiritual book that said he should be poor?)" Men will forget that vocations are made in heaven and not on earth, that in the matter of vocation the only thing that counts is to choose not the one that is theoretically the most excellent, but to choose the one that God wants chosen. To do God's will and to do it perfectly, that is sanctity. Theoretically it is true that it is easier to save one's soul and to achieve sanctity in the religious state--the author to the contrary notwithstanding--but practically only for those whom God has chosen for that life. If the author should attempt another book--and we hope that he will, for he writes well--he would attain his purpose of promoting vocations to the secular priesthood much more surely and effectively if he gave us the biographies of secular priest saints and omitted all pr~paganda.--F;. A. H~,US~,IAt~N, S.J. 53 BOOK REVIEWS Review fo~" Religious BASIL ANTHONY MOREAU. By Canon Etienne Catta and Tony CattY. Translated by Edward L. Heston, C.S.C. Vol. I, pp. xxx~i, 1016; Vol. II, 1108. The Bruce Publishing Company, 400 North Broadway, Milwaukee 1, Wisconsin. 1955. $30.00. It is a widely held error that a scholarly, well-documented biography cannot possibly be as interesting as a so-called popular one. If this were not already many times over proved false, this life of Basil Anthony Mary Moreau would be adequate to accomplish the task. Because of a misunderstanding, the interested parties have indicated, no review copies were distributed at the time of publication, 1955; hence only now is this life being reviewed. It is just that the record should be made complete, for this is the definitive life prepared for the cause of the beatification of the Servant of God, a contemporary of the Curt of Ars. At the outset, however, let us say th~it weighty and controversial affairs, partic~ularly in the history of Holy Cross but pertaining also sonlewhat to the history of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, are constantly dealt with in this work; these accounts only the specialist in the history of these con-gregations can assess for accuracy and historical wi~rth. Caution is called for indeed in dealing with the life o'f the founder of Holy C'ross, for Father Moreau's life was filled with controversy. So it is that estimates of his character covered a rather ~ide range. This man, whose cause for beatification has been introduced, had St. Mary Euphrasia PeIletier say of him, "That man is a rod beat.ing us to blood!" She added, "Ah, what an enemy! May God forgive him! . . . He is the cruelest enemy of all our work. Never .could I have dreamed that the human heart was capable of so much treachery." 'The pope of his time, Pius IX, allegedly characterized Father Moreau as "that good old man whom I love." Yet this same pope was not pleased, having ordered this "good old man" to come to Rome, to find the order, at least for a time, not c6mplied with.' This noncompliance (though based on theological reasoning) should have sealed the fate of any effort to introduce the cause of Father Moreau at Rome. Oddly enough it didn't. Plus XII encouraged his spiritual children to seek for him the honors of the altar. This book, fbrtunately, is an attempt to put some rationality into the crazy abstractionist portrait that could result from elements like those above. The founder and first superior general of Holy Cross, originally an association of fathers, brothers, and sisters working together under 54 January, 1959 BOOK REVIEWS one superior, has the misfortune of being necessarily classed among those many founders and foundresses (the authors have counted some thirty) more or less repudiated by their spiritual children. Father Moreau's successor as superior general petitioned that Father Moreau be freed from all his obligations toward the congregation, a petition to which Rome did not accede. Nevertheless, his motherhouse was sold to pay outstanding debts; Father Moreau did not die in a house of Holy Cross, but rather in the home of his two sisters," whither he had gone from a house of his congregation without even the necessaries to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. How a retiring seminary professor ~tarted on his career as founder and how eventually he came to such straits is the engrossing story of these two massive volumes. Many individuals great and small were respon-sible for his stormy passage--great as the t:ounder of the University of Notre Dame, Father Sorin, and small as the petty sacerdotal literateur whose observations of the lady boarders in the community where he was in residence resulted in "Little Portraits of Great Ladies," a contribution to literature that ran indeed to two editions. Nor do the authors fail to show that the holy founder's own short-comings played a part in causing him difficulties. However, amidst the frailties which God allows to remain even in His loved ones the spiritual stature of the man stands out. The volumes are filled with material as engrossing as it is well-written, not relative just to the private life of Father Moreau or, more generally, to the progress of his institutes, but pertinent also to the stirring times in which he lived. French politics, the theological scene, the philosophical scene, dominant personalities (like Pius IX), others not dominant but intensely interesting (like Father Sorin) or inspiring (like Father Mollevaut)--all these are presented, their tan-gential influences explored. And many of the incidents recounted are memorable. For instance, there is the occasion when on a walk with Father Moreau the famous French Jesuit De Ravignan urged Basil to enter the Society oi: Jesus with him. They had stopped in the Meudon woods to sit together while De Revignan read aloud to Basil, as was his custom, the life of St. Francis Xavier. Suddenly De Ravignan stood up. Punctuating his persuasion with a gesture toward the nearby Jesuit novitate at Montrouge, he asked, "Do you want to come with me? Do you want to come with me?" It would have been good for Father Moreau, had he joined, good for the Jesuits, but in the long run a loss for the Church. Another interesting event is 55 BOOK REVIEWS Review for Religious the audience with the Pope during which the august hand itself removed from the throat of Father Moreau his winged rabat, a symbol to Rome of Gallican insubordination (and for that reason, it might be added, thoroughly out of place as part of Father Moreau's apparel). And there are sad events--Father Moreau's exclusion from the general chapter so that he could exercise no influence. His invitation to another so that he could ruin himself. The general chapter consoled itself, according to one chronicler, that it would not be punished for the faults of its father founder. Truly Father Moreau erected the tree of Holy Cross only to find himself eventually crucified on it. Whether or not this definitive life is the definitive life it is probably too early to j~adge. What is set down here, all 2,000 pages of it, is solid, urbane, well written, though not without traces of the passions that the founder of Holy Cross's work and actions aroused even, or especially, when he was alive. It is a work that reflects the effort and devotion that have been put into it. Sometimes the materials are skimpy--Father Moreau's first twenty-two years are covered in twenty-seven pages. And sometimes the writers have contented themselves with telling us of the congregations' progress without showing how Father Moreau's life affected these events or was affected by them. But in general this is a worthy work, capabl~. executed. It can be recommended for reading in the dining room of mature religious. A few small points: The erroneous implication seems to be made, on page twenty of volume one, that at the present day a cassock is worn in no preparatory seminary. The reviewer feels that Father Bardeau's account of Monsignor Simeoni's audience with the Holy Father, quoted on page 941 of volume two in a footnote, should be put with the record of Father Moreau's audience with the Pope, since it is an historical document pertaining to that audience and necessary for a balanced view of testimony available about it. On page 856, volume t~)o, the name of the then general of the Society of Jesus is misspelled three times. Moreover, volumes so rich in illustrations (twenty-one in the first volume alone) should accommodate the reader with a listing, preferably at the front of each volume, of the drawings and photographs. But these are tiny defects in a great undertaking successfully prosecuted.-- EARL A. W~s, S.J. 56 January, 1959 BOOK REVIEWS STAGES IN PRAYER. By John G. Arintero, O.P. Translated from the Spanish by Kathleen Pond. Pp. x, 178. B. Herder Book Company, St. Louis 2, Missouri. 1957. $3.25. Stages in Prayer is a short treatise on the phases of progress in the spiritual life. The author, an eminent Spanish theologian, is also known for his Evoluci6n M~stica, a work on mystical the~logy. In Stages in Prayer the author outlines in some detail various levels of prayer. His thesis is clear-cut: the higher levels of prayer are for all Christian souls and not merely for those few who are commonly termed "mystics." These higher phases ought not to be considered as extraordinary, for they are of their own nature ordinary in the perfect Christian life. The book is an attempt to indicate the ordinary manifestations of the various stages in prayer. Admittedly the subject is of its nature difficult to treat clearlyl especially in a spiritual compendium of this sort. Unfortunately the author does little to remedy this inherent difficulty. In an, area where sharp distinctions are important, words such as stages or union are 9mployed loosely and often in different senses from one chapter to the next. Though the author's stages are based on those of St. Teresa, the classifications of other spiritual writers are used freely and at times without careful indication of the source. Subdivisions of stages in one chapter are raised to the rank of full stages in other chapters, thus" leading to further confusion. At least half of the printed matter in the volume consists of direct or indirect quotations, mostly from Spanish mystics. These quotations are deployed in various places; in the text itself, in lengthy footnotes, as separate chapters, or in the seventy-eight pages of appendices. Unfortunately many of these quotations are not directly to the point under consideration and serve but to confuse an already complicated thought pattern." Moreover, the translator might well have broken down the author's numerous complex sentences into a size more familiar to English readers; the single seventeen-line sentence on page sixty-nine, for instance, borders on the ludicrous. While not denying that the successful attainment of the higher. stages of prayer depends on God's grace, the author nevertheless is rather severe with those who do not labor strenuously to attain these heights; in one place he practically assures them of eternal ruin (p. 84). Nowhere does he indicate that there is another acceptable 57 I~OOK REVIEWS Review for Religious school of spirituality which rejects the notion that the more lofty levels can be obtained by all who simply love and try to obtain them. Stages in Prayer contains much valuable material for spiritual directors, especially those who are somewhat reluctant to lead their charges toward the higher forms of prayer. However, the sketchy treatment of complex and disputed problems, together with the numerous unqualified statements which require further explanation, do not recommend the book for the open shelves of the convent or seminary library.--R. GERARD flILBRIGHT, THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES: Text and Commentary. By Giuseppe Ricciotti. Translated by Laurence E. Byrne, C.R.L. Pp. xii, 420. Bruce Publishing Company, 400 North Broadway, Milwaukee 1, Wisconsin. 1958. $8.00. To the books of Al~bot Giuseppe Ricciotti already published in English translation (The History of Israel, The Life of Christ in both the regular and popular abridged editions, and Paul, the Apostle) Bruce now adds The Acts of the Apostles. Those acquainted with Ricciotti's work will recognize in this volume the same level of "high popularization" which has characterized the previous writings of the Italian scholar. Introductory material deals with the text" of Acts, authorship, sources used by Luke, his purpose in writing, date and composition of the book, and an account of modern criticism. The text itself of Acts, which is a translation of Ricciotti's original translation of the Greek, is printed at the top of the page .in' boldface type; and the rest of the p.age--prac.tically always more

Issue 18.2 of the Review for Religious, 1959. ; Review for Religious MARCH. 15, 1959 Allocution to Contemplative Nuns By Pius XII Practice of the Holy See By Joseph F. Gallen, S.J. Less Me "By Conan McCreary, O.F.M.Cap. Saint Joseph and the Interior Life By Sister Emily Joseph, C.S.J. Survey of Roman Documents Views, News, and Previews Questions and Answers Book Reviews and Notices 65 77 86 90 100 ~106 108 116 VOLUME 18 NUMBER 2 Volume 18 March 15", 1959 Number 2 OUR CONTRIBUTORS FRANK C. BRENNAN is stationed at St. Mary's College, St. Marys, Kansas. JOSEPH F. GALLEN, the editor of our Question and Answer Department, is professor of Canon Law at Woodstock College, Woodstock, Maryland. CONAN McCREARY is a student of theology at Capuchin College, 4121 Harewood Road, N. E., Wash-ingto 17, D.C. SISTER EMILY JOSEPH is stationed at the College of St. Rose, Albany, New York. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, March, 1959. Vol. 18, No. 2. Published bi-monthly by The Queen's Work, 3115 South Grand Bpulevard, St. Louis 18, Missouri. Copyright, 1959, by The Queen's Work. Subscription price in U.S.A. with ecclesiastical approval. Second class mail privilege authorized at St. Louis, Missouri. Copyright, 1959, by The 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.; Earl 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. Plus Xll's AIIocution to Cloistered Contemplatives Translat:ed by Frank C. Brennan, S.J. [The first part of this allocution was published in the January issue of the REV1EW FOR RELIGIOUS; the last part will be published in the May issue. The successive parts of ':he allocution were broadcast by Plus XII on July 19, July 26, and August 2, 1958. The offical text is to be found "in Acta Apostoficae Sedis (AAS), v. 50 (1958), pp. 562-86. A~I divisions and sub-titles in the translation are also found in the official text.] PART II: KNOW THE,CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE SINCE WE SUMMARIZED the fpi,ar, srtt of Our allocu-tion by saying:'"Know what you are,' We might give this second part the title: "Love what you are." This love will lead you, beloved daughters, along your own proper way to the God who addresses to you a personal appeal. We will here successively examine the principal motives for lov-ing the contemplative life, the attitude with which you ought to regard it, and the particular traits which should charac-terize your attachment to it. Motives and Sources of Love for the Contemplative Life Love is strong on!y if its object is lovable in the fullest sense, only, that is, if it is good in itself and capable of com-municating that goodness. But is not God the supreme good, both in Himself and in His works--in the work of creation and especially in the redemptive work which reveals th'e Father's love for mankind? "By this hath the love of God appeared towards us," writes St. John, "because God hath sent His only begotten Son into the world that we may live by Him.''~ How can man respond to this astonishing proof of the divine love save by accepting it humbly and totally? "We have known the love which God hath for us," continues St. Joh'n, "and we have believed in it. God is love; whoever abideth in love, abideth in God, and God in him.": Such is the essence of the contempla- ~I Jn 4:9. ¯ 2 Ihid., 4:16. 65 P~us XlI Review for Religious tive life: to live in God by charity so that God may live in you. Indeed, your daily efforts have no other purpose but that of putting your mind and heart always more intimately in contact with the Lord who reveals Himself to you and who invites you to take part in His work of redemption, in His cross, and in the spreading of His Church. This holds for all Christians, but more particularly for those who are engaged in a state of perfection. Here again the ways of God will vary. Your religious profession, together with the contemplative life which you have chosen, consecrates you more exclusiveiy to this search after divine union according to the particular spirit of your order and according to the personal graces which the Lord gives you. Let your love then go out to the contempla-tive life with all its distinctive claims, since it leads you to the perfection of charity and holds you in its radiance. Other motives, although not so important, can neverthe-less help to confirm and strengthen your interior conviction. These can be found in the Scriptures, in the attitude of the Church towards the contemplative life, and "in the fruits which this life has yielded. Without doubt, the scriptural passages and the truths which We will point out have an import which goes quite beyond the domain of the contemplative life; but they do apply to it in a way that is unique, and they will certainly go far toward purifying and confirming the love which you have for your vocation. The Scriptures contain many passages concerning the consecration of man to God and to Christ. These texts, so full of significance, will reveal their hidden meanings only to those who explore them °diligentl~ and meditate on them prayerfully. The same Holy Spirit who inspired their compo-sition continues through them to manifest the intensity of the contemplative vocation and the riches which it contains. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God. . This is the greatest and the first commandment.''s 3 Mt 22:37-38. 66 March, 1959 CLOISTERED CONTEMPLATIVES "The unmarried woman and the viygin think about the things of the Lord.''4 "These follow the Lamb wherever He goes.''5 "Now this is everlasting life, that they may know Thee, the only true" God, and Him whom Thou has sent, Jesus Christ.'''~ Elsewhere the Scriptures speak of the treasures hidden in Jesus. Christ, our Lord and our God--treasures which come from His boundless love for us and which persevering con-templation little by little unveils. "The Word was God . The Word was made flesh. . . . And we saw His glory.''v "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.''s "My Lord and my God.'''~ The contemplative nun is well acquainted with the cruci-fied Lord and with the cross which she takes each day into her hands. She often recalls the words of Saint Paul: "I am crucified with Christ . Christ lives in me . Christ who loved me and gave Himself up for me.''~° "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? . . . I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.''~1 The works of penance and of mortification which form part of the contemplative life fulfill the words of Saint Paui: "What is lacking in the sufferings of Christ, I fill up in my flesh for His body, which is the Church.''1: Such scriptural texts will fill the contemplative soul who meditates on them with a profound joy and will bind that I Cot 7:34. Apoc 14:4. Jn 17:3. Jn 1:1.14. Mt 16:17. Jn 20:28. Gal 2:19-20. Rom 8:35, 38-39. Col 1 : 24. 67 P~us XII Review for Religious soul more intimately to God and to Christ. They invite the soul to embrace and lovingly to practice a vocation which leads unwaveringly to the love of God and of His incarnate Son. Since~the, Church speaks of the contemplative life as emi-nently worthy of esteem; since she approves it with all her authority and confers numerous privileges on it; since she dignifies its inauguration with a solemn liturgical ceremony and surrounds it with abundant protective measures; one can cer-tainly see in all this a clear proof of her esteem for this life and thereby gain a weighty motive for being devoted to it. Among countless ecclesiastical documents concerned with the contemplative life, We will mention only three: the apostolic constitution Sponsa Christi, the blessing and consecration of virgins in the Roman Pontifical (whose ancient arid solemn formulas are reserved to contemplative nuns by Article III, paragraph 3 of the constitution Sponsa Christi), and the en-cyclical Sacra virginitas of March 25, 1954.13 The apostolic constitution Sponsa Christi shows in its historical part the high esteem in which the Church holds the state of virginity and of cloistered contemplation. The docu-ment recalls "the sentiments of esteem and of love which the Church has always nourished for virgins consecrated to God," from the very beginning of her existence. As we have pointed out, the constitution insists on the importance of contempla-tion to which all other monastic observances are subordinate. From the consecration of virgins let us note the words which the bishop addresses to the candidates when presenting them with the habit and the insignia of their estate: "I unite you as a spouse to Jesus Christ, Son of the Almighty Father, that He may preserve you without fault! Receive then the ring of fidelity, the seal of the Holy Spirit, that you may be called the spouse of God, and after serving Him faithfully, be crowned for all eternity.''~4 ~:IAAS, 46 (1954), 161-91. 14 Pontificale Romanum, De benedictione et consecratione virginum. 68 "March, 1959 CLOISTERED CONTEMPLATIVES In the first section of .the encyclical Sacra Virginitas the excellence of virginity is treated. The encyclical proves this excellence first of all by referring to the Gospels and, in fact, to the very words of Christ Himself; and secondly, by recall-ing Saint Paul's doctrine on virginity chosen out of love for God. The encyclical likewise cites Saint Cyprian and Saint Augustine, who point up the powerful effects of such vir-ginity; and it stresses the importance of the vow which gives this virginity the strength of a virtue. The superiority of vir-ginity over marriage, the many divine blessings which it merits, and the wonderful fruits which it produces are all discussed in the same encyclical. These fruits of the contemplative life, which are also treated in the apostolic constitution Sponsa Christi, merit special consideration because their realization will awaken in you a yet deeper and more resolute devotion to your contemplative vocation. We might expatiate in great detail on the lives of the great contemplative saints, Saint Teresa of Avila, for example, or Saint Therese of the Child Jesus, both Carmelites. But We prefer to concern Ourselves with your personal experience and with 'your community life. The contemplative nun who is devoted wholeheartedly and sincerely to her life does not fail to perceive andrelish in herself the fruits of her efforts. While outwardly her life unfolds in a pattern fixed "by the order of the day and by the exercises of the rule, inwardly she matures and deepens her life by passing through successive periods of consolation and trial, of enlightenment and obscurity, which leave intact her intimate union with God. Thus in spite .of obstacles from within and from without, in spite of failures and weaknesses, she goes forward, confident of God's help, until there comes that hour--often unexpectedly--when she hears the words: "Behold the Bridegroom is coming, go forth and meet Him.''1~ We urge each of you individually to apply yourselves with all your strength to the duties of your state in life as contempla- 69 Ptus XII Review for Religious tiCes. Thus will you experience its effects more and find in that experience a further motive for being more faithful and devoted. We would have you guard yourselves against dis-couragement and meanness of soul. Undoubtedly you must give full cooperation to grace in warring, against your faults and in practicing virtue; but leave to God all care for your growth and increase. It is He who, at the right moment, "will perfect, strengthen, and establish you.''1~ With these dis-positions you can go forward, supported .by divine power and filled with abundant joy at having been chosen for this life. Your personal experiences will be enriched by observa-tions which you can make in your own community. If, in-stead" of dwelling on the inevitable faults and weakness of htlm~ln nature, you rather consider the sincere efforts of others t~° fulfill their religious ideal, you will easily come to realize tKe radiance of their interior life and of their union wi~h God. /~ikewise, in the small details of. community life you will admire their fraternal charity which flows directly from their love of Christ Whom they see in the members of His Mystical Body. The splendor of this charity, ~o often hidden during life, is o revealed sometimes brilliantly and suddenly--once death has affixed its mark; it is then that you will be able to sing with the Psalmist: "Surely, the just receives his reward.''17 Attitude Toward the Contemplative Life Now that We have considered the motive~ which impel you to love the contemplative life, We shall speak to you of the attitude which fidelity to this loves demands. Already in .the first part of this discourse, We have emphasized the im-portance of "interior contemplation" and the precedence which it takes Over other elements which are necessary as means to it:_the cloister; ex~ercises of piety, prayer, and mortification; and work. We will consider here how the contemplative nun should meet this ensemble of obligations. Jo I Pet 5:10. 17 Ps 57:12. 70 March, 1959 CLOISTERED CONTEMPLATIVES It is clear, in the first place, that a sincere devotion to the religious life excludes all legalism, that is, the temptation to be bound by the letter of the law without fully accepting its spirit, Such an attitude would be unworthy of those who bear the title of spouse of Christ and who wish to serve Him with a disinterested love. Scarcely more acceptable would be a type of eclecticism, an entirely subjectiv.e selection of certain obligations to which one submits while ignoring others. No right-thinking order would receive a candidate who would try to observe only a part of the rules a~d constitutions. The contemplative life is austere. Human sensibility does not submit to it without resistance, but the desire of giving oneself wholly to God willingly embraces works of Penance and cor~tinual self-renunciation. The contemplative nun, in-flamed with zeal for her vocation, can apply to herself t~ words which the Apostle of the Gentiles addressed .to _th.e Christian community: "For I betrothed you to one spouse, that I might present you a chaste virgin to Christ''is and--We~'can ~dd--"to Christ crucified." The nun who is faithful to he~ vocation will always take as the rule of her interior life Saint Paul's words: "What is lacking of the sufferings of Christ I fill up in my flesh for His body, which is the Church."0~ such is the law of true love and to it the famous remark of Saint Augustine gives testimony: "There is no suffering for one who loves; but for the one who does not love, every bit of suffer-ing is unbearable.''2~ ~. Work forms part of the contemplative life. The anciei'it monastic I£W, "pray and work," has not ceased to be Wise and necessary. Some work is required of human nature. Man has many spiritual and physical powers which he must use ~) provide, for his subsistence, to improve his living conditions, ~sII Cor 11:2. ~ Col 1:24. 2o In Ioannis evangelium tractatus, 48, 10, 1; Migne, PL, v. 35, col. 1741. 71 P~us XII Review for Religious and to increase his knowledge and skills. For thirty years our Lord led at Nazareth a life of labor; during His apostolic ministry He was likewise subject to .much physical fatigue. Saint Paul writes very incisively about this to the Thessalonians: "If any man will not work, neither let him eat. For we have heard that some among you are doing no work.''~ He adds that he himself works with his hands in order to make a living and to avoid.being a burden to his fellow Christians.22 This duty of contemplative nuns to work for their living is stressed several times by the apostolic constitution Sponsa Christi. From this it follows that whoever gives herself without reserve to the contemplative life, will also fully submit to this law of labor. Positive prescriptions of ecclesiastical law with regard to the canonical contemplative life are numerous. Even though some of them are of minor importance, all of them should be observed. Our Lord has clearly said that "whoever does away with one of these least commandments, and so teaches men, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever carries them out and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.'''-''~ "I have not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it.'''-'4 Whoever loves the contemplative life will consider this delicacy of conscience and this fidelity to the least detail a most precious duty. On the other hand, one must avoid narrowness of both mind and heart. The liberty of the interior man is positively willed by God: "For you have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an occasion for sensuality.'''2~ "Therefore we remain free in virtue of the freedom wherewith Christ has made us free.'''6 The liberty of Christ, which the Apostle here extols, gives us power to accomplish works of the spirit as opposed to. works of the flesh. Such works, are charity, '-'~ II Thess 3:10-11. ¯ .'2 See Acts 20:34; 18:3. '2'~ Mt 5:19. 2-'4 Ibid., 5:17. '-'~ Gal 5:13. 26 Ibid., 5:1. 72 March, 1959 CLOISTERED CONTEMPLATIVES joy, peace, long life, the spirit of service~ generosity, faith in others, kindness, self-control--"Against such things there is no law.'''v Even before the time of Saint Paul, Christ had spoken of the meaning of Christian liberty in a still more emphatic way: "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.''-°8 Since our Lord did not hesitate to speak in this way, one can say in general that the law is for man, and not man for the law. This does not suppress one's obligation to observe the law, but it safeguards the freedom and the peace of the interior man. The extent of every law should be exactly understood, according as to whether it is divine or human, essential or accidental. To place the law above man as an absolute and not as a means whereby he attains his end is an error. Jesus had said of the Pharisees: "They bind together heavy and oppressive burdens and lay them on men's shoulders.'':9 We are convinced that a nun sincerely devoted to the contemplative life will "have no diffi-culty reconciling this delicacy of conscience in the observance of her rule and the performance of her duties with that peace which results from the tranquillity of liberty of the interior being. You will submit to the rules by observing them, but you will rise above them by living united to the Spirit of God and to His love. Characteristics of This Attitude We should like to add a word concerning the character-istics which ought to distinguish your interior attitude. "In a nun one expects to find first of all simplicity and humility; love f~r the contemplative life should exclude every desire of bein~ noticed, admired, or esteemed. In His Sermon on the Mount, our Lord severely reprimanded the Pharisees for their desire to be noticed by others.~° If you remain hidden, you will avoid psychological difficulties which are more "-'7 Ibid., 5:23. '-'s ME 2:28. '~-o': ~M Mt 6t :2 3:4. 1-6, 16-18. 73 PIUS XII Review for Religious frequent among women and more readily take hold of the feminine temperament. We have treated the contemplative life as an ascent to God in which you offer to Him your mind and your heart. This self-giving, inspired by supernatural motives, will l~e nourished by the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity, which alone support an authentic love of contemplation. These virtues will give your contemplation a genuinely Christian character so that it will not seem just a psychological phenom-enon which comparative religious history finds among the most diverse peoples and in every age. In order to confirm the purity and sincerity of your char-ity, it will suffice to remind you of the celebrated description which Saint Paul gives of this virtue in the thirteenth chapter ~ of his First Epistle to the Corinthians--a passage on which you have already meditated often. Would that your daily lives might always progressively approach more closely" the ideal set down in that justly famous chapter. Gendrous de~,otion can not accommodate itself to constant tension, to a continual battle against almost insupportable obli-gations which one would reject if possible. It is indeed possible for God to permit a trial of this sort for some time in order to purifythe soul. But it can also happen that such a state of .mind results in a serious fall, in internal or external catastrophe. We will not consider the cases involving nervous or psy- ~chotic factors. Here We are thinking of normal persons, of nuns to whom this has already happened or is likely to happen. There can be no question of entering into a study of diagnosis or of therapy or of prognosis for such case~. But We have just indicated a psy.chic factor, a characteristic trait of the fervent practice of perfection which is. capable of preventing such mishaps. It is the conscious and joyful acceptance~by a nun of the life of each day. It is the optimism, not at all frenzied, but tranquil and solid, of our Lord who said: "I am 74 March, 1959 CLOISTERED CONTEMPLATIVES not alone, but My Father is with Me.''31 It is the indestructible confidence of the contemplative in Him who said: "Come to Me all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will refresh you.''3'-' These considerations and these sentiments determine the interior attitude of the contemplative. She knows by experience what she ought to do; and she wishes to order her life according to the Words of the "Apostle who said: "God loves the joyful giver.''33 What "Saint Paul wrote to the Corinthians concerning the material goods de~tined for the poor of Jerusalem she understands in the much l~r~ger sense of the gift of all one's being and one's every exterior action. Joy and happiness are the traits characteristic of-a sincere gift of oneself. We are conscious of this in reading the First Epistle of Saint Peter. He presupposes and observes this joy and happiness among the Christians to whom he writes and who are already turned toward Christ: "Him, though you have not seen, you love. In Him, though you do not see Him, yet believing, you exult with a joy unspeakable and tri-umphant; receiving as the final issue of your faith, the salva-tion of your souls.''34 To each of you We say: Let the faith, hope, and charity of Christ give you something of that joy which Peter obserged among the Christians to whom he wrote. At the end~of his epistle he returns to the same theme, exhorting the Christians to think of earthly sadness as inseparable from life in this world and as a means of rea~ching eternal glory: "Cast all your anxiety upon Him; when you have suffered a little while, He will perfect, strength.en, and establish you.'''~'~ It is the very idea which Saint Augustine expresses toward the end of his City of God. This earthly life with all its bitterness will pass away; we will then go to God, and our joy in possessing Him ~ See Jn 16:32. 3'-' Mt 11:28. a~II Cor 9:7. ~"~I IPbeidt ,1, 5:8:7--91.0. ~5 P~us XII will not pass away. "Ibi vacabimus, et videbimus; videbimus et amabimus; amabimus et laudabimus. Ecce quod erit in fine sine fine''s° ["There we shall rest and we shall look; we shall look and we shall love; we shall love and we shall praise; behold what there shall be in the end and without end"]. Such should be the thoughts which sustain your life and give you the strength to live it with courage until the end without growing tired or discouraged, and thus to offer up to God a clean and perfect oblation. so De civitate Dei, 22, 30, 5; Migne, PL, ~ 41, col. 804. 76 Prac!:ice ot: :he I-Ioly See Joseph F. Gallea, S.J. CANON 509, § 1, obliges all superiors to inform their sub-jects of all decrees of the Holy S.ee concerning religious and to enforce such decrees. The activity and mind and will of the Holy See are also revealed, and sometimes in a more practical manner, by approved constitutions and com-munications addressed to individual religious institutes. An article drawn from these sources was published in the REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS in 1953.1 This article is based on the same sources concerning lay institutes from January 1, 1954. The order of material followed in the article is the usual order of the chapters of constitutions of lay institutes. This is the first part of a series of three. 1. Nature, purpose, and spirit. (a) Petitioning pontifical status. It has been declared and explained many times in the REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS that it is the sense of canon law and the mind and will of the Holy See that a diocesan con-gregation should become pontifical; that a diocesan congrega-tion is onIy in an initial, temporary, and probationary state; and that the petitioning of pontifical approval should not be unduly delayed." The intrinsic reasons for seeking pontifical approval were also given,3 as also the necessary conditions and formali-ties. a In 1957 twenty-four congregations received the decree of praise from the Holy See, of which six were from the United States. Eighteen congregations were definitively ap-proved, but only two were from the United States.~ It was not a poor year, and we can hope that the accurate idea of pontifical approval is finally being grasped. The difficult birth of this idea is evident from a mere glance at some of the 1 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, 12-1953-252-72; 285-90. -'Ibid., 9-1950-57-68; 10.1951.22; 11-1952-13-14; 12-1953-253-54; 15-1956-326. ~ Ibld., 9-1950-68. albid., 11-1952-14; 12-1953-253-54. ¯~ L'Acdvit~ della Santa Sede nel 1957, 124-25. 77 JOSEPH f. GALLEN Review for Religious institutes approved in 1957. Without any research, I know that one of these came into existence only in 1929, another is over a century old, and a third is just under a century. A hun-dred years is a long time to be on probation, especially when it is completely voluntary. (b) The union of religious insti: tutes: In any part of the world, and also in the United States, it is possible to find religious institutes, especially of sisters, that have been in serious difficulties for many years, for exam-ple, they are small, receive few applications from candidates, are in financial difficulties, and lack a personnel sufficient in" number and competence to carry out properly the works of the institute. Not all of these reasons are found in every case, and they vary in degree; sometimes there are other reasons also. The well-being and at times the salvation of such an institute is to unite with another similar but flourishing institute. Such unions are occurring. A rescript effecting a union 6f this type gives the following information: Recourse mu~t be made to the Holy See .for a union, since it implies the extinc-tion of one religious institute (c. 493). The consent of both institutes is necessary, and the opinion of the interested local ordinaries is requested. The union effects the extinction of the first institute; and its members, houses, and property apper-tain to the second institute. Evidently these persons are hence-forth to be governed and the property administered according to the constitutions of the second institute. The intention of the donor in any property given or bequeathed to the first institute is respected, and the canons concerning the dowries must be observed. The members of the.'first institute pass to the second in the same class, if there are various classes, and with the same rights of profession that they had in their former institute. Each of these is to sign freely a document in which he declares that he wishes to be a member of the second institute. Any religious who refuses to become a mem-ber of the second institute is to request an indult of seculariza-tion or a transfer to another institute, according to the i~orms of canon law. All unions evidently demand a sufficiently pro- 78 March, 1959 PRACTICE OF THE HOLY SEE longed period of careful and prudent preparation.° Unions are also occurring among flourishing institutes, for example, those that have the same origin, spirit, and constitutions. The Holy See has on several occasions manifested its desire of such a union to particular institutes.7 (c) Federation of nuns. A huge proportion of the monasteries of nuns in the world have been federated or are in the process of federation. There are two such federations in the United States. Authoritative sta-tistics, including 1957, list no other federations in the United States nor any in the state of preparation,s Their absence is very conspicuous. The preliminary approaches to a federation have been made in some cases, and one federation appears to be near completion. "It has been emphasized in the REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS that the Holy See favors federations.~ (d) Aux-iliaries. A .congregation of sisters, whose mother house is in Italy, has affiliated to itself a new and distinctive type of auxili-aries. These are secular women who are sincerely desirous of a state of perfection in thee spirit of this congregation but, for various reasons, are prevented from living its constitutions com-pletely and fulfilling all its obligations, especially those of com-mon life. The purpose of these auxiliaries is their own sanctifica-tion and collaboration with the sisters in the apostolate, especially in education, catechetics, and in works that the religious can-not personally acdomplish because of their state and life of withdrawal from the world. The auxiliaries are of two classes. 1° Auxiliary Oblates. These constitute a secular institute, and ¯ therefore they profess and consecrate themselves to complete Christian perfection in a determined regime of life. 2° Aggre. gated Auxiliaries. These form only a pio. us union or associa-tion, with more limited spiritual and apostolic duties and a less strict bond of union with the religious institute. All the aux-iliaries share in the prayers and good works of the congregation 0 Cf. A. Bocquet, L'Ann~ Canomque, 4-1956-9-20. S Commentarium Pro Religiosis, 38-1957-371-73; ct:. J. Fohl, L'Ann~e Canon-ique, 4-1956- I85-86. ~ REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS," 12-1953-288; 15-1956-326-27. 79 JOSEPH F. GALLEN Revie~v .for Religi~.~ of sisters. Neither class has a distinctive dress, but they simply adhere to the traditional norms of gravity and Christian mod-esty. 2. Members and .precedence. At least seven congrega-tions of sisters abolished the class of lay sister. The Sacred Congregation of Religious readily grants an indult permitting all the lay sisters of a congregation to pass into the one class of sisters prescribed by the revised constitutions, without the need of a new noviceship or pr',fession and with all rights, as if they had been admitted to this one cla~s from the beginning. This. change demands the correction of all articles of the con-stitutions that specify or imply a distinction of classes. Requests to the Holy See for slappression of the class of lay sisters from monasteries and orders of nuns receive varying replies accord-ing to the tradition of the order. One monastery of nuns began to take extern sisters. Two sets of constitutions recently approved contain the statement that all the sisters are to assist in the common household duties. 3. The religious habit. A few congregations of sisters simplified their religious habit. This is praiseworthy, but al-most none of the changes were as complete.as they evidently should have been, and no change is in any danger of being termed radical. One set of constitutions states that, when the white habit is worn in hot countries, a cloth cincture may be substituted for the usual black leather cincture. Complaints have been m~lde about the use of a leather cincture dlaring the summer. In any thorough study of adaptation and simplifica~ tion, the color of the habit "should not be ignored. Is a black habit adapted to the' summer heat of the United States? It is amusing to reflect that a white habit is common in Oriental countries, yet both Orientals and Americans who have been in the Orient attest that our summer heat is more oppressive. Another set of constitutions declares that white shoes may be worn with the white habit. This right follows as a complement of the white habit, unless it is expressly forbidden by the con- 8O PRACTICE OF THE HOLY SEE stituiions. Some authors on renovation and adaptation have emphasized that excessive external distinctions should be re-moved from the class of lay brothers and lay sisters. One of these seems to be the white veil that is worn by professed lay sisters in at least very many monasteries of nuns. One purely contemplative monastery received permission to change this white veil to a black veil. A few superioresses of nuns are anything but hostile to reasonable adaptation. Several constitutions continue to specify a choir mantle of serge. Why this purely ceremonial garb should be of heavy material is incomprehensible to me. Formerly constitutions commonly forbade any change in the habit without the permission of the Holy See. In some later constitutions, this p.ermission was confined to a change in the form or color.'" Two sets of constitutions recently ap-proved state: "No general or permanent change in the form or color of the habit may be made without the permission of the Holy See." "No permanent, substantial, or general changes may be made in the habit without the permission of the Holy See." I believe we may hold that the permission of the Holy See is required only for a substantial change in the external appearance of the habit. Any change that does not modify this external appearance at all, as is true at least most frequently in a mere change of material, or that only accidentally modifies the external appearance may be made by the superior general with at least the advice of his council. 4. The dowry. One congregation received permission to borrow $100,000 from the dowry fund. As is true of any other debt, this amount is to be repaid within a reasonable time (c. 536, § 5). Canon 549 forbids any institute whatever, without a dispensation from the Holy See, to spend the capi-tal of even part of one dowry for any purpose whatsoever, even for the erection of a building, or the payment of a debt, before the death of the religious. Reasons such as those just cited Ibid., 12-1953-257. 81 JOSEPH Fi GALLEN. Review .for Religiow~ jtistify.,:g~ petition to .the Holy See to' use the 'capital sum of the dowries, This ~capital sum must be restored to any religious #ho definitively leaves her institute (c. 551, ~ 1).~ The practice of~ the Holy See has been to impose the obligation of restoring the amount expended; but one institute informs me that it has been granted a wider indult, that is, to use dowry funds throughout the institute for building purposes provided the provinces have sufficient funds at their disposal to return the dowries of. religious who might leave. 5. "The postulancy. The duration of the postulancy has assumed greater moment in recent years because of the educa- " tional pr.ogram for the young religious. The general desire ¯ in the United" State~is for a postulancy that will not preclude a full scholastic year. Provision has been made for this in two sets of constitutions recently approved by the Holy See: "Can-didates "before being admitted to the noviceship shall make a postulancy of not less than six complete months and not more than a year." "The time prescribed for the postulancy is one full year. The aspirant is admitted by the provincial sui~erior who may, for a just reason, prolong the prescribed time, but not beyond six months. For a grave reason, the superior gen-eral ma~), with the consefit of her" council, abbreviate the pre-~ Scribe'd time of postulancy, but nok beyond six months." Canon 539," § '1 c'o'ifimands a postulancy of .at least six months; and I see no reason why an abbreviation of a postulancy of a year requires a greater reason than its prolongation beyond a year. I~ prefer the latter article but believe that it should have read ~is follows: The time prescribed for the postulancy is a £ull. year. For a just reason, the superior general (or the higher superior), with the advice of his council, may abbrevi-ate or prolong this time, but not beyond~six months in either case. " ¯ 6. The noviceship. (a) Canonical impediments. Dispen-sations were granted to two married women to enter a mon- Ibid., 16-1957,164. 82 March, 1959 PRACTICE OF THE HOLY SEE astery of nuns,. Both were converts and both had been di-vorced. I have a typed copy of the rescript of only one of these cases. This prescribes a longer postulancy, that is, of a year and with the usual right of prolonging it for another .six months. (b) Manner of beginning. In the former practice, of the Holy See, the constitutions were usually ~worded: "The canonical year begins with the reception of the habit." The word-ing was later changed-to: "The canonical year ordinarily begins with the reception of the habit." Constitutions-~ipproved within the last few years are. more commonly phrased: ,"The canonical year begins with the reception of the habit or in.any other manner determined by the superior general,, pro;tided in the latter :case that its inception is recorded in writing.'~ I see, no reason whW the different determination could not have been granted also to other higher superi6rs, for example, provincials. The superior general may certainly habitually delegate the faculty of making a different determination to these other higher superiors or even to other religious, for example, to the local superior of the novitiate house. The" new wording simply gives a superior greater facili,ty in permitting the be-ginning of a one-year noviceship on the day before the cere. mony of the. reception of the habit and also, irrespective of the duration of the noviceship, in permitting the beginning of the noviceship on the same day as the other members of a group to a postulant .who cannot attend the ceremony, for example, because of sickness. This entire matter was explained in the REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, 15-1956-222-24. (c) Duration. At least one congregation of sisters changed its noviceship of one year to two years. Of greater interest is the'fact that a purely contemplative monastery of nuns and a proposed .f.ederation of nuns have dbne the same thing. The historical reason for the longer noviceship of two years is that religious who have an active end were believed to require a longer and more solid spiritual formation. However, it can be maintained that a contemplative vocation is more difficult to discern; and it" can certainly be doubted that it requires a less prolonged or less ,83 JOSEPH ~. GALLEN Review for Religious skilled formation. (d) Dispensations from the second year. Rescripts from the Sacred Congregation of Religious dispens-ing from any part of the "second year contain the following conditions: "That the novices make a written request for the abbreviation of their noviceship, that these written requests 'and the rescript be .preserved in the files, and that mention 0f the requests, and of the rescript be made in the register of professions." (e) Separation of novices from the professed. Canon 564, § 1 commands that the novices are as far as possible to dwell in a part of the house distinct from the quarters of the professed. The same canon enacts that there is to be no communication between the professed and the-novices without a special reason and the permission of either the local or higher superior or the master of novices. This strict prohibition is to be observed also when there are but very few novices. It is to be remembered that those who have taken temporary vows are professed, not novices. They must therefore be separated from the novices in place and in communication. This applies "also to the monasteries of nuns. This canon is inserted in the constitutions of nuns by the Holy See, and khe quinquennial report (q. 87) for independent monasteries explic-itly asks whether the separation both in place and commun~- cation' is observed."-' One pu_rely contemplative monastery of nuns received an indult in 1955 permitting the professed oi: temporary vows to remain in the novitiate for further training under the mistress of novices. A proposed federation of nuns has included the same prescription in its constitutions. (f) Physical exercise. The constitutions of a congregation of sisters approved in 1954 contain the prudent provision that the nov-ices ought also to take physical exercise so that the recreation will benefit both body and mind. (g) Profession in danger of death. Admission to this profession has been reserved in the past to higher superiors, the superior of the novitiate house, and their delegates. Two sets of constitutions, approved in 12ibid., 11-1952-157-58. 84 PRACTICE OF THE HOLY SEE 1955 and 1956, introduce a welcome change by assigning the admission to, "the mistress of novices, any other superior, and their delegates." Since the mistress of novices is not a superior in the proper sense of the word, it would have been better to have phrased the article, any superior, the mistress of novices, and their delegates. The master or mistress of novices is the one most likely to b~ present in such circumstances, and a second-year novice may be outside the novitiate hou.se. If the constitutions contain the former wording, higher superiors may and should delegate their faculty habitually to all other superiors and to the master or mistress of novices. (h) Vacation outside the novitiate house. Two congregations received indults per-mitting the novices to spend about fifteen days a year in a country house of the congregation under the direction of the master of novices. (The rest of this article will appear in the May and July issues.) 85 Less Me Conan McCreary, O.l=.M.Cap. WeE ARE almost'always talking to somebody. Often dur-ing the day we speak to our neighbors, and in prayer we talk to God. However, most frequently we are conversing with ourselves. Our ideas come to our conscious-ness through words formed in our minds, and these words make up a more or less constant interior conversation with ourselves. This interior monologue is quite natural, and it serves many good purposes. It helps us to think more clearly and con-cretely. It helps us also to provide for the next moment. "Let's see, what shall I do next?" we ask ourselves. Then we await our own reply, "I think that I'll clean off my desk." There is more to this interior conversation than at first appears. It can be an indication of our spiritual worth. When most of our monologue is spent on our own interests, we tend to become self-centered. When it is turned more to God and Christ and His interests, we tend to become theocentric or Christocentric. One great secret of the interior life is to turn our interior conversation away from ourselves and to turn it to God. "How can we pray to Him Unless we are with Him? How can we be with Him unless we are often thinking of Him?" Brother Lawrence of tl~e Resurrection, o.C.D., asks so log-ically. 1 St. John the Baptist's words, "He must increase, but I must decrease" (Jn 3:30), can hardly be. more aptly applied than to our interior conversation. How many times do not our rules or constitutions or by-laws exhort us to recollection. Yet, how often do we not have reason for embarrassment in the face of our feeble interior prayer. While urged to "direct every thought to God alone 1Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection, The Practice o! the Presence of God (London: Burns, Oates and Washbourne, Ltd., 1926), p. 38. 86 with every possible yearning of love,'"-' we find ourselves not just a little short of the ideal. The saints and the proficient in the spiritual life find their interior conversation with God one of their greatest joys. For them, ordinarily, no system is necessary. Recollection is simply the response to the presence of their beloved. Thomas of Celano wrote of St. Francis: " . . . he would often speak with his Lord in words. There [in solitary places] he would make' answer to his Judge, there entreat his Father, there rejoice with the Bridegroom, And in order that he might make the whole marrow of his being a whole-burnt offering in manifold w~Lys, he would set before his eyes in. manifold ways Him who is supremely simple. Often with lips unmoved he would ruminate within, and, drawing outward things inward, would uplift his spirit on high. And so the whole man, no( so much praying, as having become a living prayer, concentrated his whole atten-tion and affection on the one thing which he was seeking from the Lord.''3 For ~he less proficient in the spiritual life, recollection, though an undeniable joy, is often a burden. Not as spontaneous . as the saints, we find ourselves at a loss for words before God, not from awe, but from lack of something to say that is worth-while and attractive. If the saints run in the path of prayer, perhaps we can describe our way of interior prayer as a limping. We try to get aiong; we try to speak more with Godl but how far we are from being the athletes of the spiritual life that St. Paul would haste us be! If we have not yet been healed of our spiritual lameness by the name of Jesus (Acts 3:6), then it would not be out of place for us to use a cane to help us walk interiorly with God. Using a cane is much better than sitting still. Of course, a "-' Constitutions o/ the Capucbitt Friars Minor o/ Saint FrancD (Detroit: 1945J, art. 90. 3 Brother Thomas of Celano, The Li',,,'s of S. Fram'i.r o/ .4ssisi London: Methuen and Co., 1908), pp. 233-234. 87 CONAN MCCREARY Review for Religious cane is only a 'substitute for a better thing. When the better thing comes (that is, the spontaneous conversation with God in love) it is time to lay aside the substitute. Taking our cue from the Precursor, wh~ wanted Christ to grow greater and himself to become less, we might use the mnemonic line LESS ME as a cane, a means of giving us something to say to God in recollection. Each letter stands for~ a topic of conversation. The topics are merely suggested in the scope of this article. Not much imagination is required to expand each point according to personal tastes or needs. L stands for Lady, our Blessed Mother. It is always fitting to begin our recollection with her; we can either speak to her personally, or we can speak to our Lord about her. E stands for Eucharist. This may remind us of our reception of Holy Communion in the morning, and we can renew our affections; or, we may use it as an occasion of making a spiritual communion. S stands for Spirit, the Holy Spirit who dwells as guest in the center of our hearts: the very love of the Father and Son! S stands for secret. This can mean our little secret of reaching out to God often during the day, our favorite ejaculation as, "All for You, Jesus!" It can also mean our nosegay for this day. M stands for meditation; we have here an opportunity to renew the affections and resolutions of our morning meditation. E stands for examen, that is, the subject of our par-ticular examen with all its difficulties, which we can talk over with our divine model. This system, while it embraces many of the major s[tb-jects that spiritual writers recommend for recollection, is cer-tainly not everything. But it is something. It is a definite step 88 March, 1959 LESS ME toward turning our interior conversation to God. It is a help for us to make our exteriorly silent moments interiorly joyful and fruitful. The objective of a system of recollection is to dispose ourselves for two of God's most precious gifts: the consciousness of His presence and the spirit of prayer. When St. Paul exhorted the Ephesians to be interior men, he gave them a promise of great things: He told them that they would come "to know Christ's love which° surpasses knowledge" and that they would be filled with the fullness of God (Eph 3:19). As Christ continues to increas~ in us and in our interior con-versation, we will come to know more and more what St. Paul meant. SOME BOOKS RECEIVED [Only books sent directly to the Book Review Editor, West Baden College, West Baden Springs, Indiana, are included in our Reviews and Announcements. The following books were sent to St. Marys.] The Graces of Christmas. By Bernard Wuellner, S.J. The Bruce Publishing Company, Milwaukee 1, Wisconsin. $3.00. What Is a Saint? By" Jacques Douillet. Translated by Donald Attwater. Hawthorn Books, 70 Fifth Avenue, New York 11, New York. $2.95. Who Is the Devil? By Nicholas Corte. Translated by D. K. Pryce. Hawthorne Books, 70 Fifth Avenue, New York 11, New York. $2.95. Anne de Xainctonge: Her Life and Spirituality. By Sister Mary Thomas Breslin, U.T.S.V. The Society of St. Ursula of the Blessed Virgin, ~Marygrove, Kingston, New York. The Eucharist and Christian Life. Second Series. By Aloysius J. Willinger, C.SS.R., D.D. Academy Library Guild, P.O. Box 549, Fresno, California. $2.00 (paper cover). 89 ,Joseph !:he In :erior Life Sister Emily Joseph, C.S.J. TO ACHIEVE the perfection of his being, a man must cultivate the interior life with an attentiveness which not only equals but surpasses, that spent on his external activi-ties. One of the major causes of the restless, disturbed, frus-trated personalities in society today is the neglect of this interior life. At times we are tempted to look upon this as an ill peculiar to our present age; but a glance at the Old Testament shows that the same indifference to the life of the spirit pre-vailed long ago. "With desolation is all the land made desolate," laments Jeremias, "because there is none that considereth in the heart" (Jer. 12:11). And in figurative language he refers to these depthless creatures as "broken cisterns, that can hold no water" (Jet. 2:13). Throughout Holy Scripture the secret of the spiritual life is enunciated again, and again: "The kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21); "All the glory of the king's daughter is within" (Ps. 44:14); and it is finally spelled out by the elo-quent St. Paul, who poses a question that contains the great soul-shaking reality of life: "Know you not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" (I Cor. 3:16). Awareness of the presence of this divine Guest within the soul constitutes a sine Cilia non for the development of the interior life. Anyone who has read the Gospels, or even lis-tened to the reading of them at Sunday Mass, has heard the fact as St. John presents it in Christ's own word~. "If anyone love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and will make our abode with him" (John 14:23). perhaps it is the profound mystery concealed behind these simple words which overwhelms the ordinary intelligence, with the result that an impact of grace almost as 90 ST. JOSEPH forceful as that which swept Saul from his horse on the road to Damascus is required before one comes to grips with the fact of the indwelling of the Trinity in the soul which is in the state of grace. Granted this impact of grace and the resulting awareness, three aspects of the cultivation of the interior spirit present themselves: (1) Who is this divine Guest? (2) What inter-feres with my attention to Him? (3) What contributes to my intimacy with Him? We read in the Divine Comedy that Dante, embarking upon his unfamiliar journey, felt the need of an experienced guide and selected for this purpose one whom h~ was proud to call his master--the poet, Vergil. Following his example, we would be wise to search out an experienced master of the interior. life and learn froin him the answers to the three questions mentioned above. The names of many may come to mind, but surely there is one saint whose unique prerogatives stamp him as being pre-eminently suited to instruct and guide others in the way of interior growth. This is St. Joseph who, as Leo XIII said, is next in dignity to the Mother of God. (ParentheticaJly', it might be asked why" St. Joseph would be chosen in preference to our Blessed Lady as a guide in the development of the interior life. The answer to that question will be given later in this. paper.) The three Persons of the adorable Trinity dwell within every sou! living in grace. To each of these Persons the soul bears a special relationship which is indicated by the names which man has been inspired to confer upon Them. Man is the child of God, so he calls God ~Father." Through the mystery of the Incarnation and l~edemption, man can claim as his elder brother God the Son. And as man depends for his physical existence upon the breath of life, so he lives his super-natural life by the power of the Holy Spirit. The interior life of St. Joseph rested upon his unique relationship with each of the three Persons of the Blessed 91 SISTER EMILY JOSEPH Review for Religiot~s Trinity. In Father Faber's phrase, he was the "shadow of the Eternal Father." He was in men's eyes the legal father of Mary's child, Christ the Son of God. And he was the divinely selected spouse of the virgin who had conceived by the over-shadowing of the Holy Spirit. St. Joseph was too humble to be overwhelmed by the dignity thus conferred upon him. Like Mary, he pondered these mysteries deep in his heart. Small wonder that no recorded word of his has come down to us! How could the feeble tongue of man give utterance to the thoughts, too deep for words, which God's mysterious choice of him evoked? Here ii the first lesson St. Joseph would teach us, namely, not to make public the spiritual favors which God deigns to confer upon the soul, but rather, as the Imitation of Christ says, "to keep secret the grace of devotion." Each soul is uniquely loved by the Holy Trinity. For each soul God has a specially designed pattern of sanctity which will necessitate His conferring unique graces which can be neither shared nor understood by others. "The kingdom of God is within you." To the extent that one concentrates upon this interior kingdom, the external' world diminishes in importance. One gains spiritua{ perspective, the material becomes subject to the spiritual, and peace, the tranquility of order, ensues. In his first Epistle, St. John utters the uncompromising advice: "Love not the world, nor the things which are in the world . For all that is in the world is the concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life" (I John 2:15-16). Herein lies the answer to the second question regarding the divine Guest of our souls, namely, What interferes with my attention to Him? Only mortal sin will drive away the indwelling Trinity and destroy the supernatural life. But the interior spirit can be reduced to what might be called a comatose state if its strength is sapped by the distractions of the world. One who embraces the religious life enjoys a comparative security against the allurements of the threefold 92 March, 1959 ST. JOSEPH concupiscence St. John mentions. Against distractions, how-ever, no one has yet found air-tight protection. And distiac-tions are the bane of the interior spirit. In general, distractions can be reduced to five categories. First, there are those which arise from the responsibilities and occupations of one's state in life. They may range from the problems faced by the community laundress or cook to thos~ of the college president or superior general of a large congregation. They concern matters Which the faithful ~s~rvant of his Lord must handle prudently and efficiently for the'good of souls and the harmonious functioning of community life. They may involve irritating, even exasperating, negotiations with unreason-able associates, either within or outside the "framework of religious life. "Here," one might be tempted to say, "St. Joseph has had no experience!" Such is far from the case. St. Joseph was' in business. He" had to earn a living and.support a family. Into his carpenter shop came customers of every type: those who challenged the price he set for a piece of furniture that had required expensive materials; those who came on one day with.one set .of directions for their new barn and the next day appeared with an entirely different plan. . Nazareth had its share of complainers, of inconsiderate and selfish add annoying townspeople. The .incidents which crowded into St. Joseph's day might be paralleled in the daily routine of many a religious. Amid them all he remained unperturbed. In each of his customers he saw a child of the 'Eternal Father, a brother of his foster Son, an actual or potential temple of the Holy Spirit: Thus he warded off the distracting irritations which cropped up like weeds in the course of his .business Iife. Many in religious iife are spared the anxiety of financial ~problems, but to many others they are a rich source of plaguing distractions. Those who are faced with responsibilities of this kind usually hold a position as head of a community. They should, then, turn confidently to St. Joseph, head of the Holy 93 SISTE~ EI~IILY JOSEPH Review for Religious Family, for advice as to how they can prevent this kind of distraction from interfering with the interior, spirit. "Discuss the problem with the Holy Trinity, as I always discussed such problems with my foster Son," St. Joseph says. "These prob-lems cannot~ be ignored; but they must not be allowed to assume an exaggerated importance. Keep first things first. Increase you~r love of the spirit of poverty, so dear to the divine Child who chose the chill cave of Bethlehem for His birth-place and a stranger's tomb for His burial. You must develop, too, unlimited trust in God's bounty and providence. Remem-ber the incident of the Kings' arrival in Bethlehem? ,The valuable treasures which they presented were entirely unex-pecte. d and provided for the traveling expenses for us dur!ng those days of flight into Egypt when I had no source of in-come, In all times of distress" learn to say: 'God can pro-vide; God did provide; 'God will provide!' " A third,, and fertile, source of distractions is what men in the world call ."politics." Within community life one is less often distracted by the political problems, of the world. The religious seem-to apply spiritual principles to this depart-ment of life with considerable facility. It is the question, "To whom will God.grant authority in this house where I must live n,e.xt year and how will he exercise that authority?" that yields a rich crop of distractions. Idle speculation upon the superiors to be appointed within the community, needless com-mentary (often uncharitable) about the policies and directives of superiors, resentful acceptance oi: the superior's decision --all this has the soporific effect of a powerful drug upon the interior life. The gospel presents an inspiring example oi: how St. Joseph would direct us to act in the face of an unwelcome, not to say unreasonable, order given by an unattractive superior.~ Picture the scene on a street corner in Nazareth when the proclamation of the proud Roman ruler, Caesar Augustus, was posted. The decree stipulated that every Jewi.sh citizen must go to 94 March, 1959 ST. JOSEPH the city. of his fathers and there be enrolled. Fiery resentment ran through the crowd as they read the. unexpected order. Impatient, critical remarks and sneers passed from one a.ngry Jew to the other. One in the.crowd, however,, re.ad the decree sil.ently, humbly.- ~For Joseph, it was an expression of God's will, made known to him through His legitimate representative. Granted, it would entail inconvenience and hardship for him-self and especi.ally for Maiy. Still, it was God's will and .with-out question, he set about complying with the order. From long practice, phrase ~after phrase from a .familiar psalm sprang to. his !ips: ".Behold I have longed after thy precepts; quicken me in justice . I am ready, and am not troubled: that I may l~eep thy commandments . Thy word is a lamp to my. feet, and a light to my paths. ~ I will rejoice at, thy.wqrd.s, as one that hath found great spoil" (Ps. 118: 40, 60, 105, 162). Could one seek a more excellent .guide for overcoming the obstacles to growth of the irlterior,spirit? The.distracti°ns just mentioned may well be avoided by the truly fervent, religious who ha~ gained ~a ~d.egree of mastery of th~ spirit of[ humble obedience. Yet he ~ay be less facile in avoiding distractions which arise from the lot common to the fallen sons of Adam, namely, sickness, trials, misfortunes, whether personal or pertaining to his dear one~: To love is to wish for the well-being of the beloved. How can one be otherwise than distracted when confronted with a serious situa-tion, say within one's family, which portends unhappiness, physical suffering, or spiritual danger from one bound by the closest of human ties? The answer is given by the very word "distraction" which comes from a Latin word that means "to draw in a different direction."" One who is intent upon the development of the interior life directs all his thoughts, all his desires, all his concerns ~and anxieties to the attention of the divine Guest dwelling within his s0ul. "My thbughts are not your tho[lghts, nor your way my ways," says the Lord (Isa. 55:8). The truly interior man strives ever more and 95 SISTER EMILY JOSEPIt Review .fo~" Religious more earnestly to think with the mind of Christ, to see God's hand in afflictions as well as in blessings, to recognize in the cross the sign of God's ineffable love. St. Paul makes explicit ¯ reference to this when he writes to the Corinthians: "In all things we suffer tribulation, but are not distressed: we are .strakened, but are not destitute; we suffer, persecution, but are "n.ot fc~rsaken;., though our outward man is corrupted, yet .the inward man is renewed day by day.~.~., . Winlie" we logk not ~at the things which are sden, but,:::a°~:."the¯ thir~gs ~vhich. ard not" seen. For.the things which are.%e~n, are temporai(¯:bfii~ the tl~ing~ which are not seen, are "etet~nal." ([I Cot. 4~'8ii1.'8) From the many trials which St:7!.-j:~seph experienced, may be selected, and studied with a"--.'~.k;ii~:w to seeing how a man . of truly interior spirit reacts to aglfi:~i0ns. Consider the loss of the .bo~, Christ on the trip to~::~erusalem. Imagine the parents' and anxiety when the' : ; ! covered absence. The anguish of St. Joseph may even"~.~Pe surpassed that of our LAdy since as head o~ the famii~.(~'~!:was regl~onsible for ~heChild." We do not read of.:hh~::~:b'fiiplaining, self-reproach, ¯or,a~omztng expressmns of ~rmf-:~'J'n~:almost every scerfe where .~. ¯ We meet him in the gospel;, St.' ~h~i3h shows himself a man -"~ " "bf a&ion. As soon as the Bo~,'s absence was diSco~;ered, he .~ ' '.bdgaff a vigorous search for Him. "Thy Father ~hd I," Mary ' . as to te!l her Son when¯ He was found, ~'have .sought thee ¯ ¯ .sorrowing (Luke 2:48). Within those distressing days and nights of searching, St. Joseph experienced all the desolation, : .the 'fearsome pain of loss endured b~ souls deprived of God's ":'.:.~ensible presence. Here was the crucial test of :his spirit of .,.7 ?:"iinterior prayer. May it not be, since .experience proves that ".:::.-;[:prayer is almost utterly":impossible in such affliction, that one i'].:~:.::.::[ i:.:!tingle phrase from a Messianic psalm constituted his three-'.,:prayer? ."My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Ps. 21:2): .just asno one is immune from trials and thd distractions they beget, so~ no one c/in live in this world without sociM con- 96 March, 1959 ST. JOSEPH tacts. Man is constituted by nature a social being. Grace perfects nature. One must attain sanctity as a member of the Mystical Body. This is the whole tenor of the teaching of Christ, the import of His sacramental system, the design He instituted for His Church. Yet, paradoxically, social contacts are a prolific source of distractions for one who strives to live an interior life. In fact, all four categories 9~f distractions men-tioned above could be telescoped into this one. Every joy, every sorrow, every dFsire, every undertaking of the day elicits reactions from or is directed toward someone with whom we are associated. Holy can we possibly devote ourselves to the interests of. the other members of the Mystical Body and yet prevent them from inaking intrusions upon our interior.,iife? St. Joseph.directs us again, and his direction is that ofl 'a devoted Hebre~i~'ivho had penetrated deeply into the manner of serving God."." From the first pages of the book' of Genesis, man had worshipedGod by sacrifice. According to the pre-cepts of the Jewish law, Joseph offered the regularly prescribed ~ sacrifices. But more than that: upon the altar of his own :~ heart he offered constantly the joys, disappointments, toils, ¯ fears, and vexations that resulted from his social contacts. Joseph did not live in silent isolation. He lived close to Jesus and Mary; close, also,-to the townsmen of Nazareth, the strangers of Egypt; and too close, for comfort, to Herod! The man of interior spirit comes to the hour of sacrifice we~iring a "coat of many colors," woven of the threads of his daily social contacts. This garment clings to him closely, seems, in fact, to be part of him, and is part of the sacrifice of his entire self which the loving servant of God makes to his Lord and King. But, because in God's mercy he lives in the New Dispensation, he may unite his daily~ hourly sacrifice to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass which is offered "from the riging of the sun to the going down" (Mal. 1:11). And even as, by the myst~ery o. transubstantiation, the bread and wine are changed int6 the Body and Blood of Christ, so the insignificant offering 97 SISTER EMILY JOSEPH Review for Religious of a tear, a smile, a headache or a heartache will be transformed and absorbed into the "clean oblation" so acceptable to the Lord. To grow in the interior life is to increase one's intimacy with the indwelling Trinity. There are certain positive meas-ures one can take, as is evident from the life of S~. Joseph, in order to secure this increased intimacy. Although they must bE mentioned successiv.ely, it is difficult to assign them an order bf importance. First there comes to mind, naturally, the silence of St. Joseph--not the silence of a taciturn man, but the reverent silence that accompanies worship. Noise, bustle, feverish confusion create an atmosphere inimical to the interior spirit. The mere absence of these elements, however, may denote nothing more stimulating than the stillness of a corpse. The silence, conducive to interior' growth must be. a vital, dy-namic force such as the silence which accompanies the falling of the dew, the germination of seeds, :the ripening of. ~vheat. "I will lead her into the wilderness: and I. will speak to her heart" (Osee 2:14). In hushed tones the divine Guest speaks of His love. In cool, tranquil silence He will be heard. Closely allied to this need for silence is the need for detachment. A poet of our own day, T. S. Eliot, has phrased it for us: Teach me to care and not to care; Teach me to sit still. This seems to have been St. Joseph's motto. For instance, w. hen the angel instructed him to return home from Egypt; the directions were vague, incomplete. Joseph pondered: Should he return to Bethlehem or Nazareth? His heart was unattached, he did not care; yet he did care: Would Bethlehem, now under the rule of Archelaus, be as safe for the divine Child and His Mother as was Nazareth? Prudence rather than the attractions of the place determined Joseph's choice of Nazareth. Again, ¯ when he first learned that Mary was to bear a child and the angel had not yet revealed to him the mystery of the Incarna- 98 March, 1959 ~ST. JOSEPH tion of the Word, Joseph showed that not even his beloved spouse was so dear to him that he would compromise his conscience. Only to God and to His law did he cling with resolute attachment. Several times in speaking of St. Joseph's conduct it has been intimated that there freqfiently welled up within his heart a phrase or passage from the familiar psalms of his royal ancestor, David. Like every other devout Jew, Joseph had learned these psalms as a young boy and recited them often at the prescribed hours of prayer. It is not surprising, then, that in times of trial, amid frivolous or .irritating ~ompany in his shop, or in the quiet, reposeful evenings at the little home in Nazareth the inspired words would be in his heart and on his lips as he turned his thoughts to the God he loved and with whom he wished to converse. For the interior man no prac-tice could yield richer rewards than the cultivation of similar familiarity with the virile, expressive prayers which the Church has wisely and artistically incorporated into the Divine Liturgy. The practice of ejaculatory prayer is close to this; but why settle for something less than the best? The psalms bear the infallible stamp of approval of Holy Mother Church who declares .them divinely inspired ~by the Holy Spirit. And now it is time to answer the question posed earlier in this paper. Why should St. Joseph be chosen in prefer-ence to our Blessed Lady as a guide in the development of the interior life? Simply because St. Joseph had something that our Lady never had and he can therefore teach it to us, namely, devotion to her! St. Joseph learned ~o love God more by watching Mary love Him. He learned to spe~k to God more effectively by joining his voice with hers. He offered a nobler service to God through serving her. Mary is more than a guide along the way to sanctity. She is the mediatrix of all graces. Joseph is an experienced, inval-uable guide, a master par excellence of the spiritual life; but one can achieve intimacy with the Holy Trinity without his 99 R. F. SMITH Review for Religious guidance. But Mary is indispensable since in the divine econ-omy (as most theologians hold) all graces flow to us through her. Hence, devotion to our Lady, Temple of the Blessed Trinity, holds a prominent place in the life of one who would grow in the interior spirit; and none can be found to surpass St. Joseph in de~otion to his beloved spouse, Mary the Mother of God. Survey Roman Documents R. F. Smith, S.J. THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE will survey the contents of Acta Apostlicae Sedis during the months of .October and November, 1958. Throughout the article all page references will be to the 1958 AAS (v. 50). Pius XII In the first two issues of AAS which appeared after the election and coronation of Pope John XXIII, the text of the speeches and addresses given by Plus XII in the last weeks of his life were published. On September 28, 1958 (AAS, pp. 745-48), Pius XII broadcast a message to the people of Ecuador on the occasion of the third National Eucharistic Congress of that country. He told the Ecuadorians that Christian life is innocence and openness in children; purity and moraliW in adolescents; integrity and fidelity in matrimony; unity and mutual help in the family; brotherliness and mutual respect among all human persons; justice, charity, and peace in social 'relations. But all of this, he pointed out, is impossible. without the strength that comes only from the Eucharist. In another radio message on September 17, 1958 (AAS, pp. 741-45), Pius XII spoke to the International Marian Congress held at Lourdes. He told the members of the Congress that in this critical hour Mary wishes to teach her children the true sense of human life by showing its relation to that other life which alone will give men true and perfect happiness. At Lourdes, he concluded, a window has been opened on heaven; and he begged his listeners 100 March, 1959 ROMAN DOCUMENTS to pray earnestly that hatred and discord may end, that the insolent voices of lust and pride may be stilled, and that the peace of Christ which surpasses all understanding may dawn upon the world. On August 29, 1958 (AAS, pp. 674-79), Pius XII delivered an allocution to the International Congress of the Third Order of St. Dominic, telling the tertiaries that they should be marked by the possession of St. Dominic's characteristic ardor for the defense of the Catholic faith; for the Church expects from them a collabora-tion as efficacious as was that of the saint at the time of the Catharist and Waldensian heresies. He exhorted them to a life of prayer, noting that though they could not give long hours to contemplation, still they could cultivate a permanent attention to the things of God by a devout study of Scripture, the liturgy, and patristic writings. Likewise he urged on them the necessity of an unceasing battle against everything that could be an obstacle to their full growth in the life of Christ within them. Finally, he encouraged them to participate in Catholic Action, pointing out the especial need for lay workers in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The Pope con-cluded his allocution by suggesting to his listeners to keep before their minds the example of their patroness, St. Catherine of Siena. On September 14, 1958 (AAS, pp. 696-700), Pius XII addressed members of the International Office of Catholic Education. He warned them that for a school to be Christian it is not sufficient that it provide a course in religion or that it impose certain prac-tices of piety; in additon it is necessary that truly Christian' teachers communicate to their students the riches of a profoundly spiritual life. Hence, he added, the exterior organization of the school, its discipline and its program, must be adapted to the school's essential function of communicating an authentic spiritual sense. The students, he continued, should be" taught to unite them-selves to the life of the Church by participating in the liturgy and the sacraments; they should be initiated into works of the apostolate; and the horizons of the Church's missionary work should be opened to them. Moreover, they should be taught never to conceive their future careers .merely as social functions with no relation to their status as baptized Christians. Rather they should be trained to regard their future work as an exercise of their responsibility in the work of the salvation of the world, convinced that by seriously engaging themselves as Christians on the temporal level, they at 101 R. F. SMITH Review for Religion,s the same time realize their highest spiritual destiny. After express-ing his regret that Catholic schools do not always receive due support from public authority, the Vicar of Christ concluded by saying that the work of every Christian teacher is to announce the Savior to those who are ignorant of Him and to perfect those who already know Him. On September 9, 1958 (AAS, pp. 687-96), Plus XII addressed the members oi~ the International College of Psychopharmacology. In the principal part of his address the Holy Father considered the morality of using such drugs as chloropromazine and reserpine. Morality, he said, demaads first of all that there be the deepest respect and consideration for the human person, since a human being is the noblest of all visible creatures, made to the image of God by ci:eation and through redemption inserted into the Mystical Body of Christ. Even when afflicted by the severest of mental maladies, he added, the human person remains superior to all brute animals, for he continues to be a being destined one day to enjoy the immediate possession of God. The Pope then went on to summarize for his audience the moral teaching he had given in the allocutions of February 24, 1957 (see the summary given in gEVXF.w FOR RELIGIOUS, 16 [July, 1957], 228-33), and on April 10, 1958 (see gEV~F~W FOR RELIGIOUS, 17 [Sept., 19581, 293-96). A~ter expressing his regret that in some regions tranquilizing drugs are abused because they are at the free disposition of.the general publi.c, the Pontiff concluded his address by urging his hearers to continue their researches for the relief of human suffering. On September 5, 1958 (AAS, pp. 726-32), Plus XII addressed the International Society for Blood Transfusion, telling them that it is necessary to inform the general public about the laws of heredity, especially as they refer to the transmission of blood deficiencies and defects. Accordingly, he said, it would be good to organize bureaus of information and consultation like the Dight Institute in the United States where young people planning marriage could be informed about these matters. The Vicar oi: Christ concluded by noting that the Dight Institute does not aim to repress fecundity nor does it give information on the method to be used in "planning" families. A week later, September 12, 1958 (AAS, pp. 732-40), Plus XII spoke to the International Society of Hematology on the means of preventing the transmission of defective hereditary traits. The solu-tion to this pr6blem, he said, can not be found in artificial insemination, 102 March, 1959 ROMAN DOCUMENTS which is forbidden not only to the unmarried, but also to the married. Neither is voluntary adultery permissible, since no married person may put his conjugal rights at the disposition of a third party. Like-wise direct sterilization may not be utilized; for such sterilization, whether temporary or permanent, whether of the man or woman, is illicit by reason of the natural law. The Pope added, however, that in given cases indirect sterilization may be permitted. Thus if all the conditions of the principle of. double effect are present, a woman may at the direction of her physi.i:ian take certain types of pills to cure a malady of the uterus, even though the pills may cause temporary sterility. After expressing his alarm about the favorable reaction of some moral theologiang to recently discovered drugs that can be used to induce sterility, the Pope went on to condemn artificial birth control. He pointed out, however, that the Ogino-Knaus method is morally justified if it is used for proportionately serious reasons, adding that eugenic considerations may be such. He praised the practice of adoption, .remarking, however, that it is necessary that children of Catholics be given to adoptive parents who are also Catholics. In the latter part of' his allocution the Pope pointed out that while one might advise against marriage between persons with a hereditary blood defect, still one could not forbid such a marriage, since the right to marry is one of the fundamental rights of the human person; moreover, in this whole area it must always be re-membered that men are not generated primarily for earth but for heaven. The Vicar of Christ also said that if a married couple discovered after their marriage that they possessed the blood defect characteristic of Mediterranean regions, this discovery would not in-validate their marriage, unless the absence of every hereditary defect had been made a condition of the marriage contract. Similarly, the "Rh situation" can not be regarded as a reason for the nullity of a marriage, even when this situation results in ~he death of the children from the first pregnancy; for the object of the matrimonial contract is not the infant, but the right to the accomplishment of the natural marriage act. On August 17, 1958 (AAS, pp. 701-05!, Pius XII broadcast a message for the conclusion of the traditional Catholic Week held in Berlin. He t61d his German listeners that the city in which they were meeting was a symbol of a divided people; nevertheless, as he reminded them, the days they had just spent together should show 103 R. F. SMITH Review for Religious how communion in a common faith can unite them in spite of all material barriers and frontiers. He urged the Catholics of West Germany to increase their generosity to the refugees from the East and exhorted Catholics living in the Communist zone of Germany to do everything in their power to attenuate the effects on their children of schools that are without God and against God. Finally he pleaded with his listeners not to separate religion from life. It is always difficult, he said, to make a man a Christian; and this is doubly so today since the age of technique we live in can easily make men lose sight of spiritual and supernatural values. Christians today, he added, are much like Christians of the primitive Church--almost suffocated in a milieu of paganism. Catholics, therefore, of today need heroism to so live that they may be the s~It of the earth. On September 7, 1958 {AAS, pp. 679-83), Plus XII addressed the International Congress of Classical Archaeology, remarking on the constant interest of the Papacy in archaeology and pointing out that much in the pre-Christian era was a preparation for the coming of the Gospel message. On September 8, 1958 {AAS, pp. 683-87), the Pontiff addressed the International Congress of Judiciai~y Officials, advising them to be diligent, precise, and impartial in their work and urging them to be deeply aware of the inalienable rights of God over men and human affairs. The last document to be noted from AAS of this period as coming from the authority of Plus XII is a decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, approving under the date of May 24, 1958 {AAS, pp. 711-12), the reassumption of the cause of Blessed Joseph Mary Tommasi (1649-1713), confessor, Theatine, and Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church. John XXIII The remaining pages of the issues of AAS during the period under survey were concerned with the details of the death of Plus XII (AAS, pp. 761-836) and the election and coronation of John XXIII (AAS, pp. 837-908}. During the course of the latter events, the new Pope had occasion to make four addresses which should be noticed here. Immediately after his election on October 28, 1958 (AAS, pp. 878-79), the newly elected Pope addressed the Cardinals of tl'ie conclave, giving them the reason why he had chosen the name of John. It was, he said, the name of his own father; the church of his baptism had borne the same name, as do innumerable churches throughout the world including the Lateran Basilica. Moreover, the ¯ name John was the one most used by Popes in the long history of 104 March, 1959 ROMAN DOCUMENTS the Papacy. Besides, he added, St. Mark, patron of Venice, also bore the name of John. But above all, he concluded, he had chosen the name because it was the name carried by the two men closest to Christ: John the Baptist and John th~ beloved disciple. The second address of John XXIII was given on October 29, 1958 (AAS, pp. 838-41), when the Pontiff broadcast a message to the entire Catholic world. After addressing all members of the Church, especially .those suffering persecution, the Holy Father gave striking evidence of his desire to work for peace. He called on the leaders of the world to work for peace rather than war, pointing out to them, however, that external peace can never be had unless men first enjoy peace within themselves. During the Mass of his coronation on November 4, 1958 (AAS, pp. 884-88), the Vicar of Christ delivered a homily in which he said that in his coming pontificate he would strive to achieve one thing more than anything else: to be a good pastor and shepherd for the entire flock of Christ. A d.ay later (AAS, pp. 900-902}, John XXIII spoke to the representatives sent by various countries to his coronation, reiterating to them his desir~ to work for peace. Three other documents concernifig John XXIII should be noted here; the first two (AAS, p. 904) give the text of telegrams sent by him to Cardinal Mindszenty and to Cardinal Stepinac, who were unable to attend the conclave; the third document, issued under the date of November 17, 1958 (AAS, pp. 905-06), is a letter to Monsignor (later Cardinal) Tardini, appointing him Secretary of State. This survey may be fittingly concluded by listing here the im-portant dates in the life of the new Pope as given in AAS, p. 902: Birth at Sotto il Monte, Italy--November 25, 1881 Priesthood--August I0, 1904 Domestic Prelate--May 7, 1921 Titular Archbishop of Areopolis--March 3, 1925. Consecration as archbishop--March 19, 1925 Apostolic Visitor--March 19, .1925 Apostolic Delegate--October 16, 1931 Titular Archbishop of Mesembria--November 30, 1934 Apostolic Nuncio--December 23, 1944 Cardinal--January 12, 1953 Patriarch of Venice--January 15, 1953 Election as Pope--October 28, 1958 Coronation--NovemBer 4, 1958. 105 Views, News, and Previews ~'~EVIEW,,FOR RELIGIOUS hopes to make "Views, News; and I'~Previews a standard part of each of its issues. In it will be published brief items concerning matters of interest to religious, such as anniversary celebrations of the founding of religious orders and congregations, educational and hospital matters, letters to the editor, and so forth. Readers of the R~.\,~Ew are encouraged to send such items to the editor. No such items can be returned to the sender nor can the l~Ev18w guarantee publication of any particular item. In 1956 the National Institute of Mental Health awarded Loyola University, Chicago, a five-year grant for developing mental health curricular materials for Catholic seminarians. After almost three, years of research and development, the Loyola Project, is now prepared to make public its preliminary work. The materials prepared by the Project on Religion and Mental Health are intended for eventual use in training men for the priesthood. The overall purpose in preparing the materials is to bring the facts and accepted conclusions of the behavioral sciences'to bear on the training and work of the con-temporary priest. When the materials have been completed and tested, they will be offered for use in Catholic seminaries throughout the country. The Loyola Project is under the direction of the Reverend Vincent V. Herr, s.J., and the Reverend William J. Devlin, S.J. Further details about the project may be obtained from either Father Herr or Father Devlin, at Loyola University, 6525 Sheridan Avenue, Chicago 26, Illinois. Father Joseph Lamontagne, S.S.S., is interested 'in obtaining a list of books that would help spiritual directors to prepare a can-didate for entrance into religious life. Father Lamontagne is interested in the matter because he is convinced "that a number of candidates fail to make the grade because of lack of sufficient preparation." Readers of the REw~.w who know of such books should write to Father Lamontagne at 184 76th Street, New York 21, New York. Registration for the summer session at Dominican College, San Rafael, California, will take place on the afternoon of June 27; classes 106 VIEWS, NEWS, AND PREVIEWS will begin on June 29 and extend until August 8. Besides'offering a complete program of undergraduate work, M.A. programs will be offered in biochemistry, education, English, history, and religion. The College also offers a five-year summer program' in theology and Scrip-ture; the program leads to either an M.A. degree in religion or a certif-icate in theology and is under the direction of the Dominican Fathers. The College will also offer for the sixth consecutive summer the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine Leadership course. Campus resi-dence is available for sisters and lay women; for priests and brothers there is the possibility of residence with the Marist. Fathers. For further information write to: Sister M. Richard, O.P., Director ot~ Summer Sessions, Dominican College, San Rafael, California. The forty-fourth annual convention of the Catholic Hospital Association will be held May 30 through June 4, 1959, in St. Louis, Missouri. The theme, of this year's convention will be "Management --A Sacred Trust." Some of the topics to be discussed at the con-vention are: management's effect on patient care: the management function of the department head or supervisors; personnel selection, placement, and motivation; management of materials, machines, and money; management of hospital markets; the importance of the in-dividual in intra-departmenfal and external hospital public relations; a program on management from the viewpoint of the mother house; a review of social changes that will be affecting the hospitals of the future; and ways of making the Catholic hospital more Catholic. Blessed Joseph Mary Tommasi, whose cause for canonization is noted in this issue's "Survey of Roman Documents," was born at Licata in Sicily on September 12, 1649. He was the eldest son of Duke Julius Tommasi of Palma; at fifteen he renounced his primo-geniture rights and entered the Theatine order at Palermo where .he was professoed on March 25, 1666. He was ordained priest in, 1673; and from that year until his-death he lived at Rome, principally at San Silvestro al Quirinale. He was one of the most learned men of his time, specializing in .scripture studies, ecclesiastical history, patristics, and especially Roman liturgy; in the last named branch of studies he is still an important authority. On May 18, 1712, he was created a cardinal. After a life of great austerity and charity, he died on Jan-uary 1, 1713. He was beatified by Pius VII in 1803 and is com-memorated on March 24. 107 QUESTIONS AND ANSW~.RS Review for Religious Saint Xavier College, Chicago, announces its twelfth summer-session Theological Institute, June 22-July 31. Two programs are offered: 1) A five-summer program leading to the Master of Arts Degree conferred by the Dominican College of St. Thomas Aquinas of River Forest, Illinois. 2) A three-summer program leading to a certificate in theology, Sacred Scripture, and canon law. Priests, brothers, and seminarians, as well as sisters, are admitted to both programs. The Reverend Reginald Masterson, O.P., Professor of Theology at St. Rose Priory, Dubuque, Iowa, Director of the Institute, and twelve Dominican Fathers comprise the teaching staff. For further information address: The Director of the Summer Session, Saint Xavier College, Chicago 43, Illinois. Question,s Answers [The following answers are given by Father Joseph ~. Gallen, S.J., professor of canon law at Woodstock College, Woodstock, Maryland.] m5-- Why do we have so many outstanding novices and so many mediocre religious? This is certainly a large question. Some religious fortunately rise above their formation; but ordinarily the mature, cap'able, pro-gressive, and spiritual religious is had only by a suitable, competent, and sufficiently prolonged formation. It is obvious that all aspects of such a formation have been lacking in many institutes. Novice masters can so readily mistake external regularity for an interior life. Perhaps no principle of the movement of renovation and adaptation is of greater value than the insistence on individual formation and the necessity of a spirituality founded on personal conviction. The latter, ordinarily speaking, is the measure of the permanence of the novice's "spirituality. "The same thing happens in many of our young men that we encounter in so many Christiins of our day. They were born, grew up, and lived in an atmosphere that was Christian more by tradition than by conviction. There are so few Christians of conviction and of life; they so readily fall before difficulty and sacrifice. Many of our youth when assigned outside the house of formation, placed in contact 108 March, 1959 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS with the life and spirit of the world, and deprived of the aid of living in a house of studies gradually descend to making a pact with a mediocre life. Others, and they are not so few, collapse after scarcely one conflict of soul. Others, and not always the more nu-merous, retain their fervor." Reverend A. Cecchin, O.S.M., Acta et Documenta Congressus Generalis de Statibus Perfectionis, III, 155-56. "To form the moral judgment the mistress will devote herself to making" her subjects understand the justification for the regula-tions and customs to which they are subjected. While leading them to obey supernaturally, even without understanding, she will try as far as possible to do away with the automatism which leads religious to fulfil the tasks assigned to them without caring about their pu.r-pose or their value. In order to form the conscience permanently, it is essential that she should not be satisfied with forming habits devoid of all convictiofi which disappear in a changed environment as soon as the surroundings of the novitiate have been left. Without tolerating the spirit of destructive criticism it is necessary to develop moral convictions which prevent routine from depriving one's cuso tomary actions of their spiritual value and their attractiveness." Rev-erend Reginald Omez, O.P., Religious Sisters, 235-36. ¯6- Our constitutions state: 'tin affairs of minor importanc% it is always advisable for the mother general to ask the opinion of her councilors but she is not obliged to follow it." Isn't this article too restrictive of the authority of the mother general? Any superior is evidently obliged to seek the consent or advice of his council when this is commanded by canon law or the con-stitutions. The practice of the Holy See in approving constitutions places great emphasis on the office of councilor, and the constitu-tions usually recommend that any superior should seek the advice of his council in 'other important matters. This recommendation should be followed even when it is not contained in the constitutions. The only matters that remain are those of lesser importance and of no real importance. It is evidently restrictive of the authority of a superior even to recommend that he seek .the advice of his council ¯ in such matters. He would then be deprived of almost any power of acting without the advice of his council. Therefore, the article quoted above must refer only to matters of relatively greater im-portance. 109¯ QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Review for Religious --7-- Is there any law of the Chur~:h on the color of the glass of the sanctuary lamp? The Code of Canon Law (c. 1271) does not legislate on the color of the glass of the lamp that is to burn constantly ~before the tabernacle in which the Blessed Sacrament is reserved. Therefore, car~onists and moralists do not discuss this topi'c at a~ny length and very frequently do not even mention it. On June 2, 1883, the Sacred Congregation of Rites replied in the affirmative to the.follow-ing question: "May the usage be tolerated of using lamps of glass that is not transparent or translucent but colored, for example, green or red?" (SRC, 3576, 5). It is certain from this reply that colored glass, and in particular green or red, is tolerated. Some canonists, moralists, and rubricists affirm that such colored glass is permitted. The reply does not prescribe but evidently presupposes as preferable transparent or translucent (clear) glass. Therefore, the literal sense of the one law of the Church on this matter is that clear glas.s, is p.referable but colored glass, and in particular green or red, is tolerated. Another argument for the clear glass is that white is the liturgical color of the Blessed Sacrament, and this is undoubtedly the reason why clear glass is preferred in the reply of the Sacred Congregation of Rites. Because of thisofficial reply and the color of the Blessed Sacrament, liturgists and specialists in church building and furnishings are more apt to emphasizd the ~lear glass. O'Connell- Fortescue, The Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described, 6. note 5: "The glass of the lamp should be white but colored glass is toler-ated.': O'Connell, Church Building and Furnishing, 235: "The glass of the lamp that burns before the tabernacle should be white (the color of the Blessed Sacrament), but colored glass is tolerated." Directions for the Use of Altar Societies and Architects, 35: however, the glass vessel is visible, it should be of white (clear) glass, which is the liturgical color of the Blessed Sacrament, though the use of colored glass is tolerate~d.'' Anson, Churches Their Plan and Furnishing, 112: "Most liturgical authorities recommend that the glass vessel . . . should be white, this being the color associated with the Blessed Sacrament, according to Roman usage. The Sacred Congregation of Rites has tolerated lamps of colored glass, e. g., red, blue, green.". O'Shea, The Worship of the Church, 195: "White or clear glass is to be prel%rred to colored, although that is 110 Marc]~,1959 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS tolerated." Reinhold, The American Parish and the Roma~r Liturgy, 25-26: "Sermons have described how the iittle red light gives the Catholic churches an animated character, their climate of divine presence, and how visiting Catholics feel at home and called to prayer wherever the 'little red light' shows that the church is 'in-habited' by God. Actually, however, the sanctuary lamp should not be red but colorless . Thus, this is not only a law but also an observance against our own modern custom, and this for the very important reason that separate colors have a symbolical meaning. Colored lights are never to be used for the Holy Eucharist in any form whatsoever because the Body and Blood of the Lord, the ful-heSS and source of all sanctity, is to be symbolized by an unbroken or full light which more properly signifies the divine presence. The components o~ white or the partial colors Imade visible through a prism or in a rainbow) are fit to represent only partial sanctity or holiness by participation. If we use externals to point to spiritual realities at all, we ought to use the correct ones." I do not see why white, the color of the Blessed Sacrament, is not verified by a white as well as a clear glass. The former can appear to give an even whiter light. For the same reason, it can be held that a white glass is in accord with the preference of the Sacred Congregation of Rites. As is evident also from the quota-tions given above, not all the authors who place greater insistence on a white glasg understand this term exclusively in the sense of a clea'r glass. My conclusion therefore is that, because of the official reply and' the color of the Blessed Sacrament, either white or clear glass is preferred; any other color is only tolerated. At the Venl sanctlficator of the Offertory and at the Last Bless-ing in Mass, does a priest begin the gestt, re of extending-elevating-joining the hands from the table of the altar or from his breast? From his breast. The rubrics state clearly for both of these occasions that the priest is to stand erect before he begins the gesture. (Ordo et Ritus Servandus in Celebratione Missae, VII, 5; XII, 1) It would be a highly peculiar gesture if the priest, while standing erect, were to begin the extension ~of the hands from the table of the altar. {Cf. Van der Stappen-Croegaert, Caeremoniale, II, De Ce!ebrante, 16; De Herdt, Praxis Liturgica, I n. 140; De Carpo-Moretti. Caeremoniale, n. 325) 111 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Review for Religion, s 9 May the head be bowed in making a simple genuflection?" Neither the body nor the head is to be bowed in any simple genuflection (on one knee), not even when the holy name is said while genuflecting nor in the genuflections at the Consecration (Cf. J. O'Connell, The Celebration of Mass, 260, and note 88). 10 Our constitutions .state: "It is the duty of the tellers to take care that the ballots are cast by each elector secretly, carefully, individually and in the order of precedence (Can. 171, ~ 2)." What is the meaning of "carefully"? The sense of "carefully" or "diligently" is obscure, and this term is therefore often omitted from constitutions. The several meanings given by authors are that the tellers should perform their duties carefully, so that there may be no reason for complaint; without loss of time and "with a careful handling of the ballots; that they should be vigilant lest any voter cast more than one vote or extract any vote already cast; and that they should carefully examine and record each vote. Our reception of the habit, first profession of temporary vows, renewals of temporary vows, p~rpetual profession, and public devo-tional renewals of temporary and perpetual vows a!l occur at Mass. On such occasions, is the priest obliged to say the Leonine Prayers after a low Mass? It is at least safely probable that he may omit the prayers after Mass on all these occasions because of the extrinsic solemnity added to the celebration (Cf. J. O'Connell, The Celebration of Mass, 179; Mueller-Ellis, Handbook of Ceremonies, 100; Wuest-Mullaney-Barry, Matters Liturgical, 442; Van der Stappen-Croegaert, Caeremoniale, II, De Celebrante, 130; Callewaert, Caeremoniale, 120, 14; De Amicis, Caeremoniale Parochorum, 157, note 81). I read the following article in the constitutions of a congregation of brothers: "The management of the temporal affairs of the house, tb~t is, the acquisition of the necessary provisions and clothing and tb~ repairs of the building may be entrusted to his supervision [the l-,'al brother assistant]. He shall therefore see to all these things 112 l~larch, 1959 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS according to the instructions given to him by the local superior." Wouldn't it be advisable for congregations of sisters to adopt such a delegation of authority? Yes, at least in the larger convents. All are urging a more maternal and spiritual government, but few are giving any attention to the overburdened local superior. She is usually also the bursar; principal of the school; has the care of the material condition and all material necessities of the convent, scl~ool, and members of the community; and is burdened also by the swarming minutiae of lesser permissions and minor disciplinary matters. This practice is harmful to maternal and spiritual government and to the general efficacy and dignity of the office. The burden could be sensibly lightened by delegating such matters as the maintenance and ordinary repairs of the convent and school, the usual material necessities of members of the community, lesser permissions, and minor infractions of re-ligious discipline to the local assistant. 13¸ Why do we stand for the /lngelus at noon on Saturdays during Lent? The Regit~r~ ~'~eli, which replaces the ~lngclt~s during Paschaltide, is always said standing. The ,'lngelt~s is said kneeling except from Saturday evening until Sunday evening inclusive. The reason for standing during Pa~chaltide is aptly explained by Jungmann, Public Worship, 202: "As early as the second century people regarded not merely the first week after Easter but the entire seven weeks which followed Easter as a festal time. They called it Pentecost; the name referred not just to its concluding day ('the fiftieth') but to the whole period. During this time no one was to fast; nor should one pray kneeling, but only standing, because we are all risen with Christ. In consequence the l"le~'tr~mus ge~ua was never used at this time. And that is why to this day we still pray at least the antiphon of our Lady (Re~/i~t~ cac/~) only while standing up. The same law applies also, and for the same reason to the Sunday and the Sunday ,4~tgclns." The same law applies because Sunday is the memorial day of the Resurrection (ibiJ. 10). CabroI, Liturgical Prayer, 81-82, expresses himself in similar fashion: "St. Irenaeus, in the second century, well explains this: 'We kneel on six days of the week in token of our frequent fails into sin; but on Sundays we remain,standing as if to show that Christ has raised .us again and 113 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Review for Religious that by His grace He has delivered us from sin and death.' " The liturgical day is computed from Vespers to Vespers. Since during Lent Vespers in choir are said before noon, the /Ingelus is said standing at noon also on Saturdays during Lent. The same norm 6f standing and kneeling applies to the final antiphon of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Office. A genuflection at the words, "And the Word was made flesh," is neither prescribed nor forbidden. The form of the gngelus and the indulgences for its recitation~ may be found in the Raccolta, n. 331. --14- Is the indulgence lost by any change whatever made in an indulgenced prayer? Canon 934, § 2 reads: ". but the indulgences cease entirely if there has been any addition, omission, or interpolation [in the prayer]." However, on November 26, 1934, the Sacred Penitentiary replied that these words of canon 934, § 2 were not to be under-stood rigorously as applying to any additions, omissions, or changes whatsoever but only to such as changed the substance of the prayers. (Bouscaren, Canon Law Digest, II, 236) ~ 'hat is the law of the code on discussions by religious capitulars concerning those competent for elective offices? A private or public discussion among the "capitulars on the merits and demerits of particular persons for the 'offices to which the elections are to be made is not mentoned in the code and consequently is neither commanded nor forbidden by canon law. The constitutions of lay institutes often contain a statement to the effect that prudent consultation regarding the qualifications of ~hose eligible is pe.rmitted within the bounds of justice and charity. Such consultations are at least very frequently necessary, for example, the religious of the United States will rarely know the religious of England, France, or Germany who have the qualifications necessary for a superior general. This is almost equally true of any large institute or province. In a small institute or province such consultations will not be generally necessary, but even in these some individual electors will often find it necessary to consult and seek information ~on those qualified. It is also true that even in a smaller institute those of one age level, locality, or field of work are often 114 March, 1959 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ignorant olc the abilities and accomplishments oF rhose olc osher levels, localities, and fields of labor. It is rarely expedient to hold such discussions publicly in an assembly of the capitulars. They should consist of private discussions among a few or of individual consultation. These consultations are to be limited to a sincere seeking and giving of information on the abilities and defects of particular persons insofar as these are necessary or useful for forming a judgment on the suitability° of the person for the office in question. They should be Free oi~ any persuasion or even of counselling a capitular to vote for or against anyone. The common and greater good of the institute should be the motive. All motives oF mere personal Friendship or aversion, oF pushing a religious because he is from one's own province oi" country, as also and especially the formation of blocs or parties are dearly out of place. --16-- Our constitutions state that there are to be two councilors in every formal house and a bursar in every house. Must there be a bursar also in non-formal houses? Yes, and this is an obligation of the Cod~ of Canon Law. A formalI house is a religious house in which at least six professed religious reside, of whom, if it is a clerical institute, at least four must be priests (can. 488, 5°). Canon 516, § 1 commands that at least formal houses are to ha(,e councilors and recommends that smaller houses also have councilors. Non-formal houses of lay institutes more frequently follow this recommendation by having one councilor in these houses. Canon 516, ~ 2 states absolutely, without any distinction of formal and non-formal houses, that there is to be a local bursar i:or every house. Therefore, there is to be a local bursar also in non-formal houses. Canon 516, § 3 enjoins that ordinarily the office of local' superior is to be separated from that of local bursar but permits the combining of the two offices in the one person when this is demanded by necessity. Even if the~ particular constitutions affirm that these offices are absolutely in-compatible, they may be combined in a case of necessity. (Cf. Larraona, Commentarium Pro Religiosis, 10-1929-36, note 713) Vari-ous terms are used for the bursar in different constitutions, for example, treasurer, procurator, procuratrix, stewardess, econome, economa, administrator, administratrix, and so forth. 115 Book Reviews [Material for this department should be sent to Book Review Editor, REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, West Baden College, West Baden Springs, Indiana.] PROCEEDINGS OF THE 1957 SISTERS' INSTITUTE OF SPIR-ITUALITY. Edited by Joseph E. Haley, C.S.C. Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1958, Pp. 387. $4.00. The 1957 Institute of Spirituality for Sister Superiors and Novice Mistresses, sixth of these summer programs, has its proceedings collected into this handy volume. Those not able to attend may thus participate in some of its benefits. Moreover, those who were there may refresh their memories from this volume and in it study the ideas put forth in their objective reality, free from the coloring of local personalities and enthusiasms. The purpose of these pro-grams is "to provide . . a deeper and clearer understanding of the theological and canonical principles basic to the religious life." Since, the preface argues, "an unfortunate dichotomy between the apostolate and [personal and community] spirituality exists in' the minds of too many religious and in the very program of formation," the 1957 Institute "sought to dispel this misunderstanding and further the integration of the two aspects of the Christian life by exploring the whole province of the apostolate as the contifiuation of the Redemptive Mission of Christ in His Mystical Body for the glori-fication of the Father and the salvation of mankind. Guided by faith ~nd inspired by hope and charity, the apostolate is a fulfilling of the Divine Will and a powerful means of personal sanctification and community development." Certainly the organizers of this Institute are to be congratulated on their realistic choice of theme as well as for their orderly programming of talks closely connected with the general subject of the sessions, not to mention their never-to-be-sufficiently-praised in-terest in the spiritual life of American religious women. Like most proceedings, however', the various contributions are of unequal value. As readings, too, they suffer from their oratorical quality, invaluable in the assembly hall but deleterious to their natural appeal as material for private study (though, logically enough, they are, in part at least, not unsuitable for public reading--say in the refectory). This is no fault. Everyone knows it is of the nature of proceedings to have a certain bombastic quality which the mind privately reading 116 BOOK REVIEWS abhors, for example, page 177; ". . . when our buoyancy and optimism and trust and confidence is put to the ultimate test . " Father Louis J. putz, C.S.C., a determined foe of unrealistic spirituality, lays out on a thought-through, carefully written basis the theology of the apostolate. His presentation is solid, occasionally witty: "No one can deny that the lay apostolate is very much in the air. Unfortunately, for many priests and religious, they would just as soon see it stay there." He speaks first of the mission of the Church in the twentieth century, that is, to continue to effect the Incarnation, in the wide sense of the word, of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. He lays down the general lines of the program of :the Church, but with theological insight and enough concrete illustration to give his outline more reality and vitality than such roughly limned sketches usually have. Through the second chapter Father Putz expounds on the mission of the Word. There are many points, here particularly, where he shows how practical attitudes have to be the result of dogmatic tenets, He goes on to treat in a theologically penetrating way the mission of the people of God. In dealing with the personal and institutional apostolate and with apostolic spirituality, he makes practical sugges-tions, showing in his attitudes the influence of the writings of Car-dinal Suhard, whom he cites in his bibliography. Finally he considers the influence of religious on the lay apostolate and pronounces some good dos and don'ts. In general, the sweep of Father Putz's thoughts, their direction, is not as striking as some of his excellent insights. And a littie more care on the editor's part would have eliminated the verbatim repetition of a full paragraph of Father Putz's matter; see pages seven and thirty-eight. Father Elio Gambari, S.M.M. ("Recent Decrees of the Holy See Regarding the Apostolate"), undertakes to explain the Church's mandate for religious as well as the connection between the aposto-late and the spirituality of an institute. While he does not do this at a purely juridical level, his general orientation is more there than anywhere else. A member of the Sacred Congregation of Religious, Father Gambari speaks with prudent authority relative to the historical and actual juridical position of religious institutes in the life of the Church. Father Charles J. Corcoran, C.S.C., has as his subject "The Apostolate as a Means of Sanctification." Though as a section this part of the Institute is more carefully edited than some other parts, 117 ]300K REVIEWS Review for Religious his first conferences are perhaps a little too sermon-like to effectively embrace subject matter useful to the purpose of the whole Institute; moreover, his explanation of the apostolate as a means to the sanctification of the individual never quite "jells" in spite of the fact that he is given additional opportunity to clarify his position by a question put to him on this point. Father Corcoran, however, makes some excellent points in insisting that the emphasis of novice-sl~ ip training be more on principles than on minutiae of observance. Moreover, in his conferences on prayer there is a short exposition of the method of the school of Cardinal de Berulle, an explanation which, for clarity and brevity can scarcely be surpassed. Sister Mary Emil, I.H~M. ("The Apostolate of Teaching"), pro-vides some high points of the sessions. She speaks with a deep, inner understanding, enthusiasm, and (except where she places St. Jerome in the wrong century--a slip surely) learning. Her well-documented and, statistically speaking, solidly based analysis of the present teaching situation in Catholic schools gives her the opportunity to make suggestions which wise superiors surely will consider. One telling point (to give an example) is where she says, "Our retreats could have interpreted our work and its integration for us, but often they did not, because the masters ,.0ere not teachers themselves o'r did not know we had this problem." Wise retreat masters will follow such a useful suggestion from the floor. Another example of her penetrating insight is had where, in speaking of vocations to the religious life, she discards as useless the notion that God has only old-fashioned graces for modern girls. Father John J. Lazarsky, O.M.I., speaks on the subject of hospital and social work. However, he comple.tely avoids treating the second part of his subject.' It is clear from what he says that his 'experience in hospital work has been first-hand, extensive, and valuable. It is also clear that he made extraordinary efforts in his proximate preparation for the talks by. gathering useful data. One feels, nevertheless, that there was a deficiency in or omission of what should have been the next stage in the development of l~is material-- a calm period in which to assimilate it and to extract useffil con-clusions from it. Teaching catechism is the subject on which Father Joannes F/ofinger, S.J., expresses some personal views. Sympathetic as one should be to some of the aims the veteran missionary has in mind, one wonders whether or not some generalizations in his criticisms 118 March, 1959 BOOK REVIEWS of contemporary method may not be too universal, some of his projected substitutions too vague. Be that as it may, his views, or rather his enthusiasm, can stimulate constructively critical attitudes in us and prevent deadly humdrum from enervating our use of methods which, though they have proved effective in the past, need" constant evaluation for their effectiveness in the present situation and equally constant adaptation to current problems.--EAgL A. V~E~S, S.J. THE CHALLENGE OF BERNADETTE. By Hugh Ross William-son. Westminster, Maryland: Newman Press, 1958. Pp. 101. $1.95. The Lourdes Ceatenary has been another great triumph of Mary. To a happily surprising degree, it has been also the'triumph of her confidante, St. Bernadette. The new books about her have been many; and they are good--so good that her friends read them one after another, with unflagging eagerness. Properly speaking, Hugh Ross Williamson's Challenge of Berna: dette is not another life, but a powerful interpretation of her life, and of Lourdes, as a divine sign of the truth of the Christian revelation in the face of a contradicting world. The author is perfectly at home in the literature of his subject and master of the historical, cultural, and theological background. ,He writes with the ' style of an experienced man of letters. In this brief review only two points can be singled out. By a remarkable combination of hard-headed realism and of perceptive gentleness, Williamson makes a positive, importanv contribution toward a better understanding of the characters who surrounded Bernadette and .trie~d her mettle. This applies especially to his treatment of the Abb~ Marie-Dominique Peyramale, her parish priest, and of Mother Marie-Th~r~se Vauzou, her novice mistress, They are redoubtable figures; but they have their qualities, just the same-- qualities which Bernadette valued highly. The other point is simply the main theme of the book brought to its focus. The challenge of Bernadette is the challenge of a saint who lacked everything the world covets and admires. It is the simple integrity of her Christian faith and piety, divinely sealed by the charism of miracle. It is Mary's challenge and Bernadette's to a world that isalways bringing upon itself the wages of its self-conceit~ It is God's challenge, through them, to repent; for the Kingdom of Heaven is very near at Lourdes.--EDGAg R. SMOTHERS, S.J. 119 BOOK REVIEWS Review for Religious LIKE A SWARM OF BEES. By Sister M. Immaculata, S.S.J. Second Printing. Buffalo, New York: Mount St. Joseph Mother-house, 1958. Pp. 213. $3.50. The Sisters of st. Joseph of Buffalo here have their history recounted right back to the days of three hundred years ago when a good bishop of Le Puy in France and Father Jean Pierre Medaille, S.J., collaborated to provide initial inspiration and impetus. The newness of the way of religious life begun by these sisters shocked narrow traditionalists at first; but criticism eventually had to grow silent, as it always does, in the face of good works blessed with God's graceful favor. The book will be of particular interest to those who work with these sisters and would like to know more of their spirit, and local history or to those who aspire to join their zealous ranks.--EAgI. A. WEIs, S.J. GOD'S HIGHWAYS. By J. Perinelle, O.P. Translated by Donald Attwater. Westminster, Maryland: Newman Press, 1958. Pp. ix, 339. $4.25. When a distinguished writer turns, for a change, to the work of translation, the reader is assured of a resulting product worthy of his best attention on a double count. Donald Attwater has enriched our vocation literature with an English classic in God's Highways, giving us a charming rendition of Father Perinelle's volume on religious vocaton. The well-known Dominican author addresses his pages primarily to those consecrated to God in religion, including secular institutes, ~ut notes that all Christian perfection has a common basis, whether lived in or out of the cloister, and that hence lay men and women, striving for a deeper life, will find inspiration and guidance in these chapters. The lucid style and vigorous thought captivates the reader from the start, expressing, as it does, a po.werful conviction that "for beauty, grandeur, fruitfulness and happiness not one of the happy ways. of life equals that which is wholly dedicated to the Lord, for not one of them is given over to so sublime a love." Father Perinelle does much more than write another book on the vows. He lucidly portrays the in'planting and growth of a vocation from its first tiny beginnings, and one instinctively cherishes the desire that many young people may come under the tutelage of so wise a director. For this purpose the opening chapters ought properly to be read long before one enters the cloister. The pity 120 March, 1959 BOOK REVlEWS is that many a later reader will sigh and utter to himself, "If only I had known all that while I was fighting my hard way into religion." Appreciation of the implications of any life in God's service will require understanding of the fundamental God-given habits of faith and charity, which are perhaps too little appreciated in the process of sanctification. Both these divine-gift "virtues are adequately presented in the second and third sections of the book. The wonders of charity, one feels, as portrayed in these scintillating pages, would turn earth into heaven if they could be fully realized. Yet this charity "is no leveller, it does not kill natural affection"; nor does it save us from still finding ourselves "like men with loads on their shoul-ders, some going up and some coming down the same narrow staircase: try as they may, they can't prevent their loads sometimes banging into one another." A fourth section treats of the general topic of religion as a fundamental virtue, and a "fellow of charity," resulting from our life in Christ and uniting us to Him in His priesthood. Seldom is the truth so convincingly put, in vocation treatises, that consecration to God in religion arises from the priesthood of Christ from which it derives both its existence and its worth. Before the specific treatment of the vows, a preliminary chapter makes it clear that these vows are not the invention of the Church but were introduced by Christ Himself through the Apostles. By their observance the Savior wished to reproduce in His followers ¯ the characteristics of His own life, but His advocacy of them is by way of counsel not precept. Chastity is exhibited first in its most attractive splendor, a loving gift that cannot be mere abstention. The subsequent pages on the pracdce of the virtue are precious in their sound and resolute actuality, presenting an alluring positive picture of the lovely virtue of virginity. Neither is "consecrated maidenhood" a mere addi-tional ornament of the Church; it is rather a vital organ, not a halo but a heart; a virtue, too, that is blessed with a nobler fertility, enriching the Church and society with "Fathers" and "Mothers" of a higher order. Poverty is viewed as. it took shape historically, from gospel beginning to our time, and with many legitimate varieties, under the Church's guidance and legislation, meeting the varying needs of persons and conditions. Special emphasis is lald on the recent 121 BOOK REVIEWS Review for Religious prescriptions of Sponsa Christi and allied documents in regard to the work of contemplative nuns. The impressive litany of dos and don'ts rehearsing ~he practice of poverty is attractive in its sane and good-humored realism. An impressive treatment of obedience closes the book, exhibit'-. ing the singular value of this virtue and vow in t~ostering true, spiritual, Christian freedom. "The service of God to which obedi-ence calls you is not slavery--it is freedom." Again the historic growth of obedience is traced, from the older hermits through St, Augustine and St. Benedict to our own times inclusive of secular institutes. Obedience is shown to offer endless opportunity for meritorious acts while there is a minimum danger of "sin against it. "Such is the illogicality of divine mercy." The author's treatment substantiates to the full his own final evaluation thus summarized: "Understood and practised in this way, obedience and its sister docility are educative, manly, expansive and fertile virtues." Once more be it said, the fine flavor of a translator's consum-mate art, added to the author's brilliant mastery of his subject, makes this book a valuable and engrossing addition to our vocation literature.--ALovsluS C. KEMPEP,, S.J. THE YANKEE PAUL: ISAAC THOMAS HECKER. By Vincent F. Holden, C.S.P. Milwaukee: Bruce Publishing Company, 1958. Pp. xxii, 508". $6.95. Books have already gone on the market with the titles Yankee Batboy, Yankee Bob, Yankee Doodle, Yankie Rookie, Yankee Tab-ernacle, Yankee Yachtsman, Yankee 8tran#er, Yankee Privateer, Yan-kee Pasha, and Yankee Priest. Granted that it is difficult to be original in one's choice of title these days, Father Holden's selec-tion, Tt, e Yankee Paul. has the ring of a hackneyed phrase about it. This is unfortunate, for the book is good. The archivist of the Paulist community has done his noble group excellent service in commemorating its one hundred years of fruitful ministry to America by his publication of this p

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

Issue 18.4 of the Review for Religious, 1959. ; Two, Prayers John XXIII Prayer for the Church of Silence [On January 23, 1959, the Sacred Penitentiary pub|ish~d the Italian text ~f a prayer composed by the Holy Father for the. Church of Silence. The original text, a translation of which appears.below, is to be found in Acta Apostolicae Sedis, 51 (1959), 112~13. A partial indulgence of three years can be gained by the faithful when they recite the prayer with contrite heart.] OJESUS, Son of God, who lovedthe Church and who gave Yourself for it to sanctify it and to make it appear before You glorious and immaculate (Eph 5:23-27), look down with mercy on the painful conditions to which Your mystical spouse is subjected in certain parts of the Catholic world and especially now in the great nation of the Chinese. ! See, O Lord, the treachery that threatens the souls of Your faithful' and consider the calumnious insinuations leveled against Your pastors, Your ministers, and Your faithful followers who long to spread the truth of the Gospel and that kingdom of Yours which is not of this world. How insistent and dangerous are the attempts to tear the seamless robe of Your spouse, the one, holy, catholic, apostolic, and Roman Church, by separating the hierarchy and the local communities from the only center of truth, authority, and salvation, the See of Peter! Before this spectacle of such grave evils, we ask first of all for pardon for the offenses which are being committed against You. In truth the words spoken by You to Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?" (Acts 9:4), can well be repeated today, as they could be in the course of recent and past history. We trust always in the efficacy of the sublime words You addressed to Your Father from the cross, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" (Lk 23:34). As Your sacrifice was the source of universal salvation, so through your grace may the martyrdom which the Church, Your spouse 193 JOHN XXIII Review [or Religious and our mother, suffers in different regions bring salvation all men. O Prince of Peace, grant that the bishops and the priests, the religious and the laity, may always and everywhere be "solici-tous to preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace" (Eph 4:3). May Your omnipotent power overcome every hu-man calculation so that pastors and flocks may remain obedient to the voice of the only universal Pastor, the Roman Pontiff, who feels in his heart the responsibility of that supreme desire of love: "Holy Father, keep in Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are" (Jn 17:11). Finally~ O Redeemer, look with satisfaction at the merits and prayers of Your and our Mother, the august Queen of the missions and of the universal Church; look at the labors, the sacrifices, and the blood of "the innumerable heralds of the faith who have always and are still giving heroic testimony to You; and, mindful above all of Your precious Blood shed for many for the remission oz sins, give Your peace to China and to the entire world, because in no other is there hope and victory .and peace, but only in You, our Lord and immortal King of the ages and of the nations. Prayer to the Eucharistic Christ [The following prayer, the orighaal text of which is given in Acta Apostolicae Sedis, 51 (1959), 163-64, was composed by the Holy Father as a preparation for the coming International Eucharistic Congress to be held in Munich, Germany. His Holiness (AAS, 51 [1959], 164) has granted a partial indulgence of ten years to the faithful who devoutly recite the prayer with contrite heart; moreover once a month they may gain a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions, if they have recited the pra~,er daily for a whole month.] O Jesus, King of nations and of ages, accept the acts of adoration and of praise which we, Your brothers by adoption, humbly offer to You. You are "the living Bread come down from heaven which gives life to the world" (Jn 6:33) ; High Priest as well as Victim, You offered Yourself on the cross in a bloody sacrifice of expia-tion to the Eternal Father for the redemption of the human race; 194 July, 1959 Two PRAYS.US and now each day You offer Yourself on our altars by the hands of Your ministers so that there might be restored in each heart Your "kingdom of truth and of life, of holiness and of grace, of justice, of love, and of peace~' (Preface of the Mass of Christ the King). O "King of Glory," may Your kingdom come! Rule from Your "throne of glory" (Heb 4:16) in the hearts of children so that they may keep immaculate the shining purity of their baptismal innocence. Rule in the hearts of youth so that they may grow in wholesomeness and purity and in docility to the voice of those who represent You in the family, in school, and in the Church. Rule in the heart of the home so that parents and children may live united in the observance of Your holy law. Rule in our country so that in the harmonious ordering of the social classes all its citizens may regard themselves as children of the same heavenly Father, called to work together for the common temporal good and happy to belong to that one Mystical Body, of which Your Sacrament is both the symbol and the everlasting source. Rule, finally, O King of Kings and "Lord of Lords" (Deut 10:17) over all the nations of the earth and enlighten the rulers of each nation that, inspired by Your example, they may nourish "thoughts of peace and not of affliction" (Jer 29:11 ). O Eucharistic Jesus, grant that all people may serve You freely in the knowledge that "to serve God is to reign." May Your Sacrament, O Jesus, be a light to the mind, a strength to the will, an attraction to the heart. May it be a support to the weak, a comfort to the suffering, a viaticum of salvation to the dying, and for all may it be a "pledge of future glory." Amen. 195 The Rest:oral:ion ot: All Things in Christ: Richard Cardinal Cushing, D.D., UL.D. [The following address by the Cardinal Archbishop of Boston was delivered as the main address of the Sacred Heart Institute for Nuns conducted by American Directors of the Apostleship of Prayer and held at Roberts Center, Boston College, on April 4, 1959.] THE DEVOTION TO the Sacred Heart makes no appeal whatever to those outside the Church and to some within the Church. It is the story of a nun who had a vision of our Lord in which He showed her a wound on His side. Then He said to her: "Behold the Heart which loves so much, and is loved so little in return." What is this but sentimentalism, and a kind of senti-mentalism which does not appeal to people of our times. My dear Sisters: Is there anything more undignified than the figure of the rejected lover who cannot keep his abandon-ment to himself, but must go about exposing his wounded feel-ings for all the world to see, inviting sympathy because he unloved? Yet that is the figure under which Divine Love rep-resented itself to the apostle of the Sacred Heart--St. Margaret Mary. Why? It may help to understand the answer if we recall that all through the Old Testament this is the kind of language in which Almighty God refers to the disloyalties of His people. The covenant which He made with the Israelites when He brought them out of Egypt was like a marriage contract com-mitting both sides to fidel.ity; and when they turned to the wor-ship of idols, he appealed to that covenant. "And thou," He says through the prophet Jeremias, "and thou with many lovers have been unfaithful; come back to me, and thou shalt find welcome." This is pleading language, and it is God who pleads. When a prophet of the Old Testament speaks like that, he is using a metaphor. The Old Testament is full of metaphors. When others talk about God raising His hand, stretching out 196 I:~ESTORATION IN CHRIST His arm, keeping a watchful eye over His friends, giving a ready ear to their prayers, we'do not think that God, who is pure spirit, has hands or arms or eyes or ears like ourselves. And so it is when God describes himself as a jealous lover. He means that if He were a man, this is how the infidelity of His friends would affect Him. If He were a man? In the fullness of time, He became man; He trod our earth, and was subject, as man, to the play of emotions; He wept and rejoiced. He was indignant, and felt fear. The metaphors had come true at last: God Incarnate really saw with human eyes and stretched out a human hand to save us. And He was accessible like ourselves, to the expressions of feeling which we find so difficult to control. When an injury was done to the honor of His Father in heaven, He flared up; and we read in the New Testament: "Jesus looked upon them with anger." The success of His first missionaries gave Him the same feeling which comes to you and me when good news reaches us, and we read that "At that time, Jesus was filled with gladness." The tragedy of a friend's death was told him. The sad news drew from Him, as it would from us, a 'tribute of natural tears and we read: "Jesus wept." Our Lord did not even hide from us His disappointments: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, still murdering the prophets, and stoning the messengers that are sent to thee, how often have I been ready to gather thy children together, and thou didst refuse it!" How often--He looks back over the sad record of Jew'ish history; the authentic accents of a Divine Person pierce through the veil of His humanity and here is God weeping with human eyes over tl~e pent-up sorrows of a human heart. Now I think we have the real meaning of the Sacred Heart devotion; it translates the Divine Nature into human terms for us. After all, we find it hard, don't we, to get God into our mind-picture? We cannot portray Him--His glory dazzles us; we are confused b~ the thought of the enormous gulf which lies between Him and creatures. We know that His Providence 197 CARDINAL CUSHING Review for Religious extends over all His works; He cares even for the sparrows, and yet. He is so great, and we are so small! Even our sins-- just an unkind word said about a neighbor, and we tell ourselves and we confess that we have offended God; think of the scale of the thing, our little lapse, and His infinite existence, put side by side! And then think of tl~e Sacred Heart, and all at once the whole thing becomes vivid, clear. Jesus Christ in heaven, taking an interest in our tiny needs, as He took an interest in many tiny needs on earth. Jesus Christ hurt by our sins, as He was hurt by so many slights and disappointments up and down the villages of Galilee. The echoes of our prayer no longer seem to die away in infinite distance; they strike a chord in the Sacred Heart, and become vocal to us, real to us. If critics object that we are too sentimental over our devo-tion in honor of the Sacred Heart, that we single out one partic-ular side of our Lord's character, represent Him too insistently in one particular attitude, one of mercy and tenderness and wel-come, let us remind them that it is these qualities in the Divine Nature which we find it most difficult to believe. Here, most of all, we need a diagram in flesh and blood to convince us. How can God, so upright a judge, be merciful? How can He, who is without passion, be tender to us? How can He, who has no need of human companionship, welcome us? It is these qualities, that we rejoice to see mirrored in the Sacred Heart. Our Sacred Heart statues and holy pictures represent our Lord in one particular attitude, as He revealed Himself to Sister Margaret Mary, an attitude of tender abasement, of mournful pleading with mankind. Again critics wonder. Is this your Christ, they ask, this weak, womanish figure, in a posture of sentimental appeal? Is your religion all sugary sweetness, all variations on a minor key? Has it stopped still with the seventeenth century; has it no mes-sage for today? And to that we answer, No, you have it all wrong. The Sacred Heart is the treasury of all those splendid qualities with which a perfect life was lived; it is the repository of 198 July, 1959 RESTORATION IN CHRIST all those noble thoughts which mankind still venerates in the Gospels'. It was the Sacred. Heart that burned with anger when the traders were driven out of the Temple; it was the Sacred Heart that loved the rich young man, yet would not spare him; it was the Sacred Heart that defied Pilate in his own judgment-hall. It is strong and stern and enduring; it hates prevarications and pretences. The perfect flowering of a human life, not on this occasion or that, but all the way, all the time, the utter sacrifice of a human will-- that is what the Sacred Heart means. There is no picture, no statue on earth that can portray its infinite beauty. The perfect flowering of our life at all times and in all ways; that should be the harvest of our devotion, dedication, and con-secration to the Sacred Heart. Religious, more than any other group of the followers of Christ, have the opportunity to reach that ideal. They have the available means and opportunity to answer the plea of the Sacred Heart for the return of human love for love divine. In the silent anonymity of your community life, you offer day by day the sacrifice of your personal independence and your natural yearning for recognition and human affection. If you live consist-ently with the ideals of your religious profession, you can truly say that you have left all things and have become so Christlike as to have produced the perfect flowering of your own life in the life of the Sacred Heart. Your vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience leave nothing for yourself. Through these vows, the essence of the religious life, you become one with God. How could you attain to a more perfect flowering of your life? Truth-fully you are called Sponsae Christi. In this capacity you can kneel each morning before the alkar on which the Sacrifice of Calvary is renewed and identify your love with the love of the Eternal Priest in humble and self-less fulfillment of the ideals of perfection which He Himself estab-lished in His earthly life. It is not without significance, therefore, that the spread of devotion to the Sacred Heart in modern times owes its origin 199 CARDINAL CUSHING Review for Religious to the apparitions of our Blessed Lord not to some renowned scholar or churchman but to a lowly nun. St." Margaret Mary was one of yourselves. Her call to the religious life, her postu-lancy and novitiate, her profession of religious vows, her long years of obedience to her rule and prayerful cooperation with the wishes of her superiors--all these circumstances of her life have their counterparts in the life of each one of you, St. Margaret Mary also found the same difficulty which you experience in following up the inspirations of God's grace which come so mysteriously to those who are closely associated with apostolic works. Neither religious themselves, nor those who cooperate with them in realizing the objectives of their various communities, can ever understand completely the divine orienta-tion of the human impulses out of which the success of any reli-gious community is drawn. As we look back over the centuries at what happened be-tween 1673 and 1675 in a little French village, we can see clearly that the judgments of psychologists and the cautious reserve of theologians and canonists have all played their part in the spread of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of which St. Margaret Mary was destined to be the modern apostle. They could not under-stand sentimentalism of this kind for they did not recall that Christ was man as well as God, human as well as divine. What stands out unmistakably in her life is her humble and charitable forbearance in the face of adverse personal criticism and her unquestioning submission to the authority of the Church. That indeed is one of many phases of the perfect flowering of human life: the total sacrifice of one's will to the will of another. Her spiritual directors understood her and guided her with sympathy and encouragement; she followed their counsel and obeyed to the last detail their suggestions of hopeful expectancy of eventual approval, A soul which is illumined by divine grace, a will that is one with the will of God, is never stubborn or un-disciplined. Margaret Mary's own certainty of the truth of the revelations made to her brought likewise the conviction that God's 200 July, 1959 RESTORATION IN CHRIST plans would be realized in God's own way and in God's own time. She knew that she was but the instrument of the power and mercy \ of Him who had afforded her unquestionable evidence of His love. She knew that the Christ, who had revealed to her the richness of His own inner life, was also the Christ who had founded His Church and who had'sent His Holy Spirit to abide within it until the end of time. In this peaceful and undisturbed awareness of her own relation to Christ our Lord, she was content to suffer the disappointment and frustration that would be in-volved in the reconditioning of men's souls which the spread of devotion to the Sacred Heart would bring about. When we look at Margaret Mary from this point of view, we see in her a great-ness of soul and a discerning penetration of divine wisdom which the humble circumstances in which she lived and died could never have revealed to those who knew her as a sister in religion and as a fellow human being. She is the messenger, the apostle of the devotion to the Sacred Heart because her heart gave all to the Heart of Christ. The beauty of her soul was the perfect flowering of life. And here, I think, is the great lesson which you, my beloved religious, can take to yourselves. In your life as religious you must share in the sorrows and sufferings which were glorified on the Cross. This is the meaning for you of the mystery of the Sacred Heart which was made known to the world by one of your number. How can that be accomplished? First of all, by self-immolation. To seek for oneself alone in religious life any measure of comfort or self-gratification is to substitute the prudence of the world for the prudence of the brides of God. As spouses of Christ, you must be faithful to your mystical espousal and marriage and accept cheerfully the burdens of community life and surrender yourselves without reservation to the demands which your respective congregations may make on you as they carry on their appointed apostolic works. Secondly, in your religious life you must resemble Christ in the mediating functions of His priesthood. The sacred humanity 201 CARDINAL CUSHING Review for Religious of Christ, symbolized in its ministrations of love by the Heart which was pierced with a lance, enable Christ to stand as a mediator between God and men. So too the religious, living in the world even while separated from it by the boundaries of her cloister, brings God into the lives of others as she carries on her varied works. The religious is thus in a very real sense a mediatrix between God and men. Those whom you serve are thereby raised from earth to heaven by the unselfish detachment with which you apply your-selves to works upon which material values may be set. Thus you are able to stand at Christ's side as His devoted helpers. Thus you are drawing men's souls to Christ as did Christ Him-self in His revelation of God's love for man in the visible form of His human nature. Thirdly, your principal objective as religious must always be to diffuse into the souls of others the love of Christ. How dismally we fail, even while we seem to be successful, if we have gained spectacular victories in ambitious undertakings at the cost oi: arousing bitterness and dissension among those with whom we live and work! In the companionship of your sisters in reli-gion, in your relations with your superiors, in the services which you render to your community, in your ministrations of charity and mercy to the faithful, you must always be a messenger of divine love and an inspiring example of the practice of Christian charity. I don't know of any othdr way in which we can respond to the appeal for love from the heart of Christ unless it would be to crystalize that response by fidelity to the spirit and letter of the Morning. Offering of the Apostleship of Prayer. This is more than a prayer formula, it is a way of life by which every act of the day becomes transformed into a prayerful tribute to the Sacred Heart. It is also the way of gpiritual child-hood for it sanctifies the ordinary things of life into extraordinary spiritual power and unites us to the sacrifice of the Mass through-out the world~ The Morning Offering is also the greatest means by which we can recognize the importance of each day in our lives. Each 202 July, 1959 RESTORATION IN CHRIST day is life in miniature. Today is unique; it has never happened before, it can never happen again. For one moment it is all-important, fills the.stage; tomorrow it will have taken its place in the unreal pageant of dead yesterdays. It has a significance, then, all its own; but this significance belongs to it because it is related to a series. We may think of it as the beginning of a series, the first day of a new departure in our lives. Or we may think of it as one day among others, with the same duties, cares, temptations as the others. Or we may think of it' as the last~ of a series; one today will be the last of all our todays, with eternity for its infinite tomorrow, and it may be this. Think of this day, for example, as the beginning of a new departure. How shall we begin? Not by any frantic efforts of our own; we will begin by listening to the voice of God: Hodie si vocem eius audieritis, nolite obdurare corda vestra. We speak to Him through ou.r spiritual exercises, and we unite ourselves with all the members of His Mystical Body throughout the world by today's offering of everything we do to Him. There is another use we may make of the magic word today. Instead of worrying about whether we shall ever commit our cus-tomary sins again, let us simply resolve not to commit them today. Dignare Dornine die isto sine peccato nos custodire; let us see if we can't cheat the devil, like some grasping creditor, by saying "Not just yet; not today." And let us ask simply for the grace which is needed to avoid those sins just in the sixteen hours that lie between bed-time and bed-time. Die isto, let us make today a holiday from our venial sins. This day without sin- we will avoid, His grace helping us, those little daily repeated irreverences by which we offend Him. This day without sin- we will especially avoid sinning against ourselves, by the wrong use of God's creatures. And we will avoid sinning against our neighbors. We know the sisters we have to live with, the little t~aults ot~ manner and behavior .which get on our nerves, all the more surely because they are repeated day by day. This day, with this gladness in our hearts, we will 203 CARDINAL CUSHING greet them with a cheerfulness which is infectious, which lightens their burden as well as our own. A smile at all times- how much difference that can make to life's tragedies! Today, sanctified and enriched by the Morning Offering, becomes like a sacrament from which we can derive not only an inspiration for the future, the future that may be so different if we will use today aright; not only a warning for the present, to make us avoid this day the temptations that every day beset us, but an attitude, also, towards the past, an attitude of abiding penitence and reparation. Let us remember our sins each day, as if we had no more space left for sinning; let us repent for them, as this were our last opportunity of contrition. And He, who re-turned to heaven with the penitent thief for His escort, will shorten our purgatory and hasten to unite us with Himself. Hodie vocem audieritis ~ it can never be too early to begin our conver-sion. Hodie eris mecum in paradiso ~ thank God, it can never be too late. Our renewed consecration today to the Sacred Heart gives evideace of our appreciation of the tremendous potential which you have at your disposal for the restoration of all things in Christ. We consecrate you anew to the Sacred Heart because you belong to Christ, because you are one with Christ, and because your efforts are so powerful and so indispensable for the realization of His divine mission. Let me become the spokesman for each one of you as I repeat the words of consecration which St. Mar-garet Mary formulated as she gave expression to her own consum-ing love ot: Christ her Lord: I consecrate to the Sacred Heart of our Lord Jesus Christ my person and my life, my actions, pains and sufferings, so that I may be unwilling to make use of any part of my being save to honor, love and glorify the Sacred Heart . Do Thou consume in me all that can displease Thee or resist Thy holy will. Let Thy pure love imprint Thee so deeply upon my heart that I shall never more be able to forget Thee or~to be separated from Thee. May I obtain the grace of having my name written in Thee, for in Thee I desire to place all my happi-ness and all my glory, living and dying in very bondage to Thee. Amen. 204 The AAariology of Pope Plus XII John A. Hardon, S.J. IT IS EASY to write on Pope Pius XII and the Blessed Virgin Mary because there is so much to say. We might recall how as a young boy in Rome he would stop every day to visit the shrine of Madonna della Strada at the Church of the Gesu where, as he told his mogher, "I pray and tell Mary everything." Or we might reflect on his life-long devotion to the rosary, his frequent sermons on our Lady, his constant reference to her in his writings or, in summary, his own testimony shortly after election to the papacy, that "our priestly life began with Mary and has always been directed under her motherly eye." In all this profusion of Marian piety, one aspect may be overlooked. Pius XII made a substantial contribution to the science of Mariology, a contribution concerning which, no doubt, volumes will be written in the years to come. We shall examine only the highlights of a large subject, whose implications have an important bearing on the whole body of Christian asceticism. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary On November i, 1950, Pius XII answered the requests of the Catholic hierarchy with a solemn definition that, "by the authority.of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by Our own authority, We pronounce, declare and define as a divinely revealed dogma: The Immaculate Mother of God, Mary ever Virgin, after her life on earth, was assumed body and soul to the glory of heaven." The spontaneous reaction of the faithful was gratitude for the exalted honor paid to the Mother of God. The Pope's own sentiments were expressed to the bishops gathered in Rome for the occasion, when he told them the joy he felt over the proclamation and the assurance it gave him that Mary would obtain the graces of which mankind stood in such dire need. On the level of piety and devotion, therefore, Mary's Assumption was only the climax in a series of definitiong 205 JOHN A. HARDON Review for Religious to honor the Blessed Virgin, beginning with the divine maternity at Ephesus and terminating in the past century with her Immaculate Conception. But dogmatically the constitution Munificentissimus Deus has a much deeper significance that de-serves to be recognized. Shortly before the actual definition but after its public an-nouncement, the Anglican bishops of England lodged a formal protest against the "new" dogma. "We profoundly regret," they said, "that the Roman Catholic Church has chosen by this action to increase dogmatic differences in Christendom and has thereby gravely injured the growth of understanding between Christians based on a common possession of the fundamental truths of the Gospel." The Anglican complaint was not a wild gesture. It exposed their radical opposition to the Church's authority over Christian doctrine, which I believe many Catholics ~do not fully appreciate. Pope Pius defined Mary's Assumption as a truth divinely revealed. Of the two sources of revelation, theologians com-monly say the Assumption was implicit in tradition, in spite of the practical absence of documentary evidence before 300 A.D. Some years before the definition, a scholarly work was published under Vatican auspices on The Silence of the Early Centuries on the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The author frankly admitted that except for apocryphal sources we have no explicit witness in the early patristic age. Yet the Pope finally declared the doctrine was in revelation. How do we know? On the answer to this question rests a new insight into Christian tradi-tion which had been gaining momentum since the eighteenth century. Briefly stated, tradition is coming to be identified more and more with the Church's magisterium or teaching office and less exclusively as the genetic source, along with Scripture, of the truths of salvation. Behind this new emphasis is a development of dogma since the Council of Trent which reveals hidden depths of power in the Mystical Body of Christ. The Church is being seen more clearly as not only the guardian of a faith once and for 206 July, 1959 MARIOLOGY OF PIUS XII all given-to the Apos.tles, but as perpetual expositor of that faith in every age to the end of time. In August of the same year that he defined the Assumption, the Pope laid down the principles~ which guided the Marian defini-tion. The Church's teaching authority, he said in Humani generis, is not confined to reflecting or consolidating the past. It is also, ~nd especially, the vital, presetit-day function of an organism animated by the Spirit of God: "Together with the sources of revelation (Scripture:and tradition) God has given to His Church a living magisterium to elucidate and explain what is contained in the deposit of faith only obscurely :and, as it were, by implication," The degree of obscurity, we may add, is irrelevant. Given this faculty by her 0~:ounder, whose" Spirit of truth abides with her at all times, the Church can infallibly discern what belongs to revela-tion no matter how cryptic the contents may be. Consequently whenl Pius XII defined the Assumption, he did more than propose the doctrine for acceptance by the faith-ful or give them a new motive for devotion to the Blessed Mother. He vindicated as never before the Church's i~ower to authorize a legitimate development in doctrine .and pii~ty that scandalizes those outside the true faith and may even surprise b~elieving Catholics. The Assumption thus becomes part Of a'larger process, along with Catholic Action, the litui:gical movement and even such practical matters as the mitigated Eucharistic fast, in which the current problems of the Church and the present needs of souls are being met by the Holy Spirit: It was no coincidence that on the day following the Assump-tion d~finition the Pope expressed, the hope that this new honor to Mary would intrbduce "a spirit of penance to replace the' prevalent love of pleasure, and a renewal of family lifE, stabilized where divorce was common and made fruitful where birth control was practiced." If there is one feature that characterizes the modern world it is 'the cult of the body. Science and ingenuity exhaust themselves in providing for bodily comforts, avoidance of pain, and the.pampering of every sensual desire. Divorce and 207 JOHN A. HARDON Review for Religious birth control, lurid reading and entertainment are only symptoms of a deeper malady for which revelation provides at least one Certain remedy: faith in the resurrection of the body, for us on the last day as for Mary on the day of her departure from this life. Since the body is made to be immortal, it is infinitely im-portant to provide for its eternal happiness by discipline and sell control--because the alternative is also bodily immortality, but in hell, as the price of earthly pleasure against the will of God. The Immaculate Conception Three years after defining the dogma of the Assumption, Pius XII Called on the Catholic world to join in the observance of a Marian Year from December, 1953, to December, 1954, to commemorate the centenary of Pius IX's definition of the Immaculate Conception. He introduced the Marian Year with the encyclical Fulgens corona, whose doctrinal content went far beyopd the immediate purpose of proclaiming a season of special prayers to the Mother of God. According to the late Pontiff,. the Assumption was a conse-quence of the Immaculate Conception, not merely in the super-ficial sense of something suitable, but in the. strict logic of supernatural merit and providence. "These two singular privi-leges bestowed upon the Mother of God stand out in most splendid light as the beginning and the end of her earthly journey. ,For the greatest possible glorification of her virgin body is the comple-ment, at once appropriate and marvelous, of the absolute inno-cence of her soul which was free from all stain. Just as she took part in the struggle of her only-begotten Son with the serpent of hell, so also she shared in His glorious triumph over sin and its sad consequences." This correlation between the two mysteries has a long and respected theological history, which other statements of Pius XII indicate that he knew very well. Addressing the National Eucha-ristic Congress of Cuba in 1947, he acknowledged the petition which the Cubans 'had sent to the Holy See relative to Mary's 208 July, 1959 MARIOLOGY OF PIUS XlI Assumption. "This mystery must certainly be true, according to the mind of him who has rightly been called the Doctor Eximius, who teaches that this privilege is most eminently congruent with the innocence and purity of the Virgin Mary." The Doctor Eximius was Francis Suarez, the sixteenth-century theologian. whose Disputations on the Blessed Mother are the most exhaustive in classic Mariology. Again in the actual document of definition, the Pope referred to Suarez's conclusion that "the mystery of the Assumption was to be believed with the same firmness of assent as that given to the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin. Thus he already held that such truths could be defined." How are the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption related in Suarez, and by implication in Pius XII? Their rela-tion arises from the subtle but necessary connection between sin and its consequences in the after-life. The souls of the just in heaven, says Suarez, still desire and seek the glorification of their bodies. To the extent to which this is lacking to them, they are deprived of the perfection of beatitude, even though only in accidentals. When the soul of Mary, therefore, was separated t~rom her body, this hunger and desire for "the perfect perfection" were not absent. Being always full of grace, she had a title to perfect glory on leaving this world. And what Mary desired, she must immediately have obtained, in virtue of her exalted position and "by a mother's right." Therefore just as during her stay on earth she had never contracted the least stain ofsin, so after this life she was freed from every corruption and sequel that are the wages of sin. Her body was not to decay, nor was she to wait until the last day, as others who are sinners, to rise with her body from the grave. In the same document, Fulgens corona, the Pope made an-other association, this time a historical one, and not between the first and final mysteries in the life of the Blessed Virgin but be-tween the Immaculate Conception and the supernatural phe-nomena at Lourdes. In his judgment, "the Virgin 1QIary herself wished to confirm by some special sign the definition which the 209 JOH~ A. HARDON Review for Religious Vicar of Christ her divine Son on earth had pronounced amid the applause of the whole Church. Four years had not yet elapsed ¯ ~hen, in the French town at the foot of the Pyrenees, the Virgin Mother showed herself to a simple and innocent girl at the grotto of Messabielle, And to this same girl, earnestly inquiring the name of her with whose vision she was favored, with eyes raised to heaven and sweetly smiling, she replied, 'I am the Immaculate Conception.' " Following the original visions, thousands of peo-ple from every country in the world have made pilgrimages'to Lourdes, where "miraculous favors were granted them, which excited the admiration of all and confirmed the Catholic religion as the only one given approval by God." This judgment is highly significant. In the last analysis, a Catholic wants to prove that no other religion than his own is from God, he must invoke some principle by which any religious system can be tested and its divine authorization verified. Such a principle is the norm of miracles, which even the unlettered primitive can understand. It says simply that when God com-municates a revelation (as claimed in some form by every organ-ized religion), He will confirm the mysteries He reveals and make them rationally acceptable by working miracles in favor of the truths that He wants believed. Or put negatively, He will not work miracles in support of a pretended revelation because, as master of the miraculous, He would be actively cooperating in a lie. In the context of the Lourdes apparitions and the constant stream of preternatural wonders there granted by God, this means that what Lourdes stands for is perennially attested as true. The Immaculate Conception is a strict mystery, not even conceivable apart from revelation. Miracles are visible signs of divine inter-vention that lead the well-disposed to believe (or strengthen their belief) in what cannot be seen, on the argument that the same agency which produces the phenomena also revealed the doc-trine in whose atmosphere the phenomena take place. 210 July, 1959 MARIOLOGY OF P~us XII Mediatrix of Graces . The !ast element in the triad of Marian privileges to which Pius XII made a lasting theological contribution is Mary's role as universal mediatrix of graces. On the fourth anniversary of the Assumption dogma and in closing the Marian Year, the Pope instituted a new feast of the Queenship of Mary, for May 31, and in the encyclical Ad caeli Reginam elaborated on the basic principles that underlay Mary's royalty, namely, her unique posi-tion as liaison between Christ and the humar~ race. An examination of the teaching of the fathers of the Church since the rime'of Origen, Ephrem, and St. Jerome shows a prac-tical unanimity in regarding the mother of Jesus as sharing with Him, albeit subordinately, a truly royal dignity~. Ephrem called her "Empress and Ruler"; Origen, "Mistress and Queen"; the seventh ecumenical council spoke of her as "the Lady ruler ~of all Christians"; and in modern times, Benedict XIV gave her the title "Queen of heaven and earth." The ancient tradition is re-flected in the liturgy of the East which poetically addresses Mary as "carried into heaven on the. chariots of the cherubim, the seraphim wait upon thee and the ranks of the heavenly host bow before thee." Familiar hymns like the Salve Regina and prayers like the Litany of Loretto confirm the sentiments of Christian art since the Council of Ephesus (431 A.D.) which "portrays Mary as Queen and Empress seated upon a royal throne, adorned with the royal insignia, crowned with the royal diadem and surrounded by the host of angels and saints in heaven and ruling not only nature and its powers but also over the machinations of Satan." However, more important than the evidence of its traditional character is the dogmatic basis for Mary's queenship which the late Pontiff traced to her divine maternity and her association with Christ in the redemption .of the world. The Pope synthesized in bold analogy the Catholic doctrine which some theo.logians con-sider definable. The Blessed Virgin has not only received the grade of excellence and perfection which is supreme after that of Christ Himself but has also received some sharing 'of that et~icacy by which her Son and our 211 JOHN A. HARDON Review for Religious Redeemer is rightly and properly said to reign over the minds and wills of men. For if the word of God performs miracles and gives graces through the humanity He has assumed, if He employs the sacra-ments and His saints as instruments for the salvation oi~ souls, why should He not use His mother's office and efforts to bring us the fruits of the Redemption? We may transmit the comparison between Mary's intercessory power and that of other saints. Certainly if they can pray in our behalf and obtain favors we should not otherwise receive, how much more the Queen of Saints and the Mother of the Author of grace. The remarkable thing is to associate the Blessed Virgin's share in our Redemption with the humanity of her divine Son and to compare its efficacy with the function of the sacramental system. Both analogies are penetrating concepts. By relating Mary's role of mediatrix to the human nature of Christ, the Pope wished to emphasize what even Catholics are liable to forget, that while God can perform by His own power all that is effected by created natures, yet in the counsels of His providence He has preferred to help men by the instrumentality of other men- whose efficacy for sanctifying others depends on their proximity to the human nature assumed by the Son of God. Viewed in this light, the potentiality of the Blessed Virgin as an instrument of grace takes on staggering proportions. As the woman whose consent mad~ the Incarnation possible, who carried in her womb and brought into the world the Word made flesh, and whose association with Christ during His life and sympathy in death were the most intimate conceivable- her efficacy at the throne of God must be, without fear of exaggeration, "almost immeasurable in power." If we compare Mary's mddiation with the sacraments of the New Law, we gain a further insight into her place in the economy' of salvation. We know that on the level of sanctification nothing is more internal than heavenly 'grace which begets holiness; and yet the ordinary and chief means of obtaining grace are external, in the form of sacraments administered by men specially chosen for that purpose and by means of external rites. In baptism 212 July, 1959 MARIOLOGY OF PIUS XII there is pouring of water; in confirmation and extreme unction, anointing with oil; in orders, the imposition of hands; in matri-mony, the expressed acceptance by the two spouses; and in pen-ance, the vocal and visible absolution by the priest. All these actions are external and their agents are all human, but condi-tioned on their performance in the spirit of faith, such trans-cendent changes occur in the spiritual world as the removal of a life[ime of sin by a sign of the cross and the conversion of a piece of bread into the Body of Christ. ' The more clearly we see ho.w the Blessed. Virgin shares in this type of sacramental effciency, the less scandalized we shall be to say that "as God is the Father and Lord of the universe, preparing all by His power, so the Blessed Mary, repairing all things by her merits, is the ruler and mother of all." While re-maining subordinate to her Son as a creature to her Creator, she was instituted by Him on the cross as the great sacrament of His mercy and the visible sign of internal grace which He promised to those who, like Plus XII, "approach with confidence to the throne of our Queen and Mother to beg help in difficulty, light in dark-ness, and solace in trouble and sorrow." 213 Practice ot: t:he Noly See ,Joseph F. ~llen, S.,.J. CANON 509, § 1, obliges all superiors to inform their sub-jects of all decrees of the ~Holy See concerning religious and to enforce such decrees. The activity and mind and will of the Holy See are also revealed, and sometimes in a more practical manner, by approved constitutions and com-munications addressed to individual religious institutes. article drawn from these sources was published in the REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS in 1953. This article is based on the same sources concerning lay institutes ~ from January 1, 1954. The order of material followed in the article is the usual order the chapters of constitutions of lay institutes. This is the third part of a series of three. 14. Dismissal. It is canonically interesting that the con-stitutions of an order of women, who recently received permis-sion to resume solemn vows, contain the following article: "A professed of either perpetual simple vows or of solemn vows who is dismissed from the institute is by this very fact dispensed from her vows of religion.''3° 1 5. The general chapter. (a) Convocation and members. A most interesting fact canonically is the appearance of a procuratrix general to handle the affairs of a pontifical congre-gation of women with the Holy See. The article in a set of constitutions recently approved by the Holy See reads as follows: "The procuratrix general resides in Rome and transmits the affairs of the congregation to the Roman Curia according to the intentions and directions of the institute. The procuratrix general has the right to attend the general chapter and to give her suffrage.''31 (b) Invitation of non-capitulars to the general chapter. Several constitutions of recent date empower the IBM., 16-1957-282. Ibid., 16-1957-114-16. 214 PRACTICE OF THE HOLY SEE superior general, either alone or with the advice or consent his or her council, to summon or invite the following non-capitulars to the general chapter: one or more religious ot: the same institute to .assist the secretary of the chapter as steno-graphers, other religious of the same institute to any session, and a priest or lay person to present and discuss a question of interest to the capitulars. It is evident that none of these are permitted to vote and that all such religious of the same institute are obliged to secrecy in the same manner as the capitulars. It seems prudent to add the observation that the capitulars should have sufficient time for discussion of a matter after such a consultant has left, since often they would at least hesitate to express their opinions fully before such a person, particularly if he or she is not a member of the same institute. I have seen such provisions only in recent constitutions; but some of them, for example, that on the stenographers, have been followed in fact by some institutes. Unless expressly forbidden by the particular constitutions, these ~. provisions may be followed by any institute, since they are not contrary to canon law and are entirely reasonable in themselves. In any revision of the constitutions, art institute should consider ar~ article of the following tenor: The superior general (or with the advice or consent of his or her council) may summon other religious to assist in the clerical or similar work of the chapter. He may also summon such religious and even invite an extem for consultation or to present and discuss questions with the chapter. None of these are permitted to vote, and all such religious have the same obligation as the capitulars to secrecy. (c) Delegates. i° Necessity of delegates. The Holy See de-mands a system of delegates for the general and provincial chapters and does not permit in centralized institutes what we may style a universal chapter, for example, that all the religious pf perpetual vows be members of the general or provincial chapter. This necessity was repeated in a recent reply to a quinquennial report. A system of delegates is also necessary 215 JOSEPH F. GALLEN Review for Religious now for the general and regional chapters of nuns. The neces-sity of delegates was emphasized in the REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, 10-1951-187-90. The elected delegates from a province to the general chapter are almost universally two, most rarely three or four. The Holy See has approved, eoen recently, variations of this norm, for example, "one or two delegates according as the province has less or more than a hundred members"; "one delegate for each province but two delegates for any province that exceeds three hundred." 2° Added delegates from larger houses. It has been practically universal that a larger house elected only one delegate, no matter l~ow many religious of active voice it contained. Added delegates were very rarely admitted, for example, one delegate for every twelve religious. There has been a greater willingness on the, part of the Holy See in recent years to permit such added delegates. However, one of the defects of the house system is that it puts a large and unwieldy number in the general or provincial chapter as the institute increases in size. This difficulty is evidently intensified by the system of added dele-gates. Furthermore, proportional representation is not de-manded. The business of a general chapter is not the interests or the affairs of a particular house or province but only those of the institute as a whole. The same principle is true of the provincial chapter. 3° New systems. A fundamental variation of the group system recently approved by the Holy See is as follows. A first list is made of all local superiors and a second of all the subjects with passive voice. The latter are arranged in groups according to horizontal precedence, that is, each group has a proportionate number of older and younger re-ligious~ Copies of the two lists are sent to every religious with. active voice. Each of these votes for a determined number of local superiors and a determined number of subjects from each group of the second list. Those with the next highest number of votes are the substitutes. Therefore, every such religious votes for all the local superiors and subjects who will 216 July, 1959 PRACTICE OF THE HOLY SEE be members of the general or provincial chapter. The system may be further varied by sending out the list of superiors first and including in the second list all local SUl~eriors not elected in the first election. The following is an example of another new system, which has been approved for at least two institutes by the Holy See. The superiors of all houses of at least twelve religious are members of the general chapter in virtue of their office. The number of delegates from the houses is apparently established by the superior general with the consent of his council. Let us suppose that twenty is the established number. Each religious Who has active voice votes for twenty delegates from the entire institute. A graduated value is given to this vote: for example, if Brother Francis is the first name voted for, he receives twenty points; Brother Robert, the last name on the same ballot, receives one point. Or the relative value can be computed as one and one-twentieth. The votes are necessarily sent in to the general council, and thus a relative majority decides the elections. Those with the next highest number of votes are the substitutes. One objection to this system is the complicated computation of the votes. Some have objected also to the fact that the local superiors are members of the chapter in virtue of their office and to the power of varying the number of delegates from the houses. Another institute proposed the same system to the Holy See; but the number of delegates, twenty, was fixed by the constitutions, no local superior was a member of the chapter in virtue of his office, the delegates could be either local superiors or subjects, and the same value was given to a vote for a religious no matter in what place his name was found on the individual ballot. The Holy See approved this proposed text with two exceptions, the number of delegates was reduced to fifteen, and the local superiors of houses of at least'twenty subjects were made ex officio members of the general chapter. (d) Preliminary sessions. Some recent constitutions, as also several approved in the past, command the superior general to give the general chapter a 217 JOSEPH F. GALLEN Review for Religious copy also of the last quinquennial report ~o the Holy See. (e) Postulation of superior general. The Holy See admitted the postulation of a mother gerieral for a third successivd six-year term but expressly excluded further postulation of the same religious. (f) Election of the general officials. 1° Election or appointment of the secretary general and bursar general. In a fairly recent communication to one institute, the Sacred Congregation stated that these two officials should be ex officio members of the general chapter because of their general knowledge of the institute. The validity of this reason is evident. .~It could be well appliedto some other offices, for example, the general supervisor of schools and studies. If elected, these two officials uniformly have such membership. The Holy See, also in recent years, has sometimes approved the appointment of either or both of these officials by the superior general with the consent of his council, in some cases with and in others without ex officio membership in the "general chapter. I personally doubt that a general chapter is a good judge ~f the specialized abilities demanded by these offices~32 It seems to me that the preferable policy is to appoint both of these officials with ex officio membership in the general chapter. 2° Incompatible offices. In the Former practice of the Holy See, one of the general councilors, except the first, could be elected also as secretary general; but the bursar general could not be a general councilor. Constitutions that contain this provision must evidently be observed. In constitutions more recently approved, the Sacred Congregation permits any of the councilors except the first to be also either secretary, or bursar general. One institute received an indult permitting the first councilor, or assistant general, to be also bursar general, provided that no inefficiency resulted to the first office. (g) Chapter of affairs. 1° Committees. An article of the following type is more efficient than the one usually found in constitu-tions: "At least two .weeks before the opening of the chapter, 32 Ibid., 10-1951-190-91. 218 July, 1959 PRACTICE OF THE HOLY SEE a committee of three or more chapter delegates, appointed by the mother general in consultation with her council, shall examine and prepare for the chapter all the matters submitted by the hohses for which the decision of the chapter is necessary. This committee shall classify all questions submitted and present them to the general chapter for action." 2° Public voting. The general norm of public rather than secret voting in this chapter is also more efficient and is contained in some recent constitu-tions, for example, "The business of the chapter will be settled by the majority of votes, by secret ballot if the majority of the chapter requests it." 3° Duration of ordinances of general chapter. The following norm of a set of constitutions recently approved is more reasonable than the one commonly found in constitutions: "The decisions and enactments of the general chapter remain in effect permanently unless amended or rescinded by subsequent chapters." 4° Duration of ordinances of a ,superior. At least two recent sets of constitutions state: "Every order gi~,en by a superior ceases to. bind on the expira-tion of his term of office." This should have been qualified. As Van Hove well states: "Many ordinances enacted from dominative power continue to exist on the cessation from office of the superior who established them, because they are im-plicitly renewed by his successor, who is presumed to intend that the customary order in a community continue to be observed until he changes it.''33 16. The superior general. The quinquennial report. The only article in this chapter of the constitutions that needs com-ment is that on the quinquennial report to the Holy See. Every religious institute is now obliged to make this report, for example, independent monasteries, independent houses, and diocesan congregations of men and women are also held to the report.34 The following comments were i:ound in the replies of the Sacred Congregation to several reports. Whenever a Van Hove, .De Leglbus Ecclesiasticis, I, n. 359, note 4; cf. Jone, Commen. tarium in Codicem Iuris Canonici, I, 46. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, 15-1956-156~57. 219 JOSEPH F. GALLEIq Review for Religious pontifical document is mentioned, its date and protocol number should be given, for example, March 19, 1955, Prot. N. 6097/54. Each house should have a book of chronicles in which the principal events of the house are recorded and should also have its own files and archives. The acts of the general chapter, that is, the elections made and the ordinances enacted, not the minutes, should be sent to the Sacred Congregation by pontifical institutes. The following question also caused difficulty: "How do superiors see to it that the decrees of the Holy See which concern religious be known and observed by their own subjects?" This obligation is incumbent on all superiors by the prescription of canon 509, ~ 1. The Sacred Congregation was dissatisfied with many replies to this question. It seems to me that the answer was easy with regard to knowledge, i. e., all houses subscribe to the REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, in which such documents are explained, and all houses have the fol-lowing work, in which the text of such documents is given in Eng-lish, Bouscaren, Canon Law Digest, I-IV (The Bruce Publishing Company, Milwaukee). Circular letters of higher superiors should call the attention of their subjects to such documents and insist their observance. Their enforcement should also be part of the ordi-nary government of all superiors, should be included in the reports of lower to higher superiors, and be investigated and insisted on in the canonical visitations of higher superiors. Since the Sacred Congregation insists even on local archives, it seems to me that a religious institute should always be given the original rescript from the Holy See that concerns it or at least a photographic copy of such a rescript, and not a mere summary in English of the contents of the rescript. The names of the prefects and officials of the Roman congregations who sign rescripts are often most inaccurately stated and trans-lated into English by lay religious. This is true of the name, the title, and the office. These mistakes are frequently quite public, for example, on the documents appended to the con-stitutions. Those who transmit rescripts should translate these 220 July, 1959 PRACTICE OF THE HOLY SEE names into English for .lay religious. An indecipherable signa-ture can usually be. determined by cgnsulting the Annuario Pontificio. It would help if the signature were fully typed out on the original document below the written signature. 17. The general council. (a) Superior alone governs. Many constitutions, old and new, contain an article of the following tenor: "The congregation shall be governed by a superior general and four councilors." This is an error. The superior alone governs an institute, a province, or a house. The councilors are not associates in authority but advisers. Therefore, such an article should be more accurately phrased, as in the following recently approved constitutions: "Although the superior general must ask the opinion of the general council in matters of greater importance and must sometimes secure its consent, nevertheless, she issues all ordinances in her own name because she alone possesses the right to govern the congregation." (b) List of what a superior may do without the advice or consent of his council. Several constitutions, even some recently approved, contain such a list. This seems to me to be entirely superfluous. It is immediately evident that a superior has the right to govern completely unassisted except for the matters reserved by canon law or the constitutions to higher authorities or that from the same sources demand the con-sent or advice of his council. 18. The secretary general. Many constitutions keep repeat-ing, especially of the secretary, secondlyof the bursar, and lastly of the novice master, that he has no right to vote in a general or provincial council unless he is also a councilor. Isn't this evident? Are we vdry likely to affirm that anyone has the rights of an office that he does not possess? 19. The bursar general. Even recent constitutions continue to speak of a safe locked by three different keys in general-ates, provincialates, and local houses. One of those keys is to be kept by the superior, the second by the assistant, the third by the bursar. All three must therefore be present to open the 221 JOSEPH F. GALLEN Review for Religious safe. How efficient is such a safe? How possible is it even buy such a safe? Religious institutes continue also to put determined sums in their constitutions, for example, the amount in extra-ordinary expenses for which recourse is necessary to the superior general. The changing of such an amount is a change of the constitutions and will demand the permission of the Holy See for a pontifical institute and that of all the ordinaries in whose dioceses the.institute has houses in the case of' a diocesan con-gregation. It would be sufficient and more practical to say, "according to the norms established by the general chapter." Such amdhnts may then be changed by any subsequent chap-ter. A recent set of constitutions enacts: "In the houses en-trusted with parish schools or other establishments which are responsible to ecclesiastical or lay administrations and where the sisters receive a fixed salary, the funds shall be .kept and admin-istered as indicated in article . ., except that any surplus shall be paid annually into the provincial fund." This matter was explained in the REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, 14-1955-329. The article on alienation no longer contains the 30,000 t~rancs or lire, or $6,000, of canon 534, § 1 but is phrased, "of a value that exceeds the sum established by the Holy See." 20. Local houses and superiors. A recent set of constitu-tions states: "Though the sisters ought to be desirous of embrac-ing all human misery and of drawing the whole world to the service of God, nevertheless, the congregation shall not establish new houses if, in those already existing, there is not a sufficient number of sisters to insure that not only the works of mercy can be carried out adequately but also that religious observance can flourish." The last clause might well have been amended to: that religious observance and a normal human life can flourish. This very practical matter was commented on in the REVIEW FOR RE~LIGIOUS, 17-1958-121-22. Canon 516, § 1 demands that councilors be had in every formal house and favors or recommends councilors also in smaller houses, In several replies to quinquennial reports, the Sacred Congregation insisted on 222 July, 1959 PRACTICE OF THE HOLY SEE the appointment of local councilors and that local council meet-ings be held with the frequency commanded by the constitu-tions. Insistence was also placed on the law that a local superior should not be the local bursar except in a case of necessity (c. 516~ § 3). A recent set of constitutions makes the prac-tical and necessary observation that everything said about local superiors applies also to the local superior of the 'mother house. The presence of a higher superior does not diminish the author-ity nor lessen the duties of this local superior. One order of nuns and two congregations of sisters have indults that dispense them from the law of canon '1306,§ 2, that is, that purificators, palls, and corporals used in the sacrifice of the Mass must be first washed by a cleric in major orders.3~ 21. The constitutions. The only thing noteworthy under this chapter in the present practice of the Holy See is a fre-quent addition to the norm on the obligation of the constitu-tions. It has always been evident that a divine or ecclesiastical law repeated in the constitutions retains the obligation it has in itself, that is, it obliges under sin according to the matter. The same obligation is equally evident of any action that falls under the vows. It has been the universal practice to declare that the other articles of the constitutions did not immediately oblige under sin but under the penalty imposed for their infraction. It was also universally stated that sin was committed in the violation of such articles by a sinful motive or by a violation that caused scandal. The following qualification is now fre-quently appended to the norm for these other articles: "The articles concerning government and the fundamental norms that determine the necessary functions or the duties and offices by which government is exercised, as also the articles that enact and consecrate the nature, spirit, and special purpose of the congr.egation oblige immediately in conscience according to the matter." This qualification is evidently taken verbatim from Ibid., 15-1956-101. 223 JOSEPH F. (~ALLEN Muzzarelli, Acta et Documenta Congressus Generalis de Statibus Perfectionis, I, 540. It does not seem to me to be too clear nor too precise. It "should be added here that a considerable number of both pontifical and diocesan congregations have made a general revision of their constitutions in recent years. 224 A Lit:e Table t:or. Religious Priest:s 1953-1957 Francis C. Madigan, S.J. THE JANUARY 1955 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS carried an article by Sister Josephina, c.s.J., on the average age at death of sisters in two communities of religious women, presumably of her own congregatmn1 . In view of the interest of religious, and particularly of religious superiors, in Sister Josephina's stat", s"tLcs, the writer believes that readers of the REVIEW will be equally interested in a life table setting forth the mortality experience of a large community of religious priests2 whose headquarters are located in New York City and whose principal field of operations embraces New York State ¯ and northeastern New Jersey.3 Some comments on life tables and their use are in order. First of all, they are based not on death records only, but on the proportion of deceased members to living members, for each age gr6up and calendar year studied. The present table gives average figures t:or the calendar years 1953-1957. Secondly, life tables are an accurate barometer of health conditions prevailing in the particular group to which they relate. They permit direct and unbiased comparisons of the mortality of this group with that of other groups through the mortality rates and expectations of life developed in the tables. Superiors of similar groups of priests should find these mortality rates and expectations of life helpful in coming to decisions about the number of men that must be prepared to keep certain lines of work adequately staffed. The table will also prove useful in determining whether health conditions in 1Sister Josephina, C.S.J., "Longevity of Religious Women," Review [or Religious, XIV, I (January, 1955), 29-30. 2Priest was defined for the purpose of the study to mean. both ordained priests, and religious seminarians ("scholastics") studying for the priesthood. 3There were 1247 priests in this community on June 30, 1955, which was the midpoint of the study. The main work engaged in by the members is education. 225 FRANCIS C. MADIGAN Review for Religious their community are satisfactory both in general and in regard to any particular age group. Some time ago through the use of such a table the superiors of a certain religious community found that the number of deaths yearly experienced in their scholasticate was entirely out of line with expectations, and upon investigation they found that certain health measures relating to diet and housing were being overlooked. Correction of the situation resulted in an immediate lowering of the death rates for the affected age groups. The table may also be of assistance to superiors, in another way. Of late a number of communities have been consider-ing or have actually bought group insurance for their members. The mortality rates and expectations of life in the table should prove helpful both to these communities and to insurance companies in determining what is a fair premium. The use of the table is simple. In the leftmost colunm one finds the age in which he is interested. Following this age across .its row, he comes first to the mortality rates. These are given for both five-year and one-year periods, and for the five-year periods, in terms of both observed and graduated rates. The observed rates are placed next to the age beginning the precise period to which they refer, as are the one-year graduated rates. The graduated five-year rates are placed in parentheses two lines below the observed rates and refer to precisely the same period of time as the observed rates. These mortality rates are probabilities of dying during the period 'specified for those priests who were alive on the birthday mark-ing the beginning of the period. In using the table to compare the probabilities of dying at any particular ages, it is better to use the graduated rather than the observed rates. This is because the latter rates con-tain fluctuations from age to age due to chance variation, whereas the former represent, as closely as can be determined by study, the general law of mortality, which seems to underlie the observed fluctuations of a particular set of rates. A priori we would expect mortality to follow a smoothly rising curve 226 July, 1959 A LIFE TABLE with the advance of age, and graduation is based on this expectation, while at the same time it attempts to keep very close to the original rates observed at each age. For example, if the age-specific mortality rates observed during the period 1953-1957 should continue in effect, we would expect an average oi~ 5.5 priests to die (on the basis of the graduated rates) before their fortieth birthday, out ot~ every thousand priests alive on their thirty-fifth birthday. However, in the general public we would expect thirteen out of every thousand to die during the same period.4 During the one-year period from their thirty-fifth to their thirty-sixth birthday, we would expect only one priest to die out of every thousand. The reference, of course, is only to priests of the community studied. How might a superior compare the experience of his own community with that of the priests described? He could do this by relating the number of deaths at any particular age in a calendar year to the number of persons in his community who had been of that precise age on their last birthday. Divid-ing the i~ormer by the latter would give the one-year probability of dying. Similarly, he could find the five-year probabilities of dying by relating members who had died within a specific five-year age bracket in the calendar year to the number of members of his community who were between these ages at the start ot~ the year. Rough approximations could be used if only ~ general picture of the mortality rates of the community is ~lesired, while more careful methods might be employed to nvestigate the records of age-groups which seem to have un- _~sually high mortality. Of course, unusually high mortality rates for a particular ~-ge-group may represent simply fluctuations due to chance. ~,ccordingly, it is well to combine the results of the observation ,f several calendar years, as these average rates will show fewer --xtremes due to mere sampling variation. It would not be 4The comparison is not perfect since the rates of the general public are "or 1954, rather than 1955 which is the mid-year of the period studied for ¯ riests. However, it is close enough to make differences inconsequential. 227 FRANCIS C. 1V[ADIGAN Review for Religious wise, however, to average more than ten years' experience be-cause of the change in medical techniques that takes place over that length of time. These affect the death rates. The column next after the white male mortality rates fifth column) shows the number of priests who survive to each quinquennial birthday out of 100,000 priests alive on, their fifteenth birthday. By mentally shifting the decimal point, can be converted into the number left alive out of 100. (Multi-plying by the proper multiple would give the number left out of 200, 300, 400, and similar numbers.) This column might prove helpt~ul to superiors in endeavoring to forecast size of a certain age group some years from the present. For example, one might get some idea from it of the number priests ordained today who would be expected to be still alive in twenty or thirty years, if we assume that these priests roughly of the same age. The following column (sixth), which gives the number of priests dying in each successive five-interval out of the original group of 100,000, might also prove helpful in this connection. The seventh column will probably not be particularly use-ful to superiors or other interested religious. It is included because of its relation to the following column. This seventh column presents the remaining total number of years of to be lived by the surviving members of the original 100,000 priests up to the time when the last survivor dies. The last column presents probably the most useful set figures in the table. These expectations of life are found dividing the total number of years to be lived (column by the number of persons surviving to start the period (column 5) at any particular age. The first expectation, at age 15, sums up the entire mortality and longevity experience of whole cohort of 100,000 priests, and is directly comparable t.h~ experience of other groups of persons at age 15. Expecta-tions of life at succeeding years sum up the entire experience t~rom that age onward to the death of the last member. 228 July, 1959 A LIF~- TABLE The expectation of life is the average remaining number of years to be lived by priests surviving to some particular specified age. For example, priests studied in this table had at 30 years of age an average remaining lifetime of 38.5 years while white males of the general public had only 36.4 years of life remaining. Care must be observed, however, in drawing conclusions from column eight. Because one has noted that the average lifetime of priests is greater than that of white males of the general population, he should not conclude that the oldest ages reached b)~ individual priests necessarily exceed those of the most long-lived members of the general population. As a matter of fact, the opposite is true because of the greater numbers in the general population and the greater resultant probability of extreme cases. The difference in average length of life is pri.ncipally due to the fact that a larger number of the general population die before reaching old age. For this reason one will notice that the expectations of life at ages above 60 do not differ as much as do the expectations at the younger years. A second caveat refers to the fact that the mortality rates and the expectations of life refer to statistical averages. We cannot be sure of any particular person or persons that their lives will be as long or short as the mathematical averages. For example, the expectation of life of priests aged 30 is 43.5 additional years of life. However, any particular priest might be killed tomorrow in an automobile accident, or on the other hand he might live considerably beyond the average expecta-tion of life. The same is true of any small group of priests, where sampling variations due to health or accident might be very large. In addition, one should bear in mind that as time goes on, health conditions continually improve. At least this has been the experience of the past hundred years. Thus one would expect that in 1958 a priest's expectation of life would be slightly better for any particular age than it was between 1953 and 1957, and that his chances of dying during any one-year or five-year interval would be correspondingly less. 229 FRANCIS C. ~V[ADIGAN Review for Religious Table 1. Life Table of Large Community of Religious Priests with Headquarters in Northeastern United States, for the Period 1953-1957, with Mortality Rates For Five-Year and One-Year Periods and Expectation of Life by Single Years of Age, Compared for Five-Year Age Groups with United States White Males, 1954. Priest Priests Total Survivors Dying Years Expectation MortaLity Beginning During Lived by of Rates Each Each Priesr~ Life Age 5-Year 1-Year 5-Year Five-Year Five-Year at Ages ¯ Priests U~S. Interval Observed~ Graduated U.S. Male Interval, Interval and Above Male 15-16 .00000 .00068a .00610b 100,000 0 5,797,816 57.98 55.0 16-17 .00068 56.98 17-18 (.00339)c .00068 55.98 18-19 .00068 54.98 19-20 .00068 53.98 20-21 .00549 .00068 .00890 I00,000 549 5,297,816 52.98 50.3 21-22 .00069 52.04 22-23 (.00349) .00070 51.09 23-24 .00070 50.15 24-25 .00071 49~20 25-26 .00578 .00073 .00800 99,451 575 4,799,069 48.26 45.7 26-27 .00074 47.31 27-28 (.00379) .00076 46.36 28-29 .00077 45.42 29-30 .00079 44.47 30-31 .00000 .00082 .00900 98,876 0 4,303,365 43.52 41.1 31-32 .00085 42.52 32-33 (.00439) .00088 41.52 33-34 .00091 40.52 34-35 .00094 39.52 35-36 .00628 .00099 .01300 98,876 621 3,808,975 38.52 36.4 36-37 .00106 37.57 37-38 (.00549) .00111 36:61 38-39 .00115 35.66 39-40 .OOll8 34.70 40-41 .00683 .00125 .02080 98,255 671 3,316,009 33.75 31.8 41-42 .00136 32.79 42-43 (.00757) .00149 31.83 43-44 .00166 30.88 44-45 .00186 29.92 45-46 .03874 .00214a .03530b 97,584 3,780 2,825,753 28.96 27.5 46-47 .00248 28.17 47-48 (.01490)e .00290 27.38 48-49 .00342 26.60 49-50 .00404 25.81 50-51 .03177 .00484 .05600 93,804 2,980 2,346,801 25.02 23.4 51-52 .00566 24.17 52-53 (.03333) .00661 23.32 53-54 .00773 22.46 54-55 .00899 21.61 July, 1959 A LIFE TABLE Mortality Age ~-Year l-Year 5-Year Interval O~serveds Graduated U.,S Male 55-56 .02900 .01058 .08380 56-57 .01231 57-58 .06765) .01374 58-59 .01545 59-60 .01727 60-61 61-62 62-63 63-64 64-65 65-66 66-67 67-68 68-69 69-70 70-71 71-72 72-73 73-74 74-75 Priest Priests Total Survivors Dying Years Beginning During Lived by Each Each ~ Priests Five-Year Five-Year at Ages x Interval Interval and Above 90,824 2,634 1,885,471 .09036 .01960 .02205 ¯ 11805) .02450 .02750 .03051 .12700 88,190 7,969 1,436,896 .28666 .03586 .03795 .19084) .04125 .04452 .04795 .13382 .05225 .05650 .273.10) .06150 .06685 .07150 ¯ 18570 80,221 22,996 1,011,626 ¯ 24920 57,225 7,658 668,076 75-76 76-77 77-78 78-79 79-80 80-81 81-82 82-83 83-84 84-85 Expectation of Life Priests U.S. Male 20.76 19.6 19.87 18.97 18.08 17.18 16.29 16.2 15.54 14.82 14.08 13.35 12.61 13.1 12.42 12.23 12.05 11.86 11.67 10.5 10.95 10.24 9.52 8.81 .45904 .07650 .35440 49,567 22,753 401,147 8.09 8.2 .08200 8.04 .35495) .08500 7.98 .08750 7.93 .08870 7.87 .36387 .09051d .48470 26,814 9,757 209,757 7.82 6.3 .O9149 7.46 .38689)e .09311 7.12 .09452 6.76 .09642 6.41 85-86 .39950 .10116 17,057 6,814 103,400 6.06 5.1 86-87 .10653 87-88 (.45904) .11340 88-89 .12299 89-90 .13367 90 and 1.00000e Above 1.0000e 10,243e 10,243e a The life table is based on the observed rates. These rates are for five-year periods. b The mortality rates for U. S. males, 1954, are for five-year periods. In the source they are given only to four places. A zero was added to each to assist the eye in comparisons. e The rates given in parentheses are five-year, graduated rates for priests. They are for the iame five-year period as the observed rate immediately above them. d The one-year graduated rates give the probabilities of dying during the next year, for persons of this exact age. ¯ o This final interval is not one if five years, but continues till the death of the last survivor. Source for the life table values of United States white males, 1954: National Office of Vital Statistics, "Abridged Life Tables. United States, 1954," Vital Sta-tistics- Special Reports, National Summaries, 44, 2 (May 15, 1956), 38. 231 Survey Roman Documents R. F. Smith, S.J. IN THE FOLLOWING survey those documents will be summarized which appeared in Acta Apostolicae Sedis through February and March, 1959. All page references throughout the survey will be to the 1959 ~AS (v. 51). Synod and Council On the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, January 25, 1959, His Holiness John XXIII, together with the cardinals present in Rome, participated in the closing of the Church Unity Octave at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. After the ceremonies the Vicar of Christ delivered a private but solemn allocution (AAS, pp. 65-69) to the assembled cardinals. After telling them of his awareness of his duties both as Bishop of Rome and as Pastor of the universal Church, the Pontiff remarked that the diocese of Rome needs an increase of energy as well as a coordination of individual and collective efforts, if a more abundant harvest of souls is to be gathered. Moreover, he continued, the entire world has its needs; for though the grace of Christ continues to achieve its victories, still there are many who refuse to believe in Christ, immerse themselves in exclusively eartldy pursuits, and under the inspiration of the Prince of Darkness wage active opposition against what is true and good. To meet these needs, the Pope. said, there must be revived certain ancient forms of doctrinal affirmation and ecclesi-astical discipline which have in the past proved their ability to clarify thought, to increase religfous unity, and to reanimate Christian fervor. "Venerable Brothers and beloved Sons! Trembling a little from emotion but nevertheless with a humble resoluteness of purpose, We announce in your presence the name and proposal of a double celebration: that of a diocesan synod for the City and that of an ecumenical Council for the universal Church." After mentioning briefly that among other results of these two endeavors, there would be effected the hoped for revision of canon law, the Pontiff concluded his allocution by recommending his two proposals to the care of the Blessed Virgin and the saints of heaven. Previously on the same day and during the Solemn Mass that closed the Unity Octave, HIS Holiness had delivered a homily (AAS, pp. 70-74) in which he emphasized that the Church's linking of St. Paul with St. Peter should be a symbol of the unity of the bishops, 232 I~OMAN DOCUMENTS successors of the apostles, and of the faithful with the successor of St. Peter. It is from this unity, he concluded, that there will flow to the world the liberty and peace it desires. Closing of the Lourdes Centenary On February 15, 1959 (AAS, pp. 135-39), the Holy Father delivered an allocution in the Basilica of St. Mary Major to mark the end of the Lourdes centenary for the city of Rome. After reminding the Romans that the adoration of Christ is always the center of every form of devotion to Mary, HIS Holiness once more recalled to his listeners the permanent message of Lourdes: confident prayer of petition, exercise of penance, and solid piety manifested in the form of pilgrimages. These pilgrimages, he continued, whether to Lourdes or to the thousands of other shrines of our Lady, are not to be regarded as pleasure trips nor as the satisfying of some vague religious feeling; rather they should recall the eternal truths of life and- purify the soul so as to better fit it to appreciate the eucharistic banquet. In our prayer of petition, he went on, we need not fear to ask for temporal gifts; but our requests should not begin or end with these, for the goals of our life and the means thereto far exceed such things. Finally, he pointed out, because of the threefold concupiscence to be found in man, human beings need disci-pline and penance; accordingly there can be no Christian without the exercise of penance. The Holy Father concluded the entire allocution by lamenting the moral disorders that are multiplying at the present time and urged the faithful to petition heaven that good sense may return, that the faith may revive, and that perseverance never grow slack. Three days later on February 18, 1959 (AAS, pp. 144-48), the Pontiff sent a radio message to Lourdes and to the entire world for the conclusion of the centenary year, considering in it the message to be found in the life of St. Bernadette. Bernadette, he said, once more proves the statement of St. Paul (1 Cor 1:27-28) that. God chooses the weak things of this world to ~onfound the strong. Our generation, tie continued, has made admirable scientific progress, and humanity has been seized with a sense of pride at the possibilities now opening to the power of man. But, he added, St. Bernadette recalls to us our need for humility and prayer and reminds us that from Lourdes there comes a call to penance and to charity, a call to detach ourselves from riches and to teach us to share with those poorer than ourselves. Later during the same day (AAS, pp. 140-43) the Pope delivered an allocution to a group of Frenchmen in the Church of St. Louis, King of France. He recalled the long and noble history of Catholicism in France, noting that that history had culminated in the appearances of 233 R. F. SMITH Review for Religious Mary at Lourdes. Having remarked that in the plans of Divine Provi-dence each nation has its own special mission, he went on to describe the mission of France in the phrase: The country of France is the country of Mary. He concluded by reminding his listeners that the last previous Pope who bore the name of John was a Frenchman. Further Documents and Speeches Under the date of February 6, 1959 (AAS, pp. 129-35), John XXIII sent an epistle to the archbishops, bishops, and other local ordinaries of Italy in commemoration of the twentieth anniversary of the death of Pius XI and thirtieth anniversary of the Lateran Pact. In the epistle John XXIII recalled that in the last months of his life Plus XI had planned a plenary meeting of all the bishops of Italy and had in fact begun the composition of the talk he intended to give at the meeting. Sickness and death prevented the completion of the speech, but the unfinished manuscript furnishes us with sufficient knowledge of the last thoughts.of Pius XI. The first subject Pius XI had chosen to consider was that of the care that bishops should have for their seminaries. He reminded them of the need to watch over their seminaries vigilantly even in little matters; he particularly stressed the necessity of sustaining the rectors of seminaries in their severity in admitting candidates and in later promotions to orders. The next p.oint in the projected speech was a warning to the bishops that they should not be surprised if their words were often twisted and misinterpreted. (It should be remembered that Pius XI was writing when Fascism was at its height in Italy.) At this point in the manuscript, John XXIII noted, the writing becomes shaky and confused. But there was still enough strength in the dying pontiff to write a paragraph on the tenth anniversary of'the Lateran Pact. The paragraph is a moving and eloquent one, the dying Pope addressing the relics of the Princes of the Apostles, calling on them to exult because God has returned to Italy and Italy to God, imploring them to prophesy the perseverance of Italy in the faith, and ending with a desperate plea for peace for the entire world. These, remarked John XXIII in conclusion, were the last recorded thoughts of a great Pope. On January 18, 1959 (AAS, pp. 74-79), John XXIII delivered an allocution at the Gregorian University to the assembled professors and students, emphasizing how the very name of the institution recalls the glorious memory of Pope Gregory XIII, who during his pontificate from 1572 to 1585 effected the full restoration of Christian discipline in the Church. 234 July, 1959 ROMAN DOCUMENTS On January 30, 1959 (AAS, pp. 80-81), the Pope addressed members of the Christian Union of Business Executives and Managers. I-Ie regretfully reminded his audience that th~ ~rror still persists that industrial production inevitably involves the conflict of divergent interests. Actually, he said, executives, managers, and workers are not irreconcilable antagonists; rather they are cooperators in a common work which requires mutual comprehension and a sincere effort to overcome the temptation to seek only one's own profit. Under the date of January 17, 1959 (AAS, pp. 149-51), the Vicar of Christ sent a written message to the school children of the United States. His message, the Holy Father wrote, was one of love: God's love for all mankind and man's duty to love God in return and his neighbor for His sake. He urged the children to show their love for children less fortunate than themselves by praying for them and by giving them all possible material aid. Miscellaneous Matters In the issues of AAS under consideration there¯ are several docu-ments which concern Catholics of the Byzantine rite. By the apostolic constitution Singularern huius, dated May 10, 1958 (AAS, pp. 97-98), an exarchate was erected in Australia for Ruthenians of the Byzantine rite; Sydney was designated as the see of the exarchate. A later decree of the Sacred Congregation of the Oriental Church, dated December 12, 1958 (AAS, pp. 107-108), extended the jurisdiction of the exarchate to Ruthenians living in New Zealand and Oceania. A second decree of the same congregation and under the same date (AAS, p. 108) changed the see of the exarchate from Sydney to Melbourne. Byzantine Rite Catholics of Ukrainian origin living in the United States were the object of the apostolic constitution Apostolicam hanc, issued July 10, 1958 (AAS, pp. 156-57). The constitution raised the exarchate of ~Philadelphia to metropolitan status, while the exarchate of Stamford (Connecticut) was made an eparchate. The two together now form a new ecclesiastical province. AAS, pp. 112-13 and pp. 163-64, gives the original texts of two prayers composed by John XXIII for the Church of silence and in honor of the Eucharistic Christ. An English translation of the prayers is given elsewhere in this issue. The last document to be considered is a decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites issued on August 11, 1958 (AAS, pp. 160-62). The decree approves the introduction of the cause of the Servant of God Clara Fey (1815-1894), foundress of the Sisters of the Poor Child Jesus. 235 Views, News, Previews FROM JULY 31 to August 7, 1960, there will be held the thirty-seventh World Eucharistic Congress, in Munich, Germany. The first four days of the Congress (Sunday, July 31, to Wednesday, August 3) will consist chiefly in conventions of Catholic organizations and g.roups, while the last four days (Thursday, August: 4, to Sunday, August 7) will emphasize liturgical and devotional services centered around the Mass and the Blessed Sac~:ament. Catholic associations who intend to hold meetings during 1960 are requested to hold the meetings in Munich during the days of the Eucharistic Congress. Inquiries about the Eucharistic Congress should be directed to the following address: Generalsekretariat des Eucharistischen Weltkongresses, Maxburgo strasse, 2, Munich, Germany. A community of sisters in New Hampshire has asked that the following communication be printed in the pages of REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS. "Perhaps some of the religious superiors of sisters in the eastern states would appreciate knowing of an ideal rest and nursing home for sisters desiring complete rest and an opportunity of regaining lost health. As far as we know, it is unique, in that regular medical attendance forms one of the necessary advantages of this quiet and well organized rest home . This home is well furnished and comfort-able, but not luxurious -- so that sisters would quite naturally feel right at home. Rates and information will be furnished on request from Reverend Mother Superior, St. Margaret's Convent, Rest-a-While Building, Gabriels, New York." The twentieth annual North American Liturgical Week will be held under the patronage of Most Reverend Leo A. Pursley, Bishop of Fort Wayne, at Notre Dame University, from Sunday afternoon, August 24, to Wednesday evening, August 27. The theme of the Week will be "Active Lay Participation in the Liturgy according to the Instruction of September 3, 1958." A guest of distinction, who has announced his attendance at the Week, will be James Cardinal Lercaro, Archbishop of Bologna. Room accommodations during the Week will be provided at nominal charge. F.or information regarding such accom-modations write to: Father William Leonard, S.J., Boston College, Boston 67, Massachusetts. It is a pleasure to announce a new magazine which will be of interest to religious. The title of the magazine is Lasallian Digest, a quarterly which began publication in Fall, 1958. The quarterly not only provides informative articles concerning the history, spirituality, 236 VIEWS~ NEWS, PREVIEWS and educational philosophy of the Brothers of the Christian Schools; but it also includes general articles that will be of value to all religious" engaged in educational work. The address of the magazine is: Lasallian Digest, Mont La Salle, Napa, California. The second World Sodality Congress will be held from August 20 to August 23, 1959, at Seton Hall University, South Orange, New Jersey. All sodalists, directors, and moderators, whether members of federations that are affiliated to the World Federation of Sodalities or not, are invited to send representatives to the Congress. Youth sodalities are requested to send only members who are at least sixteen years of age. The theme of the Congress will be "The Vocation of Sodalists of Our Lady in the Crisis of the World Today." Further information concerning the Congress can be obtained by Writing: World Congress of Sodalities of Our Lady, 101 Plane Street, Newark 2, New Jersey. A special leaflet missal containing the Mass of St. Joseph the Workman and designed especially for use at Labor Day Masses is being published by the Catholic Council on Working Life (21 West Superior Street, Chicago 10, Illinois). The missal will be set in large, easy-to-read type with special drawings of men and women at work in a variety of occupations and professions. The leaflet will be ready for shipment on August 1, 1959. Single copies of the leaflet will cost fifteen cents; reduced prices on quantity orders may be obtained by writing the Council at the address given above. The Little Brothers of Jesus hope to begin a new quarterly to be called ~lesus Caritas; the title was a favorite phrase and emblem of P~re de Foucauld whose spirituality the Brothers continue and prolong. A French magazine of the same title has been in existence for some time and in the fall of 1958 a trial issue of an independent but similar English magazine under the same title was issued. The theme of the first issue was "The Gift of Friendship." The new magazine promises to enrich English spiritual reading, since it will mediate the spirituality of the famed Pbre de Foucauld. Persons interested in the magazine should contact: Brother Roger, 24 Autumn Grove, Leeds 6, England. Marquette University, 1131 West Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee 3, Wisconsin, announces an Everett Curriculum Workshop which will grant three semester hours of graduate credit in education. The Work-shop, under the direction of Sister Elizabeth Ann, I.H.M., of Immaculate Heart College, Los Angeles, will explore the application of the Everett Report on Sister Formation to the needs of communities of sisters. 237 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Review for Religious It has been designed specifically for directresses of study and for the administration and faculty of juniorates and scholasticates (college level) of sisterhoods. The Workshop has been scheduled for the mornings and afternoons of August 6 to August' 26, 1959. It is open only to sisters; the fee is $36. Inquiries concerning the Workshop should be directed to Dean John O. Riedl of the Graduate School of the University. ( ues!: ons and Answers [The following answers are given by Father Joseph F. Gallen, S.J., professor of canon law at Woodstock College, Woodstock, Maryland.] --20-- The constitutions of our pontifical congregation, approved recently, state three times that a religious who is legitimately dismissed is by that fact freed of all her religious vows. This statement is found after the articles on the dismissal of a professed of temporary vows, those on the dismissal of a professed of perpetual vows, and finally after the article on the automatic dismissal of canon 646. I thought that repetition was to be avoided in constitutions. Wouldn't it be much simpler and less confusing to state once that a sister professed of perpetual or temporary vows who has been legitimately dis-missed is by that very fact freed of all her religious vows? The Code of Canon Law itself, in virtue of canon 648, frees a professed of temporary vows, as soon as the dismissal is effective, from all the vows of his religions profession. The code itself (c. 669, § 1) does not free a religious of perpetual vows from the vows of religious pro-fession by the very fact of his dismissal. Such a liberation may be effected by a provision of the particular constitutions, and constitutions approved in more recent years usually contain this provision. (REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, September, 1957, 275, 282, 288) The evident reason therefore for the threefold statement is that the Sacred Congregation is opposed to the admixture of canonical with non-canonical matter in the one sentence. However, excessive repetition is to be avoided in the constitutions, and the present repetition is especially unfortunate because it occurs within the same chapter of the constitutions. In one official document, the Statutes for Extern Sisters of Monasteries of Nuns, n. 121, the Sacred Congregation of Religious itself stated this effect in the one article: "A sister legitimately dismissed according to the norm of the preceding articles is by that very fact freed of all her religious vows, whether temporary or perpetual." The Sacred Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith follows exactly the same principle in its typical constitutions for diocesan missionary congregations, n. 128. 238 July, 1959 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 21 Our pontifical constitutions state: "The written declaration of the profession, whether temporary or perpetual, signed by the professed sister, by the mother general or her delegate, in whose presence the profession was made, and by two other sisters as witnesses, must be preserved in the archives of the congregation." (Cf. c. 576, § 2.) What is the meaning of the phrase "in whose presence the profession was made"? If it means the one who received the profession, why doesn't it simply state this? The wording of your article in this respect is that of the canon. It does mean the one who received the profession, and it would have been much better if the canon had simply stated this. This meaning is clear from the nature of the act of profession, since canon law itself demands the presence only of the one professing and the one receiving the profession. Furthermore, the rest of the canon, evidently referring to the same person, speaks explicitly of the superior who receives the profession. The unwillingness to repeat a word, phrase, or clause in the same context is a frequent cause of ambiguity in canon law. We do not change the wording of the canons, even when one finds an evidently better and more accurate wording. The Sacred Congregation of Religious itself changed the wording in the Statutes for Extern Sisters of Monas-teries of Nuns, n. 48, to "who received the profession or renovation." --221 You advocate fewer trifling permissions. So do I. What about monthly permissions? We first assemble for this purpose. Each sister then kneels individually before the superior and says, "Please, may I ask my permissions?" Isn't it sufficient to ask permissions? Why must I ask to ask them? She then asks the permissions. "Please, may I rise, dress, wash, say my prayers, perform my community exercises, go to different parts of the house, do my charge, prepare my work, use books, borrow and lend, give away and keep small articles, and bathe when necessary? Please, may I have these permissions?" Don't I already have at least implicit permission for things I am directed or commanded to do, e. g., to rise, perform community exercises, do my charge, and to read at least the books neces-sary for my work? How can I go to the chapel without washing and dressing? If I have permission to wash, doesn't that include all of me? Why do I need pe~-mission to bathe? This ritual consumes from ten to forty minutes. Is it necessary or profit-able, especially when we cannot keep up with our duties? We are told that it is an occasion for increasing merit, but it seems 239 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Review for Religious to me to be a very dumb one. Aren't there sensible ways arriving at perfection? This thing of becoming a fool for the sake of Christ can he taken too literally. Impatience has sharpened the style of the questioner and, I hope, has exaggerated the content of her question; but this is not a sufficient reason for de.nying her a hearing. A monthly renewal of such things as dispensations from any of the duties of common life is reasonable. It would also be reasonable to have a less frequent renewal. I have never been able to see the profit of the formalistic monthly permissions, of which the present case is a sufficiently good example. As the questioner says, she already has at least implicit permission for many of the things she is requesting in these monthly permissions. Such monthly per-missions are, in my judgment, an unnecessary, unprofitable, and formalistic detail. A woman's ability to handle details is a valuable talent, but in the religions life she often perverts it and grinds the spiritual life into a smothering dust of details. I believe it is a sound spiritual maxim that artificiality in spiritual matters is an infallible sign of error. Why should we need artificiality to follow perfectly the most reasonable and most highly integrated person who has. ever existed, Jesus Christ? It is not possible nor does obedience demand that we have the expressed will of a superior for every action. If the motive of our action is the vow of obedience (and it is presumed to be such), any action in conformity with the Rule, the constitutions, cnstoms, usages, and the tacit or presumed will of the superior has the merit of the vow. "In many cases, especially of sisters, one finds a manner of governing, a way of conceiving discipline and obedience that reduces the life and religious observance to an arid and oppressive formalism, a negation and death of the religious life itself and of zeal." Rev. J. Alberione, S.S.P., Acta et Docurnenta Congressus Generalis de Statibus Perfectio~nis, I, 270. 23 When is a vote uncertain and consequently invalid (c. 169, § 1,2°)? A vote is certain when the person voted for can be known without any fear of error from the vote itself. A vote for Brother Francis is invalid if there are two or more religious of that name. It cannot be argued that the elector intended to vote for the elder Brother Francis, who will very likely, be elected, rather than for the younger Brother Francis, for whom it is very improbable that anyone would vote. The vote itself must be certain. The family name or other identification must be included when .there is more than one religions of the same name. It is the almost universal custom always to append the family to the religions name. The vote is also uncertain when the writing cannot be deciphered or the sense understood. 240 July, 1959 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Our monastery of nuns recently resumed solemn vows. Was I, the superioress, obliged to inform the pastor of the parish of baptism of each of these nuns that she had made profession of solemn vows? Yes. Canon 576, § 2, prescribes: " . . . . and moreover, in the case of solemn profession, the superior who received the profession shall inform the pastor of the place of baptism of the solemn profession, in con-fortuity with the norm of canon 470, § 2~" The latter canon reads: "In the register of baptisms there shall'be noted also the record of the baptized person's confirmation, marriage (unless it was a marriage of conscience, as stated in canon 1107), reception of subdiaconate, or ~olemn profession; and these facts are always to be included in baptismal certificates." Canon 576, § 2, should be and usually is included in the constitutions of nuns. The evident reason for the obligation is that solemn religious profession is a diriment impediment to marriage. Therefore, the notification of the solemn profession of any religious is to be sent to the pastor of the parish of baptism. According to the canon, this duty falls on the superior who received the solemn pro-fession; but he or she may do it through another. In fact, the notification is the duty of the superioress of the monastery, even if she did not receive the profession; and this is the usual wording of the constitutions. The notification should contain the full secular and religious name, the place and date of the solemn profession, the full names of the father and mother of the religious, and at least the approximate date of the baptism. Complete and accurate data for the notification can be obtained from the baptismal certificate, if this is in the files of the house where solemn profession was made. --25-- Our general motherhouse is in France. Our constitutions underwent a general revision. Is an ~mprlm~t~tr re~iuired in France for the printing of the constitutions in French? Is another imprimatur necessary for the English translation of these constitutions from the French? The answer to both questions is yes. Prudence demands that any translation of the constitutions, also and especially of the original approved text, be submitted to the examination of a priest conversant with the canonical terms on religious. If this is not done, awkwardness, inaccuracy, and errors of translation are very likely. Canon law com-mands previous censorship by a local ordinary for determined works but only if they are published (c. 1384). Publication means that the work is made available to the general public. Therefore, works that are destined solely for the members of a religious institute are not published; 241 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Review for Religious and there is no obhgation of submitting them to the previous censorship of a local ordinary. However, it is the common practice of lay institutes to submit the constitutions to this censorship of the local ordinary. According to this practice, there should be an imprimatur for the constitutions in French and another for the English translation, because canon 1392, § 1, requires another censorshilJ for a translation. The granting of an imprimatur appertains to the proper local ordinary of the author, the ordinary of the place of publication, or the ordinary of the place of printing (c. 1385, § 2). A compiler or translator is included under the term of author. Strictly speaking, the author or legislator of constitutions of lay institutes is the Holy See or the local ordinaries; the official compiler is the general chapter. Constitutions are translated and distributed (published) under the authority and direction of a higher superior. Therefore, the imprimatur for these constitutions may be requested from the ordinary of the place of the general chapter, of the residence of the higher superior, or of the place of printing. In fact it is practically always given by the ordinary of the residence of the higher superior. m26-- Brother X, professed of solemn vows, was a lay brother in our order. He became an apostate from religion. Both his local and immediate higher superior were earnestly striving to persuade him to return to the order. We learned later that he had met a woman, a Catholic and previously unmarried, two weeks after he left his religious house. A week later he got a priest to marry himself and this woman. He concealed the fact of his solemn vows. The constitutions of our order explicitly state that a professed of solemn vows who is legiti-mately dismissed is by that very fact freed of his solemn vows. Was the marriage of Brother X and this woman valid? If Brother X had been a religious cleric in sacred orders (sub-diaconate, diaconate, priesthood) or if a legitimate dismissal, in virtue of the law of the constitutions, did not free him from his solemn vows, his marriage would have been certainly and evidently invalid by reason of the diriment impediment of sacred orders (c. 1072), or solemn religions profession (c. 1073), or both. Therefore, the case of a solemnly professed described above is possible also with regard to a nun or a religious man destined for the priesthood but not yet in sacred orders. The automatic dismissal of canon 646 is a legitimate dismissal, since this canon explicitly states it to be such and it is effected according to law and by law. This dismissal therefore produces the effects of a legitimate dismissal. The code itself (c. 669, § 1) does not free a dismissed religious of perpetual vows, whether solemn or simple, from the vows 242 July, 1959 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS of religious profession by the very fact of the dismissal; but such a liberation, as in the present case, may be effected by the constitutions. We presuppose that the only possible source of invalidity in this case is the solemn religious profession. If, prior to the Catholic celebration of marriage, this religious had publicly apostatized from the Catholic faith, or had run away with a woman, or had attempted marriage outside the Church, he would have been immediately and automatically dismissed in virtue of canon 646. His own constitutions would have freed him in the same instant from all his solemn vows. Since the diriment impediment to marriage is attached to his solemn vow of chastity, which would have ceased to exist, his former solemn profession would in no way have interfered with the validity of a later Catholic celebration of marriage nor would the impediment in question have had to be dispensed. It would simply have ceased to exist. No such previous crime occurred in the present case. Brother X did not even, know the woman until two weeks after he had left the religious house. Canon 646 automatically dismisses any religious who attempts or contracts marriage. It is therefore certain that Brother X was automatically dismissed by canon 646 and freed of his solemn vows, and consequently of the diriment impediment, by the constitutions at the moment that he and the woman gave the marriage consent. There-fore, the precise question is: does a simultaneous freedom from a diriment impediment suffice or is a freedom previous in time necessary for the validity of marriage? I believe that a simultaneous freedom suffices and that the marriage was valid. Canon law does not solve this individual case nor does it explicitly state any general principle on the matter. The case should therefore be decided from analogy (c. 20). There are at least two analo-gous cases in the code, and it can also be maintained that these cases implicitly affirm the general principle of the sufficiency of si~nultaneous freedom. Canon 1126 states that the bond of a former marriage con-tracted in infidelity is dissolved by the Pauline Privilege only when the conv.erted party actually contracts a new and valid marriage. Therefore, in the Pauline Privilege the simultaneous freedom from the diriment impediment of a valid and still existing marriage suffices for the valid contracting of marriage. By the prescription of ecclesiastical law, a marriage is invalid if one of the parties is free and believes the other party to be free when in fact the latter is a slave in the strict sense of this term (c. 1083, § 2, 2°). The common interpretation of this canon is that the marriage is valid if the slave obtains freedom by marriage. Therefore, we again have a case in which simultaneous freedom from an invalidating cause suffices for the validity of marriage. It cannot be objected that this solution offends against the principle that no one should profit by his crime. This principle cannot be main- 243 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Review for Religious tained against an expressed declaration of law. The code itself (c. 648) frees from his vows a religious of temporary vows who commits any of the crimes listed in canon 646, and canon 669, § 1, and positively and explicitly permits the particular constitutions to grant the same freedom to a professed of perpetual vows, whether solemn or simple. --27-- I read the constitutions of a lay congregation that has recently been made pontifical. Their definition of an ordinary and extraordinary general chapter differs from our own, which I enclose. Which of these definitions is correct? In older constitutions, an ordinary general chapter is one convoked regularly at the intervals determined in the constitutions for general elections. This interval is usually every six years, because in the modern practice of the Sacred Congregation of Religious th~ term of office of the superior general is six years. An extraordinary chapter in the same constitutions is one convoked outside of such regular intervals. The first reason for such a chapter is the vacancy of the office of superior general by reason of death, resignation, or deposition. The second is a serious matter affecting the entire institute. The latter is therefore only a chapter of affairs and only for determined matters, such as approval of a revision of the constitutions. This latter chapter in pontifical lay congregations demands a serious reason, the deliberative vote of the general council, and the permission of the Holy See. (Bastien, Directoire Canonique, n. 240, 2; Battandier, Guide Canonique, nn. 341, 346; Schaefer, De Religiosis, n. 452.) In very recent years, the Sacred Cong~'egation has changed this definition in the constitutions of lay congregations that are being made pontifical but not in revisions of constitutions of congregations that were already pontifical. The change consists in the fact that any chapter for the election of a superior general is termed ordinary, any other is extraordinary. The following article typifies this change. "A general chapter is called ordinary whenever it convenes for the election of a superior general, whether a~ the expiration of the ordinary term or when the office becomes vacant for any reason at another time. Any other chapter is said to be extraordinary and may not be convoked without special authorization of the Holy See, upon request by the superior general with the consent of his council." Both definitions are therefore correct, that is, all institutes retain the definition given in their own constitutions. 28- We have a common or public devotional renewal of vows twice a year. The renewal is made before the reception of Holy 244 July, 1959 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Communion. Do we by this renewal gain the indulgence men-tioned in the R~ccolta, n. 756? The Raccolta reads: "The religious of any order or congregation who privately renew their religious vows with at least a contrite heart, after celebrating Holy Mass or receiving Holy Communion, may gain an indulgence of three years." It can be argued that the essential condition is a devotional renewal, not necessarily a private renewal, or that an indulgence granted to a private renewal afortiori applies also to a public renewal. Therefore, the indulgence is gained by a public or private'devotional renewal of religious vows. However, the text clearly demands that the renewal be made after the reception of Holy Com-munion. Therefore, a public or priva, te renewal before Communion does not suffice. On the days of such public devotional renewals, the indul-gence may be gained by again renewing the vows privately after Com-munion. No determined formula is required; and brief formulae, such as "I renew the vows made at my profession," "I renew my vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience," would suffice. The condition that the renewal be made after Holy Communion seems strange, because in two documents, issued before the Code of Canon Law, the Sacred Congregation of Rites had prescribed that professions and public renewals were to be made before Holy Com-munion by religious of congregations who took or renewed their vows during Mass (S. R. C., 3836, 3912). This rite has been retained after the code as a prescription of their own law by at least most of the same religious institutes, and the natural tendency of a religious is to renew his vows privately at the same time during Mass that professions and public devotional renewals are made in his institute. 29 Our constitutions demand an absolute majority for the ejection of the superior general on any of the first three ballots. If such a majority has not been obtained, on the fourth and last ballot only the two religious who had the highest number of votes on the third ballot may be voted for. Of these two, the one who receives the greater number of votes on this fourth ballot is elected. In our last chapter, there was no doubt about the one elected. The constitutions also are clear on the matter; and the president of the chapter gave a brief, simple, and clear exposition of the article. However, on the fourth ballot a vote was cast for a religious who was not one of the two highest on the third ballot. We simply did not know what to do about this vote. This one vote was invalid, because it was in' favor of one who lacked passive voice absolutely, that is, one who simply could not be 245 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Review [or Religious elected. The constitutions clearly restrict eligibility on the fourth ballot to the two who had the highest number of votes on the third ballot. There was also no question whatever of postulation. The constitutions of our congregation demand merely thirty years of age and ten years of profession for a regional superior. Is this correct? Is it sufficient? Any part of an institute that fulfills the canonical requisites for a province is in fact and in law a province, no matter by what name it may be designated in the particular constitutions. The essential canoni-cal requisite for a province is that. of being a distinct moral person, distinct as such from the institute and the houses. A provincial superior is necessarily a canonical higher superior. We presuppose that your regions are not in fact canonical provinces, as is at least practically always the case. The authority of a regional superior may be delegated by a superior general or provincial. If so, he is not a higher superior. The regional superior may possess ordinary authority, that is, authority given by the law of the constitutions. If so, he is a higher superior (c. 488, 8°). In the former case, your constitutions are correct. Canon law does not legislate on the matter~ and the thirty years of age and ten years of profession are prescribed entirely by your own constitutions. If, however, the regional superior is a higher superior, canon 504 must be observed, that is, for the validity of his appointment or election he must be Of legitimate birth, have been professed for at least ten years in the institute computed from his first prQfession (August 15, 1955 -- August 16, 1965), and have completed his thirtieth year (January 1, 1930 -- January 2, 1960). 31 Our pontifical congregation is very large. For many serious reasons, we hesitate to make an immediate division into provinces. We believe it would be more prudent to begin instituting several regions. Do we need the permission of the Holy See to do this? No. Obviously your regions will not be pro~vinces. Therefore, the canonical norms (c. 494) on the erection of provinces do not apply. The establishment, delimitation, change, and suppression of regions may be made by the general chapter or the superior general. Since the matter is so important, the latter ~hould at least consult and preferably have the consent of his council. The latter is practically always de-. manded for these acts when the constitutions make provision for regions. Cf. Larraona, Commentarium Pro Religiosis, 5 (1924), 263-64; Schaefer, De Religiosis, n. 325; Toso, Commentaria Minora, II, 246 July, 1959 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS De Religiosis, 17; Vromant, De Personis, n. 375; Vermeersch-Creusen, Epitome Iuris Canonici, I, n. 603; Coronata, Institutiones Iuris Canonici, I, n. 519. Our constitutions state only that a professed religious who commits any of the crimes listed in canon 646 is by that very fact legitimately dismissed. It seems to me that it would be only sensible for the constitutions to tell us what these crimes are. I think also that canon 646 should be given fully in the consti-tutions. It has not been the general practice to do so in lay institutes, as it has been in clerical institutes. However, some constitutions of the former type of institute do contain the complete canon. Canon 646 was given fully and explained in the REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, 16 (1957)~ 283-89. The canon reads: § 1. The following religious are considered as automatically and legitimately dismissed: 1° Public apostates from the Catholic faith; 2° A religious man who ran away with a woman or a religious woman who ran away with a man; 3° Those who attempt or contract marriage, even the so-called civil marriage. § 2. In these cases, it is sufficient that the higher superior with his chapter or council according to the norm of the constitutions make a declaration of fact; but he must take care to preserve the collected proofs of the fact in the files of the house. 247 Reviews [Material for this department should be sent to Book Review Editor, aEVIEW FO~t RELIGIOUS, West Baden College, West Baden Springs, Indiana.} PORTRAIT OF A PARISH PRIEST. By Lancelot C. Sheppard. Westminster: Newman, 1958. Pp. 183. $3.50. One hundred years ago, on August 4, 1859, died St. John Vianney, Curl of Ars. A living inspiration to laymen and religious as well as to the secular clergy, he had become almost a legendary figure in his own lifetime. Today, his name calls to our mind a student so slow that only the shortage of priests and the insistence of an influential friend made it possible for him to be ordained. We think of a preacher who spent hours of agony in composing commonplace sermons, and then would forget them once he got into the pulpit only to speak with such zeal and intensity as to move his hearers to tears. Contrasting images of Ars come before us -- the out-of-the-way village of 1818, where there was a dilapidated old church, sixty houses, four taverns, and "no great love of God"; and the place of pilgrimage of 1859, with a restored church, no tavern, but one school for girls and one for boys, and crowds of the devout and the curious. Portrait of a Parish Priest treats of a man in whose life the extraordinary seems to be the ordinary thing. Living for years on two or three potatoes a day, with but two hours sleep a night, the CurLkept up a strenuous apostolic life. He could size up the most delicate cases of conscience in a moment and even knew the problems of many penitents before they entered the con-fessional. Many a distressed sinner was singled out from the crowd by the saint's voice and called in to penance ahead of a long line. Scoffers eventually prayed. Diseases were often cured. Add to this the almost nightly rappings, voices, and even the burning of the bedclothes, which the Curl was convinced was the work of the devil, the Grappin, and we have a picture of a truly remarkable man. None of these facts ar~ new, and all have been well treated in previous biographies. The unique feature of Portrait of a Parish Priest is its interpre-tation of the facts. For besides giving us a portrait of a great saint, the author paints a picture of a man. And the life of John Vianney was not a series of interludes between one extraordinary event after another. A man capable of deep discouragement and subject to great psychological tensions, he had been tempted to give up his studies for the priesthood, to desert Napoleon's army, and to flee from the responsibility of his parish. He was convinced that he was not fit for his job and feared greatly for his own salvation. It was his heroic perseverance in the face of these obstacles that was truly remarkable. In the author's opinion, the psychological tension under which the Curl worked was responsible for the "diabolical" disturbances in the saint's life. Whether or not the reader agrees with this explanation, he will find it thought-provoking and will welcome the insistence upon the fact that it was the Cur~'s heroic virtue and not the extraordinary events (whatever their expla-nation) that made him a saint. 248 BOOK REVIEWS St. John Vianney was a man filled with the horror of sin, because he was a saint filled with a love of the living God. But he was also a man who poured out condemnations of pleasures Which can be legitimate in themselves, a man who would refuse absolution to those who would not promise to give up dancing. Fie could, it is true, appreciate the humor of a situation; but on the whole he tended to see the dark side of things. Yet this should not be surprising in a man who grew up in a France in which the Church, was being persecuted and in which clouds of Jansenistic thought still darkened the moral atmos-phere. One new fact which the author brings to light

Issue 17.3 of the Review for Religious, 1958. ; A. M. D. G. Review for Religious MAY 15, 1958 M~re Marie of the Ursulines . Sister Benita Daley Gifts Of the Holy Spirit . paul w. o'erie. C~urrent Spiritual Writing . Thomas G. O'Ca~lagha. Do We Know Our Mother? . Sister M. Annice Summer Sessions Book Reviews Questions and Answers Roman Documents about: Christ and World Harmony Religious Obedience Feminine Fashions VOLUME 17 NUMBER 3 Ri::VII::W FOR RI:::LIGIOUS VOLUME 17 MAY, 1958 NUMBER 3 CONTENTS M~-RE MARIE OF THE URSULINES~ Sister Benita Daley, C.S.J . 129 SUMMER SESSIONS . 134 THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT-- Paul W. O'Brien, S.J . 135 CURRENT SPIRITUAL WRITING--- Thomas G. O'Callaghan, S.J .1.45 DO WE KNOW OUR OWN MOTHER?-- Sister M. Annice, C.S.C . " . 157 SURVEY OF ROMAN DOCUMENTS~R. F. Smith, S.J . 167 BOOK REVIEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS: Editor: Bernard A. Hausmann, S.J. West Baden College West Baden Springs, Indiana . 178 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS: 13. Changing a Will . 188 14. General Sanation . 188 15. Absence During the Canonical Year . 189 16. Constituting a Chapter Without Approval . 190 17. What Is an Immediate Third Term as Superior General?. 190 18. Gloria in tile Mass of a Beatified Foundress . 191 19. Canon Law for Brothers and Sisters . 191 OUR CONTRIBUTORS ' 192 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS,, May, 1958. Vol. 17, No. 3. Published bi-monthly by The Queen's Work, 3115 South Grand Blvd., St. Louis 18, Mo. Edited by the Jesuit Fathers of St. Mary's College, St. Marys, Kansas, with ecclesiastical approval. Second class mail privilege authorized at St. Louis, Mo. Editorial Board: Augustine G. Ellard, S.J.; Gerald Kelly, S.J.; Henry Willmering, S.J. Literary Editor: Robert F. Weiss, S.J. Copyright, 1958, by The Queen's Work. Subscription price in U.S.A. and Canada: 3 dollars a year; 50 cents a copy. Printed in U.S.A. Please send all renewals and new subscriptions to: Review for Religious, 3115 South Grand Boulevard. St. Louis 18o Missouri. /v re Marie ot: !:he Ursulines Sisl:er Benil:a Daley, C.S.J~ IN JUNE, 1958, when the city of Quebec celebrates the three hundred and fiftieth anniversary of its founding, it will honor Samuel de Champlain, who first recognized the importance of this great port on the "king of all rivers" as he termed the St. Lawrence. The achievements of the great men who contributed to the growth and development of that city will be recalled--men like Bishop Laval and Frontenacm but no chronicle of its glor!es will be complete without a tribute to that illustrious pioneer, M~re Marie of the Ursulines. The passage of three centuries has not dimmed the memory of the courageous woman who exemplified in her remarkable career an amazing variety of callings: wife, mother, mystic, business woman, teacher, writer, and cloistered religious. Her name and deeds are interwoven with every worth. while endeavor to colonize the little seventeenth-century settle-ment that was to become the thriving commercial and industrial city of today. In her missionary-career of thirty-two years, she endured all the hardships incident upon life in a pioneer out-post that was constantly under attack by the Indians. Marie Guyardqthat was the family name of this Ursuline missionary--was born in 1599 in Tours, France. Reared in a Catholic home by devout parents who inculcated habits of deep piety and love of labor in their eight children, Marie leari~ed at an early age to relish the joy of prayer and meditation. Yet, like any normal child, she entered gaily into games and pastimes with her brothers and sisters and the neighborhood children. When she was only fifteen years old, she asked her mother's permission to become a nun. Her mother refused this requesti believing that a person like Marie, so gay and vivacious, should 129 SISTER BENITA DALEY Review for Religious marry. Marie's parents then proceeded, to seek a desirable husband f~r their daughter. Their choice fell upon an estimable young silk merchant of Tours, Claude Martin. Thus it was that at the age of seventeen Marie became a bride. Although the desire to lead a religious life in the cloister still dominated all her thinking, she never questioned her parents.' decision about marriage. That, she believed, was the unfolding of God's plan in her life. She would obey her parents and accept this sacrifice of her own desires. Married life brought heavy burdens to the inexperienced girl. Marie Martin had to assist her husband in the manage-ment of his business which included, according to the custom of the time, housing and feeding his principal employees. Even though the religious bent of her nature sonstantly impelled her to yearn for hours of solitude in which to pray and to meditate, she developed great skill in directing her husband's establish-ment. Her talent for organization, her ability to deal harmoni-ously with all sorts of individuals--she supervised a large staff of servants and about twenty workmen in her husband's shop --these gifts were to serve her well in later years as a missionary in New France. The birth of her son, Claude, in 1619, gave her great joy; but six months later her husband died, leaving his finances in such a state that she was virtually penniless. A widow at nineteen, with an infant son to care for, attractive and highly respected, this young girl received many offers of marriage. Her family advised her to" remarry as the solution of her problems. But Marie Martin knew exactly what she would do now. She would follow the call of God in her heart; she would live for Him alone, making a cloister for Him in the depth of her being. Some day her hope of consecrating her life to God in religion might be realized. When and how this might be accomplished she did not know for her first obligatioa required her to devote herself to the upbringing of her child. 130 May, 1958 M~E MARIE Madame Martin returned then to her father's home but soon answered the call of an older sister who needed help in the management of her large household. Marie's brother-in-law, Paul Buisson, a wealthy artillery officer, approved this plan for he knew that this capable young woman, in return for a home for herself and her child, w.ould supervise his affairs efficiently. Eventually, Marie took complete charge of his transport business, his warehouses, and his stables. In short, she became the unpaid servant of the Buisson family--prepar-ing meals, nursing the sick, regulating accounts, and directing employees--for all these duties fitted admirably into her design to live entirely for God. Eagerly she sought the means to multiply fasts, penances, and vigils. It is not surprising then that history records her as one of the great mystics of her time. In the midst of her endless labors, God rewarded Marie Martin with heavenly visions, with revelations of the Blessed Trinity and of the Incarnation. Bossuet called her the St. Teresa o{: her century; and well he might, fo'r, like the saint of Avila, Madame Martin was practical, never neglecting ordinary duties for spiritual joys. Leading this extraordinary life of close intimacy with God and of long hours of toil, Marie wat,ched her young son grow into a strong and healthy boyhood. When he was twelve years old, she confided him to the care of the Jesuits to be trained, believing that a boy of his age needed a man's guidance. With. his consent, she achieved her long-desired goal, entering the Ursulines in Tours in 1631 at~ter obtaining her sister's promise to pay for young. Claude's education. In later years, Marie Martin experienced the happiness, of knowing that her son had become a Benedictine priest. In the cloister, Marie de l'Incarnation, as she was now called, attained ,great mystical heights. God bestowed upon her special giftsthe interpretation of scriptural texts--which are evidi~nced in the spiritual writings she composed at this time. She even saw Canada in a vision, not knowing it by name but SISTER BENITA DALEY Review for Religious perceiving only that ~it would some day be the field of her missionary labors. When she learned that the Jesuits of New France were asking for teaching nuns for Quebec, she resolved to answer the call if the opportunity arose. She longed to bring the light of faith to the savages of the New World. It was " with great rejoicing then that she received her appointment to found with two other Ursulines a mission school for Indian children in Champlain's struggling colony on the St. Lawrence. Exactly. four years after that great explorer's death, Mire Marie and her companions sailed from Dieppe. That was May 4, 1639. After a three-month voyage, they landed in Quebec, receiving a joyous welcome from its two hundred colonists. The tiny house to which ~he nuns were ceremoniously conducted was little more than a shack, but to Mire Marie it held promise of the fulfillment of her apostolate for souls. The little convent with its back against an enormous cliff looked out on the enchanting loveliness of wide stretches of water, a world of beauty that M~re Marie always cherished even when, at a later date, hunger and cold and destitution plagued the nuns. Here the first school opened with six Indian girls. Hardly were the Ursulines settled in their new home than an epidemic of smallpox broke out in the colony. Soon sick Indians in all their dirt and" wretchedness crowded in upon thenuns who cheerfully nursed them. In so doing, M~re Marie and her co-workers sacrificed the convent's slender resources in food and clothing. Y~hen the horrible experience ended, they de-cided that they had been too busy to contract the dread disease. As the number of pupils in the school steadily increased,' it became necessary to build a structure that would adequately house both nuns and students. The task of raising funds for this pressing need devolved upon Mire Marie. Then began that series of letters that went to France on every ship leaving ~he port of Quebec. Historians record that during her mis-sionary life this pioneer wrote over twelve thousand letters, enough volumes to fill several shelves in a library. 132 MARIE Not all of these letters were appeals for money. Many of them, sent to Ursuline convents, to important people in France, and to her Benedictine son, constitute, in the opinion of scholars, one of the finest primary sources of information on seventeenth-century Quebec. They narrate with typical French clarity the daily occurrences of the colony so that every phase of its de-velopment unfolds in this correspondence. The appointme~nt of the governors of the colony, the Indian massacres, the tor-tures of the Jesuit martyrs, the perils of living under constant threat of Iroquois hostilities, the complete destruction by fire of the Ursuline convent in 1650, the horror of the earthquake that shook Quebec three years later-~all these facts M~re Marie recounted in vivid detail. If the nuns, being cloistered, could not move freely among the colonists, the latter came to the convent to seek advice on various matters. M~re Marie took great pains to keep herself informed on all questions that pertained to the well-being of the people. As a result of her interest, government officials as well as the colonists, esteemed her sane judgments, her practical good sense. They valued more and more the type of education she administered in her convent school, for with the new re-cruits that had come from France to increase her staff, she planned an educational program that aimed to transmit to the pupils the culture and traditions of Old France. In 1642, the new monastery, a three-story structure, the pride of the colony, was completed. Mire Marie herself had drawn up its plans and supervised its construction, even mount-ing the scaffolding to direct the work in progress. But material achievements did not lessen her spiritual undertakings. In order to instruct the savages in the faith, she mastered four difficult Indian languages, thus displaying an amazing linguistic ability. She began this study at the age of forty; and, in the following twenty years, she demonstrated her proficiency by writing catechisms, grammars, and dictionaries ir~ 133 SISTER BENITA DALEY the Algonquin, Huron, and Iroquois dialects. These texts have proved invaluable to missionaries of later centuries. At her death in 1672, this interpid French woman had com-pleted thirty-two years of missionary labor crowned with success as an administrator and educator. She had helped to initiate a new movement in the Church--the active participation oi: re-ligiot~ s women in missionary, educational, and social projects. Her pioneer work led to the establishment of numerous com-munities of religious women who today staff our hospitals and schools and undertake the social apostolate. Agnes Repplier, in her biography~-M~re Marie of the Ursulines--now appropriately being re, issued in this anniversary year, points out that holiness "was the weapon with which she fought her' battles, established her authority, and became a living principle in the keen, hard, vivid, friendly, ~nd dangerous life of New France." SUMMER SESSIONS Marquette University will conduct a three-week workshop in sister formation granting three semester hours of graduate credit in education. The workshop will explore the application of the Everett Report to the needs of communities of sisters. It has been designed specifically for directresses of study and for the administration and faculty of juniorates and scholasticates (college level) of sisterhoods. It has been scheduled for the mornings and afternoons of August 4 to 22. It is open only to sisters. The fee is $50.00. The directress of the workshop is Sister Elizabeth Ann, I.H.M., of Immaculate Heart College; Los Arigeles, assisted by sisters acquainted with the Everett Report and by other consultants. Room and board t~or the sisters attending the workshop is available in Schroeder Hall. Address: Marquette University Graduate School, Milwaukee 3, Wisconsin. St. Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana, announces the six-teenth annual summer session of its Graduate School of Sacred Theol-ogy for Sisters and Laywomen (June 23-August I). Scheduled are fourteen classes in: fundamental theology, dogma, morals, Old Testa-ment, New Testament, patrology, biblical theology, church history, introduction to theology, introduction to Sacred Scriptures, introduc-tion to the Summa of St. Thomas. The faculty includes Jesuits, Dominicans, Passionists, other priests, and lay professors. Address (Continued on page 166) 134 The ifi:s. ot: :he I-Ioly Spiri Paul W. O'Brien,S.J. FRANKLY I HAVE always wanted to know more about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. They held a strange attraction. The soul seemed to feel instinctively that they occupied a key position in its spiritual, life. And yet the.y seemed so elusive. Beyond a few elementary notions, they remained rather difficult to grasp. I wondered whether the main ideas could not be pinned down and put in simple language. It is this I have tried to do both for my. own understanding of the question and perhaps for the profit of others. The Need oE the Gifts ." A soul in love with God and witl~ some little experience in th~ spiritual life comes quickly to realize its ihadequacy. This comes about not merely frbm the intellectual conviction that unaided nature can~ never reach the supernatural, that "without Me, you can do nothing." Rather it is an experimental knowl-edge, even supposing God's elevating grace, of the slowness of its mind to grasp the things of God. It "tries to penetrate the truthsof faith and finds them veiled; it seeks to draw the logical conclusions from these truths, but the elements of the'problem slip from its memory before the conclusions are reached. Its will that should be such an impelling power toward God is so hesitant, so wavering; and, even when with God's grace it feels a power for ordinary acts~ of virtue, it senses its inadequacy for anything that might be termed heroic. In all sincerity we are seeking to do the will of. God, "a will presented to us through obedience, through our rules, but which still leaves so much undefined. We know at a given moment "what" we. must do, but the "how" seems to admit of indefinite progress; and we feel blocked. The life that we live seems to be a life planned by a reason directed by' faith,, but it is one where my reason 135 PAUL W. O']~RIEN Review for Religious does the directing. Actually we are longing for the Holy Spirit to assume the direction of our lives. We are thirsting to have our love enkindled by the Spirit of love-to have our intellects enlightened by the Spirit of Truth. In a word, we are yearning to supplement our life of the ~irtues by a life of the gifts under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The Nature of the Gifts St. Thomas tells us that these gifts of the Holy Spirit are permanent dispositions of the soul to obey the Holy Spirit promptly. They are not just passing actual graces; they are permanent dispositions in the soul. They are not like the in-fused virtues which enable us to act; these are passive disposi-tions which enable us to receive, to be acted upon by the Holy Spirit. Granted the existence of our supernatural organism, we might possibly reason fo the necessity of such gifts, in order that the organism be perfect; but God has spared us the labor. He has told us of the gifts in Isaias 11:2: "And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him; the spirit of wisdom and under-standing; the spirit of counsel and of fortitude; the spirit of knowledge and of godliness (piety). And he shall be filled with the fear of the "Lord." Actually the text refers to Jesus, .the Messiah; but the Fathers of the Church in explaining it taught that these gifts have passed from Christ to all the mem-bers of His Mystical Body. It is therefore a point of faith that these gifts exist. It is also certain that they are permanent habits. But, for the rest, theologians have their little differences. It is ~the more common and more probable opinion that the gifts are really distinct from the virtues. And it seems more probable that there are actually seven gifts, though some theologians think it not improbable that the number seven is used, as often in the Old Testament, in a mystical sense of plenitude. But for our practical purpose, it is enodgh to know that the gifts of the Holy' Spirit exist, that they are permanent in the soul in grace, 136 May, 1958 GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT and that through them the" Holy Spirit can direct all the activi-ties of our souls. Reason-guided or God-guided? When God made human nature, He put into it all that it needed to live its life and do its work in a fitting manner. And so He endowed it with a soul, with faculties of thinking and willing, and virtues to 'perfect these faculties. We then had everything necessary to live a human life. The guiding power in this organism was reason. To live as a human being, we had to live according to reason. But God did not leave me to my natural resources and natural end. He destined me to know Him in the beatific vision and to share His own divine life. To accomplish this, it was necessar~ that He elevate my natural organism; and this He did by bestowing gratuitously on my soul sanctifying grace together with the infused virtues, both theological and moral. Not only has He elevated my powers making them able to act supernaturally and reach out to Him; but He has furnished new maps to my reason, indicating the way to :Himself by marking out new signposts with His revealed tr~ths. Surely .the way is now clearer, and reason .finds more secur.!.ty; 'bui it is still reason that directs my life, even though :helped by faith. My life to God is still reason-controlled. And ~onsequently !t is subject to all the. limitations of human reason. ¯ I cannot s~e all the future; .I. cannot foresee the consequendes of my present actions; I cannot know the hearts of those with Whbm I deal, whether my well-meant word or action may not be untimely. My grasp of faith is so imperfect. If only the great God who is above all might enter in to guide my life! How wonderful to replace the groping of my reason through an uncharted future with the security of divine Wisdom--my vision obscured by the veil of faith, with God's clear knowledge of Himself, eternal Truth--my imperfect intuition of the hearts of others, with the intimately penetrating knowledge of God--my hesitancy in choosing God's way, with the sureness of 137 PAUL W. O'BRIEN Review ]or Religious God's Will-~.my :weakness of love, with the impetu.osity of God's Spirit. And yet this is the life that God holds out to me through the gifts. This is'the true meaning o~ the gi~ts, that my soul is o.pened up to this direct action o~ God, that my soul is disposed to obey. promptly, this Spirit o~ ldve, that my soul may soar above its reason:controlled guidance, to be taken to God's Heart as His instrument, guided by the Holy Spirit, with all that this involves. Some Illustrations Theologians around the time of St. Thomas tried to explain the gi~ts o~ the H01y Spirit by the examp!e o~ a rowboat fitted out with~sails~ The oars or.the.boat ~orresp0nded to the virtues, the" active ¯agents in the movement ot~ the.boat. The sails were the gift's of the Holy Spirit, those passive disppsitions by which the boat recdi~ed an outside impulse and direction from the Wind. ¯ " ~ Cardinal Billot, some six centuries later, modernized the dxample, propoging a °motOrboat fitted out with ~ails. The motor, actively 'propelling the° boat f~:om "within, corresponde~{ to th~ virtues'; the ~ails, receiving passi,~ely the breezd, reprd-sent~ d the gift's of the" Holy Spirit. ~ Were ~hese great .theologians alive t~0da'y, we may pre.sume that the)) would look for s~mething more" modern and might hit on Our radio-~ontrolled rob0.t planes. Sbme time back ~I saw some boys~ flying iu'~h a plane; and," if I am no~ mistaken (in ~nY .even~ it may serve~ us ~or an example), ~he plane, somd ten feet long; contained i~s "own motor, Which propelled it into the air" arid drove i~ along a( an~ ordinary spee~l. O~ co~rse there was no one in the plane. But 'aitach'ed some w.ay to th~ motor was a radio recei,~er. From the ground the boys '~ver~e ~ble to sdn~t impulses into ~hat rhceiver and to control the ipeed of thd motor' as well as the di.rection o~ the plane~ They could turh it to thd right or left, speed it up, make it lo6p the loop, and sO forth. "I ~ould not but think that that' little radio receiver" co~respohded t6 ~he" gifts of the Holy Gh6st~ while the motor correspondedto the in~used Virtues. 138 May, 1958 GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT The gifts of the Holy Spirit, then, m~y be considered as God's radio receiver put into our soul, a passive disposition to receive the impulses from the Holy Spirit. Surely we carry within us our own motor, the infused virtues, which move us along in a normal way; but in order that these virtues be directed, that their activity be increased, there was need of a receiver. The plane could fly without the receiver, just as we can practice ordinary virtue without this special direction of the Holy Spirit. But to be controlled with sureness, to be brought to a safe landing, to receive added strength, for all this we needed a means by. which the Holy Spirit could enter. Neither do we consider the radio receiver as the motor of the plane. And so it is with the gifts. They are not the motive force that moves the soul; they merely receive the impulses of the Holy Spirit that activate the virtues. The virtues remain the operative powers of the soul. Cormaturality What are these habits, these permanent dispositions of the soul? Do they merely mean that God in His almighty power can break into the soul whenever He wishes--a mere "obedi-ential potency," as theologians would say--or are they some-thing more? The disposition which is a gift of the Holy Spirit is something more. It creates in the soul a sort of reaching out for God's inspiration, a power of attraction, giving the soul what theologians call "connaturality," making the soul as it were "tuned-in,~' preparing the soul so that the-inspiration of the Holy .Spirit would feel "at-home." A child is attracted to the loving atmosphere of the family circle, but repelled by the cold, indifferent spirit of a strange house. .And so while the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is gratuitous and the disposition is passive, yet the gift creates this connaturality, giving the soul a certain claim on God's help. Through fidelity to grace, the soul can merit an increase of God's inspirations and conse-quently a greater capacity for the gifts. PAUL W. O'BRIEN Review for Religious The Functions of the Individual Gifts Theoretically there is a certain utility in knowing the func-tion of the individual gifts. It completes our knowledge. But since spiritual writers are not in complete agreement on these functions and practically the discernment of the effect of each gift is rather difficult, it is enough for the good soul to know that God has a way of directing all its activities, that this way. is by means of the gifts, and that God will know which gift He is using, even though the soul may not. The soul needs only to beg God to come in His fullness, to take over the direction of all its acts. However, it is helpful to note in a general way (I am fol-lowing St. Thomas) that every activity of the soul is cared for by the gifts. All of God's grace is directed to enlighten my intellect or strengthen my will. Hence the gifts perfect these two faculties, four of them (wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and counsel) perfecting the intellect, and three of them (piety, fortitude, and fear of the Lord) perfecting the will. Now the intellect may grasp truth intuitively, or it may have a judgment about it. And in judging about it, it may judge divine things, created things, or apply general truths to concrete acts. For each of these operations, there is a gift by which the intellect in that operation is disposed to be guided by the Holy Spirit. Corresponding to and perfecting the intuition of truth is the gift of understanding, by which the soul penetrates the truths of faith--understanding not merely how believable they are, how right it is that the soul adheres to them, but penetrating even to the very truths themselves, perceiving connections be-tween the truths, analogies, logical conclusions, etc., all of which it could probably get by study, but which it receives in a simpler and more instinctive manner. This gift together with the "gift of knowledge perfects faith. The gift of wisdom corresponds to that judgment of the mind about God and divine things, as the soul judges that God 140 May,, 1958 GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT is lovable above all, as 'it ~askes God with'~i certain sweetness, as it judges all things in the light of God and adheres to Him in charity. Wisdom perfects charity. The gift of knowledge corresponds to the judgment of the mind about created things or of divine things according to creatures. It enables t.he soul to form a true judgment of human things--to see clearly its own conduct and the conduct of others. It is this gift that is activated particularly in the dark nights of the soul, making the soul see its sinfulness and the nothingness of created things. Like the gift of understand-ing, this gift also perfects faith. The gift of counsel looks to the direction of particular actions--what to do here and now under these circumstances. What faith, wisdom, and knowledge teach in general, counsel applies in particular. This gift corresponds to the virtue of prudence, which prescribes the means for attaining the end. Three gifts perfect the will. Piety excites the soul to a filial affection toward God. The virtue of religion and the gift of piety both lead us to the worship and service of God. But religion considers God as Creator, while piety looks to Him as Father. Piety reaches not only to-God, but to everything and everybody connected with Him; hdnce to Holy Scripture, the saints, the souls in purgatory. It corresponds to the virtue of justice and governs us in our relations with others. With regard to ourselves two gifts come into play. Forti. rude stimulates us against the fear of dangers or human respect, enabling us to resist certain strong temptations, to undertake arduous works for God. It corresponds to the virtue of forti-tude. The other gift regarding ourselves is fear of the Lord. The~e are two kinds of fear, that of tl~e slave who fears the lash, the punishment, and that of the son who fears to sadden. his father by offending him. The first is called servile, fear and has no place in the gift. Rather it is filial fear, which looks 141 PAUL V~. O'BRIEN Review for Religious chiefly to God and deters us from offending Him. Thus it perfects hope. But it also makes us avoid that which most attracts us to sin, namely the delights of the world; and in this respect it corresponds to the virtue of temperance. This gift of fear of the Lord is the basis of all others, for the first step on the way to God is a reverence for Him that makes us flee sire Ordinary and Extraordinary Action of the Holy Spirit It is a great consolation to the soul to know that as long as it is in the state of grace it possesses all the gifts of the Holy Spirit and is therefore under the guidance of the Holy Spirii. However this guidance varies according to the disposition of the soul and its fidelity. It is not a felt guidance, and great activity of the Holy Spirit may' pass unnoticed in the soul and may be guessed at only because of its effects. It is through this action of the Holy Spirit that various vocations are realized, as step by step He leads the soul to the fulfillment of His eternally determined plan. In acting through the gifts, the Holy Spirit may enter our lives in two ways. One is the ordinary way, inasmuch as He conforms to the ,natural workings of our intellect and will, elevated of course by grace, taking occasion from sermons, our spiritual reading, our meditations, to inspire us with good thoughts. We experience greater light, a more intense love; and yet our intellects are reasoning in the way they have always reasoned; and our wills are loving as they have always loved. Even the acts to whic~h the Holy Spirit will lead us are acts accord with our nature, within the sphere of reason enlightened by faith. Through this constant influence of the Holy Spirit in our ordinary actions, the soul may arrive at a high degree sanctity, without being consciously aware of this intense activity of the Holy Spirit through His gifts. Though heroic sanctity is attainable through this ordinary mode of action of the Holy Spirit, it is more common to find in the saints the more extraordinary mode of action by which 142 May, 1958 GIFTS OF THE; HOLY, SPIRIT our faculties, through these same gifts, are given a new way acting~or reach out for .objects naturally outside their normal' sphere. This extraordinary action of the Holy Spirit takes various t~orms: in one, it will be the way oi~ infused contemplation, com-monly called the mystic life, which is generally brought about through the intense activation of the gifts of wisdom, under-standing, and knowledg~gifts that perfect th~ intellect. Ex-amples of such action may be found in~ the great contemplatives, St. ~John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila. It is well to note that. the gifts of ~wisdom .and understanding may.be present in' a soul in a. high degree without the soul being conscious of. them or without their producing infused contemplation, which is 'but one of the possible forms of their influence. ¯ In another, the' e~traordinar.y' action of the Holy" Spirit will direct the soul to a more active and apostolic life, in which the gifts which are directed more to action (e.g, counsel and fortitude) predominate.' Such a soul was ~Sto Vincent de' Paul, who seems not to ~have en'joyed .infused contemplation/ but who led a life of heroic charity. In still others, God's acti6n works toward a combination of these lives, as with the great contemplative~ ipostles,' St. Paul; St. Ignatius,-St. Francis Xavier. Thd form which this' action of the Holy Spilit Will take will depend on the vocation and work to Which God has destined the soul. BUt whethe~ the mode of action be ordin~iry or extraordinary, no sanctity is possible without this habi~hal docility to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit; ai~d this docility is at-tained through the gifts. Our Practical Attitude " There is .no soul in love with God that d6es not desire to be completely under .the sway of the Spirit \of Love. ¯ And, since this" direction will come about especially through the gifts oi~ the Holy Spirit, there is no" soul that does not long to possess 143 PAUL V~r. O'BRIEN these gifts in all the fullness that God may be pleased to grant. Since an incoming inspiration seems to enlarge the capacity of ~the gifts, our desires for the increase of the gifts are really desires that God may be ever more generous with His inspira-tions. Our problem, then, is one of fidelity to. these inspirations and the growth of our desires that the ego may decrease while God and His influence are !ncreasing. However, there is a certain preparation that can be made.' And here we may return to our "radio-receiver." For good reception, the air must be. clear, free from "interference," free from ~'jamming." Alas, how often our little "gift-receivers" are shut out from the impulses of God's grace by the interfer-ence of passion and prejudice, and by the jamming of worldli-ness and the clamor of creatures. We must clear the air through purity of heart--striving with all our might until an emptiness of self has cleared the way for His divine influence. But it is not enough to .have the air cleared; we must be "tuned-in." The soul must be recollected, attentive to God, tuned-in to the Holy Spirit, not trusting in the initial impulses and guidance of its reason, but turning with evei-increasing fre-quency, as He gives the measure, to the Holy Spirit for the inspiration and continuation of our works. When our part is done, the rest will depend on the source of the impulses. But here we have no difficulty; for the source of our inspirations is God with His power, His attractiveness, His clarity. His part will never fail. The trouble can only be in the receiver. We must go forward therefore in confidence, trying to bring home to ourselves the beauty, the security, the divineness of a life lived under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The measure of that life in us will depend in great part on the strength of our desires. We will long for it, struggle for it, and keep begging for it as we implore the Spirit .of Love in His sevenfold gift (septiformis munere) to come in all His full-ness into our hearts. Come Holy Spirit! 144 Current: Spirit:u l rit:ing Thomas ~,. O'C~lhgh~n, S.,J. St. Th~rhse of Lisieux A VERY NOTABLE event occurred two years ago in the field of hagiography. It was the publication of the auto-biographical manuscripts of St. Th~r~se of Lisieux.1 o.ne point of great interest in this was that the saint's own handwritten manuscripts--there are three of them--were photographically re: produced in their origina/ form: two copybooks (one. of eighty-four leaves and the other of thirty-seven) and a letter (five leaves). Accompanying the published manuscripts were the editor's three volumes of scholarly, most interesting, and helpful notes. For many years readers of St. Therese s autobiography, The Story of a Soul, have known that the printed account which they were reading did not agree perfectly with the autograph manuscript. For example, the preface of a 1924 French edition made it quite clear that there had b~en changes in the text. The very awareness of these changes aroused the desire of hagi-ographers and devotees of Th~rhse to know exactly what the original manuscripts had said. These autograph manuscripts had been iCor many years in the care of Mother Agnes of Jesus, a sister (Pauline) of Th~se a~d prioress of the Carmel at Lisieux. When she was asked to have them published, she arranged to have this done after her death. Thus, in 1952, a year after her death, a beginning was made under the direction of Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D., the eminent Carmelite spiritual theologian. When he died the following year, the work was entrusted to Father Francis of St. Mary, O.C.D., who has completed the task most successfully and admirably. ~ Manuscrits ~utobiogra~hiques de 8ainte Thgr?se de l'EnfantJesus, Carmel de Lisieux, 1956. 145 THOMAS ~,. O~CALLAGHAN Review for Religious Whatever one's opinion might have been before this present publication, it is now quite clear that The Story of a Soul is not really a book, nor even a spiritual diary. It is rather a com-pilation of three manuscripts, all written during the last three years of the saint's life. The first of these, the larger of the two copybooks, was written during the course of 1895 at the request of the above-mentioned Mother Agnes of Jesus. She, as prioress at the time, asked Th~r~se to write her childhood memories. At that time there was no intention of publishing them; they were to be only "un souvenir de famille." This manuscript became the first eight chapters of the autobiography. The second manuscript, written during September, 1896, was a letter to her sister Marie, Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart, who had asked Th~r~se to explain her "little way of confidence and love." This letter, also never intended originally for publi-cation, became by reason of its importance Chapte~ XI of the autobiography. The third manuscript, written during June, 1897, three months before Thgr~se's death, was the second copybook. This was written at the request of Mother Mary of Gonzaga, the prioress at that time-~Mother Agnes of Jesus, her predecessor in office, very diplomatically persuaded her to request it--and was intended to serve as the basis of a short biographical account which by custom would be sent to other Carmels after Th~r~se's death. Although it was written nine months after the letter to Sister Marie, just mentioned above, it preceded it in the auto-biography and became the substance of Chapters IX and X. These, then, are the t.hree manuscripts from which was drawn the autobiography of Th~r~se of Lisieux. When, a few months before the saint's death, there arose the question of the publication of them, Th~r~se gave Mother Agne.s of Jesus the permission to edit them as she thought fit. Mother .Agnes did just ~hat (and, because of various reasons and personalities in-volved, it was perfectly legitimate to do so). "In fact," says Father Francis, the editor, after comparing the manuscripts with 146 May, 1958 CURRENT SPIRITUAL WRITING ihe published version of the autobiography, "Mother Agnes of Jesus rewrote the autobiography of Thgr~se" (I, 78). '~ What did Mother Agnes change? How serious were these changes? How did they alter the real Th~r~se? Since we cannot answer these questions in this very brief survey--un-doubtedly many articles will be written during the next few years on these precise questions--we would like to recommend a very fine article, "Saint Th~se," written by Sally S. Cunneen, in Jubilee (October, 1957). It is an article which makes for most pleasant and interesting reading. Faith and Love St. John the Evangelist dedicates a large part of his writings to .the development of his teaching on love. In his account of the public ministry of our Lord, the first twelve chapters of his Gospel, he unfolds some of this teaching by°showing the relation-ship 0f love to faith. It is this relationship of Johannine love and faith that Father Barrosse, C.S.C., makes the subject of a very scholarly and fine article.2 As a help to one's spiritual life, many points in this article are well worth study and reflection. First, for St. John, what is faith? It is not merely an in-tellectual assent to a list of revealed propositions. For the be-loved disciple faith means to believe in Christ, to accept "Jesus for what He is . . . the Son of God sent or come into the world" (p. 540). BUt, as Son of God, Christ is God's image, and thus God's revelation of Himself. Christian faith, then, means to accept Christ as God's revelation of Himself to men. It is not merely, however, a spdculative knowledge about God which Christ reveals. He desires also to reveal to men God's inner life by offering them an experience of it, a share of God's own life. To do this w~is the salvific mission of Christ. Faith for St. John, then, means to accept Cl~ris~ as the "Son of God who has come into" the world as God's salvific manifestation 2t'The Relationship of Love to Faith in St. John," Theological Studies, XVIII (1957), 538-59. 147 THOMAS G. O'CALLAGHAN Review for Religiou~ of Himself to men" (p. 543). This really demands in practice a complete surrender of one's entire person to the living person of Christ. But what is the relatiorr of this Johannine faith to love? Perhaps the following summary answer of the author to that question will be an indication of the important matter which he treats in the article and how profit, able a study of it could be. .In Christ God offers Himself to men out of love. Christ is the concrete manifestation of God's love in the world. To believe in Christ means to accept Him as God's offer of Himseli:; in other words, it means to comply with the advances of God's love. Those who love themselves inordinately, who desire a glory independent of the borrowed glory they can have from God in Christ or who love the evil which they have apart from God, can only reject the offer of God's love and refuse to believe. Only those who love God's glory and who therefore love. Christ, the manifestation and offer of that glory, will accept the advances of God's love. These are the men who have the "love of God" within them. (p. 559) The Rosary There are two parts to the rosary devotion: the recitation of the Paters and Aves (vocal prayer.) and meditation on the mysteries of the life of Christ and Mary (men~al prayer). Of these two, the latter is the. more important; it is the soul of the rosary devotion. But it is also the more difficult. What makes it so difficult? Father Paul Mahoney, O.P., selects, three of the main difficulties and offers some practical remedies.~ These dif-ficulties are: inattention, inability to probe the mysteries, and disunity of thought. The first difficulty, then, and perhaps the most common, i.s inattention or the lack of attention or the "inabilit~ to keep the mind and imagination centered upon one idea for even a short period of time" (p. 427). There are several causes of this. The first is a lack of proper training; a person has never learned to concentrate; and, thus, over the years the bad habit of inatten-tion has developed. In such cases, the opposite habit must be 3 "Difficulties with Rosary, Meditation," Cross and Cro~zn, IX (1957), 426-33. 148 May, 1958 CURREI~ SPIRITUAL WRITING formed by deliberate effort. Perhaps this is best done, when say-ing the rosary, by taking only One thought for each decade and deliberately concentrating on it during the recitation of the ten Ave$. "Another cause of inattention is neglecting to make a conscious intention before saying the Rosary" (p. 428). Since the ~osary is such a fruitful devotion when said fervently, a devotion worthy of our very best efforts, it is Very important, before starting it, to make a firm intention to recite it well. And, since the desire to finish our prayers quickly can stifle fervor, our intention should include the resolve to take our time and avoid rush. A second difficulty in meditating during the rosary is "an inability to probe the mysteries. Many fed incompetent to meditate on the mysteries of ~he Rosary." (p. 429) A very basic mistake here is to confuse prayerful meditation with theo-logical speculation. The latter is by no means necessary. For the former all we need are a fe~v spiritual thoughts which will lead to will-acts of adoration, contrition, thanksgiving, love, hope, humility, and the like. But where will we find these few spiritual thoughts? They can be easily gathered from an attentive read-ing of the New Testament, the Missal, and Breviary, especially those passages which pertain to the rosary mysteries. Everyone should have a little collection--mental, or even better, written-- of spiritually helpful rosary thoughts. For the third difficulty, disunity of thought, and its solution, we shall refer the reader to the article itself. A summary of it would only be confusing. Despite the difficulties that are attached to fruitful recitation of the Rosary, we must make the effort. Repeated beginnings, labor, aridity, and perseverance are the price that must be paid for mastery of the Rosary. But once victorious, the soul can confidently expect what is promised in the prayer for the feast of the Holy Rosary: imitation of what is contained in the mysteries and possession of what they promise. (p. 433) 149 THOM~,S G. O'CALLAGHAN Review for Religious Catholics and Neurosis What can Catholics do to modify or prevent neurotic reactions? The answer to this question is given in a very solid and clear article by Father James F. Moynihan, S.J., the chair-man of the Department of Modern Psychology at Boston College.4 A neurosis is a minor mental disorder, psychological in origin, which is characterized by personality maladjustment, but which does not usually require commitment to a mental hospital. The formative process of such a disorder, says Father Moynihan, "seems to involve a certain type of personality who~ in some conflict causing anxiety, finds a solution iri pathological (neurotic) symptoms" (p. 248). Thus, at th~ core of a neurosis is an anxiety. Depending upon the manner in which a person reacts to and resolves this anxiety, his behavior .is either normal or neurotic. The main purpose of Father Moynihan's article is to point out ~ome of the elements of a solid spiritual life which help a Catholic to adjust himself and to react to anxiety normally. We will limit ourselves here merely to his observation on humility. "Good mental health has a very definite correlatidn with an old-fashioned virtue which we call humility, yet not so old fashioned that it has not crept back into our current literature on personality and personality-adjustment. We can, to be sure, have some very distorted ideas on just what humility means, yet certainly an honest appraisal of one's own excellence is basic to the concept. The person with a balanced sense of his own qualifications, with a real sense of humility, is not confounded' by the limitations inherent in his own personality make-up. He need not look upon them as evidence of personal inferiority. For he realizes that limitations are the common lot of humanity; that he is a man and not a god. Nor does he need to hide in fantasy and self-excuse, or develop the Cinderella complex of self-pity with its inevitable concomitants of envy, jeal-ousy, and a sour-grapes attitude. In fact, a sense of humility is the basis for a real semse of humor which psychologists associate with the mature personality because it prevents us from taking ourselves too seriously and helps us to realize that our human experience is a shared ~xperience. This virtue of humility, manifested in a self- 4"Catholics and Neurosis," Spiritual Life, III (1957), 247-56. 150 May, 1958 ~URRENT SPIRITUAL WRITING concept that is objective and realistic, can, of course, be strengthened by faith in God's abiding presence so that it will lead the individual to a degree of confidence in which he can say with Saint Paul: can do all things in him who strengthens me." (p. 252) Venial Sin Although venial sin is not destructive of charity nor incom-patible with the state of grace, one should not underestimate its harmful effects on the spiritual life. Father Jordan Aumann, O.P., in a brief but fine article on the nature of venial sin and its relation to charity and perfection, enumerates and comments on four of the more important effects of venial sin.5 "First, venial sin lessens the fervor of charity and decreases thg soul's generosity in the service of God. Secondly, venial sin or zhe attachment to venial sin deprives the soul of many graces and inspirations . Thirdly, venial sin makes the practice of the virtues increasingly difficult." Finally, and this effect follows from the preceding, "venial sin gradually disposes for mortal sin." (pp. 268-69) From such effects it is quite clear that venial sin builds up in the soul a strong barrier to the perfect love of God and to Christian perfection. The Liturgy Sign and causality: these are two key words in sacramental theology. For a sacrament is a sensible sign which causes grace. When St. Thomas treated the sacraments, he carefully balanced these two elements of sign and causality. Before his time, how-ever, emphasis had been placed on the idea of sign; and after him, especially since the sixteenth century, the stress has been mostly on causality, the idea of sign being relegated to a definitely inferior place. To show that this imbalance, the overemphasis on causality, has impoverished the role of the sacraments~ in the spiritual life is the purpose of a very solid and interesting article by Father Godfrey Diekmann, O.S.B., the editor of Worship.e 5"Venial Sin and Christian Per~%ction," Cross and Cro¢wn, IX (1957), 262-70. e"Two Approaches to Understanding the Sacraments," I¢~orshi~, XXXI (1957), 504-20. 151 THOMAS G. O'CALLAGHAN Review for Religious A sacrament is a sign; thus, it is something which leads to the knowledge of something else; it instructs. "In the case of the sacraments it is Christ who instructs, insofar as He chose the sign; and it is the Church too that instructs, inasmuch as she expanded and further explained the essential sign, by surround-ing it with additional rites ~ind prayers" (p. 507). In the sacraments, then, Christ and the Church are our instructors, our teachers. The sacraments are also causes; but they cause what they signify. It is only a proper reading of the sign, therefore, which will instruct us as to what is being caused. This is im-portant. It was, for example, the neglect of the sign of the Eucharist--food, necessary for nourishment, growth, strength --that led to the neglect of frequent Communion for such a long time. In the spiritual life what have been the consequences of overstr.essing during the last few centuries the element of causality and of neglecting that of sign? Here briefly are some of Father Diekmann's interesting observations in answering that question. First, an overemphasis on the causality of the sacraments in the production of grace has resulted in an overshadowing and obscuring of the important role of faith in the process of salva-tion and sanctification. In fact, the Protestant rebellion was in part an attempt to restore faith to its proper and significant place. Another result has been "a more or less mechanistic view of the sacraments" (p. 510), that is, a sacrament is a "holy thing which contains and confers grace" (ibid.). Thus is lost the notion of the sacraments as bein_g the saving actions of Christ, a continuation of the priestly activity of Christ. "F~x opere ol~erato means really, ex opere operantis Christi . " (ibid.). A third result of overstressing causality was the narrowing down of the sign to what was necessary for validity and a neglect, therefore, of what Christ and the Church through a full sign '152 May~ 1958 CURRENT SPHtITUAL WRITING have been trying to teach about the effects of the sacrament. Another consequence has been an overemphasis on the Triden-tine phrase non loonentibus obicem, not placing a hindrance; thus, a negative, passive approach in the reception of the sacra-ments has been inculcated, not that positive disposition of faith and devotion which St. Thomas taught and fostered. These unfortunate but logical consequences of this over-stressing of the element of causality are being corrected in ~0od part today by modern liturgical-theological writing, which is re-establishing the proper balance between sign and causality. The article continues with some most interesting points about the relation of the sacra'ments and sacramentals, the social nature of the sacraments, the sacraments as acts of worship-- this last point rarely being given its proper importance and at-tention.' This is truly an excellent article and well worth careful reading and study. Priests will find both interest and inspiration in "The Pas-toral Value of the Word of God," an exceptionally fine paper read at the Assisi Liturgical Congress by Father Augustine Bea, S.J., consultor of the Sacred Congregation of Rites and t~ormer rector of the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome.7 The ques-tion which Father Bea answers is: What is the pastoral function, importance, and efficacy of the word of God (i.e. of Sacred Scripture) in the sacred liturgy? His answer is most important for one who is both "minister of the word" and '"minister of the Sacrament," the priest. At the Last Supper our Lord "created the type of the principal liturgical function of His Church: close union of the word with sacrificial action" (p. 243). For on that evening His sacrifice was surrounded with His words of teaching, en-couragement, and exhortation. It is therefore quke understand- 7 Tile Clergy Mont/i/y, XXI (1957), 241-54. This and all the other papers read at the congress appear in The /lssisi Patters (Collegeville, Minn.: The Liturgical Press, 1957). 153 THOMAS G. O'CALLAGHAN Review for Religious able that the three elements: Sacred Scripture (Epistle and Gospel), explanation (homily), and Eucharistic Sacrifice, should be "a characteristic mark of Catholic worship" (p. 242). Sacred Scripture has of its very self, since it is the word of God, a marvelous pastoral efficacy. But when thisword of God (together with its explanation in the homily) is united to the Eucharistic Sacrifice, this pastoral value is increased and intensified. This is why "the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit . . . , has united the reading and explanation of the word of God with the offering of the eucharistic Sacrifice in one great liturgical unity and has desired that the same priest be 'minister of the word' and 'minister of the Sacrament' " (p. 250). Most of us are not too familiar with devotional practices among Christians of the Eastern rite churches. Consequently, an informative and interesting article on Russian icons is most welcome,s According to the dictionary' icon means image, portrait, statue; and, as related to the Eastern Church, it means a sacred painting or mosaic. Such a definition,, however, might be a bit misleading, for not every sacred painting is an icon nor is a true icon painter concerned with making mosaics. Icons originated in Egypt long before the time of Christ. "In its original form it was a representation, made in the encaustic method, of a deceased person and placed by relatives on the mummy case of that person" (p. 322). These pictures or paintings were not perfect and exact portraits, but distinguish-ing characteristics of the person were. sufficiently retained so that the subject was recognizable. What was of major import-ance, however, was that the picture look "alive." To attain this vital quality special attention and emphasis was given to the eyes. S Mary Corkran, "Russian Icons," Cross and Crown, IX (1957), 321-29. 154 May, 1958 CURRENT SPIRITUAL WRITING This type of painting was later copied and adopted by the Christians. They retained the characteristic design and coloring, and even something of the purpose of the icon, to commemorate the dead. But in the Christian tradition, obviously, the subject changed and became the Savior, our Blessed Lady, the saints, and many characters from the Old Testament. Also, in the more elaborate icons, there were whole scenes taken from the Old or New Testament. These icons were not considered merely as decorative re-ligious paintings. To the Oriental Christians icons were sacred objects, blessed by the Church, and "honored as Special symbols of the person they represented" (p. 323). They had a very real place in both public and private devotion. "In the churches were splendid images of our Lord, Our Lady and the saints, each of them having its own special place. Many of the smaller ones were taken down and displayed for public devotion, or carried in procession, on the appropriate feast days. The larger and prinicpal icons were fixed and, before the beginning of a service, the worshiper made what amounted to a holy pilgrimage among Christ and the saints, bowing low before each one and perhaps lighting a candle or two" for private devotions (pp. 324- 25). Each home had its iittle oratory where there were enshrined icons of the Savior, our Lady, and favorite saints. This was the center for the family life of prayer. Among the countless icons in honor of our Blessed Mother, some of the most venerated are those portraying our Lady of Tenderness. These picture the Blessed Mother, her eyes ex-pressing interior grief, looking down upon her Child, while He, looking up to her, puts his hand to her face in a loving desire to comfort her in her sorrow. Our Lady of Tenderness must certainly be looking down with eyes of interior grief upon her Russian children today. Let us hope and pray that they will look back to her. Prayer St. Teresa of Jesus said in her Life that mental prayer is nothing but a friendly conversation with God who knows and 155 THOMAS G. 0'CALLAGHA.N loves us. For her, mental prayer was not a mere duty, an impersonal ascetic practice, but a real personal relationship with God. In "The Realm of Prayer" Romano Guardini tries to insist upon the same point.~ After stating that the "first step into prayer is self-recollection" and that the second is "visual-izing (before the inner eye) the'reality of God," he states that the third is "seeking His holy face. In this the worshiper tries to establish, or rather to give expression and effect to, the 'I-thou' relationship with God which is man's birthright." (p. 12) God, to whom we speak and pour out our heart in prayer, knows and loves each of us intimately and personally. To Him we are individual persons, not merely blurred parts of a countless throng. He has called each of us to an intimate personal relationship of love with Him. "Into this mystery of love. one enters through prayer." This is what it means to seek "the face of God" or, as one may put it, the "heart of God." Prayer must be a person-to-person relationship, a per-sonal affair. Not merely to seek, but especially to find the "face and heart" of a personal God in prayer, is undoubtedly difficult. There are distractions which come upon the soul from both without and within. This shows the need for "the right attitude, both outwardly and inwardly: collectedness at the beginning and discipline during prayer" (pp. 10-11). But these of themselves will never suffice. The key to the answer is in faith. "In this concealment, darkness, and void, my faith must seek out His countenance and His heart so that I may direct my prayer to Him. I must establish the inner point of contact and hold on to it, when--as constantly happens--it tries to elude me." (p. 12) Faith must seek out His holy face and heart. Without that there can be no personal conversation with Him who loves US. ~Jubilee, December, 1957. 156 Do We Know Our Own Mot:her? Sister M. Annice, C.S.C. RECENTLY IT occurred to me that I have had devotion to our Blessed Mother as long as I can remember. Fortu-nately for me as for millions of other Catholics, my good parents introduced me to the Mother of God as soon as I could grasp anything through pictures, statues, and the words of prayers relating to Mary. This process involved both ex-perience and some formal learning. It was not a matter of one exclusive of the other. No doubt, it would generally be granted by most o~ us that our imaginations and affections, our emotions and thoughts were all at work as we gradually grew in the knowledge and love of the Mother of Christ. Every new insight into the mysteries of the rosary brought its emotional repercussion of joy, sorrow, love, confidence, etc. That is completely normal to the psychological structure of humaa nature. Added to this, we also. received that special endowment from God, supeknatural grace, moving us to know and love His Mother more intimately and to seek her he(p and friendship. And yet, asI listened to Father Patrick Peyton, C.S.C., recently, I began to wonder if some of us actually do know Christ's Mother as realistically and intelligently as we might. Are we not too satisfied to constantly petition Mary for every-thing that we want and to say a good many perfunctory prayers? In complete, adulthood, with a wondrous capacity for superna-tural love and a developed mind able to seek more complete knowledge of her mysterious privileges, do we not still _act toward Mary as we did at the age of adolescence? When I heard Father Peyton speak of Mary as "omnipotent" in her inter-cessory power with her divine Son, I knew that I had never before experienced this same surprise and joy. And in that same week as I .was leafing through a little booklet entitled, 157 SISTER M. ANNICE Review for Religious Liturgical Novenas to Mary,I I was again profoundly im-pressed when I read, "The Lord gave thee His own power, for through thee He completely overcame our enemies." Thus it "dawned" on me that I had not given enough attention'or thought to the Blessed Mother's prerogative of participation in divine power. Now, should anyone wish to know more about this great privilege purely for the sake o~c possessing great knowledge? Assuredly not! Its fruits should be growth in the love of, and confidence in, the Mother of God. These virtues will not develop without some "culturing," some ground in which to take root and grow. Granting, of course, that only God can give us the grace of these supernatural virtues, we are still re-quired to cooperate with God in this action. And this requires effort on the part of our faculties to dispose us better for the receiving of God's grace. Now in this case it would seem that to consciously cooperate with God, we ought to make use of our ability to learn greater, and deeper, truths about God's Mother. It is, then, in this spirit that we propose to consider some-thing of that power of Mary which is said to be next to omni-potent. But to understand Mary's power, even in a partial way, is to understand better the stupendous gifts of grace be-stowed on her by God, in view of her divine maternity. The expression used by the angel Gabriel at the annuncia-tion must be truly the best signification of Mary's unique privilege. It would seem that the title "full of grace" could not then be improved upon by-man. But what we do with the interpretation of the angel's salutation is bound to fall short of the reality signified, which was Mary's real state of soul. Full-ness of grace is generally to be understood as a superabundance of holiness. Mary's sanctity was unquestionably inferior to the 1Published by the Benedictine Convent of Perpetual Adoration, Clyde, Missouri. 158 May, 1958 Do WE KNOW OUR MOTHIi~? created sanctity of her divine Son in proportion as the divine motherhood falls short of the prerogative of the' hypostatic union. This beautiful prayer, composed by the archangel, is at the same time a perfect description of the woman chosen by the Second Person of. the Trinity to be His own Mother. Here was the one human being preserved from the stain of sin, the frightful darkness of spiritual death, and in no way subject .to the influence of Satan. Mary. must certainly have received from God a greater fullness of grace than any other mere creature; for Christ, her divine Son, the Son of God, is the principle of grace, that is, the very author of grace. Now the more closely one approaches the source or principle of anything, the more he participates in the effect of that principle. And the Blessed Mother was the nearest one to Christ in His humanity because He assumed His human nature from her alone. For this reason it is held by Catholic theologians that the sanctity of Mary transcends the sanctity of all the saints in heaven and sur-passes even that of the highest angels. Upon this p~rfect creature Christ depended for His physical life His flesh and blood. From her He drew His beauty of figure and features, His sensitive hands, His majestic head, and His eternally lighted, gentle, but piercing eyes. She was at the same time the mother of this babe with a human nature and this divine Person, Christ the Son of God. The great holiness and power of Mary which we reverently hope to understand better are inseparable from her Immaculate Conception. This privilege of our Lady was Solemnly defined by the Church as an article of faith. His Holiness, Pope Pius IX, on December 8, 1854, solemnly pronounced the dogma: We declare, pronounce, aad Vdefine that the doctrine that holds that the Blessed Virgin Mary in the first instant of her conception was kept entirely free from the stain of original sin by a singular grace and privilege of Almighty God, in view of the foreseen merits of Christ Jesus, the Savior of mankind--We declare, pronounce and 159 SISTER M. ANNICE P~eview for Religious define that this doctrine has been revealed by God and. therefore must be firmly and constantly believed by all the t:aithful.-° The p.rivilege itself, which Pope Pius IX declared to, be a part of revelation, is Mary's actual preservation from original sin through the merits of Jesus Christ and is revealed implicitly or confusedly in the book .of Genesis (3:15). God's own words spoken to Satan are, "I will put enmities between thee and the woman and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel." Christian scholars and exegetes have interpreted this passage as God's first enun-ciation of His victory over the devil through the plan of the promised Messiah. In an implicit way Mary is undeniably mentioned here. For Christ, the Savior is the posterity of "the woman" in conflict with the posterity of the serpent. Further-more, this victory over Satan would not have been complete if Mary had not been preserved from the stain of original sin by the merits of her divine Son. We' may say that, as a whole plant is contained in a tiny seed, the Immaculate Con-ception of the Messiah's Mother is contained in the promise of God recorded in Genesis. From the writings of both Greek and Latin Fathers there is evidence that they held as part of their ancient tradition the two principal ideas which implicitly contain the dogma of the Immaculate Conception; namely, Mary's absolute purity and the contrast between her and Eve, the~,first mother of mankind. Yet the Eastern Church seems from the first to have. had a clearer conception of the dogma itself. However, the controversial period in the West which led to a gradual clarification of the dogma must be recognized as a providential act--a kind of blessing in disguise. So much sincere, honest debating, discussing, and resolving of difficulties by the best minds in the Church was a splendid theological education and orientation of the minds 'of the faithful. Indeed, the whole '-'Thomas J. M. Burke, S.J. (ed.), Mary and the Po$es (New York: The America Press, 1954), pp. 43, 44. 160 May, 1958 DO WE KNOW OUR MOTHER? movement may well have been the main factor which helped to bring about the solemn definition of the dogma by Pope Plus IX in 1854. The second phase of Mary's plentitude of grace refers to her increase of grace at the Incarnation of the Word. The Fathers of the'Church hold that Mary conceived the Word spiritually, as it were, by an act of faith and charity before she conceived Him physically. Thus, she conceived Christ intellectually and volitionally by the act of her holy will before He descended into her blessed womb. And St. Thomas has told us that Mary's fullness of grace increased at the Incarna-tion of her divine Son, giving as the cause of this the mutual love of Jesus and Mary. This new increase of grace is con-sidered the immediate or proximate preparation disposing Mary for the miracle of divine motherhood. Since the grace had to be proportionate to this perfection, it seems that a special grace from the Word efficiently caused Mary to be properly united with Divinity itself. She. is thus the unique creature, who, by giving to Christ His human body, is really included in the divine plan of bringing the Son .of God into the world. The moment that Christ entered into Mary He undoubt-edly produced in her an increase of divine love such as had never been experienced by any soul on eaith. For no other being was ever to have the privilege of giving Him His very flesh and blood. Rather, He was ever afterward to give it for them and to them, on the cross, in the Eucharistic Sacrifice, and in Holy Communion. Since grace is the effect of God's active love for His creatures, the mutual love of Mary and her Son must also have brought about a constant increase of grace in her soul. For God loves all men, yet loves the elect in a special way. Surely then, His unique love of His own Mother would effect an immeasurable superabundance of grace in her. It is extremely important to understand that God gave Himself so freely to Mary's soul as to constitute it in a strictly unique state of holiness. Hers was/~ love of the highest natural 161 SISTER M. ANNICE Review for Religious as well as supernatural level, and she was entirely responsive to her Son's love for her. All souls seem to have a kind of unlimited obediential potency or capacity for knowledge and love which God freely makes use of to lead them to the beatific vision. Yet they are born shackled and earth-bound by Adam's sin. Light and love must be admitted into their souls through the instrument of sacramental baptism. But in Mary we find, as we have said above, a person entirely preserved from the blight of sin in her very being, life, and powers. From the very origin of her life her judgment was clear and her appetites pure and virtuous. Thus they were like clean arrows coming forth from an absolutely pure source. The Psalmist expresses something of the mightiness of such a person in the words, "Who is this that cometh up from the desert, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army in battle array?" (Cant. of Cant. 6:9). It is surely with justifiable reasons that theologians teach that grace increased constantly in Mary's soul throughout her life. While we know that Mary's graces had limits set to them, since they were in a human soul and thus not absolute, we do not know, nor does it seem possible for us to fully understand, to what degree of holiness she attained as she progressed to-ward the end of her earthly life. The growth of charity in any soul causes the will to avoid sin and cling more lovingly and generously" to God. True charity also extends to all men after first extending to God, thus uniting all souls in Godhthe greatest joy that can come to us on earth and a kind of imita-tion of our beatified life. The Church teaches us that merit, prayer, and reception of the sacraments are the requisite means for growth in charity. Of course, God alone can produce this divine virtue in man's soul; and His love is ultimately the reason for any infusion of grace into a soul. But good acts may contribute to one's increase in grace by disposing the soul for it and, in a way, morally meriting that reward. Moreover, St. Thomas teaches that where acts of charity are not remiss 162 May, 1958 Do WE KNOW OUR MOTHER? (short of that which the soul is capable of) the soul receives the reward immediately and thus grows in grace progressively. Surely, all of Mary's acts of charity were such as to receive immediate reward and her consequent progress is again im-measurable. Mary's prayers, next after her divine Son's, must also have been the most efficacious ever uttered on earth. They thus not only had the most meritorious but also the most im-petratory value. For these are proportionate to the humility, confidence, and perseverence of the one praying and surely Mary excelled in all of these virtues. After considering Mary's initial fullness of grace and her continuous development in God's love and grace, we come finally to the unique grace of her Assumption into heaven. The Church has explicitly defined this privilege of Mary as an article of faith. Toward the end o~ the Holy Year, 1950, our present Holy Father solemnly pronounced the dogma that "The Mother of God was assumed body and soul into heaven." Since this dogma is so closely related to that of the Immaculate Conception, which we have been considering, it will be sufficient to recall that from the sixth century forward the departure of the Blessed Mother from this world has been celebrated in the liturgy of the Church for August 15. And it can be accepted without question that the death of the Blessed Virgin cannot be regarded as a penalty for personal sin, nor as the effect of original sin. Thus again, it is through theological argument, proceeding on premises that are a part of divine revelation, that the Church arrives at valid conclusions about the Assumption of Mary. The state of incorruptibility of the Blessed Mother's sacred body is the first fact which is inferred. Since the Mother of God is associated in such a singular manner in the triumph of her Son over Sat.an, she shares in the privilege of being preserved from the penalty of death and decay in the grave. It is accepted that the Blessed Mother who is "the woman" spoken of in the Protoevangelium won a threefold victory over Satan; namely, over sin by her Immaculate Conception, over 163 SISTER M. ANNICE Review for Religious concupiscence by heq virginal motherhood, and over death which is a penalty for~ s~n" by a triumphant resurrection similar to that of her divine Son. Thus, we may say' that the Blessed Mother, side by side with her divine Son, triumphs over death and corruption. The dogma of our Lady's Assumption is so closely associ-ated with her Immaculate Conception that it is almost surprising that the papal proclamation on the former took place a whole century later than the Immaculate Conception. Yet they are two very distinct and separate privileges even though the in-corruptibility of Mary's body is to be inferred from her complete preservation from sin and her virginal purity. Perhaps no one has more beautifully and emphatically pointed out the close relationship between these unique privileges than His Holiness, Pope Pius XII. In his encyclical, Fulgens Corona, he asserts: From now on the faithful can meditate more deeply and more profitably on the mystery of the Immaculate Conception. For there is a most intimate connection between the two dogmas. The mar-velous wisdom and harmony of the divine plan by which God wished that Mary be free from all stain of original sin emerge more fully and clearly in the light of the assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven. Thd promulgation of this doctrine has shown it to be the crown and perfection of that earlier privilege bestowed upon her. These two illustrious privileges, then, stand out in radiant glory, the one as the commencement, the other as the crown of her earthly life. The total innocence of her soul free from every vestige of sin has as its counterpart and fulfillment the total glorification of her virginal body. Since she was intimately associated with her Son in His struggle against the foul serpent of hell, so also she shares in His glorious victory over sin and its tragic effects? Having considered briefly the unique graces of our Blessed Mother, we ought surely to grasp somewhat better the reasons for her great power in obtaining graces for all men. We .must also realize more profoundly that by her divine motherhood Mary participated in the love, holiness, and power of God, in a way possible to no other of His creatures. As a concluding consideration we might ask ourselves, Precisely how does Mary 30p. cit., p. 14. 164 May, 1958 Do WE KNOW OuR MOTHER? enter into the very act of' our salvation? For we know in a general way that she is coredemptrix of the whole human race and that her mediation like her motherhood is truly universal. The general teaching of the Church regarding Mary's causality in our sanctification is that of moral causality. virtue of this causality Mary is present by an affective presence in the souls of those who are in the state of grace and pray to her. This kind of presence may be attributed, to a degree, to any beloved object which, though absent from the one loving it, is virtually present to the lover. So, our Blessed Mother is affectively present in the souls of her children who truly love her. And this affective union tends toward and contributes to the real union which we shall enjoy in heaven with Christ and His Mother. As we r~each higher degrees grace and charity and our wills advance in the transforming love of God, we must surely grow in the love of both Jesus and Mary. But it is through her union with her divine Son in His sacred passion and death that Mary is the coredemptrix of men. The teach, ing of the Church is that Mary merited de congruo all that Jesus has merited de c~ndigno for us. Thus, her merits are completely in union with and dependent on those her divine Son. This has been confirmed by the pronouncements of a number of the supreme pontiffs in their encyclical writings. Pope Leo XIII, in his encyclical on the rosary, says: This is why we pour forth the Angelic Salutation so often to Mary, that our weak and halting prayer be given the confident strength that it needs; we plead with her that she intercede with God for us and that she become our advocate. The prayers we say will find great favor and efficacy with Him if they are commended by the prayers of the Virgin; for He addresses to her this gracious invitation: "Let your voice sound in my ears, for your voice is sweet" (Cant. of Cant. 2:14).4 Pope Pius X in/ld Diem Ilium asserts: So by reason of her mutual sharing in the afflictions and desires of Christ, Mary "most properly deserved to become the reparatrix 40p. cit., p. 100. 165 SISTER M. ANNICE of the sinful world," as well as dispenser of all the benefits won for us by the bloody death of Jesus. Of course, we do not deny that the right to confer these benefits belongs to Christ . Yet, in consideration, as we have said, of the sorrows and sufferings common to both Mother and Son, the Venerable Virgin has been empowered to be "for the entire world its most afficacious mediatrix and advocate with her only Son.''s And Pope Benedict XV, writing on the Queen of Peace, states: And since all graces which God deigns to bestow in pity upon men are dispensed through Mary, we urge that in this terrible hour the trusting petitions of her most afflicted children be directed to her: This seems to be the fact underlying the establishment of the feast of Mary Mediatrix of All Graces. In the beautiful hymn of Matins for this feast the Church sings: "All the gifts which the Savior merited for us are bestowed by His Mother Mary. The Son gladly loads us with benefits in answer to her" prayers." Likewise, our present Holy Father has extolled Mary's part in our sanctification and the salvation of the whole world by instituting the new feast of Mary Queen of the Universe. A study of the encyclicals on our Lady would, of course, require another paper or rather a whole volume. But even a brief study of the Mother of all graces--Mary, full of grace~ is sufficient to convince us of the power corelative to such grace. Summer Sessions (Continued from page 134) inquiries to: The Registrar, S~hool of Theology, St~ Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana. Dr. Karl Stern, noted Catholic psychiatrist and author of The Pillar o.f Fire and The Third Revolution, will conduct an Institute on Mental Health in Religious Life from June 9 to 13 at St. Louis University. The institute will be limited to religious women. ~ Oil. cit.,'p. 56. 6 William J. Doheny, C.S.C., and Joseph P. Kelly, Papal Documents on Mary (Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Company, 1954), p. 151. 166 Survey ot: Roman Document:s R. I:. Smit:h, $.J. THE DOCUMENTS which appeared in the /lcta/lposto-licae Sedis (AAS) from December 1, 1957, to January 31, 1958, will be surveyed in the following pages. All page references to AAS throughout the article will be accom-panied by the year of publication of AAS. The 1957 Christmas Message On December 22, 1957 (AAS, 1958, pp. 5-24), the Roman Pontiff gave to the world his annual Christmas message. Taking as his text the words of the Breviary, "Lift up your eyes, O Jerusalem," the Holy Father exhorts the faithful to lift up their eyes to the great things of God as did the shep-herds and the Magi at the sound of angels and the mysterious shining of a star. Though this vision of God's great deeds, continues the Vicar of Christ, brings strength, peace, and har-mony, yet many today, attracted by that science which ex-tends the power of man even into the realm of the stars, can bring themselves to admire only the great things of man, changing the angelic hymn to read, "Glory to man on earth." This attitude, he adds, is typical of homo faber, man the maker who reveals his greatness in his works; modern man, however, r0ust learn that by adoration before the crib of the Man-God he will not retard the course of his technical prog-ress but will add to it the crowning perfection which will make of him, homo sapiens, the mar/ of wisdom who easily under-stands that what God manifests in the mystery of Christmas is incomparably greater than all human power, energy, and effectiveness. Devoting the first major part of the message to Christ the comforter amid the discords of the world, His Holiness 167 R. F. SMITH Review for Religious begins by remarking that modern man is torn between ecstatic admiration of the harmony of nature and bitter discouragement at the chaotic existence for which he himself is responsible. This, he adds, has led some moderns to fall into a total pessi-mism, holding that disharmony is the characteristic mark of the human situation. The 'source of. this pessimism is to be found in the preponderantly material progress of modern times which has deprived man of a sense of true human values. Born and trained in a climate of rigorous technology, .man tends to conform himself to the characteristic superficiality and insta-bility of technology, emphasizing speed, sense observation, and material energy at the expense of the intellectual and the spir-itual life. The answer to this total pessimism, Plus XII points out, is to be found in the mystery of Christmas. How can man despair of the world, if God Himself does not despair of it? How can the glory of the Creator of all things shine forth in a world based only on contradiction and discord? If men would but learn the lesson of Bethlehem that every human action should look to eternity for its direction and effectiveness, then the activity of man on earth would not be condemned to absolute discord but, on the contrary, would manifest the eter-nal harmony of God. In the second principal part of the message, the Pope considers Christ as the pledge of the harmony of the world. He' begins by noting that the coming of the Incarnate Word, while confirming man's right to dominion over the world, shows at the same time that this dominion can be achieved only by the Spirit of God. On the le~)el of man this means that man must find in his soul, image of the Spirit of God, the link which unites all the world into one harmony. It is in his spiritual element that man will find the sign of unity, order, and harmony. Where the spiritual abounds, so also does the harmonious. If, however, the spiritual element (and conse-quently the divine element) is no longer regarded as funda- 168 May~ 1958 ROMAN DOCUMENTS mental, then there is no longer a possibility of harmony; the world becomes something estranged from man, obscure and dangerous, ready to be not an instrument, but an enemy. It is true, continue~ Pius XII, that Christ has not removed all the consequences of original sin t:rom the world. Dishar-mony and consequently sadness will still exist among men'until the dawn of the eternal day, but this sadness will not be a sadness of death, but the sadness of an expectant mother whose sorrow is turned to joy after the birth of her child. For the goal assigned to history after the time of Christ is the birth of a new life, of a humanity in constant progression toward order and harmony. In the final major division of his message, the Pontiff considers Christ as the Light and the Way for men in establish-ing harmony in the world. The Christian, the Pope begins, is not merely an aesthetic admirer of the divine order in the world; he is also an ardent defender of it against those forces which would prevent its realization. This zeal for the preservation of harmony should be the decisive element whenever there is question of the development or abandonment of projects which human ingenuity now has the possibility of realizing. Recent military progress, adds the Pope, has certainly produced new signs in the heavens, but they are also signs of that pride w~hich feeds hatred and prepares conflict. Accordingly the seekers of harmony must center their efforts on the achievement of peace, a good so precious and desirable that every effort for its defense is well spent, even when it involves the sacrifice of some legiti-mate aspiration. May the Prince of Peace, concludes the Pon-tiff, through the solidarity of all men of good will, complete that which is lacking in the order and harmony willed by God for the world. For Priests and Religious On November 6, 1957 (AAS, 1957, pp. 1046-47), the Sacred Penitentiary published the text of a prayer for priestly 169 R. F. SMITH" Review for Religious vocations composed by His Holiness. The faithful may gain" an indulgence of ten years each time they recite the prayer; and, under the usual conditions, they may gain a plenary in-dulgence if the prayer is recited daily for a month. Under the date of December 15, 1957 iAAS, 1958, pp. 51-54), the Sacred Congregation of Rites issued an instruction in which it is stated that a priest who is sick or one who is going blind so that he can read only very large print can obtain from the congregation a dispensation to celebrate a votive Mass of the Blessed Virgin or the daily requiem Mass. The rest ,of the instruction details the rules and rubrics which must be fol-lowed in celebrating those Masses. On December 9, 1957 (AAS, 1958, pp. 34-43), the Holy Father delivered an allocution to the Second International Congress of the States of Religious Perfection. The tendency toperfection, begins the Pontiff:, is a habitual disposition of the Christian by which, not content with fulfilling the duties which bind under sin, he strives with all his might to love and serve God and to serve his neighbor for the sake of God. Toward this ideal every Christian is invited to tend; but it is realized in a complete and a surer way in the three states of perfection described in canon law and the three apostolic constitutions, Provida Mater, Sponsa Christi, and Sedes Sapientiae. However, the Pope adds, this does not mean that outside such states there does not exist a true tendency toward per-fection. There are a great many men and women of every. condition who bind themselves to the evangelical counsels by private vows, being guided in matters of poverty and obedience by persons selected by the Church for this purpose. To such persons none of the constitutive elements of Christian perfection is lacking, even though they do not belong to a juridical or canonical state of perfection. Although, the Holy Father continues, Christian perfection is always the same in its essentials, still, because of the condi- 170 May, 1958 ROMAN DOCUMENTS tions of modern times, the manner .of applying oneself to per-fection needs modification. This need for modification applies in a special sense to those outside the states of perfection who occupy high social rank and discharge important duties. Such persons are constrained to surround themselves with a certain display of comfort, to participate in official festivities, and to utilize expensive means of transportation. These are things that appear at first sight difficult to reconcile with the poverty and humility of Christ; nevertheless, even in the midst of such material goods, nothing is lacking in their total consecration to God, for grace works in them according to the words of Christ: "That which is impossible to men is possible to God" (Lk. 18:27). The Holy Father then considers some of the problems that arise from the need for modification and ildaptation in the states of perfection. After noting that the desire for religious perfection does not preclude the consideration of the renovation and adaptation of the means toward perfection and after observ-ing that the objective norm for determining the spirit of any religious group is the mind of the founder as that is expressed in the constitutions of that group, the Vicar of Christ takes up the matter of obedience; for, as he says, the movement of adaptation has provoked a certain tension in this area of re-ligious life. In particular, the accusation is made that obedience imperils the human dignity of the religious, hinders the maturing of his personality, and prevents him from being orientated to God alone. In considering the first objection, the Holy Father notes that the religious should recall, that when our Lord said that His disciples would find repose of soul in following Him, He was teaching that over and beyond legal observance they would discover the sense of true submission and Christian humility. These attitudes will free the religious intekiorly, showing him that his acceptance of his state of subjection is a placing of 171 R. F. SMITH Review for Religious himself in the hands of-God whose, will is expressed through the visible authority of those whose role it is to command. In reply to the charge that religious obedience leads to infantilism, the Holy Father observes that this charge cannot be proved true in the case of the.majority of religious in their intellectual, affective, and active lives. Moreover, it must be recalled that St. Paul in Ephesians 4:12-13 urges the faithful to grow into the perfect man; and in I Corinthians 13:11 he explicitly forbids Christian adults the modes of thinking and feeling which characterize childhood. The Holy Father recalls that already in 1952 he had used these texts to show that a sane education teaches a man to use his liberty wisely and to become independent of his educator. If every member of the states of perfection, superior as well as subject, would apply to himself these texts of the Apostle, then every danger of infantilism would vanish, without jeopardizing legitimate au-thority or submission to its decision. Nor, continues the Vicar of Christ, can the objection be sustained that obedience turns a person from God. Superiors command only in the name of God, and subjects obey only for the love of Christ. In this way the subject daily ratifies the total gift of himself to his only Master. In the final part of the allocution, the Pontiff urges the various religious groups to collaborate with each other; he like-wise exhorts them to close and constant contact with the Holy See. This does not mean that the Holy See wishes a centraliza-tion of everything; centralization is a system of government which makes all decisions and reduces subordinates to the role of mere instruments. Such centralization, says the Pontiff, is entirely foreign to the spirit of the Apostolic See. Neverthe-less, the Holy See can not renounce its character as the directive center of the Church. Accordingly, while leaving to constituted superiors the initiative foreseen by the constitutions, the Church must retain its right and exercise its function of vigilance. 172 May, 1958 ROMAN DOCUMENTS Clothes and the Woman On November 8, 1957 (AAS, 1957, pp. 1011-23), the Holy Father spoke to a group of fashion stylists, giving one of the longest allocutions that he has delivered in recent months. Taking as his subject feminine clothing fashions and their attendant moral problems,~ His Holiness begins by examining the threefold purpose of clothing. The first purpose, he points out, is that of hygiene, a purpose which arises chiefly from the need for protection against the climate and other external agents. Hygiene, he notes, can never justify license in clothing nor can it permit a style of clothing that is injurious to health. Modesty, the natural pro-tection of chastity, is the second purpose of clothing. This purpose must outweigh all caprice and must always preside at the determination of clothing styles. The third purpose of clothing is that of fitting appearance. This purpose arises from the natural and legitimate desire to enhance the beauty and dignity of a person by clothing. From this third purpose of clothing arises fashion or style, the express function of which is the enhancement ot: physical beauty and which is characterized by elegance. Fashion, Plus XII continues, is of great social importance for style has always been regarded as an external index of public manners. It is, then, says the Pope, providential that there should be persons like those he is addressing who are technically and religiously prepared to free style from undesirable tendencies and who see in fashion the art whose partial purpose is to give a moderate enhancement of the beauty of the human body but in a way which will not hide but rather adorn "the imperish-ableness of a quiet and gentle spirit" (I Pet. 3:4)'. His Holiness continues by saying that style, like other good things, can be corrupted by fallen human nature and turned into an occasion of sin and scandal. This is the reason why at times ecclesiastical tradition has been extremely severe 173 R. F. SMITH Revicw ]or Religious with regard to matters of fashion. Nevertheless, Christianity does not demand an absolute renouncement of care for the external appearance of the body; for this would be to forget the words of St. Paul: "I wish women to be decently dressed, adorning themselves with modesty and dignity" (I" Tim. 2:9). Accordingly, the Church does not condemn ~tyle when it seeks a fitting enhancement of the body; this attitude of the Church, however, does not stem from a purely aesthetic view-point, but rather from her conviction that the human body, God's masterpiece of the visible world, has been elevated by the Redeemer to be a temple and an instrument of the Holy Spirit. It is evident, adds the Pontiff, that alongside decent style there also exists indecent style; the frontiers between these two are sometimes difficult to determine; but one principle always remains true: style may never be a proximate occasion of sin. Another source of immorality in style is an excess of luxury, for this leads to a grasping for wealth, is an offense to those who live by their own labor, and reveals a cynical attitude toward poverty. In their thinking on the problems of style and fashion, suggests the Holy Father, his listeners should keep in mind three concrete rules. First, they should never underestimate the influence of style for good and for evil; secondly, style must be consciously directed, not slavishly followed; and, thirdly, in all sectors of fashion moderation should be observed. The Pontiff then concludes his allocution by urging, hig hearers to bring their Christianity to bear at meetings of the fashion w6rld and in their work to fight for the supremacy of spirit over matter. Talks on Various Subjects On November 24, 1957 (AAS, 1957, pp. 1037-40), the Pope broadcast a message to the people of Milan at the con-clusion of a special mission of several weeks duration preached in all the parish churches of that city. Calling Milan the heart 174 May, 1958 ROMAN DOCUMENTS of the national economy, the Pontiff noted that the elevation of the earthly city to the level of the city of God is the goal of the Church. He urged the Milanese to apply themselves to the same goal and concluded by expressing the hope that the close of the mission would mark the date of the city's spiritual renaissance. On November 10, 1957 (AAS, 1957, pp. 1024-27), Pius XII gave an allocution, to the International Congress of the Private Schools of Europe. He told the group that the attitude of a country toward private schools is an accurate reflection of its spiritual and cultural level. If the State reserves the task of education exclusively to itself, it thereby manifests an attitude incompatible with the fundamental rights of the human person. On November 24, 1957 (AAS, 1957, pp. 1027-33), the Pontiff talked to a group of physicians concerning several moral problems of so-called reanimation. Reanimation, as envisaged here, means" the use of respiratory apparatus to bring back to consciousness a patient who has suffered a central paralysis which consequently has paralyzed the respiratory system. The first question asked about the case is whether or not there is a right and an obligation to utilize respiratory apparatus in all such cases, even in those which in the judgment of the physician are completely hopeless. In answer the Pontiff replies that a person has the right and" duty to take the means necessary to preserve life and health. This duty, however, usually obliges a person only to the use of oidinary means; that is, means which do not impose an extraordinary burden on himself or on others. On the other hand, it is not forbidden to do more than is strictly necessary for the conservation of life and health. In the case described, then, the physician's rights and obli-gations are correlative to the rights and obligations of the patient, who, though he may licitly use the respiratory apparatus, is not obliged to do so, since it is an extraordinary means of con-serving life and health. With regard to the family of the 175 R. F, SMITH Review for Religious patient, their rights and obligations depend in general on the presumed wishes of the unconscious patient, provided he is of age. As to the proper and independent rights of the family, they are ordinarily obliged to use only ordinary means. Hence, if the use of artificial respiration would be too costly for them, they may licitly insist that it be stopped and the doctor can licitly obey them. As the Holy Father points out, this is not mercy killing, since the removal of artificial respiration in this case causes death only indirectly. The second problem concerned the question of extreme unction in such a case. The Holy Father replied that artificial respiration should be prolonged until extreme unction is ad-. ministered. If, however, the circulation of blood has already stopped, then extreme unction cannot be administered if the patient is certainly dead; if, however, this is doubtful, then extreme unction may be administered conditionally. The third moral problem asked whether a person in a state of hnconsciousness because of a central paraly.sis and whose life--that is, his blood circulation--is maintained only by artifical respiration, and in whom no improvement is noted for several days, should be considered as.dead; or should one wait for the cessation of blood ciiculation in spi~e of artificial respiration be-fore he can be called dead. To this the Holy Father replied that the question of the moment of death is a purely medical one and hence does not pertain to the competency of the Church. On November 9, 1957 (AAS: 1957, pp. 1023-24), the Pontiff gave an allocution to the Ninth Convention of the Food and Agriculture Organization, noting with sadness the depopu-lation of agricultural areas since "1952 because 6f the decrease in the prices of agricultural products. This loss of population, he remarks, is disquieting; for it is a threat to a sector of population which, because of its stability and fidelity to tradition, is more than ever necessary for the equilibrium of society. 176 May, 1958 ROMAN ~)OCUMENTS On November 27, 1957 (AAS, 1957, pp. 1033-36), the Holy Father spoke to Theodore Heuss, president of the Federal Republic of Germany, in the presence of many German notables, expressing praise for the accomplishments of the German people since the war and voicing the hope that the new Germany will assist in the unification of Europe. The Pontiff's interest in the federation of Europe was also shown in the speech on. ~his subject which he gave on December 3, 1957 (AAS, 1958, pp. 31-33), to members of the Council of the Municipalities of Europe. On November 5, 1957 (AAS, 1957, pp. 1003-10), the Pope spoke to the ecclesiastical archivists of Italy, telling them to care for their archives not merely for the sake of erudition, but for the glory of God and the honor of the Church; for in their archives there are many beautiful records which if revealed would give striking testimony to the holiness of the Church during the course of history. Miscellaneous Matters On November i, 1957 (AAS, 1957, pp. 1051-56), the Holy Father issued an apostolic constitution in which he pro-vided that all who make a pilgrimage to Lourdes between February 11, 1958, and February 11, 1959, inclusively may, on the day of their choice and after confession, Communion, and prayers for the intention of the Holy Father, gain a plenary indulgence. On December 25, 1957 (AAS, 1958, pp. 29-30), the Pontiff issued an apostolic letter in which he created a new" rank within the Pian Order founded by pius IX in 1847. The new rank will be called ~he Grand Golden Collar; it will be superior to the three grades into which the order was already divided and will be used to decorate heads of states and other persons of wide authority. On December 13, 1957 (AAS, 1958, pp. 50-51), the Sacred Congregation of Rites issued a decree concerning the 177 BOOK REVIEWS Review for Religious cdmposition of the paschal candle, of the two candles lit during Mass, and the candle which in some places burns before the Bl~ssed Sacrament in place of. a lamp. The decree "states that it is the mind of the congregation that all these ~andles contain a fitting proportion of wax, olive oil, or other vegetable oils. The congregation, however, leaves to the bishops' conference of each country the determination of the per'centage of these materials-that must be' in these candles if they are to be used for. liturgical purposes. Where there is no national conference of bishops, the ordinary of the place is to decide the matter. On October 24,. 1957 .(ASS, 1957, p. 1045), the same congregation approved the formula for. the blessing of a radio station; the text of. the blessing may be found in AAS,-1957, pp. 1043-45. ,. On June 21, 1957 (AAS, 1958, pp. 46-49), the same congregation approved the introduction, of. th~ cause of the Servant of God Dorothy. de Chopitea Villota Serra (1816-91), wife and mother. On the same day (AAS, 1958, pp. 49-51), the same congregation also approved the reassumption of the cause of. Blessed' Marcellinus Joseph Benedict Champagnat (1789-i840)', priest, donfessor, and founder of the Institute of the Little Brothers of Mar~,. ' " Book I?eviews [Material for this department should be sent to Book Review Editor, REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, West Baden College, West Baden Springs, Indiana.] THE SACRED HEART IN THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH. By Margaret Williams, R.S.C.J. Pp. 248. Sheed and Ward, New York 3. 1957. $3.75 . Mother Williams describes her book as "an anthology of the passages taken from the writings of the men and women best qualified to speak: lovers and thinkers and doers, apostolic scholars, saints all walks of llfe, persons heart-conformed to Christ who have.p.ut iato their own words 'the purposes oi: His Heart to generation upon generation' in the life of the Church." This is ajust estimate; and she has composed an impressive book which has impact: the 178 May, 1958 BOOK REVlgWS swing, and sweep of the devotion through the centuries to its prominent ¯ place in the Church today. Many of the selections make fascinating reading, and sprinkled through the narrative sections are many drops of knowledge valuable to any client of the Sacred Heart. In this treasure are many little-known selections from well-known' authors. Especially valuable to,this reviewer were Bossuet's sermon and Cardinal Newman's meditation, as well as A Kempis's sermo~ and the Meditation on the Five Wounds from the times of Richard Rolle. To know that the great Benedictine nuns at Helfta were accustomed to offer each past hour to the Sacred Heart; that St. Clare adored the Divine Heart in the Blessed Sacrament many times a day; that St. Catherine of Siena in vision watched Christ exchange His own Heart for hers--such details enrich us all. And to know that the Litany .of the Sacred Heart was collected by Venerable Madeleine Remuzat, a Visitandine nun living around the time of the deliverance of Marseilles from plague in 1720; that June was made the month of the Sacred Heart after a girl in Paris asked her bishop in 1833 to make this request; that-St. Plus X added the threefold invocation to the prayers after low mass--such knowledge adds to our apprecia-tion of our present-day practice of the devotion, thereby leaving us the richer for it. Theologically the book contains a few unfortunate expressions. Christ's Heart did not "experience the full range of human feeling, for Himself or for others" (p. 8), unless the latter phrase somehow enables contrition or penance or remorse to be included in His experi-ence. That "all dogmas can be traced to Scripture, in which they are at least implicitly contained . . . and devotions grow from dogmas" (p. 10)~ is a statement which needs explication, to say the least, and might lead the unwary into historical quicksands if "dogma" means a truth solemnly defined by the Church as pertaining to faith. That "religion is the highest of all virtues because of its object, which is God Himself" (p. 25) seems to confuse the virtue of religion with "religion" in general, taken as the sum-total of all our relationships with God, especially faith-hope-charlty; this may be a possible opinion, but should not be stated as if it were simply certain. But these are rather fine points and do not obscure the great value of the book. There is one matter, however, which, it seems to this reviewer, ought to be brought to the reader's attention lest the value of the book be somewhat dissipated. This is the necessity of clearly dis-tinguishing between '~divine Love" and "the Sacred Heart." The two are not simply tl~e same, as Plus XII repeatedly implies in 179 BOOK REVIEWS Review for Religious Haurietis ~lquas in passages like "the heart of the Incarnate Word is rightly considered the chief index and symbol of the threefold love . . ." (America Press translation, No. 27). This distinction is of utmost importance when we begin to trace the devotion in history. "Divine Love" appears from the first moment of human history and permeates the bible story of man's strivings to answer or reject that Love. "Divine Love" is a 'theme of the Fathers of the Church and a constant delight to Benedict and Chrysostom and Venerable Bede. But this devotion to "divine Love" is not yet devotion to the Sacred Heart--a point which Mother Williams plainly makes in a note on page 23: "The organic Heart of Christ, the proximate object of the Devotion, is not clearly indicated in these passages [in the early Fathers] although it is implied indirectly." Again on page 66: "It is the authentic mark of the Devotion to the Sacred Heart thus to see the physical and not merely the metaphorical Heart of Christ as the symbol of His love for men." This is fine, but the readet~ will justly ask how to reconcile such statements with earlier ones such as' that on page 2: "Looking to the spirit rather than to the letter, [the second way] finds the Devotion in the varying blends of its elements, tracing it back to the early ages of the Church and even into Old Testament times. In this sense, Devotion to the Sacred Heart has been at work since God first set His heart upon man." This way seems to the reviewer to lead to an obscuring of the very nature of this particular devotion; the "elements" ofa devotion are not yet the devotion itself, and there is danger of mere nominalism in calling "Devotion to the Sacred Heart" any cultus in which the symbolic Heart of Christ does not actually appear. This one distinction clarified, the book will richly repay any reader. An epilogue gives a good summary of the connection between this devotion and that to the Immaculate Heart; the proper distinc-tions are made, and the p~'oper emphasis indicated. An interesting appendix lists scripture sources for the. various invocations of the Litany of the Sacred Heart. The style is at times a bit too colorful for some tastes, as on page 134: "Satanic violence, blood-drenched and black, beat against the white serenity of Providence . " But far more representative of the spirit and .worth of the book is this: '*The Devotion to the Heart that so loves leads straight into the Trinity. Mother Church, like Mother Mary, will think these thoughts of Christ's Heart from generation to generation, till all her children have been called home into the Vision of Love." (p. 219) Thank you, Mother.--D~XVID J. BOW.X, AN, S.J. 180 May, 1958 BOOK REVIEWS A HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. Vol. VIII. Period of the Early Nineteenth Century (1823-1878). By Reverend Fernand Mourret, S.S. Translated by Reverend Newton Thomp-son, S.T.D. Pp. 807. B. Herder Book Company, St, Louis 2. 1957. $11.00. Those who have the earlier volumes of Father Thompson's trans-lation of A History of the Catholic Church will be eager to add this eighth and next-to-last volume to their sets. They are already aware that this work fills a definite need as nicely as it fills a library shelf. For those as yet unfamiliar with this translation of Father Mourret's Histoire Generale de l'Eglise, a quick survey of their library stacks will make its usefulness apparent. Such an experiment will reveal that the shelves contain no comparable treatment of church history in English. This nine-volume treatment of the whole of church history helps to fill the gap between the smaller text-book histories and the more specialized studies of particular persons or periods. The present volume begins with the pontific.ate of Leo XII when the political fallibility of the Council of Vienna had already become harshly appar.ent. It ends with the death of Pius IX whose reign was climaxed by the pronouncement of papal infallibility at the Vat-ican Council. The history of the years between is made to march in step with the popes and the Catholic crusade to bring Christianity to a Europe which had largely rejected it and to mission lands which hardly knew it. The story is an absorbing, nineteenth-century re-enactment of the passion, crucifixion, and resurrection of Christ in His Mystical Body. Since the nineteenth-century battles of the Church were largely European, one of the chief values of this book is that it is written by a Et~ropean. Father Mourret gives the reader the benefit of his extensive reading of French works and periodical records which would otherwise be inaccessible to most Americans. Moreover, the author is not distracted from events of greater historical significance by any feelings of a need for detailed treatment of the beginnings of Catholicism in the United States. It is humbling to find that Father Mourret gives the ecclesiastical history of the United States in the early nineteenth century only 7 out of the 807 pages of his book. However, honesty demands the admission that this coverage is fair enough if one takes a world view of church affairs during the period. It should also be said that this curtailment of side issues gives the author space for more adequate treatment of the European story he is admirably equipped to tell. 181 ]~OOK REVIEWS Review for Religious Father Mourret's story is a factual one. He is not so much a ra-conteur of illustrative anecdotes about important people as he is a careful, clear-headed recorder of events: As such he uncovers many revealing facts about such elusive subjects as Freemasonry, socialism, and liberalism. His book will also give very helpful data to teachers and others who must explain such matters as the Syllabus of Errors, the definition of papal infallibility, or the 'perenially popular topic of the relationship of church to state. Although in Father Mourret's marshaling of facts he himself does not tend toward generalizations, he will perhaps excuse a con-cludi- ng general comment on his work. This generalization regarding the book, which the efforts bf Father Thompson as translator and the willingness of. Herder as publisher apparently second, is that any library will find it a useful addition to its shelves.- CLYDE B. KELLY, S.J. RICHES DESPISED. A STUDY OF THE ROOTS OF RELI-GION. By Conrad Pepler, O.P. Pp. 181. B. Herder Book Company~ St. Louis 2. 1957. $3.25. "Modern industrial man is out of tune with the hymn of nature." As a result, the riches of Christianity--a religion rooted in natur~ are despised. So says Father Pepler, insisting that man must live close to Mother Nature for his spiritual welfare. The author's analysis of modern society indicates that most men, when "out of tune and out of time with the rest of the divine orchestra of the universe," become more and more unreceptive of grace. "Looking down into the nature o~c man and seeing in that nature its .reflection of the whole world of nature," "Father Pepler claims that the world's recent material advances have hidden the nature of man under "an encrustation of artificiality." Between man and his God have ariseh the immense barriers of a false culture and a false imagination. The author sagely comments on the harm done by'modern mediaof corn- " munication in achieving a uniform, mechanical imagination. The Christian religion was designed for the man in touch with nature; modern man is not in touch. The point is exemplified by our difficulty in understanding the natural symbolism of the sacra-ments, sacramentals, and the Mass. It is Father Pepler's opinion that "the Christian religion cannot exist normally and as an integral part of society in the artificiality of modern civilization." To correct the situation, "society must somehow be changed in order to allow grace to work freely." So the author offers some 182 May, 1958 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS principles and practical suggestions for fhe change. For instance, acceptance of. the .standard of the cross is one of the principles. Riches Despised is a thought-provokirig book which reads easily. Its insights into the interaction of man and nature are reminiscent of Anne Lindbergh's Gift from the Sea. Father Pepler has delved deeply into a baiic problem of ~modern Christianity and offers a lucid, penetrating analysis; this is the "great merit of the b6ok. But his. solutions, are disappointing and generally unacceptable, though distributists and advocates 6f a "back-to-the-land" move-ment may be pleased. Making the monastic ideal a rallying point for the wo~Id of 1958 and suggesting that a foundry need employ no .more than fifty men seem to this reviewer to be highly imprac-ticable suggestions.¯ One small point: Is it accurate to refer to religious obedience as a "denial by vow of . . . personal initiative"? Religious who work close to Mother Nature will find in this book an appealing apologia for their way of life. Religious who wonder why it is so difficult to find God in all things will find a partial answer in these pages. Readers attracted by the ideas under-lying the Grail movement will want to read Riches Despised~ RA~YMOND C. BAI~IMHART," S.J. BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS THE BRUCE PUBLISHING COMPANY, 400 North 'Broadway, Milwaukee I, Wisconsin. My Other Self. In Which Christ Speaks to the Soul on Living His Life. By Clarence J.: Enzler. This,book is not to be read but pondered, prayerfully. It lends itself ideally to St. Ignatius's second method of prayer. The author's presentation of Christ's ¯address to the~ soul is done reverently and with convincing verisimilitude. When ment.al prayer is difficult, try using, this book. It should help to dispel the mists with which the centuries may have shrouded the'figure of Christ for you 'and b'ring Him right down to the present. Pp. 166. $3.50. The-Plaints of the Passion. Meditations on the Reproaches of the Good Friday Service. "By Jude Mead,'C.P. You will find abun-dant material for .many meditations in the author's explanation of the eleven Reproaches chanted on Good Friday during the venera-tion of the. cross. There is an excellent introduction on the "various senses of Holy Scripture. Pp. 133. $3.50. 183 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS Review for Religio~ts The Rubrics of the Revised Holy Week Liturgy in English. Pp. 69. $1.00. The Simple Rite of the Restored Order of Holy Week. Pp. 95. $1.00. Both books were translated and edited by Gerald Ellard, S.J., and F. P. Prucha, s.J. They are published with the authorization of the Sacred Congregation of Rites. They should do much to help. both priests and people to an appreciation of the new liturgical setting that now enshrines these holiest days of the year. Separated Brethren. A Survey of non-Catholic Christian De-nominations. By William J. Whalen. Living in a Protestant country, our relations with our Protestant neighbors will be much improved if we get to know more about their religious background. Such knowl-edge will also guide our zeal in our efforts to bring these "other sheep" back to the true fold. Priests and teachers ot: r~ligion should find the book particularly helpful. Pp. 284. $4.50. MESSRS. M.~H. GILL AND SON, LIMITED, 50 Upper O'Connell Street, Dublin. The Mother of the Little Flower. A Sister of St. Th~r~se of the Child Jesus Tells Us About Her Mother. Translated by Reverend Michael Collins, S.M.A. Present and future mothers of families wi/l find in the mother of the Little Flower a concrete realization to a heroic degree of the virtues which .make mothers of families truly valiant women. The translation is adequate but not always happy. Pp. 123. Paper 6/-. GONZAGA UNIVERSITY BOOK STORE, Spokane 2, Washington. Contemplation in Action. A Study of Ignatian Prayer. By Joseph F. Conwell, s.J. This book deals with the problem: "Is there a prayer proper to the Society of Jesus, .and if ~o, what is its characteristic note?" The author's interesting ~indings are supported by the authority of the Gregorian University, Rome, where they were first published as his doctoral dissertation. Pp. 123. Paper $2.50. B. HERDER BOOK COMPANY, 15-17 South Broadway, St. Louig 2, Missouri. Conquest of the Kingdom of God. By John of the Angels, O.F.M. Translated by Cornelius F. Crowley. There is an unction in the writings of the ancient authors on the spiritual life which is all too frequently lacking in the writings of the writers of today. You will find that unction in the present volume which is the tenth in the "Cross and Crown Series of Spirituality." Pp. 216. $3.95. 184 May, 1958 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS The Church. An Introduction to the Theology of St. Augustine. By Stanislaus Grabowski. Priests, seminarians, and all students of St. Augustine will welcome this scholarly work on the Church accord-ing to the mind of St. Augustine. There are abundant footnotes and they appear where they are needed and have not been relegated either to the end of chapters or at the end of the book. This is the author's second notable, book-length contribution to the study of St. Augustine. His first was The All-Present God. Pp. 673. $9.50. The Liturgy of the Mass. By Pius Parsch. Translated and adapted by H. E. Winstone, M.A. The faithful are becoming more and more liturgical minded. The present volume, the third edition of a classic on the liturgy of the Mass, will do much to enable them tq under-stand the Mass and, as a result, help them to participate in it more fruitfully. Pp. 344. $4.95. Eve and Mary. By Peter Thomas Dehau, .O.P. Translated by the Dominican Nuns of the Perpetual Rosary, La Crosse, Wiscon-sin. This book is a study in contrasts as the title indicates. It con-trasts the pride and disobedience of Eve with the humility and obedience of Mary; the temptation of our first parents with the temp-tations of Christ in the desert. The book makes unusual spiritual reading for ,topics rarely considered are treated at length in its pages. Pp. 268. $3.95. P. J. KENEDY & SONS, 12 Barclay Street, New York 8, New York. The Sacrifice of Praise. An Introduction to' the Meaning and Use of the Divine Office. By V. G. Little. This book is much more than an explanation of how to say the Roman Breviary taking into account the most recent revision of the rubrics. It does this and does it well. But what inakes the book really outstanding are the chapters on The Genesis and Growth of Vocal Worship, The Office Through the Centuries, The Breviary, The Nature of the Office, The Redemption of Time, The Substance of the Office, The Divine Office, and the Life of Prayer. Even religious and priests who have said Office for many years can read these chapters and come from their reading with a new or renewed appreciation of what a treasure they have in the Bre~;iary and what a privilege is theirs to be able to say it every day. Pp. 200. $3.00. DAVID McKAY COMPANY, INCORPORATED, 55 Fifth Avenue, New York 3, New York. The Popes on Youth. By Raymond B. Fullam, S.J. Anyone who has anything to do with the education of youth, be he layman, 185 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS Review for Religiou.~ religious, or priest, will find this book invaluable as a reference book where he can easily find the official teaching of' the Church on the many problems .connected with the education of youth today; as a source book for conferences and study groups; as a guide to his efforts and source of encouragement. That the book is meeting with the success that it so ricl~ly deserves is indicated by the fact that a second edition has already appeared. Pp. 442. $5.00. THE NEWMAN PRESS, Westminster, Maryland. Dogmatic Theology. Vol. II. Christ's Church. By Monsignor G. Van Noort. Translated and revised by John J. Castelot, S.SI, an~d William R. Murphy, S.S. This second volume of a ten-volume set on the science ot: theology measures up fully to the high standard of excellence established by the author and translators in the first volume, The True Religion. The present volume is divided into two sections. The first is apologetic, i.e., it treats the Church as viewed from outside in the light of reason; the second is dogmatic and views the Church from inside as illumined by faith. All interested in theology, but particularly teachers of religion on the college level, will find the book very useful and stimulating. Pp. 428. $7.00. Eucharistic Reflections. By Right Reverend Monsignor William Reyna. Adapted by Winfrid Hetbst, S.D.S. This is a new, revised edition of the very popular eight small volumes entitled Eucharistic Whisperings. The book is very useful for visits to the Blessed Sacra-ment. Pp. 404. $4.75. Ponder Slowly. Outlined Meditations. By Francis X. Peirce, S.J. Meditation books tend to similarity. This one is different. There is an utter lack of formality. Each meditation consists of a number of thoughts announced in ghort, pithy phrases leaving the reader free to develop them according to his needs. The material for the book was originally collected by the author and used by him for tric~ua and retreats to Sisters. In their present form the meditations should prove helpful to all who make a .daily meditation. Pp. 323. $3.95. PAGEANT PRESS, 101 Fifth Avenue, New York 3, New York, Chosen Arrows. An Historical Narrative. By Sister Mary de Lourdes Gohmann, O.S.U. The Ursuline Sisters of Louisville, Ken-tucky, will complete the first centenary since their foundation in the autumn of 1958. To mark the occasion Sister M. L. Gohmann has written a vivid account of the trials, labors, and successes that divine 186 May, 1958 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS Providence has accorded these valiant workers in His vineyard. In her narrative the dry bones of historical fact are brought to life by the imaginative re-creation of many a conversation. The book is of interest not only to the members of the Ursuline Order and their many friends, but to all who are interested in the history of the Catholic Church and the history of Catholic education in. America. Pp. 533. $5.00. THE SCAPULAR PRESS, 329 East 28th Street, New York 16, New York. A Little Queen's Request. An Informal Biography of Saint Th~r~se for Our Teen-agers. By Sist

Issue 17.6 of the Review for Religious, 1958. ; A. M. D. G. Review Religious NOVEMBER 15, 1958 Plus Xll: St:at:es ot: Pert:ecfion . John Carroll I~ut:rell .! Current Spiritual Writing . Thomas G. O'Callaghan Preliminary t:o Adapt:at:ion . Sister Maria The General Chapt:er . Joseph F:. G~llen Book Reviews Questions and Answers Index t:or 1958 Roman Documents about: Mary and World Needs Catholic. Workers Spiritual Assistanc~ [or Soldiers VOLUME 17 NUMBER 6 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS VOLUME 17 NOVEMBER, 1958 NUMBER 6 .CONTENTS PIUS XII (1939-1958) AND THE STATES OF PERFECTION-- John Carroll Futrell, S.J . 321 OUR CONTRIBUTORS . 325 CURRENT SPIRITUAL WRITING-- Thomas G. O'Callaghan, S.J . 326 SUMMER-SESSION ANNOUNCEMENTS . 338 PRELIMINARY TO ADAPTATION Sister Maria . 339 MEDICO-MORAL PROBLEMS . 350 SURVEY OF ROMAN DOCUMENTS~R. F. Smith, S.J . 351 THE GENERAL CHAPTER--Joseph F. Gallen, S.J . 358 BOOK REVIEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS: Editor: Bernard A. Hausmann, S.J. West Baden College West Baden Springs, Indiana . 370 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS: 35. The Right to Refuse an Elective Office . 380 36. Limits of Extension of Hands at Mass . 381 37. Manner of Receiving Communion . 381 INDEX FOR VOLUME 17 . 382 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, November, 1958. Vol. 17, No. 6. Published bi-monthly by The Queen's Work, 3115 South Grand Blvd., St. Louis 18, Mo. Edited by the Jesuit Fathers of St. Mary's College, St. Marys, Kansas, with ecclesiastical approval. Second class mail privilege authorized at St. Louis, Mo. Editorial Board: Augustine G. Ellard, S.J.; Gerald Kelly, S.J.; R. F. Smith, S.J.; and Henry Willmering, S.J. Literary Editor: Robert F. Weiss, S.J. Copyright, 1958, by The Queen's Work. Subscription price in U.S.A. and Canada: 3 dollars a year; 50 cents a copy. Printed in U.S.A. Please send all renewals and new subscriptions to: Review for Religious, 31|5 South Grand Boulevard. St. Louis 18o Missouri, Plus Xll (1939-1958) and t:he t:a!:es ot: Perl:ect:ion John Carroll Futrell, S,J. THE DEATH of Pope Pius XII was a great loss for the whole world and for men and women in every walk of life. Successor of St. Peter and hence divinely guided teacher of religious truths, he spoke out dearly on topical dog-matic and moral questior~s. "Pope of Peace," he appealed to people everywhere to practice the justice and self-control essential to the establishment of a harmonious world ordbr. To the faithful he was ever a father, the gentle Vicar of Christ who gave a radiant example of personal holiness and a true reflection of his divine Master. Nevertheless, perhaps it is the men and women dedicated to God in states of perfection who feel most indebted to this great pontiff and who most deeply mourn his passing. For he understood the special difficulties and problems of those endeavoring to carry out the duties oi: the states perfection in the modern world, and the acts of his pontificate are a lasting monument to this understanding. It is the purpose of this article to give a summary of the major contributions of this great pope to the welfare of the Church's states of perfection. Sacred Virginity To all the men and women who have embraced the evan-gelical counsels this Holy Father, who was called the Pastor /lngelicus, gave a new charter of praise and a ringing affirmation of their choice of vocation in his magnificent encyclical Sacra Virginitas, issued on March 25, 1954. Meeting current exag-gerated claims of the primacy of the married state, the Pope explained and lauded consecrated virginity freely elected for the love of Christ. Granting .that holiness can be attained without virginity, the Pontiff nevertheless showed the greater excellence of this state of exclusively divine love. He recalled to religious 321 JOHN CARROLL FUTRELL Review for Religious the necessary means and cautions to preserve chastity and recom-mended better presentation of the ideal of the celibate state to youth and greater support for it by Catholic parents so that vocations might flourish. Secular Institutes During the first decades of the twentieth century, fervent men and women in the world manifested a desire to lead lives of religious perfection while remaining in the world. Many of them took private vows to keep the evangelical counsels and dedicated themselves to apostolic activities within their secular environment. The canonical status of these men and women was obscure, and many tradition-minded ecclesiastics felt that they should be compelled to join approved associations of the faithful. In his apostolic constitution Provida Mater Ecclesia of February 2, 1947, Pope Pius XII gave these groups of men and women formal canonical recognition as secular insti-tutes and laid down laws to govern them. To facilitate the natural development of these institutes, the Holy Father left these laws in very 'broad outline. The members of secular institutes are not religious, as a general rule" have no com-munity life, take no public vows, and usually do not wear distinctive garb. But as the Pope made clear in a motu l~ro/~rio on March 12, 1948, and again in a talk to the International Congress on States of Religious Perfection on December 9, 1957, the secular institutes lack nothing of the elements con-stitutive of Christian perfection; they have their own nature and form, and their members need not join other associations of the faithful. The Training of Religious The late Holy Father, himself a man of extraordinary intellectual attainments and broad cultural and scientific inter-ests, was deeply convinced that religious priests and teaching sisters and brothers should receive an education which would fit them for the needs of the times. In his exhortation Menti nostrae of September 23, 1950, Pope Pius insisted upon the 322 November, 1958 Pius XII AND STATES OF PERFECTION importance of adequate seminary training and continual intel-lectual pursuits for the promotion of priestly sanctity. Six years later he fully developed this ideal of clerical training in the apostolic constitution Sedes Sapientiae, which laid down principles and statutes to govern the formation of religious candidates for the priesthood. The Pontiff insisted that the religious priest must be the perfect man in Christ Jesus, broadly cultured, intellectually the equal of men in ~he world, and equipped to refute modern errors and meet modern needs. Special note was taken of the necessity for a graduated train-ing in p.astoral technique which should culminate in a year's apprenticeship under experienced guides. In June of 1958 a Pontifical Institute of Pastoral Work was established in Rome to foster the pastoral development of priests, with courses aimed at practical work and at the preparation of seminary instructors. Nor was it only religious priests who were the object of Pius XII's concern. At the First International Conference of Teaching Sisters at Rome in. September, 1951, the Holy Father exhorted the sisters to prepare themselves well for the apostolate of education. The extent of the pontiff's solicitude for this preparation, especially for the teaching of Christian 'doctrine, was strikingly manifested on February 11, 1956, when he erected the pontifical institute Regina MunJi~ for the intellectual training of women in states of perfection. The Pope also recognized the importance of special training for mistresses of postulants, novices, and young religious; and by" a decree of the Sacred Congregation of Religious in March, 1957, he established the school Mater Dibi;~e G.i~ati~e at Rome to offer a three-year course in such training. Teaching brothers were greatly encouraged by an apos-tolic letter of March 31, 1954, wherein the Holy Father affirmed that the brothers are religious in. the full .sense of canon law, possessing a divine vocation approved and pro-tected by the Church to engage in the apostolate of education. 323 JOHN CARROLL FUTRELL Review for Religiot~s This includes a mandate to teach Christian doctrine within the limits prescribed by canon law. In July, 1957, a decree of the Sacred Congregation of Religious erected the pontifical institute JeSlCS ~Iagisler with a program of training to pro-mote the self-sanctification of the brothers and to better pre-pare them to lead their students to Christian truth and virtue. Contemplative Nuns Sponsa Christi, the apostolic constitution of November 21, 1950, on the vocation of contemplative nuns, marked a milestone in the understanding of the place of this high state of perfection in the modern world. The Pope laid down general statutes governing solemn vows, gave a preliminary clarification of major and minor papal cloister, and reaf~rmed the essentially monastic and autonomous character of the indi-vidual houses. Nonetheless, he strongly urged the organiza-tion of federations of monasteries for the fostering of religious spirit and the alleviation of economic problems and suggested limited apostolic activity even to strictly cloistered groups. Later, in March, 1956, the Pontiff promulgated definitive legislation regarding the cloister of nuns. One of the last acts of the life of Plus XII was a beautiful allocution to contemplative nuns delivered over the radio in July and August, 1958. The Pope urged the nuns to know and love their contemplative life. He exhorted superiors to plan carefully the formation of young religious in the contemplative life and warned that this formation must be adapted to modern girls. Finally he taught once again that certain types of apostolic activity such as the education of the young, retreats for women, and works of charity toward the sick and the poor are compatible with the essence of the contemplative life, provided the interior striving for union with God continues uninterrupted. New Things and Old Perhaps the most constant desire of Pope Plus XII for the states of perfection was that they would return to the fervent spirit of their founders and at the same time adapt 324" Novc~bcr, 1958 Pius XII AND STATES OF PERFECTION their customs and practices to contemporary ~circumstances. In allocutions and letters from 1939 to 1958 he stressed the need for this accommodation to modern needs and for the simultaneous deepening of the original spirit of each institute. Speaking to the First General Congress on States of Perfection, Decem-ber 8, 1950, he exhorted modern religious to imitate their founders in examining the beliefs, convictions, and conduct of their own contemporaries, adopting .those elements which are good and proper; and he warned that without this adaptation they would never be able to enlighten and guide the men of their own time. Speaking to the First International Congress of Teaching Sisters, September, 1951, and again to superiors general of institutes of religious women, September, 1952, Pope Pius specifically suggested accommodation of religious habits, manner of life, and asceticism to modern needs in order to stop the alarming decrease of vocations by removing the barriers set up by stubborn adherence to usages meaningful in another cultural situation but now empty formalism. Finally, in February of 1958 the Holy Father spoke to superiors gen-eral of religious orders and congregations of the ever-present necessity of drawing upon the spirit of the founders of each institute. Nov~? el ve/er~--this was his constant theme. Religi-ous must learn to live in their own world and in their own time with all the fervor of their founders. These, then, were the major contributions of Pope Pius XII to the states of perfection. He has left a rich legacy to the members of these states, and his memory will live on in their faithful following of his directives. OUR CONTRIBUTORS JOHN CARROLL FUTRELL is completing his theological studies at St. Mary's College, St. Marys,. Kansas. THOMAS G. O'CAL-LAGHAN is professor of ascetical and mystical theology at Weston College, Weston 93, Massachusetts. SISTER MARIA is a Sister of the Humility of Mary, whose teaching field is Spanish language and litera-ture. R. F. SMITH is a member of the faculty of St. Mary's College, St. Marys, Kansas. JOSEPH F. GALLEN is professor of canon law at Woodstock College, Woodstock, Maryland. 325 Current: Spiri!:ual Writing Thomas ~o. O'Callaghan, S.J. Charles de Foucauld CHARLES DE FOUCAULD (1858-1916) has certainly been one of the most impressive and striking figures the Church in the last half century. After a worldly life as a French army officer, he was converted to a sincere Christian life. Shortly i~fterwards he entered the Trappists. After seven years of a dedicated Trappist life, he felt himself called to a still more literal imitation of Jesus. Especially did he desire to live the. life of a poor workingman in imitation of our Lord's. hidder~ life at Nazareth. This led him ultimately to the desert, to the life of a poor priest, a wanderer, sharing the life of the poorest nomad tribes. But P~re de Foucauld was a wanderer burning with a love of Jesus whom he desired to bring to these people in a silent way, through his loving and kind friendship. Just as Christ Himself did during His hidden years .at Nazareth, P~re de Foucauld desired to preach the gospel in siler~ce, to reveal to others in a silent way something of Christ. Although he had hoped to found a religious congregation --he wrote two different Rules for one--before his plans could be fulfilled, he was murdered by Touaregs in the Hoggar desert. In fact, it was not until ten years after his death that his first disciples, attracted by the example of his totally evan-gelical life, began to gather. Since 1933 three different con-gregations have been founded--the Congregation of Little Brothers of Jesus and two congregations of sisters; and today these three count more than nine hundred religious. What is characteristic of the spirituality of P~re de Fou-cauld and his followers? This has been answered in a most 326 CURRENT SPIRITUAL WRITING " interesting article by R. Voillaume, the Prior General ot~ the Little Brothers of Jesus.1 The Little Brothers of Jesus--the same is true of the Sisters--have three dominant characteristics. The first is their poverty. P~re de Foucauld could not, as he said, "conceive of loving Jesus without a constraining need of imitation or without, the sharing of each cross" (p.~ 29"2). He pictured Christ and the Holy Family as quite poor, working hard among the poor inhabitants of Nazareth. That was the life which he wanted, toil and poverty; he wanted to be socially a poor man and to be treated as such, and he did not want to .be given the social rank usually accorded to priests and religious. His love of Christ dictated "a need to imitate Jesus, to live as Jesus lived at Nazareth, sharing ~he life, the circumstances, the burden of the worker and the other poor" (p. 294). The second characteristic is adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. In each fraternity there is a chapel, and usually at the end of each day the Blessed Sacrament is ex16osed for adoration. The Little Brothers offer "their lives of work and poverty every day, in order to save their brothers in union with Jesus' own offering in the Eucharist" (p. 294). Because their .chapels are so frequently situated in the midst of the masses of the p~ople, the brothers are able~to combine their contemplation with their "presence to men" (one of their favorite expressions). Could they not live this life of poverty and adoration in a monastery, as so many other religious do? No; P~re de Foucauld felt forced to go to the poor, to bring Christ to them, more through hisway of living than by preaching. This is their third characteristic: "a silent apostolate through their mere presence in a very simple, unobtrusive and fraternal kind of friendship, an apostlolate meant more particularly for the more abandoned strata of society" (p. 292). It means z"P~re de Foucauld and His Fraternities," Blackfriars, XXXIX (1958), 290-99. 327 THOMAS G. O'CALLAGHAN Review for Religious making oneself a little brother to others, loving men for their own sake, as God would, and thus helping others to discover something of the love which Christ has for them. In this way they prepare hearts to receive the Gospel, or to under-stand it better. This article is most enlightening. Those who might desire a fuller account of the spirituality of the Little Brothers of Jesus will find it in Father Voillaume's very interesting and excellent book, Seeds of the Desert. Lourdes Since this is the centennial of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin at Lourdes, there have appeared during the year a few books and numerous articles on the young girl who was favored with those apparitions, St. Bernadette. Of all the articles on this charming young saint, certainly one of the most delightful was written bp Father James Brodrick, s.J., undoubtedly one of the most polished of modern hagi-ographers, z Bernadette, who was canonized twenty-five years ago, is rather an extraordinary saint, precisely because in so many ways she was so ordinary. Yet perhaps it is her very ordi-nariness which is her great charm. Apart from the apparitions themselves, her life was quite simple. She neither said nor wrote anything profound or sublime; she was not known for remarkable penances; she had not followers or disciples, nor was she marked by an outstanding zeal for souls; she really did nothing very uncommon. Yet she was truly a saint, pos-sessing, as Father Brodrick claims along with Dr. Rend Lau-rentin, a "sanctity free of accessories and reduced to its essence, the sanctity without human grandeur or accidental charms, which was that of the Holy Family at Nazareth" (p. 271). If one gazes through the spontaneous simplicity and un-starched charm of this young girl, the clear signs of heroic z"St. Bernadette," T/~e Mont/s, XIX (1958), 271-82. 328 November, 1958 CURRENT SPIRITUAL WRITING virtue are clearly discernible. One of these signs_ was the constancy of her witness, her quiet tenacity in holding to the simple and unadorned truth in the face oi~ the ~l~reats and menaces, the coaxing and flattery, of both ecclesiastical and civil authorities. Even when she was threatened With prison by the commissioner of police, she gave simply and bravely her now famous answer: "So much the better. I shall be less expense to my father, and while I am in prison you will come and teach me the catechism." (p. 278) Regardless as to how people tried to cajole and inveigle her into telling the three secrets which .the Virgin had asked her to keep, she never weakened. This calm and quiet constancy of her wit-ness reveals the great strength of grace in her soul. Another clear indication of her heroic virtue was her humble thirst to be forgotten. She shunned attention, found the veneration shown her a bore. Although invited and en-couraged to attend, she even stayed away from the solemn consecration of the basilica at Lourdes in July, 1876, lest she be recognized and attract attention. So humble was her con-tinual way of acting that Father Herbert Thurston, S.J., surmised that one of her three secrets was "a pact with the Blessed Virgin never under any circumstances to try to draw to herself the attention of the world . . ." (p. 281) . Bernadette is truly a charming saint, and this article is a delightful portrait of her unself-conscious sanctity. The celebration of the centenary of the apparitions of the immaculate Virgin to Bernadette at Lourdes is an occasion for asking what role these, as well as other apparitions of our Lady, play in the life of the Church, and what attitude Cath-olics should have toward them. These important questions are answere.d very satisfactorily by Father DeLetter, S.J.3 The first~ thing which strikes one about the attitude of the Church towards these apparitions is her prudent caution; she avoids the extremes of either unenlightened enthusiasm "The Meaning of Lourdes," The Clergy MonHHy, XXII (1958), 3-16. 329 THOMAS G. 0'CALLAGHAN Review for Religious or skeptical scorn. She does 'not distrust God, but she knows very well from experience that man can be mistaken and that the devil can deceive even saintly men. Before she gives her approval to apparitions, therefore, she prudently demands a thorough and painstaking examination of the evidence. If, upon examination, she finds sufficient historical evidence for the authenticity of the apparitions, then she gives, her approval. But what does this approval mean? "Everything con-sidered, an ecclesiastical approval of a divine communication implies the three following statements: First, that it comprises nothing contrary to the faith or to morality. Secondly, that it may be made known in publications. Thirdly, that ~he faith-ful are given explicit permission to believe it with caution." (pp. 5-6) (It is a question here of human belief, not ot~ divine faith.) What role do these apparitions and the private revela-tions connected with them play in the life Of the Church? Father DeLetter, in answer to this question, states and develops the theology of these apparitions under five headings: 1) These apparitions are signs of the divine presence and action of Christ in the Church today. 2) These divine interventions have an apologetic value in both strengthening the faith of believers and inviting non-believers to accept the faith. 3) While not changing or increasing the deposit of faith, these divine interventions do have doctrinal significance. They are signs, drawing attention to some element of the Catholic faith which is an answer to the particular needs of the times, e.g. a call to prayer and penance. 4) Many of these apparitions of our Lady, such as Lourdes and Fatima, help to make us more aware during this Marian age of the role which the Blessed Mother plays in ~he economy of the Redemption. 5) "Lourdes in particular came as a heavenly confirmation of the definition of the Immaculate Conception . . ." (p. 9). This article, if carefully read, will be very profitable for all, since the place of apparitions in the life "of the Church 330 November, 1958 CURRENT SPIRITUAL WRITING and the attitude which Catholics should have towaid them is often not well understood. Especially, however, will it be helpful to the extremists who are either overenthusiastic about apparitions or superiorly scornful of all that "mystical and pietistic nonsense." Liturgy and Scripture Father Balthazar Fischer, a professor of liturgy at Trier, Germany, and a member of the commission which drew up the German Ritual, delivered at St. Patrick's College, Maynooth, Ireland, a lecture on Christian psalm-praying. The lecture was printed in The Furrow.4 What he primarily discussed was: first, a fundamental presupposition for praying the psalms in a Christian way, that is, how to give the psalms a Christological meaning; second, the four basic attitudes of soul one should have in praying, the psalms. Concerning the first point, he wrote: Th'ey [the people of the early Church and of the Middle Ages] had two ways of finding this Christological meaning in the Psalter. Sometimes .they saw Christ as the one who prayed the psalms, the Just One /~ar excellence: and so they joined Him in praying to the Father: Psalmus vox Ecclesiae cu'm Christo ad Patrem. This was the way that St. Augustine loved so much. The other way was not to look upon Christ as the one who prays the psalms but as the God of the psalms, and so address them directly to Him: Psalmus vox Ecclesiae ad Christum. This was the way which St. Benedict seems to have pre-ferred, and a way which was also known to St. Augustine and his predecessors in the Christian interpretation of the psalms as ~ar back as the second century. (p. 68) . If we use this double principle in praying the psalms, either praying them with Christ to the. Father, or, perhaps what is the simpler way, directing them to Christ, we will have the consoling experience of having the Psalter, as Newman said, "breathe Christ." The greater part of the article, however, is a development oi~ the four fundamental dispositions which are necessary for a fruitful praying of the psalms. The psalms must be sung 4"Praying the Psalms," IX (1958), 67-78. 331 THOMAS G. O'CALLAGHAN Review for Religiot~s in a spirit of tranquillity, humility, childlikeness, and joyful-ness. "These four principles are valid for all praying; but they are valid in a special m~nner for him for whom the Psalter has become a Christian prayerbook" (p. 69). Those interested in the liturgy and Scripture will find some very interesting matter in an article by Paul Doncoeur, S.J., "Bible and Liturgy: Fruitful Tension.":' The liturgical and scriptural movements have both developed noticeably during the last few decades. Although in many ways they have developed independently, nevertheless, because each was correctly orientated from the beginning, they have converged. The liturgy has been most clearly enriched by scriptural studies; and it is becoming more and more evident that Scripture can receive new meaning from the liturgy. Each has helped and strengthened the other. Inversely, however, if the biblical movement should ever try to propose to the faithful subtle exegesis in place of the substantial word of God--which has happened to some degree in the past--then Scripture would never nourish the interior life as it should. But also, if the liturgy should ever be emptied of the substance of the Scriptures, then it would relapse into sentimental devotions. An important point for liturgists not to forget, says Father Doncoeur, quoting Louis Bouyer, is that " the first requirement for a liturgical movement that will lead to an authentic revival of the Church's true piety is never to bring liturgy back to the peopl~ with-out, at the same time, giving them greater access to the Bible" (p. 97). . . Father David M. Stanley, S.J., who teaches Sacred Scripture at Toronto and is one of the outstanding New Testament scholars in North America, has been, esp.ecially during the past year or two, a very frequent con'tributor to Worship. One of his recent ai'ticles was on the meaning of the wedding feast at Cana.~ :' Worshil~, XXXII (1958), 89-100. ~"Cana as Epiphany," XXXII {1958), 83-89. 332 November, 1958 CURRENT SPIRITUAL WRITING The wedding feast ,at Cana was one of the three principal epiphanies of Christ. Our Lord's baptism was His epiphany as the Christ, the awaited Messias; the Magi story was His epiphany as universal King, even of the pagan nations; Cana was His epiphany as God's incarnate son on earth, and therefore as Mary's son. What role does Christ give to His Mother at Cana? Our Lord's reply ("What wouldst thou have me to do, woman? My hour has not yet come") to His Mother's request for help ("They have no wine") indicates something of the part which Mary is to play in the redemptive work of her son. The interpretation of our Lord's answer has always been difficult for those not familiar with the Semitic idiom. But, according to Father Stanley, what our Lord tells His Mother is that here and now ". He must act independently and without her help. However, when the 'hour' par excellence, the crisis upon Calvary, arrives, she will play her part . In that supreme moment, the Mother of Jesus will collaborate in the final struggle with Satan and share the victory over evil." {pp. 86-87) Our Lord, then, by His answer, predicted implicitly--as the article shows in greater detail--Mary's role as co-redemptrix and her future motherhood of all His disciples. ~ St. John of the Cross There appeared in a recent issue of Spiritual. Life an article outlining the spiritual teaching of St. John of the Cross.7 Among the points of St. John's doctrine which the author touched upon, there was one which usually is not sufficiently stressed: the Christocentric character of the saint's teachings. In the teaching of St. John of-the Cross, spiritual per-fection consists in the complete and perfect union of love between God and the soul, that is, in transforming union. It is to this perfect union that he is always directing a soul, and it is on .this union that his whole spiritual teaching con- 7 Paul of the Cross, OoC.D., "St. John of the Cross," IV (1958), 47-61. 333 THOMAS G. 0'CALLAGHAN Review for Religioz~s verges. He calls this union spiritual marriage. But in this union who is the bridegroom to whom the soul is ,united? It is Christ. In the doctrine of St. John it is the Incarnate Word who is the spouse of.the soul. St. John's notion of perfection, therefore, has a Christocentric character. John here is speaking of Christ as .God, it is true; but it is still Christ. Christ as man, or the humanity of Christ, also has a very dear and definite place in the doctrine of the Carmelite saint. Briefly, the way to transforming union is by the perfect imita-tion of the humanity of Christ ,out ;of love for Christ. The perfect imitation of Christ as man, espedidlly Christ crucified, leads to perfect union with Christ as God. Even when St. John is directing souls into a prayer of obscure contemplation, he does not teach them to abandon the humanity cote Christ as they put aside their discursive meditation. Although it is true that the soul's gaze may be centered more .directly on Christ's di¢inity, it is still going out to the whole Christ, to the Incarnate Word. So also, when the contemplative soul is loving Christ, it is not the divinity alone which it loves, but the God-man, the Incarnate Word, the whole Christ. For St. John of the Cross, Christ truly holds a central place. He is the way according to His humanity, and the end in His divinity. For St. John, as we just mentioned, spiritual perfection consists in union with God. This union of the soul with God comes to pass, he says, ". . when the two wills--namely that of the soul and that of God--are conformed together in one, and there is naught in the one that is repugnant to the other.' '~ Can a total consecration to the Blessed Mother be har-monized with such a concept of the spiritual life? It certainly s .'Isrg'Zll" of llloltt~! (:~lrttlrl, II, ch. V, 3 (translated by" E. Allison Peers: West-minster: Newman,~1945, I, 80). 334 November, 1958 CURRENT SPIRITUAL WRITING can, says Father William G. Most.'~ In explaining how this may be done, he suggests a point which is ~)ell worth consideration and reflection. The will of Mary is always in perfect unisor~ with the will of 'God. To conform one's will to the will of GOd then is objectively to conform it also to the will of the Blessed Mother. If one stressed more consciously this latter aspect, the Blessed Mother couli:l easily be given the all-pervasive role in the spiritual life which she deserves. One would then be able to live a life not only of conformity to the will of God, but also at the same time of conformity with the will of the Blessed Mother. New Date for the Last Supper The date of the Last Supper has always proposed a serious problem for Scripture scholars. The problem consists mainly in reconciling St. John's Gospel with the Synoptic evangelists. In their attempted solutions scholars have usually placed the Last Supper on Thursday. But this leaves some serious difficulties still unsolved. The most recent and satisfying solution to the problem has been that proposedby Miss A. Jaubert' of Paris. Accord-ing to her the Last Supper took place, not on Thursday, but on Tuesday. If this theory is accepted, then obbiously the chronology of the events of o'ur Lord's Passion will have to be revised. Miss Jaubert's theory, together with her revised chronology of the Passion, has been neatly summarized in a recent article by George W. MacRae, S.J.1° Beginning with the Saturday before Good Friday, this would be the order of the events of the Passion. Saturday: In the even~ing Jesus is anointed during supper at Lazarus' home in Bethany. Sunday: Christ makes His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. During the day Judas first approaches the chief priests about betraying our Lord. Later that day Christ returns to ~)"Consecration to Mary," S/,iritual~Life, IV (1958); 108-17. New Date for the Last Supper," /Imerican Ecclesiastical Re*sie~, CXXXVIII (1958), 294-302. 335 THOMAS G. 0'CALLAGHAN Review for Religious Bethany to pass the night there. Monday: Jesus leaves Bethany and curses the fig tree. Tuesday: In the morning, after spending another night outside the city, ~he apostles notice the withered fig tree as they pass by. Later they ask Christ where He wants to celebrate the passover, and in the evening the Last Supper takes place. Later that night, after the Agony in the Garden, Christ is arrested and is brought to the house of Annas for interrogation. While this question-ing is going on, out in the courtyard .of Annas the denials of Peter are taking place. Annas then sends Christ bound to Caipha_s and Christ spends the rest of the night there. Wednesday: At daybreak the elders, chief priests, and scribes gather for the first legal trial. After the trial, since the Jewish law forbade rendering the verdict the same day as the trial, Christ passes another night as captive. Thursday: In the morning Christ is condemned by the Sanhedrin. Then He is immediately brought to Pilate who questions Him. It is on this occasion that the chief priests refuse to enter Pilate's court lest they be defiled. Pilate sends Him to Herod, and Herod in turn sends Him back again. Thursday night Christ spends as a prisoner in Pilate's fortress. It is .during this night that the incident of the dream of Pilate's wife occurs. Friday: In the morning Christ appears again before Pilate. Then He is ~courged, condemned, led through the streets, and crucified. ". this chronology of our Lord's Passion appears to do far more justice to the series of events in the Passion itself than does a shorter period of time . There are still difficulties in understanding the Gospel accounts that it does not resolve. But so long as we regard it as a possible explana-tion, while awaiting further confirmation we may find it an aid to a clearer picture of the Passion of our Lord." (p. 302) Priestly Virtues What are the key qualities which Christ demands of His apostle-priests? The basic ones, says Father Spicq, O.P., draw- 336 November, 2958 CURRENT SPIRITUAL WRITING ing his answer from three major scriptural passages, are those of the three theological virtues.11 The fundamental virtue required of an apostle-priest is faith. For it is through faith that he will posses the truths of the kingdom which he must preach to the world; it is faith which brings him into contact with the mysteries of the divine life and the "unfathomable riches of Christ" (Eph 3:8) of which he must be a witness. It is not that his faith is different from that of the faithful; but it must have the solidity of rock. It must give him those qualities of steadfastness and stability which are needed in a man who has been chosen to bear witness and to preach. His life must be rooted deeply in the solid truth of firm faith. In the mission given him by Christ, the priest knows that without Christ he can do nothing, but that with Christ he can do all things. In the Lord, then, he must hope.The Lord has spoken to him: ". take courage; I haveover-come the world" (John 16:33). So the priest must place his unshakable confidence and hope in the triumph won by Christ. To receive, however, from "Christ the strength and help which he needs, the priest must also pray. He is not exempted from prayer merely because he hopes in the Lord. Prayer is an integral part of his vocation. "A man of flesh and blood can do divine work only with this effective means [of prayer], by harnessing God's own power to the task" (p. 14). Prayer, therefore, must also be joined to firm hope, if the priest is to be a true apostole of Christ. In a priest's life, even more central than faith and hope, there must be love. The priest must surrender his whole heart to Christ, both to the person of Christ and the work I, "Priestly Virtues in the New Testament," Seril~t',*re, X (1958}, I0-16. The second installment of this article appears in the July issue, pp. 84-93; and in it Father Spicq treats of some of the other priestly vit:tues: compassion, fidelity, prudence, purity, etc. 337 THOMAS G. 0'CALLAGHAN ,9~ ~Chris.t, the ,salvation of souls. "The heart of the priest, l~cked in t, heo'embrace of Christ's love (2 Cor. 5:14), will therefore love souls as Christ loves them and because he loves them (John 15:12)" (p. 15). For a priest, however, this l~ve of souls will mean.the humble service of souls. Such was the life and love of Christi such must also be the life and love of the priest. SUMMER-SESSION ANNOUNCEMENTS For many years we have been publishing announcements of summer sessions. Our purpose in doing this is to help our readers to know where they may attend courses or institutes of special pertinence .to religious. Directors and deans of summer sessions who wish to avail themselves of this service should carefully observe the following points: 1} Only courses of special pertinence to religious should be listed. The 2le) nTghthe aonf nthoiusn pcaermagernatp shh oisu ilrdr eblee vliamnti,t epdr otov iad esdin igt lceo pnatraaingsra opnhl.y matters of special pertinence to religious. 3) The paragraph should be triple-spaced and prepared in such a manner that it can be sent to the printers without re-typing or editing. 4) There should be a reasonable minimum of capital letters, and no words should be typed entirely in capital letters. 5) The dates of the summer sessions or institutes should be clearly specified. 6} The best time for publishing these announcements is our March number. The deadline for this number is January 5. The next-best time is the May number. The deadline for this number is March 1. 7) The announcement should be addressed to our editorial office, g~vfEw FOR RI'HAGIOUS, St. Mary's College, St. Marys, Kansas. By way of postscript we should like to call attention to a note that we found it necessary, to publish in March, 1957. There we stated that most deans who had sent in announcements had either completely or partially ignored our specifications. One reason for this may be that the deans themselves (especially if they are not priests or religious) do not read this REv1~\v. We therefore urge that some member of the community show the summer-school dean this announcement; 338 Preliminary t:o Adap!:a!:ion DURING THE PAST decade religious have been urged to consider how their mode of life might be adapted to meet the specific needs of our times. Here in the United States various groups ha(,e been working to effect the adapta-tion and renovation of religious life which the Church has rec-ommended. The I~EvlI~\~ FOR I,tELIGIOUS, one of those deeply inter-ested in fostering needed changes, has, in many issues, made available to its readers papal and ecclesiastical statements about adaptation and renovation. "Roman Congregations and the Religious Life," a collection of statements of Roman congrega. tions, dignitaries, and officials of the Holy See, made by Joseph F. Gallen, S.J. (November 15, 1956, pp. 309-27)~. points to the need for studying the spirit and mind of the founders as a first step toward reform and intensification of religious life. Articles and commentaries in the I~EVIE\V have also indi-cated that religious orders ought to study their constitutions, directories, and traditions to determine what directives ,might be eliminated, modified, or changed in order to accomplish more fruitfully during this century the purpose or end of religious life. This article, which diaws heavily from the Acta 'of the Congress of the States of Perfection (Rome, 1950), makes the point that the study of th.e spirit of one's order is a neces-sary preliminary to. adaptation and renovation and suggests some techniques which might be used to arrive at a more exact understanding of this spirit and of the ways by which it can be produced in the members of a given order. 3~9 SISTER MARIA Review for Religious The revision of constitutions ordered by the Sacred Con-gregation of Religious in 1922 did not put an end to consti-tutional modifications. As the most Reverend Arcadio Lar-raona, C.M.F., indicated to the mothers general at a congress in Rome (REVIE\V FOR RELIGIOUS, November 15, 1954, p. 297), "Rome is ready to consider the advisability of [consti-tutional] changes on certain points, provided the individual communities show good reasons for the modification they wish to introduce." In regard to changes of custom, he counsels superiors never to fear to request change because such change might be considered disloyal to community traditions. Modifications of dress and of horarium, elimination of class distinctions within an order, these and other changes of custom and constitutions have been directly urged by the Pope as ways in which religious life can be adapted to better accom-modate those who enter religious life and those among and with whom the religious labor. These needed changes in non-essential elements must be made with care in order not to destroy that which makes an order a distinct entity: its spirit. The number of distinct orders, institutes, congregations, and other religious groups in existence today gives evidence of the variety of ways in which the Holy Spirit expresses Himself in different places and at different times according to the needs of the Church. Each order does have a characteristic spirit, peculiar to its work and its specific virtues. I. Van Houtryve, O.S.B., gives an example of this variety among religious orders with the following illustration of the different approaches orders make to asceticism: St. Benedict sees asceticism from the angle of humility; and he is, in the Church, the legislator of filial obedience; daughter of humility. St. Francis sees it all from. the point of view of poverty . St. Dominic borrows from monastic life fasts and abstinences, the hard bed and silence--but all these practices are seen as reparation, sus-tenance, and food for the contemplative life; and they are ordered to the apostolic life . Most modern congregations devoted to 340 November, 1958 PRELIMINARY TO ADAPTATION action owe to St. Ignatius the spirit of their work--the interior strug-gle, sacrifice, and the need to give the apostolate its only possible solid base: abnegation and the carrying of the cross. (Acta. p. 463-64) Many similar contrasts of religious groups might be drawn in order to make evident the way in ~vhich one differs from another. Religious orders differ because their functions vary; their unique character stems in part from the particular work to which they are ordained: the divine liturgy, the spiritual works oi: mercy, or the corporal works of mercy. As St. Thomas explains (Summa, II,II, q. 188, a. 1), " . . . religious orders may be differentiated in two ways. l~irst, according to different things to which they may be directed . Secondly, there may be various religious orders according to t~e diversity of prac-tices. ." Even in religious groups dedicated to the same type of work, teaching, for example, one notes marked differences. One religious order may be distinguished from another not by its work but by the specific virtues which are characteristic of its approach to the religious ideal. This religious ideal is our Lord, but as there are hundreds of paintings of Christ--and each different because of the way in which the painter conceived his model--so there are countless ways of striving to imitate this ideal. In an article on the spiritual formation of the educators of religious, Graziano della Madre di Dio, O.C.D., stresses the dual nature of the individual order's approach to the religious ideal: In Jesus the great molders of souls who were the founders of religious orders and institutes found their ideal. How interesting it would be to point out in them, besides the generic element, the characteristics of the personal mode. St. Benedict, St. Francis, St. Dominic, St. Ignatius, St. John of the Cross, St. John Bosco, and many others had an educative-form of their own that was actualized in the highly differentiated formation of their first spiritual disciples. Consequently all educators of religious, studyirig the prototypes of their own religious family, besides the essential exemplary form of Jesus, ought to individuate and to bring out the specific char-acteristics with which every founder of an order or institute approved 341 SISTER MARIA Review for Religio,,s by the Church, and therefore willed by God, has made detailedly more refulgent, varied, and rich the archetype of the Master. (Rio vista de Vita Spirituale, January-March, 1954, p. 37) If there is variety in the work and in the virtues stressed by different orders, then there must also be variety of spirit or personality so that it can be asserted that each religious order has a distinctive spirit which is not the same as that of another order. This spirit--peculiar to a particular order--developed from the thought of the founder about the type of religious group needed to meet the demands of his place, time, and circum-stances. It is well to recall that he was inspired to provide for the needs of his own age, but not for the needs of all periods of history without some adaptation by his order as conditions changed. As Abbot Peter Bassett, O.S.B., explains, Every religious order worthy of this name is born of the coming together of a great religious genius and of a spiritual need of a given time . IThisl fundamental religious intention, valid, no doubt, for all time, found its spiritual efficacy only in incarnating itself in a religious form which responded perfectly to the spiritual needs of the age. And the secret of the continuance of these insti-tutions could not have been and will not be able to be in anything but a fidelity to the spirit which created them, joined to a constant care to remain in contact with the history of the Church among men. (Acta, pp. 128-29) It is fidelity to the spirit of one's order that one must strive to maintain when one attempts to follow papal and ecclesiastic directives to adapt rules and customs to twentieth-century life. One cannot be faithful to the spirit of one's order unless one knows with some degree of certainty what rules, what customs, what aspects of life in a particular order are essential to the development of that order's distinctive spirit. The purpose of this discussion is to focus a~tention on the need for seeking such knowledge about one's own constitutions and customs and to suggest some means of indicating a sturdy of the spirit of one's order. Thet:e is available in Spanish~ a worthwhile discussion of the fidelity which~ a religious superior owes to the founder, . to the 342 November, 1958 PRELIMINARY TO ADAPTATION spirit of the Institute, and to tradition .(Semana de Oracidn y Estudio para Superioras Religiosas, Editorial Oculsa, Madrid, 1950, pp. 76-92). One of the points which Gregorio Mar-tinez de Antonana, C.M.F., the author, makes in his discussion of "The Superior and the Institute" is that superiors in newly formed congregations or institutes ought to consider carefully what it is that constitute~ the spirit of their own order so as not to stifl~ the development of this essential quality by seeking to cultivate the spirit of older orders along with or rather than their own. He urges superiors of these recent foundations to take special care to be docile to inspiration and not to make changes based on their own personal whims in matters and problems of government. Before one can determine what the spirit of one's order is, one must have a clear notion of what. is meant by the term spirit when it is used in reference to a religious order. In a paper given at a French congress for religious sisters, Victor de la Vierge, O.C.D., states that "spirit' is what characterizes and gives" the order its reason fo~ existence." (R~ligi0us. Sisters, Newman Press, pp. 253-54). He points out two aspects, the objective, which is "the divine inspiration the founder crys-tallized into rules which provide for the attainment of the end in view," and the subjective, which is "the Characteristic and un-changing way of thinking, understanding, and willing which tradition allows us to observe in an order as an institution and in the life and teaching of the members who have gon( before." Th~ rules are the first definite statement of the spirit. Living ac,c.ording to the rule produces the spirit. The spirit itself, like any entity, defies definition. One can state what causes th~ spirit to develop and what it in turn effects, but to say what spirit is in itself is difficult. For all practical purposes, one can identify it with the rules. To equip Oneself for more judicious adaptation, one must: search for that in the rule which fosters the development, of the spirit. At times one can observe rather tangibly the effects of the uniqtie spirit 343 Review for Religio.s of an order in the characteristic acts and virtues of individuals in whom the same spirit has been developed through a specific program of formation based on the thought of the founder. In adapting rules, directories, and customs, one must be careful not to destroy that which develops the spirit. As an aid to superiors and councils, Ricardo Lombardi, s.J., indicates a norm of action for adaptation: Let superiors therefore keep two objectives in mind. They must carefully preserve unchanged the essence of their institute, without which it cannot endure--at least as long as some useful reason for its endurance remains. But at the same time they ought to promote a reasonable evolt~tion in those things which do not pertain to the substance of the institute, and which, if stubbornly kept un-changed, will themselves lead to its death. Let us consider now what ard the essential things which can be enumerated in brief summary: 1.) the end or fundamental rea-son for the Institute, 2.) its peculiar spirit which has been praised by" the Church, 3.) all those things which are necessary for attaining the end or preserving the spirit. These features are to be maintained unaltered. Those things which were selected for some peculiar reason or for a certain time and circumstances as more suitable then to attain the end and promote the spirit, are to be subjected to continuous examination, and whenever a real necessity occurs, they can be changed. Indeed they are a means, not an end, and means are to be fitted to an end--certainly the end should not bend to the service of the means. (Acta. p. 117) Our times demand that religious have the courage to make changes in their mode of life. The Pope and the hier-archy have gradually initiated and effected great changes in the liturgy in order to facilitate twentieth-century man's ap-proach to the sacraments. The call for adaptation in religious life aims to enable the religious to achieve greater success in bringing Christ's message to the modern world. To adapt effectively one must know what one is adapting and why and how one is to do it. Adaptation requires knowledge of the unique personality of one's order. To arrive at a greater degree of self-knowledge, one studies what man is, what he can become, and how one man differs from another; and then one judiciously compares this knowl- 344 November, ~58 PRELIMINARY TO ADAPTATIOI~ edge with one's knowledge of self to determine what manner of man one is. In similar fashion those who wish to study the spirit of their order should delve into the historical devel-opment of religious life. To attain a better understanding of the ~'al".~otl ~t'~lre of their own order, they might consider the foundation and growth of various religious orders, the regula-tions the Church has made in regard to religious orders, and the development of the religious ideal up to the present time. Thus they will be able to discern how contemplative, active, and mixed religious orders fit into that "variety which surrounds the Queen." One might begin a review of the foundation and devel-opment of religious orders by examining the four rules, Bene-dict's, Augustine's, Basil's, and Anthony's. Of particular interest would be the one from which one's own rule has evolved. After having considered themeaning ofthe term spirit in its application to a religious order and afthearving surveyed the historical development of religious ordeirns general, one would be ready to proceed to the ktudy of thefoundation and development of one's own order. A study of the growth of one's order implies examination not only of the history of its schools, monasteries, .hospitals, and other ins.titutions; but more important still it implies consideration of the historical devel-opment of the founder's thought as it has been applied, modi-fied, and define'~ through the centuries by superiors, chapters, bishops, and thd Holy See, or even by members of the order who have studied and written about the founder, rule, consti-tutions, patrons, works, virtues, and achievements of the order. Many orders have writings by their founders which are similar to the Interior Spirit of the Religious of the Visitation (Newman Press, 1943). Having such a book at hand, the religious should .e.xamine it to ascertain what is essential and what is not. For exa-Kaple, the Religious of the Visitation might make a profitable study"by determining how they have applied 345 SISTER MARIA Review for Religio~ts and defined the thought of St. Francis de Sales and of' St. Jane Frances de Chantal through the centuries up to the present time. Janet Erskine Stuart has done such an analysis in her pamphlet The Society'-of the Sacred Heart. Her work exempli-fies a step in the historical development of the thought of the founders of her society. Today, perhaps, still another analysis might be made by her society. In such consideration of the historical development of the order and of the thought about the purpose and spirit of the order, what one is striving to learn is what is essential in the rule, in the customs, and in the formation and life of the given religious society. One wishes to discover what must be preserved when making recommended adaptations. .Painstaking research and thought are only preliminary steps. More is required than writing carefully docurrlented histories of the order. Study of the spirit of one's order should mean group discussion, perhaps .by the general chapter, per-haps by the newly appointed superiors, or by all superiors periodically. Such a study might even lead to inter-congre-gational discussi'on on points of rule and implementation of rule, especially bn matters that might concern several orders of similar work or characteristic virtues. The congresses and conferences (Vbcation Institute, Sister Formation gro~lp in th~ NCEA, the Sisters' Institute of Spir-ituality) i~Iready being held annually or moi'e frequently all show the value of inter-congregation discussion on specific topics of common interest. It might prove profitable, for example, for several congregatibns having St. Vincent de Paul as a patron or a founder to analyze together points from his writings that are a common source of inspiration. Perhaps orders dedicated to the Blessed Mother might consider how they each honor her in a particular way. Through such con-ferences of several or of many orders of similar work or ideal, 'it would seem that all might become more aware of how thi~y differ from and are similar to their fellow-congregations. Such 346 Novembe~', !9.58 PRELIMINARY TO ADAPTATION conferences would be of ben.efit if nothing ,more were accom-plished than a renewal of the religious spirit, the renovation which is 'being urged. /,~l.GreaTr and more precise knowledge oi the distinct per-sona tty or one's order should enable the individual order to foster with greater skill, then, the growth of this characteristic spirit by careful adaptation, by renovation through the means peculiar to its own development, and by a program of :forma-tion which would have greater likelihood of achieving its goal because the educators of the young religious would be better informed as to the characteristics they were seeking to cultivate in their students. Over-preoccupation with the spirit of one's own order, however, or over-emphasis on the thought of one's founder can 'give rise to certain evils. Members of an order might de-velop the wrong kind of loyalty to the order and to the founder, They might adhere too closely to the letter of his thought, rather than to the spirit of it. They might even adhere to the thought of the founder when the Church clearly indicates another course of action. An order's growth can be stifled by the "party spirit" which develops by exclusive clinging to the ideal of one's order as if there were only that one approach to the religious ideal. Such procedure keeps the "spirit" locked up in an ivory tower and does not permit it to. profit from the energizing influences that honest contrast with the ideals of other religious orders might give. Such contrast would bring out ever more distinctly the personality peculiar ,to one's order rather than distort it. This undue clinging to one's specific way of life leads to the wrong type of loyalty to one's order. As A. Trape, O.E.A.A. points out: The common good to the love of which, we are dedicated by religious profession is not the good of a monastery or a given order . . but the good of the Body of Christ which is the Church . 347 SISTER MARIA Review for Religion,s Greater unity and cooperation is to be fostered among religious families . The love therefore of one's own religious house or province; since ik has as object a particular good, though one com-mon to many persons, can be immoderate and can stand in the way or retard the more universal affection which is owed to the order or congregation and in this way the strength and unity of an order or congregation can be weakened. In the same way, but indeed in a. stronger sense, love toward one's own order or con-gregation can foster a certain party spirit and detract from the charity by which we are ordered to love the universal Church. {Acta, pp. 248-49) Another aspect of this undue respect for one's own ideal is a narrow holding to the letter of the founder's thought. As Canon Leclerq remarks, "By this fidelity to the letter of the law religious end by doing the reverse of what their founders wish . The happy milan is to be found in great fidelity to the spirit in which the orders were founded, combined with considerable flexibility as regards material forms;, such flexibility will be the product of detachment." (Leclerq, The Religious Vo-cation, pp. 64-66) .~. By applying too rigidly every minor prescription of the constitutions, religious would run ashoal on those difficulties against which the Pope and theologians advise when they rec-ommend adaptation. Religious (particularly superiors, councils, and chapters) ought to develop a habit of standing back and determining the general' principle the founder was applying to his given time and circumstances and then launch bravely forth to apply the same principle to their own times and needs regard-less of whether such application means one more hour of sleep daily than the founder prescribed, an annual vacation, a rather complete change of h oraril~m, or the abandonment of the diet and clothing which the founder thought suited to his century and purpose. Archbishop T. D. Rbberts, S.J., states a truth that the religious of our times must master: " 'Reform' is not heresy even when it faces boldly up to the truth that Our Holy Mother Foundress was not given by God to speak the last word of wis- 348 November, lg58 PRELIMINARY TO ADAPTATION dom for all times. Nobody ever was~-not even Our Holy Founder." (Black Popes, p. 40) A third evil to be guarded against in seeking to develop the spirit of one's order would be adherence to the founder's thought when the Church herself commends or even commands modification. Undoubtedly the prescription {after the pro-mulgation of the new Code of Canon Law) that all rules were to be submitted to the Sacred Congregation of Religious for re-examination brought changes in the rules of orders that had been living by those rules for centuries. Some of these modi-fications might not have seemed in line with the thought of the founder of the order, but it is to be remembered that the life of an order flows first from the Church to whom the founder and his followers turned for approval and recognition of what they believed to be inspired by the Holy Spirit. "Our subjection to the Church ought to be so great and of such a kind that we take away nothing from her, and cer-tainly not the owed reverence with which we observe all the holy rules," s,ays Father Lombardi, S.J. For these things, indeed, are rules for us riot because they were written by a certain holy man (because no one can impose rules on us in virtue of the fact that he is holy}; they" have the force of juridical norms and impose an obligation because they derive their force from the approbation of ecclesiastical authority. To this au-thority, then, which is a fountainhead of our obligations and which remains a living thing (whereas the holy founders are dead) we surely owe greater reverence than to any internal constitutions of our institutes. To this authority we should subject ourselves wholly in all things which concern the vow and we should do this according to the same contract by which we subject ourselves to Jesus, king of all saints. And finally, it is from this authority that we ought to look for a renewal, with courageous spirit, of all things which are necessary, when internal power is not strong enough to prev~.il. (Acta, p. 122) When one initiates a study of the spirit of one's order, one ought not fear these evils which spring from a wrong emphasis on the spirit of one's order, The purpose for deter-mining what this spirit is is to facilitate adaptation to the needs of our time and our world conditions. Such adaptation, judi- 349 SISTER MARIA [~iously ran.de according to the mind of the Church, would tend to free the order of the very errors to which the wrong kind of preoccupation about the spirit might lead. There is, indeed, reason today for the study, review, analysis, clarification, and understanding of what is meant by the spirit of one's orde.r: The changes of this century require adaptation and renovation. Out of loyalty to their founders, religious must heed the advice of Arcadius Larraona, C.M.F.: By doing today what they I the .foundersJ would do in our place, what they would do if they were living in our own times, we shall continue their work. They live; they have a right to live in us; and we have the'sacred obligation to carry on their work and to live in their spirit. (Larraona, C.M.F., Religious Community Life in the United States. Proceedings of the Men's Section of the First Na-tional Congress of Religious in the United States, pp. 232-35) By the spirit an" order lives. By careful adaptation and fervent renovation according to the spirit of the o~der, religious groups will meet the needs of oiar times. Such adaptation and renovation can be initiated by thorough study of the distinctive spirit of one's own order. MEDICO-MORAL PROBLEMS The Catholic Hospital Association announces that the series of booklets entitled Medico-Moral Problems, by Gerald Kelly~ s.J., have been revised and are now available in a single volume. The revision entailed dropping obsolete matter (e.g., on the Eucharistic fast), bringing all medical facts and opinions up to date, adding chapters on recently discussed topics (e.g., the use of hypnotism as an anesthetic}, supplying a list of pertinent papal documents, and com-posing a comprehensive index. The new volume--also entitled Medico-Moral Problems--in-cludes most of the moral principles and practical problems with which members of the medical profession, especially those associated with Catholic hospitals, should be familiar. The price is three dollars per copy, with discounts for quantity orders. The book, as well as information about it, can be obtained from: The Catholic Hospital Association, 1438 South Grand Boulevard, St. Louis 4, Missouri. 350 Survey Roman Documents R. F. Smith, S.J. [The following pages will give a summary of the documents which appeared in Acta Apostoiicae Sedis (AAS} during the months of June and July, 1958. Throughout the article all page references will be to the 1958 AAS (v. 50).] The Encyclical Meminisse luvat ON JULY 14, 1958 (AAS, pp. 449-59), the Holy Father issued the first encyclical that he has published during the current calendar year. Recalling that. it has always been his custom, as well as that of his predecesso~rs, to implore the help of the Virgin Mother of God at times when special dangers threaten the Christian people, His Holiness then pointe.d out that such a time or danger exists in the world today. For, as he remarked, we are living at a time when latent discord among the peoples o~ the earth holds the entire world in the grip of anxiety; and the tension is only increased by the fact that men have now discovered terrible weapons of destruction whicl~ can bring ruin not only to the vanquished but also to the conquerors and even to all of humanity. If, the Vicar of Christ continued, one searches the reasons for this state of affairs, it will be seen that the present situation exists because men have forgotten the authority of God and love for one another. These in turn .have been forgotten because men have ignored the Christian religion which alone teaches the fullness of truth, authentic justice, and divine love. Indeed in large sections of the world the Church is suffering cruel persecution. Bishops have been driven out, Catholic publications have been silenced, schools have been closed, mis-sionaries have been ~xpelled, and above all every attempt has been made to rupture the union of the local churches with the H01y See,0the source of all Catholic uni~y. 351 R. F. SMITH Rcvicw for Religioz~s ~. Just at$hle Pope added, Christians of apostolic times would join together in prayer for their brethren who were being per-secuted, so too today's Christians in Europe and the Far East who have so long endured persec.ution should not be deprived ,~,°f. the help and the prayers of their fellow Christians. Conse-quently the Holy Father asked that prior to the feast of the Assumption a novena be held during which all Catholics of the entire world should plead to God through the Blessed Virgin for the persecuted Christians of ,those regions. To these prayers Christians must also add a reform of life without which their words will never be pleasingto God. In this way, the Holyo Father concluded, Christians of today ivill once more manifest the truth of the words of the Letter to Diognetus: "Christians are in the flesh, but they do not live according to the flesh. They live on earth, but their true citizenship is in heaven. They obey the lairs which are promulgated, but by their way of life they surpass all such laws . " The Consistory of Cardinals In the issues of AAS considered in this survey may b~ found the proceedings (AAS, pp. 393-440) of tl~e first con-sistory of Cardinals held since May, 1954. The first session was a secret consistory held on June 9, 1958. At that session Cardi-nal Tisserant was made Camerario of the College of Cardinals, replacing Cardinal Ottaviani in that position. Two of the Car-dinals, Cardinal Mimmi and Cardinal Costantini, changed their eardinalatial churche~ in Rome. Afterwards the Holy Father published a list of all hierarchical appointments made since the last consistory; the appointments included 2 patriarchs, 123 arch-bishops, 635 bishops, 9 prelates nullius, and 1 abbot nullius. After the reading of these appointments and after His Holiness had confirmed the elections made by the synod of the Chaldean bishops as well as those made by the synod of the .Maronite bishops, the cardinals listened to a report from Cardinal Cicog-nani, Prefect of the Congregation of Rites, concerning the life and miracles of Blessed Charles of Setia and of Blessed ]uana 352 November, 1~58 ROMAN DOCUMENTS Joaquina de Vedruna de Mas. At the conclusion of the report each cardinal was asked to give his opinion on the possibility of canonizing the two blessed. The consistory closed after recently appointed archbishops had sul~mitted their petitions for the pallium. Immediately following the secret consistory, a public con-sistory was held on the same day; this session consisted in further consideration of the causes of the two blessed mentioned above. On June 16, 1958, a semipublic consistory was held. oHere the Holy Father asked the cardinals their considered opinion on the advisability of the canonization of the two blessed already men-tioned. Since all the cardinals favored the canonization of the two, the Pontiff closed the consistory by announcing his inten-tion of canonizing the two blessed on November 23, 1958. ¯ . Four Allocutions and a Message On April 28, 1958 (AAS, pp. 361-64), the Vicar of Christ delivered an allocution to the members of an Italian group interested in caring for orphaned children of the working class. After telling his listeners that the ideas of justice, of respect for each human, person, and of pity for the humble come from the gospel and not from the doctrines of materialism and individ-ualism, the Pope pointed out to his listeners that their work for orphans must be animated by an intense sentiment of charity, for orphans are in greater, need of the warmth of intimacy and goodness than they are of food and clothing; orphanages, he said, must be father, mother, brother, and sister to the orphan. The Pontiff concluded his talk by urging his listeners to continue their work, since already in the beginning of Christianity (James 1:27) it was noted that care for orphans is an important function of the Christian religion. On the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker,. May 1, 1958 (AAS, pp. 365-69), the Holy Father addressed an assembled group of 20,000 Italian workers. At the beginning of his allocution His Holiness thanked God for the happy changes 353 R. F, SMITH Review for Religion, s that have occurred in the world of labor during the last 100 years. A hundred years ago, he remarked, no one would have thought that there would exist in so many nations a working class equal in rights and dignity to the other classes of society. Similarly, too, a hundred years ago no one would have dreamed that one day troops of workers would be gatherdd around the Vicar of~ Christ to celebrate with him the day of labor in a Christian way. The Pope, went on to warn his listeners that whenever and wherever social reform has been attempted without Christ and against Christ, all the real rights and the true liberty of the worker have been lost; for solutions based on materialistic principles neglect that which is best and most important in the worker: his .soul and his eternal destiny. In the second part of his allocution Plus XII encouraged his listeners to continue their support of associations of Cath-o! jc workers, These associations in turn should provide the workers with everything that is necessary to perfect them as men, as workers, and as Christians. Moreover, such associa-tions of Catholic workers should assist their members in times of abnormal circumstances such as sickness. However, the Vicar of Christ concluded, the charity of such associations should not be restricted to their own members; rather it must extend to all men, especially to those other workers who, ~ssailed by a daily propaganda of hatred and violence, are exposed' ~to the danger of lo~sing their sense of human pity and their conception of the humlln race as one family. On May 16, 1958 (AAS, pp. 369-70), the Pope spoke tb the members of the NATO Defense College, expressing his regret ~it ~he stateof the world th~it forces them to teach alert-ness against attacks from other human beings and telling them to continues their work in the confident hope that the day will Come~ when protection and defense can be ensured with a m,mmum of force and~ when truth and justice are the guide p~bstg'-bf 'those who lead the peoples of the world. 35~4 November, 1958 ROMAN DOCUMENTS On May 21, I958 (AAS, pp. 370-73), the Holy Father addressed a group of Italian women engaged in giving spiritual assistance to the members of the armed forces of Italy. In the first part of his allocution, the Pontiff outlined the teaching of the Church with regard to war. The Church, he said, has never accepted the doctrine of those who maintain that power is the 0nly foundation of international relations. War, he said, is not the promoter of the highest masculine qualities nor is it the stimu-lator of fecund initiative, even if at times it is the occasion and catalyst for growth in science and technique. In short, war is not something that the Church regards as licit in every cir-cumstance. Nevertheless, the Church has never taught that war is always reprehensible, for under certain conditions a nation may justly take up arms to defend itself. The struggle between Cain and Abel, the Pontiff con-tinued, marked the beginning of the history of war. Since then the entire~history of mankind has been a history of wa'r, a history which culminates in the present time when war is a conflict between entire peoples and when every physical, mor~l, economic, and industrial force is utilized for the prosecution of war. It is for this reason, he added, that every nation today seeks an army proportioned to its needs, one that lacks nothing from the viewpoint of a strong, ready, and energetic defense of the country. The Pontiff Concluded this 'first'part of his allocution by telling his listeners that Italy too~has ~a right to such an army for defense, even though there is no doubt that Italy sincerely desires peace, In the second part of his .allocution the Pope gives his listeners warm encouragement.to continue their work of giving spiritual assistance to the members of the Italian armed forces, It is true, he admitted, that army life helps physical develop-ment and aids in self-assurance and mat~urity; nevertheless the life also presents many evils and moral dangers, which .may destroy in the soldier the divine life within him. ~Hence, he 355 R. F. SMITH Review for Religious added, one of the prime needs in the army is that of priests who have a profound knowledge of a soldier's life; accordingly chaplains for the armed forces should be chosen from among the best priests and then given every preparation that will train them for their work. In conclusion the Pontiff told his lis-teners that in their work they must take the place of mothers and sisters to the soldiers and pointed out to them the many opporunities they will have to save the faith of many of the soldiers as well as lead others of them into the Church. On June 10, 1958 (AAS, pp. 446-48), the Pontiff sent a written message to a Paris meeting of an international con-gress on family life. In the message he pointed out that a strong civic and social order must be based on a conception of marriage and of the family that is conformable to the order established by God. Consequently he urges the members of the congress to spare, no effort to achieve those conditions of a decent and happy family life in which the exigencies of morality are not sacrificed to the satisfaction of the individual. Other Documents By an Apostolic Constitution dated June 3, 1958 (AAS, pp. 460-64), the Holy Father announced the founding in Rome of a Pontifical Institute of Pastoral Work. The new institute, whose purpose it" is to foster the pastoral develop-ment of the diocesan and regular clergy, will be part of the Pontifical Lateran Institute and will provide two distinct courses of training. The first course, of one year duration, will be intended for the training of the ordinary priest in his future pastoral work; the second course will consist of a two-year program leading to a doctorate in sacred theology; this second course is intended for those who will be future teachers of pastoral theology. Statutes for the new institute are to be published later; the institute was placed by the Pontiff under the patronage of Our Lady, Queen of the .Apostles, and under 356 November, 1958 ROMAN DOCUMENTS that of two popes noted for their zeal tCor pastoral care: St. Gregory the Great and St. Pius X. In another apostolic constitution, this one dated June 10, 1957 (AAS, pp. 345-47), the Holy Father set up an Apostolic Exarchate in England and Wales for Ruthenians of the Byzantine rite living in England. Archbishop Godfrey of Westminster was made exarch of the group. On November 19, 1957 (AAS, pp. 386-88), the Sacred Congregation of Rites approved the introduction of the cause of the Servant of God, Mary Teresa Zonfrilli (1899-1934), professed member of the Congregation of the Daughters of Our Lady of Mount Calvary. On January 7, 1958 (AAS, pp. 388-90), the same congregation gave its approval to the two miracles necessary for the canonization of Blessed Charles of Setia (1613-1670), lay brother of the Order of Friars Minor. On March 28, 1958 (AAS, pp. 486-87), the congre-gation issued the decree that the'canonization of Blessed Charles could be safely proceeded with; under the. same date (AAS, pp. 488-89), it issued a similar decree with regard to the canon-ization of Blessed Juana Joaquina de Vedrur~a de Mas (1783- 1854), widow and foundress of' the Carmelite Sisters of Charity. On November 21, 1957 (AAS, pp. 375-83), the Sacred Congregation of the Consistory issued legisl'ation which hence-forth will govern the Apostolate of the Sea; the group, first approved by Pius XI, was founded in Glasgow to work for the spiritual, moral, and social welfare of maritime personnel. On January 23, 1958 (AAS, pp. 480-83), the same congregation issued a decree establishing a military vicariate in the Dominican Republic. A later decree of the congregation dated February 11, 1958 (AAS, p. 483), appointed Archbishop Pittini as the military vicar of the republic. 357 The ener l Ch p!:er ,Joseph I=. G~llen, ~.d. QUESTIONS AND CASES are frequently received on the general chapter. A complete article on this matter would be of prohibitive length. It would also be excessively de-tailed and technical. We believe that the practical purpose of such an article will be better attained by presenting the matter under the form of questions and cases. The following ques-tions are the third and last part of a series. VII. Counting Ballots 33. There were twenty-nine valid votes on the first balloting for the election of our mother general. Sister A received an absolute majority of fifteen votes and was therefore elected. However, if she voted for herself, her vote was invalid (c. 170), she did not receive an absolute majority, and consequently was not elected. Should we have done any-thing to make sure that she had not voted for herself? An invalid vote does not of itself invalidate an election or a balloting. The invalid votes are simply not counted in any way. An invalid vote does invalidate the election if it is certain that the person would not have attained the required number of votes without the invalid vote (c. 167, § 2). The only invalidating effect that can cause a practical difficulty is a vote for oneself. This difficulty occurs, as in the present case, when the election was decided by only one vote. Some institutes demand that each elector place an identifying symbol, chosen by himself, on his ballot, e. g., a cross, star, name of saint, etc. Another form of the same type obliges the elector to write his own name on~ the ballot or voting ticket, seal it within a fold, place his symbol within another sealed fold, and write his vote within the last sealed, fold. If the present case occurs, the one elected is obliged to identify his vote to the president and tellers to determine whether he voted for himself. In a few institutes, ~a,n added vqte is required when the one elected is a member 358 THEGENERAL CHAPTER of the chapter. Thus Sister A would not have been elected in the present case unless she obtained sixteen votes. Outside of a most fare exception, none of these forms is in use in lay institutes. The elector writes only the name of the person he votes for on the ballot and folds it. Therefore, Sister A cannot be obliged to identify her vote in the present case. The constitutions do not impose this obligation, and she is presumed to have acted rightly, not evilly. The election is to be held as valid, unless it is not merely probable but certain that she voted for herself, e. g,, from her own voluntary declaration. If she actually gave her secret vote to herself, all of her acts as mother general will be certainly valid, since canon 209 supplies also dominative power in com-mon error. However, she is obliged to refuse the election or to petition its sanation secretly from the Holy See. Cf. De Carlo, Jus Religiosorum, n, 137; Parsons, Canonical Elections, 163; Beste, Introductio in Codicem, 214. 34. What is the meaning of our constitutionsl which say of all elections that in a tie on the last balloting "the senior by first profession is elected, but in a parity of profession, the senior by age"? For example, I, Brother A, took my vows first in our profession band, but the one who took his vows immediately after me, Brothe~- B, is four yearsl older than I. If the two of us were tied on a last balloting, which would be elected? Brother B wo'uld be elected. The pertinent words of canon 101, § I, 1°, on this case are: "if the president does not wish to break the tie by his vote, that one is elected who is senior by first profession or by age." The constitutions of lay institutes practically never give the president the right of break-ing the tie in an election. Therefore, with the exception of this clause, your constitutions are the same. as the canonical norm of canon 101, § 1, 1°; but the sense of this canon is the day of profession and the day of birth, not the hour, minute, or second of profession or birth. The p~oof is as follows. 1'. From the usage in other canons. Canon 635 staCes that religious transferring from one monastery ~to~ another df the 359 JOSEPH F. GAI~LEN Review for Religion, s same institute lose all rights of theformer monastery and assume the rights and obligations of the latter from the day of the transfer. Canon 640, § 2, declares that a secularized religious who is readmitted into religion, assumes his seniority from the day of his new profession. The Code Commission replied that the precedence of a suffragan bishop in a pro-vincial council was to be determined from the day of his proclamation or election (Bouscaren, Canon Law Digest, I, 88). 2. From the nature of the matter. This canon gives a universal norm that is to settle ip.~o ]:ac/o and immediately a tie on the last balloting. Therefore, it is a norm that is uni-versally applicable, readily knowable, and applicable absolutely, not conditionally, e. g., seniority by age considered objectively is to break the tie, notif it is known who is the senior by age. From the nature of the matter, age is to be taken as the day', not the hour,, minute, or second, of birth. How many" know the hour or minute of their birth? How often is the hour or minute of birth noted even in ecclesiastical or civil records? If this is true of age, it is to be affirmed also of first: profession, since the two are expressed in a parallel manner in the canon. The same argument is verified for first profession considered ir~ itself. It is at least ordinarily possible to determine the order of professions of the same day in the province or institute that has only one novitiate, even though I, with many others, do not recall whether I was third or eighth in taking my first vows. However, the norm is universally applicable. If two religious who are tied made their first profession on the same day and in ceremonies that began at the same hour, but one in New York and the other in California, how could there be certainty of the minute ~at which each profession began? Did each Mass begin on time? What was the relative rapidity of the priests in saying Mass? What was the length of each sermon? How many institutes keep a record of the hour, minute, and second of each profession? 360 November, 1958 THE GENERAL CHAPTER 3. From the practice of the Holy See. In approving constitutions, the Sacred Congregation of Religious almost constantly words the canon: "if they made their first profession on the same day, the senior by age is elected." 4. From the. doctrine of authors. Practically no author has °adverted to the difficulty presented in this question, but the following at least implicitly affirm the solution given abovi~: Schaefer, De Religiosis, n. 258; Jone, Commentarium in Co-dicem Iuris Canonici, I, 114; Muzzarelli, De Congregationibus Iuris Dioecesani, 216, note 5 ; Parsons, Canonical Elections, 154; Bastien, Directoire Canonique, n. 48; Fanfani, De Religiosis, n. 366; Abbo-Hannan, The Sacred Canons, I, 156. The hour, minute, or second may be followed in other mat-ters for determining precedence; but in elections, except in the very few lay institutes that establish their own norm, the constitu-tions' are only stating canon 101, § 1, 1°, and must therefore be interpreted in the sense of this canonical norm. 35. What is the meaning Of this article of our ~constitutions on the elec. tion of the mother general: "If, when the ballots have been counted, it shall appear that-no-one of the sisters has received a majority of.the votes cast, they shall proceed to a second or third ballot; if then the required majority of votes should not yet have been obtained, a fourth ballot shall be taken in which only those two sisters have passive vote who on the third ballot had received the larger number of votes. If on the fourth ballot, an equal number of votes is given to both, the senior by profession or, if they are equal, the older in yeat~s shall be considered elected"? There is no doubt that the article is .obscure. An absolute majority is a number that in any way exceeds half the valid votes cast, even if by only a half vote, e. g., nine out of seventeen, ten out of eighteen. A relative majority is a number of votes for one person larger than for any of the others singly, although less than for all the others taken together, e. g., ii~ seventeen valid votes are cast and Sister' M. Agatha receives seven, Sister M. Bernice six, Sister M. Callista three, and Sister M. Damien one, Sister M. Agatha is elected on a balloting in 361 JOSEPH F. GALLEN Review for Religious which a relative majority is decisive. Active voice is the right to vote in :a chapter; passive voice is the right to be elected ir~ a chapter. Passive "vote" in this article should be passive voice, and "senior by profession" should be "senior by first profes-sion." Therefore, the sense, of the article is that an absolute majority is required for an election on any of the .first. three ballotings. If an election has not resulted, a fourth and last balloting is to be held. 0nly the two sisters who had the highest number of votes in the third balloting can be voted for in this last balloting, i. e.,. they alone have passive voice. This article does not deprive these two sisters of active voice on the fourth balloting, as is now the universal p~actice of the Holy See in approving constitutions. Of the two, the sister who receives the larger number of votes on the fourth balloting is elected. If this balloting results in a tie, the sister who is senior by first professio~ is elected; if the two made their first profession on the same day, the senior by age is elected. 36. Our constitutions state of the elections of the general officials: if in neither the first ballot nor in the second ballot an absolute majority of votes is obtained, a relative majority will be di~cisive on the third ballot." Who is elected according to this norm when two or more are tied on the third ballot? The full canonical norm (c. 101, § !'~ l°)'is that the president of the election has the righ.t to decide the tie on the third balloting by his or her. vote; but, if he does not choose to do this, the tie is broken in a lay institute by seniority of first profession or by age. If your constitutions give the president this right in other elections, he has the same right here. If they do not, as is almost universally true in lay institutes, the president does not have this right; and the tie ig broken only by the day of first profession or the day of birth. 37. According to our constitutions, a tie on the fourth and last ballot-ing for the office of superior general is broken in this way: the older by first profession is elected superior general and in case the religious made their profession on the same day, the older in age is elected. The article for the elections of the general offcials states that a relative.majority is 362 November, 19~58 THE GENERAL CHAPTER sufficient on the third and last balloting but that, if there is a tie, the older in profession is elected. The latter article says nothing about age. Who is elected in the latter case when two or more religious are tied on the third balloting but all made their first profession on the same day? As in the preceding case, the second article has merely omitted part of the canonical norm. This is clear also from the fact that age is included in the first article. Therefore, the question of the tie is to be decided by the canonical norm of seniority by the day of birth. VIII. After the Election 38. The constitutions of our diocesan congregation of sisters say simply that the local ordinary has the right of confirming the election of the mother general. What is the meaning of this authority? In virtue of canon 506, § 4, the presiding local ordinary has the right of confirming the election of the mother general in diocesan congregations. Therefore, three things are required to complete the election in such a congregation, the required number of votes, acceptance, unless this is commanded by the constitutions, and the confirmation of the local ordinary. (a) Competent local ordinary. The right to confirm an election is the authority to ratify or rescind the election. Con-firmation appertains to the ordinary of the diocese in which the election is held, not to the ordinary of the motherhouse as such. The ordinary may delegate his power of confirming or rescinding the election, e. g., to the priest he has delegated to preside at the election. (b) Norm for giving ~:onfirmation. The general canon on elections, 177, § 2, enacts that the competent superior must give the confirmation if the election was legitimatdly performed and he judges the one elected qualified for the office, even if in his judgment this person is not the more or most qualified. However, canon 506, § 4, treats specifically of the right of the local ordinary to confirm or rescind the election of a mother general in diocesan congregations and describes this right as the 363 JOSEPH f. GALLEN Review for Religious authority to confirm or .rescind the. election according to his conscience," This last phrase has led many canonists to hold that the ordinary is given a wider power in this case than in the general canon, 177, § 2. In this opinion, the local ordinary may not licitly act on mere whim, human motives, or personal preferences, but only on reasons based on the common good of the congregation. This being"presupposed, he has the right of rescinding 'the election also if he judges that the more or most suitable person was not elected. Other canonists hold that the ordinary must conform to the general canon, 177, § 2, also in confirming the election of a mother general. The opinion grant-ing the ordinary the wider power is at least more probable, if not certain, from the clearly distinctive wording of canon 506, § 4. The right of confirmation and rescission is not a right of ap-pointing the mother general. If the ordinary refuses the con-firmation, the chapter proceeds to .a new election. (c) Confirmation of other elections. Canon law demands confirmation only for the election of the mother general of a diocesan congregation, not for that of any other religious superior or official. By the law of the constitutions, confirma-tion is required for the election of the superioress in some monasteries of nuns and usually the confirmation of the mother general wi~h the consent of her council is ne.cessary when the mother provincial and ihe provincial officials are elected in the provincial chapter. The competent superior for such a monas-tery is the local ordinary, if the monastery is subject to him, or the regular superior, if the monastery is subject to regulars. The confirmation in all such cases is to be given according to the general norm of canon 177, § 2. 39. The constitutions of our pontifical congregation give a form of words by which the local ordinary is said to confirm the election of the mother general. Is ~his in accord with canon law? The right of confirming an election is the authority to ratify or rescind it. In virtue of canon 506, § 4, the ordinary ot: the place of election has the right of confirming the election of 364 Novc~nbcr, 1958 THE GENERAL CHAPTER the mother general in diocesan congregations only. Canon law does not require confirmation for the election of any other religious superior or official. It is true that confirmation can be demanded by the law of th~ particular constitutions, e. g., in the case of the election of the superioress in some monasteries of nuns. However, the Holy See does not grant the local ordinary the right of confirmation in approving the constitutions of pontifical congregations. Furthermore, the constitutions in question contain no article granting this extraordinary right to the local ordinary. Therefore, ~the word "confirm" in these constitutions is to be interpreted as a wide use for the accurate word "proclaim," i. e., when an election has resulted, the president of the chapter announces this fact and the name of the one elected (c. 174). Cases of such a wide use of "confirm" are found in other documents of the Holy See and in authors. Cf. Battandier, Guide Canonique, n. 382. 40. The president at the election of our mother general was a priest. delegated by the local ordinary. At the end of the first balloting, the president proclaimed the election, i. e., announced that an election had resulted, with the name of the one elected (c. 174). He did not an-nounce how many votes this sister had received, whether other sisters had received any votes, nor obviously the number of votes received by such other sisters. 1. Was this omission of the president contrary to canon law and thus illicit? 2. Was the election thereby invalid? This question has been proposed several times and has already been answered in the REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS. On this occasion, we shall strive to be more complete, even though this implies a cumbersome burden of citations. There is no doubt whatever that the omission of the president was contrary to canon 171, § 2, and therefore objectively illicit. This canon commands that the names of all voted for and the number of votes each received must be announced in every balloting ("palamque faciant quot quisque retulerit"). The canon per-mits that the announcing be done in either of two ways, i. e., the vote on each.ballot, or voting ticket or slip, is announced to the capitulars or the names of all voted for and the total 365 JOSEPH F. GALLEN Review ]or Religious received by each are announced only at the end of the balloting. It is much better and is the usual custom to announce the votes in both ways. The further question can be and is now again asked whether an election is invalid (1) if the numbe~ of votes received by the elected candidate is not published to the capitu-lars or (2) the number of votes received by the other candidates is not so published. Most authors do not even mention in-validity with regard to either case in their explanation of the pertinent canon, 171, § 2. Most also implicitly deny invalidity, because they list the causes of the invalidity of elections without including either of these cases. (Schaefer, De Religiosis, n. 527; De Carlo, Jus Religiosorum, n. 150; Vermeersch-Creusen, Epitome Iuris Canonici, I, n- 288; Fanfani, De Religiosis, n. 116; .Pruemmer, Manuale Iuris Canonici, q. 79; Bouscaren-Ellis, Canon Law, 127; Claeys Bouuaert-Simenon, Manuale Juris Can-onici, I, n. 331; Brys, Juris Canonici Compendium, I, 263; Sipos, Enchiridion Iuris Canonici, 129; Geser, Canon Law Governing Communities of Sisters, n. 341) Some deny or doubt the in-validity in these two cases. (Vermeersch-Creusen, 0p. cir., n. 293, 2; Jone, Commentarium in Codicem Iuris Canonici, I, 177; Ellis, REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, 8-1949-159-60) Therefore, there exists no common opinion of authors that invalidity is verified in either case. Furthermore, several of the authors who maintain invalidity express themselves so obscurely that it is difficult to understand what they mean by the publication they require for validity. Goyeneche, Quaestiones Canonicae, I, 50-51; Coronata, Institutiones Iuris Canonici, I, 278-79; Creusen, Religious Men and Women in the Code, n. 76; Parsons, Canoni-cal Elections, 151-52, 200; and Lewis, Chapters in Religious Institutes, 127, affirm invalidity at least with regard to the first case. Their first argument is that publication of the votes is an essential element of a canonical election. This argument is not certain, since it is admittedly difficult to ascertain what are the essential elements of an election in the code. The second argu- 366 November, 1958 THE GENERAL CHAPTER ment is that the code is here merely reassuming the law before the ~code, which demanded publication for validity. This argument al~o is not certain. Canon 171, § 2, does not: state expressly that. publication of the votes is required for the validity of .a balloting. If the intention was to reassume the former law, i~ seems strange that an invalidating clause was not expressed in the canon, as it is in so many of tl~e other canons on elections, e. g.~ 162, §§ 3, 5; 165; 166; 167, § 2; 169; 170; 171, § 3; 172, §§ 2-3; 1.76, § 3; 181, § 2. There-fore, since there is a doubt of law about invalidity in both cases, all such elections are valid (c. 15). 41. The constitutions of our pontifical congregation contain the follow-ing ~rticle: "In the ordinary chapter, the mother general going out of office shall act as mother vicar until the elections have lawfully taken place." Isn't she out of office entirely as soon as the election of the new mother general is' completed and before the elections of the four councilors, the secretary general, and the bursar general? Yes. The wording of your constitutions follows the Normae of 1901, article 225. The sense, however, is that expressed in the question, i. e., the mother general loses all title to the office, also as mother vicar, on the completion of the election of the mother general. The election is completed in a pontifical congregation by the attaining of .the requisite number of votes and acceptance, or by the former alone if acceptance is imposed by the particular law of the institute, and in diocesan congregations ~ of women by the added ~equisite of the confirmation of the ordinary 'of the place of election (cc. 174-77; 506, § 4). This interpretation is otherwise evi-dent from your constitutions, since the newly elected mother general immediately assumes her office by presiding at the elections that follow and at the chapter of affairs. The retention and prolongation of the office under the title of vicar is to take care of the case of an election delayed beyond the expiration of the term of the present mother gen-eral and of a suspension of the chapter. This occurs when 367 JOSEPH F. GALLEN Review for Religious the choice of the chapter is of one who cannot be elected but only postulated as mother general, i. e., because of a lack of the age, years of profession, or legitimacy required by canon 504, or an election beyond the number of terms permitted by the constitutions. The postulation for the last impediment in a diocesan institute is addressed to the ordinary of the place of election; but in all other cases, whether the institute is pon-tifical or diocesan, it must be made to the Holy See (c. 181, § 1). In a postulation for the office of mother general, the chapter is suspended until notification is received of the accep-tance or rejection of the postulation. A suspension can also occur in a diocesan institute of women when the confirmation of the local ordinary is delayed. It is better to word the con-stitutions that all elective officials retain their offices until the election to the same office is completed in the following chap-ter. Cf. Normae pro Constitutionibus Congregationum Iuris Dioe.cesani a S. C. de Propaganda Fide De.pendentium, aa. 142, 153. IX. Chapter of Affairs 42. The constitutions of our pontifical congregat.ion, of brothers state with regard to the chapter of affairs: "All these matters are decided by an absolute majority of secret votes." A secret vote takes more time, and I see no reason for secrecy in many of the matters that uniformly come before a chapter of affairs. The practice of the Holy See in approving constitutions demands secret voting in the chapter of affairs. This voting may be done by a method such as black ~ind white beans. It is admitted doctrine that the voting need not always be secret. If the matter is of little importance or the discussion has made it clear that there is little opposition, the voting may be public, e. g., by rising or raising the hand. A capitular may always request a secret vote on such a matter. If so, the superior general will put this question to a vote. If the absolute majority by a public vote, e. g., rising or raising the hand, favors a secret vote on the matter, this must be had; otherwise, the voting 368 Novcmber, 1958 THE GENERAL CHAPTER will be public. A few pontifical constitutions ordain that the voting is always to be public, with the exception of the request for secrecy described above. It is difficult to see why a secret vote should be generally prescribed for the chapter of affairs. There is no general reason for secrecy in the matters listed in the practice of the Holy See as the more important affairs of this chapter. 43. What is the duration of the ordinances of a chapter of.affairs in lay institutes? In constitutions, the acts of the chapter of affairs are variously termed ordinances, enactments, regulations, decrees, and decisions. According to the practice of the Holy See, the ordinances of a chapter in lay institutes are temporary. The Normae of 1901 stated that the ordinances of the general chapter remained in force until the next chapter (a. 250). In its present practice, the Sacred Congregation of Religious states that these ordinances remain in force until the next general chapter, in which they may be confirmed, modified, or abrogated. The temporary character of the ordinances has therefore beeia imposed by the Holy See in the approval of constitutions; it does not certainly follow from the nature of such ordinances nor from canon 24. To avoid any difficulty, the superior general should propose a declaration that all the acts of past chapters are confirmed by the present chapter except insofar as they will be or have been modified or abrogated by this chapter. The temporary character of the ordinances does not demand an explicit confirmation for their continuance; an implicit or tacit confirmation suffices. If a previous general chapter has approved so important a measure as a directory, the sum of the dowry, or the extraordinary expenses for which local superiors must recur to higher superiors and the subsequent chapter omits all action on the matter, it is the implicit or tacit will of this chapter that such a measure is confirmed. Van Hove states this principle as follows: "Many ordinances enacted from dominative power continue to exist on the cessation from office 369 JOSEPH F. GALLEN Review for Religious of the superior who established them, because they are implicitly renewed by his successor, who is presumed to intend that the customary order in a community continue to be observed until he changes it" (De Legibus Ecclesiasticis, I, n. 359, note 4; cf. Jone, C0mmentarium in Codicem Iuris Canonici, I, 46). Furthermore, from the practice of religious institutes, it is the presumption that all existing acts of previous chapters are implicitly or tacitly confirmed by a later chapter except those that it changes or abrogates. 44. Do monasteries of nuns have a chapter of affairs after the elections? A chapter ~f affairs is held more frequently and separately from elections in monasteries of nuns, since the chapter in such an institute has a vote in several matters that appertain solely to a higher superior and her council in a centralized institute. These matters vary in different constitutions, e. g., the alienation of property and the contracting of debts, admission of an aspirant into the enclosure, admission of a religious from another institute or monastery, admission to the novicesl~ip and pro-fessions, the declaration of fact fo~ an ~/~so faclo dismissal, the erection or suppression of a school, and other important matters of the monastery. A chapter of affairs is consequently held after the elections only if any such matters are to be discussed at the time. 45. Are higher superiors obliged to obey the enactments of the general chapter? Evidently. The general chapter is the supreme authority within the institute. Book Reviews [Material for this department should be sent to Book Review Editor, REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, West Baden College, West Baden Springs, Indiana.] MERCY UNTO THOUSANDS. By Sister M. Bertrand Degnan, R.S.M. Pp. 394. The Newman Press, Westminster, Maryland. 1957. $6.50. Sister M. Bertrand began collecting data fo~ Mercy unto Thou-sands in 1945. The years of study, labor, and research have pro- 370 November, 1958 BOOK REVIEWS duced a masterpiece. This book is at once very scholarly and very interesting. The life of Mother McAuley is so well told, in fact, that the vast amount of research into primary sources is almost forgotten till one begins to study the references. Such scholarship and appeal are two qualities often sought, but seldom so well achieved. As the author traces the life of Mother McAuley, the Divine Providence which guided her life b~comes more clearly delineated at each step of her career. At least in its major aspects, God's plan for Catherine McAuley was clear to her religious superiors, if not entirely clear to Catherine ~erself. That a religious order should be the logical consequence of the charitable work of Mercy House on Baggot. Street, Dublin, seemed to be clear to everyone but Cath-erine. And that the order, once founded, should spread so rapidly was hardly strange. In fact, given the time, place, and other cir-cumstances it would have been strange had the order not so developed. For Mother McAuley was dedicated above all to doing" God's work. Her surrender of all her time, wealth, and talents to God, made her a perfect instrument in His hands. So step by step He l.ed her to the accomplishment of a great work--the foundation and propagation of the Sisters of Mercy. The gifts and talents of Mother McAuley were rare. Sound-ness of practical judgment, ability in financial matters, intellectual acumen, grace of manner, and perseverance, to mention but a few of her qualities, marked Catherine McAuley as a woman destined for success. Many of these talents, of course, found their fulfillment and perfection in the supernatural order. For the charity, humility, and patience of this great woman were exercised to a degree seldom achieved in the life of a religious. But the outstanding natural gift of Mother McAuley was her exceptional charm. Her letters, poems, talks, and conversations portray an attractive person. Her ready wit must have supplied many pleasant hours for the sisters in the recreation room. For Mother McAuley's irrepressible optimism and humor always gave her a glimpse of the bright side of life even in her darkest moments. The tenderness and warmth with which she treated the other sisters manifested a woman with an extremely affectionate heart. But she could scold when the occasion demanded it. Her corrections, how-ever, were always temperate; and offense was never given. In sh, ort, this is the life of a very attractive and charming religious very attractively written. Mother McAuley could not be 371 BOOK REVIEWS Review for Religio~cs better presented or represented than she has been in Mercy unto Thousands.--J. M. KUNTZ, S.J. PHILIPPINE DUCHESNE, Frontier Missionary of the Sacred Heart, 1769.1852. By Louise Callan, R.S.C.J. Pp. 805. The Newman Press, Westminster, Maryland. 1957. $8.00. This life is, as it should be, a monumental work; for it deals with an epic theme. Its story begins about the time of the fall of one nation and ends about the time of the rise of another with the life story of a heroine filling the interval. Mother Callan has laid Catholic readers under an undying obligation for her scholarly yet simple presentation of a heroic woman and dauntless religious facing the rigors of frontier life in the American midwest in the first half of the 19th century, with no other purpose than to make known the glory of the Heart of Jesus. The volume is largely made up of Philippine Duchesne's correspondence with her friend and religious superior, Mother Barat, with the members of her family, and with religious and ecclesiastics with whom her zeal brought her into contact. There is hardly a page in this large book without some extract from Philippine's correspondence. Mother Callan has woven this cor-respondence into her text to illustrate it and carry it forward, with the result that it is largely Philippine who tells her own story, and does so magnificently. The letters themselves are very interesting, but they are never introduced for themselves, and the reader is never aware that the story being told is arrested or delayed in its progress. Mother Duchesne was in fact no ordinary letter-writer, where she describes the angry moods of the Atlantic as she crosses it, the picturesque banks of the Mississippi as she ascends it, or the dirt and muck of a Missouri farmyard as she trudges through it. The pictures come alive and tell us as much of the writer as of the subject of her writing. One cannot help being deeply impressed by the dogged per-sistence in the face of difficulties, discouragement, and even of opposi-tion shown by Mother Duchesne in the pursuit of her purpose, the salvation of souls through devotion to Christ's own Heart. This she never lost sight of. Lack of means, lack of help, lack of interest on the part of others never deterred her. Poverty, frequently grinding, only opened up new resources of courage. Even failure could not stop her. In fact, her life seems to have been one succession of failures, from her first attempt at religious life which was cut short in her girl-hood by the French Revolution, down to her belated excursion to the 372 November, 1958 BOOK REVIEWS Potawatomi in her old age. She had come to teach the Indians the way to God, and the only Indians she met were converts of many years. She had come to a land where the language was other than her own, a language which baffled all her attempts to master it; and when she could not teach, she stitched and sewed and mended. One foundation after another was given up; and she moved from place to place, always beginning anew, until she came to spend her final and fail-ing years at St. Charles, on the banks of the Missouri, where she had begun her work--reluctantly, since she found no place awaiting her in St. Louis where she had hoped to be established. Behind this unalterable courage and determined will, there was a tender heart. One marvels at the strength of the affection she shows for those she loves, and she loved nearly all she met. Remark-ing on the lack of letters from France with news of her loved ones, she exclaims: "There is not a single religious from France in the community here. But we meet at the s~ime center--the Heart God . " She loves solitude, but there is a note of poignant loneli-ness in this cry from the heart. There was much she met in the pioneer society that repelled her. If we remember that she was of gentle birth, had known the refine-ment and culture of 18th century France, we can better understand the revulsions she must have felt for the coarseness she met with in the society of the frontier. In her letter to her cousin Josephine, she recalls: "Those happy evenings in Grandmother's house; the simple but charming dinners on Sunday--and those on Monday; the presents given out gradually to each of the younger children. All this comes to my mind. Those happy days in the big family were surely prefer-able to the prdud disdain, the indifference, the affected languor, by which people think they make themselves important and attractive. I continue to live in the same convent a peaceful retreat suited to my age and tastes. My thoughts are often with you and about you, for you are so dear to my heart." The proud disdain, the indifference, the affected languor--simple religious as she was, she was shrewd enough to penetrate the shallow shell of sophistication in the society about her and expose its essential pride. Philippine was no gloomy ascetic, although she was of a naturally seri6us disposition. "Yet she was," as Mother Jouve, a niece, testi-fied, "always joyous and animated at the community recreaSons or when religious came for little visits with her in her room." She had severe interior trials to undergo, but these she kept entirely to herself. She could spend long and happy hours before the Blessed Sacrament, 373 BOOK REVIEWS Review for Religious and she was never more pleased than when she was allowed to live in close proximity to the chapel. Her life had become completely and perfectly integrated in God, "because' she realized," as Mother Callan tells us, "with astonishing clarity that He is first, and also last~Alpha and Omega--and that between Him and all else in the universe, there is, there can be, no comparison." However else she failed, in this she succeeded supremely: she loved God with a consuhaing devotion and her neighbor with a tire-less affection.~WILLIAM J. YOUNG, S.J. THE TEMPTATIONS OF CHRIST. By Gerald Vann, O.P., and P. K. Meagher, O.P. Pp. 127. Sheed and Ward, New York 3. 1957. $2.75. The climate of modern opinion, abetted by the word of Freud and others, may well influence Christians to think that the devil's day is over. Fathers Vann and Meagher show conclusively that Satan's neatest trick is this widespread disbelief in him. Why was Christ tempted? The authors believe that Christ saw Satan for the shrewd opponent that he is and went forth eagerly to confront him, thus giving us an example of how to cope with tempta-tion and also exposing the devil's wiles at t~ieir roots. The book is a psychologico-ascetical study; reading it cannot fail to improve one's understanding of the un.derlying "predominant passions" which rise to the surface of everyday life in such myriad forms. The authors first point out that we should not expect to be free from temptations--such perfectionism is already unconscious pride. They then show how Satan waits his chance to attack us when we are weakest and where we are most vulnerable. It is a discerning person who does not allow himself to be so wasted away by fasts and penances that he falls easy prey to the schemes of the Prince of Darkness. Going through the three temptations individually, the authors show a deep knowledge of "what is in man" as they analyze the appeal of the °devil in each situation. Thus they take the temptation to turn stones into bread as an indication of the desire for that sense of security which an abundance of resources can provide, making it difficult even to wish to be poor in spirit. The "perils of the pinnacle" .is a temptation highlighting man's excess of trust in himself; it shows how many think they avoid "immorality" by skirting sexual sins only to be heedless of such things as calumny, cruelty, bitterness, and pride. 374 November, 1958 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS The third temptation brings into the open the thread underlying this entire episode in our Lord's life. Satan's implication is that God is a poor provider and that the devil himself will give us prosperity and glory. And that indeed is the case--unless one takes a long-range view' beyond the frontiers of the immediate here and now. The book is more than a description of a scene from the life of Christ; it is a profound introspective study of what lies behind much of man's action. As such it cannot fail to give better knowledge of oneself and of the ways of the devil.--R.~LeH J. IL~ST~A~, S.J. BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS THE BRUCE PUBLISHING COMPANY, 400 North Broadway, Milwaukee 1, Wisconsin. Fathering-Forth. By John H. McGoey, S.F.M. A book by a priest for priests. In it Father McGoey evaluates what he has learned of the life of a priest both from personal experience and from observation. He has many a criticism to offer, but they are all of the constructive kind. Priests will find much matter for serious consideration in these pages. Pp. 188. $3.50. DAUGHTERS OF ST. PAUL, 50 St. Paul's Avenue, Jamaica Plain, Boston 30, Massachusetts. Glories and Virtues of Mary. By the Very Rev. J. Alberione, S.S.P., S.T.D. Translated by Hilda Calabro. The book is divided into three paits. The first deals with the glories of Mary; the second, with the virtues of Mary; and the third, with devotion to Mary. Each chapter concludes with some striking incident in the lives of great men and women illustrative of their deep devotion to the Mother of God. The book is well illustrated with full page reproductions of famous masterpieces. Pp. 251. Cloth $3.00. Paper $1.50. Mary, Mother and Model. Feasts of Mary. By the Very Rev. James Alberione, S.S.P., S.T.D. Translated by Hilda Calabro. The Roman Missal contains thirty-seven Masses in honor of our Lady. Not all of them are for the universal Church. Thirty of these feasts are considered in this volume and presented as meditations. At the end of each meditation there is a commentary on the cor-responding Mass of the Missal. The book is illustrated with full page reproductions of photographs of famous paintings or statues of our Lady. Pp. 237. Cloth $3.00. Paper $1.50. 375 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS Review for Religious Religious Life. Life of Courageous Souls. Extracts from Medi-tations and Conferences of the Very Rev. James Alberione, S.S.P., S.T.D., to the Religious of his Five Congregations. Compiled and translated from the Italian hy the Daughters of St. Paul. This is an excellent introduction to the religious life and a notable con-tribution to vocation literature. Pp. 107. Cloth $2.00. Paper $1.00. MESSRS. M. H. GILL & SON, 50 Upper O'Connell Street, Dublin, Ireland. The Story of the Hospitallers of St. John of God. By Norbert McMahon, O.S.J.D. In the United States this order of brothers dedicated to serve the sick poor is little known. Yet they have a tradition and history of heroic achievements in many parts of the world which only God can reward. How many martyrs of charity have died in their ranks we shall know only on the last day. During the civil war in Spain, ninety-eight Hospitaller Brothers were brutally massacred by the Reds out of hatred for religion. Yet despite their heroic achievements, their history is one of great trials and much persecution. More than once the order was all but extinct, only to rise again more vigorous than before. Perhaps their greatest trial came from the Holy See itself. Four days after his election, Pope Clement VIII published a bull which took from the Hospitaller Brothers their status as a religious order. The brothers were de-prived of their three vows of religion. They were to serve the sick in the hospitals as lay nurses under obedience to the local bishop. But Divine Providence watched over them. Today, after four-hundred years of existence, they have 209 houses, almost all of them hospitals, and 2,464 religious. You will want to read all about these athletes of charity. Pp. 187. 16/-. Ideals to Live By. Some of the Principles Which Moulded St. Ignatius Loyola. By Robert Nash, S. J. This is the latest book from the prolific pen of Father Nash. He wrote it with lay Catholics chiefly in mind. It is about the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius and makes suitable reading, either public or private, for times of retreat. Pp. 175. Paper 8/6. Cloth 12/6. B. HERDER BOOK COMPANY, 15-17 South Broadway, St. Louis 2, Missouri. The Three Degrees. A study of Christian Mysticism. By Conrad Pepler, O.P. A knowledge of mysticism can be very useful to all who lead an interior life. For the director of souls it is at times necessary. 376 November, 1958 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS Father Pepler offers a brief but sound introduction to this most diffi-cult subject and does so in language which the modern reader can understand. Unless you are already an expert in mystical theology, you can learn much from this little book. Pp. 256. $3.50. Introduction to the Philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas. Vol. II, Cosmology. By H. D. Gardeil, O.P. Translated by John A. Otto, Ph.D. This is the second volume of a four volume set. The purpose of this volume is "to give a true account of Aristotle's understanding.of the physical world, and mainly of its philosophical content, the abiding feature of his study." Pp. 218. $3.75. P. J. KENEDY & SONS, 12 Barclay Street,-New York 8, New York. Autobiography of St. Th~r~se of Lisieux. Translated by Ronald Knox. When L'Histoire d'une Ame first appeared, it had been edited to suit the canons of that day. The editing consisted in changing the chronological order, omitting about one fourth the whole, and making many changes in the text. All these edi-torial changes have now been eliminated, and we have the manu-script as it left the pen of the saint. It is this reconstructed manu-script that Father Knox has translated for English readers. In its light the heroic virtues of St. Th~rSse are more brightly illumined, and we get a better and a truer picture of the saint. Pp. 320. $4.50. THE MESSENGER PRESS, Carthagena, Ohio. Bought at a Great Price. Reflections on the Precious Blood. By Mother Mary Aloysi Kiener, S.N.D. If you are looking for a book of meditations to help you along the way of affective prayer, you would do well to examine Bought at a Great Price. There are thirty-two meditations, each divided into two parts. The average length of each meditation is eight pages. Pp. 271. $3.50. THE NEWMAN PRESS, Westminster, Maryland. A Manual for Novice Mistresses. Edited by Albert Pl~, O.P. Translated by Patrick Hepburne-Scott. This is volume nine in the "Religious Life Series." In content it is a selection of the more important papers read at a conference of French Dominican novice mistresses. The book dealg concisely with many of the major prob-lems which confront a mistress of noviceg in any order or congre-gati6n. Pp. 152. $3.25. The Christian Approach to the Bible. By Dom Celestine Char-lier. Translated from the French by Hubert J. Richardson and 377 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS Review for Religious Brendan Peters. 'Through the Bible God speaks to men on matters concerning man's salvation. It is therefore the most important book. Yet it is not an easy book to read. Fruitful reading pre-supposes certain intellectual, moral, and religious dispositions. These the author would help his readers to acquire. He does not write for experts but for the average Christian, who, no less than his learned brother, is to draw from the. Bible power to transform his life. Pp. 298. $4.00. Valiant Heralds of Truth. Pius XII and the Arts of Communi-cation. Compiled with a Commentary by Rev. Vincent A. Yzer-mans. The most authoritative source for a Catholic philosophy of the communication arts is our Holy Father, Pius XII. He has written and spoken on this subject frequently, and the compiler has gathered all these utterances between the covers of one volume. Pp. 201. $3.75. Christian Perfection and Married Life. By J. M. Perrin, O.P. Translated by P~ D. Gilbert. To show how perfection can be achieved in the married state is the purpose of the author. Marriage counselors, directors of Cana conferences, and priests engaged in the ministry will find here much valuable material. Pp. 92. $1.95. A Father Faber Heritage. Selections from the Writings of Rev. Frederick William Faber. Edited with an Introduction by Sister Mary Mercedes, S.N.D., de Namur. Father Faber of the Oratory was one of the outstanding spiritual writers of the nine-teenth century, and one who achieved a notable measure of well-deserved popularity. T

Issue 16.3 of the Review for Religious, 1957. ; A. M. D. G. Review for Religious MAY 15, 1957 Father Charles Nerinckx . Sister M. Matilda Current Spiritual Writing . Thomas G. O'Callaghan Apostates and Fugitives . Joseph I:. Gallen Roman Documents . R. I:. Smith Book Reviews Questions and Answers Summer Institutes Communications~ VOLUME 16 NUMBER 3 RI::VI I::W FOR RI LIGIOUS VOLUME 16 MAY, 1957 Nu~BER 3 CONTENTS FATHER CHARLES NERINCKX--Sister M. Matilda, S.L . 129 SUMMER INSTITUTES . 142 CURRENT SPIRITUAL WRITING-- Thomas G. O'CaIlaghan, S.J . 143 DELAYED VOCATIONS . 154 GUIDANCE FOR RELIGIOUS . 154 APOSTATES AND FUGITIVES~Joseph F. Gallen, S.J . 155 PRAYER OF POPE PIUS XII FOR RELIGIOUS VOCATIONS. 165 SURVEY OF ROMAN DOCUMENTS--R. F. Smith, S.J . 166 OUR CONTRIBUTORS . 175 COMMUNICATIONS . 176 BOOK REVIEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS~ Editor: Bernard A. Hausmann, S.J. West Baden College West Baden Springs, Indiana. i . 180 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS~- 13. Initiation of Principle of Adaptation . 188 14. Credo in Mass . 188 15. Bowing at Distribution of Communion . 189 16. Principles of Adaptation of Prayer . 189 17. Candidates of Inferior Intellectual Ability . 191 18. Special Ordinary Confessor of a Teaching Brother . 192 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, May, t957. Vol. 16, No. 3. Published bi-monthly by The Queen's Work, 3115 South Grand Blvd., St. Louis 18, Mo. Edited by the Jesuit Fathers of St. Mary's College, St. Marys, Kansas, with ecclesi-astical approval. Second class mail privilege authorized at St. Louis, Mo. Editorial Board: Augustine G. Ellard, S.J.; Gerald Kelly, S.J., Henry Willmering, S.J. Literary Editor: Robert F. Weiss, S.J. Copyright, 1957, by The Queen's Work. Subscription price in U.S.A. and Canada: 3 dollars a year; 50 cents a copy. Printed in U.S.A. Please send all renewals and new subscriptions to: Review for Religious, 3115 South Grand Boulevard, St. Louis 18, Missouri. The story of the founder of the Lorettines F :her.Ch rles Nerinckx Sist:er M. Mat:ilda, S.L. T HOUGH the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small." Sometimes we see results, more often we do not. In the life of Reverend Charles Nerinckx and the story of the founding of the Congregation of the Sisters of Loretto, we see much that is tangibJe; yet there is much that is still intangible. The French Revolution was God's smithy in which Nerinckx's character and missionary vocation were forged and welded; ~the American Revolution and the adjust-ment period that followed saw the birth of Mary Rhodes and the other young women whose youth must h~ive been spent amid the problems of a young country in its new-found freedom. These lives, trained in stress and turmoil, an ocean apart, were being prepared slowly but effectively to converge in a work that has carried on through the years. Charles Nerinckx was born October 2, 1761, in the province of Brabant, Belgium, the oldest of seven brothers arid seven sisters born to Sebastian Nerinckx and Petronilla Langhendries, The father was a skillful physician, a Christian of strong and practical faith too infrequently found among the medical men of Europe of that day; the mother, a woman of solid piety and sturdy common sense. With a view to enlarging his medical practice and securing greater educational advantages for his children, Dr. Nerinckx early moved to Ninove, province of East Flanders. Here it was that Charles, at the age of six, began his primary studies. Having completed his elementary education in the local schools, Charles was sent successively to Enghien, Gheel, and the Catholic Uni-versity of. Louvain. Then, having decided to study for the secu-lar priesthood, he entered the seminary at Mechlin and was there 129 SISTER M. MATILDA Review for Religious ordained in 1785.' The following year he was appointed vicar of the metropolitan parish of St. Rumoldus, Mechlin, over which Prince John Henry Cardinal de Frankenberghe presided as arch-bishop. Father Nerinckx filled this important post for eight years with such zeal as to attract the admiring notice of the Cardinal Archbishop. So, when the parish of Everberg-Meer-beke, midway between Mechlin and Brussels, became vacant at "the death of the aged incumbent, M. Nerinckx was appointed to fill it by the general sut~rage of a board ot~ examiners, who, after the searching examination, o'r concursus, recommended by the Holy Council of Trent for such cases, unanimously awarded him the palm over all other candidates." Father Nerinckx was then thirty-three years of age. The greatest problem encountered in the new assignment was the obstinate apathy of the people towards their religious duties. Beginning with the children, winning their love and obedience, he soon won their parents and elders. Within three years such a profound change had been wrought that the mighty wave of irreligion attendant on the victorious armies of the French revolutionists failed to engulf his parishioners. Leaders of the opposition were naturally enraged. They succeeded in having him proscribed because he refused to take the oath de-manded by the government, an oath at variance with his con-science. Thus forced into hiding, he attended his parish only in secret; finally even this became too dangerous. Disguised as a peasant, Father Nerinckx went to Dendermonde where his aunt, Mother Constantia, was the superior of the Hospital of St. Blase. For months he lived in the attic of the hospital, never stirring abroad in daylight but ministering by night to the sick, to the dying, even to condemned prisoners, and caring for the spir: itual welfare of the sisters who had been deprived of their chap. lain by the same enmity that had made their guest a fugitive. Thus by night he did God's work for others; by day he prayed, medita~ted, planned, studied, wrote, and slept a little. For four years he evaded informers and acted secretly as chaplain of the 130 May, 1957 FATHER CHARLES NERINCKX hospital, yet his priestly zeal urged actioni free and untrammeldd action, impossible in his native land under existing conditionS. To save souls was his consuming desire; the western world, where the harvest was great and the laborers few, called him. He would go t.here. Father Nerinckx volunteered' for the American missions. On his arrival at Baltimore in the fall of 1804, he was appointed by Bishop John Carroll to the Kentucky sedtion of his vast dio-cese of Baltimore whicli embraced the whole of the United States. No'record is left us'~of what the word "Kentucky" meant to the Belgian exile on receiving this appointment. Generous in his ignorance of what life on the American frontier meant for a missionary, "it never was regretted when knowledge, the fullest and the bitterest, was his measure." After a few.months at G~orgetown, where he diligently studied the English language, he set out for Kentu.cl~y .with a colony of Trappist monks bound for the same region. Finding theil mode of travel too slow for h~is ardent zeal he pushed ahead alone and arrived on July 18, 1805, at St. Stephen's Farm, sixty miles south of Louisville. He went immediately to work aiding Reverend Stephen Theodore Badin, then the only priest in the state of Kentucky. At first-Father Nerinckx rode the cir-cuits of the missions nearer the priests'-headquarters, St. Steph-en's Farm, now Loretto Motherhouse; liter, he attended those farther away until, as he learned the country, he took the most remote. For the first seven years he shared the humble cabin, coarse fare, and weary journeys of Father Badin at St. Stephen's; after-wards he took up his residence chiefly at the log church of St. Charles on Hardin Creek, to which church he had added a room for himself. But he was seldom at home; he lived in his scaitered missions and passed long hours in the saddle. He then had charge of six large congregations,.besides a much greater number of mission stations scattered over the whole extent of Kentucky. SISTER M. MATILDA Review for Religious To visit all his churches and stations generally required the space of at least six weeks. When the two priests were together, they often discussed the advisab!lity of a diocese with headquarters nearer than Baltimore. Father Badin had urged it before Father Nerinckx arrived; and the latter, after a very short time in Kentucky, added his urging to that of his companion. When the diocese was created in 1808 and Bardstown named as the see city, the two priests set to work to prepare, for the arrival of Bishop Flaget by building near their own a log cabin for him where the formal installation took place. As in Europe Father Nerinckx had used the children to win the people back to God, so in Kentucky he used the same tactics to preserve and to spread the Faith. He loved these little Kentucky children; their simplicity, guilelessness, innocence drew him to them. But he well "knew youthful minds required more than an occasional lesson in the truths of religion if the Faith was to be preserved. Too, he knew education would eventually come to the Kentucky frontier; and, when it came, it would be education without religion. How could he safeguard the Faith of these little ones? Within a year after his arrival he wrote to his parents that he intended to establish a sisterhood to help him in the work. His first effort was a failure, and in his humility he shouldered the blame as being too unworthy of such an undertaking and urged Father Badin to take over the foundation. Accordingly a convent was begun and speedily completed. It stood about a mile and a half from St. Stephen's. Several young women applied to be the first religious. But God's mill does not grind so fast. He had chosen other souls for this work, and until His time came and His chosen ones were fully prepared the work would not begin.- A bolt of lightning set fire to the building before it could be occupied, leaving, only two blackened chimneys--prophetic symbols to Father Nerinckx of future SUCCESS. Father Badin, crushed as-was Father Nerinckx with disap-pointment at the failure of this cherished project, turned to the 132 May, 1957 FATHER CHARLES NERINCKX more distant missions, leaying the nearer congregations to his co-laborer. For four years Father Nerinckx labored and prayed and hoped. God's time had not yet come; he must wait. Riding the circuit of the nearer missions gave him opportunity to study the whole situation; and his convictions became stronger that a sisterhood would arise, a sisterhood as American as the American pioneer women who would build it. This time the initiative came, not from the priests, but from a member of the St. Charles Cong. regation, a Miss Mary Rhodes who was visiting her brother and sister, earlier immigrants to .Kentucky. Mary Rhodes was born in Washington, Maryland, now the District of Columbia. She had received a convent edu-cation, presumably with the Pious Ladies who had established themselves at Georgetown in 1799 and adopted the Visitandine Rule in 1816. The Rhodes sisters were young ladies of culture and refinement, so it is easy to understand how concerned Mary Rhodes was to see her nieces growing up with few intellectual advantages and no mental ambitions beyond those which their hard-working father and mother could give them. What she could do to help them she did, by teaching them daily. Neigh-bors heard of the instruction that the little Rhodes children were receiving and asked for the same advantages for their daughters; Mary Rhodes's generous heart could not refuse what was in her power to give. She laid her project before Father Nerinckx, sought his approval to give religious instruction and the rudiments of elementary education to the girls who might come, and asked his blessing. Obtaining these, she set about converting a long-uninhabited log cabin into a school. The school prospered beyond the most sanguine expectations of pastor and teacher. The increased number of pupils induced Father Nerinckx to look for an assistant to help Miss Rhodes; this he found in Miss Christina Stuart, a pious young lady of the neigh-l~ orhood who eagerly accepted the invitation. Both young women lived for a time at the Rhodes's home; but, finding the house too' much frequented by worldly company, for ~vhich neither 133 S~ISTER M. MATILDA Review for Religious h:id any great inclination, they fitted up a .second log cabin ~adjoining the school and equally dilapidated and there took up their abode where they could pursue undisturbed their studies and the development of their spiritual life. For their livelihood they trusted, solely in, Divine Providence. Till now, we are told, they had not thought of the religious life; but, with the coming of Miss Nancy Havern,to share their happiness, their labors and privations, such a desire was born. The~e is no record of which soul first conceived the idea of becoming a religious; very like~ly it was Mary Rhodes, as she had been with the sisters at Georgetown; and at least 'she knew some-thing about sisters. Again Father Nerinckx was consulted. Happy as he was at finding such piety and generosity, he prudently in-structed them on the obligations of religious life and the obstacles they might meet under pioneer conditions. But they were not fearful; their trust in Providence was modeled on that of their adviser and spiritual father; and they begged him to give them some rules to live by. He wrote down a few simple rules for the three aspirants, gave them his blessing and encouragement. As soon as possible Father Nerinckx laid the whole affair before the loca! ordinary, Bishop Flaget, "who gave the undertaking his warmest approval and placed it under the care of Father Nerinckx." Father Nerinckx had said that hardships, disappointments, poverty, toi!, death would be their portion through the years; but with trust in Divine Providence and confidence in the watch-ful direction of their pastor they persevered. They increased in numbers and spread to other localities and states until at the present time, 1957, the Sisters of Loretto have 70 houses' in the United States. They staff 106 schools counti'ng grade and high schools separately. These are: 2 senior colleges, 1 junior college~ 21 senior high schools, 1 junior high school, 80 grade schools, and 1 pre-school. They teach in Alabama, Arizona., California, Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, New Mexico, Texas; Virginia, and Wyoming. In 1923 and 1933 they opened houses 134 May, 1957 FATHER CHARLES NERINCKX in China which flourished until the sisters were expelled by" the Communists in 1949. In founding the Institute of the Sisters of Loretto, Father Nerinckx called into service his rich knowledge of' canon law and church history, especially the history of the religious orders of the Church, to which he added a wealth of personal experience and his acquaintance and appreciation'of the rugged American spirit of independence, initiative, and adaptability. The French Revolution had not made him fearful, but it had made him cautious. Therefore, after a three-year trial period of his simple rule based on that of St. Augustine, he journeyed to Rome and submitted it to the highest ecclesiastical, authorities. He petitioned that the young Institute be placed .directly under pontifical juris-diction. This petition was granted; the Institute of the Sisters of Loretto became an exempt order.~in the third year of its existence. The spirit of the Society was determined from its inception. It is the same today. It is succinctly expressed in the words love and sacrifice. In more detail is the following summation from the first printed Holy Rule: The Sisters of Loretto are to impress most deeply upon their minds that the sacred obligation ot: the vows they pronounce are voluntarily as-sumed and must be meticulously fulfilled; silence hnd recollection must be cherished to stimulate an ever more intimate union with the Suffering Jesus and His Sorrowful Mother at the Cross; hardships and labor must be welcomed and embraced, not only as a way of livelihood, but as well. deserved penance for sin and mortification for atonement; and, finally, a great desire and a consistent effort to see religion and morals improve by a pious education of youth. The object, therefore, of the Congrega-tior~ is. twofold: the sanctification of its members, and the education of youth. While Father Nerinckx was busy with the establishment of the sisterhood, he did not neglect his othe~ duties or the organiza-tions he had started in his various parishes and stations for stim-ulating the spiritual welfare of his people. In 1806 at his church of Holy Mary on the Rolling Fork, he established a~ Confrater,nity of the Ros~ary, a children's Rosary Sodality called "Lilietum," a Confraternity of the Scapular; and, in 1809 in St.' Charles 135 SISTER M. MATILDA Review for Religious Church, he founded the first Holy Name Society in thee United States. Records of these organizations are still extant. It is interesting to note that there were 1,100 names on his Rosary roster; more than 600 on his Lilietum or children's Rosary Sodality list; 971 on his Scapular Society record; and 259 on his Holy Name Society register, every name. carefully written in his own hand. That Father Nerinckx was blessed with remarkable and dis-criminating foresight is shown by his efforts in behalf of the colored race in beginning a Negro oblate sisterhood in connec-tion with the Sisters of Loretto. Father Nerinckx was the product of the best European civilization, and he naturally found the conditions of slavery most repellent to his Christian principles. This is disclosed by his paternal solicitude for the wretched lot of the colored man in the United States. Whether by foresight, or by study of the American type of freedom and justice, he must have been convinced that the emancipation of the Negro would Come sooner or later in the young republic for he bent his efforts to .prepare for that crucial time of transition from slavery to freedom. To Christianize and educate these erstwhile slaves and to lead them to the right enjoyment of freedom, Father Nerinckx felt that the best means would be a sisterhood of their own race trained for this arduous work. Conviction for Father Nerinckx meant action, and he set to work. He arranged for the Sisters of Loretto to admit several colored girls into their school. It is on record that some of these became aspirants or postulants in May, 1824; but, after the death~of Father Nerinckx the following August, we hear no more of these young women. Whatever records of subsequent decisions in their regard that may have been kept were lost in the disastrous fire that laid the Motherhouse in ashes in 1858. Dr. J. A. Burns, C.S.C,, in his able work, The Catholic School System in the United States, says that this project of Father Nerinckx's, the Negro sisterho'od, "is in itself sufficient to stamp him'as a man whose educational ideas ran far ahead of his time." 136 May, 1957 FATHER CHARLES NERINCKX Bishop Flaget, greatly~, pleased with ,the success bf the Sisters of Loretto in their educational work for girls, Wished to provide the same opportunities for boys., He asked Father Nerinckx to establish a similar society for young'men, the object of which would be the education of orphan boys and boys of the middle class, "whose poverty so often" prevents the"Church and state from being benefitted by their talents." Father Nerin~kx's mind seems to have been running ~ilong the same lines, for he very readily acquiesced to his superior's request and set to 'work at once. With money collected from his own congreg~ltions and three thousand dollars collected by the sisters, the good missibnary purchased a farm which he named Mt.Mary. The loss of the main building and four smaller ones by fire .early in 1819 blighted the .prospects for the time being .and caused Father Nerinckx to underake a second voyage to Europe to appeal to his countrymen for funds and possible vocations. He returned in 1821 accompanied by several, fine young men, toost of whom joined the Jesuits, among them the renowned Fathers Peter J. de Smet and J. F. Van Assche. On!y three came to Kentucky aS aspirants for the brothei'hood, and one of these died very'shortly after his arrival. During Father Nerinckx's pro. tracted stay in Europe, Reverend William Byrne, who had been appointed to attend Holy Mary's and St. Charles's congregations, had opened a.boys' college on the property .Father Nerinckx had bought. He was decidedly averse, on the return of the older priest, to yielding possession, so Father Nerinckx had re-course to the 'bishop. Of this~ interview .Father Howlett writes, "Father Nerinckx expostulated with Bishop Flaget. over the changed destiny of the farm; but the bishop did not care to dis-lodge Father Byrne, who had begun with his sanction," Rather than give occasion, for scandal~ the weary traveler in humble sub. mission to authority diopped, the matter. Eventually, lacking encouragement, 'funds," and property, he gave up his cherished plans for a brotherhood. 137 SISTER M. MATILDA Review ]or Religious Father Nerinckx was always a student. In his four years of forced seclusion at the hospital in [Dendermonde he must have spent much time in close application, for his manuscripts of this period, if printed, would form eight or ten octavo volumes. They were in Latin, a language in which he excelled. Much that he wrote then and afterwards has been lost, but ~omething still remains in the convent at Dendermonde, and some manuscript volumes" on pastoral theology and kindred subjects may be found in the parish library at Meerbeke. "These show the depth of his trained mind, filled with an elaborate store of Scripture, the Fathers, the history of the Church, and sound theological prin-ciples~" 'Shortly after his death an act of vandalism destroyed all his b~,oks and writings except his little Treatise on Mission-arz'es and an exposition of the Reign of Satan, edited by a Dominican Father from notes left by the Belgian priest. These and his beautiful letters to Bishop Carroll prove he was a master of Latin compositibn. His original Rule, written in English, fbr the Sisters .of Loretto and his hand-penned catechism written in Flemish are' treasured at their motherhouse: Father Nerinckx in his nineteen years on the Kentucky missions built rio fewer than fourteen churches. Some o~ these he literally built with his own hands; in fact, he e~pended some manlaal labor on all Of them. They were mostly of logs; the last on the list was of brick and is still in a good statd o'f preserva-tion. The fourteen follow: H61y Mdry, Calvary, 1805i St. Cl'iarles, 1806; St. Clara's, 1808; St. Bernard's, Casey Creek, 1810; St.' Romoldus (now St. Romuald), Hardinsburg, Breck-enridge C6unty, 1810-1816; St. Paul's, Grayson County, "181.1; St, Augustine's,' Grayson Springs, (~rayson County, 1811; St. John.'s,'Rude's Creek, Hardin County, 1812;' St. John Baptist, Bullitt' County, 1812; St. Anthony's, Long Lick,. Breckenridgh County,i: 1812; St. Benedict's~ Spencer. ¯ Cdunty," 1'815; St. Augusfine's; Lebanon," 1817, finished b)~ Father Deparcq in i820; St. Vincent's,: New Hope, 1819; Holy Cross,.1823. This last is still used as a parish church. ., ~. May, 1957 FATHER CHARLES NERINCKX This zealous Belgian priest loved the house of God." Log churches of necessity h~d tO be plain, their furnishings in k~eep.- ing with the poverty of the faithful; but the pastqr so. ught the very best for the altar, especially for the tabernacle where the Bl~ssed Sacrament was to dwell. Everything connected with the Holy .Mysteries fired his devotion. Unless on a long journey or gravely ill never did he miss offering the Holy Sacrifice. On each of his journeys to Euro.pe, the first, in the interests of the sisterhood, the second, in that of the intended brotherhood', Father Nerinckx accumulated and brought to Kentucky church furnishings, paintings, sacred vessels, etc., estimated at over fifteen thousand dollars. Thus were the humble log churches enriched for divine services. He kept nothing for himself so that it was said at his death that his only legacy to the Lorettines was an unbounded confidence in Divine Providence and a very deep devotion to the Suffering Jesus and the Sorrowful Mary, devotions he instilled into them from the very beginning of the Institute. Having begun the study of English when he was past forty years of a, ge, Father Nerinckx never became versatile in its use. Hence, though learned and of solid judgment, he could never be credited with brilliancy of speech or writing in English. His discourses were plain, mattei'-of-fact instructions, couched in broken English with no ornamental figures, to enhance them. Were it not for his earnestness and sincerity and the spiritual impact of his words, he probably would have been considered a tiresome and disagreeable speaker. He sought not for elo-quence, but only that he might carry God's message to souls; and this he did in his humble, simple speech. Archbishop Martin John Spalding writes of this Kentucky missionary: M. Nerinckx," though kind and polite to all, wasorather austere in his manners, as well as rigid in his discipline. He WaS, however, always 'much mord rigid with himself, than with others. He never lost a mo-ment. He. knew well ~hat a priest who does his duty has little time to spare for idle conversation. Wherever good was to be done, or a 139 SISTER M. MATILDA Review for Religious soul to be saved', there he was. found, by day or by night, in rain or in sunshine, in winter or in summer. When not actually engaged in the ministry, he was always found at home, employed in prayer or in study. Reverend William J. Howlett, author of Life of Req;erend Charles Arerittckx, says: In matters of faith, religion, and moral practices he was stern, and made no compromise with sin and its dangers. Cursing, drinking, horse-racing and dancing were either sinful or productive of sin, and he op-posed them rigorously . If in his preaching he showed no mercy to sin, in the confessional he had the heart of a father for his sinful chil. dren, and in all his missions his heaviest work was in the confessional, which Bishop Spalding says, 'was usually thronged by penitents, from early dawn until midday, all of whom, without one exception, were deeply attached to him.' Nor do we hear that he was in the habit of refusing absolution to any greater extent than a prudent confessor does today.'. Duty was a great thing wi~h him, and when duty called him he brought into action those great powers of mind and soul which he so modestly disclaimed. These characteristics, while they made him diffident" ot himself, gave him a wonderful estimate of the faith and practices of the Church, and a dread of evel-ything that sezmed to him to be a departure from.her teachings or a relaxation in her time-honored discipline. He could never become a heretic, for he held too firmly to what he had been taught; he never could become a schismatic, for authority was to him the most sacred thing in the world after his faith; he never could become a sinner, for the shadow of sin was a nightmai.e ~o him. These three things, with his great desire for the honor of God and the salvation of his own and his neighbors' souls, will be seen to have beenthe guiding motiv'es of his life. In a letter to Bishop England, Bishop Flaget wrote of Father Nerinckx" thus: "His love for retirement wa~ such, tl~at" h~. n~ever ~aid a visit of mere Ceremony. Indeed, hi never vis-i~ edl except when the good of his neighbor or the duty of his ministry made it obligatory to do so . Praye~ appeared to be hi~ grea'tes't, and only solace, in the 'midst of his contifiual labors." And this tribute was from.his bishop. The subject of this sket'ch was a man of action as can be seerl "fro~ the variety of his 'undertakings. There remains one point still to be mentioned,, his interest in the civilizing and Christianizing .6f the Indians. ' When ~difficulties arose in Kentuck~y, Father Neririckx felt that pi~rhaps, they i:ould be effectively and. charitably settled by 140. May, 1957 FATHER CHARLES NERINCKX his withdrawal for atime., He was grieved to see unwarranted changes made in the rule of the Sisters of Loretto and in their schools, and he felt greater changes were still to come. If the changes came from Rome he would gladly accept--but how would Rome know the exact state of affairs? His own methods were cast aside for untried ones. Just what the deciding factor was that sent him a second time into exile, this time to Missouri, he never made known; but to Missouri he went. He performed the visitation of the Loretto house in Perry County, then trav-eled to St. Louis to meet and confer with the commissioner of Indian affairs to arrange for some Indian girls to be enrolled with the sisters at Bethlehem, the Perry County foundation.On his return journey to Bethlehem he detoured to minister to a settlement of some ten families who had not seen a priest for two years. After this last act of charity he was taken ill; he died at St. Genevieve, Missouri, on August 12, 1824. He was buried on the 14th in the sisters' cemetery at Bethlehem convent, Bishop Rosati being present and giving the final absolution. Bishop Rosati is r.eported to have said that he consideredFather Nerinckx's remains ~he most priceless treasure of his diocesel Be that as it .may, he refused Bishop Flage~'s and Father Chabrat's petitions 'for the removal of the remains~ yielding only io the diplomacy of the mother superior of Loretto. The re-enterment at Loretto Motherhouse took place in December~ 1833." : Father Nerinckx's major concrete contributions to the up-building of the Church in K.~ntucky were: the administdrin.g of the sacraments td the faithful.throughout' the" region,-th~ build[ ing of houses of worship, the organizing of districts into parishes, th'e c611ecting and. transportation of.,tho,us.ands'6f dollars~ worth of. church supplies and furnishings which he distributed to poor and needy .churches, two journeys to Europe in the interests of the Church' arid the. sist'e'rhbod which h~. h°ad fotinded in Cdn-~ junction with 'Miss Mary Rhodes and.companioris--the Congre-gation of the Sisters of Loretto, the first purely American sister-hood devoted to education founded and continuing without 1.41 SISTER M. MATILDA foreign affiliation. These, directly or indirectly, can be seen. But 0nly' the"angels of God have recorded his prayers, longings, and aspirations and measured his mental and physical sufferings, the dangers he encountered in traversing the wilderness, his penances and mortifications, his dominant virtue of humility, the frustra-tion of his desire to lead the contemplative life. Instances of some of these could be given, but the full import of them is not ours to record. His spirit lives on not alone in the religious congregation of Loretto, but in the faith of the Catholics of Kentucky, a staunch, vibrant, active Catholicity the seeds of which were planted in pioneer days by the saintly. Belgian exile, Rev-erend Charles Nerinckx. SUMMER INSTITUTES The tenth annual Theological Institute for Sisters will be con-ducted under the auspices of St. Xavier College in cooperation with the Dominican Fathers of the Province of St. Albert the Great June 24 to August 2, 1957. The double purpose of the institute is: to contribute to the spiritual development of sisters and to strengthen the preparation of religious who are teachers of religion. The basic curriculum is open to sisters without a bachelor's degree. An advanced program, for those who have completed the basic course, leads to a master's degree from the Dominican House of Studies, River Forest. For a listing of courses write to: St. Xavier College, 103rd and Central Park Avenue, Chicago 43, Illinois. In keeping with ancient Benedictine traditions and the spirit of the modern liturgical revival, St. John's Abbey, internationally known litur-gical and educational center where students may join with the monastic choir 'in chanting the divine office and may take part in solemn liturgical ceremonies, is conducting summer courses in liturgy and Gregorian chant. These courses, supl~lemented with opportunities for study of modern church music hs well as applied music in voice and organ, are designed to assist choir directors and organists in carrying out the in-structions on church music by the present Holy Father a.nd by St. Plus X. For further information write to: Dora Gunther, O.S.B., St. John!s University, Collegeville, Minnesota. (Continued on Page 175) 142 Current: Spiritual W'rit:ing Thomas ~, O'C~lhghan [Most of the readers of RE~tlE\V FOR RELIGIOUS have not the opportunity of keeping up with the numerous articles which are being written on various points of spiritual theology. It is with the intention of trying to supply for this need that we hope to publish about every six months a survey of current periodical literature. This survey will take the form mostly of quotations from, and synopses of, some of the more interesting articles which have appeared recently. For the most par~ the survey will confine itself to English language periodicals.--The Editors.] general. God Within Q. What is your ideal of sanctity? A. To live by love. Q. What is the quickest way to reach it? A. To become ~ery small, to give oneself wholly and irrevocably. Q. Who is your favorite saint? A. The Beloved Disciple, who rested on the heart of his Maste~. Q. What point of the Rule do you like best? A. Silence. Q. What is the dominant trait in your character? A. Sensitivity. What is your favorite virtue? A. Purity. What fault of character do you dislike most? A. Egoism in Q. Give a definition of prayer. A. A union of her who is not with Him who is. Q. What is your favorite book? A. Tire Soul o.f Gkris/. In it I learn all the secrets of the Father who is in heaven. Q. Have you a great longing for heaven? A. I sometimes feel homesick for heaven, but, except for the vision, I possess it in the depths of my soul. Q. What is your motto? A. 'God in me and I in Him.'~ The young Carmelite who filled out this questionnaire in the first week of her postulancy died ~fifty years ago, at ~the age of twenty-six, after just fi.ve years of~ religious life. Her~ name~ was Elizabeth Catez, but she is known today more dommonly as Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity, or Elizabeth"0f Dijon. TO this young and holy Carmelite ig dedicated the .September, 1956, issue of Spiritual Life, the,gery~ fine Catholic quarterly,,published by the Discalced Carrrielite Fathers. ~This questionnaire is quoted'by Fathbr Denis of the Holy Family, O.C.D. in "A Sketch of the Life of Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity," S,~iritual Life, II (1956), 149-150. THOMAS G. 0'CALLAGHAN Review for Religious In "A Sketch of the Life of Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity," the article from which we have taken the above-quoted ques-tionnaire, Father Denis of the Holy Family, O.C.D., gives a fine introduction to the life and doctrine of Sister Elizabeth. A fuller and more theological treatment of her spiritual doctrine he leaves to two other articles, published in the same issue, by E. I. Watkin and Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D. Father Gabriel says of Sister Elizabeth that "she succeeded in con-structing a lucid synthesis of the spiritual life, corhbining . . . [an] intimate life with the Trinity and progressive assimilation to Christ" (p. 174). In fact, we might say that his entire article, "The Indwelling in Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity," is a develop-ment of that proposition. Those who center their spiritual life on the divine indwelling and who desire to live united to God-within will find in this issue of Spiritual Life some fine, spiritually nourishing matter. They will also understand why Sister Elizabeth, who "found he'aven on earth, since heaven is God, and God is in my soul," is rapidly becoming a favorite among contemplative souls. It might also be added here that Elizabeth's "Prayer of a Praise of Glory to the Trinity" (p. 165). contains exce~llent subject matter for mental, prayer. The Saints St. John, recalling his vision of the blessed, wrote: "I saw a great multitude [of the' blessed in heaven] which no man could number . . ." (Apoc, 7:9). In apparent contradiction to these ~vords there appeared in the American Ecclesiastical Review an excellent and. scholarly article, written by Father John F. Bro-derick, s.J., entitled "A Census of the Saints (993-1955).'" How many saints are there? No definitive list has ever been compiled, although biographical dictionaries exist which run to several thousand names; one for Ireland alone claims three -~ Vol. CXXXV (1956), 87-115. 144 May, 1957. SPIRITUAL WRITINGS thousand. Most of these dwelt in the ancient or medieval periods. But before being able to determine the number of saints, ¯ one would first have to clarify the meaning of the word saint, and then establish what authority has the right to recognize sainthood. For up to and even beyond the year 1000 A.D. the power to designate sainthood was not rest6cted to the Holy See, as is now the case, but was left to local ecclesiastical authorities. When this process later found papal approval, explicit or tacit, it became known as equivalent canonization. But by no means all the early saints have won Roman approval; some lack official approbation of any kind. Their title has come by way of popu-lar devotion on the part of the faithful, or is due to the careless-ness or mistakes of those who put together early martyrologies, etc. Hagiography abounds in problems of this kind. The present article, however, restricts itself to those saints solemnly canonized by the popes, the form of canonization with which we are nowadays familiar. A very carefully worked-out chart, the product of considerable research, forms the heart of the article. It enumerates in chronological order--according to the date of death--all formally canonized saints from the time of the first canonization in 993 up to the present. Also noted are: the liturgical classification of each saint, age at death, year of c~inonization, vocational status (laity, secular clergy, religious), principal occupation, and land of birth. The data therein contained are analyzed in the final section of the article and many interesting points are indicated. Canon-ized saints are discovered to ~otal two hundred and eighty-three, Male saints number two hundred and twenty-seven, female fifty-six. Martyrs total sixty-nine. At death ages ranged from eleven to over one hundred. Wide variations can be detected between the date of death and canonization, the periods varying from a few months to six centuries. Well over one half of the canoniza-tions have been delayed two centuries or more, a factor which 145 THOMAS G. O'(~ALLAGHAN Review ]or Religious must be kept in mind in discussing the failure of North America to produce native saints. The laity has produced about one sixth of the saints; the secular clergy, slightly less; religious, the rest. At least thirty-five saints have been married. Of canonized religious about one fifth were women, almost equally divided between contem-platives and active institutes. In external occupations the widest range is visible, from the lowly housekeeper or farm laborer to the emperor and empress. A surprisingly high number, about forty percent, were engaged in governing as civil or ecclesiastical superiors. Founders and foundresses of religious institutes, very prominent in recent can-onizations, total sixty-six saints. More than one half ~he saints have come from the upper class in society; the rest are about equally divided between the" middle class and the numerically vast lower class. Latin coun-tries account for two thirds of the saints, especially Italy with ninety-five and France with fifty-five. Three saints have been born in the Western Hemisphere, but seventeen have labored there. The current trend is toward more frequent canonizations. In the 632 years between the first formal canonization and 1625, when Urban VIII established the modern regulations, the aver-age was fourteen per century; since then it has risen to sixty. Father Broderick, s.J., made mention of the different social classes of the saints. Another article has appeared recently which throws some light on this subject. Those familiar with second nocturns are well acquainted with parenlibus who were either nobilibus or honestis or pauperibus. But they may not be sure of the precise meaning of these terms. Father Bull0ugh, O.P., writing primarily about Dominican saints in "'Class Dis-tin~ tion Among the Saints," an article which appeared in the August, 1956, issue of Life of the Spirit, helps to clarify the ma, tter. He suggests that these three words designate three 146 May, 19,67" SPIRITUAL WRITINGS distinct social classes and that these social classes in turn. were largely based, at least originally, on occupations. The nobiles were those who had money and property andwere employers; the honesti were merchants or artisans, mostly self~employed, who made a living at thei~r~ own particular work or trade; the pauperes were wage earners, obtaining their money by working for some-one else. (If that is so, it is going to be difficult to find any saints who were born, as the pleasantry has it, of paltperibus sed honestis parentibus.) ~. Liturgy in School Under the 'title, "Toward a Living Parish," Mongignor Martin B. Hellriegel frequently contributes to Worship a serids of' practical suggestions for increasing the li~ur'gical life pa~:ish. His excellent suggdstions, however, need not be limited to the parish ch'urch. Man~, of them could--by a little imagina-tive adaptation--prove most hi.-lpful to Catholic school teachers; even college professors. At times teachers would like to make a few interesting remarks to their classes about some liturgical feast which the Church is celebrating, or they may be looking for ideas as to how the students might celebrate in their school some of the more important feasts. Very often they will find in Monsignor Hellriegel's articles exactly what they are looking for. For example, in the October, 1956, issue of Worship he comments on some of the feasts which occur during that month. He opens the article with some reflections on the feast of the Guardian Angels, offering fine matter which could be used for a talk of three or four minutes to Catholic students. Then he makes some practical points about the way that this feast could be celebrated in the parish. One or two of these points could easily be used by teachers for school. The next feast on which he com'ments is 6ur Lady's Maternity, celebrated on the eleventh of October. This is a much more deeply signifidant "Mother,s Da~,'; than the second Sunday in May. What afine point that would make in talking 147 THOMAS G. 0'CALLAGHAN Review for Religious to children: our Lady's "Mother's Day." Is it not true that many parochial school teachers could easily pass over this feast without even a mention of it? For the feast of St. Luke, October 17, there is a very simple suggestion for a reverent display of the Holy Gospel. This cbuld be used to remind the students not only of "the holiness and dignity of the Gospel, and of the respect we owe to it, but also of our indebtedness to the holy evangelists . . . who have recorded for us the 'God spell,' the good tidings of the life and teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ" (p. 573). Today Halloween is too often identified with "trick or treat" or vandalism. Monsignor explains the original spirit be-hind the festivities held on the eve of All Saints, or Hallow's" Eve (from which is derived the word Hallo,ween). Just the explanation which he gives would be an enlightenment to so many Catholic school children. There are also detailed sugges-tions for the celebration of this feast in a parish, some of which could profitably be adapted for school use. If Catholic school teachers could find the time to glance through "Toward a Living Parish" whenever it appears,' they would surely find some helpful matter for their classroom. Prayer In Life of the Spirit Dora Aelred Sillem, O.S.B., has an interesting article on the relation between liturgical and con-templative prayer.:' Many feel that there is a certain conflict be-tween contemplative and liturgical prayer, that they even attract different temperaments and distinguish vocations. It must be admitted that some divergence does exist: there is the tendency of contemplative prayer to simplicity, while the liturgy has a certain "surface multiplicity . . . with its complexities of cere-monial and chanti its elaborate and absorbing symbolism, its richness of doctrinal content and conceptual teaching" (p. 209}. :l"The Liturgy and Contemplative Prayer," Id.[~' o, l/re Sp]ril, XI (1956), 209-217. 148 May, 1957 SPIRITUAL WRITINGS Yet, if we consider the historical relation between the liturgy and mental prayer, it will become evident that they have long existed together with mutual dependence. The primitive liturgy allowed of pauses for silent prayer, of which our [lectam'us genua and levate are a token survival to which the restored Holy Week liturgy has given back a measure of reality; and Cassian, describing the psalmody of the Egyptian monks, ~hows us how, after each psalm or section of a psalm, a pause was made for private and wordless prayer. In ancient and medieval monastic life, the hours of lectio divina, continuous in theme and sources with the liturgy, were intended to be hours of prayer as well as of study. Towards the end of the Middle Ages, partly perhaps as the more scientific and metaphysical study of theology replaced the older, more devotional and more readily prayerful lectio divina, provision was made, both among monks and friars, for set periods of mental prayer; and this obligation has passed into canon law and into the constitutions of all religious families . At all times, vocal liturgical prayer has been nourished by and overflowed into solitary and wordless.prayer (pp. 215-216). Not only has there been this historical mutual relationship, but the very natures of liturgical and contemplative prayer show their close interdependence. Thus, the author concludes his article with these words: "It is essential to consider liturgical prayer and mental prayer, not as competitors, still less as alterna-tives, but as two indispensable expressions of a single life of prayer in Christo, accepting their diversity not as a tension or a problem, but as an enrichment, convinced of their mutual dependence and of their power to deepen each other indefinitely" (p. 217). Our Lady's Titles Father Gerald Vann, O.P., has a few suggesti6ns--and he insists that they are nothing more than suggestions--about the way that some of the titles of our Blessed Mother in the "Litany of our Lady" might be more fittingly translated.4 Many titles in the Litany are "either poor translations or indeed downright mistranslation~, or at any rate show a lamentable lack of any sense of language, any feeling for the beauty of words" (p. 438). Here are some of the present tittles put side by side with "Notes on Our Lady's Litany," Worship, XXX (1956), 437-441. 149 THOMAS°G. 0'CALLAGHAN Review for Religious some of Father Vann's suggested changes: Mother most amiable --Mother so lovablei Mother inviolate--Mother ever a Maiden; Mother most pure~--Mother of .perfect love; Holy Virgin of virgins--Holiest of all virgins; Virgin most vener, able--Virgin.whom we revere; Virgin most renowned--Virgin whose praises' ,~e sing; Seat of wisdom--Fountain of wisdom; St~iritual vessel--Chalice~ of spiritual life; Singular vessel of dev'otion--Splendid chalice o.f dedication. Father Vann not ohly suggests these and other new translations, but also e~pl~ins in his. brief article the reasons why these new 'titles could be justified as prdferable. Certainly r~an.~, of the chan~es suggeste'd are more ineaningful, as well.as being more beautifully phrased, and would thereby be helpful in our "Litany devotion. The Creation and Fall Those who teach Christian doctrine, whether in the grades, higl~ s.chool, or college, have undoubtedly found many problems in t.ryin, g t.o~interpret the sci:iptural account of the cr~eation of the world ,.and man, of the .origin of woman, of the first, sin, etc. For the first three chapters of Genesis, in which these matters occur, are one of the most difficult sections of the Bible.' But Father "H. J.: Richards, although fully appreciating the difl~- cuities, believes that it is possible to say something worthwhile on ~hese first three chapters and on the essential matter which they contain', without getting hopelessly enmeshed in exegetical difficulties. He fulfills this purpose in "The Creation and the Fall," a very brief but solid and interesting article ap.pefiring in the October, 1956, number of Scripture. The ,author of Genesis, Father Richards insists, was not a scientist. He was ,"concerned with .God's plans for the world and for mankind. He does not set out to teach us natural sciences. He has quite enough to do to teach us our super. natural science, of the one supreme God to whom everything owes it's existence, of man's place in God's scheme, of man's dignity an&his failure to live up to it, and of God's love for him '1'50 May, 1957 SPIRITUAL WRITINGS even in his sin" (p. 114).~ Father Richards shows very clearly how the author of Genesis attains this purpose. Let us give here an example of the refreshing way that Father writes on this matter. After explaining the account of the Creation as it appears in Chapter i, he goes on to write: And if there is a different account of creation in.Chapter 2, with man placed first on the list instead of last, don't let us get so excited over the difference that we forget to see the same point being made, that man cannot be lumped along with ~he rest of creatures. He is unique, and the rest is made for him. And if this time the 'whole story 'is more pic-turesque, with a Divine Potter modelling man with His own hands and breathing into him His own breath, don't let us be so prosaic about it that we miss the main point: man~s unique relationship with God. And if that relationship is illustrated even further by" the garden in which God walks with Adam in the cool 6f the evening, don't let us try ko find the garden on a map. Could anyone have devised a more dramatic way of presenting the clos2 intimacy with himself that God had planned for man from the beginning? It is we who hav~rfiade up the myth of an Old Testament God of thunder and terror and fear. It is not so in Genesis {p. 112}. After the creation of the universe and of man, Father Richards goes on in the same graphic way to explain the origin of woman and the place intended for her by God, the dignity of marriage, the fall of man, and God's love for him even in his sin. This short article is well worth reading. Spiritual Theology Series In th~ September, 1956, issue of Cross and Crown there begins a "series of articles which will explain the meaning and problems of. spiritual theology, or, if you wish, of the interior supernatural life of the Christian" (p. 252). The general title for this series will be "Spirituality for All," The first article, written by Father John L. Callahan, O.P., the editor of Cross and Crown, emphasized "the necessity of growth in charity" (p. 252), for it is in this charity, this l~abit of divine love, that per-fection essentially consists. From this beginning~ the series will proceed as follows to explain I) The foundations of this growth. Divine life is communicated to man through grace, the seed of glorj~ to possess grace necessarily~ im-plies the possession of the theological virtues of faith and,hope: . THOMAS G. 0'CALLAGHAN Review for Religious 2) The cause of growth. Charity is the form, the life, the mover of all the virtues. In the words of St. Francis of Sales: 'A perfect life means perfect charity, for charity is the life of the soul.' 3) The models of growth. Christ is our perfect exemplar of charity, and His Blessed Mother a mirror of that model. 4) The instruments of growth. Divine life is communicated to man through the sacrarhents. 5) The first instrument of growth. This is the healing and cleans-ing work of the divine tool of baptism by which man is incorporated in Christ. 6) The aids to growth. Christ instituted the sacrament of penance to restore divine life lost bymortal sin. With this is coordinated the practice of mortification. 7)' The Mass, a means of growth. The Holy Sacrifice lived by as-pirants to a perfect life is a powerful instrument of spiritual progress. ~ 8) Holy Communion is the food for growth in spirituality, uniting the soul most intimately to the Source of grace and charity. 9) Signs of growth can be the advancement in both the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. 10) The steps of growth through the process of purgation to 1 I) The fruition, which is contemplation, or the actual experience of the divine indwelling (pp. 252-253). Religious in a Diocese The editorial in the December, 1956, issue of Spiritual Life says: "The total function of every Catholic diocese in the world is to gather together as many men as possible into the life of Christ, and commit them to His mission. To do this with maximal efficiency, it needs the unified, intelligent, complemen-tary, planned activity of parishes and religious orders" (p. 201). What contribution can religious institutes make to this total function of the diocese? Father James Egan, O.P., gives the answer in "A Religious Order and the Spiritual Life of a Dio-cese" (pp. 217-226). "The purpose of this article is to explore other [i.e. than schools and parishes] possible services that a religious order or its members can render to the spiritual life of a diocese" (p. 219). If.such is the purpose of this article, it should be of interest to religious. Let us see very briefly some of the contributions which Father Egan believes a religious institute could and should make for the spiritual service of a diocese. 152 May, 1957' SPIRITUAL WRITINGS The first two immedi~lte fruits which should come to a diocese from the presence of a religious foundation within it are: first, the life of prayer and mortification of the religious should draw down God's rich blessings upon all the ~nembers of the diocese, bishop, priests, and parishioners; secondly., the manifest sp.iritual joy and.peace of religious should be a con-stant lesson to all who come in contact with them that true peace and happiness can be found in this world, provided it" is not sought from the world. Some religious .institutes, like the Benedictines, can offer to the faithful, especially those who have grown to appreciate the place of the liturgy in their life, the occasion of assisting, at the liturgy in all its full splendor. Other religious aid the spir-itual life of a diocese by communicating their spiritual treasures to the faithful by means of third orders. Closely linked "to this latter is the practice of spiritual direction. Many diocesan, priests, because of other spiritual demands, simply have not the time which would be required for the spiritual direction of those parishioners who would request and/or need it. Religious foun-dations in a diocese, however, would mean for the laity a greater Opportunity for that spiritual direction which is so necessary for Christian perfection. Among the other activities frequently carried on by religi-ous in a diocese are those of the parish mission, directed primarily perhaps to the conversion of sinners, and the retreat, usually aimed more at the nourishment of a ~ieeper spiritual life. The healthy spread and growth of the retreat movement, carried on mostly by religious groups, has done much for the spiritual life of the faithful in many American dioceses. There is also the c6ntribution Which religious are making in many dioceses of making "available to the. !aity a more intimate acquaintance with theology a~d philosophy as these are linked up with the cult'ural life of the modern world" (p. 224). In this intellectua'l field '~h~re could also be mentioned the help 153 THOMAS G. O'CALLAGHAN .which~ many religious groups, ~particularly the Paulists, can offer by way of convert instruction. '~ Las.tly, it will do well to recall--although it might seem strange --that the presence in the diocese of those religious institutes who have members in the mission field means an opportunity for the faithful of a diocese to offer both men and support to the mission-ary activity of the Church. That is a blessing not merely for the religious insti~tites, but for the diocese as well. "Each religious group," concludes Father Egan, "has its own contribution to make; yet" each must not insist on i~s own good to the detriment of the common good of a diocese, which is in the care of the bishop: ~On the other hand, the bishop must respect the distinctive character of the religious groups in his diocese. With such mutual respect, the common good of all the faithful will" always be served by the united efforts of dios-cesan and religious priests" (p. "22'6). DELAYED VOCATIONS Spiritual directors who are asked about religious orders or con-gregations of sisters that have the policy of accepting older women are frequently at a loss as to where to direct these applicants for further information. If orders or congregations which have such a policy will send their title and address, the REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS may be able to publish a°list in a subsequent issue. The age limitatioi~s for admit-tance should be specified as well as whether the foliowing classes of women are accepted: widows, married women who ard legally sep-arated permanently with ecclesiastical permission, those who have been ifivalidly married in the past but who have sincerely amended their lives and would-now like to enter the dbnvent. GUIDANCE FOR RELIGIOUS It seems that some who were planning on. using, Guidance for 'Rel,glous, b~,' ~ath~r Gerald Keily, S.J'.~, insummer sessmns ai'e w'on~ . dering, whether they may gtill obtain copies. F6r~kheir information;~we should like to say ~hat the second p~iht~ng of the book is now com-. pleted, and it may be obtainefl~from The Newman Press, Westminster, 154 Apost:at:es and 'Fugi!:ives I. Definition of Apostasy and Flight 1. Definition of apostasy (c. 644, ~ !). ApOstates and fugitives leave religion voluntarily but illicitly, pe~manentiy in the case of the apostate, temporarily in that of ~the fugitive. Both' me~ and women may be apostates or fugitives. Aft ~ipostate from religion is a professed of perpetual vows who either leaves or remains outside of every house of his institute without any valid permission, and manifests externally, either explicitly or impliC-itly, the absolute intention of never returning to any house of his institute. (a) Perpetual vows are necessary, Novices~ and postulant~ can-not be apostates. They are also free to leave religion at any time. A professed of temporary vows cannot be an apostate; nor is he a fugitive if he leaves religion with the expressed inten-tion of not returning, since a fugitive is one who has the inten-tion of returning (cc. 19; 2219, § 3). Solemn vows are always perpetual; but perpetual simple vows, whether in an order or a congregation, also suffice for apostasy. (b) Illicit absence required. The illicit absence necesgary for apbs-tasy is verified by leaving the religious house without any valid permission (explicit, implicit, presumed, tacit, particular, general) or, if one h~s permission to go out, by ~remaii~ing outside the house beyond the length of any valid permission. The re!igiou~ must be illicitly outside any house of his institute, e: g., ~a religious who goes to another .house of his own institute without any permission does not verify the illicit absence demanded for apostasy. (c) Intention of never returning required. "Apostasy demands that religious obedience be cast off completely and not merely to a particular superior or superiors. The ~intention'~ therdfore must be not to return to any hous~ of his institute. The inten- 155 JOSEPH F. ~ALLEN Review for Religious tion ,must also be absolute, not conditional. For example, a religiou~ who has the intention of not returning to his institute unless he is transferred to another house has a conditional, .not an absolute, intention and is not an apostate. He is an apostate as soon as his intention becomes absolute. This intention must be externally manifested. The external manifestation may be by any means sufficient to express an intention of ihe will," e. g., orally, in writing, by gestures, or facts. The intention is manifested explicitly if th~ religious states orally or in writing that he is leaving the institute forever. It is mani-fested implicitly by any fact that implies the intention of leaving the institute forever, e. g., if he attempts or contracts marriage, assume~ a permanent employment, begins a course of ,studies, or has all his personal belongings sent to him. (d) Presumption of such an intention (c. 644, ~ 2)- If there is no certain proof that the religious has ,manifested, this inten-tion, he is p~Tesumed to have done so and to be an apostate after an illicit absence of one month, ,e. g., January. 12-February 13, provided he has not actually returned during this time nor mani-fested to his superior the intention =of returning. Ii~ in these circumstances hE claims that ~he was not an apostate,, he will have to prove his assertion by establishing the lack of at ieast one ~f the essential elements of apostasy, e. g., that he was not absent illici.tly, that he did not express the intention, of. not returning, or .th.at he was-physically or morally unable to return or correspond with his superior. 2. Definition of flight (c. 644, §-3).~ A fugitive is a .professed religigus of either perpetual or temporary vows' or a member of a' society without .public vows in which common life is a grave obligation who: 1° either leaves or actually remains outside every house, of.his institute without .any valid permission beyond three complete ~days or. e'xtemally, manifests, eXplicitl~ or im-plicitly, the intention 'of.prolong!ng his absence for .this same time; 2° ~but with tbe~ intention of returning to at least some 156 May, 1957 APOSTATES AND FUGITIVES house of his institute. An~ professed, oeven of only temporary vows, can be a fugitive. The concepts of leaving or remaining outside without any valid permission are to be understood in the same sense as explained above for an apostate. (a) Beyond three full days. An apostate intends to sever him-self completely from religious obedience, and it is therefore required that he externally manifest the intention of never re-turning to his institute. A fugitive is one who intends to with-draw himself from religious obedience for a notable period of time. This intention also must be externally manifested. There-fore, flight is verified at any moment in an illicit absence that the religious manifests explicitly or implicitly the intention of pro-tracting such an absence for a notable period. Common opinion determines this period as beyond three full days, .e.g., if begun on Monday, the notable absence i~ attained on Friday. The sole fact of an illicit absence beyond three full days is an implicit manifestation of the intention of withdrawing from religious obedience for a notable period of time. However, since many au'thors demand an actual illicit absence beyond three days for flight and say nothing of the case of an intention of notable absence, the crime of flight is not ~certainly vei'ified and the pe'nalties are not incurred unless the illicit "absence is actually prolonged beyond three cJays. When' the'intention or actual absence is for a less~r period, even if for a seriously sinful pur-pose, the case is not consi'dered one of flight but of a mere illicit or furtive departure from religion. (b) With the intention of returning. It is presumed, that the religious has this intention of returning unless he manifests externally the intention of never returning, in which case his intention is that of an apostate. It i~, thdrefore, not ndk~ssary to manifest externally khe~intention of returning, which is' con-tained in the intention of depaFting from the ifistitute' only ]~or a time. If his intention is' never to return to a partidulaF house or houses but to return to at least some hohse of his institute, his in~tehtion is still that~ of a fugitive and 'not o'f an apostate. 1.57 JOSEPH F. GALLEN, Review for Religious Apostasy is not a partial but a complete severance of religious obedience. II. Canonical Penalties for Apostasy and Flight 3. For apostasy (c. 2385). (a) Excommunication. An apostate incurs ipso facto an excommunication reserved to his own higher superior if the delinquent is a member of a clerical exempt institute or to the ordinary of the place where the absolution from the excommunication is given ff the delinquent is a mem-ber' of any other type of institute. (b) Prohibition of legitimate ecclesiastical acts (c. 2256, 2°). An apostate incurs ipso facto an exclusion from the licit exercise of legitimate ecclesiastical, acts. The more general and prac-tical prohibitions of this penalty are that the religious may not licitly exercise the administration of ecclesiastical property as a superior, treasurer, or member of a council, vote in an ecclesias-tical election, or be a sponsor in baptism or confirmation. This penalty remains after his return and after an absolution from the excommunication, but a local or religious ordinary can dis-pe. nse from it in virtue of c. 2237 in either public or occult cases. In more urgent occult cases confessors can suspend the penalty if it cannot be observed without scandal or infamy. They must impose' the obligation of having rec6urse within a month to the Sacred Penitentiary or the ordinary and of observing the man-dates of either (c. 2290, § 1). In an extraordinary case when recourse is impossible, the confessor can dispense and give the mandates himself according to the norm' of c. 2254, ~ 3 (c. 2290, § 2). (c) Privation of privileges. An apost~ite incurs ipso facto a privation of the valid use of all privileges granted by the Holy See to religious in ge.neral and to his own institute, e. g., exemp-tion, indulgence~s. It is probable that he is not deprived of suffrages, since these are not a privilege. This penalty, also remains, as ab. ove, but can be dispensed by a local or religious 158 May, 1957 APOSTATES AND FUGITIVES ordinary., The power of the confessor is the same. (d) Perpetual loss of active and passive voice. If he returns, the apostate is perpetually del~rived of active and passive voice. Therefore, he is deprived perpetually of the right of voting val-idly in any electoral chapter, whether general, provincial, or local, and of the right of receiving validly any offce that is con-ferred by election. He can receive an office that is conferred by appointment, and a religious woman retains the right of voting for the prolongation of the term of the ordinary confessor (c. 526). This .penalty also remains after the absolution from the excommunication. In occult cases it can be dispensed "by the local or religious ordinary, but in publii: cases only by the Holy' See (c. 2237, ~ 1, 3°). The power of the ~onfessor is the same as above. Religious ordinaries can have the po~er of dispens-ing from this penalty in public casek in virtue of a privilege possessed by their institute.' (e) To be otherwise punished by superiors. Canon 2385 com-mands that a returned apostate be otherwise punished by his loc~,l or higher superiors in conformity with the constitutions and in accordance with the gravity of his crime. If any such ferendae senten/iae danonical penalties are prescribed in the constitutions of a clerical exempt .in.stitute, the superior is. ordi-narily obliged to inflict them buts'according to the norms of c. 2223, ~ 3. If" canonical penalties are not so pi'escrilSed; the superiors of the same institutes cain iriflicto canonical penalties, penances, and penal remedies when scandal or special ~ra¢ity was ~erified in the transgression, according~ to the norm of c. 2222, ~ 1. Superiors in other institutes c~ln inflict only the ordinary and private penances in use in the par'ticu[ar institute. ¯ .4. For flight (c. 2386). (a) General suspension. A religious fugitive who is a .priest, deacQn, or subdeacon ind[urs by" the ve.ry ~fact of.t0e.flight a gener~! suspe~ns!on that'~is reserved i,n.:,,exa~ct!y ~Cf. Riesner, /ll~ostates attd Vugitfiw's, /rom "Religious lnstitittes,~91; Jone, :Commentariura in Codicem luris Canonici.'.III, 553; ~Cloran, Pre~ie~'s.an,t Prac-tical Cases, 296. i;59 JOSEPH F. GALLEN Review for Religious the same way as the excommunication for apostasy explained above. The suspension and other punishments of this canon certainly "extend also to thd clerical and lay members of clerical societies 'without public vows. It is probable that c. 2386 does not extend to lay societies without public' vows, since the Code Commission applies it explicitly only to clerical societies and the canon itself speaks of a religious fugitive. Therefore, in fact the canon does not extend to lay societies (cc. 19; 2219, § 1).~ (b) Privation of office. A fugitive incurs ipso facto the pri: ration of any office that he may hold in religion. Office is to be taken in a wide sense and, consequently, includes-that of pastor, parochial vicar, of any sup.erior, whether general, provincial, Or local, of any councilor or treasurer, master or assistant master of novices, of junior p3ofessed, tertians, general or prox(incial sec-retary, principal of a school, director of studies or schools.3 The fugitive is" deprived of all offices he now holds but is not rendered incapable of being elected or appointed to the same or different offices in the future. Since' it is a question of office in the wid~ sense (c. 145), this penalty can be dispensed by the local or religious ordinary,t The power of the confessor is the same as above. (c) To be otherwise punished on his return. Canon 2386 com-mands that the punishments prescribed in the constitutions for returned fugitives be inflicted; and, if the constitutions prescribe nothing on the matter, the higher superior is to inflict punish-ments according to the gravity of the offense. If any ferendae sentenliae canonical penalties are prescribed for flight in the constitutions of a clerical exempt institute, the superior designated in the constitutions is ordinarily obliged to inflict these penalties, ~ Bouscaren, Canon Law Digest, I, 330; Cappello, De Censuris, n. 539; Beste, lntroductio in Codicem, 968; Cocchi, Commentarium in Codicem luris Canonlci, VIII," n. 262; Vermeersch-Creusen, Epitome luris Cano.nici, III, n. 590; Jone, op. cir., III, 555; Schaefer, De Religlosis, n. 1565; Wernz-Vidal, lus Canonicum, VII, n. 521. z Cf. Coronata, Institutiones'luris Canonici, IV, n. 2191; Riesner, op. cir., 102. 4Cloran, op. cir., 86; 204-05. 160 May, 195"; APOSTATES AND FUGITIVES but according to the norms of c. 2223, §. 3. If canonical penal-ties are not so prescribed, the higher superior of the same insti-tutes can inflict canonical penalties, penances, and penal rem-edies when scandal or special gravity was verified in the trans-gression, according to the norm of c. 2222, ~ 1. Higher superi-ors in other institutes can inflict only the ordinary and private penances in use in the particular institute. III. The Obligations of Apostates and Fugitives (c. 645, .~ 1) 5. Apostates and fugitives are freed from none of the obliga-tions of their institute aild are consequently obliged by its vows, Rule, constitutions,~ordinances, and customs. They have a seri-ous obligation in conscience to return as soon' as is morally possible to their institute. To be worthy of sacramental absolu-tion, they must actually return, sincerely intend to return, or at least sincerely intend to submit themselves to the directions of their superiors. If the apostate or fugitive considers that he can no longer fulfill the obligations of the religious life, theforinali-ties necessary for an indult of secularization are to be initiated. If the return of the culpable religious involves grave inconveni-ence, superiors may permit him to remain outside religion until the ,indult of secularization has been obtained.~ These same obligations.are true of a professed of temporary vows who illicitly leave~ or remains outside his institute with the intention of never returning, even0though canonically he is neither an apostate nor a fugitive. IV. Obligations of Superiors with regard to Apostates and Fugitives (c. 645, ~ 2) . 6. Obligations. All the superiors of the apostate or fugitive but primarily the immediate higher superior are obliged to find him, effect his return, and receive him back if he is. sincerely repen-tant. This ,obligation in the case of an apostate or fugitive nun falls on the local ordinary of her monastery. From charity the ~Cf. Creusen, Religious Men and PVomen in the Code, n. 342; Bastien, Dir,'ctoire Canoniqu~', n. 622; Jombart, Trait/ de Droit Canonique, I, n. 909. 161 JOSEPH F. GALLEN Review for Religious ordinary of the place .where she is s.taying should give l~is assis-tance as also any other local or~linary whose efforts can be help-ful. If the monastery is subject in fact to regulars, the obliga-tion extends cumulatively also to the regular superior. Superiors may fulfill this obligation personally or through another. At times, another religious, a priest, friends, or relatives may have greater influence with the offender. Superiors, especially of religious women, will frequently be compelled to deal with the delinquent through another to avoid the danger of scandal to the laity or of infamy to the institute. The seeking of the offender is always to be done with prudence and charity, i. e., with the avoidance of scandal, infamy, or hardship to either the delin-quent or the institute. Since no time is prescribed by canon law, the obligation of seeking apostates and f, ugiti.ves binds only when and as long as there is probable hope that the offender will amend and return. 7. Repentant delinquent. The institute is obliged to take back the apostate or fugitive only if he is sincerely repentant, . The institute has the right of proving the sincerity of his repentance on his return by a period of trial. If sincere repentance is lack-ing, .the superior should .counsel the religious to ask for an indult of secularization or, if he will not do this, begin the. formalities of a dismissal, If he appears repentant but his return and pres-ence can be a cause of trouble to the institute and superiors find serious difficulty/ in receiving him back, they may present the facts of the c~.se to the Sacred Congregation of Religious and await its decision.~ - ~" 8. Delinquent unwilling to return. If the apostate or fugitive is. unwilling ~0 return, superiors should ounsel him;to ask for an i"nduit of secularization; if he will not do thi~, the~) are to ~'resort to dismissal. A religious ~of temporary vows who is.a fugi-tive or' who illicitly leaves or remains outsidd the' institute with the intention of never returning may be dismissed because of this one act. His action is a crime or equivalenyly such and is of greater import tha,n.the "serious reason demanded in c. 647. 162 May, 1957 APOSTATES AND FUGITIVES Superiors are to judge fro~ the culpability of this act, the type of religious life he had lived in the past, hope of amendment, scandal .given, harm or inconvenience to the institute in retaining him, and from other pertinent circumstances whether he should be dismissedfl V. Dismissal of a Professed of Perpetual Vows for Apostasy or Flight 9. For apostasy. The supposition is that superiors have striven to effect the return of the delinquent and he will not return. He is then to be counselled to ask for an indult of secularization. If he will not do this, superiors are to begi~n the admonitions neces-sary for dismissal. It is the common opinion that the dismissal of an apostate should not be done with precipitation and by merely fulfilling the letter of the law, i. e., by giving the first admonition at once, the second three day.s later, and then after an interval of six days forwarding the matter to the competent authority for .dismissal. One or two authors even state that three months should be allowed to elapse before the formalities of dismissal are begun. This appears to be an exaggeration of a somewhat similar norm that existed before the code. It would be prudent to allow abotit two months to elapse between the crime and the completion of the formalities requisite for dis° missal.7 An admonition lookii~g to dismissal may also be given to a repentant apostate or fugitive who has returned to his insti-tute, since his crime furnishes the basis for an admonition,s 10. For flight. The supposition i~ the same as in the preceding paragraph; and the same recommendation of a space of" about two months applies here also, particularly since flight is a lesser crime than apostasy. Frequently, therefore, the religious will be presumed to be an apostate, because an illicit absence of a month gives the presumption of apostasy. If the religious will not °Cf. Palombo, De Dimissione Reli#iosorum, n. 153, 4. 7 Cf. Larraona, Commentarittm Pro Reli#iosis, 4-1923-178. 8Cf. cc. 649-651, § 1; 656 Goyen~che, De Relioiosis, 203. 163 JOSEPH F. GALLEN petition an indult of secularization, the formalities of a dismissal are to be begun. VI. Support and Dowry of an Apostate or Fugitive 1 i. The Code of Canon Law does not oblige the institute to sup-port an apostate or fugitive. Such support may be given, espe-cially when it will aid or effect the return of the delinquent. It would often serve only to prolong the absence. The institute has no obligation to give a charitable subsidy to a religious woman except when the religious wishes to return but~ superiors do not wish to receive her back because of scandal, harm, or hardship, and the delinquent is forced to'live outside religion until she obtains an indult of secularization or the case is settled by the Holy See.~. The capital sum of the dowry is to be returned to a pro-fessed religious, woman who definitively leaves the institute, licitly or illicitly, whether her vows have been dispensed or not (c. 551, ~ 1). A fugitive from religion is only temporarily absent from her institute and therefore the dowry is not to be restored to her. Since c. 551, ~ 1, makes no distinction between a licit and illicit definitive departure, it is the more'probable opinion that the dowry should be restored to an apostate religious woman when it is certain that she will not return. It is also probable that the institute is not obliged to return the dowry until the apostate is secularized or dismissed, .since mere apostasy does not canon-ically and completely sever the apostate from her institute. The same doctrine is to be affirmed of a religious woman of tempor~ary vows who.illicitly leaves, or remains outside of the institute with the intention of not returning, even though canonically she is neither an apostate nor a fugitive. 9Cf. Riesner, 0,~. ciL, 134-35. 164 PRAYER FOR RELIGIOUS VOCATIONS [In the Vatican daily newspaper, Osser~,atore Romano, for February 7, 1957, there appeared the text of a prayer personally composed by the Holy Father for vocations to the religious life. The prayer has been enriched by His Holiness with the following indulgences: ten years each time it is recited and a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions, provided the prayer has been said daily for an entire month (AAS, February 27, 1957, p. 101). A translation of the prayer from the original Italian text follows:] Lot:d Jesus Christ, sublime m~del of all perfection, who not only unceasingly invite privileged souls to tend towards the loftiest of goals, but who also move them by the powerful force of Your example and the efficacious impulse of Your grace to follow You on so exalted a path, grant that many may know Your sweet inspirations and respond to them by embracing the religious state, there to enjoy Your special care and Your tender love. Grant that there may never be lacking the religious who, as the messenger of Your love, may represent You day. and night beside .the cradle of the orphan, at the bed of the suffering, and near the old and the infirm who perhaps otherwise would have no one on this earth to stretch to them a hand of pity~ Grant too that in the lowliest school as in the greatest cathedrdl there 'should always sound a voice which is an echo of Your own and which teaches the way to heaven and the duties proper to each human person; and grant that no country, however ~backward and remoLe, be deprived of the call of the Gospel inviting all peoples to enter Your kingdom. Grant that there may be multiplied and increased those flames by which the world may be further set on fire. and in which shines forth in all its splendor the spotless holiness of Your Church. Grant also that in every regiofi there may flourish gardens of elect souls who by their contemplation and their penance repair the faults of men and implore Your mercy. And grant that through the continual immolation of such hearts, through the snow-whi~e ptirity of such souls, and through the exdellence of their virtue, there may always be here on earth'a perfect and living e~ample of those children of God whom you came to reveal. Send to these battalions of your chosen ones numerous and good vocations, souls firmly determined to make themselves worthy of. such a signal grace and of the institute to which they aspire and to a~chieve this by the exact ,observance 'of their religious duties, by assiduous pr.ayer, by,constant mortification,, and by the perfect adherence of their will to Your will. Enlighten, Lord Jesus, many generous souls with the.glowing light of the Holy Spirit who is substantial and eternal love; and by the powerful" intercession of Your loving Mbther Mary enkiridle and keep burning the fire of Your charity, to the glory of the Father and of the same Spirit, who live and.reign with You, world with6ut end. Amen. 165 Survey ot: Roman Documen!:s R. I::. Smit:h, S.J. IN THE present article those documents will'be ~urveyed which appeared in /lcta ./tpostolicae Sed~is (AAS) be-tween October 1, 1956, and December 31, 1956. Accord-in~ gly, all references throughout the article are to AAS of 1956 (v. 48). Crusade for Peace It is rare indeed when over a two-week period three en-cyclicals appear in rapid succession; but this is what happened between October 28, 1956, and November 5, 1956, when events in Hungary and the Middle East p'rompted the Vicar of Christ to publish for the entire world three encyclicals. The first, pub-lished on October 28, 1956 {'AAS, pp. 741-744), consists of a plea for all true Christians to unite in a crusade of prayer for the people of Hungary and for the other peoples of Eastern Europe who are deprived of religious and civ.il liberties. The Pontiff especially p;,.~.~s that those in their early youth join this crusade of prayer for peace, for, as His Holiness says, "We put great trust especially in their supplications." The second en-cyclical was i,ssued on November 2, 1956 (AAS pp. 745-748); in it Plus XII first gives thanks to God for the appearance of what would seem to be a new era of peace through justice .in Poland and Hungary; then he turns to consider the flame of another warlike situation in the Middle East; hence he u~ges that the crusade of prayer be continued that the grave" problems confronting the world today be solved not by the way of violence but by the way of justice. The third of the encyclicals, dated November 5, 1956 (AAS, pp. 748-749), laments the new servi-tude imposed on the Hungarian people by force of foreign arms, warns ~the oppressors that the blood of the Hungarian people cries to the Lord, and urges all Christians to join together in 166 ROMAN DOCUMENTS prayer for those who have met death' in the recent painful events of Hungary. Five days later on November 10, 1956 (AAS, pp. 787- 789), the Holy Father continued his work for peace by broad-casting a message to all the nations and leaders of the world. His speech was an anguished plea for peace and freedom and concluded with the prayerful hope that the name of God may, as a synonym for peace and liberty, be a standard for all men of good will and a bond between all peoples and nations. The Vicar of Christ's plea for a crusade of prayer leads naturally to a consideration of what he had to say on the sub-ject of the apostolate of prayer when addressing the directors of the Apostleship of Prayer on S~ptember 27, 1956 (AAS, pp. 674-677). The apostolate of prayer, says the Pope, is a form of apostolic endeavor that is open to literally every ChriS-tian, no matter what his state or condition may be; nor can th6se who are engaged in an active apostolic life neglect the apostolate of prayer; for actmn must be rooted in a spirit of prayer and of virtue. All Christians, therefore, are urged to practice the apos-tolate of prayer; and it is the hope of the Supreme Pontiff that they do so by membership in the Apostleship 6f Pr~yer since this association teaches its members.to do all for the salvation of the world and to draw ever closer to the Heart of Christ. As air penetrates and joins all things, concludes Pius XII, so too the Apostleship of Prayer should be an-exercise common to all the apostolic works of the entire Church. Liturgy and Worship ~'One o'f the most important documents issued during the last months of 1956 wa~ the teXg of th.e address delivered by His ~Holiness on .September 22, 1956 (AASI pp. 71,.i-725), to the International CongreSs. of Pastora! ~Liturgy. The Holy Father .first, considers the relations that exist between the liturgy band the ~Church, relations that~ may be summed up in the following,, two ~principles: The liturgy is a living function of th~ ~hole Church; ¯167 R. F. SMITH Review for Religious the liturgy is not, however, the whole of the Church. All Catholics, therefore, must, each in his own way, participate in the liturgy; but they should also remember that the liturgy does not remove the importance of priv.ate and individual worship and that it does not lessen the Church's functions of teaching and governing. The Pontiff then turns to a consideration of the relations between the liturgy of the Mass and Christ. It must not be forgotten, teaches the Holy Father, that the central element of the Eucharistic Sacrifice is that where Christ offers Himself; this takes place at the Consecration where in the act of trans-substantiation Christ acts through the person of the priest-cele-brant. Hence, wherever the consecration of bread and wine is validly effected, the action of Christ Himself is also accomplished. There can, then, be no real concelebration of Mass unless the concelebrants not only have the necessary interior intention, but also say over the bread and wine, "This is My Body"; "This is My Blood." It also follows that it is not true to say that the offering of a hundred Masses by a hundred priests is equal to the offering of Mass by a single priest in the presence of a hundred devout priests. The Holy Father next considers the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. He first corrects an erroneous explanation of Christ's presence in the Eucharist, according to which after the Consecration Christ is present only in the sense that the appear-ances of bread and wine have a real relation with our Lord in heaven. Such an explanation, Plus XII points out, does not do justice to the Eucharist, of which it carl be simply said: It is the Lord. The Holy Father concludes this section by warning against any diminishing of esteem for the presence of Christ in the tabernacle. The altar of sacrifice and the tabernacle of the rdal presence are in no way opposed to each. other, for it is the same Lord who is immolated on the altar and who is really present in the tabernacle. 168 May, 1957 ROMAN DOCUMENTS Finally, the Holy Father considers the divinity of Christ and the liturgy and remarks that the divinity of our Lord must not be allowed to remain on the fringe of the liturgy. It is, of course, to be expected that man should go to the Father through Christ who is man's Mediator; but it must also be remembered that Christ is" not only Mediator, but also the equal of the Father and the Holy Spirit. Several documents were issued in the last quarter of 1956 which dealt with beatification and canonization processes. By a decree of May 13, 1956 (AAS, pp. 842-843), the Sacred Congregation of Rites approved the reassumption of the cause of the bessed martyrs Roch Gonzalez, Alphonsus Rodriguez, and John del Castillo, priests of the Society of Jesus. Under the same date the same Congregation (AAS, pp. 843-844) also approved the reassumption of the cause of Blessed Mary Cres-centia H6ss, virgin, professed member of the Third Order of St. Francis. On August 15, 1956 (AAS, pp. 804-806), the Congregation of Rites decreed that the beatification of Pope Innocent XI could safely proceed; and on October 7, 1956 (AAS, pp. 754-759), the decree of his beatification was accord-ingly issued. On the same day (AAS, pp. 762-778) His Holi-ness delivered a lengthy panegyric on the new Blessed. Blessed Innocent XI, the Pope pointed out, directed his entire pontificate to the accomplishment of three goals: the perfecting of the re-form begun by the Council of Trent; the protection of the rights and liberty of the Church, especially in France; and. the saving of Christian Europe from the inroads of Turkish power. These three external achievements were accompanied, said the Pope, by three internal qualities: constant union with God in prayer; love of poverty joined to a desire to help those in need; and a strong purpose to seek only ~he will of almighty God. Finally, it should be noted in relation to canonization matters that on February 19, 1956 (AAS, pp. 688-691), the Congregation of Rites approved the introduction of the cause of the Cardinal Archbishop of Seville, Marcellus Spinola Maestre (1835-1906). 169 R. F. SMITH Review for Religious The Sacred Congregation of Rites on October 31," 1956 (AAS, pp. 844-845), added to the blessings of the Church by issuing a formula for the blessing of stone quarries and another for the blessing of establishments for the working and finishing of marble. The Holy Father contributed to the Church's life of worship by the message which he .broadcast to the Second National Eucharistic Congresk of the Philippines on December 2, 1956 (AAS, pp. 834-838); he urged in the course of his broadcast that Catholics should show their faith and trust in Christ's Eucha-ristic presence not so much by words or songs, as by truly Christian deeds. Finally, a broadcast of October 28, 1956 (AAS, pp. 831-834), in which the Holy Father discussed the practice of consecration to the Sacred Heart, shoold not be neglected. Since the act of consecration is an act of love and of self-dedication, says the Vicar of Christ, this act can be performed only by one in the state of grace. Moreover, to live out the act of consecration once made means that the person must be grad-ually transformed into another Christ; and the Holy Father concludes his speech by teaching that whoever consecrates him-self to the Sacred Heart enrolls himself in an army of peace which neither rests nor halts until the kingdom of Christ is estab-lished in all hearts, in all families, and in all institutions. Addresses to Doctors. Medicine and its associated fields have been the repeated subject of speeches and addresses throughout the reign of Plus XII and the last few months of 1956 saw no exception to 'this general rule. The most important of these addresses was that given by the Holy Father on September 11, 1956 (AAS, pp. 677-686), to the seventh plenary meeting of the International Association of Catholic Physicians, held at The Hague, Holland. In this radio broadcast the Supreme Pontiff discussed the matters of medical morality and of positive law dealing with medical matters. 170 May, 1957 ROMAN DOCUMENTS The ultimate source of all medical morality and law, begins the Pope, is to be found in the individual's right to life, to in-tegrity of body, and to the means necessary~ to preserve life and integrity. All these rights, he continues, are received by the individual directly from his Creator, not from the state or any group of states. This, means, then, that the individual does not bear the same relation to the state in medical matters that a physical part bears to the physical whole in which it exists. ~ After considering the obfligations which flow from the essen-tial conditions of. human nature and which are :measurable by objective norms and which to a considerable extent are contained in .the Ten Commandments as understood and explained by reason and the Chur~ch, the Pontiff then takes up the matter of positive medical law understood as a set of norms which have been established in a body politic to control the training and activity of physicians and which are civilly enforceable. Such positive law in medical matters, the Pope says, is necessary, since the prin-ciples of medical morality lacl~ sufficient precision to adequately cover all the concrete, medical situations that are of importance to society. Medical morality and positive medical law are in a certain sense autonomous in their respective spheres, but in the final analysis positive medical law must be subordinate to medical morality. Positive medical law, then, must never be in contra-diction, to the moral order which is expressed in medical morality. Positive law, for example, cannot permit mercy-killing nor direct abortion. A month earlier than the previous talk on August 19, 1956 (AAS, pp. 666-670), the Pontiff addressed a group of cancer specialists~ urging them to observe wheat for lack of a better name may be called medical humanism. This is an attit.ude of mind which, when treating a patient, does not limit itself to a consideration of the patient's sickness only, but considers the entire man including his economic, social, psychological, and moral conditions. .He concludes his address to these cancer specialists ~by expressing the wish that their zeal to fight the 171 R. F. SMITH Review for Religious physical evil of cancer may be matched by a zeal to combat the even greater evil which is called sin. The Holy Father also ad-dressed another group of cancer researchers on October 6, 1956 (AAS, pp. 793-797). After detailing the recent research into a cure for cancer, the Pope concludes by encouraging them in their labors, for, as he says, they are fighting one of the con-sequences that the sin of man has introduced into the world. Economic and Social Problems A number of documents issued by Plus XII in the last three months of 1956 dealt with subjects that can be termed roughly economic and social matters. On September 9, 1956 (AAS, pp. 670-673), the Holy Father addressed the First Congress of the International Association of Economists, pointing out to its members that economics, like any other science, must start with the observation of facts considered in their entirety. It was failure to see all of economic reality, says the Pontiff, that led to the contradiction betw.een the economic theory of the physi0cra.ts and the frightful social misery that actually existed in reality. Similarly too, the h/!~arxist view failed to see all of economic reality, for it eliminated all spiritual values and thereby put men into a bondage as oppressive as any slavery. The true economist, then, must embrace in his economic theory the many facets of man that affect economic reality, especially man's gift of free and personal decision. The Holy Father concludes his address by recalling to his audience the Christian ideal of poverty as a means of personal freedom and social service; although, he remarks, this ideal is not directly within the purview of economics, still economists can find in that ideal a o general orientation that will bring them valuable insights. On October 8, 1956 (AAS, pp. 798-801), the Holy Father addressed a group of owners of small businesses from the coun-tries of Germany, Belgium, .Italy, and the Netherlands. In his allocution to them the Vicar of Christ stres'sed'the necessity of small business for the stability of a country and gave his audience salutary, reminders of the relations that should exist in such busi- 172 May, 1957 ROMAN DOCUMENTS nesses between owners and employees. On the Feast of Christ the King, October 28, 1956 (AAS, pp. 819-824), His Holiness spoke to a group of Italian workers on the subject of the reign of Christ in the world of labor. The reign of Christ, says the Pope, must begin in the minds of men; and, therefore, a deep knowledge of the truths of the Catholic faith must be spread among men. But the reign of Christ must also penetrate to the hearts of men that they might all become living stones of that edifice which is Christ. Moreover, the kingdom of Christ must extend even to the factories where men work that these too may be governed by His justice, which alone can bring a solution to modern social problems. And finally, the kingdom of Christ is a kingdom of love, and therefore of peace, for love of its very nature is a uniting force. In the Basilica of St. Peter on November 18, 1956 (AAS, pp. 826-831), seven thousand Italian workers from Turin were received by the Holy Father who addressed them on various social and economic matters. He recalls to their minds that, though economics must deal with such matters as the laws of production and consumption, it must also be aware of those moral laws which must be considered if any economic situation is to be handled successfully. He warns them that the enemy of the human race is today represented among men by Communism and concludes by urging the workers not to fear scientific and technical progress, for there is no reasonable basis for assuming that such progress will eliminate the need for human workers. On October I0, 1956 (AAS, pp. 779-786), the Holy Father broadcast a message to the shrine of the house of Loretto where a group 6f Italian women had gone on pilgrimage. The Pontiff first recalls to his hearers the dignity of woman accord-ing to Catholic principles; she, like man, is a child of God, redeemed by Christ, and given a supernatural destiny; further-more, woman shares with w/an a common temporal destiny, so that no human activity is of itself forbidden to woman. Man 173 R, F. 'SMITH Review for Religious and woman, then, are equal as far as personal and fundamental values .are concerned, though their functions are different. The fundamenial function of woman is motherhood; for it is by this that woman ordinarily attains both her temporal and her eternal destiny; this, of course, in no way prevents the perfection of womanhood being achieved in other ways, especially by the voluntary acceptance of a higher vocation. Finally, the Holy Father acknowledges that woman should be a force in the modern world and one :of the aims of woman's activity should be to strive to see' that the nation's institutions, laws, and customs respect the special needs of women. Miscellaneous Topics An important document issued by the Hoiy Father in the concluding months of 1956 is the text of a speech given by him on September 14, 1956 (AAS, pp. 699-711), to a group of Italian priests interested in the adaptation of pastoral activity to the needs of contemporary life. The main body of the text is concerned with the need for preaching today modeled on the preaching 6f Christ and that of the Church. At the conclusion of the talk the Supreme Pontiff then formulates a general prin-ciple tl~at should control all those working to adapt themselves to modern situations: there can be no valid adaptation to modern conditions unless that adaptation be shaped by and oriented towards the teaching power of the Church. Individual theologi-ans must remember that the teaching o~ce of the Roman Pontiff and of fhe bishops is of divine right, while their own right to teach is delegated to them. by the Church. The Vicar of Christ notes in conclusion certain areas where modern adaptation has not been shaped by the teaching power of the Church. Among such areas are to be included the tendencies of. the "new theol-ogy" as explained in 1950 in the encyclical Humani Generis; situation ethics; the pretended superiority of Christian marriage and the conjugal act over virginity;, and. the independence of art from all norms other than artistic ones. On September 20, 1956 iAAS, pp. 790-793), the Holy 174 May, 1957 ROMAN DOCUMENTS Father addressed the Seventh Congress oi: the International Astronautical Society. After recalling the history of human effort during the last fifty years to achieve interplanetary travel and to invent artificial earth satellites, the Vicar of .Christ con-tinues by saying that interplanetary travel is a licit aim and pur-pose, for all creation has been given to man. On the other hand, he points out that the boldest explorations of space will but lead, to greater divisions among men, unless humanity be-comes more deeply impressed with the solidarity of that t!amily of God which is the human race. The last document to be noted is a decree of the Sacred Congregation of Seminaries and Universities~ dated June 21, 1956 (AAS, p. 846), by which Niagara University is canonically and perpetually erected. This concludes the documents which have appeared in AAS during 1956; the next article will summarize the documents of AAS for the first months of 1957. SUMMER INSTITUTES (Continued from Page 142) In its second annual series of Institutes for Religious Won~en Gonzaga University aims at "equipping nuns of all congregations with the insights that reflect God's point of view." This year's schedule is as follows: June 17-28, The Sacramental Life and the Mass; July 1-12, Understanding Human Nature--Part II; Personal Holiness II. Write to: Rev. Leo J. Robinson, s.J.~ Gonzaga University, Spokane 2, Wash-ington. From July 1 to August 9 The Catholic University of America will conduct a Marian Institute which has been established to provide sys-tematic training in the theoloy about the Blessed Virgin. Address cor-respondence to: Director of the Summer Session, The Catholic Uni-versity of America, Washington 17, D. C, OUR CONTRIBUTORS SISTER M. MATILDA is archivist at Loretto Motherhouse, Lo-retto, Nerinx P. O., KentuCky. THOMAS G. O'CALLAGHAN is professor of ascetical and mystica[ theology at Weston College, Weston, Massachusetts. JOSEPH F. GALLEN is professor of canon law at Woodstock College, Woodstock, Maryland. R. F. SMITH is a mem-ber of the faculty of St.Mary's Cbllege, St. Marys, Kansas. !75 Communications [EDITORS' NOTE: Those who send communications will help us greatly if they type the communications double- or triple-spaced and allow generous margins. Occasionally we receive material for a particular issue or time of year~ Since our deadline for sending copy to the printer is two months before the publication date, such material should reach us three months before it is to appear. Communications, like articles and questions, should be addressed to our editorial office, not to the business office. The complete address is: The Editors, REW~W :FOR REL~O~0US, St. Mary's College, St. Marys, Kansas. The address of the business office (where subscriptions, requests for back numbers, changes of address, etc., are to be sent) is given on the inside back cover.] Introductory Note As an editor, I should like to suggest that the communication on the religious habit may stimulate profitable discussion if our readers will ignore the suggestion that the sisters who answered Father Teufel's questionnaire (cf. our January number, p. 3) are disgruntled religious. Concentration on this point can lead only to bitterness. As a teacher, I should like to add that I once conducted a discussion (without a questionnaire) involving the same points brought out by FathEr Teufel. Sisters representing a large number of institutions took part in this discussion. Their conclusions were similar to those expressed in Father Teufel's article. I can vouch for the fact that these sisters were excellent religious, devoted to their institutes. I am sure that the same could itnd should be said about the sisters who replied to Father Teufel's questionnaire. As a priest, let me say that we men are not eager to tell women how to dress. Moreover, many of us think that the problem of garb is not limited to sisters' habits. Priests and religious men who live in hot climates (which--by the way--are not limited to mission co'n-tries) often discuss the possibility of having some substitute for the black suits and cassocks. The underlying reason of these discussions is not lack of mortification; it is rather the very important matter of cleanliness, as well as efficiency. Gerald Kelly, S.J. The Religious Habit Reverend Fathers: The article on the religious habit published in the January issue of the REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS has attracted considerable attention 176 COMMUNICATIONS among the religious of my. community. I am wondering about the reaction of others. Those with whom I have spoken are within the average age group mentioned in the article--at least twenty-five years in religion. Their reaction (like my own) has been one of shock at the revelation of what looks like a deep resentmefit in the minds of certain religious against the inconveniences and occasional" embar-rassment or discomfort caused by the religious habitl May I offer a few comments? 1. The attitude of a religious toward her habit. From the day she receives it, the religious in any well-trained community is imbued with the idea of the sacredness of the "holy" habit. She. regards it as a privilege to wear a garment blessed by Holy Church. On the day of her "clothing" she is reminded that she has put off (at least in will and intention) the "old" self and has puton Christi Each morning thereafter as she puts on her habit she recites a prayer recall-ing the day when she was vested with the nuptial robe indicative of her union with Christ. 2. The care given to the habit is that given to somethi~ng sacred, as, for example, the vestments in the sacristy. It is put on and removed over the head (never stepped out of). It must be lifted on going down stairs or in crossing a muddy or dusty passage. It must be kept free of spots and never allowed to become ragged. 3. Some of the remarks on the time expended on the,care, of the habit seem to indicate that the religious who made these remarks have no idea of the time and care that a woman in the world must consume in keeping well groomed. 4. These religious.applied for the habit they wear. They accepted it along with the rules and customs and the spirit of their particular commu.nity. If today they are disgruntled at its form, might not this be an indication of a falling off in fervor and esteem for the institute whose uniform they once gladly adopted? In regard to the attractibn of vocations, young girls are drawn to particular institutes by their spirit or their work. They accept the habit without criticism and love it for what it represents. 5. It is true that many communities have been loyally putting up with certain inconveniences which custom imposed in the matter of clothing. The sisters of past generations accepted all this in.a spirit of penance. The present-day abhorrence of inconvenience is--alas! 177 COMMUNICATIONS Review for Religious --carried into the convent by many a postulant; but surely her attitude changes as she grasps the meaning of mortification and in the pursuit of "personal holiness" becomes more eager for penance. 6. The Holy See, in its kindly interest in the spiritual progress of dqdicate.d souls, has made aa effort to relieve the religious of incon-veniences arising from the manner of dress designed in far distant days. If each community attends to the rectification of thos~ features of the habit which come under these benign instructions, then indi-vidual religious will have no ground for interior rebellion, much less for outspoken criticism. Suggestions may always be made; surely-- but, should we add, objectively. The personal savor of many of the criticisms published indicated an absorption in self and a seeking of ease that seemed at variance with the striving after perfection which religious life implies. The remarks on the rosary were particularly offe_nsive. 7. It seems a pity that the attitude of seventy-two religious in one small corner of the earth should be taken as indicative of the reaction of thousands of sisters all over the world. Seculars picking up this article will be justly shocked; for they generallyo have the greatest esteem for the religious habit, no matter how antiquated or outlandish it may appear at first sight. 8. There is an old saying--"Cucullus non facit monachum.'" The habit certainly does not make the sister, but it does indicate that the person ~lothed in it is set apart from the world; that the restrictions it imposes are accepted as part of the price of her dedication; and that the uniform of her pai:ticular unit.in the army of the King is worn with an ""esprit de corps'" that cancels all inconveniences and be-stows .on the wearer a certain distinction. I shall be interested in learning the reaction of other religious ¯ communities to Father Teufel's article. Perhaps it was intended to b~ provocative. If the day of persecution should ever ~me (which G~d forbid!) when these same disgruntled nuns would be stripped of the holy habit (weighing ten pounds!) and forced to don a secular dress as light as 14 ounces, what a chorus of lamentation would rise to heaven! Surely in their zeal for reform these good sisters were led by a tempting quegtionnaire beyond the limits of discretion. In their heart 6f hearts they feel, I a.m sure, that they are privileged to wear any religious habit. Surely after twenty-eight years they have 178 May, 1957 COMMUNICATIONS at least in some degree died to the world in order to put on Christ, A Sister Vocal Prayers in English Reverend Fathers: May I make use of the communications department of the REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS tO invite the opinions of other religious concerning a problem that has arisen in our community in regard to the conversion of many of our Latin prayers into English. I do not refer to the Divine Office or to the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin, but to 'the vocal prayers said in common morning and evening, those before and after meditation, the particular examen, and recently, the grace at meals in English. When we recited these prayers in Latin we used a uniform pitch, recto tono, and the even free rhythm of syllabic chant. Now we are thinking of carrying this method over into the English versions of these prayers so as to keep perfect unison in pitch with a similar rhythm. This poses the problem of modifying the emphasis and weight of the English accent, and submerges the natural inflections of the voice ordinarily used in reading English prose. It seems to us it would be in keeping with the spirit of liturgical prayer to lift our voices above the mundane methods of ordinary speech to a higher form of vocal player similar to the Latin recto tono or liturgi-cal recitative even when it is cast in the vernacular. We should like to know what other communities are doing about this problem. Do they chant English vocal prayers recto tono? Do they strive for the even rhythm of syllabic chant? Are there any printed works on this subject? Since many communities are converting many of their community prayers into English, it seems to me the opinions and practices of other communities will be of interest, not only to our sisters~ but to many other readers of the REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS. Mother M. Cecilia, O.SIU. Ursuline Convent Paola, Kansas 179 t oo1 Reviews [Material for this department should be sent ~to Book Review Editor, REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, West Baden College, West Baden Springs, Indiana.] THE SPLENDOUR OF THE CHURCH. By Henri de Lubac, S.J. Translated by Michael Mason. Pp. 289. Sheed and Ward, New York 3. 1956. $3.50 The original title of the book, Meditation sur l'Eglise, more humbly indicates the source of these reflections which magnificently reveal the splendor of the Church. We are grateful to the author for allowing us to look deeply into his soul on fire '~with an ever-growing affection" for the Church. The subject matter was supplied by informal talks and conferences given largely at days of recollection to priests with whom the author shares the treasures he has so sincerely pr!zed himself. This is consequently not a systematic treatise on the Church or the Mystical Body. Any one desiring an orderly dogmatic treatment had better not begin with this book. A gen-erous acquaintance with the scientific background of the theology of the Church is supposed, but on this new light and unsuspected bril-liancy- is cast by these conferences. What cannot but amaze the attentive reader is the erudition which has gone into the making of this brilliant book.' Tradition is literally pillaged to support the propositions presented, not so much for proof as for a luminous display of the light that has been shed through the ages on the dogma of the Church. The coverage of the literature on the subject, manifest in. numberless footnotes, is formidable, both in regard to the founts of tradition, as well as the pe¥iodical literature in many tongues. It was a pleasant surprise to find Social Order amongst the sources cited. The march of thought in the book may be here briefly outlined though it is not easy to summarize the wealth of material offered. The Church is first of all a mystery, our own myster~ par'excellence. In its dimensions the Church reaches back not merely to the apostles but tO th~ prophets, and Adam himself is to be reckoned with these; and forward to the end of."time. The one Church, however, has two aspects, active and passive, the power that assembles and the assembly thus constituted. The Church is at once our mother and ourselves; pastor and flock, Church teaching and Church taught, but always within unity. It is inspiring to note what further leads such familiar distinctions suggest to the prolific mind of the author. 180 BOOK REVIEWS A fourth chapter examines the. relation between the Church and the Eucharist, "the Heart of the Church." "If the Church is the fullness of Christ, Christ in His Eucharist is truly the heart of the Church" (p. 113). A further chapter faces the conflict that has been introdt~ced by the presence of the Church in the world, creating a rivalry between the two and constant "reciprocal embarrassment," which is really nothing more than the duality set up by the Gospel and postulated by man's dual nature as animal and spirit. The bril-liant subsequent chapter exhibits the Church as "the sacrament of Christ": "she is the great sacrament which contains and vitalizes all the others" (p. 147). There follows a warm exposition of the Church a~ our mother, "E~'Hesic~ ~1ater," which would make profitable read-ing for such as suspect a childish sentimentalism in the words "Mother Church." The author is candid enough to review the difficulties that present themselves to the man who finds his love and loyalty for the Church embarrassed by practical problems that invite criticism. Father De Lubac's solutions build up to a finer and more stable loyalty. The final chapter, "The Church and Our Lady," has appealed to this reviewer as the finest of all, being ~that of greatest length (,50 pages), and covering the treatise of Mariology from an unusual angle. The author begins by cleverly se. lecting,a Barthian denunciation of our position. "It is in Marian doctrine," declares Barth, "and the Marian cult that the heresy of the Roman Catholic Church is apparent --that heresy which enables us to understand all the: rest" (p. 239), Candidly accepting the challenge our author admits as a~.fundamental Catholic thesis that Mary and the Church must be understood togegher, and proceeds to illustrate the thesis by a. detailed review of the Church's liturgy through the centuries, above, all the liturgical, application, of theoCanticle of Canticles to both.Mary and the Church. In this conclu.ding tribute both our Lady and the Church are once again mutu.al!y illumined by a dazzling ~splendor. In its.exterior form and presentation the volume lives up to the high standards ofthe publishers. A'considerable number of errors have crept into the Latin of.the footnotes; .these sh~oulcl be cayefully chec.k~ed before a new. printing.--~AI.O~.s~u~ C. I~E.Xlp~.:R, S.~. . A PATH ~HROUGH GENESIS. By Bruce Vawter, C.M. Pp. 308. Sheed and Ward, New York 3. 1956. $4.00. Nbt many dec~ades ago, it' was ~xibmatic in bibiic~il ~ircles that 181 BOOK REVIEWS Review for Religious "Catholic works are not read." Fortunately, the recent Catholic rev~ival in the field of biblical scholarship has effectively challenged this intellectual boycott. If the axiom is still true nowadays, it is true in the sense that Catholics themselves are not yet acquainted with their own scholars' efforts to enrich their spiritual heritage. Usually, one dan plead lack of time and i~sufficient background for studying the Bible, especially the Old Testament. But Father Vawter has helped put the lie to that excuse. A Path Through Genesis is a concise, informative, and even inspiring introduction to private reading of the Old Testament in general, and of Genesisin particular. Its value as a general intro-duction consists chiefly in its interesting and pedagogically sound treatment of the book which is most likely to present problems to the average reader--the first he meets: Genesis. Wisely, the author has decided to write a guide for the reading of Genesis, rather than a book about Genesis. Selected portions of the ~text are printed in t:ull to save the reader the wearisome task of using two books at ,once. The commentary linking these substantially large passages is most readable, and Father Vawter uses to advantage his gift for delight-fully apt comparisons to help bridge the gap between Hebrew thought patterns and our own. Popular in style, the book is almost com-pletely free of the cumbersome apparatus of scholarship--footnotes, though it is by no means innocent of the results of serious research. In fact, it is rather surprising that the results of careful, painstaking study can be expressed with such disarming simplicity; but such is the reader's happy discovery. The author has thoughtfully included a number of maps, pictures, and diagrams which enable the book to "teach itself." This is not to say that' its reading is effortless, which "would be, after all, a doubtful compliment. With careful but not taxing attention, the book will open the eyes of the reader to the real meaning of Genesis. And it will either remove his groundless fears that "the difficulties of God's book will weaken our faith in Him," or bring the reader out of the "pious daze" that usually afflicts him when he reads the Bible without facing what it says, Father Va~cter's A Path Through Genesis is recommended not just to seminarians and teachers of college religion, but to any seri-ous- minded person who wants to appreciate God's word, especially in the New Testament. For it is hard to see how one can understand the New Testament, especially ~he letters of St. Paul, without being 182 May, 1957 .Book ANNOUNCEMENTS rather well-acquainted with the only sacred writings Paul knew and constantly used. In Father Vawter's ~vords: "I think tliere is no better way to discourage Bible reading than by the oft-repeated advice to 'read the New Testament first, then the Old.' This is one of those witless axioms supposedly based on experience, but in reality pure untested theory." Perhaps the book would be ot~ special interest to teachers of grade-school religion. Even if the matter contained in the book is not directly brought out in class, it should help form the teacher's mental background and help her avoid unnecessarily dogmatic statements about the creation of the world and the "historical facts" in the Bible. It is this reviewer's teaching experience that many well-intentioned but uninformed statements heard by students in the grades have found their reaction in a sophomoric rationalism that appears openly only several years later. In other cases, such remarks have not aided faith, which is, after all, a light, but rather have fos-tered that "pious daze" which befogs the knowledge of God and His striking providence. Any grade-school teacher knows what embar-rassingly straightforward questions can be asked by' those precocious little ones who could well be the Church's most valuable. ~apostles in future years. A wise teacher will need to face such ~i~:t~roblem-filled child not just with an answer, and a sound one at thai, but with her own informed assurance. Father Vawter's book serves this twofold need admirably.--CH~,RgEs H. GIBLI~, S.J. 8OOK AN NOUNCF:/~I=NT~; THE BRUCE PUBLISHING COMPANY, Milwaukee 1, Wisconsin. The Shroud of Turin. By Werner Bulst, S.J. Translated by Stephen McKenna, C.SS.R., and James J. Galvin, C.SS.R, This is the most complete book in English on this controversial question. Though written by one man, it really represents th.e combined work of experts in many fields who allowed the author to use the results 6f "~heir in-vestigations and checked his final copy to make sure that ~th.ey were ~orrectly presented. The photographs are excellent and wogih the ~pric~ of the book. In addition to the information you acquire~in read- 'ing the book, you will find that you. have gained~.,a ,better and more vivid appreciation of what the Passion meant to Christ.° Hence, ~though it is a strictly scientific book, it may well ~erve as spiritual 183 ]~OOK ANNOUNCEMENTS Review fo~" Religious reading. It will make Christ much more real for you. Pp. 167. $4.75. Reflections on the Passion. By Charles Hug9 Doyle. These are short essays, one for each day of Lent except Holy Saturday. They are what you .would expect to hear from a pastor before the p~lrish Mass each day of Lent. Pp. 93. $1.85. Our Saviour's Last Night and Day. By Rev. A. Biskupek, S.V.D. In these brief pages the author gives us a moving account of the Passion of our Lord. He harmonizes the history of the Passibn as given by the four evangelists. Pp. 80. Paper $1.00. The Rubricator. By Earl Dionne. The rubricator is a rotating di~k which indicates "the proper position of any officer of a solemn high Mass at any.part of the Mass. There are four such rubricators: one for the solemn high Mass, one for the solemn requiem high Mass, one for the pontifical solemn high Mass at the faldstool, and one for the pontifical solemn high Mass at the throne. Each sells for $1.00, the set for $3.50. THE DEVIN-ADAIR Company, 23 East 26th Street, New York, 10. A Brief Introduction to the Divine Office. By Joseph J. Ayd, s.J. Revised by James I. O'Connor, S.J. Seminarians and all who are trying to learn the Divifie Office will find this book very hel'pful. Pp 7. $0.3~. FIDES PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION, 744 East 79th Street, Chi-cago 19, Illinois The Journal of aSouthi~rn Pastor. By J. B. Gremillion. Many a problem of pastoral theology is presented, and dis~cussed ifi these pages which you will not find in the standard texts on pastoral theology, for .they w~re not problems when the texts wei'e written. Pp. 305. $3.95. M. H. GILL AND SON, LTD., 50 Upper O'Connell Street, Dublin, Ireland. The Incurable Optimist and Other Spiritual Essays. By Robert Nash, S.J. Father Nasb has a talent for putting the truths of faith, particularly as they concern the trivialities and cafes of every day livi'ng, in an interesting and ,striking way. 'The essays first appeared in The Sunday Press, Dul~lifi. You may judge his popularity by the 184 May, 1957 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS fact that this is the third collection of his essays to be published. Pp. 112. 6s. B. HERDER BOOK COMPANY, 15 S. Broadway, St. Louis 2, Missouri. Handbook of Ceremonies. By John Baptist Mueller, s.J. Revised and re-edited by Adam C. Ellis, S.J. This seventeenth edition of a very popular handbook has been completely revised and, to a great extent, re-written to bring it into conformity with the ne# rubrics for both Mass and office. Even the new ceremonies for Holy Week are included. The musical supplement is now printed in the Gregorian notation. You will like everything about this book with the possible dxception of its price. Pp. 482. $6.50. THE LITURGICAL PRESS, St. John's Abbey, Collegeville, Minnesota. Meditating the Gospels. By Emeric Lawrence, O.S.B. The two leading ideas of this new meditation book are: prayer is a convers

Issue 14.5 of the Review for Religious, 1955. ; Reviewfor Religious SEPTEMBER 15, 1955. Caussade on External Grace . John A. Hardon Effective Governing . Claude Aquavlva Mother Xavier Warde . $1s{er Mary Julian To Teaching Sisters . ~'ope Plus XII Secular Institutes . Francis N. Korth Intellectual Obedldnce . Augustine G. I:llard I, Book Reviews" Questions and Answers ForI Your Information Communications VOLUME XIV NUMBER 5 R Vlg:W FOR RI::LIGiOUS VOLUME XIV SEPTEMBER, 1955 NUMBER CONTENTS EXTERNAL GRACE IN THE SPIRITUALITY OF PI~RE CAUSSADE-- 'john A. Hardon, S.'J . 225 SOME RECENT PAMPHLETS . 234 EFFECTIVE GOVERNING-~Claude Aquaviva, S.'J .2.3.5. FOR YOUR INFORMATION . 240 MOTHER MARY XAVIER WARDE-~Sister Mary ,Julian Baird, R.S.M. 241 TO TEACHING SISTERS--Pope Plus XII . 251 THE DEDICATED LIFE AND SECULAR INSTITUTES-- Francis N. Korth, S.'J . 257 A RATIONAL APPROACH TO INTELLECTUAL OBEDIENCE-- ~ Augustine G. Ellard, S.3 . . 261 COMMUNICATIONS (on "praying reasonably," and on retreats) 266 OUR CONTRIBUTORS . 266 BOOK REVIEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS-- Editor: Bernard A. Hausmann, S.,J. West Baden College West Baden Springs, Indiana . 267 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS-- 22. Introducing a Thirty-Day Retreat . 278 23. Introducing Perpetual Adoration . 278 24. New Devotions at Mother House . 279 25. Introducing Lay Retreats at Mother House . 279 26. Annual Retreat outside Houses of Institute . 279 27. Rank of Lay Sister when Grade is Abolished . 280 28. Extended Vacations for Favored Group .280 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, September, 1955. Vol. XIV, No. 5. Published bi-monthly: 3anuary, March, May, 3uly, September, and November at the College Press, 606 Harrison Street, Topeka, Kansas, by St. Mary's College, St. ~vlarys, Kansas, with ecclesiastical approbation. Entered as second class matter 3anuary 15, 19420 at the Post Office, Topeka, Kansas, under the act of March 3, 1879. Editorial Board: Augustine G. Ellard, S.J., Adam C. Ellis, S.J., Gerald Kelly, S.'J., Francis N. Korth, 8.2. Literary Editor: Edwin F. Falteisek, S.2. Copyright, 1955, by Adam C. Ellis, S.~I. Permission is hereby granted for quota-tions of reasonable length, provided due credit be given this review and the author. Subscription price: 3 dollars a year; 50 cents a copy Printed in U. S. A. Before writing to us, please consult notice on inside back cover. l:::x ernal Grace in the Spirltuali F ot: P re Caussade John A. Hardon, S.J. pERE CAUSSADE ~.s unique an~ong ascetical writers in modern times. The one book on which his reputation rests, L'Aban-don a la Providence Divine, was not published by him but edited a hundred years af~ter his death, by Father Rami~re, the apostle of the Sacred Heart in France. I.t was not even a book in the ac-cepted sense but a collection of 1.32 letters of spiritual direction, which he wrote to the Religious of the Visitation at Nancy~ where he had charge of the local retreat house. Yet this posthumous work has enjoyed a diffusion 'perhaps unequalled in its class during the past century. As of 19218, it had gone through twenty-one editions in French and had been, translated into a dozen languages. In the new Enciclopedia Cattolica, published under Vatican auspices, the author is described as "the classic teacher of resign,ation to the will of God." I The full title of the original edition, Self-Abandonment to Divine Providence, Constldered as the Easiest Means of Sanctification, gives us the clue to its Wide popularity. In the mind of Caussade, the easiest way to spiritual perfection--for everyone--is complete resignation to the super.~atural providence of God. As such, the idea was nothing new, but Caussade's hafidling of the subject was decidedly new. He integrated this ,familiar concept into the body of Catholic doctrin~ onI external grace and thereby clarified what previously had been known, but not so pointedly realized. The following study is "inteNded to synthesize the basic elements of Caussade's teaching oni self-abandonment to divine providence, where the latter is conceived as a veritable atmosphere of external graces in which God pla~es our life, and through which He designs our salvation and sanctification. The Meaning of External Grace In the spirituality of P~re Caussade, the activity of God is de-scribed as embracing all time and all things, operating without ceasing and with divine surety for the sanctlficanon of human souls. He sees all creation as unified in this divine operation and conse-quently regards every creature, in its way, as a predestined means 225 JOHN A. HARDON Review for" Religious to lead men to their supernatural end; in other words, 'as a grace of God. "The order established by God, the good pleasure of God, the will of God, the action of God--grace--all. of these are the same thing in this life. It is God laboring to make the soul like to Him-self. And perfection is nothing else than the soul's faithful co-oper-ation with this labor of God." Moreover, what may not seem im-mediately evident, since the power of God is infinite, it is not only the good things but also the evil which He can use to accomplish His eternal designs upon men; so that "everything succeeds in the hands of God, He turns everything into .good." Although P~re Caussade makes no distinction between internal and external graces, but considers everything in some sense as a grace of God, yet it is not difficult to trace such a distinction in his writings. Following the common terminology, graces are called ex-ternal when they are outside of man's intellect and will and internal when they are immediately and specially received from God within the intellect and will. In answer to the question, then-~What does Caussade regard as an external grace?--he would answer, "Every creature which is "not an internal grace of God." "The divine order gives to all things, in favor of the soul which conforms to it, a super-natural and God-given. value. Whatever this order imposes, what-ever it comprehends, and all objects to which it extends, become sanctity and perfection; for its virtue knows no limits, but divinizes all things which it touches." As extensive as it is, this concept of external grace is in full accord with Catholic theology. St. Augustine, for example, does not hesitate to call external graces all the effects of supernatural providence which help the human will to perform acts of virtue and those which, under divine guidance, prevent men from committing sin. Different Kinds of External Grace An exhaustive classification of the various types of external grace described by Caussade would run into a score of items. But these can easily be reduced to several large divisiofis. Eoergthing which is good. As a general principle, the love of God transforms into grace everything which is good, nor does i't limit this transformation only to such things as appear good to as. For divine love is present in all creatures, with the sole exception of those which are sinful and contrary to the law of God. Temporal afflictions and adversities. God uses them to convert and sanctify our souls. No matter how painful, sickness and physi- 226 September, 1955 CAUSSADE ON EXTERNAL GRACE cal suffering are in reality a grace of God, always intended as such for the one suffering and sometimes used by Him for the conversion and sanctification of others. Writing on one occasion to a friend whose fields were destroyed in °a storm, Caussade expressed his sym-pathy that "hail and the rains have done great damage in many provinces, including your own. But God intends this'as a grace, that we may derive profit from all the plagues of heaven for the ex-piation of our sins." Spiritual and psychological trials. It is generally easier to accept sickness and temporal adversity as coming from God than to recog-nize His gift in the negative conditions of our mind and emotions: aridity in 1Stayer, coldness in spiritual things, anxieties, discourage-ments, and fears. Caussade does not subscribe to the theory that these states of mind and feeling are a certain sign of negligence on the part of the soul. Without denying this possibility, he prefers, with St. John of the Cross, to consider them as species of'divine grace. "Just as God converts, reproves, and sanctifies people living in the wo, rld through afflictions and temporal adversities, so He or-dinarily converts, reproves and sanctifies persons living in religion by means of spiritual adversities and interior crosses, a thousand times more painful, such as dryness, fatigue and distaste" for the things of God. The actions o[ others. God uses the actions of other people as graces for our sanctification. Their ordinary words, conduct, and gestures are in'tended as means of producing supernatural effects in our souls. This is particularly hard to see where the actions are offensive and the offender is personally not wicked, and may even be highly virtuous. Hence the exclamation. "Blessed be the God of all things and in all things, but especially because He knows how to use all things for sanctifying His elect through one another . He often uses a diamond to polish another diamond. How important is this thought for our consolation, that we may never be scandalized at the petty persecutions which good men sometimes occasion against each other." In this connection, St. John of the Cross used to say that a religious is refined and sanctified in word, thought, and action by the character and manner of conduct of his fellow religious. It is of special importance to see. God operating in the perse-cution or perhaps criminal actions of others. He permits these things in order to draw good out of them. Thus St. Paul's inspired pane-gyric on the great believers of the Old Law--Noe, Abraham, Moses, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph--is an application of this principle, that 227 JOHN A. HARDON God tries His chosen servants by sending them trial ahd opposition~ and their sanctification is determined by the measure of faith which recognizes in these human obstacles the workings of divine grace. This was tbe~spirit in which David accepted the cursing of Semei, as a just punishment ordained by God for his spiritual welfare. With St. Augustine, therefore, we should "marvel at the way G6d uses even the malice of those who are wicked in order to help and elevate those who are good." Temptations. If considered as coming from the devil,' ten~pta-tions are directed only to the destruction of souls; but from the viewpoint of God's permissive will, which never allows us to be tried beyond our strength, they are true graces. And "violent temp-tations" are especially "great graces for the soul." By the same token, the revolt of the passions, which is often a cause of anxiety to spir-itual persons/should not be regarded as evidence of aversion from God,*but, "on the contrary, as a greater grace than you can con-ceive." Troubles of conscience may be estimated in the same manner. Sins at least might seem to be excluded from the category of external graces. Evidently God does not want anyone to commit sin. And yet, says Caussade, "we must remember that, without willing sin, God uses it as an effective instrument to keep us in hu-mility and self-depreciation." This thought is very much like that of St. Augustine who, when speaking of' Peter's denial of his Ma~ter; explained that God permitted this humiliation to teach him not to trust in himself-~thus turning a grievous fault into spiritual ac-quisition. Sanctif~ting Effect of External Graces The sanctifying effect of external graces was already familiar to Sts. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas, who recognized that God exercises a special supernatural providence over souls who are living in His friendship. What seems to be Caussade's contribution in this matter is the tie-up which he made between external graces and the sacramental system; while only analogous, there is a real simi-larity between the two. In both cases, the external element is an in-strument for the communication of grace. External graces are sanctifying in countless ways. But in general Caussade concentrates on the three most familiar in the spiritual life; n~mely, by purification, illumination, and union with God. This -is not to say .that only these effects take place, or that they Occur in any.particular sequence; and least of all does it mean that Caussade 228 September, 1955 CAUSSADE ON EXTERNAL GRACE ignores the correlative necessity of internal grace to ourify, enlighten, and unite the soul with God. I. P~ri[ication The second volume of the French edition of L'Abandon is mainly concerned with the purifying effect of external grace, achieved through detachment from creatures and stripping of self. Repeatedly the axiom is stated that "a person cannot be united with God, source of all purity, except through detachment from everything created, source of impurity and continual corruption." To this end "it is necessary that our souls be emptied [of creatures], before God can fill them with His own Spirit." By means of external graces, and especially suff4ring, God ac-complishes in us this detachment from creatures and self. There is a difference, however, in His way of acting with different persons. Those already advanced in the spiritual life, He is accustomed to "despoil of all gifts and sensible f~rvor," whereas "the effect of His mercy is to deprive worldly persons of temporal goods in order to detach their heart from them." Time and again, Caussade, stresses the same truth: God purifies the soul by suffering and trial. But he goes beyond the ordinary in-terpretation of the statement in Scripture that the just man is tried by afflictions as gold is tried by fire. "Crosses and tribulations," he says, "are such great graces that generally sinners are not converted except through them, and good persons are not made perfect except by the same means. Following the analogy used by the saints, Caussade compares God to a doctor who administers bitter medicine to restore health to the soul and removes with the scalpel of suffering whatever stands in the way of our spiritual progress. According to St. Augustine, "in those whom He loves, God, like a wise physlciam cuts away the tumor" of overweening self-confidence. To be specially noted is that this law of purification is universal; it applies as well to worldly minded as to saintly souls; it affects temporal goods as well as spir-itual attachments; and it is proportionally more intense and com-plete as the degree of union with Himself to which God intends to raise a soul is greater. Thus'St. John of the Cross: "according to the proportion of its purity will also be the degree of enlightenment, illumination and union of the soul with God, either more "or less"; and the requisite purity is obtained in the crucible of purification. Caussade therefore concludes that "the more God retrenches nature,,. the more He bestows the supernatural.'" 229 JOHN A. HARDON Reoiew for Religious II. Illumination External graces also enlighten the soul to recognize l!h'e will of God in its regard. Caussade looks upon this manifestation of the divine will as th~ "~piritual direction of God." One of the surest means of sanctification, he believes, is simply to use whatever God, ¯ the supreme. Director of souls, places before us moment by moment, e.ither to do or to suffer. Souls who thus abandon themselves to the will of God find evidence everywhere of what He wants them to do. They are directed "by the intermittent actions of a thousand creatures, which serve, without study, as so many graces of instruc-tion." Consequently, God is seen as leading us as much by the external events of our life as by the internal inspirations of His grace. He - "speaks" to us as He spoke to our Fathers, to Abraham and to the chosen people, showing us His will in all the circumstances which befall us. Addressing himsel~ to God, Caussade declares: "You speak, Lord, to the generality of men by great public events. Every revolution is as a wave from the sea of Your providence, raising storms and tempests in the minds of those who question Your mys-terious action. You speak also to each individual soul by the cir-cumstances occurring at every moment of life. Instead, however, of hearing Your vdice in these events, and receiving with awe what is obscure and mysterious in tbese Your words, men see in tbem only the outward aspect,' or chance, or the caprice of others, and cen-sure everything. They would like to ad& or diminisIi, or reform, and to allow themselves absolute liberty to commit any excess, the least of which would be a criminal and unheard-of outrage. "They respect the Holy Scriptures, however, and will not per-mit the addition of a single comma. 'It is the word of God,'. they say, 'and is altogether holy and true. If we cannot understand it, it is all the more wonderful and we must give glory to God, and render justice to the. depths of His wisdon~.' All this is perfectly true, but when you read God's word from moment to moment, not written with ink on paper, but on your soul with suffering, and the daily actions that you have to perform, does it not merit some at-tention on your part? How is it that you cannot see the will of God in all ~his?" Every circumstance, therefore, of our daily life is an expression of the divine will .for us at that moment. And, correspondingly., .every external grace is meant for our "guidance and illumination:'i Commenting'o'n thi~ doctrin~e in L'.A.bandon, Garrigou-Lagrange. 230 September, 1955" CAUSSADE ON EXTERNAL GRACE 'points out another function' which external grace may serve as a means of our instruction. "In this way," he says, "within us is formed that experimental knowledge of God's dealings with us, a knowledge without which we can" hardly direct our course aright in spiritual things or do any lasting good to others. In the spiritual order more than anywhere else real knowledge can be acquired only by suffering and action." For example, "we foresee that a very dear friend who is sick has not long to live, yet when death does come and if our eyes are open" to see, it will provide a new lesson in which God will speak to us as time gbes on. This is the school of the Holy Ghost, in which His lessons have nothing academic about them, but are drawn from concrete things. And He varies them for each soul, since what is useful for one is not always so for an-other." An important element in this experimental knowledge is the experience it gives us of our weakness and imperfection in the face of trial and temptation. These occasions--external graces of tribu-lation- show us how impotent we are to do any good without the help of God, and teach us to turn to Him in'stead of depending on ourselves; for, as Caussade e~plains, "We must be thoroughly con-vinced that our misery is the cause of all the weaknesses we experi-ence, and that God permits them by His mercy. Without this re-alization we shall never be cured of secret presumption and self-complacent pride. We shall never understand, as we should, that all the evil in us comes from ourselves, and all the good from God. But a thousand experiences are needed before we shall acquire this two fold knowledge as an abiding habit: experiences which are. more necessary the greater and more deeply rooted in the soul is this vice of self-complacency." III. Union with God The most important effect of external graces is the union with God which they develop in the soul, to which purity and illuminatiofi are only contributing means. In a famous passage, P~re Caussade regrets that more people do not appreciate this power that creatures have to unite us with the Creator. ",What great truths are hidden ever; from Christians who imagine themselves most enlightened. How many are there among us who understand that every cross, every action, every attraction according to the designs of God, gives God to us in a way that nothing can better'explain than a .comparison with the most august mystery?-Nevertheless there is nothing more 231 JOHN A. HARDON Ret~iew for Religious certain. Does not reason as well as faith reveal to us the real pres-ence of divine love in all creatures, and in all the events of life, as indubitably as the words of Jesus Christ and of the Church reveal the real prese~nce of the sacred flesh of our Savior under the Eucharistic species? Do we not know that by all creatures and by every event, the divine love desires to unite us to Himself, that He has ordained, arranged, or permitted everything about us, everything that happens to us with a view to this union? This is the ultimate o~bject of all His designs, to attain which He makes use of the worst of His creatures as well as the best, of the most distressing events as well as those which are pleasant and agreeable." It may be added by way of explanation that Caussade, in com-mon with traditional theology, understands union with God in two ways, as active and as passive. In active union, the soul gives itself to God by conformity to His will; in passive union, however, besides the active conformity of will, God Himself acts in the soul by ~he gifts of His interior grace. Obviously, external graces cannot, of themselves produce the latter kind of union; they only dispose the soul to receive it. Yet, in the ordinary providence of God, they are the conditio-sine-qua-non for passive union with God. This doctrine which regards external graces as disposing the soul for passive union is familiar from the writings of St. John of the Cross. It is also the underlying theme of The Abandonment to Divine Providence. God uses external events,, persons, places, and circumstances to perfect a human soul in His love. This may take place in a variety of ways. 1. External graces give us occasion to resist temptation and acquire the contrary virtues. In general, temptations are said to be the effect or permissive result of "one and the same mortifying and life-giving operation of God. On the one hand, He allows the various movements of passion to give you an opportunity for combat and development in the opposite virtues. On the other hand, He estab-lishes in you, in the midst of these agitations, the solid foundation of perfection, namely, understanding, profound humility, and hatred of self." Thus conceived, the fight against temptations takes bn a nobler meaning. Without them we should remain satisfied with a minimum of effort, with less intense acts of virtue. They spell the difference between a certain regularity in well doing and the fervor which leads to high sanctity. 2. These trials not only help us acquire solid virtue, but they prepare us" for union with God, that "you may love God for 232 September, 1955 CAUSSADE ON EXTERNAL GRACE Himself at the cost of yourself." We are also given occasion to prove our love, as declared by St. Francis de Sales, that "it is not in ab-negation, nor in action, but in suffering that we give the best evi-dence of our love . To love suffering and affliction for the love of God is the high-point of heroic charity; for then nothing else is lovable except the divine will." 3. Finally, external graces assist our growth in sanctity and render us more apt for union with God by increasing the store of supernatural merit. Divorced from the spirit of faith, the routine details of domestic and religious life'seem to be quite meaningless. In reality "these 'trifling' daffy virtues, faithfully practiced, will bring you a rich treasure of graces and merits for eteznity." More heavy trials, says Caussade, ale more meritorious. This does not mean that the &gee of merit corresponds to the difficulty of the work performed, which is false. But in supporting burdens that are more difficult, we generally give a greater proof of virtue than when doing actions which are more agreeable. Difficult tasks not infrequently demand the outpouring of all the generosity of which a soul is capable. Estimate of P~re Caussade When introducing P~re Caussade's L'Abandon to the public, Henri Rami~re felt he should answer the first question that comes to the mind of anyone familiar with some of the aberrations in - French spirituality that were current in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Is there any danger that this doctrine of abandonment, if put into literal practice, will lead to a type of quietism which says that "in the state of perfect resignation to God, the soul renounces every act and exercise of any virtue, and remains in quiet repose in the presence of God"? P~re Rami~ke first analyzed Caussade's theological principles, somewhat as we have done in ,,the foregoing study, and concluded that they are founded on the" bedrock of Christian asceticism, as taught by the Church~s tradition and as practiced by the greatest saints. Then he makes a number of distinctions, which completely dissipate any misgivings about the orthodoxy of Self-Abandonment. Caussade did not °write a c~mplete treatise on Christian perfec-tion. He took only one aspect~ namely, submission to the will of God, and omitted--without tl~e suggestion of denying--the bulk of ascetical principles, in whos~ light this one aspect must always be viewed. Moreover, the people for whom he was writing were persons already advanced in vibtue, consecrated to a life of perfec- 233 SOME' RECENT PAMPHLETS tion, who could be considered as already practicing the essentials of the gdspel precepts and counsels. The basic error of quietism was its utter passivity, equivalently denying the necessity of man's active cooperation with the grace of God. To attribute this kind of passivity to the self-abandonment recommended by Caussade would be to completely distort its mean- : rag. It is something eminently active, in combatting self-love, repug-nance, and the snares of the devil. Its "passivity"--so-called--con-sists in the nonresistance to God's will, and in the fruit of this non- .resistance, which is an e;cer more perfect indwelling of the Holy, Spirit. Given these distinction~, Rami~re concludes, so far from being dangerous,, the doctrine of Self-Abandonment "may be taught to p.ersons in every walk of life, and, if properly undi~rstood, will make sanctity appear to them most accessible," as it really is.1 1The most detailed study of this question is ~y E. J. Cuskelly, M.S.C., "'La Grace Ext~rieure D'Apr~s Le P. De Caussade,'" Revue d'Asc~tique et de Mgstique, 1.952, pp. 224-42, 337-58, from which the present article has drawn many ideas. SOME RECENT PAMPHLETS GRAIL PUBLICATIONS, St. Meinrad, Indiana. Follow Christ. Edited by Gerard Ellspermann. O.S.B. This is a vocation pamphlet. Pp. 64. 25 cents.--Hints on Preaching. By Joseph V. O'Connor. Pp. 50. 25 cents.--Pilgrimage to Fatima. By Jerome Palmer, O.S.B. Pp. 42. 15 cents.--The Six Sundays of ~Saint Aloysius Gonzaga. Compiled by L., N. Douglas. Pp. 30. 15 cents.--Whg on Sundatls? By John M. Scott, S.J. Pp., 44. 15 cents. THE LITURGICAL PRESS, St. John's Abbey, Collegeville, Minn. Sanctifging Pregnancg. By Margaret .Place. Pp. 39. 15 cents.--Liturgg's Inner Beautg. By Abbot Ildefons Herwegen. Translated by William Busch: Pp. 44. 20 cents. THE NEWMAN PRESS, Westminster, Maryland. An Eas~j Method of Mental Prager. By Bertrand Wilberforce, O.P. Pp. 31. 50 cents. ~ SOCIETY OF SAINT PAUL, 2187 Victory Blvd.; Staten Island 14, N.Y. ~ A Preparation /:or Perpetual Vows. By James J. McQuade, S.J. Pp. 62. THE QUEEN'S WORK, 3115 So. Grand Blvd., St. Louis 18, Mo. Recover!j, Inc. By John J. Higgins, S.J. Pp. 32.~Novena to St; doseph. By Sister Emily Joseph, C.S.J. Pp. 32. So You Want Peace of Min$! By Hugh P. O'Neill, S.J. Pp. 24--Hold Your Tdngue! By Winfrid Herbst, S.D.S. Pp. 31~Mothers with Empty Arms. By Rev. John J. Regan. Pp. 24. --That Won-derful Sundag Mass. By Daniel A. Lord, S.J. Pp.~32.--Will You Save "Souls? By Ferdinand Schoberg, S.J. Pp. 30.--The Loving Heart of a Mother. By Daniel A. Lord, S.J. Pp. 32.--You're Sense-ational! By Rev. Chester Wrzaszc-zak. Pp. 32.--Each, I0 cents. 234 Governing Claude" Aquaviva, S.J. [EDITORS' NOTE: While superior general of the Society of Jesus, Father Claude Aquaviva wrote a treatise called the Industriae, which was intended to help super-iors deal with the "spiritually ill"--that is, subjdcts with ~motional problems~ The second, and perhaps most celebrated, chapter of the lndustriae contains many suggestions for combining firmness and gentleness in governthent, When we beglin publishing various items under the genera! heading "The Good Superior," it' was suggested that we publish an English version of this celebrated chapter. For the version given here, we are indebted,to Father W. Coleman Nevils, S.J. and Mr. James E. Whalen, S.J.] ~ RACIOUSNESS must go hand .in hand with: strefi.gth.ih ef- ~ fective governing. This especially applies, to a commfinit~; o'f religious who voluntarily have given themselves to G6d's service, who have a spontaneous and enthusiastic desire to be directed aright in the path of perfection and are animgted thereto by ~he practice of mortification and self-denial. Thd fathers of the Church as well as our constitutions abundantly dictate the necessity of uniting graciousness and firmness in all administration. St. Ignatius himself, by word and example, taught this lesson. However, to combifie these two in practice is no easy task. We are dealing with.those who profess to,follow the path of perfectiori and should be ever eager and anxious that nothing be omitted that' may be helpful thereto: yet, the flesh and human weakness are not always able to follow with equal strides the aspirations of the spirit. A process of governing may be initiated with highest zeal, but it ma~ also fail to be guided by knowledge. As a result, this way of governing, oblivious of human weakness, would become harsh and simply intolerable. Again, if we keep our eyes fixed on human weak-ness and under pretext of brotherly compassion yield to what the flesh desires against the spirit, shall we not have a community of tepid and carnal men in whom we shall be fostering not the spirit of abnegation and love of the cross but sensuality and self-will? For, as the Scriptures say, "Its torrent sweeps away the 'soil of the earth" (Job 14: 19). Thus we destroy the ess'ence of the religious life. That the religious life means abnegation and love, of the cross is the iesson beautifully taught by .St. Basil and all other spiritual masters; .instructed by Christ our Lord, they have handed down the same lesson as the principle and foundation of the religious life. What then is-t.he superior to do to keep firmness from degenerating into severity or graciousness into langour and laxity? As far as I have been able to learn from experience and observation, I will now explain this 235 CLAUDE AQUAVIVA Re~ieu~ for Religious very briefly. To do this clearly and concisely, I have felt that the most convenient plan would be to draw up certain headings of rigorous and severe governing and likewise to enumerate some causes 6f laxity. Then through a comparison of the two extremes, to in-dicate how we may keep to a middle course. A. HARSH AND DISAGREEABLE GOVERNING: 1. If heavy and unbearable burdens are imposed; this is some-times due to indiscretion on the part of the superior and his narrow mindedness. , 2. If, as more frequently happens, the task is not so difficult in itself, but the one on whom it is imposed would find it so, because .he has neither the physical nor spiritual strength to bear it. 3. No matter what the task is, if it is imposed in a harsh way, with a certain despotic manner; especially if the superior appears to be influenced by some inordinate mi~tive. 4. If the task is imposed at an inopportune time when the sub-ject is not properly disposed and no time has been granted nor a.ny help given that the subject may become better disposed. 5. If there is lacking a sense of proportion, and hence light burdens and heavier ones are imposed with the same ardor; in fact it can happen that, because of some fad or fancy of the superior, lighter duties are made more of than more serious ones. 6. If all attempts made by the subject to expose excuses and explain personal difficulties in this particular task are abruptly rejected as temptations, without any effort to listen in a kindly way. . 7. If the superior shows himself of a suspicious nature and so .ill-disposed that the subject has not a chance to present his dif-ficulties, etc., and has no hope of ever satisfying the superior. 8. If the superior has preconceived an unfavorable opinion of the subject and is always disposed to put an unworthy interpretation on whatever he does, this causes great affliction. 9. If, while considering the institute and the rules and failing to look at himself, the superior makes no allowance for the weak-nesses of others; if, in fact, he greatly exaggerates their defects and, in assigning tasks, acts not as if he were dealing with a son who is rational and willing but with insensible instruments at his disposal. 10. If he is not clear and gives orders in an equivocal way as if he purposely does not want to be understood, so that he can easily ¯ blame the subject if the result is not as might be desired--it is a- 0 ~mazing how very irritating this defect is to the subject. '236 September, 1955 EFFECTIVE GOVERNING I 1. If he never knows how to say "yes" to any petition; rather let him weigh well the request and by whom it is made and see if it is edifying for the community or externs and of advantage to the -subject. 12. Finally, if in doubtful cases he is always rather strict and rigid in his interpretations. B. WEAK AND LAx GOVERNING: 1.~ If attention is paid only to the big things and the mere avoidance of scandal is the norm, while everything else is let slide along. 2. If rules are looked upon rather lightly either because they seem so numerous or under the pretext of their gracious phrasing by the original founder. 3. If what has over because subjects others urge a change, sed over. 4. If, from the grows accustomed to been enjoined is easily changed or e'~en p~ssed show some slight repugnance: or if, because it is made or even the whole injunction is pas-frequent transgressions of some, the superior regard violations as not so wrong though he really knows they are wrong. 5. !'f he does pass judgme'nt and a[tually disapproves, but in order not to pain anyone or stir up a hornet's nest, be omits admoni-tion or refuses to give a reproof, let him refledt on St. Gregory's warning that in his fear to speak out, his silence gives consent. 6'. If, to console certain .individuals and to keep them from murmuring, eitt~er because of the position they hold or have held, or on account of friendship or for some personal regard, be easily makes concessions which both for those so favored and for the edification of the community are not proper. 7. If, in order to avoid any unpleasantness with this one or that, he either shuts his eyes to faults or administers no correction and, as if to be on the safe side, ;:toes not take the necessary steps. 8. If, under the pretext of humility or meekness, be allows him-self to be disregarded and his own words to be contemned. 9. If, from natural timidity or some other weakness, he admon-ishes in a routine and lifeless way, so that he makes no impression on the delinquent, and acts as if he were only doing so because he is obliged to do so before God, thus freeing himself from any scruple for baying omitted a correction. I0. Finally, if he feels that now he has done his duty, when,' 237 CLAUDE AQUAVIVA Review /=or ~Religious content with admonitions he has shown his displeasure at what has been wrong, but does not take efficacious means for its correction, and, like Hell, thinks he has accomplished everything if be should say, "What wickedness is this of yours, that brings me the complaints of a whole people!" (I Samuel 2:24) C. GRACIOUSNESS AND EFFECTIVENESS IN GOVERNING From the above we can easily see where there is harshness and where weakness and laxity; and either extreme must be avoided--not to be unduly hard nor too lenient. Nor is it difficult to see how effectiveness 9ught to be joined to graciousness, so that there will result strength in securing the end desired and graciousness in the manner and way it is attained. For, in making concessions and in denying them, in correction and reprimand, in punishing those who Wfail, in giving orders, in advancing subjects to virtue and perfectiofi and drawing them to a higher life, consideration must be given to the individual himself, his powers of body and soul; opportunities must be well weighed, exhortation used, and above all charity joined with zeal must hold highest sway; forbearance and patience must be constantly preserved. However, it must not be allowed that subjects aspire to act with impunity, doing just what they wish and omitting what they do not wish with the result that they satisfy their own inclinations and be-come accustomed to act and to relish what they desire even against the orders and decisions' of superiors; that they look upon the rules as mere counsels, which, if observed, they do well, but if not observed, there is no harm done. To tolerate this is not graciousness but slug-gishness; it is not to look to the good of the order, nor to the good even of those who are',so dealt with. Let not superiors imagine them-selves kindly and gracious if they govern in this manner; indeed, they are remiss in their duty and are weaklings. Nor let them flatter them-selves that, when they are harsh, they are only zealous for religious discipline. But let not subjects call rigorous and harsh an effort or zeal which is made to sustain religious discipline and to prorhote perfection. Nor let them exact such g,raci.ousness on the part of the superior that is rather a harmful indulgence.~ Rather let them under-stand that many things, if impediments to perfection, must be denied them; and many injunctions must be given which may not be to their liking but which pertain to the glory of God and to the good of the community. He who desires to be directed and improved must not try to shun all corrections and penances nor to regard that physician 238 September, 1955 F~FFECTIVE GOVERNING as kind who, for fear of offending the patient, neglects a cure and allows a disease to increase dangerously. Cassian in his conference on fickleness of soul claims that a certain Serenus, who, he says, mirrored in his person his name, had known of some cases where the indulgent governing of certain superiors had come to such a sorry state that they were obliged to coax with sweet words thei) subjects to stay in the cloister and not go out to the pernicious occasions of sin in the world; in fact that the greatest fruit to be hoped for was that subjects would shut themselves up in solitude, though remaining just as lazy as they wanted. The great cure-all of these indulgent superiors used to be this favorite pre-scription: "Stay in the cloister, and eat and drink and sleep all you want, so long as you stay in the cloister!" Let superiors, then, and especially provincials, be on their guard against too great indulgence and undue leniency, as these can work all sorts of ruin to a religious order; thence, graciousness is not to consist in gratifying every will and desire of subjects. We should recognize that graciousness lies in this, as we bare said, that in giving a reprimand, for example, there be no .harshness, no sign of ange~ or perturbation; rather, there shines forth a paternal interest, an affec-tionate sympathy, and a certain vigorous and efficacious agreeableness. Let the one who is being reproved realize that there is no question of a desire to give humiliation and punishinent, but only of a neces-sity to provide for the good of the community and for the true ad-vantage of the individual himself who is being punished. If we re-fuse what must be refused, let it appear we do so with regret, and that we are always ready to grant the request when it may be pos-sible or expedient to do so. If we wish to remedy a defect let us not be so hypercritical; rather, kindly enforcers who are not eager for the upperhand but for the good of the Society and of the subject himself, we should rather seem to be conspiring with him to gain a victory over the Tempter. In giving orders in a considerate and friendly way, we should show that we are seeking nothing else but God's glory and the good of the subjects. What cannot be granted today, may patiently be expected tomorrow, so th~it we are always looking expectantly to-wards the end and carefully applying the means thereto. Even though through the subject's lack of spirit we do not accomplish much, yet we cannot do anything more efficacious and gracious than to make him a careful examiner of his own spiritual welfare. Graciousness, in a word, is had if we treat subjects with a heart full of charity so 239 FOR YOUR INFORMATION that they readily entrust their temptations to the bosom, as it were, of their mother; and if, on the other hand, whatever corrections corn4 from us, the subject receives them not with irritation (no mat-ter how disagreeable to his feelings), but as springing from the sup-erior's love of him. Hence, St. Ignatius has taught in his constitutions that strictness must be so mixed with kindliness and gentleness that the superior never allows himself to be swayed from what he judge~ to be more pleasing to God, our Lord. As is fitting, let him l{now what it is to be compassionate with his sons, bearing himself in such a .way that even though those who are reprehended or corrected may be displeased according to their lower nature' at what is done, still they will acknbwledge that the superior is doing what is right before the Lord and that he does his duty with charity. Your nrrorma!:ion Apology and Explanation It was long our policy to printcommunlcat,ons' " ~from our read-ers, as well as items of information sent to us concerning their work, their publications, and so forth. During the past year we have had to omit much of this because material that had to be published left us very little extra space. We regret this because we believe that, besides being interesting, such items further mutual understanding among religious communities. We mention this now so that those who bare sent us communications and other material of an inform-ative nature.will realize that we have not purposely neglected them; also, we want to make it clear that this restriction of space has been a temporary measure. Material sent in future will be given due at-tention. The Mind of the Church As we have stated previously, the present mind of the Church concerning the government of religious is best expressed in three addresses by Pope Pius XII and in the address given by Father Larraona at'the conclusion of the meeting of mothers general in Rome, September, 1952. Father Larraona's address was published in our November, 1954, number. Of the three papal addresses, one (to the mothers general, September 15, 1952) wa~ published in (Continued on page 276.) 240 Mother M ry X vier W rde Sister Mary Julian Baird, R.S.M. [All facts for this account are taken from Reuerend Mother M. Xauier Wa~de by the Sisters of Mercy, Mount St. Mary's, Manchester, New Hampshire, published by Marlier and Company in Boston in 1902.] i l ~VEN by A,,m, erican standards," wrote one of her Irish bi/ ~ ographers, Mother Xavier was a stormy petrel." Certainly the mayor of Providence in the March of 1855 would have agreed with him. ~ Five years earlier, on the feast of the Translation of the Relics of St. Francs Xavier, the Sisters of Mercy from Pittsburgh, led by Mother Mary Xavier Warde, had made their first foundation in Rhode Island. Bigotry was rife in that section of New England, where only brave women would have come, and braver ones stayed. There were days when every window in their poor little house on Weybosset Street was broken by the Know-Nothings, an un-Ameri-can group that showed, in rough ways, hostility to anything Cath-olic. Of them, however, Mother Xavier would say to the sisters: "They have, no doubt, the best of motives. Only their judgments are clouded by prejudice. All that will pass away . " Well indeed it might have passed, thought Mayor Knowles, as he twisted his hat nervously while waiting for Mother Xavier in the parlor of the academy which Bishop O'Reilly had opened for the sisters in the October of the previous year. Had the sisters stayed in the poorer section of the city, ill-feeling might have died. Now the news of the more ambitious venture to' educate the daughters of the wealthier citizens of Providence had spread; alarm was general. What would not these Catholics achieve if left alone? The mayor sighed. He must persuade Mother Xavier and her nuns to leave the city. He rose hastily as she entered. This tall, 'well-proportioned woman with the keen, dynamic face and gracious manner silenced the speech of protest he had prepared. In rich, soft toneh she as-sured him of her pleasure in meeting the mayor of Providence. "Happy to have you in the city," he heard himself saying. Yet he had the presence of mind to add, "I wish we might ask you to remain." The question on Mother Xavier's face forced him to go on. The 241 SISTER MARY JULIAN BAIRD Review for Religious sisters were in serious danger, be continued. He could not hope to defend them against ten thousand ruffians bent on their destruction. They must leave the city, and soon. Mother Xavier looked her astonishment. "Your honor," she said, her voice still sofl~, "we have disre-garded no duty, no responsibility-of good citizenship. As a body of religious women we are laboring here in our own sphere. Have we given any provocation for this interference? Will Christian men constitute a mob against unoffending women? Are our rights as citizens not to be protected?" Mayor Knowles gripped his hat more firmly as he faced her. "I am powerless to prevent an uprising, Madame." "If I were chief executive of municipal affairs, I would know how to control the populace," she countered. Looking at her again, the mayor knew that this slender Irish woman could probably have done so. But he shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. "Best to go quietly," he repeated. Mother Xavier shook her head more stubbornly. "We will remain in our house, and if needs be, die rather than fly from the field of duty where God has placed us." She was true to her word. On March 22, less than a week later, the Sisters of Mercy were still resident in the academy on the corner of Broad ~nd Calverick Streets. As evening fell, the novices, ignor-ant of any danger, said their night prayers and "retired. The older religious stayed on guard before the Blessed Sacrament. Mother Xavier alone went to the garden where the Catholic men of Provi-dence, well,armed, took their places to protect the convent. From group to group she went, with evident calm, and exacted from each man a promise that no gun Would be raised nor offence given unless they were called on to do so in self-defense. The rioters made their way up the street, and, as they drew up in line before the silent convent, could see t~he quiet activity within the garden, the white linen coil and guimpe of Mother Xavier clear in the glare of the. street lamp. Gradually the calm was broken by hisses and cat-calls. The sisters were summoned by the mob leader to leave their convent. At this juncture, Bishop O'Reilly and Mr. Stead, the former owner of the property, appeared at the front entrance. In resonant tones Mr. Stead told of the armed force within the convent grounds. They were ~rishmen, he added meaningfully; and they could fight. 242 September, 1955 MOTHER MARY XAVIER WARDE Then the Bishop came forward. His words rang with sincerity. "My dear friends, in God's name, let not this city, nor the free institutions of this republic be tarnished by any dastardly uplifting of your arms against those who have wrought you no harm, but whose blameless lives are their sure defense before God and men. Depart in peace to your homes, and sully not your honor in act so vile." The night air was tense. Then, one by one, the rioters with-drew. Mother Xavier's courage and faith had won. This intrepid spirit was probably what had first attracted Cath-erine McAuley, foundress of the Sisters of Mercy in Ireland, to Frances Warde.She met her in the early days of her foundation, before establishing a new community of religious women was so much as in her thoughts. Fanny Warde was then a socialite in Dub-lin, a girl of only eighteen, the spoiled daughter of a widowed father. Wealth and good times had not filled her heart, however; and a few hours of every day were spent in helping Miss McAuley in her schools for poor children. In Fanny, Catherine McAuley found the counterpart of herself, a vivid, powerful personality alert to Christ's work for souls, and a born leader. Against the tranquillity of her own personality; Fanny's temperament seemed a mounting flame. Together they made a remarkable team. After the foundation of the community, when Fanny had become Sister Mary Xavier and was assistant to Mother McAuley in the Baggot Street house, it seemed a foregone conclusion that she would succeed to the office of superior when Catherine died. God changed that. Carlow, a thriving city some distance from Dublin, asked for Sisters of Mercy. Mother McAuley was quite justified in declaring that she bad no more to spare. The only leader left was Sister Xaviei', the only manager among her lay sisters was Sister Veronica. Neither of them could be moved from Dublin without crippling the work there. But on the heels of her refusal to make a foundation in Carlow came the swift and sudden death of Sister Veronica. This strong admonition of God was sufficient for Mother McAuley. A group of sisters was sent to Carlow at once. At their head went Sister Xavier, from that time on called Mother Xavier. Even before Mother McAuley's death in i 841, several new houses were founded from Carlow. When Bishop O'Connor of Pittsburgh, U.S.A., came seeking Sisters of. Mercy for his American poor, it was natural that he should g.o there to Mother Xavier. It was in-evitable that she would head the mission. Although only thirty- 243 SISTER MARY JULIAN BAIRD Review for Religious three years old at the time, she was accustomed to leadership since her early training under Mother McAuley. Strong, activel apostolic -~Mother Xavier was the ideal pioneer for the rough work that awaited her and her sisters in the United States. Her travels over America read like an Odyssey. A stop on the first trip to Pittsburgh when crossing the. Allegheny Mountains must have given her a poetic vision of the days ahead of her. Bishop O'Connor had the stagecoach stopped at the summit of the Alle-ghenies. Here, he told Mother Xavier, he had received a commission from Demetrius Gallitzin, the Apostle of the Alleghenies, who had died only three years before, to bring the sisters to teach his mountain children there. As Mother Xavier looked at the virgin-forests, through which the dauntless Russian prince-priest had traveled to cover his faptastically large parish., she thought, "This is America. This is the wilderness of Godlessness to which we must bring Christ and Mary. Here we must build again the City of God." $o she pledged her word, to be redeemed by the Pittsburgh sisters in 1848, that some of them would fulfill the dying wish of Father Gallitzin. Pittsburgh itself would have .been enough for a smaller soul's ambition. The basement of the convent became a school immedi-ately after their arrival from Ireland. Visitation of the sick was be-gun at once. The sisters took charge of the girls of the Cathedral Sunday School while the bishop's students continued to care for the boys. On the first floor of the convent, Mother Xavier instructed a large' class of adults. Her impressive manner and clarity of ex-p! anation were instrumental in winning many souls. So large did the adult classes become as the fame of her gracious and simple inter-course spread, that the opening of further day schools had to be delayed eight months after the foundation, while she transferred her clasges to the first floor of the newly constructed' school. Soon girls of the better families were attracted to join the sisters in their work, and the first American novice, Miss Elizabeth Tiernan, received the Mercy habit on April 11, 1844. In honor of the Ameri-can foundress, she asked for the name Sister Mary Xavier. It was she whom Mother Xavier took with her when she returned to Ire-land seeking mbre recruits. Generous though American girls were, they could not be trained quickly en6ugh to supply sufficient work-ers for the increasing labors that opened to the sisters. When Mother Xavier came back with more Irish nuns, the bishop of Chicago, a newly formed diocese, demanded that she keep a'promise made to him the day she 'landed in New York harbor. Sisters of Mercy were 244 September, 1955 MOTHER MARY XAVIER WARDE needed in the West, he had told her, and she had said she would send him some as soon as possible. Now, he seemed to think, that must be. $o, in the summer of 1846, Mother Xavier took there six of her Pittsb,urgh nuns. The trip by stagecoach was killing; accomo-dations in the then primitiye city were beyond her imaginings. In the small wooden city of Chicago, with its fifteen thousand inhabi-tants, the sisters' home was a rude shack. Even the bishop won-dered, as .he talked with Mother Xaviec the morning after her ar-rival, if he should have asked such women to face such privation. Mother Xavier smiled at his consternation and lifted her finger. Through the rough boards that formed a wall between the room in which they were talking and the so-called community i~oom of the sisters, came the sound of merry laughter and happy voices. "The sisters are content," she assured him. And he was satisfied. For the first months they worked unceasingly. The customary works of mercy--visitation of the sick and poor, instruction in re-ligion, and the opening of schools--were launched. Among the pupils who came to the first school of the sisters in Chicago were children of trappers, bordermen, hardy settlers, sea-faring men, brigh~ matter-of-fact children whose spontaneous vivacity appealed to Mother Xavier's own simplicity of heart and direct approach. Even the Indians fell beneath the charm of her personality, calling her "Palefaced Mother." When the foundation seemed able to continue without her aid, Mother Xavier planned to return alone to Pittsburgh. It was winter. In view of the difficulties of the journey to Chicago, when the weather was clement and she had the company of six sisters and the brother of the bishop who accompanied them, it seemed noth-ing short of madness for her to consider such a step. The decision was part of her careless courage, of her constant minimizing of her own hardship, and, above all, of her boundless confidence in the providence of God. For a week, all by herself, dressed in secular clothes, she traveled through the bleakness, over prairie and wilderness, through mud-bogs and, blizzards until she reached Pittsburgh on a cold, rainy morn-ing. At the convent, she had only the strength to knock on the door. The amazed sisters found her on the doorstep in a state of utter collapse. For ten days-she hung between life and death. Then, as though, like dohn Henry Newman, she realized that she had "a ¯ work to do," Mother Xavier began to recover. There was still al- 245 SISTER MARY .JULIAN BAIRD Review /:or Rellqlous most a half-century more of pioneering before her. Had she died then, Mayor Knowles of Providence would prob~ ably have had no worry about the Know-Nothings demolishing the convent of the Sisters of Mercy. For it was to his city that she led a party of sisters in 1850. At this so-called Parent House of New England, Mother Xavier stayed. Pittsburgh was to see her no more. From here ~he opened missions in Hartford and New Haven in the May of 1852. It was then that she noted in her journali ardent desire to see Christ's little ones trained under the guidance of religious teachers is coming to pas.s to an extent far beyond what I ever dared to hope . How true is the old proverb, 'The first step is the only difficulty.' " As the Western children had attracted her, so in these new fields she praised "the grand, sturdy, New England character." But this may have been what one of her clerical friends called her undefeatable optimism. "With Mother Xavier," he said, "all the geese are swans." She always, in her own estimation, lived in the best possible section of the country among the best people that God had ever made. There was also notable in her outlook a broadness very well illustrated in the debate as to whether the Sisters of Mercy should have schools for the well-to-do or confine themselves to the instruction of the poor. The issue first arose in the American mission in Pittsburgh when .the bishop proposed the building of St. Xavier Academy at Latrobe. Only Mother Xavier voted for the project.t The other sisters said that there was more than enough work for them to do among the numberless l~oor; that their community had been founded specifically for the service of the least fortunate of Christ's children. Knowing M~ther McAuley as well as she did, Mother Xavier did not hesitate to challenge this opinion. It is the need for mercy that dictates our activities, she reminded them; the spirit of the institute is mercy in whatever form it is required. Specifically of this she wrote: "Charity may be practised on the rich . Let us d~o good to rich and poor as our Divine Master did while here on earth." At Rochester, New York, a foundation was made in 1,857, The following year Bishop Bacon of Portland, Maine, appealed to her for sisters. In his letter he stated bluntly: "Only the piety, the courage, the zeal and the hardihood of a pioneer religious will ever be able to rough it in the establishment of Catholic schools in Maine and New Hampshire." When the sisters heard this, they knew that they must lose Mother Xavier. Reluctantly the bishop of Providence let her go to this new mission field. Once again she w, as on the 246 ~epternber, 1955' MOTHER MARY XAVIER WARDE road for Christ. The situation she found in Manchester, where she made her headquarters, was somewhat similar to that in Rhode Island earlier. In July, 1854, the Know-Nothings had driven the Catholics from their homes, dragged the sick from their beds into the streets, de-stroyed the furniture, and proceeded to break the stained glass windows in St. Anne's church, then nearing completion. Only the peace-making spirit of the pastor, Father .McDonald, had kept the Catholics from retaliating. Under his wise direction, the spirit of prejudice abated, but not su~ciently for his parishioners to share his enthusiasm for introducing teaching nuns in the still bigoted city. It is only by seeing the sisters at work that they will learn to appreciate them, Father McDonald argued, and started to build a convent. Before it was half erected, a mob demolished it. He began again. This time he had it guarded night and day, himself sleeping there to prevent further damage. When it was ready, he asked the bishop for Sisters of Mercy. In this remarkable pastor, Mother Xavier met her equal in courage and devotion. From the day she met him, they worked together for Christ and His little ones. Beginning slowly, the sisters gradually fulfilled his prophecy that the citizenry would be con-vinced of the good they might do by seeing it done. One of their most important and most satisfactory works was the instruction of converts, a task to which Mother Xavier gave herself with tremendous zeal and prodigious success. A new type of work begun here was night schools for the children working in factories. In the autumn of 1858, in addition to the extensive free schools she had already established, Mother Xavier began an academy at Mr. St. Mary's, housed at first in the convent itself, and then in a separate school building. Unlike the first academy in Providence, there was no ani-mosity aroused by this structure. In fact, so completely had the sisters conquered the bigotry of Manchester that the city council, in 1860, permitted them to use a vacant public school in Father Mc- Donald's parish for a grammar school of their own. During the Civil War Mother Xavier and the sisters ,were gratified to receive numerous letters from their "boys" who were cared for by Sisters of Mercy in the. hospitals of the Union army. This was a work of Mercy to which Mot~her Xavier could not give herself. But a remarkable incident recorded by one of the sister-nurses shows how fa~ her silent example, even without words, had reached.One of the soldiers whom she nursed told her that he had been one of 247 SISTER MARY JULIAN BAIRD Reoiew for Religious the mob that intended to destroy the convent in Providence Wher'e Mother Xavier had boldly ~xposed herself to speak to the men in the garden who guarded the building. The sigh~ of her xrariquillity and courage had shamed him so that he left the scene even before the bishop spoke, went to a priest,, asked for instructions and baptism. "The sight of her," he said, "was a blessing." Foundations sent out during Mother Xavier's years in Man-chester were many: Philadelphia in 1861; Omaha, Nebraska, in 1864; Bangor, Maine, in 1865; Yreka, California, in 1871; Bur-lington,' Vermont, in 1872. The houses already~'opened flourished and made foundations of their own. Orphanages and hospitals and homes for the aged were added to their already extensive works of mercy. As the works increased, so did the number of girls entering the novitiates. Each foundation had its own novitiate, and was in-dependent of the mother house in most cases, a necessary circum-stance in the days of limited transportation and communication :fa-cilities. '~ Of considerable joy to Mother Xavier in 1878 was the sending of her sisters to Maine to work among the Indians. Their first convent was the wigwam of the chief of the tribe, who generously vacated it to accommodate the nuns. She visited them a few months later, to be welcomed ~on the banks of the river by a flotilla of Indian canoes. Probably for the first and last time in her life, Mother Xavier evinced fear. The canoes were of birch-bark, and very fragile in appearance. The chief invited her to enter his to cross to the other shore where the reservation was located. Mother Xavier looked. She took a small step: She hesitated. The swarthy face of the chief wrinkled in an understanding smile. With a wave of his hand he summoned a more sturdy-looking rowboat. With dignity Mother Xavier entered it and was rowed safely to the opposite bank, Characteristic of her was the remark she made on her way to the wigwam convent, with Indian children clinging to either hand and gifts of homemade baskets waved at her from eager Indians lined along the path. "Oh, how happy Mother McAuley Would have been to see this!" Her loyal' heart never let her forget the woman who had taught her mercy. In her speech she reverted so constantly to her teaching and example that the sisters who lived with her felt that they had a first-hand; personal knowledge of the foundress who had never set foot in AmeriCa. The Indian missions were the last to be directly founded by Mother Xavier. In the following year she was~shocked to learn of 248 September, 1955 M(~THER MARY XAVIER.WARDE the death of her blood-sister, Mother 3osephine Warde, whose death in Ireland robbed the Sisters of Mercy there of one of their greatest leaders. From this point on; ,Mother Xavier seemed old. Yet she was strong enough for the work of the day, always first i'n the chapel in the morning and busy daily with administrative duties. It did not seem possible to those who saw her activity that she could be the oldest Sister of Mercy in the world. In 1883 this fact was brought home to everyone by the national celebration of her golden jubilee.Every convent of the order joined in a novena for the American foundress. Invitations were issued to all connected with the Sisters of Mercy to be present at the day of celebration, January .24, at Mt. St. Mary's 'in Manchester. Of all the congratulations and gifts that poured in upon her that day, the one that Mother Xavier cherished most--and the only one that brought tears to her eyes--was a tribute of shamrocks from St. Patrick's grave sent to her by school children in Ireland, with verses that ended in the hope that Mother McAuley would bless her spir-itual daughter's festival "with her smile and her blessing from Heaven." The jubilee was really the ,beginning of the end for Mother Xavier. Her health failed perceptibly from that point on, but the loyalty of her sisters unanimously elected her again to be Mother Superior at Manchester. In spite of the practicality of that gesture, notes from a retreat she made immediately, after the election show that her mind was already in heaven. On August 12, 1883, she wrote: "May the Cross of Christ be about us! O good cross, that makes us rejoice in the Holy Will of God. Close to God, all is peace and contentment in Him. They tell me that I am growing strong again; they try to hope it is so, but I feel old age is here, and I realize that very soon I shall stand before His throne. Shall I be able to go on doing the little I have hitherto done? I do not know; but I put myself without reserve into God's hands. Let us pray and give ourselves up to the Divine Will." A singular happiness was reserved for these last days in the ap-pointment of Reverend Denis M. Bradley as the first bishop of Man-chester by Pope Leo XIII. As a child, the bishop-elect had recited his catechism to Mother Xavier and had received his First Com-munion from Father McDonald. With joy they had watched him prepare for the priesthood and ordination. Now the month ~f May was entirel~r &voted to preparations for his consecration. Mother Xavier's part was in supervising the making of vestments to be worn 249 SISTER MARY ,JULIAN BAIRD by her bishop. Before he began his retreat in Troy Seminary, he vis-ited her to beg her prayers. But on June 11, when he was consecrated, she ffas too ill to attend. His first visit after the church festivities were ended was to her poor little cell, for even in her last illness she re-fused the comfort of the infirmary. When her sight left her that 'summer, she asked the sisters to lead her to the chapel, where she spent endless hours in prayer. Im-potence to lead might have made her querulous, she who had always led. But her sense of humor did not fail her, and her gentle charm made it such a joy to care for her that the young nuns vied for the privilege. Especially devoted to her, and especially beloved, was Mary Agnes Warde, the grandchild of her brother John, who had entered the novitiate a few months before. She had the consolation of frequent visits from Bishop Bradley, and from her faithful friend and pastor, Father McDonald. To him she said one day,. with a half-whimsical, half-~vry smile: "My long and stormy life is at last coming to an end." God's stormy petrel was content now to rest. " To her sisters in the end she had no word but love. "God bless you and love you," she would say to them in her tired voice, and add with her characteristic personal touch, "eoery one.'" On the night of September 16 even her voice failed, and on the morning of the feast of the Stigmata of .St. Francis, she died while Mass was being said for her in the convent chapel. As was to be expected, her daughters "rose up at her side and called her blessed."' The key~note of the funeral was not sadness but joy in a life lived out for God alone. No pilgrimages are made in large bands to the simple grave with its simple marble stone in St. Joseph's Cemetery in Manchester. Even the writings about her community seem to overshadow her achievements with those of her friend and foundress, Mother Catherine McAuley. That is the way Mother Xavier would have liked it. But it is more honest to see her life as an extension of Mother McAuley's. To the ten short active years that her leader gave, Mother Xavier added her fifty full and vigorous ones. Complementing each other in character and temperament, they make together one achievement in the Church of Christ, recognizing that above all the works of God is His mercy. To Teaching Sisl:ers Pope Plus XII [EDITOR'S NOTE: This apostolic exhortation to the ~rst International Congress of Teaching Sisters was given on S~ptember 13, 1951. The following English translation, except for minor changes in capitalization and punctuation, appeared in the Catholic Mind, June, 1952, pp. 376-80. The original Italian text appeared in the Acta Apostolicae 8edis, 1951, pp. 738-44.] WE particularly welcome the occasion offered by your presence at the COngress of Teaching Sisters to express Our heartfelt and paternal praise for the activities of sisters in the school and in education both in Italy and throughout the Catholic world. How could the Church have fulfilled her mission of education and charity during these last few years, especially in the immediate past, without, the aid given by hundreds of thousands of sisters with so much zeal? How otherwise could the Church fulfill her mission today? No doubt, there are many other useful and energetic women work-ing with or beside nuns or dedicating themselves to the apostolate of the laity. We have in mind especially the good Catholic women teachers in the state schools. But they must r~ot wonder if, today, We turn to you, beloved daughters, gathered around Us as repre-sentatives of the religious orders and congregations devoted to the apostolate of the school and education. May the dedication, love, and sacrifices that more often tha~ not you bear in obscurity for the love of Christ and the benefit of young people bring forth fruit a hundredfold in the future as they did in the past. May our Lord reward you and shower upon you the abundance of His divine favors. We hope all the more fervently that this may be so because with you We are aware of the crisis through which your schools and educational institutions are passing. It is a question of the youth of today and convent schools. In your congress you have doubt-lessly had the opportunity of treating this subject fully. Many points concerning you no less than priests and brothers in religious orders have already been discussed by Us in Our address of De-cember 8, 1950. For this reason, We can confine Ourselves now to those aspects of your problem which, in Our opinion, need more consideration. I. Lack of Understanding If it be your painful experience that the teaching sis~ter and the 251 POPE PIUS XII Review [or Religious mgdern girl no longer understand each other, well, this is not a thing peculiar to you. Other teachers, often parents themselves, are not in a very much better position. It is not using empty wor.ds to say that young people have changed, become very different perhaps. The chief reason for this difference'in the young people of toda~r may be that which forms the subject of the frequent lament: young peoi31e are irreverent toward many things that formerly from child-hood were naturally regarded with the greatest respect. But young people of today are not solely to be blamed for their j~resent atti-tude. In childhood, they have lived through horrible things.and they have seen many ideals formerly held in high esteem fail and fail miserably before their eyes. F.or this reason they now mistrust and reject them. It must be remembered also that this complaint about lack of understanding is not something new. It is one made in every gener-ation; o and it is mutual between maturity and youth, parents and children, teachers and pupils. Half a century ago and even a little more, there was a good deal of sentimentality. People were fond of' believing that they were "misunderstood" and said so. Today,, the complaint, not devoid of a ce,rtain amount" of pride, is more con-cerned with the intellect. The result of this misunderstanding is, on the one hand, a reaction which may sometimes exceed the limit of justice, a tendency to repudiate anything that is, or. appears to be, new, an exaggerated suspicion of rebellion against any tradition. On the other hand, it is a lack of faith that shrinks from all authority and, spurning every competent judgment, seeks solutions and coun-sels with a s6rt of infatuation more ingenuous than reasoned. To try to reform young people and convince them by exacting submission, to persuade them by force', would be useless and not always right. YoB will induce them very much better to give you their trust if you, on your side, strive to understand them and to make them understand themselves--save always in the case of those immutable truths and values which admit of no change in the heart and mind of man. Understanding young people certainly does not mean approv-ing and admitting everything they" maintain in their ideas, their tastes, their caprices, their false enthusiasm. It consists fund_amentally in finding out ~hat is solid in them and accepting this trustfully without remorse or anger, in dis'covering the origin of their deviations and errors, which are often nothing but the unhappy attempt io solve real and difficult problems, and, finally, in following closely 252 September, 1955 TO ~EACHING SISTERS the vicissitudes and conditions of the present time. Making yourself understood does not mean adopting abuses, inaccuracies, confused ideas, modern expressions ambiguous in syn-tax, or the words' themselves. It rather means expressing clearly one's own thoughts in different yet always correct ways, striving to fathom_the thoughts of others, always keeping in mind their diffi-culties, their ignorance, and their inexperience. On the other hand, it is also true that young people of today are fully capable of appreciating true and genuine values. And it is preciseIy at this point that you must assume your responsibility. You must treat young people with the same simplicity and natural-ness you show among yourselves; you must treat them according to their character. At the same time, you must all show that spiritual seriousness and reserve which even the world of today expects from you, that spiritual seriousness and reserve through which it must sense your union with God. When you are with young, people, it is not necessary to speak continually of God. But when you do so, you must speak in a way to command their attention: with genuine feeling arising from profound conviction. In this-way, you will win the confidence of your pupils who. will then allow themselves to be persuaded and guided by you. II. The Reliqious Life And now We come to that which concerns you particularly: the religious life, your habit, the vow of chastity, your rules and constitutions. Do these render you less fit or downright incapable where the instruction and education of today's young people are concerned ? In the first place, We say that those who have the (primary) right in education, the parents, are not of this opinion. Sisters' schools are still sought after and preferred even by many people who care little or nothifig for religion. In 'many countries, vocations to the life of a teaching sister and the number of sisters' schools are much below the demand. 'This does not happen through mere chance. Therefore, we may add--and not only in regard to Italy but speaking in general--from those who have a part in drawing up school legislation, we must expect that determination for justice, that democratic sense, so to speak, which corresponds to the will of the parents, in such a way that the schools founded and directed by religious institutes be not placed in a worse condition than the 253 POPE PIUS XII R~oieto ¢or Religions state schools, and that they be given the freedom which is necessary for their development. And now, let us briefly discuss the religious life in itself. The religious habit: choose it in such a way that it becomes the. expres, sion of inward naturalness, of simplicity, and spiritual modest-y. Thus it will edify everyone, even modern young people. Chastity and virginity (which imply also the inner renunciation of all sensual affection) do not estrange souls from this world. They rather awaken and develop the energies needed for wider and higher offices beyond the limits of individual families. Today there are many. teaching and nursing sisters who, in the best sense of the word, are nearer to life than the average person in the world. Followed in letter and spirit, your constitutions, too, facilitate and bring the sister all she fieeds and must do in our time to be a good teacher and educator. This also applies to purely mechanical matters. In many countries today, for example, even sisters use bicycles when their work demands it. At first this was something entirely new, though not against the Rule. It is possible that some details of the school schedules, certain regulations--simple applica-tions of the Rule-~certain customs which were, perhaps, in harmony with past conditions but which today merely hinder educational work, must be adapted to new circumstances. Let superiors and the general chapters proceed in this matter conscientiously, with foresight, pruddnce, and courage: and, where the case demands, let them not fail to submit the proposed changes to the competent ec.: clesiastical authorities. You wish to serve the cause of Jesus Christ and of His Church in the way the world of today demands. Therefore; it would not be reasonable to persist in customs and forms that hinder this service or perhaps render it impossible. Sisters who are teachers and edu-cators must be so ready and so up to the level of their office, they must be so well versed in all with which young people are in con-tact, in all which influences them, that their pupils will not hesitate to say: "We can approach the sister with our problems and difficul-ties: she understands and helps us." IlL Tile Scfiool and Education In this way, We come now to the needs of the school and educa-tion, which We particularly wish to recommend to your care. Many of your schools are being described and praised to Us as 254 September, 1955 TO TEACHING-SISTERS being very good. But not all. It is Our fervent wish that all endeavor to become excellent. This presupposes that your teaching sisters are masters of the subjects they expound. See to it, therefore, that they are well trained and that their education corresponds in quality and academic.degrees to that demanded by the state. Be generous in giving them all they need, especially where books are concerned, so that they may con-tinue. their studies and thus offer young people a rich and solid har-vest of knowledge. This is in keeping with the Catholic idea, which gratefully welcomes all that is naturally good, beautiful, and true, because it is an image of the divine goodness and beauty and truth. Most parents entrust their daughters to you because their con-sciences bid them to do so. But this does not mean that the children should suffer by receiving in your schools an education of inferior value. On the contrary, you must do all you can to assure parents that their children are getting the best education right from the elementary classes. And then, do not forget that knowledge and good teaching win the respect and consideration of the pupils for the teaching sister. Thus she can exercise a greater influence on their character and their spiritual life. In this respect, there is no need for us to repeat that which you know well, that which has certainly been the object of ample dis-cussion during your Congress. According to the Catholic concept, the object of the school and of education is the formation of the perfect Christian, that is--to apply this principle to yo.ur conditions --to exercise such spiritual and moral influence and to so accustom girls and young women that when they are left to themselves they will remain firm in their faith as Catholics and put this faith into daily practice. At least, there must be the well-founded hope that the pupil will later on lead her life according to the principles and rules of her faith. Your entire school and educational system would be useless were this object not the central point of your labor. Our Lord wants you to strive toward this aim with all your strength. He has called you to the vocation of educating girls and making them perfect Christians. In this He demands your complete dedication, and one day He will ask you to render an account. The modern girl! You can measure better than many others the still unsolved problems and the grave dangers resulting from recent 255 POPE PIUS XII changes in the woman's world from her sudden introduction into all walks of public life. Was there ever such a time as the present, when a girl has to be won and trained interiorly, according to her con-victions and will, for Christ's cause and a virtuous life, remaining faithful to both despite all temptations and obstacles, beginning with modesty in dress anal ending with the most serious and anguishing problems of life? Let it never happen th'at material advantages, personal authority, wealtb, political power, or similar considerations induce you to re-nounce your educational ideals and betray your vocation! An ex-amination of conscience during your Congress may have salutary ef-fects. This paternal exhortation is motivated solely by Our benevo-lence for you, because your cares are Ours also, your Bappy success is Ours, too. In obtaining favorable results, harmony and generous accord between the different religious families can play a big part. Mutual knowledge and enco,uragement, holy emulation can be put to your mutual advantage. The most encouraging steps have already been taken in this respect. All you have to do is to continue them. Like Christian education in general, which today is not an oh-' jective easily to be achieved, your mission is not an easy one. But regarding the inner formation of the young girl, your religious vocation is a powerful ally. Living faith, union with God, the love o]~ Christ, with which each of you has had the chance to fill herself in the spirit of the congregation from the first day of the novitiate, the vow, not only of chastity, but especially that of obedience, a common task under one guidance in the same direction'---all these t, hings act strongly on young minds, always supposing, of course, that you live up to your vocation. May divine Providence direct and lead you in all that you pro-pose and undertake. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ fill your minds and hearts. May the Blessed Virgin, Mary our Mother, be your model, protectress, and advocate. Together with the ex-pression of these wishes, We most cordially impart Our Apostolic Blessing to you, beloved sisters, and to all the young people en-trusted to your care. 256 The Dedica :ed Lit:e and Secular Insti :u :es Francis N. Korth, S.J. THE BREVOORT HOTEL in Chicago's busy downtown Loop "was the scene of a recent, inspiring two-day conference on "The Dedicated Life in the World and Secular Institutes." The dates were February 19 and 20, 1955. ("Dedicated life in the world" as distinguished from membership in a secular institute means that the individual is living in the world and has truly,dedi-cated his life at least by a private perpetual vow or promise of per-fect cbastlty or celibacy.) Conference participants, those who came to impart information and to lead discussions, a~ well as those who came pri'marily to listen, to gain knowledge and inspiration--these various people came from points along .both coasts, from the south and from the north and from places in between, and from Canada. For purposes of concentrated effort, the number invited was .ke.p.t small. Some twenty-five priests and about seventy lay persons (mostly women) were on hand for the openifig session on Saturday morning, February 19. Father Joseph E. Haley, C.S.C., of Notre Dame University, welcomed the group and then gave a very con-densed historical r~sum~ of general trends in a dedicated life through-out the centuries up to present-day secular institutes. Then a number of reports were made about organizations that actually are secular in.stitutes, abou't some that are developing along the lines of possibly becoming secular institutes, and about other groups that are interested in a special manner in a dedicated life in the world. Some highlights follow. Opus De[ has been blessed with American vocations; another house will. be opened; besides persons in professional fields, clerical workers, farmers, and others are being accepted. The Missionaries of the Kingship of Christ, though small in number in this country, have experienced a gratifying increase in vocations. The Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary of the Catholic Apostolate have intern and extern members in the United States; they give lectures, publish some no-vena booklets and pamphlets; a booklet entitled Euergdag 8anctitg is;to be released soon. The constitutions of tl~e Daughters of St. Catherine of Siena are in Rome awaiting approval; the American 257 FRANCIS N. KORTH Reoiew for Religious novitiate is currently ~in Montreal, Canada; most members are be-tween the ages of twenty-one and forty-five, are single or widows. A little leaflet of the Pro Deo Workers of Cincinnati mentions that they are engaged in various works of the apostolate, that they have no official status as yet. The Daughters of Our Lady of Fatima in Lansdowne, Pa., as their attractive leaflet Spiritual "Scrabble" tells us, stimulate interest in, and take part in, varied parish activities, such as census-taking, instructing converts, visiting the sick, bus driving, church music and art. A new companion-group, the Sons of Our Lady of Fatima, ~is beginning to function along similar lines. A small but active group in New Orleans, known as Caritas, has as its purpose to help develop Christian life in parishes, particularly in poor ones; summer camps and long weekends are especially devoted to helping young people; liturgy and arts are stressed to cultivate an appreciation of the real beauty in things; parish census work is be-ing done. To work in missionary lands and to stir up interest in the mis-sions elsewhere is the special purpose of the International Catholic Auxiliaries (women); membership is about two hundred with fif-teen nationalities represented; the group was founded in Belgium about twenty years ago and now has two centers in Chicago. The Rural Parish Workers of Christ the King, while still small in num-bers, are doing fine work in a poor rural district in eastern Missouri. In Canada the Oblate Missionaries of the Immaculate (women), founded about three years ago, already have over three hundred members; there is a recent foundation in Chile, and some members are also in this country (at Lowell, Massachusetts) ; they undertake whatever work the local ordinary desires; nurses, teachers, social workers are among their numbers. From New York word comes that the Campaigners for Christ are busily engaged in explaining the faith (on street corners and in other places) and in h~lping the poor. The Union Caritas Christi, founded in France, has s~read to several other countries, and now-has some members in New York City; the members (women) come from various walks in life; their specific work in helping souls is determined by talent and circumstances. The house in Chicago of the Work of the Sacred Heart is connected with an organization established in the archdiocese of Lucca, Italy; devotion to the Sacred Heart is stressed; Italian immigrants are helped. In New Jeisey a parish group is forming, based upon the spirituality of St. Francis' de Sales; various apostolic activities are 258 September, 1955 SECULAR INSTITUTES undertaken. A member of the Company of St. Paul is currently par-ticipating in the apostolate of Christian art and movies. Friendship House in Canada undertakes varied work in the field of the social apostolate as indicated by the hierarchy. So much for the brief re-ports. " Of the above groups the following five are secular institutes: Opus Dei, the Missionaries of the Kingship of Christ, the Scboen-start Sisters of Mary of the Catholic Apostolate, the Company of St. Paul, and the Union Caritas Christi. The first four are insti-tutes of pontifical right (Schoenstatt Sisters are not listed in current Annuario Ponti[icio) : the fifth is an institute of diocesan right. The first session of Saturday afternoon was devoted to an en-lightening and stimulating presentation of the "Requisites for the Dedicated Life in the World and for ,Approval of Secular Institutes." The speaker was Father Andr~ L. Guay, O.M.I., Director of the Catholic Centre at the University of Ottawa in Canada. During the question period that followed, Father Guay solved problems and difficulties in competent fashion. The second session that afternoon was given over t'o a panel of three speakers. The three panel mem-bers, in the order of their appearance, and their topics were: Miss Bertha Mugrauer of Caritas in New Orleans and professor of soci-ology at Xavier University in the same city--"Social Action in American Life"; Mr. Vincent Giese of Fides Publishers in Chicago --"Professional Apostolate": Miss Violet Nevile of the Interna-tional Catholic Auxiliaries in Chicago--"Foreign Missions." After the three interesting papers were given, the audience had an opportu-nity to direct comment or questions to any of the three speakers. Saturday evening a number of optional workshops were held; lively discussions made the time pass quickly. At ten o'clock Sunday morning, two-minute reports were given on each of the workshops held the previous evening. Then Father Francis :Wendell, O:P., of New York spoke in an inspiring manner on "The Spirituality of the Dedicated Apostle in the World." Dis-cussion followed. The closing session in the early afternoon treated the general theme of "Channels of the Dedicated Life in' the World." The breakdown of this general theme resulted in three informative papers: "The Parish as the Living Community of Worship and Apostolate," ably presented by Father Robert Carroll of Chicago; the fine treatment of "The Third Order Secular as a School of Christian Perfection" by Father Stephen Hartdegen, O.F.M. of 259 FRANCIS N. KORTH Washington, D.C.; and a capable discussion by Mr. David O'Shea of YCW Headquarters in Chicago of "The Lay Apostolate Giving Christ to the World." Everyone privileged to attend felt that the two days had been time spent very well indeed. Currently, regional conferences are being stressed. Other Items of Interest about Secular Institutes 1) Father Leo Neudecker, pastor of the Immaculate Conception parish in Kellogg, Minnesota (35 miles northeast ofRochester) held his sixth annual Lay Apostolate Week, July 3-9, at Kellogg. Father Nicholas Maestrini, a former Chinese missionary of twenty years ex-perience, was guest speaker. A gratifying number of young women, many of them nurses or teachers, attended. The Lay Apostolate Week is a week of prayer and instruction; much time is given to the study of secular institutes; each day centers around the liturgy. 2) The Union of Catechists of the Holy Crucifix and of Mary Im-maculate is a secular institute affiliated with the Brothers of the Christiar~ Schools. Its headquarters are in Turin., Italy, where it was established as a secular institute ot~ diocesan right on June 24, 1948. Members teach catechism and spread devotion to the Five Wounds of Jesus Crucified. The lay catechists (members) 'live either with their own families or in community "houses of charity;" 3) The Annuario Pontit~cio for 1955 lists the following eleven secular institutes of pontifical right. Four for men (pages 863-64) : Company of St. Paul (originated in Italy) ; Opus Dei (originated in Spain); the Priest Workers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Spain); and the Society of the Heart of Jesus (Fraiice). For women seven such secular institutes are gi;cen (page 1283) : the Daughters of the Queen of the Apostles (Trent); the Teresian Institute (Madrid); the Missionaries of the Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Milan) ; the Institute of Our Lady of Work (Paris) ; the Women's Section of Opus Dei (Madrid) ; the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Way (Vienna); and the Missionaries of the Sick (Cremona). The last two institutes just mentioned for women were added to the list in the 1954 edition of the Annuario Pontit~cio; no new ones are listed in the 1955 edition. Of the institutes of pontifical right for men, no new ones have been .listed in either the 1954 or 1955 edi-~ tions of the Annuario. 26O A Ra!:ional Approach !:o Int:ellec!:ual Obedience Augustine G. Ellard, S.3. INTELLECTUAL obedience seems to be a perpetual thorn in the side of many good religious people. They are constantly being urged to practice it: they feel that they should; they keep on try-ing to achieve that aim; but~also they are always failing and hence experiencing dissatisfaction. Upon reflection they notice that their difficulties are not only practical and ~motional, as with most other arduous virtues, 'but also conceptual. They hav~ not succeeded in working out a satisfactory concept of the ideal itself of intellectual obedience. We migh't consider three cases. First, let us suppose that Father Provincial directs Father Rector to proceed to the erection of a new building for the instituti6n that he is in charge of: Father Rector sees the desirability of it; the money is available; every consideration appears to be in favor of going on with the project; and so, easily enough, he agrees in judgment with his superior. Thus far there is no difficult.y. The propriety of the step prop6sed is obvious to both men. Imagine another situation. Brother Infirmarian is told by Father Superior, whose excellence does not extend to a knowledge of nurs-ing, to do this or that for a sick brother whose condition, in Brother Infirmarian's view, calls for just the contrary. Respectfully he re-monstrates with Father, but to no avail. Father persists in his order. Brother Infirmarian reconsiders the whole matter and in particular weighs all that he can think of from Father's point of view. But the more he reflects, the more firmly he feels convinced that his first judg-ment was right. It is evident from the principles of good nursing that the patient should not be treated in the way that Father wishes. Brother comes to the conclusion that Father, however admirable and wise in general, is wrong in this matter. Nobody would quarrel with him. Those who most advocate obedience of judgment allow an inferior to consider an order ill-advised when it is quite evidently imprudent. ' Consider a third case. Father Rector instructs'Father Subject to found, say, a retreat house on,the south side of a large city. Father Subject's opinion is that the appropriate place is the north side. With 261 AUGUSTINE G. ELLARD Reoiew for Religious due deference he explains his reasons to Father Superior. He does whatever he can within the limits of propriety to persuade Father Rector to agree with him. But he fails. Let us suppose that the judgments of each of the two men are not categorical and absolute, but take the form of more probable pronouncements. Now Father Subject is an obedient man; and, mindful of all the admonitions to think with one's appointed guide, he carefully reconsiders the whole question, from all angleS, utilizing every source of information, and duly allowing for all known contingencies. At last he concludes that, if he is to be honest with the truth as it presents itself to him and to his own intelligence, he must abide by his previous judgment. Here, therefore, we have an instance in which there is no perfectly clear right or wrong, but room for legitimate difference of opinion. The two men take contrary views of the likely place for the retreat house. What seems more likely to the one man seems less likely to the other. This is the typical situation in which in the mind of one trying to practice ideal obedience painful conflict can arise. Should Father Subject, disregarding his own insights, by fiat of his will, as-sert to himself, "After all, conditions seem to suggest that, as Father Rector thinks, the house should be on the south side"? This pro-cedure, judging not in ac~cordance with what seems to be the truth, but by a chqice of the will, is just what much that is written on in-tellectual obedience appears to call for. It is submitted that a more rational approach to the problem of obedience of the mind is to conceive it as the disposition to see and acknouJledge the truth in as much as it is fauo.rable to the superior or his command. One might add--though surely this should be ob-vious and taken for granted--"and in so far as it is knowable to the subject". A subject cannot reasonably argue for less. It is, of course, true that practically and emotionally there may be the most vehe-ment objections to seeing the truth as it favors, say, a very unwel-come order. But rationally, without contradicting oneself, one can-not plead against the truth. To kno~; and possess the truth is in accordance with our nature as intelligent beings, becomes it, and in fact pertains to its essential development and perfection. It is par-ticularly fitting that we come to know and acknowledge the truths that are relevant to us. Evidently such are the truths that we'are referring to: those that concern one's superior and his directions for oneself. Thus, very obviously, it is only right and reasonable thal: ~a man should see and acknowledge whatever is true in the matter of. one's own authoritative guide and his guidance for us. It may be 262 September, 1955 INTELLECTUAL OBEDIENCE practical too. A soldier whose trust in his captain does not measure up to the truth available to him might ~ell lose his life, and the same could happen to a patient with respect to his doctor. On the other hand, superiors cannot ask for more. To affirm more would be tantamount to uttering a falsehood or at least to be-ing presumptuous, affirming what we do not know. Nor can those who 'give us spiritual conferences and exhortations urge us to do more. One may object that we should conclude that what has been commanded has been well commanded. We could learn truth from the command itself. To a certain but very variable extent this con-tention is correct. Those chosen to exercise authority are wont to be persons of more than average ability, judgment, and good character. Superiors have a better knowledge of the total situation in which the order has been given and is to be executed. Often enough they have secret or" confidential information that is not available to the subject. These and possibly other reasons can very often justify one in argu-ing that what was ordered was wisely ordered. Almost always they have some evidential value and thus increase the probabilities in the superior's favor. The obedient man will do his best to see and ap-preciate their full force. But those indications do not simply and necessarily lead to the conclusion that the superior's command was well advised. Nobody, as far as I know, goes so" far as to maintain expressly that they do; oftentimes, however, that seems to be implied or suggested. No one would dare say that superiors are infallible and never make mistakes. The utterances and warnings of higher super-iors exist in abundance to prove the contrary for lower superiors, and the verdicts of historians for the errors of higher superiors. Everybody knows that human beings have a strong tendency to judge rather in accordance with their emotions, their likes and dis-likes, their prejudices and passions, than in the cool light of reason. This unfortunate propensity is. an excellent example of emotional thinking, of letting one's judgments be guided by feeling or im-pulse instead of the evidence. This weakness of human nature con-stantly runs counter to obedience. Hence one who is striving to be-come a perf.ectly obedient man will of course have these facts in mind and allow for them. He will do his best to keep his judgment as obj/ctive and correct as possible. One of his supreme aims will be precisely to hold reason and genuine love for the truth dominant in all his judging and willing. In very many daily practical matters the best judgments that ate humanly possible are probable rather than certain. Hence a .disagree- 263 AUGUSTINE G. ELLARD Review for Religious merit between a superior' and an inferior in such cases would natur-ally .take the form of "more probable" versus "less probable"; that is, what seems more probable to the superior seems less probable to the inferior and conversely. Thus Father Rector in our third ex-ample, decided, As I see things, we ought to build that retreat house on the south side of the city; and Father Subject, who was commis~ sioned to do it, thought, No; my opinion is that the north side is the place for it. The important point to notice here is that probable judgments, carefully made, are true and unchangeable, though of course not in the same way or so simply as' certain judgments. When "carefully made" they correspond to the incomplete evidence or reasons for judging insofar as these are open to the person forming his opinion at the time. Let me illustrate from what I shall call analogies rather than examples. Suppose that six men out of ten are to be chosen by lot for some dangerous mission. Then the odds are six to four that any particular one of the ten will be taken. No act of anybody's will can alter that likelihood. Only a fool would try to think otherwise; and, if he did, he would be virtually lying to" himself. Suppose another case, less precise and closer to what occurs in practical matters. One bears that a friend is very seriously ill with pneumonia and spontaneously concludes .that perhaps he will die. But that would be very much against his wishes, and so voluntarily he chooses to judge, because after all it is not evident that the patient will die, He will not die. Such thinking would be irrational and self-deceptive~ Thus probable judgments critically and considerately made cannot reasonably be changed by mere fiat of the will. Only some new disclosure of the truth or a better grasp of it justifies a new conclusion. One might as well determine the truth in matters of fact by flipping a coin. He who judges what he pleases is ~ollowing a blind faculty. Hence~ if all things considered, it seems that a giyen order is less probably the prudent one, no juggling of one's mind by one's will can make it really more probable. A person whose ideal of intellectual obedience is to agree with the mind of his superior insofar as his perception of the truth permits will avoid many of the difficulties experienced by those who attempt by sheer force of will to embrace the opinion of their superior. He need no( feel conscious of being disloyal to th~ truth. He will not try to argue with himself that whatever is ordered is wisely ordered. He will not cultivate "wishful thinking," determining what is judged true by an act of will. He can fall back upon the universal criterion of truth, namely, the objective evidence in the case. His 264 September, 1955 INTELLECTUAL OBEDIENCE judgments, certain or probable, will corr.espond exactly to that evi-dence. He will not appear obliged to do violence to his rational na-ture. He will not endeavor, as it were, to lie to himself, affirming to be true what is really against his mind. He will not have to change his principles when he gets a new superior. Some may object that St. Ignatius, in his celebrated Epistle on Obedience, seems to require~more in the way of intellectual submis-sion than is here proposed. At first sight and according to the strict letter of the text, that is correct. However, in interpreting him, we can and should be guided by a.principle that he himself uses in the Spiritual Exercises. When be presents for contemplation an appari-tion of Christ that is not recorded in the Gospels, namely, the very first one, made to the Virgin Mary, he writes, "Scripture supposes that we have understanding, as it is written, 'Are you also without understanding?' " (Puhl's translation, No. 299). What he says on obedience is to be understood, in accordance with the fundamental laws of reason. Therefgre, if one looks to the ultimate mind and in-tention- of the author .rather than to the precise form of his words, one would hardly interpret him as exhorting people, to go beyond the truth or beyond what they know of the truth. Beyond the truth there is nothing but falsehood, and to assert, even to oneself, more than one knows of the truth is at best to be presumptuous. Hence St. Ignatius's wqrds cannot rightly be taken to mean more than that to be perfect in obedience of judgment is wholeheartedly to acknow-ledge all the truth that favors the superior or his command. "All the truth" includes every truth that is relevant, though that relevance be very indirect or remote. The abnegation of judgment which St. Ignatius advocates in matters of obedience consists, not in affirming what is false or unknown, but in so controlling one's likes and dislikes that they will help, rather than hinder, in bringing about the maximum amount of truth in one's mind. As St. Paul wrote long ago to the Corinthians: "For we cannot do anything against the truth, but everything must be for the truth" (II Cor. 12 : 8 ; Spencer's version). It was St. Ignatius's idea that through intellectual obedience we should come to ever greater and greater harmony with the supreme rule of every good jffdgment and will, that is, with the eternal Goodness and Wisdom. The more thorough-going that harmony between our minds now and God's, the keener .and more beatific will be our vision of Infinite Truth in heaven. ¯ 265 ommun cat: ons [NOTE: Since the following communications were unavoidably held over for a long time, it seems necessary to say a word about their background. The first refers to an article by Father Gallen in our May, 1954, number. One of the main points in this article was to stress the need of reducing the frequently excessive number of community devotions. Another important point made in Father Gallen's article was that retreats do not produce the fruit they should because proper provision is not made for th~ retreatants to meditate: they simply listen to conferences. A follow-up on this was a letter from a sister, punished in September, 1954, which suggested: "If these points are to retain their purpose of preparation for mental pra~jer, twenty minutes or half an hour would not seem to be an unreasonable limit, with the explicit injunction that the retreatants continue the meditation themselves, al-though not necessarily remaining in the chapel to do so." The second communi-cation given here refers to this suggestion. --ED.] Reverend Fathers: At our summer school were different orders of sisters. Father Gallen's article, "Pray Reasonably," was much discussed and appre-ciated- and it did much good. In our case, for example, many of the novenas, daily litanies, and extra devotions have been shortened or eliminated. Part of our class preparation formerly had been used for these extras, and added to this were cooking, washing, house cleanin'g, etc. It was a real strain to get a quantity of prayers said. All agree that at last they get satisfaction from saying a reasonable number of prayers well and with real devotion. Many thanks to Father GaIlen. A number of sisters have expressed the wish that he would give them an article, "Dress Reasonably." -~A SISTER. Reverend Fathers: I disagree with the sister who wrote that "twenty minutes or half an hour would not seem to be an unreasonable limit" for points during retreat. I made. one retreat in whi[h the priest never talked over twenty minutes, and I was so weary I thought I would die be-fore the eight days were over. What in the world does the sister do with the time between the conferences if she isn't meditating then? Personally, I like the priest to talk about forty minutes or so. -~ SISTER. OUR CONTRIBUTORS AUGUSTINE ELLARD and FRANCIS N. KORTH are members of our editorial board. SISTER MARY JULIAN BAIRD, of the Scranton Province of the Sisters of Mercy of the Union, is in the English Department of Mount Aloy-sius Junior College, Cresson, Pa. 266 [All material for this department should be addressed to: Book Review Editor, REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, West Baden College, West Baden Springs, Indiana.] THI: PSALMS IN RHYTHMIC PROSI:. Translafed by dames A. Klels÷, S.d., Ph.D., and Thomas d. kynam, S.J. Pp. 236. The Bruce Publishing Company, Milwaukee I, Wis. 1954. $4.00. No one whose eye falls upon this new translation of the Psalms will be otherwise than favorably impressed by the attractive binding, the legible typography, the useful index of "titles,': the preliminary outlines for each Psalm, and the brief explanatory footnotes. But some will ask a legitimate question: Why another trans-lation of the Psalms? Father Lynam answers that question quite clearly in his preface. The translation was projected as a labor of love by the. late Father Kleist, who asked Father Lynam's coopera-tion. The translators set for themselves a comparatively simple aim: to turn the Psalms of the new authorized Latin version into English prose, making "a borrowing from poetry" to the extent of intro-ducing into the prose "a stress, a rhythm." The basic stress ulti-mately chosen was the iambic. Granted the legitimacy of such a purpose, the success of the translation can be justly measured only by the standard that the translators have set for themselves. There can be no doubt that they have succeeded in producing a consistently rhythmic version, predominantly iambic. That they have in many instances tran-scended their self-imposed limits and achieved true poetry is all to the good. One has only praise, too, for the fact that the English is modern in many respects. The consistent substitution of "You" for the traditional "Thou" is a simple but notably.effective device that makes not only for modernity but for the impression of that familiarity with God that characterizes prayer. The only respect in which the translators seem to have fallen below their own stan-dards is that they have occasionally allowed themselves to be forced into violent inversions in their attempt to preserve the iambic stress. One may be tempted to quarrel with such expressions as "mob-bish turbulence," 'heaven's marge," "lave his feet in sinners' gore," "in their joy they jubilate," "Immersed I am in abysmal mire," "As 'twere a prodigy I have appeared to many," "A subject of dispute you made us 'mongst our neighbors," "Well for the people skilled in holding jubilee," "My sire are you, my God, the bedrock of my 267 BOOK REVIEWS Retqew ,/:or Religious weal." The phraseology, of this sampling is not the phraseology of m6d~rn"prose. (Nor, one m~ay add, of modern poetry.) One would not complain of such archaism if it were not for the fact that the publishers' jacket makes claims for the modernity~ of the Kleist- Lynam version that the translators do not make. Despite such occasional infelicities of expression. (fewer and less annoying than thos~ that are to be found in the ordinary man-ual of devotions), The Psalms in Rhythmic Prose will serve as a fine prayer-book for the layman who would model his prayer upon the official prayer of the Church. It will also be a welcome companion volume to the Latin Breviary of the English-speaking priest or re-ligious.-- PATRICK J. RICE, S.J. MARIOLOGY. Volume I. Edi÷ed by Juniper B. Carol, O.F.M. Pp. 434. The Bruce Publishing Company, Milwaukee I, Wis. '1954. $6.75. This book could hardly have been written by one man. For the sweep and depth of treatment of the whole field of Mariology could have been achieved with the excellence of scholarship con-tained in this book only by a group of scholars working under an editor with the thorough-going competence and courage of a Father Juniper Carol. We have in Mariolog~/ the first of a three-volu'me series which will take its place alongside, the Marian symposia of Strater, du Manoir, and Roschini. : Mariology is that part of theology which attempts to ~ain some. understanding of the Marian mysteries. But this understanding must take place by insight into the data of revelation as given in its two-fold source: Scripture and tradition. This first volume of Mariology consists in a culling of Scripture and the various records of the Church's tradition in a search for all the relevant Marian evidence. The ~econd volume in the series will contain a grgup of essays deal-ing with Marian theology as such; the third will trace the effect. of Marian creed and cult in the devotional life of the Church. The opening article by Eamon R. Carroll, O.Carm., has com-pressed within fifty pages an extraordinarily rich selection of the Church's pronouncements on Mary, organ, ized under~ eight titles: Mother of God, Ever Virgin, Full of Grace, Immaculate, Assumed into Heaven, Mediatrix with the Mediator, Spiritual Mother, and Queen. Fathers Erk May, O.F.M., and M. J. Gruenthaner, S.J., turn to the pages of the Old and New Testaments respectively to present what God has written about His Mother. Both of these studies are 268 September, 1955" BOOK REVIEW8 characterized by a care and a balance not always present in a dis-cussion of Marian Scriptural texts. The article by A. C. Rush, C.SS.R., supplements these two scriptural studies by reviewing the testimonies of the early Christian faithful for Mary as found in the New Testament apochryphal writings. Three articles follow which open up the vast and complex records of patristic and liturgical literature on Mary: Mary in Western patristic thpught and in the Eastern and Western liturgies. The article by Father Burghardt on the Latin Fathers is not only an outstanding piece of research in its thoroughness of treatment and brilliance of interpretation, but also in its tight organization and excellence of style. G. W. Shea has continued the investigation of the history of Mariology through the medieval, modern, and contemporary periods. He shows how active the writers of the Church have been since the close of the Patristic Age in deepening and expanding our under-standing of the Marian mysteries. Because the long article on the Mariology of the Eastern Fathers was not available in time for publication in this first volume, its place has been given to two shorter Mariological studies of the Im-maculate Conception and Mary's immunity from actual sin, which, in content, rightly belong in the forthcoming second volume. But if these two studies are an indication of the quality of the second volume, we can be sure that it will attain the high standards "of scholarship and readability achieved in the first. The book closes with a short history of the name of Mary by R. Kugelman, C.P., who concludes that the weight of evidence seems to favor the meaning of the name Mary as "Highness" or "Exalted One." The book with its copious notes and references is a mine of information on our Lad;, which priests, religious, theological stu-dents, and educated Catholic laymen will be tapping for a good many decades to come. --MICHAEL MONTAGUE, S.J. A HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. Volume VII. Period of ÷he French Revolu÷ion (1775-1823). By Fernand Mourre÷, S.S~ Trans-lated by Newton Thompson, S.T.D. Pp. 608. B. Herder Book Com-pany, St. Louis 2, Mo. 1954. $9.75. The average American looks upon the French Revolution merely as a Gallican edition of the American fight for independence, In the political sense this opinion comes close to the truth, for as the 269 BOOK REVIEWS Review for Religious, colonial patriots threw off the rule of George III, so the French lib-erals and rationalists overturned and then completely ~estroyed the monarchy of Louis XVI. The French Revolution, however, dif-fered greatly from that in America ii~ its organized hatred of re-ligion, especially that of the Catholic Church. The seventh volume of Father Mourret's fine work on the His-tory of the Catholic Church gives a scholarly, treatment to this phase of the French Revolution. The book is divided into three parts. In order to give his reader a better understanding of the ecclesi-astical side of the Revolution,, Father 1VIourret.treats, under the title "Decline of the Ancient Regime," the political, social and intellectual status of France and of Europe from 177,5 until the beginning of the Revolution. Part two deals with the Revolution itself. This section of the .book is the most scholar!y of the three and descends to minute par-ticulars. A general knowledge of the political history of the French Revolution is a "must" if the reader is to understand the various sessions of the French assembly that methodically did away with religion in France and deified "reason" to take the place of God. The Civil Constitution of the Clergy is completely discussed, and the plight of the. jurors and non-jurors among the clergy is well de-scribed. Father Mourret has used his documents well in picturing the suffering and complete disruption of ecclesiastical life in France. For the ordinary reader the third section of the book, "~Fhe Religigus Restoration," will prove the most understandable and interesting. Napoleon and Plus VII wire both powerful characters. Their duel of wit, will power, and principle is boldly and graphically told. The entire history of the famous Concordat of 1801'is clearly explained. An appendix has the entire text of the concordat. Father Thompson has done a fine job of translating. The foot-notes are excellent; the bibliography is extensive and should help the research student. There is also a fine index that will save the interested seeker much time. The book is primarily for the scholar~ but the third part can be profitably used by anyone who has a high school knowledge of French history. Although the price is rather high, this book could profitably b'e put in the Church History sec-tion of any seminary or college library.-~JOHN W. CHRISTIAN, S.J. SAINT IGNATIUS' :IDEA OF A JESUIT UNIVERSITY. By George E. Ganss, S.J. Pp. 368. Marqueffe Universify Press, Milwaukee 3, Wis. Ss.so. With a ~hrewd eye to modern university problems and applica~ 270 September, 1933 BOOK REVIEWS tions, Father Ganss, director of Classical La.nguages at Marquette Universityl has written a brave historical analysis of St. Ignatius Loyola's root principles of higher education. Analyzing Ignatius' view of Renaissance university, its functional relation to the social-cultural environment, and Part Four of the Jesuit Const"lt "u t"~on (On Education), Father Ganss outlines the purposes, ideals, and pro-cedures of Ignatian higher education--at least as had in the sixteenth and seventeenth century. The burden of the work is, bo~vever, to isolate perennial principles from passing procedures in the historical picture of Ignatius' universities. Besides terminology clarifications (e.g. the sixteenth-century meaning of college, arts, uni~ersit~l, etc., contrasted with our own) there seem to be three difficulties in a work of this kind. St. Ignatius himself, the master of adaptation to circumstance, presents a problem to one siftirig his educational writings for their spirit. One could get the impression from uncareful reading that there simply ar3 no real guiding principles beyond that of a clear goal and absolute freedom of means in attaining it. Again, the social-economic environment for which the early Jesuit educators were preparing their students presents the second problem. Time after time Father Ganss separates what is rooted in the Ignatiar~ spirit from what pertains to the Ignatian times. Thus speaking, reading, and writing Latin might seem an educational must in the Constitutions, but this prescription is cIarified by the realization that Latin was still the exclusive language of the universities and "opened the way to the choicest positions in state or' commerce or Church." Thirdly, the Constitution itself, admittedly the foremost source for Father Ganss, contains much practical procedure that must be sifted to find the primary principles of the~ Ignatian educational spirit. Beginning then with a historical study of the universities as Ignatius saw them in l~is own education, and progressing through the gradual acceptance of colleges and universities by the Society of Jesus, Father Ganss sbow~ how ignatius drew up his principles .of an orderly development in learning, following the self-activity prac-tices of the Un, iversity of Paris and substituting the Summa Theolo-giae for the Sentences of Peter Lombard as the prime text for study-ing theology. In the second part the author points up the relation between Ignatius' universities and the socio-cultural life of the times. The humanist educational ideal which was then reaching its peak was inculcated by Ignatius and applied to the natural and super- 271 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS Reoiew t:or Religiod~ natural life aims of his education. He insisted, however, on £eeping theology and philosophy as the most ~important branches of study. In Chapter nine of the third part of his book, Father Gauss sums up fifteen clear principles of Ignatian education. In this chapter he has gi~ven modern Jesuits, especially American Jesuits, the structure on which to build the methods and adaptations for our universities today while preserving what is truly the Jesuit spirit of education. Any review of this thorough and scholarly book would be in-complete without mention of the Appendix called "A Historical Sketch of the Teaching of Latin." This brief study of the use of the Latin Language as a means of education is well worth the price of the entire book. He clearly shows how the history of Latin in education has undergone a change in aim from the Renaissance (fa-cility in reading, speaking, and writing for cultural, social, and economic life-preparedness), through that of John Locke and Chris-tian Wolf (mind-training and some contact with classical thought), down to the present practical abandonment of the language in favor of a fuller study of classical literature in the vernacular. Father Gauss has written a challenging and controversial book that certainly will be most helpful in the discussions and planning of modern Catholic education.--RAYMOND J. SCHNEIDER, S.J. BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS BEAUCHESNE ET SES FILS, Rue de Rennes, 117, Paris. Le Ciet ou l'Enfer, I, Le Ciet. Par le Chanoine Georges Panneton. How little most religious know about heaven where they firmly hope to be happy for all eternity! But then heaven is not a subject about which many books have been written. Readers of French therefore owe a debt of gratitude to Canon Panneton for his excel-lent treatment of this much neglected subjedt. His book covers the subject most thoroughly, and is based on sound theology. Learned and unlearned alike will read this book with pleasure and profit. Pp. 253. ¯ THE BRUCE PI.)BLISHING COMPANY, Milwaukee 1, Wis. Jesus, 8on of Daoid. By Mother Mary Eleanor, S.H.C.J. To meditate on an incident in the life of our Lord, we are told to imagine that we are present as the incident unfolds. If this has been difficult for you, you must read Jesus, 8on of Daoid, and learn how a person blessed with a vivid imagination carries out this ad- 272 September, 1955 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS ~¢ice. You will find the bbok very easy to read, and it should make your meditations on the life of our Lord much more vivid. The book also serves as an excellent introduction to the life of our Lord for the young and for those who find it difficult to profit from the learned biographies ~ of Jesus. Pp. 224. $3.25. Bloody Mary. By Theodore Maynard. Lest the reader be mis- -led, the author points out in his very first paragraph that he uses the title ironically. He also insists, and with truth, that his book is in no sense "special pleading," but an objective study of °the available historical documents. He is an inveterate scholar and de-lights in communicating his findings to others as his more than thirty books testify. If you are interested in Tudor England, you must read Bloody Mary. Pp. 297. $4.95. CLONMORE AND REYNOLDS, LTD., 29 Kildare St. Dublin. Meditations for Priests, Seminarians, and Religious. Compiled by Dominic Phillips, C.M. This book of meditations was designed to help those beginning mental prayer. There is a twenty-two page introduction that deals with the excellence and necessity of mental prayer, gives detailed instruction on mental prayer according to the method of St. Francis de Sales, and gives advice about the ordinary difficulties encountered in meditation. All the meditations are of uniform length, a page for each meditation, and follow a uniform pattern. The book should prove helpful not only to beginners but also to those more advanced. Pp. 456. 25/-. LA EDITORIAL CATOLICA, S.A., Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Apartado 466, Madrid. Ciencia Moderna y Fitosofia. Introduction Fisicoquimica ~t Mathematica. Pot Jose M. Riaza, S.J. In every major seminary certain courses called Quaestiones Scientigcae, wh

Issue 13.4 of the Review for Religious, 1954. ; Review for Religious JULY 15, 1954 Religious and Modern Needs . . Jordan Aumann Mindfulness . ¢. A. Herbsf Duns Scofus . Berard Vogt Aposfolic School . Slster M. Ange~ic]a Apparitions and Revelations . .~ugustlne G. Ellard Spirlfual Opiates . Joseph P. Fisher Saints in No-Man's Land . George Syrne =~uestions and Answers Beatifications, 1951-1952 Communications Book Reviews¯ NUMBER 4 RI VII:::W FOR RI::LIGIOUS VOLUME XIII JULY, 1954 NUMBER CONTENTS RELIGIOUS LIFE AND MODERN NEEDS--3ordatt Aumann, O.P. 169 MARIAN YEAR PLAY . 178 OUR CONTRIBUTORS . 178 MINDFULNESS~. A. Herbst, S.3 . 179 COMMUNICATIONS . ' . " . . 183 DUNS SCOTUS, DEFENDER OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEP-TION-- Berard Vogt, O,F.M . 184 THE APOSTOLIC SCHOOL--Sister M. Angeli¢ia, C.S.J . 187 SACRA VIRGINITAS . . . 192 OUR ADDRESSES . 192 APPARITIONS AND REVELATIONS: SOME CLASSIFICATIONS-- Augustine G. Ellard, S.J . 193 BEATIFICATIONS, 1951-1952 . 205 SPIRITUAL OPIATES-~Joseph P. Fisher, S.J . 207" TO ALL THE SAINTS IN NO-MAN'S LAND~George Byrne, S.3. 211 NEW CONGREGATIONS . 216 CONGRESS IN BUENOS AIRES . 217 COMMENTARY ON LITTLE OFFICE . . ' . 217 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS-- 22. Advice for Mystic . . 218 23. The Occasional Confessor . 219 24. Approval for Revised Customary . 219 25. Licit Disposition of Income . 219 BOOK REVIEWS-- Kateri of the Mohawks; The All-Present God; The Holy Spirit in the Christian Life; Through Him, with Him, and in Him . 220 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS . 223 BOOKLETS AND PAMPHLETS . 224 NOTICE FOR PUBLISHERS . ¯ . 224 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, July, 1954, Vol. XIII, No. 4. Published bi-monthly: 3anhary, March, May,duly, September, and November at the College Press, 606 Harrison Street, Topeka, Kansas, by St. Mary's College, St. Marys, Kansas, with ecclesiastical approbation. Entered as second class matter January 15, 1942, at the Post Office, under the act of March 3, 1879. Editorial Board: Augustine G. Ellard, S.J., Adam C. Ellis, S.J. Gerald Kelly, S.J., Francis N. Korth, S.3. Copyright, 1954, by Adam C. Eilis, S.J. Permission is hereby granted for quota-tions of reasonable length, provided due credit be given this review and the author. Subscription price: 3 dollars a year; 50 cents a copy. Printed in U. S. A. Before writing to us, please consult notice on inside back cover. Religious Life and Modern Needs Jordan Aumann, O.P. THE General Congress On the States of Perfection, held at Rome in 1950 under the auspices of the Sacred Congregation of Religious and with the approval of Pope Pius XIi, brought to the attention of the Catholic ~orld the keen interest and paternal solicitude of the Supreme Pontiff for the condition of religious life in the modern~ world. The Congress, however, was not an unex-pected and isolated event; rather it was the culmination of a. well-laid i01an for the renewal of the primitive spirit in religious insti-tutes. As early as June, 1939, th~ Holy Father addressed 'an allocution to the members of the Gene'ral Chapter of the Friars Minor and urged them to striv~ earnestly to ,recapture the spirit of their Seraph'ic Father. Since that time, both the Holy Father and the Sacred Con-gregation of Religious have repeatedly admonished religious to re-new their interior spirit and adapt themselves to the urgent ne"eds of the presefit day. With the publication of the Acta et Documenta of the 1950 Congress, religious superiors have a handy guide for the fulfillment of the Pope's desires.1 The volume contains theological and can-onical treatises on the state of perfection as well ~.as many practical suggestioris for the adaptation and renewal that are'requested b,y the Holy See. The .Mind bf the Church ' Between 193~ and 1950, in'allocut-ions and letters to the Fran-ciscans, Jesuits, Redemptorists, Dominicans, and CanonS of St. Au-gustine, the Holy Father has stressed the need for certain adjust-ments in religious institutes in view of the conditions of modern life and for a revival of the spirit of the founders in the various in-stitutes, s, The Pontiff realizes all too keenly that in encouraging an ! !Cf. Acta et Documenta: Congressus General(s de Statibus Perfectionis, published in 1952 by Pia Sbciet;i San Paolo, Via Beato Pio X, Rome, Italy. sin an apostolic letter to the Society of Jesus on June 26, 1944, the Pope warned against the "heresy of action." In a letter to the Master General of the Domini- ¯ cans on July 16, 1946, he urged the Friars Preachers to hold fast to She regular life, monastic observances, assiduous study of sacred truth, and solemn recithtion of the Divine Office, warning them not to make a constant practice or custom of that whi'ch is only a laudable exception. ' 169 JORDAN AUMANN Review for Religious adaptation of the religious life and a return to the primitive'spirit of the founders, he is issuing a bold challenge to all religious insti-tutes. For that reason he has repeatedly warned that none of the essential elements of r'eligious life and spirit can be changed or jetti-soned, but only the accidentals and the techniques of the apos~tolat~. In his address to the Congress. on the States of' Perfectiori,3 Cardinal Piazza outlined the program of .ad,aptation and renewal and gave a precise expression of the intentions of the Holy Father this impor'tant matter. The central theme'of the Congress. w~is an accommodata renooatio, that is, a renewal of the primitive'spirit Of religious institutes adapted to the needs of the pr.esent day. Conse-quently, changes are to be made on two levels. First and most im-portant, there must be in every religious institute a return to the spirit that animated the founder and earliest members of that insti-tute. Secondly, adaptations and accommodations must be made in regard to the apostolate of each religious institute. Cardinal Piazza insisted that every religious institute should be a living continuation of the mind and spirit of its founder, for the , religious.life is ever actual and vital. If there is danger that this spirit is languishing in any institute, let that institute reform its structure, renew its directive organs, and refashion the means to end to fit the needs of the da3}. Yet, all this must be done with the approval of proper ecclesiastical authority. The best and most efficacious renewal of the spiril~ of any r~- ligious institute is a ~return to the spirit of the founder, an exact ob-' servance of the constitutions of that institute, and a promotion of common life and fraternal cha,rity. The dilemma proposed by the Cardinal can be expressed ver'y briefly: "Renew your spirit or die." But even in the midst of renewal and adaptation, major superiors Will avoid the shoals of extreme conservatism and a mania for nov-' elty. When it c~mes to the ques~i~on of adaptation in an3] religio~.s institute, the need is particularl~r felt in the field of the apostolate. Nevertheless, the urgency of the times ,demands an_d justifies an ad-justment in the accidental structure of the internal life of l~he ihsti-tute as well. Certain thing~ do not admit of a change without' the destruction of the institute. Such things belong to the substanfi~ii ele- 3Noti~ that the Congress was purposely designated as a congress on the states'of perfection in order to include the members of various secular institutes. "While not religious in a juridical sense, the members of secular institutes, since'they live un-der vow, nevertheless belong to the state of perfection. July, 1954 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND MODERN NEEDS ment; for example, the juridical personality, the essence of thevows, the special' scope and characteristic spirit of the institute, and the ¯ common laws of religious life as found in the Code of Canon Law. But in regard to the methods and techniques used in the field Of the apostolate, great.adaptation is possible and desirable. If.the modern religious is not making contact with souls, if his schedule of life is at variance with that of the people to whom he is sent to min-ister, or if he is not as expert in his field of activity as are the laymen working in the same field, then'adjustments are surely in order. But at thi~ point religious superiors are reminded of the admonition of Pope Pius XII in his apostolic exhortation, Menti Nostrae, that new forms and methods in the apostolate must always be under the care and vigilance ot~ the bishops. For it is a regulation of canon law (cans. 456, 500, 630) that whenever religious are charged with the care Sf souls, they are subject to the local ordinary in that re-spect. In other words,' it is the mind of'the Pope that religious or-ders be bound by profound loyalty and obedience to: .the. Holy See and the'hierarchy. Adaptation, not Mitigation Solne religious may be tempted to welcome any change or adap-tation as a mitigation of the primitive spirit and regular observance. Both the Holy Father and representatives of the Sacred'Congrega-tion of Religious have warned that such is not the intention of the ¯ Ho!y See. In :a stirring address to the 1950 Congress, Father R. Lombardi, S.J., stated that if the needs of the time are great, so also is the need for truly religious men and women. The Church today needs religious who are animated by true charity and detachment from the things of the world, and we should expect to find many such.religious in the various institutes.' Unfortunately, we some-times find that those very men and women who have publicly bound themselves to the serious obligation of striving after perfec-tion under the vows are content to do the very minimum that is re-quired or, what is worse, they turn back again,to the very things they have voluntarily surrendered. "The times also require, said Father Lombardi, religious supe-riors who will have the leade~rship and courage to revive the spirit of the foun.ders in their own institute or province. No adaptation or renewal can come .from belo.w; it must come from those who .before God are res.ponsib!e in a large measure for the religious observance and p.e?sonal holiness of their subjects. Cofisequently, superiors have a difficult task. They are not entrus'ted with the mere enforcement. 171~. JORDAN AUMANN Reuieu~ [or Religious of an inflexible law; they must understand the needs of the times, the talents and weaknesses of their subjects, and the spirit ~f their religious institute. The superior must in every instance stri~re to act in the same way that the founder would act were he alive today. Consequently, the revival of the primitive spirit and an 'adapta-tion to present-day needs can in no sense be understgod or inter-preted as an excuse for the m~tigation of the rules and practices, of religiousllife. The Holy See has insisted that the spirit of the insti-tute, its proper e'nd and scope, and all that is requ!red for the pres-ervation of its spirit and end must be carefully safeguarded and pre-served. The renovation must be inteinal and spiritual. To think that a mere change in the legislation of a religious in-stitute will effect this renovation is as dangerous as it is erroneous. Such an attitude, stated Bishop Ancel of Lyons, is an implicit be-lief in a kind of materialism which holds that mere structural modi-fications suffice to provide the desired renovatioh. The real purpose, of the renovation is to, revivify the primitive spirit of the institute and to help the members strive more successfully after Christian,per-fection. .Only fervent religious can stand an adaptation and only strong religious can live for any length of time under dispensations. But, the Bishop continued, the desired renovation and adaptation will not come about merely by having superiors insist on the literal ob-servance of the constitutions. We must at no time lose sight of the two elements contained in the present program: revi'val of the primi-tive spirit of the institute and an adaptation to the requirements of the apostolate. Interior Life and the Apostolate No religious institute exists primarily for the apostolate or for any particular work. in, the Church. The Basis of the religious'life is the profession of vows which are used as instruments in attaining the perfection of charity. The primary purpose of the religious in-stitute is the sanctification of its members. Consequently, the true vocation and goal of the individual religious is to strive to become a .saint and the primary function of the religious superior is to assist and guide subjects to'sanctity, especially by fostering observance of the constitutions of th'e institute. This point is all important for a correct understanding'and evaluation of the religious life.4 4Cf. the,, definition of the religious state in canon 487, the statement of the purpose of religiou~ life in canon 488. and the enumeration of the obligations of religious superiors in canons 592-95. ~ 172 , JuI~,1954 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND MODERN NEEDS But Christian perfection and sanctity consist primarily in char-ity, which is an interior perfection. To this end, the con~tltutions of religious institutes prescribe an external conduct and mode of life that will lead religious more readily to the perfection of charity. Thus, the constitutions of 'the Dominican.Order explicitly state that the four essential means for attaining Dominican sanctity are the regular life, monastic observances, the study of sacred truth, and the solemn recita.tion of the Divine Office and that none of these means may be substantially altered. If the constitutions of a religious institute have received the ap-probation of the Holy See,it is because they have been judged fitting means- to the attainment of evangelical perfecuon. It follows, there-fore, that whatever touches upon the essence of the vows and the substantial elements of the regular life cannot be modified or changed without destroying-the religious life as it is juridically de-fined by the Church. Moreover, no religious subject or superior is free to abandon permanently any of these substantial elements of the constitutions of his institute,s In addition to those elements that pertain to the very essence of religious life, the constitutions contain particular legislation for the preseryation of xhe spirit and aim of the institute. In this 'respect also there are things that cannot be changed without destroying the distinctive spirit and character of the religious institute. Thus, liturgical prayer is characteristic of Benedictine life, the assidu6us study of sacred truth is the mark of the Friar Preacher,. and p.o,v,- -erty is the dominant note in Franciscan life. ~ The above elements pertain to the interior life of the members of a religious institute and are directed to the attainment of pe'rfec-tion. For that reason they are of primary importance. But the Church also 'approves of a mission or apostolate for each religious in~itute, with the understanding, however, that the ~hurch may subsequently restrict or enlarge the scope of the apostolate without destroying the nature and spirit of the' institute itself. For the ~apos-t61ate is and always remains a secondary element in the religious 5The religious under vows has promised obedience to the constitutions as expressed and commanded by his superior, but the religious superior does not have unlimited power in giving commands. He must abide by the limitations placed on his au-thority by those same constitutions. The subject has vowed to obey what is-in the constitutions; the superior may not gratuitously abolish any prescriptions in the constitutions nor may he demand more of the subject than the constitutions themselves demand. ¯ 173 JORDAN AUMANN Review for Religious life; the first and most important function of any religious institute is the sanctification of its members.6 From what has been said, it follows that success in the aposto-late as a preacher, teacher, writer, or social worker is not a necessary. indication of the holiness and worth of a religious. Success in these activities may just as ~asily be the result of purely natural talent, ambition, pride, or t~e love of financial gain. A religious is not a good religious except through the observance of the constitutions which he vowed to use as a pattern and guide in his struggle for holiness. Indeed, even that does not suffice, for the observance of rules is of no value for sanctification unless motivated in some way by the love of God. The energy consumed in the labors df the apostolate, the hours spent in the classroom, pulpit, or sickroom, the inconvenience of traveling from one mission to another--none of these is the sole criterion of the value' and worth of a religious. For it is not the work that makes us holy, but the love with which we do it. This does not mean that the activity of the apostolate need ever be an obstacle to deep spirituality or even to the observance of one's constitutions. The admonitions of the Holy Father are very clear on this point. The present Pontiff encourages modern religious to strive with all their hearts to become apostles in the true sense of the word. And surely, such great founders as St. Francis, St. Dominic, and' St. Ignatius have shown us that exhausting labors are com-patible with profound sanctity. What was the secret of their suc-cess? It was due in no small measure to the fact that they never ceased to be great lovers of God and souls and .men of prayer.7 6In the ancient religious orders there was a much closer relationship between the aim or scope of the institut~ and the spirit of the institute, so that in some cases it may be difficult to change the aim of the institute without destroying the peculiar character of the institute itself. This is especially true of the older contemplative and mixed orders. The same situation does not hold true in regard to the modern active institutes. Nevertheless the same principle applies to all forms of religious" life: the work of the apostolate should proceed from a deep interior life. 7What is to be done when the individual religious judges that excessive activity is harmful to his growth in sanctity? Objectively, the answer is simple: the first obligation of the religious is to sanctify himself; the primary function of the su-perior is to help his subjects grow in holiness. But if the superior insists that the activity be continued, what can the subject do but obey, trusting to find a way to use excessive work as an instrument of sanctification and letting the superior an-swer to God if there be any culpability in such a situation? In an allocution to the Discalced Carmelites in September, 1951, the Holy Father warned superiors that they are not to be infected with a machine-age mentality so that they treat their subjects like so many machines and lose sight of the human personality. 174 dul~ , 1954 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND MODERN NEEDS. Once it has been seen that the primary purpose of th~ re.ligious life is the sanctification of,its members° and that the apos~olat( should rightly prdceed from a deep interior life, it should bk evident that there is no contradiction or paradox in the directives that have beenissued from the Holy See. The first task is the revival of~ the primitiye spirit of religious institutes and a concerted effort to bring all religious back to regular observance and th~ common life. Then, the major superiors, following the directives of the Holy" See, will make suitable adaptations of that revitalized religious life to the needs of modern Christians. In some cases the adaptations may take unexpected turns. It may mean that this or that religious institute will find it necessary to abandon parishes in areas where there is no longer a shortage of diocesan clergy; others will realize that they have drifted into all manner of apostolic works, good in themselves, but outside the scope of the institute and the aim of the founder; still others will discover that they have almost completely aban-doned the principal work which was entrusted to them by the Church. It is at this point that couragequs superiors will be needed, for there is a strong temptation to succumb to passive disobedience to the Hol.y See. As Cardinal Piazza pointed out in his discourse at the 1950 Congress, if religious do not live their constitutions as conscientiously as possible and hold themselves to .the aim and work of their institute, there is no longer any distinction among religious institutes and, therefore, no reason for their existence as dist'inct groups or societies. Points for Adaptation In the various allocutions, letters, speeches, and written reports published in the Acta et Documenta of the Congress on the States of Perfection, certain points have been stressed in regard to the desired ad~aptations of religious life to modern needs. While allowing for different circumstances in various countries and religious institutes~ there are general lines which such adaptations should follow. More-over, all adaptations should be visualized and planned against,the background of the Pope's admonition that proper ecclesiastical " channels are to be observed. Observations on the cloister are to be found in Sponsa Christi as well as other documents~ that have been issued,by the Holy~ See. There is no indication that an attempt is being made to abandon the cloister; rather, the cloister is to be safeguarded even when reli-gious institutes assume some form of the apostolate that brings.the 175 ,JORDAN AUMANN Review [or Religious members into close contact with the world. It is still true that the world is to be kept out of the cloister as much as possible and that the religious are to leave the cloister only~ to bring the things of God to the world. The Holy Fat~er has urged many times that religious should make use of modern inventions in the work of' the apostolate and that they should equal and even surpass lay people in the same areas of work. But work for the sake of work or work done for a purely natural motive has never been advocated. If the apostolate is un-dertaken with such an attitude, it can be as much an obstacle to the perfection of the religious as any other impediment to spiritual growth. Much less should the works of the apostolate be measured or' motivated by purely monetary values. The apostle is such by reason of his love of God, his. commission by the ,Church, and his zeal for souls. As to the religious habit (and this principally affects .women religious), the Pope advised the teaching religious in September, 1951: "The religious habit: choose it in such a way that it becomes the expression of inward naturalness, of simplicity and spiritual modesty." Many congregations have been prompt to obey this suggestion of the Pope and have refashibned habits and veils that were unsanitary, uncomfortable, and a source ,of amazement to the laity. At various times the Hdly Father has stressed the importance if the common life and urged that superiors be truly paternal (or ma- ~ternal). The religious life should be a family life and the superiors~ should respect the individual personalities of their subjects while the subjects hold each other in truly fraternal affection. So ~losely is the common life linked with the vows and regular observance that it can be said to be the very foundation of religious spirit and dis-cipline. Consequently, anything that militates against the common life--such as personal income, excessive individualism, prolonged absences from the cloister, or unreasonable dispensations from com-munity exercises--should be eliminated as much as possible. Lastly, the very Constitutions tha~ regulate the life of an institute may at times be in need of adaptation. In his address to teaching religious the Ho~ly Father observed: "Followed in letter and in spirit,-your constitutions, too, facilitate and bring the Sister all she .needs and must do in our time to be a good teacher and educator. ¯ . .' It is possible that some details of the school schedules, certain 176 duly, 1954 ° RELIGIOUS LIFE AND MODERN NEEDS regulations--simple applications of .the Rule---certain customs which were, perhaps, in harmony with past conditions but Which today merely hinder educational work, must be adapted to new cir-cu'mstances. Let superiors and general chapters proceed in this mat-ter conscientiously, with foresight, prudence, and courage, and, where the case demands, let them not fail to submit the proposed changes to t~he competent eccles{astical authorities."_ American Adaptations It may seem that the directives and suggestions of the Holy See have little application in the United States, since from the very be-ginning there has been an'adaptation of religious life to the needs of the times. However, we shall undoubtedly find, after an honest self-examination, that we have been somewhat remiss in regard to the second aspect of the quest'ion: the renewal of the primitive reli-gious spirit and the subsequent deepening of the interigr life. Th'ree dangers or excesses especially threaten the religious life in the United States: naturalism, the loss of the spirit of mortification, and ex-cessive activity. In a country where there are many demands on the religious in the field of the apostolate and where there is no long-standing tra-dition of a Catholic" culture, it is understandable that naturalism may quite easily pervade the religious life. If the religious observ-ances and customs seem foreign or artificial to ~he American tem-perament and if the religious habit itself is gradually looked upon as an academic gown or judge's robe, to be worn only for certain functions, the religi6us may readily lose sight of the meaning of re-ligious life. Only a serious attempt to live the regular life and to actualize the spirit of his institute will make the religious con. stantly aware of his distinct state. Only a deepening interior life and super-naturai motivation will preserve the religious from the taint of naturalism. The loss of the spirit of mortification may be due in large part to the fact that many religious live under a permanent dispen-sation from the penances and mortifications prescribed by their con-stitutions, as well as the fact that the standard of life in the United States is noticeably higher than that of other countries. Whatever be the cause, there is no doubt that the universal teaching of spir-itual writers on the necessity of mortification in the spiritual life has never lost its value. Here again, a more scrupulous observhnce of the constitutions and a revival of the primitive sp_irit of the religious 177 JORDAN AUMANN : institute will go a long, way to check the inroads of mitigatibn and laxity. "Sufficient has already been said concerning the true role of action and t~e apostolate in the religious and spiritual life. It remains merely to observe that religious who are overburdened with many external activities can har'dly hope to be scholar~, writers, or stu-dents; religious who return to the cloister in a state of nervous ex-haustion are rarely in a mood that is conducive to prayer, medita-tion, or the common life; and religious who live only for the works of the apostolate are in danger of drying up at the source and of missing the real purpose of their religious profession: to strive for personal sanctity. The HQIy Father has imposed upon religious the twofold task of reviving the primitive spirit of their founders and of adapting re-ligious life and work to the needs of the Church today. It is a chal-lenge to religious to live as perfectly as possible the life which they have voluntarily embraced. If the task is accepted and the challenge is answered, we shall undoubtedly begin, to raise up saints for our times. MARIAN YEAR PLAY Counted as Mine is a play of three acts, six scenes, with a modern-dress cho-rus, suitable for performance by high school and college students or by little the-atre groups and parish drama clubs: It is the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Hope of America. Written by a Poor Clare, the author of the play, Candle in Umbria, and of the book of poems, Whom I Hao'e Looed. $1.00 per copy. Order from: Rev. Mother M. Immaculata, P.C., Poor Clare Monastery of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Route 1, Box 285-C, Roswell, New Mexico. OUR CONTRIBUTORS JORDAN AUMANN teaches at the College of Saint Teresa, Winona, Minnesota, and is the literary editor of the Cross and Crown Series of Spirituality. C.A. HERBST is a spiritual director and teacher at the Jesuit Juniorate at Florissant, Missouri. 'BERARD VOGT, of Christ the King Seminary, St. Bonaventure, New York, is a leading authority on the teaching of the great Franciscan theologian, John Duns Scotus. SISTER M. ANGELICIA is professor of psychology and edu-cation at Marymount College, Salina, Kansas. AUGUSTINE G. ELLARD is a mem-ber of our editorial board. GEORGE BYRNE is professor of ascetical theology at Milltown Park, Dublin, Ireland. JOSEPH P. FISHER is master of novices at Flo-rissant, Missouri. 178 , /V indt:ulness C. A. Herl~st, S.J. ROUTINE can be a blight in the religious life. It can be like the rust of which Our Lord spoke, which consumes, or like the thief that breaks through and steals, treasures of potential merit for eternal life. We want to give our life to God whole-heartedly. That is what a religious is supposed to do. They espe-cially are called religious, says St. Thomas, "who dedicate their whole life to the divine service, withdrawing themselves from worldly affairs" (II-II, q. 81, a. !. ad 5). We want to real-ize our ?eligious life, to make it real, to make it religious life. Oh, yes, we go through each day of our life in religion according to the order of the day from the time we rise in the morning till we go to bed at night. We do our work and are obedient and all that, but how much of all this is mech~inical! We just go through the motions often, whereas in a life dedicated to God our aim ought to be to put our whole heart, as much as possible, into each of our actions. When we pronounce our vows, we make our religious profes-sion. We profess publicly and solemnly to lead a religious life. That is our way of life now. We profess to practice the virtues of ¯ religious living in°a striking expert way. We are professionals. We follow the profession of religion, and religion is the virtue by which we render God due worship and reverence. We are supposed to be perfectionists at that. Nothing but the best is good enough for us. That is what everybody expects of one who'follows a profession, who'claims to be expert in his specialty. A doctor of medicine is supposed and expected to be first-rate in his' line. He is expected to have the best technique, to keep up on the most up-to-date medical practices and procedures, to know his field thoroughly, to read the most recent medical journals, to consult with other specialists. Woe to the medical man who fails in any of these things! His sloth or carelessness or neglect will soon bring him into ill repute in a pro-fession where the standards are so high. He may lose his patients and will be forced to drop out of his profession. Religious are professionals. They profess to give their whole attention to the practices of the religious life, a life lived in com-mon under a rule in the practice of poverty, chastity, and obedi-ence, }~n which they are obliged to tend to perfection. In order to 179 C. A. HERBST Reoiew for Religious maintain the high standards of our profession we must be raindful of our obligations. To practice poverty properly, we must be mind-ful of poverty~ We are mindful of our vow of poverty when we frequently call to mind that we have a vow of poverty. So it is good to renew our vow often. We should do this especiall~ when we are called upon to practice it. After all, we take the vow in order to practice the virtue. As we are so often told, anyone can take a vow; but practicing it carefully is a different matter. T.he b~st way to be mindful of poverty is to wish to experience at times some of its effects; or, better, to see to it that we actually do experience them. I want to get along without things. I do not want what I do not need. And, since our poverty consists rather in dependence than in penur% I want to get permission for thifigs, I am eager to ask permission for things. When I doubt whether I need permissign or not, I get it anyway because I want to feel the effects of poverty. When I ask.permisSion for things I say, "I vow poverty to my Blessed Savior." I want what He had. I want to feel it as He did. I want to be mindful that being rich He became poor for our sakes, that through His poverty I might be rich (cf. II Cor. 8:9). Nor do I want to "stick" to things. If I have some little thing I very much like and feel attached to, I get permission to give it away. If'we are mindful of a thing, we think of it often.' If we are mindful of a thing, we love it. "Where your freasure is there is your heart also," Our Lord said. When I am mindful of chastity, I love it, I treasure it. When we loveand treasure a" tiling, we are very careful of it. We take no chances on having it soiled or on losing it. As a virgin soul in love with the Son of God and the Son of Mary, I treasure chastity, I love chastity, I jealously guard chas-tity, I am careful of chastity, I am mindful of this wonderful virtue so lovingly enshrined in my vow and 'often say, "I vow chastity to my Blessed Savior." "I want what You had," I say to Him. So We are very circumspect about persons, places, and things. When we are mindful of chastity, we are not scrupulous but just careful in our dealings with others, of where we go and what we do and hear and see. It__ is foolish to look for trouble. There are many temptations we need not have, should not have, dare not have. If we are careless in what we see and read, try to hear everything, let the sensuous and pleasure-loving world in through all the avenues of our se,nses, and are always seeking the comfortable and avoiding the disagreeable, we are not mindful of the defenses of chastity. We 180 dul~], 1954 " , MINDFULNESS practice mortification of the senses and shun worldliness in order to guard the outworks of this beautiful and delicate virtue. When I keep the rules of modesty, I am mindful of chastity. When I mor-tify my eyes, my ears, and my affections, I prove that I love the purity of Christ. When often during each day, in practicing these little mortifications, I say, "I vow chastity to my Blessed Savior," I am mindful of my determination to lead a virgin life. I am mindful of my vow of obedience when, on being told to do a thing I do it and pray, "I vow obedience to my Blessed Savior." Obedience of execution--that is, doing externally what I am told to do--is obedience of the first degree; but I am not satisfied with that. If I am truly mindful of obedience, I want to pass to a higher de-gree. I not only do what I am told but want to do it, will what the superior wills because that is God's ~will for me. I'line up my will with that of the superior because in doing that I am conforming my will to God's will. That is love: the union of two wills. I am still more mindful of obedience if I try to see things the superior's way, conform my mind° and judgment to his way of thinking. This is the third and highest degree of obedience; sometimes called "blind" obedience, it is not really blind at all but rather very keen-visioned and enlightened. When I am thoroughly mindful of obedience, I obey not only faithfully and willingly and lovingly but with joy. The perfect and infinitely lovable model of obedience is Jesus at Nazareth. With what joy this loving Child must have obeyed Joseph and Mary! One can scarcely imagine anything like reluctance or sourness in Our Lord's obedience. The atmosphere was filled with gladness in that wonderful home. And so it should be in ours; and that not only in the practice of obedience, but of poverty and chastity too. What gives me the greatest consolation in my religious life is that, when I "do what the superior says, follow carefully the order of the day and the prescriptions of the rule and the customs of the house, etc., I am most certainly doing God's will. I just cannot make a mistake in being perfectly obedient. Should an official in the house, or the local superior, or the highest superior for that matter, make a mistake, I myself am doing God's will by obeying in everything save sin. I show that I am mindful.of obedience by doing lovingly and joy-fully for God whatever I am directed to do. To be mindful of poverty, chastity, and obedience: to expressly renew my vows and prayerfully and carefully bring my actions under them and so practice the virtues they enshrine: this indeed is a 18"1 C. A~ HERBST Review for Religious bl~ssed mindfulness. To be mindful, too, that I am profssional, that in the service of God I am following the highest of professions here on this earth, will b~ing my religious life to its "highest vi[ality. There are some other things, too, of which I should be mindful in order that I may lead a vigorous and highly meritorious religious life. Purity of intention--frequently, fervently, lo4ingly re-offer-ing to.God all my works and prayers' and joys and sufferings for the salvation and sanctification of myself and others, in adoration, reparation, thanksgiving, and petition--is one of the chief general means to perfection. To say frequently, fervently, thoughtfully, lovingly, "All for 3esus through Mary," or "Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost," is to turn all our good or indifferent actions into the pure gold of merit for eternal life and to win for souls graces beyond measure. Mindfulness too of the presence of God is a wonderful, easy, joyous, consoling, and elevating practice. The Old Testament seems to have emphasized the idea of God present near and around us; the law of love brought by Christ Our Lord emphasizes God within us. "If any man love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and will make our abode with him" (3ohn 14:23). God, the Most Holy Trinity, lives in my soul as in His temple, as in His shrine. How the pray-erful, lingering, loving thought of this presence rejoices and elevates the soul! And He lives not in my soul only, but in my body. "Know you not that your members are the temple of the Holy Ghost, w, ho is in you, whom y6u have from God; and you are not your own?" (I Cor. 6:19). "Know you not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? But if any man violate the temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy, which you are" (I cor. 3:16-17). "Not my will but thine be done" was Our Lord's repeated prayer in the Garden of Olives. He is but praying here as He taught us all to pray in the perfect prayer, the Our Father. To be mindful of this under the aspect of abandonment to God's holy will in the duty of the present moment will bring great peace and joy into the heart of a religious. No one, I think, has ever presented this in finer fashion than Father de Caussade in his book Abandonment to Di-vine Providence. "The present moment is the ambassador of God to declare His mandates. The heart listens and pronounces its 'fiat.' . . . No soul can be truly nourished, fortified, purified, en-riched, and sanctified except in fulfilling the duties of the present 182 dult!, 19 5 4 COMMUNICATIONS moment. What more would you have? As in this you can find all good, why seek it elsewhere?° Do you kno.w better than God? As He ordains it thus why do you desire it differently? Can His good-ness and wisdom be deceived? When you find something to be in accordance with this divine wisdom and goodness ought you not to conclude that it must needs be excellent?" (I, i, 5 and 7.) Finally, there is mindfulness of the greatest of all the virtues, charity. "And the greatest of these is charity." "Love one an-other." This is the new commandment which the Divine Son brought down to Us from the bosom of our Father. This is the law of love. We should be mindful especially of Christ in our breth-ren. See Him there and love Him there. "What you do to these the least of m~rb r/ethren you do unto me." If we were mindful of this there would be an end to harsh and uncharitable attitudes of mind toward others and to rash judgments. Uncharitable talk and criticism would be no more, nor jealousy, nor faultfinding, nor deeds that wound the soul. Mindfulness of Christ in our brethren is most important in a religious family. It makes a heaven of a re-ligious house. "Little children, love one another." ommun{catdons Reverend Fathers : In the November, 1952, number of REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS I read a communication by Sister M. Immaculata, P.C. (Abbess). I was forcibly struck by this statement. "It is not what enriches us but what effaces us that leads to union with God" (p. 314). This very sentence has ever been and continues to be a positive mental and spiritual stimulus in my spiritual life. It has helped me more than any sermon or conference to conquer pride, especially pride of am-bition. It smoothed many a rough place for me. When pride as-serted itself and all was in a turmoil, this sentence proved to be a sacramental by calming my spirit and restoring peace. I hereby wish to express my grateful appreciation to Sister M. Immaculatao P.C.--TEACHING SISTER. 183 Duns Scot:us, Det:encler ot: t:he Jmmaculal:e Concepl:ion Berard Vogt, O.F.M. JOHN DUNS SCOTUS was born in Scotland in 1266. He entered the Franciscan Order at an early age and pursued his studies at Oxford. One of the more eminent theologians of the thirteenth century, he taught with great distinction both at Ox-ford and at Paris. He was called to Cologne in the summer of 1308 and died there unexpectedly in November of the same year. Duns Scotus is the leader of the Franciscan school of philosophy and theology. It is a historical fact .that popular Catholic tradition for centuries inclined towards belief in the doctrine of the Immaculate Concep-tion, as is evident from the introduction of a special feas~ of the Im-maculate Conception into the liturgy of the Church and from the gradual spread of the feast throughout Christendom. But the the-ologians and Doctors of the Church hesitated to ascribe this beauti-ful privilege to Mary because they found it impossible to solve cer-tain inherent difficulties, until Scotus appeared upon the scene and offered his p~e-redemption solution which p~epared the way for and ultimately was incorporated into the solemn dogmatic definition of the Immaculate Conception. The central difficulty was the Pauline teaching concerning the' need of universal redemption, found in the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans: "Through one man sin entered the world, and through sin death, and thus death has passed into all men, because all have sinned." Duns Scotus made two important contributions to the contro-v'~ rsy. Admitting that Mary as a descendant of Adam stood in need of redemption because of the sin of Adam, he offered a novel solution to the subtle difficulties which had for so long baffled theo-logians by introducing into the solution of the problem the idea of pre-redempti6n and a distinction between order of nature and order of time. ' The views of the theologians may be stated generally by quoting the following passsage from the Summa of St. Thomas: "If tBe soul ot~ the Blessed Virgin had never been defiled by original sin, I84 gulg, J954 $ DuNSSCOTUS this Would derogate from the dignity of Christ according to which He is the Redeemer of all mankind. It may be said, therefore, that under Christ, who as universal Savior needed not to be saved Him-self, the Blessed Virgin enjoyed the highest, measure of purity. For Christ in no wise contracted original sin, but was holy in His ~¢ery conception . The Blessed Virgin, however, did contract original sin, but was cleansed therefrom before birth." (III, q. 27, a. 2, ad 2.) The Subtle Doctor answers this argument as follows: on the contrary, in defending Mary's prerogative of the Immaculate Con-ception, I am in fact attributing a more exalted and perfect role of redeemer to Christ, inasmuch as redeeming grace Which preserves from original sin is g,reater than that which merely-purifies from sin incurred. Christ was Mary's Redeemer and Mediator more per-fectly by preservative redemption. By preserving Mary from original sin in view of the foreseen merits of His sacrifice .on Calvary, Christ not merely redeemed her, but pre-redeemed her. This implies far greater grace and a far greater excellency of redemption. Scotus thus laid to rest the century-old objections derived from the Pauline doctrine concerning the need of universal redemp-tion, found al?eady with St. Augustine, St. Anselm, and St. Ber-nard, and later with the scholastic doctors. Rightly understood the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception will not offer any difficulty pre~centing Mary's noble prerogative. The need of incurring orig-inal sin, and equally the need of universal redemption by Christ, was not denied by Scotus. Nor did he claim that Mary as a daughter of Adam escaped this universal law. Mary was a d~lughter of Adam, he explained, before she was an adopted daughter of God. Therefore she was subject to original sin and in need of redemption. As a child of A'dam, she would in the ordinary course of events and according to the ordinary course of nature have incurred Adam's debt like other men. But in the order of time God could give her sanctifying, grace at the very moment of her conception. In this way Mary, though a child of Adam in the order of nature, would be made a child of God by the infusion of grace"before original sin could take effect in her soul. Inasmuch as generation precedes sanctification, Mary was a daughter of Adam before she became an adopted daughter of God. Therefore, she must have been in need of redemption, because sub-ject to original sin. But though in the order of our thoughts our 185 BER!kRD VOGT minds may dwell on Mary---conceived first as a daughter of Adam and then sanctified as a daughter of God, this does not imply a pri-ority of time which would demand in the soul of Mary" two succes-sive states, one of sin and the other of grace. There is only in her at the first moment of her existence a twofold relation: that of a daughter of Adam, for which she was indebted to her. human gen-eration, subject to the common law and establishing the debt of sin; and that of a daughter of God, which she owes to the privileged sanctification which protected her from the consequences of the common law find extinguished in her the debt of sin by a special ap-plication of the foreseen merits of the Savior. The Subtle Doctor sums up his views thus: "Mary, then, needed redemption more than anyone else. She needed redemption so much the more, the greater the good conferred upon her. Since perfect innocence is a greater good than remission of sin after a fall, a greater good was conferred upon her (by her Divine Son) by pre-serving her from original sin, than if she had been purified after-wards. Neither was it necessary on that account that Christ should have first suffered, because Abraham was purified from orig-inal sin which was in his person by virtue of the foreseen Passion of Christ." (Rep. III, dist 3, Qu. I, n. 8; ed. Vives xxiii, p. 264.) Duns Scotus exercised enduring powerful influence on the devel-opment and eventual dogmatic proclamation of the doctrine of the, Immaculate Conception. By his historic defense with its luminous definitions and distinctions, e.g., his pre-redemption theory and his suggestion of a distinction between the order of nature and the order of time, the Subtle Doctor cleared the dogmatic ground and greatly contributed to a final victorious solution. Cardinal Merry del Val in a letter to Fr. P. Pauwels, July 4, 1904, says of Scotus that he carried the torch of Mary's non-for-feiture of grace as on the crest of a wave to its ultimate triumph. ABOUT FRAUDS Some people who want to get money without effort are wont to request gifts and Mass stipends in the names of certain priests and missionaries. The victims, real or intended, are often sisters. Some priests whose names have been used in this way suggest that all such requests be refused unless those making the requests. can furnish positive identification. Similarly, we might again call attention to the fact that no one is authorized to solicit subscriptions for this REVIEW, 186 The Apos!:olic School Sister M. Angelicia, C.S.J. AT A GENERAL CHAPTER conducted at the Nazareth Motherhouse of the Sisters of Saint doseph of Concordia, Kansas, in dune, 1953, it was decided that an approach should be made toward the organization of a school for aspirants to the religious life which would be in connection with the mother-house. A committee was appointed to investigate the possibilities of such an organization. The first step taken by the committee was to locate convents or motherhouses to which were attached such schools for aspirants. As indicated in the Catholic Directory, there were sixty-eight mother-houses having schools similar to the type which the community had in mind. For the purpose of gathering information relative to the new project a questionnaire was formulated and was sent to each of these sixty-eight motherhouses. Fifty-seven, or approxi-mately eighty-four per cent, of the questionnaires were returned. The information received was both interesting and enlightening. The questionnaire, together with a digest of the answers, is given at the conclusion of this article. Before taking further steps in the organization of this school, we consulted the local ordinary, the Most Reverend Frank A. Thill, D.D., Bishop of Salina. The project met with his whole-hearted approval, as will be seen later in his letter to the priests of his diocese, as well as in those addressed to parents and their chil-dren. Moreover, since our congregation is a papal institute, and since our constitutions state explicitly that no new works are to be added without the permission of the Holy See, the mother general inquired from an official source whether the permission of the Sacred Congregation of Religious would be needed. She was informed that, in view of the remarks made by Father Arcadio Larraona, Secretary of the Sacred Congregation of Religious, at the 1952 meeting of superiors general in Rome, special permission of the Holy See was not needed for starting this school. A resum~ of Father Larraona's remarks has been made public. Since its contents were very helpful to us, and since it seems to be of vital importance to anyone planning to organize a school for aspi-rants, we quote this resum6 in full: 187 SISTER M. ANGELICIA Review for Religious "Apostolic schools are of comparatively recent origin, the .earli-est of them dating from about the middle of the last century. They have now become increasingly common in religious communities of women, as they are the general practice in communities of men. The Holy See has issued practically no legislation on the organization of such apostolic schools. The S. Congregation is patiently awaiting the guidance of experience. "These apostolic schools are not permitted by the S. Congrega-tion for cloistered nuns, or for religious whose lives closely approxi-mate to that of cloistered nuns. This is not.a real law of the Holy See, but rather a guiding norm, based on Rome's desire to avoid any semblance of pressure when there is question of a vocation calling for such special qualities as those required by the contemplative life. "The S. Congregation regards apostolic schools as internal schools of a religious community. This point is of canonical im-portance in determining the degree of freedom to be allowed the community in the organization and administration of these schools: a) those which do not require any actual signs of vocation to the religious life: b) those which demand at least the seeds of vocation to the religious life; c) those which require signs of a vocation to a specific type of religious life. "In any case, the organization and rules of an apostolic school should not lose sight of the fact that the girls in them are young. The atmosphere as far as possible, shoul~l be that of a family. The apostolic schools should not be turned into a noviciate in miniature. There should be nothir;g to interfere with the full freedom of the candidates in the final determination of their vocation. The pro-gram of studies should not be so highly specialized as to make ad-justment to a different type of life outside difficult. Teach the girls, first of all, to live good Christian lives. No asceticism at ,the expense of the moral law. Avoid~ whatever might even remotely result in deformation of the natural qualities and virtues of the candidates.''I With encouragement coming from every .direction, especially from our bishop, for the opening of an apostolic school by the Sisters of Saint 3oseph, it was thought best to begin,to make it known to the public. Publicity concerning the school appeared in many Catholic papers. The two most important announcements 1Cf. Acta et Documenta Congressu~ lnternationalig Superiorissarurn "Generalium, 1952, p. 274. These remarks on apostolic schoq!s form one part of Father Lar-raona's "Concluding Instructions addressed to the Reverend Mothers General," on the last day of their meeting in Rome, September 11-13, 1952. 188 Jul~,1954 THI~ APOSTOLIC SCHOOL were those ap1~aring in the diocesan Catholic Register. The first of these, entitled "Apostolic School to be Opened in Concordia in 1954," appeared in the November 1'5, 1953, issue of the Catholic Register. Excerpts from this article are as follows: "Concordia.--In the fall of 1954 the Sisters of Saint Joseph will open an Apostolic School in connection with their Mother-house in Concordia. "This preparatory school is intended for young girl's who show signs of a religious vocatio,n and who wish to join th~ Congregation of the Sisters of. Saint Joseph when circumstances permit. It is especially for those aspirants to the religious life who have not the opportunity of attending a Catholic h~gh school or who are placed in circumstances detrimental to a religious vocation. "The mode of life at the preparatory or Apostolic School will be practically the same as that of resident,students at an academy. The young women will follow the regular high school course as prescribed by the State Department of Education. All the advan-tages of the regular high school course will be available to the stu-dents in the Apostolic School . "Work in the classroom will be regularly and agreeably inter-rupted by daily indoor and outdoor recreational activities. The girls of this school will be allowed to return to their families during the summer vacation as Well as Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter vacations. "Those interested, .or who desire further information, may write to the Mother General, Nazareth Motherhouse, Concordia, Kansas." Bishop Thill .not only gave his whole-hearted support to the organization of an a~ostolic school but he asked that each parish in the Salina diocese finance the monthly board and tuition fee at the new apostolic school for any deserving girl whose parents could not afford the sum. His Excellency announced simultaneously that he was prepared to accept personal financial responsibility for ten such girls in the school of the Sisters of the Congregation of Saint Joseph of Concordia. Excerpts from the Bishop's letter concerning the school are as follows: "Rev, erend dear Fathers, Venerable Religious, Parents and Chil-dren : ' "Because I simply do not believe there is any such thing as a Divine vocation to embrace the, wrong vocation, I am concerned in a very vital and humane way with the establishment of the new 189 SISTER M. ANGELICIA Reoiew [or Religious Apostolic School by our Sisters of the Congregation of St. 3oseph of Concordia. I have been a priest too long, and a Chancellor and ¯ a Bishop, to be able to see anything desirable or even tolerable in the crushing frustrations and black unhappiness that burden so many men and women in our modern world. "In other words, I want to see the largest possible number of girls in this diocese given the opportunity to spend the critical years of their l~ves in an atmosphere that will help them to put first things first . It does not matter if the girls who enroll become religious sisters or not. Many of them will; but those who don't will have a first-class Catholic high school education, fitting them for places of trust and leadership in the parishes from which they come . "The openin~ of this school will certainly be good news to the pastors of the diocese. I recommend its purpose and its needs to the consideration of all our priests, and I hope they will agree with me in thinking it worthy of our enthusiastic and generous sup-port . "In conclusion, may I say to all of you, priests, people and children, that today's struggle is not primarily and exclusively a struggle against anything at all including even the struggle against bad tendencies and sin. It is, more fundamentally still, a struggle for something. Indeed, it is a struggle to be something, to be another Christ, possessed by the torrent of His life and of His love that alone can save the world. " As this paper is being, written the applications ot: aspirants to the apostolic school are coming in in a very satisfactory manner. If these applications continue they should gealize an enrollment of at least thirty students or aspirants to the religious life when the school opens in September, 1954. The Questionnaire and Replies I. DO. YOU MAINTAIN A PREPARATORY. SCHOOL FOR THE RELI-GIOUS LIFE? Yes, 50; No, 6; in former years, 1. ¯ 3. WHAT IS THE NAME OF YOUR SCHOOL? It is called: ' (A) A Juniorate, 13. (B) A.School for Aspirants, 26. ¯.(C) A Preparatory School, 9. ¯ . . (D). Others? Scholasticate, 1. ¯ Candidature, 1. 190 HOW LONG 'INKS IT BEEN ORGANIZED? Average, 23 years. duly, 1954 THE APOSTOLIC SCHOOL. 4. DO YOU FAVOR SUCH A SCHOOL? YES, 48; NO, 2. IF "YES" GIVE THE MOST OUTSTANDING ADVANTAGES.The most com-mon answers were: (A) "Prepares for the religious life." (B) "Fosters vocations." (C) "Gives members to our community." (D) "Gives a more solid foundation for future religious life." (E) "Our best vocations come from the juniorate." (F) "Because of the great percentage of vocations resulting." (G) "It gives girls a chance to study their vocations in surroundings con-ducive to spiritual life." 5. APPROXIMATELY W~AT PERCENTAGE OF ASPIRANTS BECOME RELIGIOUS? Average, 54%: range, 7% to 100%. 6. WHAT EDUCATIONAL LEVEL DO YOU ADMIT GIRLS? (A) First year high school, 41. (B) Second year high school, 21. (C) Third year high school, 26. (D) Fourth year high school, 26. 7. WHAT IS THE LONGEST TIME THE ASPIRANT IS KEPT BEFORE ENTERING THE POSTULATE? (A) One year, 2. (B) Two years, 4. (C) Three years, 14. (D) Three and one-half years, 7. (E) Four years, 19. 8. WHAT COURSE OF STUDY DO THE ASPIRANTS PURSUE? (A) "The regular high school course," 18. (B) ".College preparatory," 5. (C) "Classical Course," 2. (D) "Academic," 19. (E) "Academic and Commerce," 1. 9. ARE THERE REQUIRED SPIRITUAL EXERCISES? IF SO, OF WHAT DO THEY CONSIST? (A) "Daily attendance at Mass," 50. (B) "Rosary in common," 21. (C) "Spiritual reading," 24. (D) "Morning and night prayers in common," 21. (E) "Meditation," 18. (F) "Vespers," 6. (G) "Attendance at Benediction," 8. 10. HOW MUCH TIME IS GIVEN TO RECREATION? Average number of hours, 2~. WHAT TYPE OF RECREATION IS FOLLOWED? (A) "Indoor and outdoor sports," 44. (B) "S~tuare dancing," 24. (C). "Singing," 24. (D) "Dramatics," I0. (E) "Needlework, card-playing, etc." SISTER M. ANGELICIA 12. 13. WHAT FEE ISCHARGED FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR? $133.93 is the average yearly fee. The fee for one year ranged from ten dollars to four hun-dred dollars. IS THE TUITION FEE REFUNDED IN CASE THE ASPIRANT EN-TERS THE COMMUNITY? YES, 1; NO, 49. ARE INCIDENTAL EXPENSES 'MAINTAINED BY THE ASPIRANT'S FAMILY?. YES, 44; NO, 6. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. DO THE ASPIRANTS SPEND VACATION PERIODS AT HOME? YES, 43; NO, 2: "PART TIME," 1. (A) Christmas, 41. (B) Easter, 23. (C) Thanksgiving, 21. (D) Summer, 33. ARE ASPIRANTS EXPECTED TO FOLLOW ANY SPECIAL, PRO-GRAM DURING VACATION, PERIODS? IF SO, WHAT? YES, 15; NO, 31. See question 9 for suggested program. ARE VISITS OF RELATIVES RESTRICTED? YES, 39: NO, 7; IF RESTRICTED, EXPLAIN. NO ws~tmg permitted during Lent and Ad-vent in majority of cases. The first Sunday of the month is suggested for visiting friends and relatives. DO YOU HAVE REGULATIONS FOR CORRESPONDENCE? YES, 43: NO, 5; NO ANSWER, 2. ESO THE ASPIRANTS WEAR UNIFORMS? YES, 49; NO. I. SACRA VIRGINITAS According to a news announcement in The Register, the encyclical Sacra Vir-ginitas, which Pope Plus XII issued on March 25, 1954, is now available in pam-phlet form, complete with footnotes, from the NCWC Publications O~ce, 1312 Massachusetts Avenue, Washington 5, D.C. OUR ADDRESSES We have three different addresses. It would help considerably if all who com-municate with us would note them: 1. Business communications, such as subscriptions, renewals, etc., should be sent to: REVIEW FOR REL!GIOUS, 606 Harrison St., Topeka, Kansas. 2. Boobs for review should be sent to: book Review Editor, REVIEW,FOR RE-LIGIOUS, West Baden College, West Baden Springs, Indiana. 3. All other editorial communications, such as ma.nuscripts, questions, letters for publication, etc., should be sent to: The Editors, REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, St. Mary's College, St. Marys.' Kansas. 1'92 Apparitions and Revelations: Some Classit:ications Augustine G. Ellard, S.3. IN A PREVIOUS discussion some el~mentary suggestions were offered as to what attitudes one should take toward private ap-paritions and revelations, whether one's own or those reported of others (REVIEW FOR' RELIGIOUS° XIII [3anuary, 1954], 3-12). Now it is proposed to recall some of the descriptive classifications of such 6ccurrences that help one to think more intelligently and clearly'about them. ~[. DEFINITIONS AND DIVISIONS In an apparition a person or object is presented before, the con-sciousness of somebody at a time and place at which that presence is naturally inexplicable. For example, at the baptism of Christ a dove symbolizing the Spirit of God was seen descending from above and lighting upon Him (Matthew 3:16-17; 3ohn 1:32-34). On the same occasion a voice from heaven was heard proclaiming, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.''1 In a revelation in the proper sense God communicates some truth to one I~y way of speech. He does not manifest to one the objective truth itself, as He would in infused knowledge. He does express His ideas on it and thus let one know His mind about it.Of course it is also possible for the Blessed Virgin or an angel or a saint from h.eaven to speak to one. Evidently such an occurrence would be more than natural. Speech need not necessarily be in words; equivalent signs are con-sidered amply sufficient. Apparitions are in some way seen, revelations heard. Either may take place without the other. But they do come together so often that it is logical to treat them both at the same time. When, for instance, Bernadette Soubirous saw the beautiful maiden at Lourdes, she also heard the words, "I am the Immaculate Conception!" 1. Apparitions: Oculqr, In~aginati~e, Intellectual Probably the commonest classification of apparitions is that based upon the faculties involved. Some visions are external, sen, ]New Testament quotations in this article are taken from the translation made by Francis Aloysius Spencer, O.P. (New York: Macmillan, 1943). : 193 AUGUSTINE G. ELLARD Review for Religious ;sible, perceptible to the eyes, ocular. In this case an exterior objective reality of some sort outside of one is simply and literally seen. Thus, for example, Constantine is said to have beheld a cross in the sk~, with the inscriptiori, "In this sign shalt thou conquer!" When many people together perceive an apparition, the presumption is that it is external and really activates the eyes. Such were the appear-ances of Christ after the Resurrection; such also was the vision of the multitude at Fatima. Other apparitions take place in the interior senses and are termed imaginative. They are not imagina~ry, like hallucinations, but real and true in their own way, which, however may be misap-prehended. When one sees something, an image of it is produced not only upon the retina of the eyes but also in the interior faculty that psychologists call the imagination. God could easily bring about such a likeness without there being any corresponding exterior ob-ject present. Nor, if it should be of divine origin, would there be an hallucination and deception. It would convey to the mind in a merely internal way some truth intended by God. The vision granted to St. Peter and recounted in Acts 10:9-16 seems to be of this type. Peter "fell into an ecstasy; and he beheld heaven opened, and a kind of vessel descending, as it were, a great sheet ldt down by the four corners to the earth, in which were all kinds of quadrupeds and reptiles of the land, and birds of the sky." As is evident from the whole story, the apostle learned from this symbolic representa-tion in his imagination that he was to admit Gentiles as well as Jews into the Chur4b. In practice it may be very difficult to differentiate between ocular and imaginative visions, but if they are true and of divine origin it may be of only theoretical interest whether they be the one or the other. A third form of apparition is purely intellectua!~ Some person or. object is presented directly to the seer's intelligence, without the mediation of the eyes or the interior senses. This sort of vision is like that whereby an angel would see things, and therefore it is de: cidedly superhuman. It is also quite an indescribable experien~ce, except ~of course remotely and analogously. Of a vision of this kind St. Teresa wrote: "Jesus Christ seemed to be by my side continu-ally, and as this vision was not imaginary, I saw no form"--that is, it was not represented in her imagination--( Life, Ch. 27 : -Peers's translation, I, 170). 194 dulg, 1954 APPARITIONS AND REVELATIONS 2'. On "'Seeing" God . : ¯ ¯ The great mystics often speak of "seeing" God, as well as of having visions of lesser persons or objects. Hence an immense dif-ference must be noticed between visions that have as their object the Creator Himself, in whatever sense He is said to be seen, and created persons or things. There is all the distinction between having to do with the infinite God Himself or with some finite creature. Mystics "see" God in at least two senses. At times their infused contempla-tive knowledge of Him, which is usually obscure and general, be-comes relatively so clear and definite thht they feel it must be described as "vision" rather than, for instance, as contact. Of con-templative vision St. Thomas writes: "In contemplation God is seen through the medium which is the light of wisdom elevating the mind to perceive divine things, though not so that the divine essence itself be immediately seen" (De Veritate, XVIII, 4). In addition to this and as a particular favor in some cases contemplatives are granted special manifestations of God, or of Some of the divine at-tributes, or of the Blessed Trinity, and these they speak of as "visions of God." Thus Blessed Angela of Foligno, a great Italian mystic of the thirteenth century, describes such visions: "When the most high God cometh unto the rational soul, it is at times given her to see Him, and she seeth Him within her, without any bodily form,and she seeth Him more clearly'than one mortal man can see another; for the eyes of the soul behold¯ a fulness, spiritual not bod-ily, about which I can say nothing at all, for words and imagina-tion fail me. Moreover in this vision the s6ul is delighted with un-utterable'delight, and then she looketh at nothing else save that alone; for this it is that filleth the soul beyond all that can be reck-oned." (Visions and Instructions: ch. 52; apud Poulain, The Graces of Interior Pra~ler, p. 267.) - '. .: 3. Reoelatfons: Auu'cular, [magi'f~ative, Intellectaa[ '" ,o.Like apparitions, revelations or locutions fail into three grou.'ps; according to the faculty to wlqich they are ~mmediately addressed. Some of them include r&l external ~unds'and ate perceivM b) the ~ear. An e.xample from the New Testament is that' of,.tl-ie utterance described in. John 12:28-30. . In a-'talk ~to:~the'.p~ople_ of. Jerusalem shortly before .His: :death Jesus 'said'; ' "'Father;" save Me from. this hour!, But for thi~ very ptirpose.:.I ,came.io this : hour. Father, gl.orify Thy-name! There::came:.theret~bre.a::.Voic'e,:~out of-'heaven., !k,have 'both glorified it,. and. wil.! glorif'.y;:it~:!again.' Thecrowd,, ac~ 195 Review [or Religious cordingly, who stood by and heard it, said that it had thundered. Others said, 'An angel has spoken to Him.' Jesus addressed them and said, 'This voice has not come for My sake, but for yours.' " Other revelations are directed straight to the interior senses and are termed imaginative. In normal communic~ations between "human persons there is a double threefold process. In the speaker there is first of all thought, then formulation of it in words in the phantasy or imagination, and lastly utterance of it with the vocal orgahs. In the hearer the correspohding steps occur in the reverse order: audi-tory perception, representation in the" phantasy, and finally under-standing in the mind. When G6d, or an angel, communicates His ideas, He can skip the first act in the bearer's process and address Him~lf directly to the imagination. This is very~ probably what happened to St. Joseph when an angel of the Lord appeared to him "in a dream-vision, saying, 'Arise and take the Child and His mother, and fly to Egypt, and remain there until I tell thee; for Herod is about to hunt for the Child to destroy Him' " (Matthew 2:13). A spirit, whether divine or angelic, can also impart ideasI directly to one's intelligent:e, and thus we have purely intellectual lodutions and auditions. Lucie Chlistine (a distinguished French mystic, a woman of social position and the mother of several children: whose personal notes, written only for her director, were published under this pseudonym after her'death in 1908), says of a certain intellec-tual communication of this nature that she received: "Whilst at prayer this kind God deigned to fi!l my soul with His light and said to me interiorly: 'I myself am the glory.' . . ; The divine words. ,carry with them an ineffable unction by which the soul recognizes in some manner the voice of God. Moreover, they impress them-. selves forcibly upon the soul and operate what they utter. I had ob-served this before I read about it. These interior accents cannot bear any comparison to those words which sometimes are formed ~y the imagination." (Spiritual Journal of Lucie Christine, pp. 24-25.) 4. Special Terminology 9f St. dohn of the Cross St. John of the Cross has a classification of supernatural "lwords" and a peculiar terminology, for them that are original. Since his divisions and his ways of naming them are very often re-fer~ ed to, one .who wishes to be well-informed in the field should know them. With respect to "supernatural locutions, which are apt to come to the spirits of spiritual persons without the intervention" 196 duly, 1954 APPARITIONS AND REVELATIONS of any b~dily sense," he writes: "These, although they are of many kinds, may,. I believe, all be reduced to three, namely, successive, for-mal, and substantial" (Ascent of Mr. Carmel, II, 18; Peers's trans-lation, I, 208): "Successive words" are not really language coming from another person, as St. ,John himself explains in what immedi-atel~ follows; they are nothing more than words formed by certain people in the depths of their own personality while in a state of pro-found recollection. In.such utterances one is rather speaking to one-self. "Formal words" do come from somebody el'se, and outside of periods of recollection as well as within them. St. John adduces the example of the archangel Gabriel who spoke to the prophet Daniel about the coming of the Messiah. "O Daniel, [ am now come forth to teach thee, and that thou mightest undersand . Seventy weeks are shortened upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, that trans-gression may be finished, and sin have an end . and everlasting justice may be brought; and vision and prophecy may be fulfilled; and the saint of saints may be anointed . " (Daniel, 9:20-27.) "Substantial words" are those that promptly and vigorously effect jtist what they express; thus, for instance, if one were overwhelmed with fear and God should say, "Fear thou not!" one "would at once be con.scious of great fortitude and tranquillity" (Op. cir., I, 219) . 5. Reoelations: Public and Pr~'oate Of all the distinctions to be made between revelations the most important by all means i~ that beween public and private revela-tions. Public revelation is that which was made long ago, meant 'for mankind generally, and entrtisted to the Church.It is a primary purpose of the Church to guard, interpret, and proclaim to all the truths of this revelation. It originally came into the world from God through the prophets and especially through Christ and the Apostl'es. All other revelations are termed private., even though in par-ticular respects they may take on a very popular character. " They are indeed messages from God, or at least from some sacred person. They hre not addressed directly to the Church as such, and they never :become a part of the deposit of faith. One could not accept them ~ith "divine and Catholic faith." Certain apparitions and revelations of the Blessed Virgin cutting in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries have attained con- ~iderable importance in the 'life of the Church. The use of. the 197 AUGUSTINE G. ELLARD Reoiew for Religious Miraculous Medal goes" b~ack,: tb.'i'fii~i~earahces.~of' the Mother° of' G'6d . to-SiSt&~Catherine Labour& of the Daughters of Charity, in the year 1830 at ¯Paris. Everybody knows about Lourdes, and now also Fatima. Another case that became famous in France, but is less well known generally, is that of La Salette. Near La Salette, in eastern France, in the year 1846, two children, Melanie Calvat, a girl of fifteen, and Maximin Giraud, a boy of eleven, affirmed that they had seen "a beautiful lady" while engaged in watching some cows near a stream. They received a message from her to be con-veyed to all the lady's people. It inculcated the necessity of doing penance and of leading a good Christian life. Also each of the chil-dren was entrusted with a special secret. Eventually these secrets were transmitted to Pope Pius IX. Over this vision there raged for a considerable time a great controversy. Finally, after careful in-vestigation, it was officially approved in 1851 by the Bishop of the Diocese of Grenoble. On .the occasion of the centennial celebration it received a certain papal confirmation in a letter sent by Pope Pius XII to the Superior General of the Institute of the Missionaries of La Salette. II. FATHER STAEHLIN'S OBSERVATIONS Not lohg ago the Spanish Jesuit, Father Carlos Maria Staehlin, published in Razon y Fe (1949, vol. 139, pp. 443-464; 546-562: vol. 140, pp. 71-98) the results of an elaborate study of apparitions and revelations as they have taken place in the history of the Church during the last 150 years. 1. The Two Currents First of all, Father Staehlin points out that in this record two currents of apparitions and revelations are to be distinguished: the m~jsticaland the non-ro~lsticali The first current is observ~ible in men and women who were favored with the central phenom~hon of mysticism, that is, infused contemplation. Typically this line is exemplified in the saints, or at least in very hMy. persons of mature .age. In these people, there-fore, were to be found both a sup.erior form of mental prayer and a high degree of virtue. At times, and in some cases only, to increase their ¯intimacy with God they were .granted apparitions of various sacred persons or things. Re'velations given in connection with such apparitions are of course private, and .may also be:.,calied particular. In'th~ lives:of: the saints there occurs also at/other kind of revelation that may be termed social. It is meant mor~ for the. good of nu- 1'98 du1~,1954 APPARITIONS AND REVELATIONS merous other persons than for the advantage of the individual re-cipient. The .communications concerning the Sacred Heart made to St. Margaret Mary and those of the Blessed Virgin at Lourdes ex-emplify this social type of private revelation. 2. Apparitions to non-M~tstics The second general current comprises those cases in which the persons favored with visions are nbt mystics. Oftentimes they are children. These visions reported by non-mystics seem to be sea- ;onal, tending to occu'r in the spring and summer months, between March and October. The recipients are usually uneducated'persons; nearly always wbmen or children, and girls-~rathe~'than 'boys.When a man sees a vision he is .apt to-be in the "company of a woman;-ahd kbe sees more than he does. If the,seers be~children, one or-mbre of them often enough'has a ~ather who drinks heavily. There seems to be a certain" tendency for these apparitions to follow the la~sical type of Saint Bernadette-or the more recent pattern set by the chil-dren at Fatima. In a few cases the effect upon the religious life of the community or even of the Church has been very great: but as a rule, no matter how great the excitement at first may be, the total result is not impressive. Manifestations in which Christ appears are more often within doors, whereas those of the Blessed Virgin are more frequently ob-served in the open air. Since the time when devotion to the Sacred Heart became widespread apparitions in which Our Lord figures tend to focus upon His heart. Strangely enough, when the place is in the vicinity of the Blessed Sacrament there is usually no connec-tion between it and the apparition. The appearances of the Blessed Virgin taking place outdoors do not generally present themselves abruptly: they are introduced by some sound or sight that does not naturally fit in with the circ.umstances, but attracts attention and prepares for what is to come. ~° 3. Zones and Periods "" Looking over lists of apparitions that have been reported one can easily discern certain zones, or parts of the world, and periods of time, in which they are especially numerous. Staehlin refers to one zone, without however naming it, °embracing some twenty villages, in which there was, as it were, an epidemic outbreak of visions. In Belgium in the single year 1933 there was a comparatively large number of them; Staehlin lists the places and dates for eighteen, and says that the enumeration is far from complete. 199 AUGUSTINE G. ELLARD Reoieto for Religiou.s 4. Constellations It is also noticeable that apparitions tend to occur in constella-tions, that is, in groups with a certain unity of place, time, and sub-ject- matter. Numerous minor occurrences of this kind cluster around one that is of major importance and renown. Thus a full critical account of the origins of Lourdes would chronicle many visionaries and visions besides St. Bernadette and her experiences. She is the one whose claims have been approved, both by the Church officially and by the common assent of the faithful, and she is the only one who was canonized for her virtues. But there were other persons who reported having seen apparitions at about the same time and place. For the names of some of those who Said that they had had such visions and the places and times at which they occurred, see Staehlin, volume 139, pp. 555-56. It is said that at Fatima also there were other apparitions beside~ those to the three little shep-herds. 5. Multiplication Multiplication is another mark that Staehlin observes in his study of apparitions. Once a particular vision is recorded in the literature it is apt to be repeated. The following is an example. In Agreda, Spain, in the seventeenth century there was a Franciscan ab-bess named Maria de Jesus. Continuing the work begun by the famed visionary St. Bridget of Sweden, namely, completing the Gospel accounts from private revelations, Maria wrote the celebrated and highly controversial book called The Mystical City of God. It is a history of the life of the Blessed Virgin. .Because of its ques-tionable character the process for her beatification which had been begun was discontinued. Mother Maria recounts in great detail this incident from the passion. When Jesus had been fastened to the cross and the soldiers wished to clinch the nails, they were about to turn Him and the cross over, thus leaving Him with His face on the ground. His mother, unable to bear the thought of that additional cruelty and indignity, most earnestly besought the Eternal Father not to permit it. Accordingly He sent angels at once who supported the overturned Jesus and cross in the air above the rocky ground while the executioners hammered back the nails (Part II, Bk VI, .Chapter XXII, n. 1386). In the next century, after Mother Maria's work had become widely diffused among the. devout nuns in the convents of Spain, Sister Joan of the I.nca.~.n.~tion, of .,t.he Discalced Augustinians in 2OO July/, 1954 APPARITIONS AND REVELATIONS Murcia, had a strikingly similar vision, reported in very much the ~ame way. In our century Sister 3osefa Menendez, of the Spanish Religious of the Sacred Heart, whose book Christ's Appeal for Love i~ making her increasingly well-known just at present, also saw in a vision and reports exactly the same incident. (For the original wording in all three cases, see Razon y Fe, 1949, vol. 139, pp. 559- 560). - 6. Four Patterns It is not difficult to observe that even those apparitions which seem original or at leas.t have no particular connection in time or place tend to follow certain definite patterns. Of these Father Staeh-lin distinguishes four: namely the reformatory type, the pastoral, the innovating, and lastly one representing the passion of Christ. The first two, the reformatory and the pastoral, inasmuch as they involve prophecies regarding the future, may be termed apocalyptic. The third and fourth, introducing something new or somehow reproducing the Passion, are of a .more devout form. Apparitions falling into the reformatory pattern may be de-signed to change either religious or political conditions. In times of stress and strain in Church or state there is wont to be an excess of them. A typical apparition seeking reform in religious matters would first point out the tragedies and calamities that afflict the Church. Then the cause would be indicated, for example, the faults of the clergy and religious men and women. An exhortation would follow urging them to do. perian~e and again take up the fervent pursuit ~of virtue. Finally the happy results would be depicted in glowing colors. ~The Church and civil society are al.ways laboring under great evils or dangers of them; some reformatory movements are always in progress; some of .the troubles disappear in time; and in a few respects at least there is positive change for the better. If the prediction is not completely verified, one can invariably say either that not enough effort toward penance and amendment was made or that the rest of the prophecy is still to be fulfilled. The pasoral pattern of apparitions is the one with which we are all most familiar. Popular devout literature and th~ conversations of pious people thrive on it. Such appearances, which are said to be very numerous, tend to conform to this broad scheme: some chil-dren, playing outdoors, unexpectedly notice a sight or sound that att~rac.ts or directs their attention. Abov.e the branches of a tree or in a.~;clearj,g they notice a white feminine figure, they are addressed by 20,1: AUGUSTINE G. ELLARD . Reoiew for Religious it, am:l finallyo.tbey are invited to return to' the site on subsequent days. Soone~ or later the figure makes itself.known as the Blessed Virgin, and eventually she manifests some secret or other to the young seers. Sheoften requests that a shrine be erected there and promises a miracle to give divine assurance for everything. There is a message that is to be made public (an example, therefore, of a revelation that is private, but with a social purpose): the good should do penance and pray more for mankind. At last somethi.ng takes place which is in.terpr~ted as the miracle. Evidently the ap-paritions at Lourdes. and Fatima fire outstan, ding examples and models of this pattern. These two are also among the very, very few that have been approved and that have achieved importance. Scores, if not hundreds, of others, have created only a local or a passing stir among the people. _New devotions' are usually the object of the next, the inno-vating, type of visions. In her attitude toward these the Church is likely to be much more severe and critical, and the reason is that novel forms of religious practice very often imply notions that are wrong or dangerou.s°to the faith. In 1937 a decree against certain n6velties was issued b~" the Holy Office. "Everybody knows that such new forms of Worship and devotion, sometimes ridiculous, very often a useless imitation of similar devotions already legiti-mately established, or even a corruption of them, are. multiplled from day to day and widely propagated among the faithful in sev-eral places, especially in these latter times, to the great surprise and bitter reproach of non-Catholics" (Acta Apostolicae Sedis, XXIX, 305). It is easy for certain devout souls to feel inspired to insti-tute, say, a new scapular or a nea, v ~et of Fridays or Saturdays in honor of the~'r favorite celestial"patron. Apparitions of the fourth pattern represent the passion and crucifixion of Christ. Some of the seers who witness them are stig-matics. Anyone somewhat conversant with devotional literature will know of examples. A notable recent case is that of St. Gemma Galgani (1878;1903). So much for the observations of Father Staehlin. III. NEGATIVE TYPES 1. Diabolical Apparitions Besides apparitions or revelations from the mansions of heaven, there are of course others that come from the dungeons of the nether regions. In gent~ine cases these are really and truly supernatural in, 202 July, 1954 APPARITIONS AND REVELATIONS the sense of being beyond the possibilities of visible nature. The lives of the saints contain many instances, and therefore the sanctity of the human person concerned is no proof that his or her super-normal experiences are all good. Of these appearances some are at once and clearly diabolical; they are generally of a terrifying naturd. Others seem at first to be holy and conducive to piety, but they are always deceptive, and sooner or later manifest indications of the evil tendencies that they subserve. At'a certain period in his life and at hours when he should have been studying, St. Ignatius used to ex-perience visions that seemed to make for devotion and prayer,/but eventually he noticed that it was always at the wrong time and place, and he concluded that what he was seeing was a temptation rather than a grace, and really something designed to distract him from God's work. Besides_preternatural appearances that emanate from the evil spirits there are others also which are in reality natural, but mistakenly attributed to evil spirits. 2. Hallucinations and Illusions A distinction relevant to apparitions and revelations that is hu-miliating and unpleasant for subjects, but nevertheless of prime practical importance for their directors and everybody else who has anything to do with them, is that between authentic and apparent manifestations of the supernatural, or, in other words, between the really miraculous and hallucinations or illusions. In hallucinatio.ns one judges that he sees or hears something that is simply non-existent; there is not even a good foundation for the mistaken per-ception. Illusions are false interpretations of something that is true and objective; for example, a man suffering from delirium tremens sees a stick and takes it to be a snake. Th~se aberrations .of tile mind can in some cases have a very close resemblance to truthful judg-ments. A perfectly balanced person may be deceived in a particular case, and the most acute discerner of spirits may find it exceedingly difficult to make the appropriate distinctions with assurance. Hence the great necessity of exercising extreme precaution in pronouncing upon any occurrence that has the semblance of the supernatura~l. Not long ago a certain French doctor and psychologist wrote a study of "interior words." It was based par.ticularly upon. a num-ber of books published in recent years 'arid purporting to give pri-vate divine revelations or locutions. Of his whole investigation he gives the general conclusion as follows: "These reflections, suth as they are, allow us to see in many cases of 'interior words' a natural 2O3 AUGUSTINE G. ELLARD Review [or Religious psychological mechanism, independent (inasmuch as it is a process) of'the religious character of their content: a mechanism of projec-tion, of compensation, of mental dialogue expressed in language. The classical criteria~ conformity to the teaching of the Church, sanctity of life, quality of charity, submission to the magisterium of the Church, are evidently indispensable. It seems to me that they are not sufficient. Is it not proper to consider as well whether a natural ex'planation cannot account for them, in whole or in i0art?" (Vie Spirituelle, Supplement, May 1953, 165-175; Dr. Suzy Rousset, " 'Paroles interieures'--remarques'psychologiques.P"e)r-haps, therefore, modern psychologists and psychiatrists capnoint out the precise mechanisms and processes which explain the fact, long ago noticed by SL. 3ohn of the Cross, that a devout person may seem. to hear God speaking to him interiorly, whereas in reality the person is talking to himself through his subconsciousness. The distinguished contemporary Carmelite authority in "spir-itual theology,"' Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, has made a special study of visions and revelations, and published the results in a work devoted exclusively to that subject, Visions and Revelations in the Spiritual Life (1950). Toward the end of this work he em-phasizes the point that the old rules for the discernment of spirits do indeed indicate whether a movement of soul or what .seems to be an interior locution is good or bad and whether it is ultimately from the divine spirit or the diabolical spirit, but they do not enable one to judge that, if it be from God, it proceeds from Him preter-naturally rather than naturally. What appears in consciousness as a divine locution may be from God and may be a great grace, but, from these rules alone, we are n6t justified in concluding that it comes from Him in the special way characteristic of revelations in the proper sense. "In the present state of the psychological sciences, in view of data which may be reasonably expected, it must be main-tained that the mechanism of the interior voice may sometimes be natural. Unless we succeed in disproving this hypothesis, we can-not cor~clude that God has certainly intervened" (p. 119). A devout soul can write a whole book, all of it most excellent spiritual doc-trine and seemingly dictated to the writer by God h'imself. It can be most conducive to one's advance in sanctity, or to that of others. Nevertheless the whole product may be really due tO the processes of nature and grace, and may not require any miraculous intervention from God. ,204 duly, 1954 BEATIFICATIONS, 1951 -I 952 3. Fraudulent Reports In addition to genuine apparitions there are some that are simply fraudulent. A person may gain notice and admiration and perhaps even many other advantages by acquiring the reputation of being in direct and supernatural communication with the powers of heaven. Moreover prestige and profit may accrue to places where appari-tions have been reported, and men seeing the commercial possibili-ties may, in good or bad faith, help promote the popular interest and excitement. A subsequent paper will consider certain practical problems that arise when one has become, or at least seems to have become, the re-cipient of apparitions and revelations, and also when one reads about those that are said to have been granted to other persons¯ E eatit:icatlons, 1951-1952 Pope Pi~s X, who was solemnly canonized, May 29. 1954, was born in 1835, died in 1914. He was the first Pope since St. Pius V (died, 1572: beatified, 1671: canonized, 1710) to be raised to the honors of the altar. An account of the pontificate of Pius X, as well as a table of important dates, was published in the May, 1954, number of the REVIEW (pp. 114-24). This account, written by the Archbishop of Madurai, was first published shortly after the beatifi-cation of Pius X, which took place on June 3, 1951. On the occa-sion of the beatification, Pope Pius XII said of his blessed predeces-sor .' "Through his person and through his work God wished to pre-pare His Church for the new and arduous tasks that awaited bet in the troublous future; to prepare in time a Church at one in doctrine, firm in discipline, et~icient in her pastors; a generous laity, a people well instructed: a youth sar~ctified from its first years; a Christian conscience alert to the proble, ms of social life. "If today the Church ofI God, so far from retreating before the forces that would 'destroy all spiritual values, suffers and fights, and through dlvlne help advances and redeems, it is due in great part to the far-seeing action and the holiness of Plus X. Today it has be-come clear thSt his whole pontificate was directed according to a divine plan of love and redemption, to prepare souls for the very 205 BEATIFICATIONS, 1951 - 1.952 struggles we are facing, and to ensure victory for us and for the fu-ture." The foregoing translation is taken from The Clerg~t Monthlt.t, XVI (duly, 1952), 227. We are indebted to the same publication for the following accounts of others who were beatified in 1951; also of those beatified in 1952. Blessed Atberic Cresc[telli: born, 1863: died, 1900; beatified, Feb. 18, 1951. Of the Foreign Missions of Milan. He was cruelly martyred during the Boxer rising after twelve years of self-sacrificing work in the China mission. In his case, as in other cases, the Holy Father remarked, "Martyrdom is but the cr6wning of an entire life of daily heroism and of continual compliance with the will of God." Blessed Francis Anton{ Fasani: born, 1681; died, 1742; beati-fied, April 15, 1951. A Franciscan Conventual priest. He spent thirty-five years in his native town of Lucera, 'teaching the young friars and then governing the convent and the province of his order, combining with these offices an intense apostolic and charitable ac-tivity. He liked to recall his humble origin, and among the poor who crowded the door of the convent for their daily bowl of soup, with filial respect and love he acknowledged his mother, "the poor Isabella." Blessed Joseph Diaz Sanjurjo, O.P., and tuaent~l-four coropan-ions. Beatified, April 29, 1951. In Tonkin, during the bloody persecution of 1856-1862 under Tu-Duc, thousands of Christians were cruelly tortured and put to death. One group of four was beati-fied by Pius X on April 15, 1906. The cause of another 1,288 was introduced in 1917; and from among these a first group of 25 has now been beatified: 2 bishops (Spanish Dominicans), 4 native priests (2 Dominicans and 2 Tertiaries of St. Dominic), and .19 Christians of every class of society. Blessed Placide Viel: born, 1815; died, 1877; beatified, May 6, 1951. One is deeply struck, said the Holy Father on the occasion of her beatification, by "the contrast between the temperament, the character, the antecedents of this little peasant girl--shy, awkward, without instruction, without the least experience of life in the world --and her career of exceptional, not to say unique, activity." Out of seemingly unpromising material God's grace fashioned an out-standing personality. Placide Viel was the daughter of a Norman farmer. When eighteen, she joined the young and struggling Congregation of the (Contin.ued on Page 214) 206 Spirit:ual Opia!:es Joseph P. Fisher, S.J. TWO of the most fundament.al and most consol!ng truths of the spiritual life are that the will of God is man s peace and that the providence of God is most loving. Practical acceptance and living out of these truths has brought and will bring many to holi-ness. There can be no sanctity where a person has no "devotion" to the will of God and little trust in divine providence. While all this is true, there is another side to the question, as there is to mbst questions. And this "other side of the question" has some impor-tant relevance to both the private and social lives of religious. Wrong understanding of these great truths can bring about great personal and great public harm. The pagan Lucretius in that terrible line, "so great a mass of evils has religion been able to foist upon ~nan-kind," fixed in a few words the awful effect of religion gone bad. Perhaps it would be well to listen to a pagan, ancient or modern, present his picture of a Christian and the will of God. -Thus then would our pagan speak: "If Christians live according to the faith that is in them, for them the will of God is the end of life. In all things great and small a Christian must love and do God's will and bear patiently whatever God allows to come into his life. If he is sick, that is God's will and he must bear sickness patiently and even gladly if possible. If there is a drought and the crops fail, that too is God's will and a true Christian must bear it without complaint. If in God's providence a man has been born into a poor family, that is for his best and he should worship the strange ways of divine provi-dence. If a working man cannot find employment, that is God's will and he must submit humbly--remembering that God cares for the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. If taxes are high and there is much corruption in government and unequal distribution of wealth, God has permitted these things, and His will must be rev-erenced. If the children are starving and the wife is sick and there is no opportunity for work, God has seen fit to allow that and man must meekly accept His will." Truly religion thus pictured is the opium of the people. Man~s urge for ~elf-preservation, for the advancement of his family, for his well-being in this life is stifled. He is made the pawn of priests, 207 JOSEPH [9. FISHER Review for Religious he is made a slave of inaction. Religion;has bound him hand and foot and made him a completely useless citizen of the state. We may now imagine an objector adapting the above picture to fit a religio,us more directly. To a religious God's will is especially dear. It should be his meat and drink. Only by complete aban-donment to the divine will can he lead his life as he should and reach' sanctity. Heshould hav~ ~o desire of his own but should will only what God wills. When he has come to such conformity, then only will he have true peace. So when sickness comes, em-brace it patiently, eagerly. It is a dear possession. Hold on to it as to a loving gift from God. Become a victim of the divine good pleasure. When failure comes, do not run from it; it is God's will and hence a blessing. When you are misunderstood, called to task unjustly, do not complain; this is God's will. Adhere to it. No matter what comes into your life, ~t is God's will. Be satisfied with it and it will sanctify you. The consequence of carrying out the foregoing "ideal" to its logical conclusion would be this: a sick religious holds on to his sickness as the will of God and does not try to rid himself of it; a struggling religious sees impending fdilure coming and welcomes it as God's will; a sincere religious finds himself the subject of petty persecution and, convinced it is God's will that he bear it, does so, when it is driving him to distraction. Even if the ordinary Catholic and ordinary religious do not see the speculative answer to the difficulty just proposed, in practice they solve it for the most part themselves. But it would be well if they understood the theory too. Certainly it is God's will that a Christia~i accept with patient resignation his lot as a poor man, the sickness of his children and wife, the lack of employment and such-like hardship. That is one thing. But it is quite another to give the impression that he may not and even ought not do something about righting the situation. To speak as if the .will of God ends with patience and resignation under adverse circumstances is to make something of a caricature of the divine will. It may be presumed that God wants something done about an unjust condition. If unscrupulous men have by their c~imes forced a man into an unjust condition, far fr(~m its being true that he ought to be content to re-main in such a condition, the man may be bound in conscience to do what he can to right the wrong. The truth then is this: in such cases a man has to accept with patience and resignation the existing condition as at least permitted by God, but he has to work with en- 208 Julq, 1954 SPIRITUAL OPIATES ergy to bring about the just order which God primarily wills. So the mark of the true Christian is not to accept willy-nilly whatever untoward event the providence of God allows to befall him, and to rest there; but rather, even while conformed to the divine will, calmly to set about bettering the situation when that can be done. There is plenty of room for the practical application of this prin-ciple in our modern world, where there are many cases of unjust and inhuman living conditions that call for reform. As for the religi6us, certainly he ought to hold the will of God dear. And certainly he ought to become as conformed as possible to the Will of God. But he ought to know what is and what is not the will of God. God's will is not necessarily that he remain sick if he becomes sick. When he is sick, of course he ought to see in this illness God's will and endure it patiently, but he also ought to realize that it may be God's will that he use some means to insure recovery. If he has a rule--as most religious have--to the effect that he should take proper care of his health, then this would indi-cate God's will in the matter. And certainly superiors consider it understood that their subjects do what they reasonably can to pre-serve their b~alth and to retrieve it as far as possible when it is lost. This again is an expression of God's will. The same principle holds in the case of failure and blame. A good religious accepts in a spirit of resignation such trials permitted by God but it is often clear that the same divin~ will wants the re-ligious to do something about rising from the failure or removing the blame. One's vocational-ideal is the surest means of diagnosing, so to speak, the divine will in any particular matter. What my vocation demands of me, that for me is clearly God's will. It hardly has to be pointed out that the conception of divine providence implied in the objection given above is faulty. There are plenty of people who think of the providence of God as a guarantee of an easy way through life here on earth. One will be able to live, 'they dream, as the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. God's providence will ward off financial difficulties, sickness, death of the young--all th~ hard things of life that test a man's belief and hope in God. To see their mistake, these people need only to consider. God's plan for human life, rather than their own imaginings as to what it is to be. A frequently repeated illustration will make the point clear. A provident father is not one who gives his child all he asks or all the child thinks is for his good. Children, even older children, frequently have a very poor idea about what serves' their 2O9 aosi~p~t p. Fis~ true good. A young child might want to play with a sharp, shiny knife, but no one would consider the father good who gave in to the child, no matter what kind of squall was raised. Children used to dislike school. Even though they raised a fuss and said their parents and teachers were cruel, a good father, foreseeing their needs be~ter than they, would insist that they continue their schooling. Tb'e father knows the end in mind and he knows the means to the end. And frequently the best means are the most repellent to the young. In this, grown men and women are often like children. God their Father knows better than they the end of human life and the best means to get there. Frequently these means look very harsh to God's children, but our good Father does not let this deter Him from doing what is really best for His sons and daughters. God wants our true good more than we do ourselves and He knows what it is and how to obtain it. Trust in His directing and loving providence is the only proper attitude on our part. God's providence over men is, therefore, not apampering provi-dence. Rather it is strong and it demands strength. We are taught this in the life of Our Lord when He was tempted by the devil, first to a distrust of divine providence--"command that these stones be made bread": and then to a rash and presumptuous demand 'on providence--"throw thyself down." Our Lord's answer to Satan teaches us the proper balance in,our attitude toward divine provi-dence: "Not by bread alone does man live"--man's end is not temporal but eternal: God provides what eventually best leads to our eternal happiness. Hence we must trust that all things work unto good for those who love God. "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God"--we should not presume on divine providence according to our own ideas of what is good for us. Such presumption would surely lead to disappointm.ent and distrust and at first to lack of private enterprise and then to trust of self alone. Only, therefore, when the Catholic doctrine on the will of God and providence is misunderstood and exaggerated does it make spir-itual opiates of these truths. Religious obviously in their own lives and in their dealings with externs should be mindful of these very consoling doctrines, but mindful in such a way that they do not give a basis to critics for the charge that the doctrines stifle the true life of man. Rather they should evidence by their lives that these great truths are springs of life more abundant. 210 To All t:he Saint:s in No-Man's Land George Byrne, S.J. W~E CANNOT imagine a bishop in our days addressing a letter to "All the saints that are in Chicago"! St. Paul would" have done it; indeed, be might more reasonably have ex-pected to find them in Chicago than in pagan Rome "delivered up to shameful affections." Yet to us the word "saints" suggests a no-man's land, reached by hardy explorers and possessing a climate of rarefied atmosphere, which only men of superhuman constitution can breathe. Doesn't the Church reserve the title for her heroes and look for miracles to confirm her choice? There must be a misunderstanding somewhere. Either St. Paul was using a little flattery, like the politician appealing to the "keen intelligence" of a stupid crowd, or we have failed to grasp his meaning. We may at once admit our failure: flattery was not a Pauline weapon. He knew what man .was: but he had a clear vision of what man should, and could, be: "To all that are at Rome ¯ . . called to be saints." On the one hand St. Paul might quarrel with our title, in "No- Man's Land," insisting that it should be "Every-Man's Land"; on the other hand, he could accept it, as true to his own words to the Ephesians: "He chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and unspotted in His sight in charity." The choice was made in "No-Man's Land." It was made in God's kingdom: "In the Father's house of many mansions"; in the climate of "pure love," an atmosphere truly so devoid of all breath of dis-ordered self-love that no man could live there if not strengthened by a power more than human: "for man shall not see Me [God] and live." Plato and Lo~e Not one of us would say to a friend, "You are unlovable, as you are incapable of love." Does any young couple, pledging a love "till death do us part," think for a moment that they do not know what it is to love? Yet the divorce courts are a sad witness to their ignorance. Love is a beautiful thing, a strong thing. It is not pas-sion, a fitful outburst to grasp for self the pleasure of a passing urge. ,211 GEORGE BYRNE Reoieto t~or Religious "Love is as strong ag dearth . . . many waters cannot quench love." In spite of his cold intellectual outlook, Plato did not fail to see the elevating power of love, even amongst his crude pagan gods. In his Symposium (197) he, wrote: "He whom love touches walks not in darkness . . . Love set in order the empire of the gods--the love of beauty, as is evident, for with deformity Love has no concern. In days of old, as I said, dreadful, deeds were done among the gods, for they were ruled b.y Necessity, but now since the birth of Love, and from Love of the beautiful, has sprung every good in heaven and earth. Therefore, Phaedrus, I say of Love that He is the fairest and best in himself, and the cause of what is fairest and best in all othe~ things . . . He is our lord, who sends cou, rtesy and sends away discourtesy, who gives kindness ever and never gives unkindness; the friend of the good, the wonder of the wise, the amazement of the gods; desired by those who have no part in him; parent of delicacy, luxury, desire, soft-ness, grace, regardful of the good, regardless of the evil . . . glory of god and men, leader best and brightest, in whose footsteps let every man follow, sweetly singing in his honour and joining in that sweet strain with which Love charms the souls of gods and men." As we .read the words of the tSagan philosopher, we approve. We can even fancy that a fold of Love's mantle rests on us. Even "those who have no part in him," as Plato said, desire him. No one is willing to admit that Love has no message for him, or that Love's message is Utopian! Sainthood and Love Why, then. is the call to "Sainthood" treated.as if it were a call to Starland, where ordinary mortals cannot dwell? It is so treated: we have only to suggest that Tdm or Harry, down the street, are, "holy," to draw a smile, in which Tom and Harrywould be the first' sharers. Yet they would be the first to resent being called un- Christian, or being taxed with lovelessness. They, and those who, with them, call themselves "ordinary Christians" forget that' a call to."ordinary" Christian life is not the Master's call. "Be ye perfect,~ as your heavenly Father is perfect," is addressed to all. The re-ligious life is called a "state of perfection" because, on the negative side, many obstacles found in the world are removed; and, above all, on the positive side, every means is at our disposal "to develop the supernatural life in our souls. The great variety of religious congregations in the Church is determined by the nature of the 212 dul~t, 1954 To SAINTS IN NO-MAN'S LAND work to be accomplished for the Kingdom of God and the different talents of the workers. But all religious.congregations pu~ love, true charity, in the foreground. In the words of St. Ignatius, "the interior law of charity and love" must be the animating principle of every religious constitution. Without the inner working of the Holy Spirit of Love, - external rules couldlead only to formalism. In God's creative plan, Iove and sainthood are identified. Let us repeat St. Paul's text: "He chose us in him [i.e., in Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and unspotted in His sight in charity.". St. John puts it more emphatically: "Every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God: for God is charity." "'Love IS His Meaning" In one of the mo~t beautiful books written, Revelations of Divine Love, Juliana of Norwich, tells us that the afiswer to her query of the meaning of all was: "Wouldst thou witten the Lord's meaning in this thing? Wit it well: Love was his meaning. Who shewed it to thee? Love. What shewed He thee? Love. Where-fore shewed it He? For Love. What shewed He thee? Love. Wherefore shewed it He? For Love. : . .And I saw full surely in this and in all, that ere God mhde us He loved us.~ .In this love our' life is everlasting. In our making we had a beginning; but the love wherein He made us was in Him from without beginning: in which love we have our beginning." Our earliest catechism lesson taught us that we are made to the "image of God." Perhaps the lessons passed all too quickly to "duty" as the rule of life. There were the commandments--only ten; but, as we turned the pages, the details grew; and our young lives seemed hemmed in by a solid hedge of "don'ts." A doctor of the law captiously .asked Christ: "Which is the great command-ment?" He little expected the answer: there is really only one-- Love, reaching to heaven, and pouring itself out on earth. The greatness of man is being an image of God; the image of God is in his soul. In what ultimately is greatness of soul found? St. Jerome aptly drew the distinction between philosophy and re-ligion. "Plato," he said, "located the soul of man in the head; Christ located it in the heart." In a word w~e have the difference between the "clever" man and the "saint." Few can be outstanding as philosophers; there is no limit'to growth in love. The.Immacu-late Mother mounted the hill of Calvary with Mary Magdalen; the_ 213 ' BEATIFICATIONS, 19 5 1 - 1 9 5 2 Review/:or Religious peniten't thief confessed, with St. John, that God is Love. At first sight it might seem that the type of sanctity is different in different religious institutes: for example, that a Carmelite recluse has little in common with a nursing, or teaching, sister. This view is clea~ly superficial. Their duties are different, but for all, love is the soul of their sanctity; and they may happily kneel side by side at the altar rail to receive into their hearts the Heart of Love. To be truly religious and not to love is unthinkable. BEATIFICATIONS, 19S1-1952 (Continued from Page 206) Sisters of the Christian Schools and was trained by the holy foun-dress, St. Marie Madeleine Postel (canonized in 1925). With prophetic insight the foundress recognized the latent gifts of the young religious and made her the assistant general at. the age of twenty-five. Six years later, when the foundress died (1846), Placide was elected to succeed her. For thirty years she governed this institute with remarkable efficiency--a most able organizer, a gifted educationist, a religious superior of fine tact and heroic pa-tience and humility. Blessed Julian Maunoir, S.d.: born, 1606 ; died 1683 ; beatified, May 20, 1951. "The Apostle of Brittany." During forty-two years he preached popular missions t~hroughout Brittany, at that time spiritually very neglected, and trained numerous priests for the same work. His incredible labors resulted in a deep religious trans-formation of that country. His life and work, said Pope Pius XII, are a lesson of optimism. His remarkable missionary methods are worth s{udying even today (teamwork, instruction.s and sermons, songs and pictures, processions, retreats for the elite.). Blessed Marie Th&&e Couderc: born, 1805 ; died, ~1885 ; beati-fied, Nov. 4, 1951. ~A slmple peasant girl, she became,the foun-dress of the Institute of the Cenacle (1827)~, whose aim is to give the Spiritual Exercises to women of every class. Through a series of misunderstandings, she was deposed from her office of superior and spent the last fifty years of her life in obscurity, heroic humility, and patience. In 1952 the Cenacle had 2,000 members in Europe and America. Blessed Rosa Venerini: born, 1656; died, 1728; beatified, May 4, 1952. As a girl she gathered poor children to teach them their 214 BEATIFICATIONS, 1951 - 195 2 prayers and Christian doctrine and thus gradually came to found the institute of Maestre Pfe, which today has some fifty establish-ments in Italy and North America. At first her work was regarded, as an innovation and met with man}, obstacles. One objection Rosa and her companions had to face was that women had no right to teach Christian doctrine, since it was to men that Christ had said, "He who heareth you, heareth me." Blessed Raffaela Porras (Raffaela-Maria of the Sacred Heart): born, 1850; died, 1925; beatified, May 18, 1952. Together with. her elder sister Dolores she founded in Madrid the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart. At forty-three she was prevailed upon by her critics to retire from the government of her institute as incapable; the opposi-tion party was led by her own sister, who succeeded her as superior general. She spent the rest of her life, 32 years, in obscurity and suffering: painful but fruitful years. Her institute at present counts fifty-six houses in Europe, America, and Japan. Blessed Marfa-Bertflla Boscardfn: born, 1888; died, 1922; be- "atified, dune 8, 1952. Born of poor Italian farmers and seemingly little gifted, she was a real Cinderella at home, at school, and after-wards in the Institute of the Sisters of St. Dorothea, which sh~ joined at seventeen. But she revealed herself a most devoted and skillful nurse and for most of her religious life she worked in the hospital of .Treviso, where she spent herself in the care of the sick and (during the first World War) of the wounded soldiers. Though suffering herself from a serious disease, she continued her service till obedience obliged her to undergo an operation: but it was too late and she died at the age of thirty-four. Often misjudged by her superiors, she w, as venerated by doctors and patients, and the cause of her beatification was taken up soon after her death. She was extraordinarily humble, the catechism was her favorite book, and the way she chose to follow was the most ordinary way, the via dei card (cart road), as she put it. She prayed that she might "rather die than do a single action in order to b,e seen." Anthon~t-MarV Pucci: born, 1819; died, 1892; beatified, June 22, 1952. He was moved by his devotion to Mary to jbin the Or-der of Servites. After his ordination he was sent to Viareggio in Tuscany where he worked first as curate for three years, and then as parish priest for 46 years, till his death. In this office he showed himself really "another Christ"; in him, the Holy Father said, "~e can contemplate an authentic image of the divine Redeemer." 215 NEW CONGREGATIONS Review for Religious "The Gospel teaches that there is a powerful grace of sanctifica-tion for priests, Obtained by the merits and prayer of Jesus Christ. Did He not ask the Father, in His sacerdotal prayer (JolSn 17: 17- 19) to sanctify them in the truth, as he was offering Himself as a 'victim in a sacrifice for them? The grace of the Catholic priesthood has, since nearly twenty centuries, produced incomparable fruits in every country of the world, and tl~e number of Saints endowed with the priestly character is constantly.growing . . . There is nothing greater on earth tban a holy priest." Blessed Anthony-Mary is for all priests "a luminous example in the exercise of the sacred ministry." His whole life was a sermon "because there was perfect agreement between his words and his ac-tions."' His self-devotion to his flock--in teaching Christian doc-trine,, spending long hours in the confessional, guiding ~he young,' and especially in helping the sick during a terrible cholera epidemic --was admirable and conquered all hearts, thougb it was a time of strong anticlericalism. But he "was not content with his own indi-vidual action"; he became a precursor of modern Catholic Action by establishing associations for every category of his parishioners-- children and adolescents, men and women--whom he imbued with his own zeal. He also founded the Institute of the Servants of Mary, a nursery of catechists and teachers. He started societies of St. Vincent de Paul (which were still new at that time), and open-ed the first seaside hor~e for poor sickly children. New Congregat:ions The Sisters, Home Visitor.s 0'f Mary.have the special apostolate of convert work among Negroes. This community was organized four years ago in Detroit under,the patronage of Edward Cardinal ~Mooney. The sisters teach religion to boys and girls who attend the public schools and to adults; they also conduct recreational pro-grams, plan clinics, conduct classes in home making and home nursing, and carry out other social . service activities. Their mother house is at 356 Arden Park, Detroit 2, Michigan. .The habit is a simple navy blue dress, coat, and hit in present-day style. , The Sons of Mary, Health of the Sick will specialize in medical and catechetical work for the missions and will train many of the 216 dul~ , 1954 NEW CONGREGATIONS Catholic natives to be nurse-catechists. This congregation of brothers was founded by Father Edward F. Gareschd. The novitiate was established at Sylva Maria, Framingham, Massachusetts, with the encouragement and help of. Archbishop Cushing. The habit is of dark blue with a dark blue cord around the waist; a rosary with white beads hangs.from~ the cord. Not exactly new-is the congregation of Dominican Rural Mis-sionaries. This institute was f~unded in France and was affiliated with the Dominican Order in 1932. At that time they numbered 20. They'now number 427, with 69 houses (65 in France, 1 in Switzerland, 1 in Canada, and 2 in the United States). The houses in this country are in Louisiana, ~where tile first was opened in 1951. The sisters are dedicated,to the spiritual welfare of the people of the rural areas, especially within the framework of the parish, and without distinction of race, color, or creed. Further information about this congregation may be obtained from Mother Marie St. Paul, O.P., Convent of the Epiphany, Gross Tete, Louisiana. CONGRESS IN BUENOS AIRES An international congress on the states of perfection was held in Buenos Aires, March 3-11, 1954. The Sacred Congregation of Religious convoked the co~gress and sent a delegation headed by its secretary, Father Arcadio Larraona, C.M.F. The Cardinal Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Dr. Santiago L. Copello, presided at the ~ongress; Father Larraona was its general director. Since the congress' was on the ':states of perfection,~' it included not only religious but also others who are dedicated to the quest of evangelical perfection, such as members of secular insti-tutes. There were representatives from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay. COMMENTARY ON LITTLE OFFICE ~ Father John J. Kugler, S.D.B. is the author of A Commenta(y on the New Little Ottice. The book contains parallel columns of the new Latin version of the Psalms and an English translation; also verse-by-verse notes on the Psalms, and a liturgical explanation of each hour. This book should be very helpful to reli-gious who are using the Little Office with the new version of the. Psalms. It should be noted, however, that this is not the new edition of the Little Office which was described by Father Ellis in a recent article (REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, XIII [May~ 1954], 149). Father Kugler's book refers to the standard edition of the Little Office with the new version of the Psalms. The price of the book is $2.00. It may be obtained from: Salesiana Publishers, 202 Union Ave., Pater-son 2, N.J. 217 uesffons Answers --22- Have you any advice for a nun who thinks that God has begun to fa-vor her with mvstical graces and who cannot find any priest to direct If it be simply impossible to get direction from some competent person, read something that is to the point. Probably the best brief., treatise in English is the relevant part of Tanquerey, The Spiritual Life, pp. 637-740. An excellent work on prayer is Lehodey, The Wags of Mental Prager. Much the most thorough-going book on the direction ~'f mystics is Poulain, The Graces of Interior Prager (enlarged edition, 1950). This last book would hardly be suitable for self-direction for many people with less education; they would find it overwhelming and confusing, rather tfian enlightening and helpful. All the general principles of Catholic asceticism apply to mys-tics; in fact, they apply to them more fully and strictly. Souls fa-vored by God with greater graces should be more eager to love Him with all their hearts, to keep all the divine precepts and counsels, to be quite mortified, observant, zealous, and so on with all the virtues. If the Holy Spirit seems to be inviting one to a simpler, more passive, form of prayer, ~nd if, all things considered, it appears to be more promising than any other that one-could Eursue, then" one should give oneself up to

Issue 13.5 of the Review for Religious, 1954. ; Review for Religious SEPTEMBER 15, 1954 Study and the Spiritual Life . John R. Post The World Around Us . John H. Ziegler Pilgrims on theRoad to Love . George Byrne Secular Institutes . Francls N. Korfh Book Reviews Questions and Answers Quinquennial Report VOLUMI~ XIII NUMBER 5 RI::VII::W FOR RI:LI IOUS VOLUME XIII SEPTEMBER, 1954 NUMBER 5 CONTENTS BLENDING STUDY WITH THE SPIRITUAL LIFE--John R. Post, S.d. 225 OUR ADDRESSES . 233 THE WORLD AROUND US--John H. Ziegler, C.S.P . 234 COMMUNICATIONS . 239 FOR YOUR INFORMATION . 240 PILGRIMS ON THE ROAD TO LOVE--George Byrne, S.J .2.4.1 OUR CONTRIBUTORS . 244 SECULAR INSTITUTES: SOME QUESTIONS--Francis N. Korth, S.2J.45 PAMPHLETS . , . . . 250 MARIAN YEAR PLAY . 250 QUINQUENNIAL REPORT (By Nonfederated Autonomous Houses and Monhsterles) . 251 REGIONAL CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS .2.6.9 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS-- 26. Little Office during Mass . 270 27. Confession without Verbal Act of Contrition . 270 28. Drinking Water before Communion . 271 29. Confession before Communion . 271 30. Communion when Mortal Sin is Doubtful . 272 BOOK REVIEWS-- The N~w Testament; The Church and Infallibility; Mary in Our Life . 273 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS . 278 NOTICE FOR PUBLISHERS . 280 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, September, 1954. Vol. XIII, No. 5. Published bi-monthly : January, March, May, July, September, and November at the College Press, 606 Harrison Street, Topeka, Kansas, by St. Mary's College, St. Marys, Kansas, with ecclesiastical approbation. Entered as second class matter ,lannary 15, 1942, at the Post Office, under the act of March 3, 1879. Editorial Board: Augustine G. E!lard, S.J., Adam C. Ellis, S.J., Gerald Kelly, S.J., Francis N. Korth, S.J. Copyright, 1954, by Adam C. Ellis, S.J. Permission is hereby granted for quota-tions of reasonable length, provided due credit be given this review and the author. Subscription price: 3 dollars a year; 50 cents a copy. Printed in U. S. A. Before writing to us. please consult notice on Inside back cover. / Blending St:udy wit:h t:he Spiri!:ual Lit:e John R. Post, S.J. MANY young religious who are preparing for the priesthood must spend eigh~ or ten years in the quiet of a seminary be-fore they are confronted with actual work for souls. During that time they look forward with great eagerness to a busy minis-try; but when it comes, it often comes with something of a shock to their interior life. Why is this? The answer seems to be that now for the first time they have had to face up to the age-old problem of blending the active with the contemplative life. A certain amount of shock from this problem is inevitable, as it is in every new ex-perience to be worked out by themselves; but some help can be given them to soften the shock if during their seminary days they are taught to solve another problem, or rather, the same problem on a smaller scale, namely, how to blend the life of study with the spir-itual life. One young student, for instance, finds himself in this frame of mifid: in the morning he offers up to God all his p~ayers, works (studies included), and sufferings, and then is content if during the day he can keep his life of study from interfering with his life of prayer. The most he asks is that study and prayer just keep running in parallel lanes like two runners on a track. Another sees the pursiait of knowledge as a help to perfection, and'so, being a sensible religious, he determines to make the two desires fuse or blend into one organic whole. With him the life of study and the life of prayer, while really distifict, penetrate and help each other just as the soul does the body. T, he second theory will be explained in this article, which, though tailored to suit the'cleric, can, it is hoped, with a tuck and a hem be made to fit the student sister and brother as well. As with the problem of the active ministry, sb too here, the so-lution lies in the interpenetration of motives. In the years of for-mation the young men must learn two things: first, to study their Latin and Greek, their philosophy and theology, with an earnest intention of progressing in the service of God; then, to pray with an ardent desire to advance in the studies in which they are engaged. For, although the time set aside for spiritual duties is generally dis- 225 JOHN R. POST Review for Religious tinct from that given to studies, still the service of God should be made the predominant and actual motive in both. The theory, then, can be summed up in two phrases of St. Ignatius: "Let [scho-lastics] strive to have a right intention in their studies".and. "in their prayers let them frequently beg for the grace of knowl-edge." That is the theory, but some eager student might ask: "How in practice would you go about preparing an assignment in G~:eek or theology and at the same time maintain this right intention? In other words, tell us how each particular branch of our studies can be made.to help our spiritual lives and how our spiritual lives can at the same time help our studies." This is a rather large order, but let me try to fill it. To begin with, then, in practice a man blends his studies with his spiritual life simply by choosing a virtuous intention to keep working in class or at his desk. Seize upon some honest motive or motives from the many that are available, let those motives draw your mind into the heart of the matter and keep it there, and they will turn that hour of class or study into an hour of obedience, of zeal for souls, or of any other virtue. Some motives, it is true, are higher and more meritorious than others; some are more effective in stimulating the desire to learn; but every intention, provided it be virtuous and supernatural, is a "right intention" in the sense in which spiritual writers use the expression. And this leads to the consideration of a most fundamental and essential virtue in the whole life of study--the virtue of studiositas. St. Thomas, who ought to know, defines studiositas, or zeal for knowledge, as a moral virtue which stimulates and controls a man's curiosity. According to him a student, to be a student at all, must be curious. He must come to his books hungry to learn, with a hun-dred questions in his mind begging to be answered. "How did Cicero and St. 3erome express a concessive clause in Latin? What is that slight difference in meaning between quarnquarn and quarnois? I wonder how this particular clause in English would look dressed up in perfect Latin idiom." And so on and so on. These are the questions real students of Latin ask themselves, ask their books and the teachers because they want to know. It is studiositas, then, that makes the life of sudy. Other higher and more supernatural motives may be used to elevate this virtue, but none can take its place. No one can be a student without it. St. Thomas Aquinas, who was 226 September, 1954 STUDY AND SPIRITUAL LIFE both saint and scholar, prayed God to keep this natural curiosity of his ever alive. "Grant, I beseech Thee, O merciful God, that I may ardently desire, prudently inquire, .truthfully understand and per-fectly fulfill what is pleasing to Thee." These last words of the saint give us a glimpse into his inner life and show us how he blended his life of studies with his spiritual life. "May I ardently desire . . . what is pleasing to Thee." Thomas Aquinas, prince and patron of all students, was first of all as curi-ous as ever a man could be, curious about Aristotle and Cicero, about the nature of man and the world about him. And he never lost his curiosity. His Summa Tbeotogica alone contains some 4,000 questions. Yet, his natural love for knowledge was con-trolled and intensified, not lessened, by his love for the will of God declared to him by his superiors. "May I ardently desire . . . what is pleasing to Thee," he says. Besides the motive of stddiositas, therefore, two other motives attracted him to his studies, the motives of obedience and 'of charity. He was curious first because he natu-rally loved the truth which he found in a book of Aristotle; and he became more curious because he knew that God wanted him to study this book of Aristotle; and most curious because he knew that he would please God by studying Aristotle. By these means, then, his study became triply fascinating to St. Thomas. Two high motives drawn from his spiritual life combined with a natural motive and all three blending together drew his mind to the study of one and the same work. So, the blending of which we speak is the blending of a supernatural desire, or desires, with the natural desire of studiositas. The motives of obedience and charity, which we have just toudhed upon, are, I suppose, the easiest for the average religious to manage throughout his course and at the same time the most meri-torious. Another which can blend with all branches of his study is the motive for zeal for souls. In all the studies which the Church has arranged with admirable foresight and wisdom, there is a verti-cal intention which looks up from the different subjects to be studied, rising step by step from the elements of Latin and Greek grammar right up to theology, and based on the following chain of reasoning: the better prepared I am in the,lower subjects, the better grasp will I also have of sacred doctrine and so be the better equipped to preach the word of God to others. This is one way of looking at the course and drawing from the apostolate at the top a greater attraction for all the studies which lead up to it. But, even on the lower levels-- 227 JOHN R. POST Ret~iew /'or Religious that is to say," while one is studying Latin and Greek and philosophy --there is room for a horizontal intention of putting this very matter to good use for souls. I mean the apostolate of the class-room. In teaching orders especially, in which a large percentage of each province is engaged in the work of education, superiors and students alike are forced to think of their houses of study as normal schools and of the time of studies as a period of training for future teachers and professors. The novice who is studying the different uses of the Greek dative should remind himself that he may be teaching that very same lesson one day in any one of the order's schools. Students of the humanities and of philosophy will be given greater motivation if they are told from time to time how many of their religious brethren are teaching those subjects in the colleges. Theologians know that every priest is teaching theology in one way or another, either in the classroom, or in the pulpit or in the confessional. Thus, the teaching vocation provides a specia! in-centive for applying oneself with greater vigor to that part of the course in which one is now engaged. At this point I would like to pause and answer a question that must be bothering the reader as all these different motives (and we haven't come to the end of them yet) are being passed in review be-fore him. The quesion might be phrased as follows: How is it pos-sible to keep all these motives in mind at once? To increase in knowledge, to obey God, to please God, to teach others--how can one manage them psychologically? The answer is that is one is not obliged to use them all. To blend a life of study with the spiritual life, only two are required, the motive of studiositas and one other. But, if. others are used, only that of studiositas is to be kept in the front of the mind, while the others are lined up behind it as ulterior motives--just as in arranging a hand of cards you keep only one in the foreground in full view while all the others are held behind it peeking out a little over the edge. Does that mean that God will have to "take a back seat" to ablative absolutes or ens ut sic? Yes, at least while one is studying ablative absolutes or ens ut sic. Or, to put it another way, God Himself tells you to study and.by so doing He "takes a back seat" for Himself, always continuing, however, to occupy the first place in your heart. Study of the Humanities The study of the humanities presents its own peculiar motive to the religious who is engaged in it, a motive which, if employed with 228 September, 1954 STUDY ~.ND SPIRITUAL LIFE care and discretion, can give to his spiritual life a greater depth and breadth than it ever bad before. This motive is found in the word humanitas, for, as I see it, the purpose .of all classical studies in Latin, Greek, and English is to increase and intensify ar sense of kin-ship between the student and all the other members of the human family. Thus, with his symiJathetic understanding broadened and deepened and his sensibilities more refined, he can more easily respond to motives of faith which teach him to love all men in Christ and for Christ. As is~ clear from looking at ourselves, not all men are saints. The exercises of the novitiate may lead religious to expect too much of their fellow men. From reading the, lives of the saints and the ways of reaching sanctity they can acquire a partial, not a total view of life. Spiritual theology is likely to idealize and adorn too much. Philosophy, on the other hand, strips life of its warmth and color. History and literature, correcting the other two views, show us human beings as they are. They show us man as the "noble, lawless savage" that Newman speaks of, "whose morals find interests are disfigured and perverted by all the imperfections of passion, 'folly and ambition." So, we must not expect from litera-ture any more than it in'tends to teach us, or any more than we can reasonably expect to find in nature itself, whose mirror it aims to be, and certainly we must not expect to find in it a guide to (he highest sanctity. We have that in Christ and in the Church. "It is the business of art and literature," as Fleckner says, "not to save men's souls, but to make them more worth the saving." The most literature intends to teach us, then, is that human nature with all its faults is very lovable in itself. Then, after viewing its faults through the medium of literature, we ourselves can reason to the great need nature always had, and still has, for the redeeming grace of Jesus Christ. Outside the monastery walls, for instance, it is a very human thing for a young man to fail in love. Men are like that. And so Shakespeare enters into the heart of one of them and gives us his Romeo in all the pangs of love-sickness, saying: "See how she leans her cheek upon that hand! O, that I were a glove upon that hand, That l might touch that cbeek t."" That hand, he says, and that cheek, as if there were no others in 229 JOHN R. POST Review [or Religious the world. But, there are no others for Romeo. Isn't that ~he way lovers act? Isn't it human for young men to "moon" that way. Shakespeare has caught this universal trait, loved it, and invited us to love it too. It is also very human for men who have done great things for their country to take compl~acency in it, and so we sense something of our own humanity in every speech of Cicero as he struts across the floor of the Senate letting men know how lucky they are to have him as consul. Yet, boastful as Cicero is, his love for his friends and his family, his loyalty to Rome and hatred for all corruption give us an example of a very noble Roman. Achilles, the greatest warrior of them all, pouts in his tent before the walls of Troy when his prize is taken from him. Antigone has become for all time the personification of sisterly affection, just as Hecuba has of aged grief, and Aeneas of filial piety. Now, the Church thinks that it .will be good for the future priests to realize how many different kinds of souls it takes to make up the human race, and to know them and love them for what they are. We know from faith that they are lovable for a higher reason, but lit-erature teaches us that they are also lovable for the basic humanity that is in them, that image of God, warped and twisted by human passion in a way that is so much like our own. So, the special pur-pose put before the student of literature, and the one he should grasp and blend with the others, may be summed up in one phrase-- to love human beings. Motioes for Studying Philosophy The subject of philosophy, too, is not without its intrinsic motives which can be made to blend with the spiritual life. "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy," says Hamlet: but, we might add, not many more. For philosophy is the study of all things knowable according to their ultimate causes. The matter of philosophy, therefore, in-cludes the world, the nature of man, and even the very being of God, as far as these things can be known by the light of reason. In natural theology, for instance, students are taught to prove the. ex-istence of God and His attributes, and how all things come from Him by creation, are kept in existence by His conservation and con-' currence, and finally have Him for their ultimate purpose. In this whole field no religious who has ever made the Spiritual Exercises can fail to see the very subject matter of the Foundation and the Contemplation to Obtain Divine Love. Moreover, the laws of 230 September, 1954 STUDY AND SPIRITUAL LIFE thought which God has implanted in our intellect, and the laws of conduct in our will, the nature 6f the human soul, its origin and its destiny are treated of in logic, ethics, and psychology. That such knowledge can, and should be, of immense profit to a religious in acquiring a more intimate knowledge of himself goes without saying. But, apart from this bearing of philosophy on his own personal life, it is in this branch of his studies that the student is forging some of his strongest weapons for his future apostolate. It is agreed, I think, by Catholic apologists that the most dangerous at-tacks on the faith today come .from ~hilosophical quarters, and hence they must be met with philosophical weapons. The Church is assailed by the false doctrines of Communism, of the rights of the state in education; she has to meet the ~rguments of those who would justify birth control and so-called mercy killing: she has to be able to give the answers to so many who question her about the very existenc~ of God and the immortality of the soul. And all of these questions have their answers--solid, reasonable answers-- in Scholastic. philosophy. Knowing this, then, a young religious would be foolish and failing in his duty if he did not study his phi-losophy with the idea of defending the Church in this all-important field. Motives For Studgin9 Theologg It takes little effort to understand how the study of theology, which is the science of God, can have a stimulating effect on the spiritual life of a theologian. The reason is that the subject matter of theology is exactly the same as the matter of our prayer and the interior life. All that God has revealed about Himself and about His plans for the sanctification of the world, all that one needs to know, and more than one needs to know, by way of credenda and agenda, to make one a saint is presented to us over a period of four years in lectures and books, arranged according to the most scientific system of thought yet devised. Treatises on the Unity and Trinity of God; treatises on God as Creator and Redeemer; treatises on the Incarnate God, Jesus Christ, and the mysteries of His life; a treatise on the Blessed Mother of God: treatises on God's ways of drawing men to Himself by means of grace and the sacraments; the Church of God and the four last things; the laws of God and of the Church --- each and every one of these subjects speaks to us of God . . . God ¯ . . God. Theology is the science of God. We must not conclude, however, that classes in theology are 231 30HN R. POST Reoiew ~or Religious meant to be spiritual exhortations. Thgy are not. Moreover, some of the theses may seem as lacking in warmth as mathematics: but like mathematids, they are necessary to show the strength and logic of the system. The hnowledye of God, then, not the love of Him, is the immediate object of theology--clear, solid, profound knowledge based on divine revelation. But since knowledge prepares for love, one's knowledge of God cannot help but prepare his soul for acts of the theological virtues of faith, hope, and ch;irity, not only during the times of formal prayer, but also during class as one listens to professors expounding the sacred doctrine and in one's roo~m when one can delve into the depths of Sdripture and tradition for oneself. That is why St. Augusti.ne likens the students of the-ology to the contemplative Mary who sat at the feet of desus listen-ing to His words. "Let them choose for themselves the better part," he says, "which shall not be taken from them, and let them give themselves up to the word, drink in eagerly the sweetness of doc-trine, and be taken up with the science of salvation." One of the aims of this article has, I hope, been achieved. It was to explain how in practice the life of studies can be made to help the spiritual life throughout the course. To this end some of the super-natural mo'tives or desires which can be blended with the natural desire of studiositas have been developed in detail. And doubtless there are others. One can, for instance, find great inspiration in studying out of gratitude to his own order, or out of reparation to the Sacred Heart. This last becomes especially valuable when the studies appear to be difficult or dull. But, those intentions we have discussed show at least how one can go about supernaturalizing his study habits right from the beginning of the course. Using the motives of studiositas, obedience, charity, and zeal for souls, ,which are common to every branch of knowledge, a student can also apply himself to the humanities because he wants to deepen his love for his fellow man, to philosophy to help him d~efend the Church, and to the61ogy because he wants to increase his faith, hope, and love of God. Entering upon his studies with any or all of these motives the young levite will turn his hours of class and study into exercises of the spiritual life and win great merit for himself, the merit of these lofty virtues. Nothing remains now but the easy task of pointing out how a young man's life of prayer can be made to help his life of study. In a perfect blending of the two it is clear that each must contribute 232 September, 1954 STUDY AND SPIRITUAL LIFE something to the other; and if, by means of the lot:ty mqtives we have just described, one's study-life has been turned into an instru-ment of the highest virtue, does it not seem just that in times of prayer a religious should make some return and beg of God the grace of making greater progress in his studies? He knows that grace is necessary for every supernatural work, and the more supernatural, it is, the more grace is needed. As he tries, therefore, to manage the higher motives in his study, it becomes increasingly clear that, al, though'we apply ourselves to the lesson in Greek or philosophy, still it is God who must give the increase. Moreover, when we plead with God to increase our spirit of curiosity or to give us a more re-tentive memory, we are asking Him only for what He Himself de-sires. St. John Damascene defines prayer as "the petition of fitting things from God." What can be more fitting, or more in accordance with God's will, than th~it a student, should make progress in his studies? If God asks every religious in his years of formation to strive seriously and eonstantly to acquire a mastery of his subject, surely He cannot take it amiss or accuse us of bringing in distractions if we beg Him now and then in our colloquies to assist us in carry-ing out" His own will, especially if the fulfillment of His will re-dounds so much to the defense of the t:aith, the spread of Catholi~ education, and the sanctification of .our own souls. This was done byi.St. Thomas, as we have seen. One's examination of conscience, toO, can be made to serve the cause of study by keeping a careful watch over one's motives and nourishing the solid habits of indus-try, ~bedience, and the others. And thus it will come about that by." a sort of interpenetration our studies will help our prayer and our prayer will help our studies, and both, thus joined toge~her, will bring ~:orth much fruit--in the spirit of the saints--to the greater glory of God. OUR ADDRESSES We have three different addresses. It would~ help considerably if all who com-municate with us would note them: 1. Bdsiness communications, sfich" as subscriptions, renewals, etc., should be sent to: REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, 606 Harrison St., Topeka, Kansas. 2. Books for review should be sent to: Book Review Editor, REVIEW FOR RE-LIGIOUS, West Baden College, West Baden Springs, Indiana. 3. All other editorial communications, such as manuscripts, questions, letters for\publication, etc., should be sent to: The Editors, REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS" St. Mary's College, St. Marys, Kansas. 233' The World Around Us John H. Ziegler, C.S.P. THE families and friends of religious continually have to make lightning-like mental adjustments when conversing with Father Luke, Brother Bede, or Sister Mary Francis. Blithely we speak of a joke heard in the "common room," of having to at- ~end."particular examen," or of being assigned a new "obedience" next week--all terms capable of various interpretations besides the consecrated meanings we have attached to them. Most mysterious of all, however, must be our use of "the .world." When heard for the first time from young, red-cheeked Frater Paul, a statement like "I used to play left end for Catholic CentraE but that was before I left the world," could give some unititiated layman the eerie sensa-tion of being in the presence of a departed soul--appearances to the contrary notwithstanding. Occasionally too we are guilty of downright equivocation when referring to "the world," thereby indreasing our chances of being misunderstood. In one sense we left the world as soon as we" begin to live in a religious house, free from such worldly ways as catching [he 8:20 bus to work every' mornin'g and saving to buy a spring hat br a new pair of shoes. That world, however, is not in itself the world which hates Christ nor that which the spiritual writers un-animously warn us to shun under pain of losing our souls. "Our parents, to whom above all others under God we owe our vocations, live or lived in that world, along with countless other lay Catholics whose solid goodness we dare not question. In another sense, of course, there is "the world" which we as well as all Christians mdst renounce, the world which is its own idol, the world which makes of pleasure, power, and wealth the supreme goals of living. This world the religious not only leaves, but in doing so burns his bridges behind him so to speak by ceding to God his legitimate" rights tb use what the worldlings abuse. Hence it is always dangerous and some- ~:imes sinful to return to this seductive world even in our thotights and imaginings. But to dwell occasionally upon the present condi-tion of other men and women living in that world of cares and iinxieties from which mercifully we are sheltered can be very profit-able. Never to do so 'may even be to risk emotional immaturity,, a 234 THE WORLD AROUND US serious if not fatal flaw in a religious. For, although at first it sounds shocking, we can indeed learn much from the world. For example, our self-complacency shatters into a million pieces at the thought of how many good, prayerful, mortified people there are who have no title but Miss, Mr., or Mrs. At five in the morning the jangling of a lone alarm clock strikes the ear no more pleasant!y than the clanging of a bell or a throaty "Benedicamus Domino." Yet there are lay Catholics who rise at such an hour, say morning prayers, and set out for Mass in the nearest church. Perhaps they have had a full-night's sleep, perhaps they have been up and down half a dozen times with a restless child or a sick husband or wife. Others, particularly young women who work in offices, attend a noonday Mass during their lunch hour and receive Holy Commun-ion- which meant before the new Eucharistic fast regulations that they had been pounding a typewriter for three or four hours without so much as a sip of water. Man.y say their rosary daily; some steady old breadwinners have spent a few minutes before the Blessed Sac- .rament on their way home from work every day for years. These are by no means all the Catholics living in the world, not even the majority; but the point is that these few pray and sacrifice regularly or~ their own, without our schedule and rule, without the support and good example of our religious brethren, without, yes, the leisure time for prayer afforded us by our state of life. In the parable it was the servant who received only one talent and buried it unprofitably who was so severely reprimanded and punished. We shtidder.to think how severe would ~ave been the condemnation of the servant who received five talents if he had not made good use of them ! Paradoxically, it may also help us to be better religious to recall at times how many bad people there are in the world, crude, cruel, sensual, selfish people whom we seldom meet even in our apostolic contacts. How trifling the annoying faults of our confreres seem beside the gross wickedness of many who pass as respectable in the wgrld. Day in and day out, for instance, fine Catholic men and w,gmen must shut their ears against the flood of foul talk,~which sv~.irls around.workbenches and desks in, the,places they-~are~employed a demorali.zin.g source~ of temptation vce are spared. They must e~i~rn a living.ami~o fierce and often, unethical competition where it is every man for himself. Admittedly that blustering member c~f the. local community who somehow irritates us may not yet have at- 235 JOHN I-~. ZIEGLER Reolew [or Religious tained the highest reaches of humility and charity, but in 6ur .heart we can always be sure that 'if we w~r'e hungry, or sick, or in distress of any kind, he or she would be among the first to come to our aid no matter what the cost. :"' Speaking of per~gnality clashes and apparent lncompat~blhty agwe l~tbel it today, it would be enormously na'ive to suppose that these are restricted to convents and monasteries. Most religious had the good fortune to grow up in homes where father and mother settled their differences amicably and pulled together. Unfortun-ately this is not a universal pattern. The eloquent instruction be-fore marriage used in this country reminds the couple that "the fu,~ ture, with its hopes and disappoint .m. ents, its successes and its fail'- U~es, ii~s pleasures and its pains, its joys and its sorrows" is hidden from their eyes.' Often enough that" future soon reveals itself to be ¯ a bitter disappointment when one or the other partner under the stress of married and family life sho, ws up as a spiteful, unbending, irresponsible person.,. The ea~.y arid 15o, pular way out leads to a divorce court. But eyery parish priest knows of more than one case of sheer heroism on the part of a husband or wife who for years has ~t~d up under this cross rather than renege on a sacred promise and break up a home. So when we find the company of Father Glum oi Sister Garrhlous especially trying, our supernatural charity towards them will be no less meritorious and may even be more effective if we realize that since the fall of Adam human relations have been'an ifi-escapable problem for everybody. Enlarging our horizons and having a world vision can:in many. ways be a tonic to our sometimes sluggish spiritual lives. It is, we must never forget, our world since by .entering the common life we do not and in fact cannot resign from membership in the human race[ Moreover, our apostolic vocation compels us to see in every sinner a potential saint, and without indulging in the dubious esti-mate Of our age as the most wicked in history, we can safely say that objectively at least innumerable mortal sins are being committed. How puny and cowardly do our sacrifices appear against such a backdrop! Listlessly we dally over hundreds of opportunities to merit graces for the spiritually underprivileged while whole nations fall away from God. While Rome burns--thank God, not yet literally--we fritter away our time in the careless performance of our duties of state. Psychologists, say a well-adjusted person must be orientated; he must realize the circumstances of time and place 236 ' September, 1954 THE WORLD AROUND US and people in which he as an individual moves. Spiritual orientation --realizing our vital position in the Mystical Body--is even more necessary, particularly for the .religious assigned by obedience to work that naturally speaking is unattractive and unrewarding. Only when he or she fully appreciates the far-reaching; world-wide conse-quences of any task well done out of love for God can there be achieved that inner contentment and peaceful adjustment to the de-tails of daily life which should characterize every servant of God. A wilfully discontented religious is something of an "Indian giver," since it must be presumed that we knew at least confusedly what we were promising when we gave ourselves to God. Only the wilfully discontented, however, can be blamed, because everyone is apt to feel discontented now and then. Here, too, in these 6ccasional periods of dissatisfaction, turning to the stark reality of the outside World can do wonders for our morale. Imagine us standing before a group of young Catholic mothers and fathers of not poor but moderate circumstances and telling them with a straight face our most recent cause for dissatisfaction: that Sister Fortunata was deemed worthy of a new habit while we were told to put up with our patched one for awhile, or that Father Procurator's fondness for ginger snaps has led him to buy another case of them with the result that the whole comm.unity will be munching on the tasteless things for some weeks to come. While being somewhat amused and per-haps a bit surprised to find such utterly human reactions beneath the religious garb, these Catholic couples could very well give us an en-lightening five-minute lecture on how much it costs to house, clothe, and feed a growing family today, presenting as evidence a handful of unpaid bills. For all its inconveniences and privations. our poverty is at least secure. Their support depends on a monthly pay check which an extraordinary expense like illness can shrink to almost nothing. And then there are always the really poor whose existence, if we are not privileged t!o work among them, we may tend to forget. If we are stationed in a large city, the chances are that less than' a mile or two from our front door there are slums, the decrepitude and squalor of which would send us hurrying back gratefully to our neat little convents. There is little disagreement that over the course of a lifetime the~ most painful sacrifices~made by a religious: stem: from~ obedience. As the venerable Trappist~ lay brother is supposed to have admitted: 'Tve gotten used to almost everything but doing what I'm told." 237 JOHN H, ZIEGLER Reoiew for Religious Again it would be unrealistic to forget that not only religious have superiors. One thing that can be affirmed of our superiors is that however imprudent at times we may think their commands--how seldom all the facts warrant this opinion--their designs are moti-vated by a sincere desire for the good of the community and each of its members. Some of the most embittered persons one can meet in the world are those whose careers were blighted by an unscrupulous executive"s passing over their genuine ability and service to give the nod to some less worthy but conniving crony. The religious who harbors the suspicion that s.uperiors lie awake after night prayers de-vising ways to make him miserable is rapidly becoming pathological, both mentally and spiritually. Our rules and constitutions, or more often customs, sometimes reach a directing or restraining finger into nearly every department of life. But with admirable self-control in view of their past experience with red tape and army regulations, veterans of military service calmly assure us that we have no mon-opoly on minutiae. A West Point graduate confessed that, after the discipline of the Point, the externals of novitiate training did not seem overly difficult. Considerations such as these are not based upon a vision of re-ligious men and women, faithful to their obligations, but for the most part unhappy and disgruntled, dragging their way through life like dreary prisoners. Not at all! But is it unfair and untrue to concede that sooner or later into the life of even the most fervent among us there slink the twin devils of discouragement and self-pity? When they come, bent upon upsetting our spiritual equili-brium, should we not have some natural defense at hand as well as sound supernatural principles? All of creation is at our disposal to use in attaining our eternal destiny. Why not turn the contempo-rary world with its crosses and problems and temptations into a re-minder that the yoke we bear and the burden we shoulder are not altogether unique? ' And yet in one way they are unique. Because we are cross-- bearers not only by necessity as all men are, not only by Christian resignation as most good layfolk are, but by choice, as are all those who voluntarily follow the counsels. In return we above all others have Christ's promise of a hundredfold and life everlasting. This hundredfold we can spoil for ourselves if, too intent upon our own little world, we see our daily sacrifices magnified out of all propor-tion to what they really are. And even our store of eternal merit 238 September, 1954 COMMUNICATIONS can be decreased if, without a world-wide vision of the urgent needs of this hour, we fail to realize how much more we could help if we tried. Com rn un ica!:ions Reverend Fathers: This communication was prompted by Father Gallen's excellent article in the May issue of the REVIEW, "Pray Reasonably." He men-tions common difficulties in retreats for religious women, many of which, I feel, d~pend upon the methods of the retreat master. Often the presentation of points for n~editation loses its essential character through excessive length. Souls wearied by prolonged oratory are deprived of both the leisure and the inclination for fur-ther lengthy reflection. If these points are to retain their purpose of preparation for mental prayer, twenty minutes or half an hour would not seem to be an unreasonable limit, with the explicit in-junction that the retreatants continue the meditation themselves, al-though not necessarily remaining in the chapel to do so. A novel and perhaps very fruitful method of presenting the points would be that of the retreat master "meditating aloud" with brief pauses for the individual to add her own affections, even perhaps with both retreat master and retreatants kneeling. The additional time provided by this shortening of the points might be profitably used in individual contact with souls in the con-fessional. Many sisters do not have an opportunity for spiritual direction during the year and wish to seek advice during the annual retreat. If the hearing of confessions is delayed until the last few days of the retreat, or if the period allotted each day is very limited, the brevity which consideration for others demands makes it difficult to obtain adequate counsel. :~ I am sure that many would benefit by a series of articles on the subject of the retreat in the REVIEW, similar to the excellent treat-ment of spiritual direction a few years ago. Undoubtedly both re-treat masters and retreatants could share many suggestions in this way.--A SISTER. 239 lZor Your/n[orma!:ion Our Proiects In our March, 1954, number (p. 61) we suggested a "project" in the form of pooling ideas as to what it takes to be a good superior. We fiave received some response (even though rather meager) to this suggestion, but we have not yet had time to organize the material. We hope to have it ready for the November number. Also in the March number (p. 62) we suggested an "American Founders' Series." The response to this has also been meager; but the first article of what ,may (or may not) be a series will appear in November. Pharmacists' Guilds It is no easy thing today for the Catholic pharmacist to live up to the moral principles and ideals taught by the Church. One help-ful means of doing this is mutual cooperation in the form of phar-macists' guilds. One such guild is The Druggists' Guild of St. dames, of the Diocese of Covington, Kentucky. This guild has published a pamphlet entitled Our Faith in Pharrnac~j, which explains the moral principles and ideals, tells how to organize a guild, and gives a model of an appropriate constitution and by-laws. The ~0rice of the pam-phlet is twenty-five cents. It can be obtained from: The Druggists' Guild of St. James, 109 W. 6th St., Covington, Ky. Trapplsfs Leave New Mexico" The Trappist community of Our Lady of Guadalupe Abbey, Pecos, New Mexico is soon to be moved to a new site in Oregon. Their New Mexico property is now for sale. It is considered suitable for a convalescent home or some such purpose for any religious group not dependent on natural resources for its support. An illus-trated brochure with pertinent information may be had by writing the Father Abbot, Right Reverend M. Columban 'Hawkins, o.c.s.o., Guadalupe Abbey, Pecos,.New Mexico. 240 Pilgrims on !:he Road t:o Love George Byrne, S,J. THE strangest answer ever given to a questioner was given by Christ to Nicodemus. A doctor of the Law, he had been im-pressed by this "Rabbi, who came a teacher from God." From him, if from anyone, he could learn the ideal of life. What on earth did Christ's answer mean? "A man must be~ born again of water and the Holy Ghost." If there had been question only of some reno-vation by water, he might have understood. John the Baptist's work was not so enigmatic. But to be "born of the Spirit,". and so "to be spirit," entering on a new life unlike the "birth of the flesh," was something unheard of in the schools where the "masters in Israel" taught. Frankly, he did not understand. He was familiar~ with the book of Deuteronomy. He l~new its precept to love God with the whole heart, with the whole strength. But he did not know the meaning of real love; the love which "whether prophecies shall be made void, or tongues shall cease, or knowledge shall be'destroyed, never falleth away." This love bad nothing of earth in it; his mind had not yet been opened to "heav-enly things." He fancied that he loved, and with him we all so fancy; but our love is a love of desire, a yearning of the heart to clasp for self something that will enrich us. When personal gain disal~- pears, the "love" vanishes. It is still more fickle when faced with the cost of suffering. It was not love, pure love. Shakespeare merely repeats St. Paul: "Love is not love, which alters when it alteration finds." Pure love is uncaused. It is of heaven; it is heaven, fo~ "God is Love." A complete birth of the spirit is needed to secure it: "Create a dean heart in me, 0 God." Nicodemus must realize how "God so loved the wi~rld as to give His only begotten Son." Nico-demus, with his fellow Jews, practiced an observance calculated to hasten the "restoration of Israel." Self was the kernel of apparent fidelity. The Apostles, too, gave that they might get: "Wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom of Israel?" Their feet were not firmly set, as pilgrims, on the road to love--pure love, God's love. For three years the Master had been pointing the way; but their "hearts were slow to believe." About to leave them, He de-clared: "I have yet many things to say to you: but you cannot bear 241 GEORGE BYRNE Reuieto ~:or Religious them now." They had to be "born agai'n" of the Holy Spirit; He "would teach them all truth." He would do more. He would come; He would abide with them. They would not remain "or-phans." They were to find their 'way to the school of love. Born of God, they would love; and, loving with the real love, they would know Him. Before Pentecost the Apostles remained behind closed doors for fear of the Jews. After Pentecost they were "wit-nesses of the Holy Ghost." They bad been born again to the true love of God. Now. they wanted to give that they "might be chil-dren of their Father in heaven": "They went from the pr~esence of the council, rejoicing that they were accounted worthy to suffer re-proach for the name of Jesus." "To GIVE AND NOT TO COUNT THE COST" We saw in a previous article (REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, XIII [July, 1954], 211) that, though all of us would resent' being told that we are inc.apable of love, we should be read9 enough to demur about the epithet. "holy." Even though we might count ourselves among the class of "good religious," there would be a lurking feeling that "holy" is reserved for the "saints." We rather think of it as applicable to some rare supermen, who have shaken the world's dust from their feet and have reached a No-Ordinary-Man's Land, through an asceticism, and a still more esoteric mysticism, beyond our range. A fundamental mistake, since "holiness" and "'real love" are identified: "He who loveth is born of God." St. John, who bad pondered over Christ's reply to Nicodemus, at last under-stood it fully at Pentecost. When he began to write his Epistle, he had "been born again" and had come to "know God" with the knowledge that "is eternal life: that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." The truth is easily stated. In practice, however, it seems one of those easy lessons hard to learn. John could speak of that "which we have heard, which we have seen with our ~yes . and our hands hav~ handled, of the word of life." St. Peter would strengthen our faith in its trial with the words, "Whom having not seen, you love." We remain doubtful: "how, where, and when have we shown this love? The Master Himself has removed all uncertainty: "Lord, when did we see Thee hungry . . . ? Amen, I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me." The test of love is generosity; the test of pure love is unselfish generosity: "to give, and not to count the cost . . . to labor and not 242 September, 1954 PILGRIMS ON THE ROAD TO LOVt~ to seek reward": "Do good, and lend, hoping for nothing thereby: ¯ . . and you shall be the sons of the Highest." The "rich man" may well, like the Pharisee, have pridec] himself on his religion of temple service and Law, observance; growth in holiness he neglected. Lazarus, at his gate, offered him an oppor- ¯ -tunity. of growing in love by compassion. He neglected it; he was buried in hell, where all the loveless go! St. Francis de Sales has been called the saint of love: his pen distilled the word; his actions breathed it. His friends asked him the way to holiness. "You must love God with all your heart; and your neighbor as yourself," he.answered. "Yes," they said, "we know all that; but bow is one to do it?" To their insistence he replied: "Methods and systems I have.n't, got. You learn to love by loving; as you learn to speak by spe~iking, to run by running. ¯ . . Begin as a mefe~pprentice, and the very power of love will lead you on to become master of the art." " St. 'Paul, certainI~ a fire-eater, "breathing out threatenings and slaughter aga~nst~the d~sc~ple~of the Lord," d~d sit down as an ap-prentice to learn. He mastered th~ lesson and left it as an heirloom for us in his beautiful "Song of Love." If we would be "holy," we could do no better than constantly sing to ourselves this song, and let its melody harmonize with all we think about or do to oust. fellowmen. Let us begin the apprenticeship at home before looking for arctic regions to whrm with rays of our kindliness. This was the "little way" of Thgr~se of Lisieux. ~She daily tended, in her own little garden, roses whose perfume spread far and wide. Let us take St. Paul's Song of Love, and place in an opposite column the growl of selfishness. CHARITY is patient . . . is kind: on the look-out to help . . . envieth not: encourages, praises . . . dealeth not perversely . . . is not puffed up . . . is not ambitious . . . seeketh'not her own . . . .SELFISHNESS is impatient: "I can't stand thls"; "give it to me now" . . . is intolerant, bored: keeps what it has; looks for more . . . is jealous: criticizes, condemns to ap-pear bigger . . . loves to "hit back," to "take dowa that fellow's prideV' . . . lets others know what it has done; thrives on flattery . . . is full of its own importance; expects due reqognition . . . insists on its rights; "number one" is never second . . . 243 GEORGE BYRNE CHARITY is not provoked to anger . rejoiceth not in iniquity, but . . . with the truth . . . SELFISHNr:SS is touchy: flares up at a word or an act . . . admires the crafty; is afraid of sin-cerity . . . beareth all things . . . believeth all things . . . hopeth all things . . . endureth all things, . never falleth away. complains of each pin-prick . . . is suspicious, on its guard . . . is cynical: throws cold water . . . has little staying power when sacrifice is needed: is fickle. As religious, we make an examination of conscience at least once, peihaps twice a day. A mere inventory of so many duties well done, poorly done, or forgotten, does not carry us very far on the way to real improvement. The point to be stressed is not the work done, but the motive, the spirit, animating it. Our divine Master made this clear in commendin~g Mary Magdalen: "Many sins are forgiven her because she hath loved much." If instead of "Charity" w~ read in the first column, "Jesus," we see how true it is: "Jesus is patient, is kind, beareth all things, etc." Then try our own name: "John, Mary, etc." We soon see how little we fit into the "Char-ity" column; on the contrary, how much we are at home in the selfishness parade. Having made the discovery, let us look forward to possible op-portunities during the next hour, this morning, or this afternoon, of being "patient, kind, enduring," and the rest: let us resolve to profit by some of them. It is thus. that we "learn to love b,y loving." It is thus that we really start as pilgrims on the road to love and find to our surprise that we have more in common with the Heart of Love, the Sacred Heart, than we imagined. Holiness, wl~ich is growth in love, is not an empty dream. OUR CONTRIBUTORS JOHN R. POST is master of novices at the Jesuit novitiate, Shadowbrook, at Lenox, Massachusetts. JOHN H. ZIEGLER is doing graduate studies at the Catholic University of America. GEORGE BYRNE is professor of ascetical theology at Mill-town Park, Dublin, Ireland. FRANCIS N. KORTH is a member of our editorial. board. 244 'i Secular Ins!:d:u!:es: Some ( ues!:ions Francis N. Korth, S.J. IN A PREVIOUS ISSUE of this REVIEW (XIII [1954], 108)~, I referred to a number of interesting points about secular insti-tutes, many of which came up during the discussions of the ruary, 1954, Chicago meeting dealing with secular institutes. At the time I mentioned that I hoped to present these points in a future article, possibly in question-and-answer form. This is'the redemp-tion of that promise. The items are more or less iso'lated points. They are being presented with a view to filling out to some extent the general picture of what a secular institute is. It is hoped they will fulfill the purpose for which they are intended. I. Must applicants necessarily go to a distant city where a house of the secular institute is located? Personal acquaintance of the applicant should be had by the adviser who acts for the secular institute. This usually means a trip on someone's part. Later ori some other provision for the training of successful can~lidates closer to their home might possibly be worked out, especially if there are several such candidates living in about the same vicinity. However, that solution would depend upon a number of circumstances: sometimes it might be possible, other times it would be impossible. It would be better not to count upon it but rather to more or less plan on going for the necessary training.to the place where the house of the secular institute is lo-cated, at least for some period of time. 2. Is it adoisable to admit ex-religious as candidates to a secular institute? At least at the beginning of a new secular institute it would seem to be advisable not to take in too many ex-religious, since they already have undergone a systematic training different from that proper to candidates for a secular institute. That previous training might binder the development of the true spirit of a budding secular institute. 3. Are middle-aged people likely candidates for a'dmittance to secular institutes? 245 " FRANCIS N. KORTH Review for Religious M.any otherwise good people of that age group might not have all the?necessary q~J'alifications.for .such a vocation. One of these would be the proper age requirement for admittance to a specified institute. Hence one who is channeling possible vocations to dif-ferent secular institutes should make himself acquainted with the age requirements of the various groups. 4. Are widows acceptable as candidates for a secular institute? Widows can be admitted, unless the individual constitutions forbid it. If the widow has children, that might make a difference. Depending upon circumstances, .such applicants might be accepted or might be refused. 5. Would divorced persons be admitted? Under the supposition that the constitutions allow it, if the divorced person is the innocent party, such applicant could be ad-mitted provided there was no scandal: for example, if the identity of the person as a member of the secular institute is kept hidden if that be necessary to avoid scandal, or if the person goes to a place far removed from the locality where he is known. 6. What is the length of the aspirancy and of the novitiate? A six-months' aspirancy seems to be rather common. The period of training which corresponds to the novitiate in religious institutes varies: it is of one- or two-years' duration in some existing institutes. 7. Could the vows or promises made in a secular institute be termed semipublic? Yes, that term has been applied to them at'times since those vows, oaths, consecrations, or promises have a juridical effect. How-ever, all such vows, oaths, consecrations, and promises are, abso-lutely speaking, juridically private and not public; they are not recognized as public by the Church. But to distinguish them from ordinary private vows (which have no juridical effects) those vows have been termed by some commentators as semipublic or social VOWS. 8. What type or courses of studies might be suggested for the intel-lectual formation of members? Courses or lectures in dogmatic theology and in~ some branches of philosophy could be given. Also there is place-for courses in 246 September, 1954 SECULAR INSTITUTES asceticism. Dependent upon the particular apostolate of an institute, courses in languages, missiology, sociology, and other subjects would be suitable. 9. How much time would be given to prayer? In some institutes about one or two hours daily are required. This includes attendance at Mass, saying the rosary, a ball bout or more of meditation, some spiritual reading, and the like. Because many members are busy during the day earning their livelihood or doing their usual tasks, the suitable time for prayer would be the morning or evening hours. In some institutes the Divine Office (usually only a pari of it) is said privately each day. An annual retreat of five or six days is the regular thing. There might also be a monthly day of recollection. 10. Is any means used for checking on faithfulness to those prayer obligations? One possible means could be a written report on the external ful-fillment of the prayer obligations. However, no data is available on how much, if any, of this is done in practice. I1. What provision is made for the observance of the vow or promise of poverty? When the members are living in a common house and bare goods in common, the matter can be provided for quite easily. This is rarely the case. When the members do not live in a common house, a "budget" method could be used. This budget might be drawn up to cover ordinary expenses, such as light, food, heat, and so on. It might also be extended to include another category, extraordinary ex-penses: necessary or useful expenses that arise only occasionally. In either case, the estimated budget of expenses could be submitted periodically to the superior for approval, perhaps once a year. After- ~vards, at stated intervals the discrepancies between this estimated budget and the real budget, of which a record bad been kept, would be submitted to the superior for approval of the discrepancies. This budget would be individual; it would take into account such facts as the resources or income of the subject and his status in society. If the budget covers only ordinary expenses, then for extraordinary expenses (for example, the purchase of a new coat) permission could be obtained each time from the superior. Or provision might be 247 FRANCIS N. KORTH Review for Religious made to allow the subject to presume permission for the extraordi-nary expense and then report the matter later on. Similarly, in regard to the amount of money to be contributed by each member for the general needs of the institute, an agreement could be made between the institute (superior) and the subject. This might be made on a somewhat permanent basis, or as something to be re-examined and possibly revised periodically, say annually. If the former, then a clause could be added requiring re-examination in case the financial .condition of the subject became notably c.hanged. Again in drawing up this agreement, account is taken of the financial status of the individual. In general, in the matter of poverty a member could try to get along with a little less than other persons in his state of life or social position require. 12. Could a me~ber of a secular institute ~wn and operate a busi-ness? : Owning and operating a business in the name of the institute is forbidden, but it does not seem forbidden for an individual member to own and operate one. 13. Could a member prot)ide.for his parents financially it: the latter were in need? If the parents of a member fell int~ need, it seems that the supe-rior could approve such assistance as a necessary expense. In that case, however, the institute itself would not support the parents of the member, but it,would permit the member to support them. 14. Do members of secular institutes mal~e a will? Yes, a will or last testament is made before profess)on. 15. What about dealing with the opposite sex? Aside from professional or other necessary contact, it would seem that steady or regular contact with members of the opposite sex is to be avoided. This would also extend to correspondence. In the matter of dancing, members could sponsor or chaperon dances, but they .would not themselves dance with persons of the opposite sex. However, it is possible that such provisions might vary some-what in different institutes. . 16. Is it permissible fgr members to attend movies? to use cos-metics? to smoke? to go swimming? , 248 September, 1954 SECULAR INSTITUTES In these matters, there very likely might be divergent practices among various institutes. According to one report it is all right for the members to attend movies for recreational purposes if the pic-tures are good; moderate use of cosmetics is allowed; no mention is made for or against smoking; swimming is permissible. The deci-sion as to what is permissible or not in these and similar matters might depend to a considerable extent upon the customs of places and peoples. 1.7. For what purpose would a secular institute be established? A secular institute would have the general purpose of aiming at the sanctification of its members. There would also be a specific purpose, such as doing some particular apostolic work to meet a special apostolic need, or simply placing its members at the disposal of the local ordinary (or of the Holy See) to do what, he wishes done. 18. In u2hose hands is the government of a secular institute? In general the government of a secular institute is in the hands of its lay members, at least for the lay sections. In some institutes, however, a priest is serving in the capacity of superior general or provincial superior. But as a rule priest members might act rather in the capacity of spiritual advisers or confessors. 19. What is an ecclesiastical assistant? An ecclesiastical assistant (who might be known possibly~ by some other term) is a priest specially designated to give help to a secular institute. He might be chosen from the ranks of the diocesan or religious clergy. In general the function of an ecclesiastical as-sistant would be that of counseling, giving spiritual help, and the like in the external forum; but his work might vary somewhat at times in accordance with the wishes of the local ordinary. The in-. ternal government of a group, however, should be left to thegroup itself, unless possibly at 'the beginning more than spiritual help is needed from this priest to keep things going. 20. Would it be advisable for this ecclesiastical assistant, ~vbo has authoritq in spiritual matters in the external forum, also to be the ordinartj confessor or spiritual director of a member? If a discussion of t'bis point were held, the conclusion migbt be reached that a negative answer would seem to/be the better one, al- 249 FR,~,NCIS N. KORTH though in some instances such a combination might work out all right. 21. Is it advisable to use terms, such as "'novitiate," "profession," and so on in connection with secular institutes? At present some of the terminology which is common usage in regard to religious institutes is being used by some writers to explain similar matters relating to secular institutes. Terms such as "no-vitiate" and others which are proper to religious institutes are usu-ally not to be applied in their technical sense to secular institutes; rather it is hoped that a distinct body of terminology proper to secular institutes will be built up gradually. One purpose of such separate terminology might be to stress the important fact that members of secular institutes are not religious. PAMPHLETS Looe Letter (on the love of God) by John M. Scott, S.J. l0 cents.-- Twenty-four Rosaries and Chaplets, by Patrick Shaughnessy, O.S.B. 15 cents.- The Grail, St. Meinrad, Indiana. The Teacher and Vocations, by John B. Delaunay, C.S.C. 10 cents-- Ave Maria Press, Notre Dame, Indiana. The Ladtl Was Immaculate, by Daniel A. Lord, S.J.--I Can't Cope/ That Family, by Francis L. Filas, S.d.--Death Is Life, by John M. Scott, S.J.--Heart of Our World," by Arthur R. McGratty, S.J.--Don't Go to Hell, by Winfrid Herbst, S.J.--Each 10 cents. The Queen's Work, 3115 3outh Grand Blvd., St. Louis 18,, Mo. MARIAN YEAR PLAY Counted as Mine is a play of three acts, six scenes, with a modern-dress cho-rus, suitable for performance by high school and college students or by little the-atre groups and parish drama clubs. It is the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Hope of America. Written by a Poor Clare, the author of the play, Candle in Umbria, and of the boqk of poems, Whom. I Have Loued. $1.00 per copy. Order from: t(ev. Mother M.'Immaculata, P.C., Poor Clare Monastery of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Route 1, Box 285-C, Roswell, New Mexico. 25O Quinquennial Repor!: By Nonfederated Autonomous Monasteries and Houses EDITORS' INTRODUCTION THE decree of the Sacred Congregation of Religious, 3uly 9, 1947 (cf. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, VIII [Sept., 1949], 234- 40), extended the obligation of m~lking the quinquennial re-port beyond the terms of canon 510, which requires it only of the abbot primate, the superior of every monastic congregation, and the superior general of every institute approved by the Holy See. Now, however, the superiors of all nonfederated autonomous monasteries and houses, as well as the superiors general of all diocesan congrega-tions, are obliged to send in this quinquennial report. Here are the provisions regarding these latter classes of religious: 1. Major superiors of autonomous, monasteries or houses o[ men which, although approved by the Holy See, do not belong to any monastic congregation or federation, shall send in their reports in the foIlowing order: In 1953, 1958, 1963, canons regular, monks, military orders. In 1954, 1959, 1964, all other regulars. In 1955, 1960, 1965, clerical congregations. In 1956, 1961, 1966, lay congregations. In 1957, 1962, 1967, societies of common life, secular insti-tutes and federations. 2. Major superioresses of autonomous monasteries and houses not belonging to any federation, as well as superioresses general of diocesan congregations, societies of common life, and of secular in-stitutes, shall send their report as follows: In I953, 1958, I963, the superioresses of Italy, Spain, Portu-gal. In 1954, 1959, 1964, the superioresses of France, Belgium, Holland, England, Ireland. In 1955, 1960, 1965, the superioresses of the other countries of Europe. In 1956, 1961, 1966, the superioresses of America (North,. Central, South). Shortly after the publication of its decree, the Sacred Congrega- "25t QUINQUENNIAL REPORT tion issued a new questionnaire to replace the official one of March 25, 1922 (AAS, XV, [1923], 459-466) which contained 106 questions. The new questionnaire, printed in Latin, has three forms: (1) for pontifical institutes and societies (342 questions); (2) for diocesan congregations and societies (322 questions); (3) for nonfederated autonomous monasteries and houses (171 questions). The first of these questionnaires, for pontifical institutes a, nd societies, has been translated into English and published by the Sa-cred Congregation. It is available for $1.50 from Rev. Giulio Mandelli, Archivist, S. Congregation of Religious, Palazzo San Cal-listo, Rome, Italy. With the permission of the Sacred Congrega: tion of Religious, this complete official English text was also pub-lished in REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS during the course of the year 1950. The two shorter questionnaires have never been translated officially into English. As a matter of fact, the questionnaires fbr pontifical and diocesan institutes are practically identical after one omits some twenty questions dealing with provinces and their government. The complete text for diocesan congregations may be found in Creusen-Ellis: Religious Men and Women in the Code, ed. 5, 1953, pp. 278-316. The questionnaire for nonfederated autonomous monas.teries and houses, however, contains only about half the questions pro-posed for pontifical institutes. It was decided to publish this ques-tionnaire in our REVIEW for the benefit of these small houses because they cannot find the qfiestions elsewhere in English, And, since the monasteries and houses in England and Ireland must send in their reports this year, this questionnaire is being printed now, even though American houses will not need it until 1956. We should like to add that, though these various questionnaires may directly concern only limited numbers of religious, yet all of us can learn a great deal about the mind of the Church by reading the questions. What follows is an unofficial English translation of the official Latin text of the questionnaire: POINTS TO BE NOTED A) Regarding the drawing up, and writing of the quinquennial re-port: a) ]~efore the reply to each question, there should be a clear 252 ~ September, 1954 QUINQUENNIAL REPORT ¯indication of the number and letter by which that question is desig- ~aated in this list. b) Whenever a pontifical or episcopal document is brought in, its date and protocol number should be faithfully and uniformly given. c) The reply is to be developed as each case may require, and is not to be dismissed with a simple affirmation or denial. d) The report is to be made out in Latin or in any of the fol-lowing modern languages: English, French, German, Spanish, or Italian. e) The report should be typed and in clear characters. If for some just cause the report is written by hand, the handwriting must be clear. f) The paper to be used must not be translucent nor too thick, but durable, so as to resist the ravages of time. B)" Regarding the manner in which this report is to be made to the ordinaGl and transmitted b~] him to the Sacred Congregation of Religious: 1. Superiors of autonomous monasteries and religious houses are not to send the quinquennia! report directly to the Holy See, but rather to their own local ordinary, if they are subject to him, other-. wise to the regular ordinary upon whom they depend (cf. decree Cure transactis, IV, 1°, 2°). 2. The report is to be signed by the superior of the autono-mous monastery or house and by all his councilors. 3. Either the local ordinary or the regular ordinary, as the case may be, shall send a copy of the report, signed by himself and an-notated by his own personal observations, to the Sacred Congrega-tion of Religious within the year itself during which the report is to be made. 4. Together with the first report following the publication of the present questionnaire, the following documents also are to be sent to the Sacred Congregation of Religious: a) Two well-bound copies of the Rule and the constitutions, revised to conform with the Code of Canon Law. .b) One copy each, if there are such, of the books in which particular laws, practices, customs, the ceremonial, and proper prayers are contained. c) A historico-juridical report in which are indicate.c[.the origin of the autonomous monastery or house, its establishment or 253 QUINQUENNIAL REPORT Reoiew for Religious approval, as well as the principal historical events. To this shall be added, if there are any such, copies of those books which describe the history and activity of the monastery. " ¯ ON THE FIRST PAGE OF THE REPORT PUT THE FOLLOWING: The Name, of the monastery or house: . . . ~ (the of{iclal title in Latin, and the common name) Complete address: postal, telegraphic. The years which are covered by the report: . . . THE LIST OF OUESTIONS CONCERNING THE PRECEDING REPORT 1. a) When was the last report sent to the ordinary? b) Were the observations on the report which may have been made by the Sacred Congregation and transmitted by the or-dinary faithfully carried out in practice? 2. Can the matters of information contained in the last report be conscientiously considered reliable and complete, or does anything concerning them seem to require modification? CHAPTER I THE MONASTERY AND ITS GOVERNMENT ARTICLE I The autonomous monastery or house in general 3. What is the juridical nature of the monastery or house: a) To which order, if any, does it belong and which Rule is followed? b) Are the vows solemn or simple; or simple, though sol-emn according to the institute (c. 488, 7°) ? 4. Is the house provided with those things which are neces-sary for the common life, especially: a) A separate cell for each person; or, if the dormitories are common, at least a separate bed for each person, properly set apart from the others? 254 September, 1954 QUINQUENNIAL REPORT b) A separate place fully suitable for the care and assistance of the sick? c) Are the rooms for receiving guests sufficiently separate from the part of the house which is reserved to the community? 5. Are there an.y filial houses subject to the autonomous mon-astery or house? How many? 6. Does the monastery depend on the local ordinary or on the regular superior? ARTICLE II Concernin9 he juridical 9overnmen÷ 7. Is the general council of the monastery or house up to its full membership at present? 8. Within the period covered by the report, has there been a session of the chapter of elections? 9. Were the norms [for the chapter] prescribed by the com-mon law and by particular law "(the constitutions, etc.) faithfully observed as regards: a) The time of the session? b) The elections of the superior, of the consultors or assist-ants, and of other general officials who are elected by the chapter? 10. In all these matters, even in seeking information about the candidates, did all avoid procuring votes either directly or indirectly for themselves or for others (c. 507, § 2) i1. Who presided at the chapter? 12. Were the norms of the common law and of the constitu-tions observed: a) Regarding the requisites and qualifications of superiors and officials (cc. 504, 516)? b) Regarding the duration of offices (c. 505) 13. How many and what dispensations from the provisions of the common or particular law were granted by the Holy See: a) For appointments to positions or offices? b) For the renewal of the same? c) Were the conditions attached to these dispensations faithfully observed ? 14. How do superiors see to it that the decrees of the Holy See which concern religious are known and observed by their own sub-jects (c. 509, § 1)? 15. Is perfect freedom left to subjects, without any inspec-tion of letters by superiors, in their epistolary correspondence with 255 QUINQUENNIAL REPORT those persons who, according to the common (c. 611) and particu-lar law, have this right? 16. Were there any cases of secret and clandestin~ epistolary correspondence, either between religious or between these and secu-lar persons, and what ,was done to correct these abuses? 17. Has the canonical, visitation of the local ordinary taken place, as well as that of the regular superior, if the monastery is sub-ject to him? 18. Have chapters and council meetings been held at prescribed times and in the required cases? 19. Are the matters in which, according to the common and particular law, councilors have a deliberative or consultative vote, faithfully submitted to a meeting of the council? 20. Is the proper liberty of all and each of the councilors duly recognized in the council meetings? And'in the decisions, appoint-ments and votes of whatever kind, were the norms of the common law (cc. 101, 105, 1°, 2°, 3°) and of the particular law always ob-served ? 21. Are the minutes of the meetings duly drawn up and signed? 22. Are the archives of the monastery or house properly equipped and carefully arranged? 23. Is there also for each house a chronicle in which the prin-cipal events are carefully recorded? ARTICLE III Concerning the spiritual government 24. Are there confessors appointed for each house according to c. 518, § i? 25. Without prejudice to the constitutions which may pre-scribe or recommend that confessions be made at stated times to ap-pointed confessors, are the religious left free to go, in accordance with canon 519, without prejudice however to religious discipline, to a confessor approved by the local ordinary, even though he is not among the appointed confessors? 26. Are the norms of the common law and of the constitu-tions faithfully observed regarding the appointment and reappoint-ment of the ordinary, extraordinary, special, and supplementary confessors (cc. 520, §§ 1-2, 521, 524, 526, 527)? 27. Did superioresses faithfully observe the prescriptions made for them regarding supplementary confessors (c. 521, § 3), occa- 256 September, 1954 QUINQUENNIAL REPORT sional confessors (c. 522), and confessors in case of grave illness (c. 523) ? 28. Do superiors take means and exercise a prudent vigilance to see that all the religious, according to law" (c. 595, § 1, 3,°) and the constitutions (c. 519), receive the sacrament of penance at least once a week? 29. Have superiors been guilty of any abuses, and if so what were they, by which the liberty of conscience of their subjects has been restricted (cc. 518, § 3, 519, 520, § 2, 521,§ 3, 522, 2414)? 30. Has there been, under pretext of.liberty of conscience, any detriment to religious discipline on the part of subjects? Did any other abuses arise? 31. Do superiors, in accordance with canon law (c. 530, §§ 1, 2) leave their subjects free in regard to making a strict mani-festation of conscience to them? 32. Is there an appointed chaplain, or have other provisions been made by sacred functions sufficient for the spiritual welfare of the religious? Are there any difficulties with regard to the spiritual welfare? 33. Do superiors, in accordance with c. 5'95, §§ 2-3, promote among their subjects frequent and even daily reception of the Most Sacred Body of Christ, always without prejudice to full liberty of conscience according to law (c. 595, § 4) and the instructioris of the Holy See? 34. Do superiors diligently see to it that confessors are easily available before Communion, and do they allow their religious sub-jects a suitable time for preparation and thanksgiving? 35. Do superiors see to it that, according to the constitutions and the common law, there are spiritual and catechetical instructions for the entire house (c. 509, § 2, 2°), for the novices (c. 565, § 2), for the conversi [lay brothers and lay sisters], for the domes-tics and servants .(c. 509, § 2, 2°) ? ARTICLE IV Concern[n9 fhe f[nanclal 9overnmenf 36. a) Did the house 'acquire any immovable property or precious movable property? What was the value of these acquisi-tions? b) Was the aforesaid property acquired by gift or other gra-tuitous title, or by purchase, and in this latter case was it with the funds of the house or with borrowed money? 257 QUINQUENNIAL REPORT Review for Religious 37. Has the house an inventory of its movable property, espe-cially of that which is classed as precious (by reason of art, his-tory, or material) (c. 1522, 2°) and of its immovable property? 38. When must these inventories be revised, and are they in fact revised? 39. By what method or in whose name before the civil law is the religious property registered? Can this registration be regarded as safe in civil law? 40. Were extraordinary expenses paid from their own ordi-nary or extraordinary income, or on the contrary with borrowed funds? 41. What capital property, whether immovable, or stable [i.e. consisting of capital funds], or precious, was alienated, and by what authority? 42. In the alienation of property, were the provisions of law (cc. 534, 1531), especially regarding the previous appraisal by ex-perts, and the norms of the constitutions, observed? 43. Did the house consume any stable or founded property or capital funds? For what reasons and by what authority? 44. Are superiors making serious efforts to recover this prop-erty ? 45. a) What debts were contracted, and by whom? b) What debts are actually outstanding~ 46. In contracting debts and obligations, were the following faithfully observed : a) The provisions of c. 534? b) The precautions mentioned in c. 536, § 5? c) The norms of the constitutions regarding permissions, the consent of the council, etc. ? 47. Was the interest on debts and obligations faithfully paid, and is diligent care being taken toward the gradual payment of the debt; or the amortization of the capital sum borrowed (c. 536, § 5)? 48. Are there any difficulties of an economic nature, and what are they ? 49. Is the administration of property conducted, not abitrar-ily, but according to the common law and the constitutions, under the direction and vigilance of the superior and of his council (cc. 516, § 2, 532, § 1)? 50. Was a clear and complete rendering of account demanded 258 September, 1954 QUINQUENNIAL REPORT of all and each of the bursars and administrators during the five-year period ? 51. Were there presented, together .with the accounts, the documents showing the expenditures and receipts? 52. Was there regularly an inspection and checking of the safe? 53. Did superiors, councils, and administrators lawfully, safely, and profitably invest the money which was to be invested according to law and the will of benefactors, observing the rules of law and the constitutions (c. 533) ? 54. Are money, securities, contracts, precious articles carefully preserved, observing exactly the common norms and the provisions of the constitutions? 55. Do superiors, bursars, administrators conscientiously strive to have all the property of the institute religiously preserved and providently administered (c. 532, § 1)? 56. What legacies and pious foundations were accepted? 57. In accepting pious foundations and legacies, were the rule~ of law (c. 1544, ss.) and of the constitutions observed? 58. Was the money of foundations and pious causes, accord-ing to law and with the consent of the 16cal ordinary when that was required, invested (cc. 535,. §§ 1,. 2: 1547)' and separately and faithfully administered (cc. 535, § 3, 2°; 1546; 1549)? 59. Were the obligations attached to foundations faithfully and conscientiously fulfilled (cc. 151,4, 1549, § 2)? 60. Did visitors demand documentary proof of their fulfil-ment and an account of the administration of the property? 61. Did any religious, superiors or subjects, personally or through others, engage in illicit business, that is, business not per-mitted to religious, in violaton of cc. 142, 592? 62. Were superiors and councils attentively watchful that, ac-cording to c. 1539, § 2, in the administrative exchange of securities payable to bearer, all appearance of commerce or trading was avoid-ed? 63. How did superiors exercise vigilance over the actions and dealings of their subjects from which there might arise according to law a financial responsibility on the part of tbe house (c. 536, § 2) or of the individual religious (c. 536, § 3) ? 64. Do superiors see to it that, in all matters which concern finances, or in those generally which could give occasion for litiga-tion in the canonical or civil courts, everything is done exactly ac- 259 QUINQUENNIAL" "R EPOR.T Review for Religious cording to law, on the basis of previous written contracts and with the guarantee of perfectly valid signed agreements, etc. (c. 1529)? 65. How are the economic needs of the monastery provided for: by the labor of the community or by alms? 66. What, if any, activity does the community engage in for its own support? CHAPTER II CONCERNING THE RELIGIOUS AND THE RELIGIOUS LIFE AND DISCIPLINE 67. What are the different classes, if any, among the members of the monastery? Does harmony exist among the different classes and is fraternal charity observed among them? 68. What is the actual number of those professed of tempo-rary vows and of perpetual vows, according to the various classes? 69. Besides the persons who belong to the institute or society as members, by religious profession or lawful incorporation, are there others who are dedicated or given to it, or the like, without being members? 70. Is provision made in fairness and charity for the spiritual life of these persons and also for their material security? 71. Are there any legitimately approved statutes for them? ARTICLE I Concerning the admission, formation, and profession or incorporation of members 72. Is the condition of the extern sisters regulated according to the statutes promulgated by the S. Congregation on 3uly 16, 19317 73. Are the postulantships properly conducted according to law in the novitiate house (c. 540, § 1), or in houses where perfect religious observance exists (c. 540) ? 74. Was the time assigned by the common law (c. 539) or by the constitutions for the postulantship abbreviated or prolonged? If so,~for how long a time and by what authority? 75. What means are used to arouse and attract vocations? 76. Taking into account the different circumstances of various localities, what causes are regarded as having an influence on the in-crease or diminution of vocations? 77. What are the obstacles which aspirants most frequently have to overcome in order to follow th~ir vocation? 260 September, 195"4 QUINQUENNIAL REPORT 78. Were the documents required by the 'common law (c. 544) and by the constitutions demanded before admission in the case of each aspirant? 79. At least before entrance into the novitiate, were the fol-lowing testimonial letters demanded and obtained: a) The common testimonial letters which are to be given by the local ordinaries and are prescribed for all (c. 544, § 2) ? b) The special testimonial letters which are to be given under oath by the rector or major superior fo~ those who have been in a seminary or a college which is equivalent to an ecclesiastical one, or in a postulantship or novitiate of a religious institute (c. 544, §3)? c) Likewise the testimonial letters which are required in the case.of clerics and professed religious (c. 544, §§ 4, 5) ? 80. Besides the documents and testimonials which are spe-cially prescribed by law or by the constitutions, were further infor-mations which seemed necessary or useful in order to judge with certainty of the vocation and fitness of the aspirants diligently sought (c. 544, § 6)? 8 I. From what impediments¯ or defects, if any, of the common or particular law, were dispensations granted? How often and by what authority was this done? 82. Were aspirants always admitted by the competent su-periors, according to the prescriptions of the law (c. 543) ? 83. Is the right of the institute to demand payment for the expenses of the religious habit and board during the postulantship and noviceship given in the constitutions or customarily recognized by express agreement? 84. Who determines the amount to be paid? 85. How many novices are there at present? 86. Did each and every novice have a complete copy of the constitutions from the beginning of the novitiate? 87. Are ~he novices, according to law and the constitutions, kept separate from the professed, and is any undue communication between them tolerated (c. 564, § 1, 2) ? 88. Did each and every novice before profession make a com-plete and continuous canonical year of noviceship, without counting the first day, in a novitiate house lawfully erected, under the care and direction of a master (cc. 555, § 1, 556, 557) ? 89. Was the noviceship extended or shortened beyond the 261 QUINQUEN.NIAL REPORT Review for Religio. us limits fixed by law (c. 571, §2) and the constitutions? If so, for how long a time and by w.hat authority was this done? 90. Was there always in the novitiate a master of novices duly appointed or elected (c. 560) ? 91. Have the novice master and his socius all the qualifications and all the requisites prescribed by the common law (c. 559, § 1, 2) and the cgnstitutions, or did dispensations have to be asl~ed for" and obtained ? 92. A~ the master and socius free from all offices and minis-~ tries in or out of the house which might interfere with their care a'nd direction of the novices( c. 559, § 3)? 93. Did all the novices, according to c. 569, § 1, before the first profession of simple vows, freely cede the administration, and either cede or dispose of the use and usufruct, of their propett~y? 94. In case the aforesaid cession and disposition were n6t:':duly made before the profession, or in case new property was acquired thereafter, were they made or completed after the profession (c. 569, § 2)? 95. Were any changes of the aforesaid cession and disposition after the profession made always in accordance with c. 580, § 37 96. Did the novices of the monasteries of simple vows, before their first profession of temporary vows, freely make a will in due.: form, valid according to the civil law, regarding their present or future property (c. 569, § 3)? 97. Were any changes in this will which may have been made after profession, made according to c. 583, 2°? . .: 98. Do the superior and council carefully and constan.tly keep-a strict watchfulness as regards admissions? ¯ 99. Has the first profession, after eight 'full .days of spiritual exercises, always been made validly and licitly according to law and the constitutions (cc. 572, 573, 575)? 100. Did the superioresses, two months before admission to the noviceship, and to the first temporary profession, and to perpetual profession, give timely notice to the local ordinary (c. 552, § 1), so that he or his delegate might gratuito.usly conduct the canonical-ex-amination regarding the free and conscious will of the postulant or candidate (c. 552, § 2)?. : 101. Was the prescribed examination always made? ' 102. Is the dowry obligatory, or, on the contrary, is it left en-. tirely or partly optional (c. 547, § 3) ? 262 September, 1954 QUINQUENNIAL REPORT . 103. Was the delivery of .the dowry made according to law (c. 547, § 2) and the constitutions? 104. Were the dowries, immediately after the first profession, always invested by the superioress, with the deliberative vote of her council and the consent of the ordinary of the place where the capi-tal of the dowries is kept (c. 549) ? 105. Were the dowries spent or encumbered in any way before the death of the religious concerned? If so, by what authority Was this done? Were the dowries so spent or encumbered, even though it was done after obtaining lawful permission, afterward restored or cleared of the encumbrance? What is their condition at the present time (c. 549) ? 106. Where and how are the dowries administered? Are the rules of law faithfully observed regarding their administration (cc. 550, 535, § 2)? 107. Is all property which is brought in as dowry, even though it be in excess of the sum required for a dowry in the constitutions or even though there be in ihe congregation no obligation to bring in a dowry, accepted, invested, administered, etc. with the observance of the norms which govern dowries? 108. In case of the departure of a professed religious, for what-ever was needed that she might safely and decently return borne and likewise the personal belongings which t.he novice brought with her at her entrance, in the condition in which they were when she left, restored to the religious departing or transferring~ without the in-come which had a.lready accrued (cc. 551, 570, § 2)? 109. In case of the departure of a professed religious who had been received without a dowry or with an insufficient one, if she was unable to provide for herself out of her own property, did the insti-tute out of charity according to law (c. 643, § 2), give her what-ever was needed thatshe might safely and decently return home and be fittingly supported for a tim~? 110. What, if any, dispensations were necessary for the pro-nouncement of the vows? 111. How many and what sanations-were afterward necessary? 112. Were the temporary vows which are prescribed by law and by the constitutions (c. 574, § 1), when the tittle for which they were taken had elapsed (c. 577, § 1), always renewed according to law (c. 577, § 2), so that no one ever remained without vows? 113. How often was the temporary profession extended beyond 263 QUINQUENNIAL REPORT Reoieta for Religious the six-year period allowed by law, and by what authority was this done (c. 574, § 2)? 114. ]Did all the professed of simple vows in orders, within sixty days before their profession of solemn vows, duly make the prescribed renunciation of the property which they actually pos-sessed, in the form of a true cession but not in the form of a will, to whomever they chose, on condition of their future profession (c. 581, § 1)? 115. After the profession was made, were all things immedi-ately done which were necessary in order that the renunciation be effective in civil law (c. 581, § 2) ? 116. Did the superior who received the solemn profession give notice of it to the pastor of baptism in accordance with cc. 470, § 2, 576', § 2? ARTICLE II Concerning the relicjious life and discipline 117. Is perfect common life according'to c. 594, the Rule, and the constitutions observed everywhere? 118. What has been done and is being done positively to safe-guard and promote the virtue and. spirit of poverty? 119. Do superiors and officials, out of religious charity and in order to ward off from the religious occasions of sinning against poverty, provide, within the limits of poverty itself, what is neces-sary and appropriate in the way of food, clothing, and other things? 120. Do they allow the religious to ask for or receive these things from externs? 121. Are the sick and the aged religious, attended to with special care and helped in both body and soul with paternal charity, so that, within the limits of religious poverty, they lack nothi'ng which seems necessary for the recovery ot their .health and for their spir-itual consolation? 122. Did all superiors make it a matter of conscientious duty to be attentively vigilant regarding those things, both in and out of the house, which may easily contain dangers against religious chas-tity ? 123. What kind of cloister is observed? Are the places subject to cloister clearly marked and sufficiently guarded? Are the pre-scriptions of the law and of the constitutions regarding cloister faithfully observed (cc. 589-599; 604) ? 264 ~epte,-nber, 124. frequent, principal 125. 1954 QUINQUENNIAL REPORT Were the cases of dispensation from the law of cloister either for going but,- or for entering? Which were the ones? Are difficulties experienced in the observance of cloister, esl~ecially when nuns~ are engaged in the works of the apostolate, of education, etc. ? 126. a) Are the parlors so arranged that what goes on in them ~an be seen from the outside? b) Is the frequency of parlor visits regulated according to the constitutions and religious prudence? 127. Do the rooms which are reserved for chaplains and confeS-sors or preachers have a separate entrance and no internal communi-cation with the quarters of the religious? 128. Is religious discipline observed, and is the,government of superiors made easy by the docility of the subjects? Was it neces-sary often to impose formal precepts in virtue of the vow of obedi-ence? 129. Were such precepts given in due form according to the 'constitutions, and always for a grave reason? 130. Are the Rule and the constitutions faithfully observed (c. 593) ? 131. Are the Rule and the constitutions read publicly at the prescribed times (c. 509, § 2, 1°) ? 132. Do superiors see to it that in all the houses the exercises of piety which are prescribed for every day, every week, every month, every year, or for other fixed times, are faithfully and worthily per-formed according to the constitutions? 133. Do superiors see to it that all the religious: a) Make a retreat every year? b) ,Are present at Mass every day if not legitimately pre-vented ? c) Give themselves to mental prayer every day? d) Attend earnestly to the other offices of piety which are prescribed by the rules and constitutions (c. 595, § 1, 1 ° and 2°) ? 134. Do superiors see to it that all the members are able to be present at community exercises? 135. If choir service is prescribed by the constitutions, is it held exactly and worthily in each of the houses according to the same constitutions and the common law (c. 610, § i), the religious who are bound to choir and not actually lawfully impeded being present? 265 QUINQUENNIAL REPORT 136. Do superiors see to it that priests, clerics in major orders, and the solemnly professed, who were absent from choir, recite the Divine Office privately with attention and devotion (c. 610, § 3) ?. 137. Are the relations between the different members of the house, between superiors and subjects, etc., characterized by a spirit of true charity? 138. Are defects against charity severely corrected? 139. Are superiors watchful that no book~ be used, whether in manuscript or published form, which are not entirely safe? 140. Are the spiritual books which, according to law, the reli-gious use privately, approved by the Church and in keeping with the religious state, and suitable for the spiritual welfare of the indi-vidual ieligious to whom they are permitted? ARTICLE III Concernincj those Who have departed or been dismissed and others who leave the institute 141. a) How many in the house, at the expiration of their. vows, did not renew them, either because they chose not to do so or because they were not allowed to do so? b) How many of the professed of temporary vows were dispensed from their vows during this period, and how many of the professed of perpetual vows were dispensed? 142. Were those who were dispensed from their vows at their own request or with their consent, forced or, without serious and grave reasons and precautions, permitted to leave the religious house before the rescript was duly executed? 143. How many transfers, if any, were there to another insti-tute ? 144. How many apostates and fugitives, if any, were there during the five-year period? 145. a) Since the last report, how many of the professed of temporary vows and how many of the professed of perpetual vows have been dismissed? b) In the dismissal of religious, whether of" temp~[ary or of perpetual vows, were the norms of the common law "('cd." 647, § 2, 4°; 649-672) as well as those of the constitutions observed? Was the same done in regard to not admitting the prqfe~se~l 0f ~emporary vows to the renewal of their vows or to perpetu~il pro-fession (c. 637) ? 266 September, 1954 QUINQUENNIAL REPORT. 146. Were the dismissed of 'temporary vows, while the recourse duly made within ten days was pending (c. 647, § 2; S. C. of Reli-gious, 20 July 1923, AAS, XV [1923], 457), and the dismissed of perpetual vows, before the decree or judgment of dismissal had been confirmed by the Sacred Congregation (cc. 652, 666). forced to leave the institute? 147. What were the cases, and the causes which led to them,, among both the professed of temporary vows and those of per-petual vows, in which they were either sent back to the world on account of grave scandal or very grave harm (cc. 653, 668) or dis-missed by the law itself :(c. 646) ? 148. How many ~ses of exclaustration were there, if any? Were the causes carefull) and conscientiously pondered in the pres-ence of God before the petition was recommended and the rescript executed ? 149. Does the institute take care: a) That indults are renewed in due time, if it seems neces-sary to ask for an extension? b) That the persons who are excloistered lead a worthy religious life and return as soon as possible to the cloister? 150. Do superiors see to it that subjects remain out of the house only for a just and grave reason and for the shortest possible time, according to the constitutions (c. 606, § 2) ? 151. Were 'the prescribed suffrages faithfully and promptly per-formed for all the deceased? " " 152. Do superiors, in accordance with c. 509, § 2, 2°, give to those religious who belong to the class of conversi, instruction in Christian doctrine? And do superiors, carefully attend to the training of these same religious, both before and after their profes-sion, especially during the earlier years, according to the offices~ which are entrusted to them? 153. Do superiors with paternal charity diligently provide also for the bodily health of the conuersi or coadjutors? CHAPTER III C;ONI31:RNING THE WORKS AND MINISTRIES OF THE MONASTERY 154. What works are carried on in the house (apostolate, edu-cation, manual labor for pay) ? 155. Was begging from door to door, according to law 267 QUINQUENNIAL REPORT Reoieu2 for Religious (cc. 621, 622) and their own constitutions, done with the required permissions ? 156. Moreover, in begging, were the rules of law (c. 623), the instructions of the Holy See (c. 624), and the norms of the con-stitutions observed ? 157. What precautions are taken in this communication with seculars to avoid harm to the religious and scandal to seculars? 158. How often and by what superiors are the books of Masses of each house examined and signed? 159. As regards the manual stipend of~ Masses, did all the houses obser;ce the decrees of the local ordinaries and the customs of the dioceses according to cc. 831, §§ 2-3; 832? 160. In each of the houses were the obligations of Masses, both perpetual and manual, faithfully satisfied in due time according to cc. 834, 15177 161. Were any special concessions made in this matter, either as regards the reduction of the stipends or intentions, or as to deferring the celebration of the Masses? If so, what were they? CONCLUSION A ~summary compara÷ive judcjmenf recjardln9 fhe stale of fhe monas.fery 162. Is the autonomous monastery or house fully self-sufficient with regard to the personnel needed to fill the various offices of gov-ernment and to carry out its proper work, also with regard to relig-ious formation, as well' as with regard to economic means, so that regular observance can flourish fully? 163. What is to be said about the desire for and the actual striving toward evangelical perfection on the part of the members (cc. 487, 488, 1°) ? 164. In this respect is there in the institute progress.or retro-gression as compared with the preceding five-year period, and how is this manifested or proved? What are the reasons for either the progress or the retrogression? 165. What has been done by superiors during the five-year period to promote the tendency toward perfection and to prevent relaxation? 166. What is to be said summarily about the observance of the: vows and of the provisions of canon law, the Rule, 'and the consti-tutions, both absolutely and in comparison with the preceding five- 268 September, 1954 REGIONAL CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS year period ? 167. What are the points of religious discipline which are more easily and frequently violated? I68. What causes may be assigned for the progress in religious observance or for its decline? 169. What has been done by superiors to secure faithful and ~omplete regular observance? 170. As regards capital and finances what is the condition of the house in itself and in comparison v~ith the preceding five-year period ? 171. To what causes is the growth or diminution of capital and income to be attributed ? Given at Rome; from the headquarters of the S. Congregation ~of Religious, December 9, 1948. ALOYSIUS CARD. LAVITRANO, Prefect FR. L. H. PASSETTO, Secretaru REGIONAE CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS 1954-55 OF THE CATHOLIC: HOSPITAL AssoCIATION This year's program includes eight such special conferences., The first general subject, The Improvement of Patient Care, is pre-sented for religious in large hospitals on October 4 to 6,.1954, at the Sheraton Hotel,'St. Louis, Missouri. For religious in small hospitals another regional workshop on this subject will be presented Novem-ber 28 to 30, 1954, also at the Sheraton Hotel in St. Louis. Conferences on Medical-Moral Problems are also planned. These special group meetings are presented under the direction of Reverend Gerald Kelly, S.J., of St. Mary's College, St. Marys, Kansas, con-sultant for the Association's activity in this field. The first is to takd place at St. Michael's Hospital, Grand Forks, North Dakota, October 25 to 27, 1.954. Two others are in the process of development--one for the East. ¯ and another to be held in the Mid-West. Further announcement will be made when this information .is available. On January 17, 18, and 19, 1955, at the Sheraton Hotel in St. Louis, Missouri, there will be a Special Conference for Treasureis (Continued on page 272) ¯, o 269 Questions and Answers 26 Suppose a sister can hear only one Mass on Sunday and during thai' Mass she performs her duty of saying her morning prayer or reading the, Liffle Office: is it possible to fulfill both th~se obligations at one and the same time, according to the mind of the Church? As regards merely the fulfillment of the diverse obligations, there seems to be no difficulty. Even the serious obligation (e.g., of a deacon or subdeacon) of reciting the Divine OtSce in private can be fulfilled while one is hearing a Mass of obligation. Certainly, there-fore, the sister's lesser duties of saying morning prayers or of recit-ing the Little Office can be fulfilled during a Mass of obligation-- unless the constitutions expressly provide otherwise. The "mind of the Church" for religious includes more than the mere fulfillment of obligations; it includes not only what is neces-sary but~ what is appropriate. And in the sense of what is appropri-ate it is certainly the mind of the Church that the prayers prescribed for religious, even when the prescription does not bind under pain of sin, should ordinarily be said at some time other than the 'Sunday Mass of obligation or the weekday community Mass. The saying of such prayers during these Masses should at most be merely by way of exception, e.g., because of the special pressure of other duties. And it seems to us that in these exceptional cases it would be better to follow the Mass in the usual way and to omit the other prayers. If conditions become such that tl'iis "pressure pf other duties" is habitual and not merely exceptional, then superiors should see to it that these ~otber duties are lessened so that their subjects have time for their prayers: --27m If one is rushed at confession time and in the confusion fails to make an act of contritlon.in.the confessional, is the confession invalid? True contrition is certainly necessary for valid absolution; and' according to most theologians some external manifestation of this contrition is also required for validity. But this external manifesta-tion of contrition does not have to be according to any .set formula,. nor does it even have to be expressed in words. A dolorosa confes- 270 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS sio--tbat is, confession itself when sincerely made with a view to receiving absolution by one who, has internal sorrow-~-is~a suffi'cient external sign of the contrition; and absolution given to one who has made such a confession is certainly valid. It is true that we should always train the faithful to make a verbal act of contrition in the confessional, after having confessed their sins. But the making of this verbal act is rather a matter of good procedure--and for some people a means of being sure ot: the requisite expression of sorrow--than an absolute essential As for the case proposed in the question: we would tell any sin-cere religious or devout lay person that the absolution was undoubt-. edly valid and tbat there is no reason for anxiety. --28-- Is a sister superior justified in insisting that her subjects must not drink water before Holy C;ommunion unless there is some real necessity for doincj so? Accordin~ to the ApOstolic Constitution Christus Dominus plain water no longer breaks the Eucharistic fast. No reason either of nec_essity or even of special utility is required for drinking water before Holy Communion. Consequently, a religious superior is no more justified now in insisting that subjects should not drink water without necessity after midnight than she would have been justified before .3anuary 16, 1953, in insisting that subjects should not drink water without necessity before midnight. m29D Is it ever permissible to receive Hob/ Gommunlon without flrs~ cjo[ncj to confession when one has committed a mortal sin? Canon 856 states that one who is conscious of having committed a mortal sin shouldnot receive'Holy Communion without first go-ing to confession. This is the ordinary rule. The canon adds, bow-ever, that in a case of urgent necessity, when there is no opportunity of going to confession, one may receive Holy Comunion after having made an act of perfect contrition. There are many aspects to this question; and all of them require careful explanation. For such explanation the questioner is referred to the article "Confession befo*re Communion," in REVIEW FOR RE-LIGIOUS, XII (May, 1953), 135-50. : 271 Q~JESTIONS AND ANSWERS Re~;iew lot Religious --30-- /. If one is in doubt about having given the consent necessary-'for a mortal sin, is it preferable to abstain from Holy Communion until one can get to confession? Generally speaking, it is not preferable.to omit Holy commun-ion; although it might be preferable in some cases, e.g., b~cause a person has a special proneness to laxity. The proper judge c~f such a case is the spiritufil director or confessor of that person. Although it is certainly not obligatory and generally not even preferable to omit Holy Communion because of a do.ubt; yet it is at least advisable--and in our opinion obligatory--for one who has d really solid doubt (and not a mere scruple) about having committed a mortal sin to take some reasonable means of making sure he is in the state of grace before he receives Holy Communion. In the case proposed in the question a reasonable means would be to make an act of perfect contrition for all one's sins, including the doubtful matter. This problem of doubt is also explained more fully in the article referred'to in the preceding question, pp. 139-40. Regional Conferences and Workshops (Continued from page 269) and General Accountants of Religious Groups Conducting Hospi: tals. This particular meeting is especially planned by the Assoda-tion's Council on Financial Management and will focus upon poli-cies, techniques, and procedures involved in the handling of financial affairs of these groups. Other meetings for special groups have also been scheduled. These include a Conference on Collegiate Programs in Nursing Edu-cation at the Sheraton Hotel, St. Louis, February 19 to 21, 1955; a Conference on Accounting for Administration (especially for the small hospital) at the Hotel Piedmont, Atlanta, Georgia, April 18 to 19, 1955; the Western Conference of Catholic Hospitals is spon-soring a Workshop on Purchasing for Hospital Purchasing Officers on April 23 to 24, 1955, at St. Mary's Hospital, San Francisco: also a Conference on Public Relations for Administrators and Public Rela2 tions Officers of Catholic Hospitals--April 23 to 24, 1955, also St. Mary's Hospital, San Francisco, California. 272 THE NEW TESTAMENT. By James A. Klelst, S.J., and Joseph M. Lilly, C.M. The Bruce Publlshln9 Co., Milwaukee. 1954. Pp. bg0. $5.00. The work of Fathers Kleist and Lilly as presented in this book is a marked example of the progress which Scriptural studies in general and New Testament efforts in particular have made in the last fifty years. A quarter of a century ago, appreciating the ad~ vances scholarship had made in the study of the post-classical Greek language as well as in Hellenistic civilization, Father Kleist surmised that the gospels translated from the Greek of that period might convey to the Christian reader a better understanding of Christ's life and message than could be derived from the more or less slavish ren-dition from the Latin Vulgate into quite antiquated English phrase-ology which was' all.tbat the Catholic reader had; he considered that such a translation would afford Catholics the opportunity, in a prac-tical way, of realizing the hope whicb the Church was expressing-- namely that her members should read the Bible more assiduously. He set himself to that task, and the result of his labors makes up nearly half of the present volume. The gospel translation is in clear, flowing, modern literary Eng-lish; it conveys the G/~eek thought accurately. To achieve this ac-curacy the translation interprets the meaning of words and phrases, uses synonyms for the same Greek word to bring out the shades of thought, employs expressions which do not require the learning of a theologian or of an expert exegete to grasp. The word pneutna, for example, is not always translated by "spirit" and the passages in which this word occurs are so well phrased that no commentary is required to explain them. Thus: "Blessed are the poor in spirit" (Mr. 5:3) becomes, "Blessed are the humble souls"; "And sighing deeply in spirit" (Mk. 8:12) becomes, "He sighed from the depths of his soul"; "When Jesus saw the Jews weeping .he grbaned in spirit and was troubled" (Jo. 11:33) becomes, "The sight of them stirred Jesus deeply and shook his inmost soul." There is a pleasing, natural ease, simplicity, and spontaneity throughout the translation. Christ's Words are not, "Woman, thou art delivered from thy in-firmity" (Lk. 13:12), but, "My good woman, you are now rid of your infirmity." Notabl.yhappy is the rendition of 3o. 3:8 which, 273 BOOK REVIEWS Review for Religious instead of, "So is everyone who is born of the Spirit," reads, "Some-thing like this takes place in everyone born of the Spirit." What~- ever notes are appended to the gospels are the work of Rev. Henr~; Willmering, S.J., New Testament professor at St. Mary's College, St. Marys, Kansas. The notes are always pointed, clear, concise. All the rest of the translation in this volume is the product of Father Lilly. Emboldened by the various encyclicals on Biblical studies from Leo XIII to Pius XII, his experience as a seminary" professor ot: Sacred Scripture indicating the need of a good transla-tion from the Greek, Father Lilly generously undertook to do all the rest of the New Testament, a task which Father Kleist had said he would never venture to do~ Father Lilly succeeded admirably in his efforts. He concentrated his best energies on the letters of the Apos-tles; only secondarily did he give consideration to the narrative of the Acts of the Apostles. The result is that this narrative does not vary in any notable way from the Confraternity translation, for the phraseology of the two translations is often identical. But in the letters and in the Apocalypse, Father Lilly took greater liberty to clarify the meaning of the texts. A few instances of his excellent work may be here cited: "Who have the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh," he expresses as, "The patriarchs are theirs, and from them has been derived the human nature of Christ" (Rom. 9:3). The less intelligible wording of "the work of each will be made manifest, for the day of the Lord will declare. it, since the day is to be revealed in fire. The fire will assay the quality of everyone's work: if his work abides which he has built thereon, he will receive reward; if his work burns he will lose his. reward, but himself will be saved, yet so as through fire" (1 Cor. 3:13-15) is clarified thus: "Each individual's work will be made manifest. The day will make it known because fire will lay it bare, and will test the quality of each individual's work. If the work any-one has put into the superstructure stands firm, he will be rewarded, but if anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer a loss, yet he him-self will be saved, though only by passing, so to speak, through fire." Simple sentences and expressions are expertly turned. Apoc. 4:2 may serve as one example: "Immediately I was in the spirit, and behold there was a throne in heaven," gets this phrasing: "Suddenly I was thrown into an ecstacy. To my surprise, there was a throne set up in heaven." This book is the latest and till~ now the best product of a happy I 27.4 September, 1934 BOOK REVIEWS tendency to which New Testament studies have been yielding in recent years amongst Catholic'English-speaklng scholars. It is a co-ordinated result of two lines of modern effort: to translate from tile Greek rather than from the Latin ~Vulgate, and secondly, to make the translations interpretative rather than rigidly literal. In 1901 Father Seymour Hobart Spencer, O.P., laid a milestone when he translated the four gospels from the Greek; before he died in 1913 he had finished the entire New Testament. Not until 1937, how-ever, was his entire opus published for the first time. Leo XIII's Providentissimus Deus lent spark to this line of effort, and in the 1930s the Westminster Version of the New Testament from the Greek appeared. Both Father Spencer, however, and the Westminster translators employed a prudent restraint in their venturesome task. They kept themselves considerably constrained and adhered largely to literalness in their translations. Yet there was a kind of restiveness arising amongst scholars to offer a translation which would be quite sufficiently interpretative and would' not require much comment of exegetes to explain the meaning of the text. This restiveness began to assert itself in the 1940s. It chose as the object on which it could exercise itself the Latin Vulgate and the reason for this choice was that the more in- .terpretative translation could be read at the Catholic church services. In 1941 the Confraternity translation of the New Testament ap-peared in the United States, and its purpose was rather to modernize antiquated expressions than to translate with the freedom which interpretation requires; but three years later Msgr. Ronald Knox published his work in England with a freedom and ease of phrase-ology hitherto unemployed, modestly interpreting the meaning of the Vulgate. Both these translations, as well as those from the Greek mentioned above, were quite well accepted generally, though in cer-tain circles they did suffer severe criticism. There was something of heroism, tberefore, in carrying out to completion the present work, since this volume, no doubt, will be criticized for precisely the two characteristics which make it a sign of true advancement in .scholarship: it is a translation from the Greek; it is made with a considerable amount of freedom to express in an interpretative Catholic way what the inspired authors of the New Testament are trying to say. The book seems to be a must in the libraries of theologians, scholars, exegetes, priests, and laymen who are" interested in understanding the New Testament. It is not, 275 BOOK REVIEWS Review for Religious however, the last product of the trend from which it evolved. Some future translator from the Greek may interpert more easily and more clearly passages like 1 Cor. 7:29-35; 9:24-27; 10:29 and 30; but that must await the time when Catholic readers will have become more adjusfed to having a clear, expository text before them to ponder. The present work will help toward that adjustment and is paving the way toward the entrance of the Word of God into the hearts of men.--EDWARD J. HODOUS, S.J. THE CHURCH AND INFALLIBILITY. By Dom B. C. Buffer. Sheed and Ward, New York. 1954. Pp. 230. $3.50. Back in 1889 Dr. George Salmon, Provost ok Trinity College, Dublin, published The Infallibility of the Church, a celebrated pole-mical work in which he vigorously attacked and in the minds of many contemporary Protestant readers thoroughly demolished the "Roman" position on the nature of infallibility, the primacy and infallible teaching authority of the Roman Pontiff, and the legiti-macy if tradition as a font of divine revelation. Two years ago an abridged edition of this work came from the press, and it is in the hope of breaking a lance or two with the "abridged Salmon" that the Abbot of Downside, Dora Christopher Butler, a frequent and gifted contributor to The Downside Review, has e'ntered the lists with the book here under r'eview. It will be no surprise to those who know Dom Butler's profi2 ciency in the field of Patristics and Early Church History to dis-cover that in this altogether irenic rebuttal the Abbot of Downside has time after time driven home through the chinks in Dr. Salmon's armor, chinks that have been in not a few places widened consider-ably by the scientific findings and the more balanced historical eval- .uations of the past fifty years. If the work will prove an ornament to the apologetic section of the school or community library, it may still be said (and I think that Dom Christopher would be the first to agree) that the book is not intended as an organized positive ex-position of the Church's infallibility, its meaning, its necessity, its causes, its organs; nor despite its clarity of presentation and cogency of argumentation will it supply for such an exposition. The reader destined to profit most from the book will be the reader who has already a firm grip on the fundamental principles of the th.eology of the Church, her organization and doctrinal mission. -~S. E. DONLON, S.J: 2 6. September, 1954 BOOK REVIEWS MARY IN OUR LIFE. By William G. Most, Ph.D.P.J. Kenedy and Sons, New York. 19S4. Pp. 323. $4.00. Mar~l in our Life was first written as a series of chapters for Mariology study clubs at Loras College, where the author is associ-ate professor of classical languages. It has the double merit, there-fore, of being instructive in subject matter and at the same time per-sonal and direct in its manner of presentation. The body of the book is divided into twenty-three chapters of about ten pages each that range over a wide area of patristics, dogma, ascetics, and liturgy in their bearing on the general theme that "since God has given Mary an all-pervading place in His scheme for the redemption of man, it follows that if we wish to grow in love of God . . . we will give Mary a corresponding place in our soul-life." Chapter titles like The Popes and Co-redemptrix, Mary on Calvary, Mystical Rose, Spouse of the Holy Spirit, Marian Visions and Revelations suggest the balance of doctrine and devotion which the writer set himself to achieve. The strictly dogmatic section cov-ers the first sixty-five pages, in which the main purpose is to analyse the recent papal statements on Mary's place in the economy of sal-vation. In the remaining fifteen chapters, the principles of the spiritual life are explained in their relation to the Mother of God as the perfect model of sanctity and the channel of all graces. The longest chapter in the book, Pondering in Our Hearts with Mary, is an earnest apologia for the practice of mental prayer among the laity, in imitation of the Blessed Virgin, "whose communion with God in mental prayer or meditation was constant." Eminently prac-tical, it is intended to answer the objection that "Formal meditation may be all right for priests and religious, but how could a working man or woman or a housewife manage to undertake so complex an exercise?" Each chapter is followed by a set of notes, up to several pages in length, which give the sources for the quotations used and further explanation of various problems in the text. Particularly commendable is the frequent use of primary sources, e.g., from the Fathers, papal documents, and writings of the saints. By actual count, there are 530 reference notations, with an emphasis on mod-ern writers such as Garrigou-Lagrange. The latter part of the book contains an Appendix and a set of Questions for Discussion. The Appendix supplies a certain amount of documentary detail that was properly omitted from the body of the book, for example, a llst of passages from the Fathers on the 277 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS Review for Religious New Eve, papal texts on the question of Mary's Co-redemption of the human race, St. Dominic as author of the Rosary, and the his-toricity of the vision of St. Simon Stock. The Questions for Dis-cussion are intended for private, class, or study-dub use. Approxi-mately two hundred questions, answerable from the text, are pointed to arousing ~houghtful reflection: for instance, "Did Mary merit to be the Mother of God? . . . Is devotion to Mary optional?" As an instance of the mature balance which characterizes the en-' tire book may be cited the treatment of Marian Visions and Revela-tions. With scores of possible pitfalls, the author carefully dis-tinguishes the meaning and necessity of private and public revela-tion, explaining that "ali the means that we need for salvation are contained in public revelation." Some people, he complains, practi-cally identify their devotion to the Mother of God with recounting the stories of visions and revelations. "On the other hand, through the right attitude we can derive great value from the messages given to us by Our Lady in such genuine apparitions as those at Lourdes and Fatima," whose genuinity is attested by the Church's official ap-proval.-- JOHN A. HARDON, S.J. BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS BRUCE PUBLISHING CO., 400 N. Broadway, Milwaukee 1, Wis. The Catholic College in the World Today. By Edward A. Fitzpatrick. The author, retiring president of Mount Mary College, here weaves into book form a series of addresses about Catholic col-lege education. He stresses the opportunity of the Catholic college to leaven present-day American culture with the riches of Catholic cul-ture, particularly its emphasis on moral and spiritual values and its focus on the importance of the individual. He looks to crusading graduates to assume their manifest duty to carry out this mission. Pp. 269. $6.00. His Heart in Our Work. Thoughts for a Priestl~t Apostolate. Edited by Francis L. Filas, S.J. This book is a collection of articles selected from Alter Christus, the periodical published from 1937 to 1950 as an American quarterly bulletin of The League of Sacerdotal Sanctity. Although the essays here presented were originally meant for priests, to provide them with material for meditation and with exhortation in their work, still they will benefit religious .and others 278 September: 1954 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS as well. The brevity of the articles (few run over five pages) and the pleasing variety of subjects included (Holy Spirit, Sacred Heart, B1. Virgin, St. Joseph, Apostolate, Prayer, Virtues, Liturgy) m

Issue 12.2 of the Review for Religious, 1953. ; The .Summa, t:or $is :ers Sister Mary Jude, O.P. EVERY good religious longs to perfect herself1 in the technique of that most divine of occupations--the salvation of souls. To that end vacations are sacrificed for "higher studies," precious holidays are spent attending workshops and teachers' meetings, and "free" time is consumed directing co-curricular activities. In this never-ending process the simple religious, as~well as superiors, super-visors, and superintendents may wonder whether they are not losing their perspective, whether the tail is 'not' wagging the dog. Those in authority repeatedly warn the Sister about the "danger" of studies, until she is given the impression that learning is some kind of neces-sary evil, and a uniyersity, an unavoidable occasion of sin. .Although no good religious has entered the convent with the idea of becoming merely a high-powered schoolteacher (or nurse of social worker), by the end of her first year of teaching she finds her-self involved in a complex system of aims and methods, classroom' management and educational devices. If she has time to think, she wonderswhere it all fits in with her longing to, be absorbed in Jesus Christ. The "points" at meditation, the spiritual reading books in the community bookcase, and conferences and retreats are lavish with warnings of all kinds. Sister ~an never say she has not been told the r'ight thing to do, but has anyone ever taught her how? , She marvels afresh at the insight of Pope Pius XII in his Holy Year message to religious: "To harmonize your~exterior work with your spiritual life and to establish a proper balance between the two." The Holy Father knows exactly how she feels. How is this to be accomplished? Sister must teach English and history this year (next year it may be typing and music) the while she longs to make her pupils understand, "If thou didst know the gift of God. the height and deptl'J of Christ's love, the riches of the glory of His in-heritance in the saints." Instead Sister must drill on the rules for capitalization and ex-pound the Monroe Doctrine. In some high schools priests have taken over the teaching of religion. Realizing the importance of training leaders in the secular branches of learning a.ccording t6 Catholic prin- 1The article is. directly concerned with teaching Sisters. But what is said applies equally to teaching Brothers. as well as to religious engaged in social work, nursing, ~7 SISTER MARY JUDE Re~ieu~ [or Religlous ciples, Sister attempts to assimilafe and o~ientate the subject and the child Godward., She suspects that Father bas been given the easier task--that of teaching'religion as religion. Community officials, becoming apprehensive at stories of .Sisters who have lost their vocations or become worldly-minded in pursuit ~f degrees, frequently react by reducirig to a minimum the number of " Sisters engaged in graduate studies, if this reT, ults in a loss of educa-tional standards to their community, many mistresses of studies con-elude that this is the price that must be paid for maintaining the ligious spirit. Unhappily they can neither foresee nor measure in their lifetime the intellectual stagnation effected by this policy. If the senior memb,,er~ .of the congregation remember their own more leisurely days, when summertime meant rest and relaxation: when daily preparation did not include the breadth of background iequired today; when children came to school with respect for au-thority already inculcated at home; when even the lengthier noon period with no police duty allowed sufficient time for slackening emotional tensions and regaining spiritual tranquility; if these thirsts are remembered, they are never brought up in accounts of "the good old days." With higher studies made the privilege of a chosen f~w instead of the constitutional obligation of all, superiors become fearful lest the ~ubjects singled out grow proud. They reason that it is the fault of " the studies if Sisters so favored become complacent. Meanwhile, Sis-ters, being human, continue to substitute emotionalism for true piety and to confuse devotion with devotions. Honor to the Mother of God is frequently a medley of classroom'May-altars and Sodality "activities" fondly imagined to be Catholic Action. On th~ Blessed Virgin's fulness of grace or her other prerogatives they do not expa-tiate much, because they do not know too much about Mariology. Sisters wonder why their students do not turn-out better, why so little that is taught in religion class carries over to daily life. When promising'pupils marry outside the Church or disgrace their faith by misdeeds in public life or in the underworld, their former teachers are bewildered. Have they not done all they can? Have they? Does even Sister's prize pupil know how precious grace really is? Does Sister herself have a proper appreclatlon of what it means to be a member of the Mystical Body of Christ? Has she ever put across to her pupils the beauties of a baptized soul strengthened by. confirma-tion, purified by penance, perfected by the Holy Eucharist, and Mar~h, 1953 .'i SUMMA FOR SISTERS adorned by the gifts of the Holy Spirit? If sl~ has, then Johnny will seek h married partner who will aid in his slSiritual development and will not establish his marriage merely oh emotional grounds. How can Sister teach these things, if she has never been taught them'herself? She has tried to teach children to develop will power, but how well has she emphasized the role of grace in r~sisting temp-tation? How many of her charges know that the grace, of God is theirs for the asking? Or instead have they been. thoroughly indoc-trinated with the idea that the'Jr Guardian Angel is on their right side and the devil on their left? What do they know of the life of grace within themselves? How many children and adults confuse sensible consolation and devotion? lk~ost,Catbolics think that priests and Sisters live in a semi-ecstatic state in which prayer is a series of thrills. They are. consequently, the more horrified when they discoverthat Father and Sister are human. Sister,is such a good teacher that she can mak~ even world history the most gripping subject in the curriculum. She can fiave her pupi_Is laughing merrily at the nineteenth century theory of spontaneous generation.of life. Do any of them know that it is a greater thing for God to raise a soul from mortal sin than to breathe life into a corpse? How different would be her pupils' attitude on leaving the confessional if they believed that they could no more restore grace to their own souls than bring themselves back to life.?_. They are taught to make an act of thanksgiving after confession. Have they ever been "given reasons for awe and wonder at God's mercy in the sacrament of penance? All the dislocations and chaos of the past years have had tre-mendous impact in the classroom. To analyze their cause is not our purpose here. The Korean War and television .are but ancillary to the mental dissipatio.n which teachers must combat. The young peo-ple of today are the offspring of the "Fla'ming Youth" generation .of the 1920's. Greater and " heavier tasks are being placed upon the school. Even so delicate and personal a matter as sex instruction is shirked by parents. Respect for authority is not only not inculc'ated at home; but it is denied to the teache.r,by mother and father.' , Like St. Thomas Aquinas the Sister must accept people as they are. A religious cannot right every wrong in the world, much as she would like to. She must start with that portion of the Lord's vine-yard which the will of God has assigned to her. She does no.t con, clude that the soil is bad becatise she finds weeds thriving in it. Be- SISTER MARY JUDE Re~iew for Religious cause there is so much to be overcome Sister must be equipped with a knowledge of sacred science before she can start to put things in di-vine order. Because the problem is of such complexity, Sister must first see things as God sees them. This wisdom can come from a study of the Summa Theologica. Time was when those entrusted with forming educational poli-cies of communities would have ridiculed the idea of theology for Sisters. Today, however, with the movement of theology for the laity sweeping the country as it has in the last fifteen, years, with* the butcher, the baker, and the candlestickmaker enthusiastically ~d[scus-sing their ultimate end and distinguishing between the moral and in-tellectual virtues at study ,clubs, no excuse is needed for a study of divine trtith by those whose life is dedicated to God by public pro-fession. No longer do people consider the study of theology a pre-requisite only for those who hear confessions. I~ she is going to God-center the'life of her students, a Sister must know. the science of God. "This is eternal life : That they may know thee. the only true God, and Jes~s Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John, 17:3). In order to convince her pupils of the very purpose of their existence she must first develop within herself a reasoned conviction and understanding of the great mysteries of faith. She must learn to distinguish emotionalism from true love of God, and yet evaluate the place of the emotions in the spiritual life. To meet ,the intellectual needs of th~ mid-twentieth centt~ry a scientific knowledge of God is needed. Unless Sister herself believes that "the least knowledge of divine things is greater than hny amount of knowledge about material, things," she will lose ground. Anyone who puts a degree in chemistry, or language, credits in litera-ture or education before a deeper knowledge, of God cannot be suc-cessful in connecting the life of the day and the life of God within the human soul. She is laboring "for the roost thaf perishes," and not for "that which endureth unto everlhsting life." Teaching, according to Saint Augustine, is the highest form of charity. For the religious teacher, then, the study and quest of wis-dom for the development of her vocation is absolutely necessary. Study undertaken for love of God increases her sanctity. The holier she, becomes, the greater is herdesire for a kngwledge of truth. Be-cause in the convent cemetery there lie the remains of Sisters who achieved sanctity without the study of theology, it does not follow that Sister Anno Domini does not need theology. To those who had 60 March, 1953 SUMMA FOR SISTERS not the opportunity for the study of theolo~gy God undoubtedly supplied. He fits each one with the grace needed for the task He wishes her to do. Theology was not ava~labie for those Sisters, nor had they the same problems to face that the Sister of 1953 has: St~ch an excuse will not hold today. The separation of study from. prayer is not a new problem. But the brilliant patron of Catholic schools has left a method by which study can be employed to direct the interior life to God. St. Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologica has synthesized the whole rela-tionship 'between God and man in the most perfect harmony. Courses in the Summa Theologica have been opened for Sisters at various centers. Seven of these summer schools'stem from the one at Provi-dence College, Providence, Rhode Island, where the" Summa is stud-ied article by article in courses specially adapted to religious women. Other schools use Father Walter Farrell's Companion to the Summa as a text and the great classic itself as a reference. In accord with the spirit of Saint Thomas and in fulfillment of the spirit of the Do-minican Order the spiritual formation of the religious teachers at-tending Providence College transcends the intellectual. Otherwise the real purpose of the stud~ of theology would be subverted. There is not a mother gener~l anywhere who would grope for an answer if asked whether she would rather gend but in September good religious or good teachers. However~ the study of theology on a graduate level, although enthusiastically endorsed by all the Sisters who have t~iken the courses, is not yet as widespread as it should be. Many consider other educational requirements more pressing. That these members of rel.igious communities may eat their cake and have it too--with icing--Providence College also offers a course in the Summa and additional intensive study of special questions with a master's degree in religious education upon its completion. Theology is the antidote for those who fear that higher studies will~make the Sisters proud, just as it is the preventative for worldli-ness in secular subjects. No one who has learned the Catholic teaching on grace: thai it is "God Who moves in you both to will and to accomplish;" that you cannot even want to be good unless God gik, es you the grace bf that holy desire; no one who has learned the glories of the gifts and fruits in- the soul can find it in her heart to be proud. A man must walk to God by steps of the will, but the mind must tell him tb Whom beis walking and what road he should take. 61 SISTER MARY JUDE Review [or Religious The mind was created for truth, the' will for good. To know the truth and to choose the good a man must have grace. "Not that we are sufficient to think anything of ourselves, as of ourselves: but our sufficiency is from God" (II Cor. 3:5). Humility, St. Thomas teaches, is truth. A distinctive phenomenon of the "active" orders today is the !number of religious seeking to change to a p'urely~contemplative life. Although their final profession is far enough behind them that they should have arrived at some proficiency in the delicate balance between praye.r and work, they now seek to transfer to a cloister. While God. for His own reasons may thus call a Sister, such a voca-tion is unusual. Eor every Sister who makes such a change there are many who for a variety,of reasons never effect the transit. They ar-dehtly desire this transit because they, presume it will bring closer union with God. The Sister who would exchange classroom or hos-pital corridor for cloister, has not yet been brought to a realization of the fulness of her vocation. She is willing to settle for less than th~ overflow of contemplation which needs to find an outlet in lifting her neighbor to God. The author of the.Summa, a high-octane teacher if ever there was one, could, without diminishing any of the power of his spiritual life, give himself to the service of his neighbor, for his compass was ever pointed toward truth. Thomas of Aquin had a list of accom-plishments no superior would dare .assign one person today. He t~ught school, preached, wrote something like 36 volumes, carried on an enormous corresponder~ce, traveled back and forth a~ross Eu- ¯ rope on foot several times and was at every'one's beck'and call. The: religious who resents teachers' meetings which take 'up her valuable time can recall the Angelic Doctor laying down fiiS pen in the middle of an article ("Just when I 'got a good start!") when summoned by the Pope to a General Council. To 'the man who was to become the Patron of C;itholic Schools, action and contemplation were inter- 'woven, interdependent. "Goodness diffuses itself," St. Thomas wrote, and the religious woman who has enough spirituality~will externalize her love of God no matter what she is teaching, which--if her congregation runs true to form--will be something outside her "teaching field." If a Sis-ter's community'has been progressive enough to send her to on.e of 'the summer schools of sacred theology for religious women, she has a lever which can move the dead weight of secula.rism considered l~y 62 , March, 1953 SUMMA FOR SISTERS the Bishops of the United States as l~he number one problem. Be she art or music instructor, baby teacher or cbllege professor, she needs the lever of theology. With ,Thomistic thoroughness and spiritual benefit both to herself and her pu.pils the religious who has met and mastered the order and harmony of the Summa Theologica can fit the most important thing~ in life intb her curriculum. Observant of the world's needs but not preoccupied by them, a Sister who has studied theology can immerse herself in algebra and chemistry without fear of losing the sense of the presence of God. In Him she will live and move and have h~r convent and school life. She will share with her pupils the fruit~ of her contemplation, be it in her presentation, of invertebrates or by .means of geometry theorems worked out in units and lesson plans. After a study of the Summa Sister reaches her peak performance. She can teach about God through, every medium because she has first learned to know God herself. Thrilled as by high altitudes, Sister has become acquainted with the science of God, has learned what~aan is, has studied the~ principles of human acts in relation to God. She has an appreciation" of the role of grace in the soul and has studied the life of Him who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Now that she has analyzed the means utkl-ized by the perfect Teacher, the Divine~Physician, the Greatest of all social workers--the means He has ordered for her and her pupils to share His life--now that she. ha~ this equipment, she can gear every moment of her day to the perfect love of God. A survey of Sisters with graduate training in secular subjects will reveal that few have used more than a small p6rtion of the knowl-edge acqutred in Home Economics or Art or Latin at a university. The training in research, the materials, bibliography, the mental con-centration, the technique of organizing knowledge all are invalu-able. These, however, could be acquired and better orientated after a mastery of the queen of the sciences. If Sister has studied only the first twenty-s, ix questions 6f Prima Pars which treat of the nature and attributes of God, hers is a breadth of vision so vast as to leave her untroubled by all the petty things which disturb conventual peac~ of soul. Placed beside the majesty, t~e b~auty, the simplicity of God; what are the annoying manner-isms of Sister Alpha, the inconsiderateness of Sister Beta, the impru-dence of Sister Ghmma ? As~o.the.Holy Eucharist is the great, divinely-ordered means ~f 63 SISTER MARY JUDE transforming.the human soul into the likeness of Christ, so theology lifts convent life above the narrowest of confines, the most ov'~r- ~rowded horarium, the most pQorly systema'tized routine. From the study of the first part of the Summa Sister learns how great God and from the third part of the same work how much He loves her. No spiritual reading book can grip her soul with the irrefutable logii: of Saint Thomas Aquinas. Once these truths have become part of her life, what difference does it make if Sister Delta leaves most of the work for her, or if Sister Epsilon is congenitally unable to mind her own business? No unctuous sermon whose .resultant glow will be chilled by the first reprimand of a superior can fill her with the peace and joy which a knowledge ~f sacred doctrine brings. Theoiogy is thus definitel); needed by all members of our educa-tional system. There is not a Sister in the Catholic Church who feels :satisfied with the results of her teaching. "Ask Father in confession," ¯ will no longer sufficb. Problems brought to Sister by pupils and ex- ¯ pupils by parents and friends should ordinarily be solved by her. .All too frequently.' those turned away will lose their nerve long be-fore they reach the confessional. Many, many people have never :asked a question in confession in all their lives. They would not know at what part of the confession to interject their request for in- .formation. Besides, they feel th.at, knowing SiSter's sympathy and good sense, they would get an answer which would take into tic-count all the circumstances peculiar to their own situation all of which would call for an autobiography in the confessional. As for asking Father outside--oh, no, he's too busy--even though Father, like Sister, is eager to help them. Moreover, there is small danger that Sister is presuming to answer questions and pass judgment in matters requiring.a trained physician Of souls. One of the biggest and surest and most lasting lessons Sis-ter carries away from her study of the Summa is how mu~h she doesn't know! And as she packs a trunk bulging with all the "teaching materials" Sisters tend to accumulate, she doesn't wonder anymore if the v~orld is sneaking up on her, for if she could, she would fill her arms with the world that she might 'give it all back to Christ. IEDITORS' NOTE: Although we would not entirely agree with some points in tml arti_cle, we believe that it calls for careful consideration and perhap~ for some a~o~- sion. Communications on any of the points, pro or con. woUld be welcome.; 64 The blidden Life Michael Lapierre, S.J. T lif~ HE of Our Lord falls into two distinct parts--the hidden life and the active life. The one is predominantly a life o~ .~ prayer, the other predominantly a life of activi.ty. The one comprises a period of thirty years, the other a period of only three. Tile life 'of Mary His Mother'and of His Foster-Father St. Joseph. was, moreover, scarcely ever in the public eye. As .a root supports and steadies the stalk and flower, so they supported and prepared, their Son for His future ministry. So in the hidden life of prayer, penance, and silence led by many in the world today whether in or out of religious orders and congregations, whether with or without vows, we find the root fixed in the good ground by the bank of living waters. This root supports and helps to energize the vast apostolic enterprise of the Church of Christ in the vast chaos called ~ the modern world. It may seem strange, in an age when there seems so much need of active work in the Church and outside of it, that the Church leaves. thedoors of.her monasteries sealed up, does not send a trumpet call to her monks and nuns to rise from their benches of prayer, to doff the robe of elected silence, to step forth from'the monastery wall and cry forth, like the Baptist, the words of light, of life, and of salva-tion. It may seem strange that the Church chose a contemplative as a patron for that most active 0f her activities. For over her intense as well as.extensive mission activity the ChurCh has placed the Car-melite contemplative, St. Thir~se, the Little Flower. And it makes us re~flect a little too when we read of Plus XI singling out a monastery of Trappist monks in the vast mission field.of China for special praise ¯ and commendation. "What can these do in the mission field?" we are tempted to ask. Missioners must instruct, preach, baptize, con-firm, perform marriages,.absolve, be at the ready call of the sick and ¯ the infirm. And how can a monk do this! Yet it is not too strange after all, if we reflect for a few moments upon a few salient truths. Only let us not forget that we are speaking , now as men possessed of the precious treasure of the faith wherein so many things are made clear to us at which unaided reason might~ fumble and endlessly stumble. Yet it is not out of place to mention MIdHAEL LAPIERRE Ret~iew for Religious that¯ pagans in their higher moments did not fail to set abundant stress, upon thefimportance of contemplation. 3apart had her bonzes; China had her monks. , And whatever the motives and intentions of these religious d(votees were, nevertheless there was somewhere.in the depths of their minds, a realiz, ation, dim and distant perhaps, that the better part in the life of man was, after all, contemplation. We are all familiar with the episode .in the Old Testament where-in Abraham is asked by God to sacrifice his Isaac, his only bqgotten and beloved son. It ~vas a hard test of faith and God meant it to 'be so. Abr~ih'am bent his mind to the trial and prepared to carry out God's injunctiofi. But as he raised the sacrificial knife which was to spill:his son's blood upon the altar of holocaust, an angel stayed his hand, saying: "Lay not thy hand upon the boy, neither do thou any thing to him: now I know that thou fearest God, and hast not spared thy only begotten son for my sake'." "At once ~e see that God was pleased with Abraham's intention. And God blest Abraham because in the strength of. his faith'he had bent his mind to the ful-fillment of God's will, though it seemed to Contradict one 6f the promises a~lready made to him. We are not so familiar per.haps.with that passage in Psalm 49, ¯ where God so emphatically insists through the mouth of His P~alm- "ist that internal holiness must accompany external worship. Here i~ the passage--"Listen my people and I will speak, Israel; and.I Will bear witness.against thee: I afi~ God, thy God. Not for thy sacrifices do I chide thee, for thy burnt offerings are always before me. I will not take a, bullock f~om th3~ house, nor he-goats .from thy flocks: For all the wild aniinals of the forest.are mine, the thousands of beasts on my mountains. I know all the birds of the air, and what moves in the field is~known to me. If I were hungry I'would not tell you: for mine is the world and what'fills it. Shall I eat the flesh of bulls? or drink the blood of he-goats? Offer to God the sacri/ice of praise, and pay thy vows to the Most High. And call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me." From this we gather then, that all our external activity, all our efforts ha~'e little or no ,value bdfore God, if our ~minds and hearts ire ,no't in harmony with Him, if we are not seeking him in all "our doings. - We recall too how Gabriel responded to Daniel the Prophet who with prolonged piayer-lnterceded for his people: "From. the ~begin- " ning of thy prayers the word came forth: and I am come to shew it to. thee,, because thou art a man of desires: therefore do thou mark 66 March, 1953 ., THE HIDDEN LIFE the word and understand the vision"~ (Dan. 9:22). Because he was a man of desires, a man of prayer, therefore a man with his mind turned towards God, Daniel's prayer is heard and God reveals him-self to him in pra~yer. Many, many tim~s we have heard repeated or have used ourselves the words of Our Lord to Martha concerning Mary Magdalene: -"Mary has chosen the better part which shall not be taken away from her." And to this saying of Our Lord we. may add another less familiar, spoken to His disciples who asked Him why they could not drive the devil out of the boy: "This kind goeth not out but. by prayer and fasting." All these instances show that God fin~Is as much'delight if not more in the 'supreme effort of man to keep his thoughts subject to God as He does in the supreme effort of man to plant the divine truth in other souls. When we bow before the Will of God. when we strive to extend our mind into God's breadth of view, when we b~nd the whole energy of our being into praising, reverencing, and serving God then we are practicing the Apostolate of intention. All*men must practice this to some degree. For all rrien are by -nature reflective animals. They like to turn in upon.the truth ~hich they have discovered---if they are action-inclined, with a vie~- gen-erally to further action: if they are contemplation-inclined, for sheer love and'joy. The missioner and the contemplative each c~rries on a warfare for souls his own soul and the souls of others. While the missioner works in the macrocosm, we magi say that the contem-plative works in the microcosn~. The contemplative finds God in the' depths of his own thoughts, the missioner finds God in the souls for whom he is spending himself. The contemplative is constantly employed in tapping the source of supplies whence flows the grace of God; the missioner ,is directing this supply" to souls. In the redemptive plan of' God each has his activity, each his definite purpose. Nor are.these 6perations opposed to one" another, but rather they are complementary. In the words of St. Paul, "There ar~e diversities of graces, but the same Spi.rit; and there are diversities of ministries, but the same Lord: and there are diversities of opera-tions, but the same God, who worketh all in all" (I Cor. 12:4-.7). Nevertheless because we are human clay equipped with senses easily and quickly captivated by creatures, perhaps 'because we are a fallen race filled .with the pride of life, caught by the glory of re-nown. haunted by the eclat of reputation, thrilled to be. in the public 67 MICHAEL LAPIERRE Ret~ieto for Religiot~s eye and to have our name trumpeted on the lips of men, we rush for-ward, or set high in our estimation the active phase of apostolic en-deavor: For when all is said and done, has not St. Paul received abundant glory through the ages for his ceaseless journeyings in the cause of Christianity? Think of St. FranCis of Assisi, the troubador "of God singing his way into the hearts of the sinners a'nd of the poor of the Middle Ages; think of St. Catherine being the counselor of kings and popes; St. Francis of Sales winning the stern Calvinists by his disarming evenness of temper and charming good humor; St. Philip Neri entrancing the stolid Romans by his laughter and even saintly jocularity; St. Teresaof Avila, a real Napoleon in her struggles for the reform of the Carmelites. There is a strong appeal in this active apostolate; an appeal enhanced by the passage of time and by the softening of the cross's painful outline in the blaze of .after-glory. "They are the heroes," we say. "How I would like a career like that," or "@hat's the'life for me." "If only we could set the world on fire as they did. If we could cast our lives in such a mould." The supreme success of it dazzles us indeed! Two Apostlesj bad the-same thought that we have had when they sat near Our Lord one day and brazenly asked Him, "Lord may we sit, the one on Thy right hand and the other on Thy left in Thy Kingdom? , And Our Lord replied, "Can you drink of the Chalice of which I shall drink?" As they, so we overlook or forget to see th~ pain and the penance~ paid for such renown. The.glory came only after the crown was. won. If we wish to be realistic we must concentrate on the prelude to alFthis glory. We should see St. Paul, ','preaching not ourselves, but Jesus Christ' Our Lord; . . . in all things suffering tribulation,-but not distressed; straitened but not destitute; persecuted but not forsaken; cast down but not pe~rishing: always.bearing about in our bod~, the mortification of Jesus, that the life Of Jesus may be made manifest in our bodies" (II Cot, 4:5, 8- 10). Hear him cry, "Let us exhibit ourselves as the ministers of God in much patience, in tribulation, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes~ in prisons, in seditions, in labors, in Watchings, in fa~tings, in chastity, in knowledge, in long-suffering, in sweetness, in the Hol~ "Ghost, in charity unfeigned, in the wo~d of truth., as dying, :and behold we live; as chastised, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always ¯ rejoicing; as n~edyl yet enriching many; as having nothing: yet pgs-sessing all things" (II Cot. 6:4-10). We should hear him say, "God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ 68 March. 1953 THE HIDDEN LIFE by Whom theworld is dead to me and I to the world." We should picture to ourselves St. Francis of Assisi contem-plating and praying to God on the lonely and solitary slopes of Mount Alvernia: St. Catherine drawn' from h~r loving contempla-tion of her °Saviour into the world of turmoil and dissension: St. Francis of Sales pouring out'his soul in prayer to God: St. Philip Neri as the "Hermit of the Streets" whose "little room l~ad a bed in it but that was not always used. Many nights Philip stayed,,up praying or wandering in the Campagna. When he did sleep it was as like as not on the floor. He hung what few clothes he had on a cord stretched from wall to wall." (T~ Maynard. M~cstics in Mot-le~ . page 25.) These are a few indications of the lives of prayer and penance led by men and women whom we know to have been extremely active in the work of spreading God's Kingdom on earth~ Their days and hours of contemplation are concealed beneath the radiance of their active lif~. But just as the sun's rays blind us to the sun, so the glory of these saints' public l~fe shields from us the depth and the richness of their hidden life. And yet, as' ~ith the sun, so with them the brilliance of their renown takes its splendors from the ~ullness Of their prayerful nights and silent days wherein the energy of their souls and bodies spent itself upon God and upon His truth. With their whole souls they sought God: and loving Him with all the fire of their whole being enriched by grace, they loved other men and all things in this one all-consuming love. They set in order and tried to keep aright, the creatures in the little world of self before and even wh~le venturing among the creatures of the larger world of God's creation. In all they strove for God--in everything they sought to live the morning offering made to the Sacred Heart. ' This was-the, hidden life behind, shall we say, the feverish activity: this was the wellspring that on no account they allowed to run dry. If in the earthly life of Jesus we find such a startling proportion between the 'years spent amid the hills of Nazareth and years spent on the stage of public life; if ia the lives of the saints we find the sami~ preponderating inclination to slip into prayer, penance, and seclusion, surely we have a truth to learn and a lesson to practice in imitating Him and His chosen souls. The Church, the Body. of Christ, has caught this lesson; there-fore she cherishes with a jealous love and guards with zealous ca~e those of her members°taking Nazareth for their ideal and the prayer-z 69 MICHAEL LAPIERRE ful life of Mary and Joseph. f6r their model. Fbr she is quite aware that they carry on a very vital, though, unseen activity, just as Mary and Joseph performed a very important task in ~uarding, feeding; cI~thing, and teaching the Son of God. For they, walking in the footsteps of Joseph and Mary, guard, feed. c'l~)the, and'enrich today the Mystical Body of Christ. As consecrated workers of Jesus Christ. we need their intercession and support. Furthermore we need to strengthen the life of grace and of union with God ~n our own souls. If we have, a realization of the value of the Hidden Life we shall go ab6ut this with a wil!. To the degree to which we have formed in ourselves a knowledge and a love of J~sus Christ. to that degree even in the midst of the heaviest .and the most annoying work we shall find our minds and our hearts stealing back to taste and to relish the sweetness of the Lord. To Him our desires will fly as to a'harbor and a refuge; for Him our. whole soul will yearn: 'Who will give me wings like a dove and will fly and be at rest." "I have sought him whom my soul loveth . I have found him and I. will not let him go." "I have loved O lord the beauty ofThy house and the place Where Thy glory dwelleth." "How lovely are Thy tabernacles O Lord of hosts! My soul longeth and fain,teth for the courts of the Lord." It is the v,r-" rues of the Hidden Life that we must sow'and make to take root and flourish in. our souls. The better we succeed in this planting the more contemplative our lives will become. And the ,more contem-plative our lives become the.deeber and richer will be our knowledge of God and of His. love. The deeper and richer our knowledge and love of God becomes, the fuller and livelier becomes our Apostolate of Intention. For then we shall move about our daily tasks, then we. shall face our duties, then we shall ac'cept the disaplSointments of each day, then we shall welcome the joys of our pilgrimage, With one thought, with all the ene.rgies of body and soul, senses~and mind concentrated on one object, ,the seeking and the serving of God in each and everything that we think and say and do. For, "Many Waters cahnot quench charity, neither can the fl.oods.drown ,it. If a man sh6uld give all" the substance of his house for love he shall despise it as nothing." ' ' PROCEEDINGS: SISTERS' SECTIONOF CO'NGRESS Religious Comrnunitg Life in the United States. The Proceedings of the Sis-ters' Section of the First National Cgngress. Of Rel!gioUs' of .the United States, which was.held at Notr, e Dame, Indiana, last August, can now; be obtained from the Pau!- ist Press, 411 W. 59tbSt., Ne~, Ysrk 19, New York. $2.50. 70 I:::at:her bler!:ling on I nt:usefl Cont:empla!:ion Jerome Breunig. S'.J. 44~UT do not think you are mystics just because you have read ~ Garrigou-Lagrange's Three Ages of the Spiritual Life," said the rector of a major seminary who had been urging all to buy and read the book. The laudable prOmotion of books on the :mystical life often produces two very different reactions. Some are inclined to make too little of the possibility or desirability of mysti-cal graces, while others tend to be enthusiastically over-optimistic and. after some quickl.y digested reading, imagine they are in the "fifth mansion" as soon as they experience a few moments of serene prayer. In his manual, Theologica Ascetica. Louis Hertling, S.3., presents the basic, element.ary facts of mysticism b¥iefly and concisely, and in a way that 'inculcates respect in those iiaclined to be cynical or slighting and prudent reserve in those who would seem to expect to attain to infused contemplation in ten easy lessons. Father Hertling taught a course in ascetical theology at the Uni-versity, of Innsbruck and later at the Gregorian and Athenaeum Pon-tifical Universities in Rome. He first published his lectures in 1930 under the title, Lehrbuch clef Ascetischen Theologie. His lectures in Rome were published in 1947 by the Gregorian University Press as Theologia Ascetica. The present a'rticle is drawn from the section in the latter which treats of the way of the perfect, numbers 327-367. It does not attempt to reproduce the entire content but rather some of the more practical directives found in the treatise. Father Hertling's ideas about the theoretical problems of mysticism, the essential nature of it, and so on, are not accepted by many other theologians, but still ~they are well worthy of consideration and respect. His practical directions seem. very sensible and excellent. A mystic is defined as one who has infused contemplation, and infused contemplation as a perception of God orof the mysteries of faith wbii:h is beyond human powers. This perdeption is not miracu-lous as the vision the shepherds in Bethlehem-received, as bearing a voice from heaven, or as a prophet's infused knowledge.of, future events:~:. It is not necessarily altogetbe~ new knowledge, bur"it is a new way of knowing as the beatific vision is a new way of knowing. 71 JEROME BREUNIG Revieu.~ for Religious In fact, infused contemplation is in. the same order as beatific knowl-edge, but it lacks the clarity, extension, and permanence of the oter-hal vision. In the natural order, some of our knowledge is proper, some analogotis. We have proper knowledge of what we perceive through our senses. Of spiritual, suprasensible, and supernatural reality, such as, of God and of the, mysteries of faith, we can have only analogous knowledge naturally. But' supernaturally, through the mystical grace of infused contemplation, the favored soul receives more than that: it receives a proper, that is, a sort of immediate, experimental knowledge of the things of God. The definition 'of infused con-templation can therefore be stated: an experimental or at least quasi-experimental perception of God and of the divine mystdries. In simpler language, the mystic might be said to "sense," "touch," "experience" God. In the beatific vision we shall see God face to face, we shall know God as we are known by Him. This description by St. Paul (I Cot. 13) is magnificent and clear, but he does not explain how the finite mind attains the infinite. Theologians have proposed theories, .but all agree that the beatific vision is a~mystery in the strict sense of the word. Infused contemplation presents a somewhat parallel case. A mystic is said to "experience" God, and theologians propose theories to explain this divine experience. Such investigation is challenging and serves to increase the awe of the searcher before the grandeur of the divine, but it does little to unveil the mystery of the divine opera-tion. Father Hertling merely mentions a few of the theories and then quotes from his former colleagi~e at the Gregorian University, the late 3oseph de Guibert, S.3. "Many place the essence of infused contemplation in the soul's becoming directly and immediately con-scious of the supernatural gifts which it has received from God, and in these gifts attaining God Himself and through them His presence and action in themselves. There is no immediate intuition of God but an intuition in ~ mirror, in some objective medium . Nor must it be thought that the object of contemplation is not God Him-self but only his gifts. For these gifts are not only a mirror or medium in which the soul attains God, not by a dialectic process or reasoning, but intuitively, as when I see an object in a mirror, my attention does not stop with the mirror but is wholly taken, with the object that is seen in the mirror." (Theologia Spiritualis Ascetica et Mgstica, 399,401.) 72 March, 1953 I N FUS ED CONTEMPLATII21~I Some Questions Is the grace of infused contemplation ordinary or extraordinary, relatively rare or frequent? Do all have a vocation to it or only a few? Is infused contemplation the normal goal and crown of the spiritual life or not? There is a difference of opinion among theo-logians on these questions. In general, Father Hertling's position is. that ~he grace of infused contemplation is extraordinary and rela-tively rare, that not all are called, and that it is not the crown and 'goal of the spiritual life. He is careful, however, to make proper distinctions on each qiiestion. ~ Is the grace of contemplation extraordinary? It is if understood simply as not customary. But it is not in the sense that it' would be rash to wish it for oneself, to pray to,receive such a grace, to prepare dispositions as occasion offers, as it ,would be imprudent to seek visions or the gifts of miracles. Is it relatively rare? Those who deny that contemplation is rela-tively rare say that all who are in the state of grace possess it because it is the specific effect of the gifts ,of t,he Holy Ghost, which are in-fused with sanctifying grace. Sin~e it seems contrary to experience that all in grace have infused contemplation, those who hold this opinion say that the contemplation in the imperfect is still below consciousness, and, as perfection increa.ses, or as the soul is more and more freed from inordinate affections, the infused contemplation enters more and mo~e into consciousness. After agreeing that infused contemplation is an effect Of the gifts, or rather that it is a special gift of th~ Holy Spirit, the author gives this ~refutation. Infused contemplation is an act of the intellect or~ at least, it is to be considered in the category of actions and not of qualities, or habits. Now, an unconscious act of the intellect, or an illumination of the mind that is not perceived, seems to be a contra-diction. For this reason, it seems more correct to say tl~at the.gifts infused at the time of justification place in the soul a remote disposi-tion to receive contemplation, but contemplation itself is had only when it enters into consciousness. It would not be necessary for the favored soul to know this rdflectively,, for he could have infused con-templation without knowinlg it was such, or knowing that it wa~s something that others did nbt have. The point is, if it is perceived I in no way~ it is not present.] Are all called to contemplation or only some? This. call can be compared to the call to perfection. There is a remote call for all, if 73 JEROME BREUNIG': ~ Review }'or Religious the reception of sanctifying grace with the ~ifts of the Holy Spirit is considered, sufficient for such a Vocatioh. The author denies a,proxi-mate vocation for all. God does not promise .this grace to. all ',who to-operate as well'as they can with the grace they receive, for God does. not lead all by" the same way, nor does He want to.' God can ~ompensate for the absence of infused contemplation by giving :othei: graces to. help ~i'man attain perfection. Of course, 7the man with in-~ 'fused contemplation will advance more easily and can more re~idily advance .higher on the w.ay of perfection. The not-unrelated question of whether infused contemplation the goal and crown of the spiritual life is answered in the same way. Perfection, or. the goal of the spiritual life, is judged l~y the heroic ~,irtue of a man rather t-ban by his method of prayer. As said above, o ] a, man can attain.perfection without co, nterflplation. Contempl.ation, then. is rather a very efficacious means to reach the goal than the goal .itself. On" the Value of Contemplation The author steers a: middle course between the two extremes found among spi~i.tual directors. On the conservative side arethe spiritual directors who fear infused contemplation in souls hndet ~heir direction, are always afraid of illusions, and try severely the sbuls who may show signs of" contemplative graces. On 'the ovef-enthusiastic side are those who woul~l urge a.nd persuade all novices and young religious that they al~eady have ~or may soon expect in-fused contemplation. These 'men are often deceived by the theories spoken of above, such as the universal call to contemlSlation. Even the theologians do not understand these theories as some dir~ectors would wish to apply them, In this way they~le.ad souls, a~'S~. The-resa says; to'intrude themselves into mystical paths where ihey carry on as fools. On the other hand, infused Fontemplation is not as rare as many b~lieve. The highbst levels are very rare but not the qesser grades which are still 'true mystical states. It would not be tOO much to expect tofind one Or 6ther true contemplative in a large~ religi.ous community, and this not only ~m0ng':'jubilarians. Norneed such religious'be parii~ularly conspicuousbr riecessari.ly revered a~ tibly by '~'11. When a spiritual director meets,such a soul, he need not be filled witl~ dismay. I~ is not too urlusual or da,ngerou~: 'Generally speaking, graces are not dangerous. Illusions appear when there is question~ of something other than contempI'ation itself, such as visions, revelations, supernatural commands.' Of such phenomena March, 1953 INFUSED CON:FEMPLATION Father.i-iertling says: "'I would not believe one in a hundred or even one in a thousand." It can happen that one believes he has infused contemplation when he only has affective prayer. But even this is not harmful if it has the effect of f6stering.,the practice of virtue. When the diredtor investigates too much in these matters, intro~- duces.special trials, and especially when he talks too much about them, he may not only disturb but even cause ,the person he is directing to form too high an opinion of himself. The effects of ihfused'contemplation are ve, ry powerful and most desirable, especially when they occur ~ frequently. Success in living a life of virtue depends on,holy thoroughly the Interior life is pene-trated with the truths of faith. A man will constantly practice heroic virtue 0nly when he is completely penetrated with the truths so they.hold sway in his heart and mind over all else. This interior state can be acquired with labor by ordinary means such as medita-' tion. but it can be attained more quickly and efficaciously with the help of thatspecial light sent from above. In" an ordinary-state, the truths of faith, known only analogously and not directly, have less psychological efficacy, and this must be renewed continually by un-ceasing laboi. In infused contemplation, a man acquires a qug~i-experimental knowledge of divine trutbs so that supernaturalrrib: tives have the same or even greater cogency than natural ones. There is real danger when a man leaves the ordinary way iore: maturely and on his own. thinking he already has contemplation when he does not have it. This happens especially when be assumes privileges. True mystics do not have ' privileges." Such a ofiehears that contemplatives find discursive rheditation difficult a-nd. in time. impossible, and mistakenly thinks be is a m)istic when. because"~'of sloth or lack of training, he finds no delight in mental 15~?ayer anal does not m~ike any progress. Infused contemplation is not attainiid by'leaving off meditation: thi? would rather cut short an~ hope whatever of acquiring it. Since even authentic mystics are not always illumined by contemplation,~ they must in the in~erveni'ng time return tirelessly to ordinary ways of prayer. Again, an immature ~eligious he~ars that contemplatives ~re under the direktion of the Holy Spirit, as though contemplation would act )is a spiritual director, and therefore thinks that he'can now act freely and without'the counsels of older me'n. These illu-sions and dangers do not rise from contemplation itself, but from the error of those who do not have it. It can be seen that out-of.'seasdri 75 ,JEROME BREUN[G admonitions that all are called and must tend to contemplation could do more harm than good. Conditions and Dispositions Since contemplation is a. gratuitous gift of. God, it is not easy to determine the conditions or dispositions that would be more favor-able to the reception of this grace. The best natural dispositions for infused contemplation would seem to be a clear mind, seriousness of purpose, and a simplicity or harmony of character. Contrary. dispo-sitions would be genius and a highly imaginative or emotional na-ture. Too much versatility and talkativeness would also seem to be hindrances. In general, mystics are not reformers, innovators who blaze new trails, or critics. A youthful exuberance would also seem unfavorable. A maturer age (after 40 or 50) and a more tranquil outlook are required. Ordinarily, mystics are men with few ideas, but these are sublime ones. Sometimes their writings tend to be monotonous, continually presenting the same round of thought in the same style. Universal spirits such as St. Bernard and St.Theresa of Avila are the exceptions rather than the type of the true mystics. The ~study of mystical theology, association with mystics, and reading their books does not help directly. It can help indirectly by stirring up. interest in the study of the things of the spirit. Infused contemplation is not "contagious." There is no such thing as a mystical movement in the Catholic Church. Collective mysticism is almost certainly a sign of false mysticism. The best deoeloped dispositions for infused contemplation are magnanimity, the spirit of sadrifice, separation from the wbrld, self-denial, and an intense application to prayer. Without the greatest' diligence in cultivating mental prayer, persevered in over the years, there is hardly any hope of attaining to contemplation. The need for chastity and mortification is clear from the examples of the saints. As it is the best way to sanctity, so the religious life provides the most suitable form of life for the cultivation of a life of prayer. Con-templativeorders are particularly.adapted to help their members at-tain this higher state of prayer. It is not going too far to see in a vo-cation to a contemplative order a proximate vocation to infused con-templation. Still, the membe~ of a contemplative order who does not have this conten~plation is not on that account a poor religious, for the purpose of the religious life is always Christian perfection, which can be had without contemplation. But even those who live an active life dedicated to works of charity for others can attain contempla-tion as is attested frequently in the lives of, missionaries. , Xavier t:he Missionary J. J. De~ney, S.J. ALTHOUGH more than ten years elapsed from the time Xavier landed in India on May 6, 1542, until his death on Decem-ber 3, 1552. less than four years and ten months.were spent in the Indian phase of his apostolate, and even this time was very much broken up by movements from one place to another. The field in which he v~orked longest was the Tamil-speaking sections along the Fishery Coast and the southern coast of Travancore, and even there his stays totalled less than two years and were spread over a coastline considerably more than a hundred miles long. Making liberal allowances we can admit that Xavier ma~ have spent seven-teen months in Goa, but these months were diyided over the whole ten years of his stay in the East, and much of the time here was spent in working with the Portuguese and in administrative work. The time Xavier spent in mgving from one part of India to another. usually by sea, certainly totalled up to many weeks and probably months. The remaining time~ includes stays in Cochin (at least seven different times). Quilon, Bassein, Negapatam, and Mylapore. We must remember too that Xavier's work in Goa and the coastal towns of the Por,tuguese was much different from that among~ the Tamils of the south. Yet in spite of such a sho'rt-lived and diversified apostolate Xavier was to become the "Apostle of the Indies," and to be known and revered as such throughout the world. Few saihts are better known and loved than Saint Francis Xavier. and no country is more closely associated with the name of Xavier than India. How did Xavier merit such a close association with India in these few years of work in our country? Since Xavier's most typical missionary work was in the South. we will first consider his work done there. ~ In late October'of the year 1542 Xavier arrived on the Fishery Coast as the ~only priest among twenty thousand recently baptized Paravas in desperate need of religious instruction and speaking a language which he did not know. He set to" work energetically: studying the language, in-structing the people, and baptizing their children. " In a country where the birth-rate is high and life-expectancy is J. J. DEENE¥ Review for Relioious low. we can easily imagine that the unbaptized children who had ~been born since.the priest was last present among .the Paravas num-bered at least four or five thousand, for it is not likely that the unin-stru. ci~d Paravas baptized their children. Besides this. Xavier bap-tized many,dying babies of pagan parents: in one letter he tells us that bebaptized over one thousand babies who died soon afterwards. Thes~ facts alone would explain Xavier's great preoccupation with baptisms, which is reflected in his letters. However. be also baptized great numbers o'f pagan adults, first of all on-the Fishery Coast whe're he tells us his arm often becfime tired from baptizing new converts to the faith: and finally in Travancore where he himself testifies that be baptized ten thousand in one mon(b among a people who 'bad never before been introduced to Christianity. ° ,It is true that Xavier did not requird a prolonged catechumenate prior to baptizing, and that his "'quick" .baptisms of~ pagan adults wot~ld surprise us of a more exacting age, but we must realize tile cir-cumstances in which Xavier worked. When be came to ~heFishery Coast be was confronted with the immense task of instructing twenty thousand new Christians. baptizing their ~hildren. and gaining new converts. Necessarily the instructions had to be on a limited scale. The people were uneducated and Xavier had to rely for the far greater part on formulas memoi?ized in probably defective Tamil. To bring new converts to the same low'level of instruction witb"tbe rest~would not take much time. Xavier just bad to keep working, trusting in God, begging for more helpers so that be could raise the level of all. old and new Christians. and at least he had the cgnsolation of knowing that those Who died had been baptized." could be fairly sure of the stability of his new converts. The oppor. tunism which had led the greater number of these people to the faith would be a-strong inducement for all of them to remain Christians. for this would be their surest guarantee of protection against the Muslims. Meanwhile Xavier would work hard to supernaturalize their motivation and deepen their religious knowledge and their life of grace. ~ The whole movement among the fishermen of Travancore is but an application, on a grand scale of the same attitudes. Xavier had a sudden'opening, an invitation from a grateful local king to enter his territory and work among the fishermen who lived a!ong the coast. Xavier seized the opportunity and went swiftly from village to village briefly instructing and baptizing the people before 78 XAVIER THE MISSIONARY, the moment would pas.s: alrea'dy he-had .some help,.on tl~e Fishery. Coast when this new opportunity presented itself, and'he was confi-dent that new recruits for the mission would soon arrive from. Europe. These would have to consolidate the work. A modern missionary would perhaps be more cautious, and even some of his fellow missionaries;held a stricter view. Surely-one element which we cannot, excliade'in Xavjer's case is the prompting of divine grace, and We ha.ve, nogreater proof of this than the, strong Catholic .faith which still exists among .these peoples. Xavier's work in Goa and the Portuguese ,centres" wa~ cast in a different.mould, but was no less taxing on his energies. The Goa of Xavier's day was far frbm being a model of strong, religious life. Many of the Portuguese were soldiers of fortune away from the. type of family life that might promote even a modicum of decency. For their own sake of course these souls were important to Xavier: more; over, he saw that unless the life of the Portuguese presented a favourable picture of Christianity,.~tbe Indians would havi~ no inter-est in it. So ~a large amount of Xavier'.s attention was given to the Portuguese, preaching to them, hearing, their confessions, visiting the sick and those in prison, using every means of personal contact by ¯ .which be thought he could bring individuals around to'a better way of living. But the Indians were in no way neglected, and Xavier frequently put-aside special time for them and considered it his° greatest glory when he could find time. to.be with their children. - In all these .activities Xavier followed a very exacting time schedule. We know from the eloquent testimonies of Xavier's contemporaries that his presence infused a renewed spirit into the city- of Goa. In all fields of his activity Xavier's form of apostolate was ~tarkly dire~t. He could not afford to spend his time .producinig plays or organizing boys' ball clubs; there was too much to be done. Rather he approached the people ~ immediately off a highl.y spiritual level. He, tried to imbue everyone he contacted with a sense ofthe importance of .the part they must play in the work of. the apostolate. He considered the children ideal co-apostles, and frequently mentions, working through tl~eir instrumentality. His-letters to the King of Portugal find to the'local officials are ferven,t pleas-that they may do all they can~ to eradicate the abuses which are such.a hindrance to the work, a~nd:that~they may render every positive help they can. In his" numerQus.letters to his fellow ,Jesuits working.in India he constantly guides, and ~ncourages them. and we. know, from the testimony of 79 d. d. DEENEY Review [or Religious these Jesuits that his personal contact was a source o~ great inspira-tion to all of them. Even the letters which Xavier sent back to his companions in Europe produced great good for the work of the mis-sion in India, for each new letter was dagerly sought and widely cir-culated in the Jesuit colleges, and they captured young imaginations and set generous hearts on fire. Thus besides what Xavier did him-self in ministering to the good of souls, he gave a tremendous impetus to the work in India by imparting to others some of the warmth of the flame that burned within him. ~ But isn't there a negative side of Xavier's work in India which we should .not overlook if our picture is to be complete? It is very likely that the modern missiologist would not always find~ in Xavier's life the best exemplar of present:day mission theory." We find in Xavier's life no serious attempt at a sympathetic approach to the cultural life of the India of his day, nor do we see signs of his taking those means of adapting his ways to the ways of the people such as would later prove so effective in De Nobili's apoitolate. Xavier occasionally met Brahmins, but from the start he brands them as being "as perverse and wicked a set as can anywhere be found," and when he had one long talk about Indian religion with a learned Brahmin, he considered the fruits of the ~discussion not worth recording. Xavier knew that Indian literature is largely con-tained in a "sacred language," but there is no indication that Xavier ever considered learning this language. The fact that he started to use the vernaculars immediately is surely a strong point in his favour, but we have indications in Xavier's letters that his knowledge of the vernaculars was quite limited. After a year and a half of the two years spent in the South where Tamil was spoken, Xavier wrote, "I am among these people without an interpreter. Antonio is sick at Man'apar, and Rodrigo and Antonio (a different one)'are my interpreters. Thus you can imagine the life I lead, and the sermons I give, since they do not understand me, nor do I understand them. And you can imagine my efforts to talk with these people!" (29 Aug. 1544). / Also as we read Xavier's letters we feel that he did not seem to realize the importance, or at least the feasibility, of influencing 'the lower classes of India through the~intelligentsia. His own apostolate was carried on almost entirely among people of lower class, which can be explained perhaps, but it is harder 'to explain the fact that in his letters to Europe he regularly minimized learning as a requisite 80 March. 19~ XAVIER THE MISSIONARY for. the new missionary to India. Moreover, not only did Xavier fail to take positive means to identify himself with the chhUral life 6f India, but on the contrary Xavier, as we see him in his letters, is thoroughly identi~fied with the Portuguese; he was in continuous torrespondence with King John III of Portugal, and with the local officials, and had constant recourse to the Portuguese for. financial, legislative, and even military aid, nor was he slow to let this be known. He also required that all the new missionaries who did not know Portuguese should learn it immedi-ately upon coming to India. These might be considered limitations in Xavier's approach, but we must remember the sphere of action in which Divine Providence set Xavier's efforts in India. Si'nce Xavier's apostolate was either among the usually extremely poor fishermen or else in cities within the sphere of Portuguese influence, it' is natural that his attitudes s~hould he largely fashioned' by these environments. In the South he was absorbed in work for a people who were in constant danger of attacks, and for the sake of his people he had to be in close harmony with the Portuguese. In-the coastal cities ~ontroIled by the Portu-guese he had no other choice. Portuguese power would intrude itself whether Xavier wanted it or not. Actually much of Xavier's inter-~ vention with the Portuguese authorities was exerted in order t6 keep the Portuguese from hindering his work. Also we must realize that Xavier lived at a time, when Church and State were still very closely linked together, for good and for evil, and that he was working in a sphere where the State was actually willing to do much to aid the spread of religion, so it is natural that he availed himself of this aid as much as he could. This can explain Xavier's failure to adapt his ways to a more typically Indian society. It explains his failure to. consider learning as a necessary requisite for the new missionary. The apostolate of the Fishery Coast and along the southern coasts of Travancore re-quired practical men of robust health and solid virtue; for'the sea-towns controlled by the Portuguese he required good preachers also, apparently mostly for the benefit of the Portuguese, who were, for tl~e greater part, not so'much"in need of priests who could explain the fine points of dogma, as of priests who could shock them out of their attachment to sin. This brief description of Xavier's works helps us understand something of the accomplishments of.Xavier, and also something of 81 SUMMER: SESSIONS Review [or Religious the limitationk in his techniques, but it does not show us positi3~ely the tremendous force which,was Xavier. This can be gotten only by a direct personal study of Xavier. the man. the saint. Happily it is a study to which we have often applied our minds and hearts. Xavier is above all a marl entirely dedicated to God and absorbed in the work of winning s'0uls to God's love and life. Every line of his letters breathes this whole-soul absorption: nothing else matters: there is never a thought of his co~fort nor of rest: always the work to be done: .He is a man of intense activity, but the action never gets in the way of his deep union with God. His trust in God is unbounded i he fears only not to trust. 'Grace and nature gave him a heart with a great capacity for loving l~is fellowmen, and gave him great powers in influencing his. fellowmen. Indeed, although Xavier may not have made much contact with the higher cultural elements in India. he certainly, showed forth qualities which appealed strongly to all that was finest and typically ¯ Indian in those among whom he worked. For Xavier radiated forth a~ spirit, of profound union with God and of utterpoverty and detachment such as none of the Indian holy men could equal, and Xavier's deep sympathy for his people and willingndss to expend himself in their behalf was something unknown to their holy men, but appealing no less s~trongly on that account to the hearts of his people. Summer Sessions At Marquette University, Father Gerald Kelly, S.3. will con, duct a 5-day institute on Medico-Moral Problems, ~dune 15-!9. This instittite, which, covers all the provisions of the Catholic Hospital code, is for cfiaplains, Sisters, and other hospital personnel. Also, this summer M~rquette will inaugurate a program of studi.es leading to a degree of Master of Arts in the_ology. The program extends through,five summers, and provi~les two plans for the Master's de- .gree: one including a thesis,, the other without a thesis. The. intro~ ductory courses will be given in 1953, ,lune.22LJuly 31, by Fathers Augusti~ne Ellard, S.3., and Cyril Vollert, i.3. Among those who will conduct courses in subsequent years are: Fathers Cyril P. Dono-hue, S.,J., Gerald Ellard, S.3., Gerald Kelly, S.d., and Gerald F. Van 82 Mar¢~, ! 9~ 3 F~R YOUR INFORMATION Ackeren, S.J. For further information ,wi~te to: Rev. Eugene H. Kessler, S.J., Marquette University, Milwaukee 3, Wisconsin. The Institute for Religious at College Misericordia, Dallas, Pennsylvania (a three-year summer course of twelve days in canon law arid :iscetical theology for Sisters), will be held this year August 19-30. This is the first year in the triennial coursd. The course in canon law is given by the Reverend Joseph F. Gallen, S.J., that in ascetical theology by the Reverend Daniel J. M. Callahan, S.J., both of Woodstock College, Woodstock~ Maryland. The registration, is restricted to higher superiors, their councilors, mistresses of novices, and thosein similar positions. Applications are to be :;ddressed to Rev. Joseph F. Gallen, S;J., Woodstock College, Wood~tock, M& For Your Inrrorma ion " Scholarships for Librarians Mary.wood College, an ALA accredited library school, will offer three 'scholarships in librarianship for 1953-54 to graduates of ap-proved colleges. .Two of these scholarships are full tuition, $450, and the third; $350. The course of study for which' these scholar-shops are available le~ids to the, Master of Arts in LilSraria.nship. "They are competitive and are based on scholarship and background. Dead-line for application is May" 1. Address~ Marywood College, De-partn~ ent of Librarianship, Scranton 2, Pa. Futuramic Convention A Futuramic Convention will be held at Central Catholic High S~hool, Canton, Ohio, on March 31 and April I, 1953. Religious ~orders, colleges, business, industry, and branches of the service are in-vited to participate. Those interested can write for more information to Futuramic Cowcention Headquarters, Central Catholic High School, 4824 Tuscarawas Street, West, Canton 8, Ohio. Transparencies for .Vocational Project : A priest, wqrking on a project to foster interest in vocations to the Sisterhood, is: anxious to contact any priest or Sister who has a selection of 35 mm color transparencies depicting the everyday life of the Sister in th~ novitiate, the convent, the school and hospital, and in the missions at home and abroad. Write to. Fr. B. Megannet~, O.M.I., St. Patrick's College, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. 83 Divided Attention P. De Letter, S.J. ONE of the most common forms of inattention during prayer is divided attention. Who does not know from experience what this means? We go to pray and sincerely try to apply our-selves to prayer. We pray the beads or the Divine Office, make our. meditation, say or hear Mass. But while the deliberate application of our mind goes to and stays on the prayer, another half of our mind, subconsciously or half-deliberately, is taken up with thoughts completely foreign to our prayer, Our interest, worry, preoccupa-tion, Our plans for the day or the week, are at the back of our minds, struggling to come to the fore and divert our attention. Even when we do not. wilfully give in, but strive as best we can, the play of the unwanted thoughts and images carries on ,in the background of our mind like another actor on a second stage. The "intruder" succeeds at times in drawing our attention away from prayer and lessening our application by fifty per cent or more. The resulting prayer looks superficial and shalIow. Our mind and heart seem to have little grip on the subject of\our medi.tation. Prayer is not exactly mere lip service. We still give a half-hearted advektence to the matter of our meditation. But neither vocal nor mental pra)'er is thorough, satisfactory. They do. not occupy us fully. No wonder we feel ,small and draw little profit from them. Could it be other-wise when our prayer is half-hearted? ,Can nothing be done? Is there little hope that sorhe day, with the help of His grace, things maY improve ? Human minds are naturally fickle and prone to divide attention among many objects. This is particu~larly true when they are at-tracted to things other than uninteresting duty. But what makes matters worse is that we train ourselves to divide our attention. The inevitable amount of' ~outine occupation, both Spiritual and tempo-ral, found in regular life a~tually fosters this division. Besides, the advice of spi'ritual authors often tends to emphasize this training for a "double life." Some routine work develops a mechanical Way of acting which demands and generally takes little attention. Without allowing itself to slip into inattention ~hat harms the work, the mind can pursue a different train of thought on its own. How many ideas originate in this twilight zone! While we are performing routine 84 DIVIDED A'VFENTION tasks, oar real intere, st follows up its own spe.culations. In regular community life, moreover, we are positively encour-aged to divide our attention. When we do manual work, we are " to keep our mind occupied with spiritual thoughts that can keep us united with God. When at meals, we are not to be too much en-grossed with the material occupation but "to let the soul have her food" in the reading at table or in pious reflections. We are definitely asked to train ourselves to divided attention. Nor is this practice to be cofifined to exterior occupations. 'When reciting our rosary or saying the Office, there is no need. to try to pay attention to every word. While saying the 'Hail Marys, we are to reflect either on the mystery, on the person to whom we pray, or on our special intention. While reciting a psalm, we need not follow the meaning of every word (who could do that?), but we may keep ¯ our attention on its main idea or on some striking phrase or thought. In that manner we expressly foster, in our very prayer, a psychology of divided attention. Is it surprising that something similar happens when we do not look for it and wish to give ourselves fully to prayer. After developing the habit of dividing our attention, both outside of and during prayer, we must not be surprised to find the habit coming into play even when we are not planning on it. Obviously, divided attention is not all wrong. We cannot help dividing our attention. A spiritual life that is not confined to chapel or prie-dieu but penetrates into our day's work is not possible with-out it. The spiritual advice we are given about attenti6n in spiritual and temporal duties is certainly right. We do ~ell in following it. There is nothing wrong with that divided attention which we foster deliberately. It is a means of saturating our action in contemplation, of making our vocal prayer approach ever closer to mehtal prayer. It is a fact, nevertheless, that the habit of deliberately dividing our attention is not without harmful consequences. We suffer from these when we turn our minds to set period~ of prayer. The habit is prone to act in an indeliberate manner. Such is the mechanism of every habit or second nature. This may evidently hinder our pur-poseful action. Trained to divide their application, our minds often do 'so spontaneously just when we wish to concentrate on one sub-ject. A special effort is required, to counteract this natural and de-veloped propensity. To know ,the factor~ that favor the indeliberate activity of the divided-attention habit is the first step we can take to oppose them 85 'P. DE L~TTER Review ~,or Religious effectively and neutralize their influence., The~se may be divided into three groups: affections that occupy one's emotional powers, such as, desire and hope, fear and anxiety: thoughts and memories steeped in emotional content: new sense-perceptions which we are permitting or seeking here and now. These are factors to be reckoned with. ¯ The shallowness of prayer that is,caused by the habit of divided attention cannot be remedied completely. 'There is no need ~o at- ¯ tempt the impossible. To prevent every surprise of divided attention would require a vigilance so sustained that it could not be demanded in. our every day duties. The power of the habit can be lessened and controlled, but the habit itself can hardly be rooted out'altogether. We can go far in learning to control its spontaneous activity by fol-lowing the wise rules given by the masters of Catholic spirituality. Our emotions, desires, hopes, anxieties, fears are among the chief causes of the thoughts and images that disturb our prayer. A two-fold effort can check the noxious action of these worries and preoc-cupations. First is the long-range strat.egy. By personal effort and with the help of gr.ace we can train ourselves, to control our emotions. We can prevent them from upsetting our peace of soul. The measure of success in this effort varies for different temperaments, characters, ai~d graces. Some are easily excited, preoccupied, worried. Others can take things more evenly. Not all have th~ same will power~ Not ail receive the same graces. But those called to a state of perfection or to the priesthood should possess this self-control to a marked de-gree: this is part of the vocational fitness and they are in a position to inirease'it steadily. .This self-mastery and habituai'peace of mind is-nothing else than the remote preparation for pra3ier which spiritual authors, without exception, recommend. Secondly, spiritual authorities also insist on immediate prepara-tion. -This consists in arranging for a psychological transition-stage from exterior occupations to prayer. This transition must be gradual, It must allow a peaceful and organic switch-over from the .one to the other. It may not be mechanical. Our psychological make-up is such that sudden transitions c6mmanded by sheer will power or whim rarely succeed. What occupied the mind before prayer stays on and continues to hold us" half-consciously. We must allow the hold to decline gradually. Before prayer we must give our mind and heart a chance to shift from @hat occupied them before, and to turn peacefully but definitely to prayer. To make this mgve :effective, motivation is important. We may find. motives by asking 86 March, 1953 DIVIDED.ATTENTION the traditional preparatory questions': "What ain I ,about todo?" "To Whom am I going to speak?" The better we manage this trari-sition, the greater the chance for success in forestalling divided atten-tion. The same twofold effort for remote and. immediate preparation l~elps to ,redu.ce the harmful influence of the thoughts and memories steeped in emotional cbntent that stay on in the mind during prayer. They are reduced as a cause of distraction by habitual union with God, habitual self-control, and a determined immediate l~reparation for prayer. The third source of divided attention is easier to"dr~/up." ¯ It is ~w~at we'see and hear around us during prayer. To allowthe eyes and ears to prey for .new sensations is evidently looking for trouble. Why invite images to enter, when they have to be dismissed at once? A suitable place for prayer should eliminate most divided attention from this source. It may happen that remote and proximate preparation for pra~,er meet with 0nly partial success, for instance, on occasions of marked emotional disturbance, whether of great joy or of great anxiety" When we have been half-hearted in our effort and are paying the price in half-distracted prayer, can we still do something? Can we go agains~ distractions and salvage a little of our prayer? A: condition for success is to nouce the distraction and to desire to overcome it. We are able to notice it, for our mind.is not fully~ taken .up by the distracting thoughts. We can also desire to remedy the situation. Our very dissatisfaction is a first step towards im- -provement. With the help of grace we can rouse ourselves to effecliive volition. '.The following considerations might prove of help in con-trolling and counteracting divided attention. A.first means is to arouse a desire for,.real prayer, for real union with God. We can desire, or at~ least desire to d~sire, this deeper contact with God. We can express this desire by asking for grace. Unless we really wish to pray, we are not likely to make ~he needed effort. In prayer, our effort and God's grace go hand in hand. The desire must be rooted in the awareness of our need for contact w~th God who.is our strength and happiness. A life dedicated to God has no meaning without real union with Him. The awareness of what we are and do should excite a genuine desire of actual union with God. Aided by grace, this desire should grow strong enough to tin-saddle distracting affections. This will .not always succeed. Our worries may be too pervading 87 P. DE LETTER and penetrating~ When it fails, it might be useful to pray about°our distractions. One way of unifying divided attention is to bring the troublesome care to the fore and to center our attention on it under God'~ eyes. We can prayerfully reflect before God on what worries us, on our plans and ideas, hopes and apprehensions, and entrust these to His Providence. What can be better than this? When we beg Him to enable us to do what He demands, our very worries' may unite us closer to Him in genuine prhyer. This use of our distrac-tions is not without danger. Unless we.be fully sincere about ex-ploiting them, we may be !ed into far-away considerations and for- .get about prayer. , But if we are sincere, and if our first effort in tackling distracting worries has failed, there is a good chance that this second means may prove more helpful. At any rate, this prayer will likely be better than a half-distracted and desireless resignation. Lastly, we can insist on the self-surrender we make in prayer. Even under surface inattention this can be genuine. In spite of some unwanted and repelled wandering of the mind, prayer can really be raising of the heart to God. Prayer indeedis more a matter of inten-tion than of attention. Attention, of course, is always required, but the intention of surrendering to God is the heart of prayer When this is thorough, distracting thoughts easily lose" their interest and their grip. Le[ se.lf-surrender 15e sincere: shall we not be'straightfor-ward in setting aside what does not tally with it? Passing and un- '~ccepted wandering of the mind does not seriously break our contact with God. And the more pervading our surrender, the rarer also and less lasting our distractions. This last consideration suggests the radical remedy for divided attention in prayer. But it is not a quick device or a palliative for passing ill. It is a whole attitude of life. Our minds will easily concentrate on God in prayer when our lives are centered in Him, when He is our all?embracing~love and "worry." Then othdr wor- ties and preoccupations shrink into unimportance. They lose their hold on our minds and hearts. The more we grow in that one iove, the higher~ we rise above temp~ral occupations. That growth is the work of a lifetime. In its unfinished stages we are likely to exper,- ence. the trouble of divided attention in prayer now and again. No grave harm will come from it if we sincerely keep up the, struggle T1fiere are no magic or mechanical devices to rid us of this evil. It the simplicity and unity of one Love which ~must rule our' lives that will also bring unity and stability to our naturally wandering minds. 88 The I:ucharis :ic APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTION OF HIS HOLINESS POPE PIUS XI[ ON LEGISLATION TO BE OBSERVED REGARDING THE EUCHARISTIC FAST. PIUS, BISHOP, SERVANT OF THE SERVANTS OF GOD FOR AN EVERLASTING REMEMBRANCE ~i~HR, IST Our Lord, on the in which He was betrayed" Cot. 11 :23), when for the last time He celebrated the Pasch of the Old Law, took bread and, giving thanks, broke and gave it to His disciples after the supper was finished (cf. Ldke 22:20), saying: "This ,is My body which shall be delivered for you" (I Cot. 11:24). Ir~ the same way He handed the chalice to them, with the words: "This is My blood of the New Testament, which shall be shed for many" (Matt. 26:28); and He added: "This do for the commemoration of Me" (cf. I Cot. 11:24 f.). These passages of Sacred Scripture clearly show' that our Divine Redeemer wished to substitute, in place of that last celebration of the Passover in which a lamb was eaten according to the Hebrew rite, a new Pasch that would endure until the end of time. This is the Pasch in which we eat the Immaculate Lamb that was immolated for the life of the.world." Thus the new Pasch of the New Law brought the ancient Passover to an end, and,truth dispelled shadow (cf. the hymn Lauda Sion in the Roman Missal). The relation between the two suppers, was designed to indicate the transition from the ancient Pasch to the new. Accordingly, we can easily see why the Church, in renewing the Eucharistic Sacrifice to commemorate our Divine Redeemer as He had commanded, could relinquish the conventions prevailing at the older Love Feast and introduce the practice of the Eucharistic fast. From the earliest times the custom developed of distributing the Eucharist to the faithful who were fasting (cf. Benedict XIV, De Synodo diocesana, VI, cap. 8~ no. 10). Toward the end of the fourth century fasting was prescribed in a number of Councils for those who were to celebrate the Eucharistic Sacrifice. Thus ir~ the year 393 the Council. of Hippo decreed: "The Sacrament of the Altar shall not be celebrated except by persons, who are fasting" 89 POPE PlUS XII Revieu., for Religious (Conc. Hipp., can. 28: Mansi, III, 923). Not long after, in the year 397, the same prescription, phrased in the vgry same words, was issued by the "Third Council of Carth.age (Conc. Carthag. IlI, cap. 29:'MansL III, 885). By the beginning of the fifth century this practice was quite universal and could be said to be immemorial. Hence St. Augustine asserts that the Holy Eucharist is always received by persons who are fastihg and that this usage is observed through-out the whole world (cf. St. Augustine, Epist. 54, Ad Ianuarium, cap. 6: Migne, PL, XXXIII, 203). Undoubtedly this practice was based on very' weighty reasons. Among them may be mentioned, first of all, the situa.tion deplored b'y the Apostle of the Gentiles in connection with the fraternal Love Feast of.theCbristians (cf. I Cot. !1:21 ft.). Abstinence from food and drink is in accord with the deep reverence we owe to the supreme m~jesty of 3esus Christ when we come to receive Him hid-den' ufider the Eucharistic veil. Moreover. when x~e consume His precious body and blood before we partake of any other food. we give clear evidence of our conviction that this is the, first and most excel!enf nourishment of all, a refreshmen.t that sustains our very souls and increases their holiness. With good reason, then, St. Au-gustine reminds us: ".It has pleased the Holy Spirit that. in honor of so great a sacrament, the Lord's body should enter the mouth of a Christian before food of any other kind" (St. Augustine, loc. c~t.). The Eucharistic fast not only pays a tribute of honor due to our Divine Redeemer, but also fosters our devotion.' Therefore it can help to increase the salutary fruits of holiness which Christ, the source and author of all good, desires us who have been enriched with His grace, to bring forth. ' Besides; everyone who has had experience of the laws of human nature knows that when the body is not sluggish with'food, the mind is aroused to greater activity and is'inflamed ro meditate more ferventl}; on that bidden and sublime mystei'y which unfolds within the temple of the soul, to the growth of divine love. The importance ,which the Church attaches to the observance of the Eucharistic fast can also be gathered from the gravity of the pen-alties imposed for its violation. The Seventh Council of Toledo, in the year 641, threatened with excommunicstion anyone who qcould offe,r the HolyI Sacrifice after having broken his fast (Conc. Tole-tanum VII, cap. 2: Mansi, X, 768). In the year 572 the Third Council of Braga (Conc. Bracarense III, can. 10: Mansi, IX. 841.), 9O March: 1953 THE EUCHARISTIC FAST 'and in 585 'the Second Council of Macon (Conc. Matisconense II, can. 6: Mansi, IX, 952) bad previously decreed that ahyone~ who incurred this guilt should be deposed from office and deprived of his dignities. As the centuries rolled on, however, careful attention was paid to the consideration that expediency sometimes required, because of special circumstances, the introduction of some measure of mitigation into the law of fasting as it affected the faithful Thus in the year 1415 the Council of Constance, after reaffirming the venerable law, added a modification: "The authority of the sacred~canons and the praiseworthy customs approved by the Church havre prescribed and do now prescribe that the Hol~; Sacrifice should not be offered after the celebrant has taken food, and that Holy Communion should not be received by the faithful who are not fasting, except in the case of illness or of some other grave reason provided for by law or granted by ecclesiastical superiors" (Cone. Constantiae, sess. XIII: Mansi, XXVII, 727). We have desired to recall these enactments ~o mind that all may understand that We, although granting not a few faculties and per-missions regarding this matter in view of the new conditions arising from the changing times, still intend by the present Apostolic Letter to retain in full force the law and usage respecting the Eucharistic fast. We also wish to' remind those who are able to observe the law that they must continue to do so carefully. Consequently only they who need these concessions may avail themselves of the same accord-ing to the measure of tbelr need. We are filled with joy--and We are glad to express Our satis-faction here, if only briefly--when We perceive that devotion to the Blessed Sacrament is increasing day by day in the souls of Christ's' faithful as well as in .the splendor surrouhding divine worship. This fact emerges whenever the people gather for public congresses. The paternal directives of Sovereign Pontiffs have undoubtedly contrib-" uted much to the present happy state of affairs. This is particularly true of Blessed Plus X, who called on all to revive the ancient usage of the, Church and urged them to 'receive the Bread of Angels very frequently, even daily if possible (S. Congr. Concilii, Decree Sacra Tridentina S~tnodus, Dec. 20, 1905: Acta S. Sedis, 'XXXVIII~ 400.ft.). At the same time be invited children to this heavenly Fbod, and wisely declared that the precept of sacramental confession and of Holy Communion extends to all without exception who have 91 POPE PIUS XII Review [or Religious attained the use of reason (S. Congr. de Sacramentis, Decree Quam sir~gula~:i, Aug. 8, 1910: ttcta Apostolicae Sedis, II, 577 ft.). This prescription was later confirmed by.Canon Law (C. I. C., canon 8d3; cf. canon 85zL § 5).-In generous and willing response to the desires of the Sovereign Pontiffs, the faithful have been receiving Holy Communion in ever greater numbers. May this hunger for the heavenly Bread and the thirst for the divine Blood burn atidently in the hearts of all m~n, whatever their age or social condition may be! Yet allowance must be made for the fact that the extraordinary circumstances of the times we live in have introduced many modifica-tions into the habits of society and the activities of our workaday life. Consequently serious difficulties may arise to prevent people from participating in the divine mysteries, if the law of Eucharistic fast should have to be kept by.all with the strictness that has ipre-vailed up to the present time. In the first place, priests in our day, owing to insufficient num-bers, ate clearly unequal to the task of dealing with the constantly growing needs of Christians. On Sundays and holydays, particu-larly, they are often overburdened with work. They have to offer the Eucharistic Sacrifice at a late hour, and not rarely twice or even three tim~s the same day. They are frequently obliged to travel a considerable distance that large portions of their flocks may not be deprived of Holy Mass. Apostolic toil of this exhausting kind un-questionably undermines the health of our clergy. The difficulty mounts when we reflect that, besides celebrating Mass and explaining the Gospel, they have to hear confessions, teach catechism, and take care of the manifold tither duties of their ministry which" is more exacting and laborious than ever before. In addition to all this, they must prepare and adopt measures to repel the relentless attacks that in our day are craftily and savagely launched on many fronts against God and His Church. But Our thoughts and Our heart go out most of all to those who are laboring in distant lands far from their native soil, because they have nobly answered the invitation and command of the divine Master: "Going, therefore, teach ye all nations" (Matt, 28:19). We have in mind the heralds of the Gospel. They endure the most crushing burdens and overcome every imaginable obstacle in their travels, with no other ambition than to wear themselves out that the light of the Christian religion may dawn for all men, and that their flocks, many of them but recently received-into the Catholic faith, 92 Ma~h. 1953 THE EUCHARISTIC FAST may be fed with the Bread of Angels which nourishes virtue and re-. kindles love. A similar situation arises amofig those Catholics who live in many of the districts committed to the charge of missionaries or in other places that lack the services of a resident priest. They have to wait hour after bou~ until a priest arrives that they may assist at the Eucharistic Sacrifice and receive Holy Communion. Furthermore, with the development of machinery in various in-dustries, countless workers employed in factories, transportation, sbipping,'or other public utilities, are occupied~ day and night in al-ternate shifts. The exhausting hature of their work may compel them to take periodic- nourishment to restore their energies, with the result that they are unable to observe the Eucharistic fast and hence are kept away from Holy Communion. Mothers of families, likewise, are often unable to go to Holy Communion until they have finished their household duties. Such tasks usually require many hours of hard work. Again, the case of school children presents a problem. Many boys and gibls are eager to take advantage of the divine invitation: "Suffer the little children to come unto Me" (Mark 10:14). They put all their trust in Him "who feedeth among the lilies" (Cant. 2:16: 6:2), knowing that He will guard the purity of their souls against the temptations which assail youth and will protect the in-nocence of their lives from the snares which the world sets to trap them. But at times it is extremely difficult to arrange to go to church and receive HoI~ Communion, and after that to re~urn home for the breakfast they need before setting out for school. Another matter of frequent occurrence today is that large num-bers ~f people c~oss from place to place during the afternoon hours to be present at religious functions or to attend meetings on social questions. If pe.rmis~ion were given on such occasions to offer the Holy Sacrifice, which is the living fountain of divine grace and in-spires wills to desire growth in virtue, there is no doubt that all could draw upon this source of strength to think and act in a thor-ougbly Christian manner and to obey just laws. These specific considerations may well be augmented, by others of a more general kind. Although the science of medicine and the study of hygiene have made enormous progress and have contributed greatly to the reduction of mortality, especially among the young, conditions of life at the present time and the hardships brought on 93 POPE-PlUS XII Review for Religious by the frightful wars of 6ur century have seriously impaired bodily constitutions and public health. For these reasons, and especially for the purpose of promoting reawakened devotion toward the Eucharist, numerous bishops of v~irious, nationalities have requested, in official letters, that the law of fast might be somewhat mitigated. The Apostolic See had previ-, ously shown itself favorably disposed in this regard .by granting special faculties and dispensations both 'to priests and to the faithful. As an e.xample of such concessions, the Decree entitled P. gst'Editum may be mentioned; it was issued by the Sacred Congregation of the Council, December 7-, 1906, for the benefit of the sick (Acta S. Sedis, XXXIX, 603 ffl). Another is the Letter df May 22, 1923, sent by the SacrM Congregation of the Holy Office to local Ordinaries in favor of priests (S.S. Congregationis S. Officii Litterae locorum Or-dinariis datae super ieiunio euc,haristico ante Missam: Acta Ap. Sedis, XV, 151 ft,). ~ In these latter times, the petitions of the bishops hav.e become more frequent and urgent. Likewise the faculties granted have been more liberal, partcularly those that were conferred because of war c6nditions. All this clearly discloses the existence of new, serious. coniinuing, and widely prevailing reasons which, in the diversified circumstances brought to light, render the cdebration ~f the Holy Sacrifice by priests .and the reception of Communion by the faithful ex_ceedingly difficult, if the la~, of fasting has to be observed. ¯ .Accordingly, to alleviate these grave hardships and incOnveni-ences, and to eliminate the possibility of inconsistent practice to which the variety of: indults previously granted may lead, We deem it n.ecessary to mitigate the legislation governing the Eucharistic fast ~to such an extent that all may be able more easily to fulfill the law as perfectly as possible, in view of particular circumstances of time, place, and person. By issuing this decree, We trust that We may contribute substantially to the growth of Eucharistic devotion,, and thus more effectively persuade and induce all to sharc in the An-gelic! Banquet. This will surely redound to the glory,of. God and will enhance the holiness of the Mystical Body of Christ. By our Apostolic authbrit~r, therefore, we enact and decree ihe folio.wing; I. The law of Eucharistic fast, to be observed from midnight,. cgntijaues in force for all those who do not come under the. special Mar~l~. 1953 THE EUCHARISTIC FA ST conditions which We shall set forth in this Apostolic Constitution. In the futuie, however, this general principle, valid for aIl ,, alike, whether priests or faithful, shall prevail: plain water does not break the Eucharistic fast: II. Those who are ill, even though not confined to bed, may, on the advice of a prudent, c.onfessor, take something in the form of drink or of true medicine: but alcoholic beverages are excluded. The same faculty is granted to priests who are ill yet desire to celebrate MASS. ~. III. Priests who are° to offer the Holy Sacrifice at a late. hour or after onerous work of the sacred ministry or after a long journey, may take something in the form of drink, exclgsive of alcoholic.bev-erages. However, they must abstain from such refreshment for the period Of at least ~one hour before' they celebrate Mass. I~r. 'Priests who celebrate Mass twice or three times the ~ame day. may. consume the ablutions at each Mass. In such cases, how' ever, the ablutions must be restricted to water.alone, and mu~t not include, wine. ~ V. Likewise the faithful, even though they are not ill, who are unable to observe a. complete fast until the tiine of Communion, be-cause of some grave inconvenience--that is, because of fatiguing work, or the lateness of the hour at which alone they can receive the Holy Eucharist, or the long distances they have to travel--may, on the, advice of a prudent confessor, and as ,long as such state of necessity lasts, take something in the form of drink, to the exclusion of alco-holic beverages. However, they must abstain from refreshment of this kind for the period of at least one hour before they receive Holy Communion. VI. If circumstances indicate a necessity, We grant to local Or-dinaries authorization to permit the celebration of Mass at. an eve-ning hour, as We have said, but with the restriction that Mass shall notbegin before four o'clock in the afternoon. This evening Mass may be celebrated on the following days: on Sundays and h61ydays of dbligation which are obseived at the present time or were formerly obserged, on the first Friday of each month, and on days delebrated With solemn functions which the people attend in great numbers; finally, in addition to these days, on one day a week~ The pries,t who offers Mass.on these occasions must observe a fast of .three hours from solid f6od and~alcoholic beverages, and of one hour from non- March. 1953 ~ THE EUCHARISTIC FAST alcoholic beverages. At such Masses the faithful may receive Holy Communion, ob, serving the same rule r~garding the Eucharistic fa.~st, but the prescription contained in canon 857' remains in force. In mission territories, after due consideration of the extraordi-nary con(~itions there prevailing; which for the most part prevent priests from v.isiting their distant stations except rarely, local .Ordi-naries may grant to missionaries faculties to celebrate evening Mass also on other days of the week. ' Local Ordinaries are to exercise care that any interpretation en-larging on ~he faculties here granted is precluded, and that all danger of abuse and irreverencein this matter is removed3 In granting these faculties, which circufiastances of person,place, and time make impera-tive in our day, We decidedly intend to reaffirm ~he importance, binding force, and good effects of the Eucharistic fast for those° who are to receive our Divine Redeemer dwelling concealed underneath the Eucharistic veils. Besides, whenever bodily discomforts are re-duced, the soul ought to do~ what, it can to restore equilibrium, either by interior'penance or in other ways. This is in harmony with the traditional practice of the Church, which is accustomed to enjoin other pious works when it mitigates the obligation to fast. Accordingly, they who are in a position to take advantage of the faculties here granted, should offer up more fervent prayers to adore God, to thank Him, and above all to expiate their sins and implore newgraces from on high. Since all must recognize that the Eucharist has been ins[ituted by Christ "as an everlasting memorial of His Passion" (St. ~Fhbmas, Opusc. LVII, Office for the Feast of Corpus ChristL lesson IV, Opera Omr~ia, Rome, 1570, Vol. XVII), they should stir up in their hearts those sentiments of Christian hu-mility and contrition which meditation on the sufferings and death of our Divine Redeemer "ought to arouse, Moreover, let all offer to our Divine Rddeemer, who keeps fresh the greatest proof of His love by uiaceasingly immolating Himself on our altars, ever more abun-dant fruits of their charity toward their fellow men. In this way, surely, all Will do their part, better and better every day, toward alizing the words of the Apostle to the Gentiles: "We, being many, are one bread, one body~ all that partake of one ,bread" (I Cor 10:17). We desire that all the decrees set forth in this Constitution shall be. firmly established, ratified, and valid, an~ything to the contrary 96 March. 1953 THE EUCHAILISTIC FiST notwithstanding, even what "may seem to be deserving of special men-tion. All other privileges and faculties granted in any form by the Holy See are abolished, that this legislation may be duly and uni-formly observed throughout the ;¢ orld by all men. All the decrees herein enacted shall become operative from the date of their publication in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis. Given at St. Peter's in Rome, in the year of Our Lord nineteen hundred and fifty-three, the sixth day of January, on the Feast of. the Epiphany, in the fourteenth year of Our Pontificate. POPE PIUS XlI Instruction ot: Holy OJ:t:ico SACRED CONGREGATION OF THE HOLY OFFICE INSTRU'~TION ON THE LEGISLATION TO BE OBSERVED CONCERNING THE EUCHARISTIC FAST The Apostolic Constitution Christus Dominus, issued this day by the Sovereign Pontiff, Pius )~II, gloriously reigning, grants a number of faculties and dispensations concerning the observance of the law of Eucharistic ~fast. At the same time. it substantially con-firms most of the norms which the Code of Canon Law (canons 808 and 858, § 1) imposes on priests and the faithful who are able to observe the law. Yet these persons are likewise included in the favor conferred by the first prescription of the Constitution, according to which plain water (that is, ordinary water without the admixture of any other substance whatever), no longer breaks the Eucharistic fast (Constitution, n. I). With regard to all the other concessions, however, only those priests and faithful may take advantage of them who find themselve~ in the particular conditions specified in the Con-stitution, or who celebrate evening Masses or receive Holy Commun-ion at evening Masses which are authorized by Ordinaries within the limits of the new faculties granted to them. Accordingly, to secure throughout the world a uniform observ-ance of the norms pertinent to these concessions and t0 forestall every interpretation that would enlarge on the faculties granted, as well as to obviate any abuse in this matter, this Supreme Sacred Congrega-" .97 INSTRUCTION OF HOLY OFFICE Reoietu for'Religious tion of the Holy Office, by order and command of the Sovereign Pontiff, lays down the following directives: Concerning the sick, whether the faithful or priests (Constitution, n~ II) 1. The faithf~ul who are ill, ~ven though not confined to bed. may take something in the form of drink, with the exception of al-coholic beverages, if because of their illness the); are unable, without grave inconvenience, to observe a complete fast until the r.eception of Holy Communion. They may also take something' in the form of medicine, either liquid (but not alcoholic drinks) or solid, provided it is real medicine, prescribed by a physician or generally recognized as such. However. as must be noted, solid foods taken a's mere nour, ishment cannot be regarded as medicine. 2. ,The conditions that must be verified before anyone may use a dispensation from the law of fasting, .for which no time".limit pre-ceding Holy Communion is set down, are to be pru, dently weighed by a confessor, and no one may avail himself of the dispensatior~ without his approval. The confessor may give his approvai either in ¯ sacramental confession or outside of confession, and once and for all so that it holds good as long as the same conditions of illness endure. 3. Priests who are ill, even though not confined to bed, may likewise take advantage of the dislbensation, whether,they, intend to celebrate Mass or wish only to receive Holy Communion. Concerning priests in special circumstances (Consti'tution, nn. III and IV) 4'. Priests who are not ill and who are :to celebrate Mass (a) at a late hou'r (that is,-after nine o'clock in the morning), or (b) after onerous work of the sacred ministry .(beginning, for example, early in the morning or lasting for a lbng time), or (c) after a long jour-ney (that~is, at least a mile and a quarter or so :on fogt, or a propor-tionately greater distance in accordance with the "means of. travel em-ployed, allowance being made, too, for difficulties of the journey and personal~considerations), may take something in the. form of drink, exclusive of alcoholic beverages. 5. The three cases enumerated' above are,formulated .in-such a way'as to embrace all the circu'mstances for which the legislator in-tends to grant the aforesaid faculty. Therefore any interpretation that would.extend the faculties granted must :be avoided~ 98 March. 1953 , THE EUCHARISTICF.AST 6. l~riests who find themselves in these circumstances may take. something in the form of drink once or several times,, but must serve a fast of one hour prior to the celebration of Mass.:. 7. Furthermore, all priests who are to celebrate" tWO . or; three Masses the same day may, at the first Mass or Masses, .take the two ablutions pr~escribed by the rubrics of the Miss.al, .hut using only water. This is merely an application of the new principle that-water does not break the fast. However,. priests who celebrate three Masses without interval on Chrismas or on All Souls' Day are obliged to observe the. rubrics regulating ablutions. 8. Yet if the priest who is to celebrate two or three Masses should inadvertently take wine in'the ablutions', he is not forbidden to celebrate the second and third Mass. Concerning the faithful in special "circumstances (Constitution, n. "V) 9. Similarly the faithful who are unable to observe the Eucha,. risti¢ fast, not because of illness but because of some other grave in-convenience," are allowed to take something in the form of drink, with the exception of alcoholic beverages. But they must keep the fast for one hour prior to the reception of Holy Communion. 10. ,The causes of grave inconvenience, as it is here understood. are three in number, and they may not be extended. a) Fatiguing wbrk undertaken before~ going to Holy ,com-munion. Such is the labor performed by workers employed in suc-cessiv. e shifts, day and night, in. factories, transport and- maritime services, or other public utilitieS; likewise b~ those who, in .virt~ue of their .position or out of charity, pass the hight'awake (for example, hospital personnel, policemen on night duty, and the like). The same.is: true of pregnant women and mothers of families who must spend a long t.ime in household tasks befo~.e, they can go to church :etc. : b) The lateness of the hour at whicb:"Holtj Communior~ ceived. Many of the faithful cannot have Mass until late in the day, because no priest is able to visit them earlier. Many children,find it excessively burdensome, before .sett.ing out for school,'to go to church, receive Communion, and then to return home again for breakfast; etc. c)" A. long distance to travel on the way" to chu.rch. As was explaiped above (n. 4), a distance of at least a~ mile and a quarter or INSTRUCTION OF H~)LY OFFICE Reuieua for Religious so, to be covered on foot, is tb be regarded as a long journey in this connection. The distance would have to be proportion.ately longer if conveyances of various kinds were us~ed, and allowance has to be made for difficulties of travel or the condition of the person .who makes the trip. 11, The reasons of grave inconvenience that may be alleged must be'carefully evaluated by a confessor either in sacramental cofifession or outside of confession; and without his approval the faithful may not receive Holy Communion while not fasting. The confessor, however, may give this approval once and t:or all so that it holds good as long as the same cause of grave inconvenience exists. Concerning evening Masses (Constitution. n. VI) By authorization of the Constitution, local Ordinaries (cf. canon 198) enjoy the power of permitting the celebration of evening Mass in their own territory, if circumstances indicate its necessity, not-withstanding'the prescription of canon 821, § 1. The common good sometimes requires the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice in the after-noon: for example, for those in certain industries who work in shifts even on Sundays and holydays: for those classes of workers Who must be at their jobs on the mornings of Sundays and holy-days. such as those who are employed at ports of entry;' likewise for people who have come in great numbers from distant places to cele-brate some event of a religious or social character; etc. 12. Such Mhsses. however, are not to be celebrated before four o'clock in the afternoon, and are limited exclusively to the following specified days: a) Sundays and 'holydays of obligation which are now in force, according t,o the norm of canon 1247, § 1 : b) Holydays of obligation that have been suppressed, as listed in the Index published by the Sacred Congregation of the Council, December 28, 1919 (cf. A./l.$,, Vol. XII [1920], pp. 42- 43): ) First Fridays of the month: d) Other days that are ~elebrated with solemn functions and are attended by the. people in great numbers: e) In addition to the days mentioned above, one other day during the w.eek0 if the good of particular classes of persons requires it. 100 Ma~h. 1953 THE EUCHARISTIC FAST 13. Priests "who celebrate Mass in the evening, and likewise the faithful who receive Holy Communion at such a M~ass. may, during a meal which is permitted up to three hours before the beginning of Mass or Communion, drink al~c;holic beverages that ate customary at table ifor instance, wine, beer. and the like), but they must observe becoming moderation, and haid liquors are entirely ruled out. How-, ever, with regard to the liquids whi(h they are allowed to take before or after such a meal up to one, hour before Mass or Communion, alcoholic beverages of any kind whatever are excluded. 14. Priests may not offe? the Holy S,acrifice in the morning and afternoon of the same day, unless they have e~xpress permission, to celebrate Mass twice or three times, according to the norm of canon 806. The faithful, similarly, may not receive Holy Communion in the morning and afternoon of the same day, in conformity with the prescription of canon 857. 15. The faithful, even though they/are not included in the number of those for whose benefit evening Mass has been instituted, are. free to receive Holy Communion during such a Mass or directl~ before or immediately after it (cf. canon 846, § 1). If they do so, they must observe the noims prescribed a~ove, relative to the Eucha-ristic fast, 16. In places that are not subject to the general law [ius com-mune] but are governed by the-special law for the missions [ius.mis-sionum], Ordinaries may authorize evening Mass on all days of the week, under the same conditions. Cautions regarding the execution of these norms 17. Ordinaries are to exercise great care that all abuse and irrev-erence toward the Most Blessed S~icrament are completely avoided. 18. They must also see to it that the riew legislation is uniform-ly observed by all their subjedts, and must notify them that all fac-ulties and dispensations, whether territorial or personal, heretofore granted by the Holy See, are abrogated. 19. The interpretation of the Constitution and of the present Instruction must adhere faithfully to the text, and must not in any way extend the faculties that are already so generous. With regard to customs that may be at oddswith the new legislation, the abroga-ting clause is'to be borne in mind: "Anything to the contrary not-withstanding, even what may seem td be worthy of special men-tion." 101 BOOK NOTICES Review ~or ReligioUs 20. Ordinaries and priests who are to avail themselves of the faculties granted by the Holy ,See should zealously exhort the faith-ful to assist at the Sacrifice of the Mass and ~recei~ve Holy Commun-ion frequently. " By initiating appropriate measures and especially by their preaching, they should promote that spiritual good for the sake of which the Sovereign Pontiff, Plus XII, has been pleased to issue t.he Constitution. In approving this Instruction, the iHoly,Father has ordered that it should be promulgated by publication in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis along with the Apostolic Constitution Christus Dominus. From the,Palace of the Holy Offic.e, danuary 6, 1953'. ~ JOSt~PH CARDINAL PIZZARDO, Secretaql A. OTTAVIANI Assessor. [EDITORS' NOTE: The foregoing translations "*'ere made by Father "Cyril Vollert. S.J. professor of sacramental theology at St. Mary's College, St. Marys, Kansas. The - translations wer~ prepared 'from the texts as published in L'Osservatore Romano, January I 1, 1953, and were carefully checked with the official texts published in ,Acta Aoostolicae Sedis, 45 (Jan. 16. 1953), 15-24. 47-51. For our purposes a somewhat free translation, rendering the sense of the documents as accurately as pos-sible, seemed preferable to a strictly literal translation.] ¯ BOOK NOTICES Those who want a life of Our Lord that is scholarly, without the more distracting trappings of scholarship, and very readable, will find what they desire in the popular edition of Giuseppe Ricciotti's LIFE OF CHRIST. By means of careful editing the former large edi-tion has been reduced to a little more than half its size. The popular edition has a 70-page critical introductibn and a :good index. A very good book.f0r either spilitual reading or meditation, i(Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Company, 1952. Pp. xiii + 40.2. $3.50.) Every Sister will smile, laugh, and cry as she catches some glimpse, s of herself in EVERYNUN, a, novel and. play by Daniel A. Lord, S.3. Written originally for th~ One Hundredth Anniversary of the-Sisters of St. 3oseph xn Canada, the play is ideal for a similar celebrfftion, for Vocation Week Programs, and for private reading. Many passages seem to glow like grace itself. This "morality play" is a tribute and a consolation to Sisters, and should open the vistas of the religious life to Sisters-to-be as well as to others who have to live outsid~ convent walls] No royalty is charged for the productions of 102' March. 195'3 BOOK NOTI.CES Eoer~mun. If admission is charged by those producing theplay, Father Lord asks a gift ~f ten per cent of the return for his work for the Knights and Handmaids of the Blessed Sacrament. (St. Louis, Missouri: KHBS, 3115 S. Grand Blvd., 1952. Pp. 162. $3.00.) ST. VINCENT DE PAUL, by Mgr. Jean Calvet (translated by Lancelot C. Sheppard), is a l-volume, well-documented biography, as fascinating as good historical fiction. The many aspects of the saint's life--his interior life, his apostolate of charity, his power of organization, his spiritual direction of nobility and especially of his companion saint. Louise de Marillac, and so forth all blend into the picture of an unt~orgettable character. One flaw in the book is ISerbaps a too-evident nationalism on the part of. the biographer. _Bibliography and index are both useful. (New York: David McKay Company, 1952. Pp. 302. $5.00.) RETURN TO THE FOUNTAINHEAD contains the addresses given at the Tercente,nary Celebration of the Sisters, of St. Joseph, Le Puy, France. in July, 1950. by His Eminence, Cardinal Gerlier, and .other French Churchmen. The book is edited and translated into the- American idiom by the Sisters of St. Joseph at Fontbonne College, St. Louis, Missouri. All Sisters of St. Joseph (others, too) will . draw inspiration and strength for today from this return to and consideration of the evidently blessed origins of their congregation. The address, "The Spirit of the Congregation," is particularly de-serving of prayerful attention. (St. Louis 5, Mo.: SistErs of St. Jo-seph of Car, ondelet, Wydown and Big Bend Blvd., 1952. Pp. xi, + 143. $3.00.) Great things might be expected from the girl who was late for school because she had stopped to pick up broken pieces of glass to protect the' feet of the children of the poor from the young lady who preferred the care of blin~t children to the attractive social life her position guaranteed. WHOM LOVE IMPELS, by Katherine Bur-ton, tells her story in another excellent biography., the life of Pauline yon Mallinckrodt, the foundress of the Congregation of Charity. While her brother Hermann .yon Mallinckrodt helped lead 'the growing Center Party t+ ultimate victory over Bismarck in the Reich-stag, Mother Pauline guided a still-growing crusade of charity that began in Paderborn, Germany, in 1849 and now motivates over "2,000 religigus laboring in schools, orphanages, and hospitals in Eu-rope~ throughout the United Sthtes, and in South America. (New York: Kenedy 24 Sons, 1952. Pp. x + 234. $3.00.) ¯ 103 Search t:he Script:ures Henry Willmering, S.J. | N THE ENCYCLICAL Diuino Agtante' Spiritu. published Sep- | .tembet 30, 1943. Pope plus XII remarked "that the condition of biblical studies and their subsidiary Sciences has greatly changed .within the last fifty years." and "after enumerating the various helps which are at the disposal of modern exegetes the Holy Father con-tinues: "All these advantages which, not without a special design of Divine Providence. our age has acquired, are, as it were, an invitation and inducement to interpreters of the Sacred Literature to make dili-gent use of this light, so abundantly given, to penetrate more deeply explain more clearly and expound more lucidly the Divine Oracles." This invitation of His Holiness was promptly accepted by the m~mbers of the British Catholic Biblical Association. After appoint-ing an editorial committee, they drew upa plan to produ.ce a one-volume commentaryI on the whble Bible. In addition to a thorough exposition of the text of all the books of the Old and New Testa-ments, it would include a complete manual of biblical introduction Their ambitious plan has been successfully realized, and the firm of Thomas Nelson and Sons, Edinburgh, has produced their labors in a quarto volume of 1312 pages, double column to a page. clearly printed on excellent paper, and,strongIy bound in buckram. The price is eighty-four shillings (about twelve dollars). The volume includes a condensed, yet adequate and up-to-date commentary on the forty-five books of the Old, and" the twenty-seven bqoks of the New Testament. There' are introductory articles for every book, and also on groups of literature, namely, on the Pentateuch, the historical books, the poetical and Wisdom literature, the prophetical literature, and the Epistles of the New Testament. The place of the Bible in the Church, the formhtion and history, of the canon, the languages, texts and versions, the geography of the'Holy ~.Land,.the history of Israel, chronology of Old and New Testaments, archaeology and the Bible, and many other informative and fascinating articles enable the IA CATHOLIC COMMENTARY ON HOLY 'SCRIPTU'RE." Editorial Committee: Dom Bernard Orchard, Rev. Edmund Sutcliffe, S.J., Rev. Reginald'Fuller, Dora Ralph Russell. Thomas Neldon ~ Sons. Pp. 1312. 4 guineas. The reviewer, Father Willmering, a p~cofessor of Scripture at St. Mary's College. St. Marys. Kansas. has written the commentary on the Catholic Epistles for this volume. 104 March, 1953 SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES reader to obtain a solid background for the proper understanding ot the sacred text. In all there are seventy-two commentaries andthirty-eight separate articles. The commentary is designed to be read with the Douay version of the Bible, which is the version still in widest circulation among Catholics yet every commentator had before him the original text of the book he interpreted, and he faithfully noted any important vari-htion of the English v~rsion from the original. Throughout the book ¯ each paragraph is distinctly marked in the margin for .purpose of reference, and very many paragra~phs have appropriate headings indi-cating their contents. The commentaries on individual books are a positive expos, ition of Catholic interpretation, not directly apolo-getic, but so worded as to provide answers to current unorthodox views. The explanation meets the needs of all who desire to have in limited compass a clear exposition of the sacred text. which is schol-arly, accurate, and thoroughly ~Catholic. Frequently we desired to have at hand a ready answer book to the many perplexing questions which ,the Old Testament poses. Let us take a few examples from Genesis. The opening chapters of this book narrate the story of creation and the origin of the human race. The world was formed by Divine Omnipotence on six successive days. Darkness yielded to light, the firmament unfolded, the waters under it assembled in one place, and dry land appeared. Then God placed the sun, moon, and stars in the firmament, filled the waters with fishes and the air withbirds; gave the land as the habitat for beasts and reptiles, and finally, created man in His own image and made him ruler of the visible world. How must we understand this unscientific account of the development of the earth and its inhabi-tants? What is the meaning of the six days of creation? Recent discoveries have found human bones .and artifacts in sl~rata that .greatly antedate the four thousand years B.C. which was formerly assigned as the age of the human race. To what extent, therefore, are the early narratives of Genesis historical? For what purpose did the sacred writer introduce them? What are we to think of the great ages of the patriarchs? What part of the earth was covered by the flood? We used to look for the answer to these questions~ in the Catholic Enc~Iclopedia or the Catholic's Ready Answer Book: yet these books of reference are nearly a half century old, and exegetical opinion has passed through radical changes since that time. The new Commentary offers satisfactory solutions to these and several hun- 105 HENRY WILLMERING dred other difficulties that have often puzzled us in the past. As the preface ~tates: "it' is a critical survey of modern biblical knowledge-from the standpoint of all those, Catholic and non;Catholic alike, who accept the full doctrine of biblical inspiration" (p. vii). At the end of the volume is a topical index, which lists nearly ten thou'- sand titles and refers directly to the paragraph in which the answer to our difficulties is given. ' But the Commentary,, is not primarily a "question settler." St. Paul reminds .Timothy: "All Scripture, inspired of God, is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in .justice: that the man of God may be. perfect,, furnished to every good work" (2 Tim, 3: 16f.). Hence, "in the commentaries on individual books a special endeavour is made to give adequate treatment to the doc-trinal and spiritual con.tent." ~pecial articles, which emphasize the spiritual nature of the Bible and are therefore of particular interest to religious, are the following: :'The Place of the Bible in the Church," by W. Leonard and' Dom B. Orchard, which stresses the Church's love for the Bible, and what she has done to preseive and propagate it;' "The Interpretation of Holy Scripture," by, R. C. Fuller, an ac-count full of valuable information: "Our Lady in the Scriptures, by E. C. Messenger, explaining the prophecies relative to the Mother of God, and her tJrerogatives; "The meaning of the Old Testament," by E. F. Sutcliffe, S.J., what it meant for the. israelites, and what is its meaning and value today; "The Religion of Israel," by the same author; "The Person and Teaching of Christ," by Dom Aelred Gra-ham; "Christianity in Apostolic Times," a long and interesting article by M. Bevenot, S.J. and Dom Ralph Russell; and finally "The Life of St. Paul," by D. J. O'Herlighy. Besides the articles mentioned above, there are thirty others, all-well written and abounding with valuable and interesting information. Anyone who digests all these wil

Issue 10.1 of the Review for Religious, 1951. ; JANUARY 15, 1951 o Schools of Spiri÷ualify .o . ° . oG. Augustine Ellard 0BenedictineS. prifid a li÷y ' Bernard A. Sause '~ . .; 2 °,Behol~l This Heart ° ' ' C.-,A. Herbs÷ Quinqubnnial Repor÷ .~.° ." . . . . . . . AdamC. Ellis Minis÷er of ~'he Sacramen÷s . ClarenCe McAullffe How Are Your Eyes? . M. Raymond C!,~sic on HigherPraye~ . ~,. JeromeBreunlcj Destiny" o{ ReligioUS Women . william B. Faher~ Questions and Answers Book Reviews R Vli::::W FOR Ri::LI IO.US VOLUME X JANUARY, 1951 NUMBER CONTENTS SCHOOLS OF SPIRITUALITY~G. Augustine Ellard, S.J .3 ON ACTUAL GRACE . 6 BENEDICTINE SPIRITUALITYmBernard A. Sause, O.S.B . 7 BEHOLD THIS HEART---C. A. Herbst, S.,I .1.6. OUR CONTRIBUTORS . 19 QUINQUENNIAL REPORT, 1951--Adam C Ellis, S.J .2.0. UNWORTHY MINISTERS OF THE SACRAMENTSm Clarence McAuliffe, S.J .25 NEW APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTION . 32 HOW ARE YOUR EYES?--M. Raymond, O.C.S.O .3.3. HOME FOR TUBERCULOUS SISTERS . ' 38 CLASSIC ON HIGHER PRAYER--Jerome Breunig, 8.J .3.9. REPRINT SERIES . " . , ¯ 46 THE DESTINY OF RELIGIOUS WOMEN~WilIiam B Faherty, S.J.47 BOOK REVIEWS-- Meaning of Fatima; Vocation to Love; Graces of Interior Prayer 51 BOOK NOTICES . 52 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS . 54 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 1. Voting in Local Chapter . 54 2. Pastor as Confessor for Religious . 55 3. Admittance of Ex-Novice . 55 4 Proper.ty Acquired after Profession . . .55 5. Meaning of "Religious" . . 56 6. Adding to Holy Father's Blessing . 56 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS. January, 1951, Vol. X, No. 1. Published bi-monthly : January, March, May, July, September, and November at the College Press, 606 Harrison Street, Topeka, Kansas, by St. Marys College, St. Marys, Kansas, with ecclesiastical approbation. Entered as second class matter January 15, 1942, at the Post Office, Topeka, Kansas, under the act of March 3, 1879. Editorial Board: Adam C. Ellis, S.J., G. Augustine Ellard, S.J., Gerald Kelly, S.J. Editorial Secretary: Jerome Breunig, S.J. Copyright, 1951, By Adam C. Ellis, S.J. Permission is hereby granted for quota-tions of reasonable length, provided due credit be given this review and the author. Subscription price: 2 dollars a year. Printed in U. S. A. Before writing to us, please consult notice on Inside back cover. Review ~or Religious Volume X January--December, 1951 Published at THE COLLEGE PRESS Topeka, Kansas Edited by THE JESUIT FATHERS SAINT MARY'S COLLEGE St. Marys, Kansas REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS is indexed in the CATHOLIC PERIODICAL INDEX Schools ot: Spiri!:u li :y G. Augustine Ellard,'S.J. IT IS A SIGN of the richness of the Church's spiritual life" that in it there should be "schoolsof spiritu.ality.'" Not even a gre~t saint could well represent that life in all it phases; to illustrate its we~ilth and depth and variety all the saints together would have to be called forth. No individual person nor indeed, any association of them, no matter" how holy and perfect they might be, could ade-quately e:~emplify all the different aspects and facets of the interior life. On the one hand thefecundity of Catholic doctrine is inex-haustible, and on the other the variations among men and women; their needs, providenti~al destinies, potentialities, and sb on, are innumerable. Given these two sources, namely, the fertility of what the "Church offers and the endless dissimilarities among men, it is inevitable that there should be within the Church groups having somewhat diverse conceptions of what pertains. to the spiritual life and then actually carrying them out in corresl~ondingly various ways. As in nature, so aiso in the supernatural order of grace the gifts of God are.most highly variegated. ~'There are ,~arieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministrations, and the same Lord. And there are varieties of workings, but the same God,. who worketh all things in all. But to each is given the manifesta-tion of the Spirit for the general profit." (I Cor. 12:4-7--West-minster Version.) To make up the whole Mystical Body of Christ and keep it functioning in accordance with the divine design.it is necessary th'at there should be different systems of members occupying different places in that great mysterious organism and discharging different forms of activity, even in the cultivation of the interior life and of the love of God. "For as the body is one.and hath many~members~ and all the members of the body, many as they are, form. one bogy; so also it is with Christ. Now ye are the .body of Christ, and.sey-erally his members: - And God bath appointed sundry inthe Church, first apostles, secondly.prophets, thirdly teachers.': (I C0.r. 12: 12, 27-.28-:-'Westminster Version.) As the various.organs Of the body, the heart for instance and the brain, posses~ at the sa~me.time a certain unity and a certain diversity of life, so also the .Mystical.Body of. G. AUGUS~FINE ELLARD Reoieto for Religious Christ must have among its numerous members, all sharing in one life, some who specialize, say, in contemplation and others in action, some who emphasize this virtue and others who excel in that. The revelation vouchsafed to us by God in the New Testament is a complete whole, made up of parts, however, which taken by themselves are unmistakably different. Nobody could fail to dis-tinguish the phases of it presented by the Synoptic Evangelists, by St. John, and by St. Paul. Abstractly, a school of spirituality is a distinctive system of doc-trines, theoretical and practical (principles and practices), pertaining ¯ to the pursuit of Christian perfection. Concretely, it is the group of persons who propose or use that system. These schools differ from one another in much the same way, and for much the same reasons, as the saints who typify them differ from one another. The limits of these schools are somewhat indefinite, and not everybody would enumerate them in just the same way. Tanquerey, in The Spirit'uat Life, distinguishes these eight schools in the modern Church: Benedictine, Dominican, Franciscan, Jesuit, Carmelite, the School of St. Francis de Sales, the French School of the Seventeenth Century, and the School of St. Alphonsus Liguori (xxxii-xlvi). Influence of Religious Orders From this enumeration one might feel tempted to conclude that the schools of spirituality are about the same as the great religious orders after which most of them are named. 'As a matter of fact the respective orders do occupy a leading position in them. However, the schools themselves are much more extensive and less closely bound together. Thus, for example, presumably most people who are in Franciscan.or Dominican parishes would follow their pastors in their spiritual systems. But also sometimes one who belongs, say to a Redemptorlst parish would be a member of the Third Order of Mt. Carmel, and then very probably his sanctification would for the most part follow the Carmelite pattern. Moreover, all those who read Franciscan or Dominican authors and mold their interior devel-opment predominantljr in accordance with the ideals which they find therein would pertain to these same schools. Being Catholic and orthodox, all schools of spirituality have very much in common. Their essential cores are identical. They all have the same dogmatic basis, the same moral principles, the same general ideal of perfection, namely, total love of God, the same prin-cipal means to realize friar objective, and in general whatever is char- danuarg, 1951 SCHOOLS OF SPIRITUALITY acteristic of the Catholic spirit. Over and above these common and fundamental elements each school has its own distinctive notes. One prefers to seek light and inspiration from certain dogmas and another from others. Thus the French School of the Seventeenth Century shows a very special pre-occupation with the doctrine of the Incarnation. There may be different conceptions of God in the sense that different divine attri-butes or aspects are emphasized: think of .Dominican spirituality and God as Prime Mover in contrast .to the Carmelite and God as the All. The various virtues get various treatments: of all the schools the Franciican gives most attention to poverty. With regard to action and contemplation there are conspicuously different orienta-tions; this divergence is well exemplified by the Carmelites and the Jesuits. In Benedictine asceticism the liturgy plays a most prom-inent role; in that of St. Alphonsus and his sons its place is at least less. Somewhat contrastive attitudes are cultivated toward the sacred humanity of Christ: notice the Franciscan tender devotion to the crib and cross as opposed to Jesuit energetic imitation of Christ in His apostolic activity. In some spiritual groups and their doctrines there has been much of the speculative, element; in others, a mini-mum. A historical example of this opposition in tendency is the Rhenish School of the fourteenth century (Eckhart, Tauler, Suso, Ruysbroeck) and the reaction it provoked in such writers as Thomas ~ Kempis. Tendencies to be Avoided With respect to the divergence between schools of spirituality there are two exaggerated and contrary tendencies that are bad and ought to be avoided. One is to minimize or slur over the differences that really do exist and divide them. A narrow and unintelligent 'zeal for the un, ity of Catholicism leads some people more or less to overlook or deny the variations of form and doctrine that are dis-cernible in the rich interior life of the whole Church.~ There is indeed unity in essentials, but the accidentals are far from uniform-ity. One would as reasonably attempt to cover over the differences that exist between the religious orders and their diversified spirits. Real divergences between systems of spiritual doctrine and practice ought to be acknowledged. Oftentimes they offer new light and stimulation to one's personal religious life. In any case they are part of the yariety and beauty that pertain to the Church as the spouse of Christ. 5 G. AUGUSTINE ELLARD The opposite fault is to magnify or overemphasize the distinc-tions and diversities between schools. After a11, these differences, though they are important in certain ways, belong to the accidentals, and leave the essentials unchanged throughout the whole Catholic body. Various phases of dogma are accentuated, but the general dog-matic background is identical. The ideals pursued by all are sub-stantially the same, that is, total love of find collaboration with God, with minor variations to suit special purposes or characters. Some stress this virtue and some that, or they blend them together in differ-ent proportions, but ultimately the great Christian virtues are the same for all. In each of the schools one may recognize the essential family likeness that demonstrates their Catholic origin and nature. Finally, it would be fallacious and unjust to rate one school above another. Human insight is not keen enough to gauge pre-cisely the merits and deficiencies of the various schools as they exist objectively and in the sight of God. But relatively, and as far as we can judge, each one of these schools is best suited and adapted to cer-tain groups of persons within the Church. In most cases Divine Providence gently and naturally and imperceptibly makes us pupils in this or that school. That there may be unity, harmgny, and organic development in one's interior life, it is as a rule advisable to keep fairly well within the limits of some one system. This prin-ciple will not prevent those who are more or less mature in their spiritual growth from availing themselves of whatever is best in all of them. Thus the supernatural life and beauty of the Church will ever become richer and richer. ON ACTUAL GRACE The excellent book, With the Help of Thy Grace, by John V. Matthews, S.J. (REVIEW, Vol. IV, pp. 66-67), is now being published in a revised and enlarged edition under the title, Actual Grace and the Spiritual Life. We are willing to underwrite the comment on the inside jacket: "The lucid appealing style of the author has turned what could be a difficult treatise into a simple, attractive and very helpful exposition of a mighty su.bject." The book is being published in the "Recall to the Spiritual Life Series" by the Mercier Press, Cork and Liverpool, 7/6. 6 Benedic!:ine Spirit:uali!:y Bernard A. Sause, O.S.B. MOST persons likely to be consulted about vocation to monas-ticism would probably consider it wise and discreet to emphasize its gratifying features: the beauty of the monastic home, the traditional love of the liturgy, the dignity and consolation of the work usually assigned to the monks, and especially the guar-antee of peace, security, and tranquility. Although he is often commended for his breadth of vision and prudence in governing,. St. Bene~lict does not belong to this school of,thought. It would be difficult to imagine a more forbidding and chal-lenging reception of an aspirant to the religious life than that which he prescribes in his Rule. "The newcomer is not to be granted easy admittance to the enclosure; he must be tested for four or five days to see whether he bears patiently the harsh treatment offered him and the difficulties of admission; he is placed in the novitiate under a mas-ter skilled in the art of winning souls, but who is made to sound most unpleasantly so;'the poor novice is tried repeatedly in all patience--a phrase that is quite meaningless unless one has lived its interpretation at the hands of an experienced master; the year of trial is devoted to showing him all the hard and rugged things through which we pass on to God; the Rule is read and explain.ed to him under the harsh term of "the law." (See Holy Rule of St. Benedict, Ch. 58.) There is more in the same vein. As one reads this chapter of the. Rule, this thought courses throughthe mind: St. Benedict begins with the assumption that a vocation is the consecration of a life to God's service; and while he willed it to be viewed with all the calmness and imperturbability of a life-long perspective, and was willing to make reasonable allowances, he knew that not a moment was to be wasted. Mortification, sup-pression of sinful man's inclination to evil, and the supreme impor-tance of the sacred obedience which with a distinctive forc.e dominates all monastic effort, are all integral parts of fashioning a character according to "his Rule. In harmony with that plan, which has stood the test of more than fourteen centuries, they can be begun, and con-tinued, only in high seriousness. A Spiritual Famit~l St. Benedict did not found an order in the legal, sense of the word. ¯ He wrote his Rule for an ideal monastery, for one moderately-sized BERNARD A. SAUSE Review for Religious family, governed by an Abbot who is believed to hold the place of Christ. (Ch. 2) Even to this day there is among all the followers of Benedict no more deeply cherished religious principle than the autonomy of the individual abbey. Those who lack more extensive acquaintance with the history of Benedictine effort may think of a number of isolated, relatively small and independent houses as an anachronism in today's widespread tendency toward centralization, but Benedictines know the Rule's provision as the spiritual force that has enabled them to make their worthiest contributions to the spir-itual life of the Church. As a youth the Patriarch of Western Monasticism.had lived for three years in the cave above Subiaco. In the op.ening paragraph of Chapter 1 of the Rule, which was written years Iater, he makes it clear that every trace of the eremitical life has been abandoned: his monastery is a group of sons under the intimate leadership of a father who in all matters pertaining to this distinctive way of life is' believed to hold the place of Christ. Together with the eremitical form of religion, St. Benedict discarded numerous monastic observ-ances and traditions that had been generally kept in the Church until his day (he died March 21, 547). A study of the elements that Benedict rejected is interesting for establishing the positive concept of his way of life. For the excessive bodily severity of the Orientals was substituted a round of carefully regulated practices and ideals that could be adopted by all who were admitted to the monastic family. The individualis~tic and subjective piety that so often had prompted excesses and rigorism was simply prohibited: works of supererogation and mortifications which were not made known to the Abbot and which were undergone without his approval and blessing were imputed to presumption an~d vai~glory. (Ch. 49) Prolonged psalmody and arbitrary additions to the Divine Office were excluded. Prayer was regulated'~ the effort of the entire com-m'unity united under the spiritual leadership of the Abbot. It was thought of as the sanctification of the day's work, and the consecra-tion of the night. The meticulous selection of the Psalms for the different hours, which no one has dared to change in the intervening fourteen centuries, despite numerous changes in the arrangement of the Psalter for all other groups in the Church; the comparatively long night Office; the relatively short day Hours, .emphasize this idea. The centralized organization in the Church, especially in the Pachomian monasteries, was done away with, and the individual danuar~t, 1951 BENEDICTINE SPIRITUALITY monastic family became the self-sustaining, self-governing unit of monasticism. These instances are not to be thought of as exhaustive but are merely of a general pattern that bore the stamp of guidance by the Holy Spirit? and, humanly speaking, the experience of almost a half century of actual observance, most of it*with~the responsibility of guiding others as their Abbot. They result in a balance and har~ mony that is of the essence of the monastic character, and invariably one of its most discernible notes. All this is made to fit into the setting of the ~mall monastic fam-ily. Under the leadership-6f their father, in Christ, the brethren pray together all the hours of the Church's official worship. Together they offer as a body the Sacrifice of the Mass. The consideration of private prayer, recognized by all serious religious as most Valuable, nay indispensable, is limited to one sentence: "If another desireth to pray alone in private, l~t him enter [the oratory of the monastery] with simplicity and pray, not with a loud voice, but with tears and fervor of heart." (Ch. 52) One must be careful not to draw false conclusions from so brief a statement. The importance of private. prayer is in no way .minimized. Quite the contrary is "true, as is exemlSlified in the whole history of monastic endeavor. But it was not the concern of St. Benedict's legislation, which was the life of the monastic family. The bretl, lren work together; they eat in a common refectory. They sleep under one roof. Their whole life centers about the or,a-tory. Ideally the sphere of the activity in which "the Lord's work-man," as Benedict calls the monk in the Prologue to his Rule, is to fulfil the promises he makes to God on profession morning, is small. Before the altar for several hours each day he devotes his efforts to the sacred liturgy, that all-important work of God's glorification and the soul's sanctification to which, in Benedict's plan, nothing is ever to be preferred. The refectory, where he reminds the brethren they are to serve one another in charity, the recreation hall, the infirmary, and, generally speaking, the whole enclosure of the monastery, become the scene of the works of charity, brotherly love, co-opera-tion, and good zeal.2 aSee Pope Pius XI. Apostolic Letter, Unigenitus Dei Filius, March 19, 1924. Acta Apostolicae 8edis, 16 : 133. 2The nature of mofiastic autonomy is dealt with expertly and at length by Butler, Benedictine Monachism. London, Longmans, Green, 1919. Especially p. 200 f. BERNARD A, SAUSE Reoie~ for Religious The Opus Dei ' The constitution of the monastic family has its definite purpose and method of operation. The Master of Montecas~ino calls it a School of the Lord's Service. His followers read into the phrase an objectivity that distinguishes it from other schools of asceticism and striving for personal perfection. Fraternally united in common desires, intentions, efforts directed by; the Abbot, whose outstanding qualification for his office must be a knowledge and love of God's law and zeal and ability in imparting it, the brethren devote themselves to the service of the Lord, Creator and Heavenly Father.The visible expression of their objective is in their social prayer and offering of the Sacrifice, which is the official worship of the Church itself, com-monly designated by St. Benedict with the attractive term, Opus Dei, the Work of God. In this matter the Rule mirrors the Golden Age of the Fathers in their love of the praises ceaselessly offered to the Father in spirit and truth by the Spouse of Christ, the Church. Although this praising of God constitutes neither the purpose of the monk's existence,3 nor his exclusive task, it is certainly his most important, holiest, and noblest of works, as well as the most efficacious in serving the Church and drawing Heaven's blessings upon the faithful. Whatever the pressure of activity, all other efforts remain secondary to this conse-cration to God's glorification; nothing is to be preferred to the Work of God. (Ch. 43) Many factors enter into tl~e complexity of monastic liturgical life, but in all its detail there is no confusion: it is all to be reduced to the simplicity of seeking God's glory in all things.4 It is based on the intelligent creature's conscious dwelling in the divine presence which strives to pour itself out in the humblest praises of the Eternal Goodness. It realizes that whatever perfection is achieved in the ascetical order is the work of God in the human soul. True monks eagerly praise the Lord working in them.~ It is a lifelong giving of aThis question is treated most attractively by one of the Order's outstanding asceti-cal leaders, Dom Germain Morin. Morin, The Ideal of the Monastic Life Found in the Apostolic Age. London, R. ~ T. Washbourne, 1914. Ch. 7, "Liturgical Praqer." 4The Benedictine motto, Ur in omnibus gloriIicetur Deus (usually abbreviated U.I.O.G.D.), That in all things God may be glorified, was early chosen by the saint's followers. While it occurs in the Rule (Ch. 57) in an isolated question dealing with material goods and their disposal, it perfectly expresses the general purpose of the monastic vocation. ~This phrase, taken from the Prologue to the Rule, is a favorite of all the classic commentators, and is accepted as a workable definition of grace. 10 danuar~/, 1951 BENEDICTINE SPIRITUALITY thanks to the Father of Mercies, an unceasing acknowledgment and atonement of imperfection and fault, an ever-renewed plea to be worthy to perform those works which are pleasing in God's sight. The whole effort is carefully regulated, for the liturgy is the solemn, official, public worship of the Church. Whoever would participate in the glorification of God by a monastic choir, or even study its execution of the sacred liturgy, must set aside all concepts of prayer that admit of mediocrity and external-ism. Here the goal is perfection, the absolute best of which men are capable through correspondence with the grace of vocation. Natu-rally, many allowances must be made. All the days of his life the monk will be humiliated in his attempt to offer a worthy praise of God, or, in St. Benedict's favorite phrase, to perform God's work. Although he knows that his effort is unfailingly acceptable .before the Divine Majesty, and that scrupulosity must be avoided at all costs, the religious realizes full well that he will never attain the goal of his desires: as a special gift, importing a most privileged union with God, prayerful love far exceeds all of man~s other abilities. More realistically, the monk knows that he can never wholly set aside the dread of praying unworthily, an offense that would pro-voke the Divine anger. "Cursed be he that doth the work of the Lord deceitfully." (Jeremias, 48:10) By his calling the monk is a professional in the worship of the Church: all his distinctive duties must be thorougMy colored, and even, to an extent, absorbed, by prayer's domination of his life. He devotes several carefully chosen hours each day and night to the chanting of the sacred psalmody--ideally, hours around which all other occupations are made to center, not hours inserted into a crowded schedule after other duties have been granted first considera-tion. He dwells in the monastery (repeatedly St. Benedict calls it the house of God), whose site is carefully chosen to help keep him at a distance from the world's distractions. He is freed from secular concerns in order to be intent solely on giving glory to God and achieving his own spiritual welfare. All the necessities of life are provided for him, so that care for material things may present no problem: in harmony with the whole plan, the virtue of detachment (St. Benedict does not use the word poverty in the sense now uni-versally adopted by religious) is interpreted as implying not so much self-denial as the consecration to God's glory of all they possess by a family of property owners. The works of obedience assigned to 11 BERNARD A. SAUSE Revleu~ [or Religious him are a studied part of the program, not vice versa. The Individual's Progress Understandably, the Rule, composed in the second quarter of the sixth century reflects and interprets the worthiest thought of the Golden Age that had preceded it. Its concept of the Universal Church and of the individual autonomous unit of Christ's Mystical Body, under the headship of him who is firmly believed to hold the place of Christ, is singularly free from the influences of individualism and subjectivism that have so often plagued the Church in subsequent eras. In its unpretentious way--for it deals always with the family, a small unit~it accentuates man's social nature to a degree that may not readily be appreciated today. The choir's prayerfulness; the good zeal exercised within the monastic family (Ch. 72), and by the family in its external works; the spirit of obedience as the pres-ence of Christ in the midst of the brethren rather than a legalistic treatment of the superior's rank and authority; corporateness of vir-tue; love of local tradition--a family trait, certainly; concentration on being rather than the more modern exhortation to action, are trends, attitudes, and ideals which will want long and careful study from today's novice before he can successfully translate them into action. But however helpful attention to his social nature may be in aiding him to be a worthy religious and man of the Church, and however deeply he may have drunk of the doctrine that all good comes to him through his monastic family, whereas all evil befalls him only through separation from the sa.me,6 the monk is soon brought to the realization that he remains an individual. He must also care intensely for this phase of his spiritual formation. The force of the good example of those about him, the spiritual assistance of his companions in religion, the,brotherly word of encouragement, the exhortations, private and public correction of faults, the infinite variety that "the aid of many brethren" (Ch. 1) may assume, are perceived by the individual, primarily. They wield a great force in his moral life. Humilitg St. Benedict has been called, with excellent right, the Church's 6This question is proposed at length in the meditations on stability, the vow of attachment to one's monastic family in: Sause, Bernard A., O.S.B., The School of the Ldrd's 8ert~ice. St. Meinrad, Indiana, Grail Press, 1948. vol. 2, p. 57 f. 12 January, 1951 BENEDICTINE SPIRITUALITY Doctor of Humility. St. Bernard, St. Thomas, and other ascetical masters, quote his exposition of the virtue at length and without modification. Chapter 7 of St. Benedict's Rule is a spiritual master-piece and commands the attention of any person who would learn humility profoundly. It applies the virtue to every phase of relig!ous striving to serve God--from fearful, conscious dwelling in the Divine presence, to control of laughter and the manner of walking. Obedience The distinctive feature of Benedictine asceticism has always been recognized as the spirit of obedience--which in most of its mani-festations is scarcely distinguishable from Benedict's presentation of humility. Obedience harmonizes and makes powerful the spiritual forces in the life of every follower of Christ. Created to be balanced and mutually helpful in man's nature, in a limited likeness to the per-fect harmony in Jesus Christ, the, mutual aid between intellect and will was destroyed by sin. Even in the new order, under the Second Adam, with the light of faith and the sacramental aids for the will, the struggle continues all the days of man's life on earth. Obedience restores the harmony, and in a vivid sense makes the monk like his Divine Model. In the opening sentence of the Prologue to his Rule, Benedict" calls monasticism "a return to God through the labor of obedience." In a broad sense one may say t.hat every chapter that follows is an unfolding of that statement. Commentators on the Rule delight in referring to St. Bernard's emphasis on the love motive necessary for ideal obedience: "Perfect obedience knows no law. It is bound by no restrictions. It is not content with the limitations of profession, but is drawn by the most powerful impulse of the will, under the influence of grace, into the realms of love. It submits unhesitatingly to all thai is enjoined, with the vigor of a generous and cheerful spirit , . , and heedless of ways and means, is infinite in its liberty. It is willing to embrace even impossible things, and confident of God's help, obeys from love even in such extremes.''7 Ideal Approach St. Benedict's treatment of obedience may serve to focus the attention on a point that may not sufficiently be appreciated in reading any one of the four accepted Rules by the great founders of religious bodies. The Rule stresses ideal obedience. For Benedict Bernard, Liber de pcaeeepto et dispensationeo c. 6. P.L. 182:868. 13 BERNARD A. SAUSE Review for Religious there is no such thing as mediocrity, or mere extern'alsubmission. For him an act of obedience must be "acceptable to God and agree-able to men." (Ch. 5) The virtue permits of "no delay in execu-tion, as if the matter had been commanded by God Himself." (Ibid) The same zealous imitation of Christ out of love of God (Ch. 7, third degree of humility) expresses itself in phrases denoting the quality of the monk's submission, like: "the ready step of obedience," "without hesitation, delay, lukewarmness, murmuring, or com-plaint." (Ch. 5) It is to be performed cheerfully. Benedict never descends from his ideal. In his P~ule he treats only of perfect obedience; other than that he mentions only the punish-ments for disobedience. With him the emphasis is not on what must ' be done to fulfil the law: he takes that for granted. On that assumption he builds. Positive human law is generally concerned with the minimum necessary to preserve an ideal. St. Benedict is intent on the maximum that man can offer his Creator. The thought may be viewed from another angle: the more uni-versal a society, the broader the concessions and the more numerous the provisions of tolerance that must be made for the weaknesses of human nature, the more general and sweeping, and easy-of-acceptance the norms which must be shared by everyone. By contrast, the smaller and more unified the group, the more sharply defined and intensified its ideal. The monastic family for which th~ t~ule is designed is large enough to embody and give expression to the social principles of religious life in common. It is compact and unified enough to preserve the most distinctive features that mark a group of men devotedly seeking God. Tile Lectio Divina An ideal of this kind must constantly be fostered by every means possible: in this case obviously by study, instruction, exhortation, good example. St. Benedict, who drew no distinctions among those who gave acceptable proof of sincerely seeking God, realized the importance of what is today commonly called spiritual reading for monastic formation. He demands several hours a day of this pious exercise which was more a leisurely study and mastering of revealed doctrine than the fretful flitting from page to page that moderns call reading, more an approach to God than an-ostentatious acquaintance with titles, authors' li~¢es and styl~s of writing, rather for spiritual upbuilding (aedi[icatio) than faithfulness in fulfilling a half-hour of the day's horarium. 14 Januarg, 195, I BENEDICTINE SPIRITUALITY Nothing Is to Be Preferred to the Love of Christ If the spirituality of the sons of St. Benedict has a distinguishing mark, it is that it is eminently Christocentric. The Master of Monte-cassinb employs an identical expression three times: Nothing is to be preferred to the love of Christ. Every line o~ the Rule seeks to induce the monks to translate that love into action. In the fourteen and a half centuries of their existence, the reli-gious who have borne the name of the Patriarch of Western Monks have contributed only two insertions into the Roman Ritual: the Sign of St. Maur, imparted ycith a relic of the True Cross and desig-nated with the name of St. Benedict's first disciple only because he first imparted it, and because his name is invoked in the ceremony; ¯ and the blessing of the medal-cross of St. Benedict, which is likewise a manifestation of complete confidence in the Sign of Salvation. Love of Christ underlies Benedict's every appeal. The perfection of obedience is that "for the love of God a man subject himself to a superior in all obedience, imitating the Lord, of whom the Apostle saith, 'He became obedient unto death.' " The love motive for other works, which presupposes the ascent of all the degrees of humility, guarantees the perfect fulfilment of every virtue. As nothing else ever can do, love of Christ leads to the worthiest prayer, the most acceptable offering of the Sacrifice, to intimacy of union with God. Contemplative Nature or: Monasticism As the monk continues to live under the grace-filled inspirations of his professed way of life, and is careful to hold himself ever free from distracting attachments (however good they may be), he dis-covers something of the powerful attraction of recollectedness (he has outgrown insistence on rules of silence--Benedict speaks much more often of judicious and charitable speech than of £ilence), the way of humility, the filial fear, the spirit of compunction that leads to inti-mate union with God. His whole carefully-regulated life, the daily liturgy's richness of thought, the environment of the enclosure, his private prayer, separation from the world, the humble works of obe-dience, the consecration of his whole being to God at the altar, will not allow him to remain silent. Now he must speak to God--no longer only in the prescribed and official prayers, but freely, gener-ously, in his own words unhesitatingly addressed to his FatheL pouring out the protestations of his love. Correspondence with the graces of monasticism bege'ts a love so intense that it informs one's every action: it seeks every possible means to prove itself. When the 15 C. A. HERBST Review for Religfous professed person begins to live on this plane, he realizes that the Father of Mercies, who is never outdone in generosity, has fulfilled all the hopes of profession morning. He has learned the spirituality of Benedict.of Montecassino, Patriarch of the Monks of the West. That, in fact, is the promise of the Master to his every follower. In the concluding paragraph of the Prologue to his Rule, he states: "As we advance in the religious life and faith, we shall run the way of God's commandments with expanded hearts [that is, with an ever increasing generosity] and unspeakable sweetness of love; so that never departing from His guidance, and persevering in the monastery in His doctrine until death, we may by patience share in the sufferings of Christ, and be. found worthy to be coheirs with Him of His kingdom." "Behold This Head:. ." C. A. Herbst, S.J. THERE is a copybook seven by nine inches containing sixty-four pages treasured at Paray-le-Monial in France. It is the life of St. Margaret Mary written in her own hand, an account of her spiritual life and of the dealings of the Sacred Heart with her. Under obedience, with great pain, she wrote this Autobiographg. (Auto-biography: Life of Saint Margaret Marg Alacoque Written bg Her-self, Visitation Library, Roselands, Walmer, Kent, 1930.) From that little book, it seems to me, one can best learn to know, under-stand, and practice devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. We learn there from her whose heart Christ found ready and so like His own, and from Our Lord Himself, the nature and practice of this world devotion which is everybody's devotion. One finds there a statement, a complaint, a request, and a promise. "Behold this Heart, Which has loved men so much, that It has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming Itself, in order to testify to them Its love" (.Autobiograpbg, No. 92). This is the " statement. "So much." How much? Love is proved by deeds rather than by words. "He loved me and delivered himself for me" (Gal. 2:20). "He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross" (Phil. 2:8). Our Lord, our Creator, 16 Januar~/, 1951 BEHOLD TH~S HEART came from eternal life to temporal death for love of us. "Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven; and was in-carnate by the Holy Ghost, of the Virgin Mary; and was made man. He was crucified also for us, suffered under Pontius Pilate, and was buried." All these wonderful feats of love our beloved Champion has done for us to win our love. And yet, in the very same breath with this statement of His love for us must come The complaint. ". and in return I receive from the greater number nothing but ingratitude by reason of their irreverence and sacrileges, and by the coldness and contempt which they show Me in this Sacrament of Love. But what I feel the most keenly is that it is hearts which are consecrated to Me that treat Me thus." (Ibid.) Iwonder who could count the insults and outrages committed against Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist these nineteen hundred years! I wonder who could calculate the amount of ingratitude and irreverence and sacrilege and coldness and contempt shown the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament by religious, for these are the "hearts which are consecrated to Me." The deepest wounds and the ones slowest to heal are inflicted by rejected love. Men and women are driven to desperation and to self-destruction by this. Sins against Jesus Christ in the sacrament of His love wound His Sacred Heart very deeply. Sins committed by religious against the Sacred Heart whom they have chosen as their B~loved for life are especially hateft~l to Him. ~ Our Lord's Requests The request Our Lord made is manifold. "In the first place thou shalt receive Me in Holy Communion as often as obedience will per-mit thee, whatever mortification or humiliation it may cause thee, which thou must take as pledges of My love" (ibid.). Love longs for union with the beloved. Our Lord wants us to take His sacred Body and precious Blood in Holy Communion as food because food is most intimately united with us. He wants us to be united with ~he soul as frequently and continuously as possible, too. The mortifi-cation or humiliation frequent Communion might bring St. Mar-garet Mary in 1675, when it could easily be considered the mark of a presumptuous or proud soul is, of course, absent n6w. "Thou shalt, moreover, communicate on the First Friday of each month" (ibid.). The fact gives the clear, strong response to this request. One has but to enter a church on the First Friday and see a whole congregation rise as one man and go to Holy Commun- 17 C. A. HERBST Review [or Religious ion in Order to realize what.a revolution this desire of Our Lord has wrought. One readily notices that this request is more general than the nine consecutive First Fridays in reward fo~ which Christ made the "Great Promise." "Every night between Thursday and Friday I will make thee share in the mortal sadness which I was pleased to feel in the Garden of Olives, and this sadness, without thy being able to understand it, shall reduce thee to a kind of agony harder to endure than death it-self. And in order to bear Me company in the humble prayer that I then offered to My Father, in the midst of My anguish, thou shalt rise between eleven o'clock and midnight, and remain prostrate with Me for an hour, not only to appease the divine anger by begging mercy for sinners, but also which I felt at that time apostles~ which obliged me watch one hour with Me. shall teach thee." (Ibid.) to mitigate in some way thebitterness on finding Myself abandoned by My to repr.oach them for not being able to During that hour thou shalt do what I Each Thursday night Christ invites us to share in the sadness and agony of death He underwent during His Passion. He asks comp'hssion with Him, companionship, prayer for sinners, rep.aration for desertion by His apostles.These things are very consoling to the. Sacred Heart. Feast of the Sacred Heart "Therefore, I ask of thee that the Friday after the Octave of Corpus Christi be set apart for a special Feast to honour My Heart, by communicating on that day and making reparation to It by a solemn act, in order to make amends, for the indignities which It has received during the time it has been exposed on the altars" (ibid., No. 92). This was the climax of the desires of the Sacred . Heart. St. Margaret Mary celebrated this feast in a little way with her novices on St. Margaret's day, July 20, 1685. "This drew upon me, 'and also upon them, many humiliations and mqrtific.ations, for I was accused of wishing to introduce a. new devotion" (ibid., No. 95). It is a long and painful task to bring.into the liturgy the Church a feast founded on a private revelation, and its advocates also trod the way of humiliations and mortifications. But in 1765 the Holy Father Clement XIII approved the Mass and Office of the Sacred Heart. Plus IX extended it to th~ universal Church in 1856. It was raised to the rank of a feast .of the fir.st class with an octave by Plus XI in 1929. The same Sovereign Pontiff ordered that every year on the feast a solemn and specially formuiated act of reparation 18 danuar~, 1951 BEHOLD THIS HEART to the Sacred Heart of ,Jesus be made in all the churches of the world. And since, as the twentieth century dawned; Pope Leo XIII had con-secrated the whole human race to the Sacred Heart, this request of Our Lord was solemnly fulfilled by His spouse, the Church. The promise, too, is manifoldand, as is the way with Christ, the reward far outweighs in richness the required work. "I prom!se thee that My Heart shall expand Itself to shed in abundance the ih-fluence of Its divine love upon tfiose who shall thus honour It, and cause.It to be honoured" (ibid., No. 92). We have to go to St. Mar-garet Mary's letters for more details." "He promises that all those devoted to this Sacred Heart shall never perish and that, as It is the source of all blessings, He will shower them in abundance upon every place where a picture of this Sacred Heart is exposed to be loved and honored. By this means He will restore broken homes. He will help and protect those who are in any necessity. He will spread the sweet unction of His ardent charity upon all religious communities in which a picture of. this Sacred Heart shall be honored. He will turn aside the just anger of God. He will restore souls to His grace when they shall have, fallen from it by sin." (Letter to Mother de Saumaise, August 24, 1685.) . With regard to the,"Great Promise" that the Sacred Heart "will grant to all those who communicate on the first Friday in nine consecutive months, the grace of final perseyerance" let Father Bainvel's remark suffice: "If I am not mistaken, the con-clusion will always be that the 'Great Promise' is something unique." Our Lord told "the beloved disciple .of His Sacred Heart" that He would fulfill these promises in return for the love and repar.at.ion shown Him in the practices He recommended. The ,substance of devotion to the Sacred Heart is love and reparation. His manifold request and .repeated statements and complaints show this clearly. OUR CONTRIBUTORS BERNARD A. SAUSE, the author of The School of the Lord's Service, a three volume set of meditations on the Rule of St. Benedict, is dean df St. Benedict's theological seminary at Atchison, Kansas. CLARENCE MCAULIFFE and C. A. HERBST are members of the' faculty of St. Mary's College, St~ 'Marys, Kansas. M. RAYMOND is a monk at the Abbey of Gethsemani, Trappist, Kentucky. ADAM C. ELLIS, G. AUGUSTINE.ELLARD, and ,JEROME BREUNIG are members'of, the editorial board of the REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS. 19. Quinquennial Report:, 1951 Adam C. Ellis, S.3. THE Sacred Co,n, gregation of Religious issued a new decree on 2uly 9, 1947 regarding the quinquennial report to be made by religious orders and congregations, by societies living in com-fiaon, and by kecular institutes." In this decree the obligation was extended to all superiors general ofthe three groups mentioned; and a new questionnaire to be followed in making the report was announced as in preparation. Finally, a new annual report was made obligatory on all the superiors mentioned above. The text of this new decree was printed in the REVIEW for September, 1949, pp. 234- 240, with introduction and comment. When the forms for the new annual report were ready for distri-bution and the.new questionnai.re was available, the late Cardinal Lavitrano (d. August 2, 1950), then Cardinal Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Religious, addressed a circular letter to all superiors general in which he gave some practical instructions for making out both the quinquennial and annual reports. The official English ver-sion of the new questionnaire for the quinquennial report was pub-lished in the REVIEW, 2anuary to September inclusive, 1950. And in the November number, pp. 309-316, under the title "First An-nual Repoort," some practical suggestions for making out this report contained in Cardinal Lavitrano's letter were given, together with some others, in order to help our readers fill out these forms for the annual report for the first lime. The purpose of this final article is to offer helpful directives for drawing up the quinquennial report, and to indicate some practical conclusions to be drawn from the questionnaire itself. General Directives 1) Who must make this report in 19517 (a) All lay congre-gations ofreligious men (Brothers). (b) Likewise'the superiors general of all religious institutes of women in all the countries of America (North, Central, and South America). 2) In what language should the report be whiten? Clerical in-stitutes must answer the questions in Latin; lay institutes, Brothers and Sisters, may use the vernacular, that is, either English or French, 20 QUINQUENN!AL REPORT German, Italian, Portuguese, or Spanish.1 3) May the quinquennial report be t~/ped? It not only may, but should be typed if this can be done. Otherwise, if written by hand, the handwriting must be clear and good ink .used. The report should be typed or written on good bond paper, not too heavy, and not translucent. ' " 4) Must the question be stated before each answer? No, it is not necessary to include the question with the answer, but it suffices to put the number of the question before the answer. 5) What method should be followed in answering the questions? Always answer the question with a complete sentence, never with a mere "yes" or "no." Give briefly and clearly all the information pertinent to the subject. An example or two may help. Question 24 a) reads: "Is the general council at present up to its full member-ship?" The answer might be: "Yes, the generaI council is up to fulI membership at present. One of the councilors died during the year 1950, but another councilor was elected in conformity with the pre-scriptions of our constitutions." Again, question. 190 states: "Was the delivery of the dowry made according to law?" The answer might be simply: "We have no dowry." 6) When must the report be handed in? Any time durin.g the year 1951. But it should cover the five-year period from 1946-1950 inclusive. 7) Must all the councilors sign the report? Yes, all the coun-cilors and the superior general must sign the report. Hence the report, when completed, should be given for a private reading to each of the persons who are obliged to sign it; after they have done so, it should be discussed in a common meeting and corrected or improved, according to circumstances, if that be considered necessary by the majority, before it is signed by all. ~-There are three official Latin texts of the new questionnaire or Elenchus Quaes-tionum: (1) 342 questions for pontifical institutes; (2) 322 questions for diocesan institutes; (3) 171 questions for independent monasteries and houses. However, bnly the first, that for pontifical institutes, has been translated into Eng-lish. Furthermore, in the questionnaire for diocesan religious, there are three ques-tions which do not appear in that for p6ntifical institutes, and in the questionnaire for independent monasteries and religious houses there are fifteen such questions. ThoSe using text two or three, for diocesan institutes and independent monasteries respectively, will have to find their questions in the larger text for pontifical insti-tutes. To facilitate this task, a chart has been drawn up giving the correlation of numbers for the three texts, and on the back of this chart have been printed the additional questions just referred to. A copy of this chart may be had free of charge by" sending a self-addressed, stamped (three cents) envelope, to the author of this article at St. Mary's College, St. Marys, Kansas. 21 ADAM C. ELLIS Reoieto for Religious 8) What should a councilor do after he has voiced his objections to the superior and to the o[her coimcilors in cbunc[l meeting, but to n6 avail? First of all, he must sign the report along with the others. Then he may, if he wishes to do so, submit his owh judgment to that of the unanimous contrary opinion, and rest satisfied. Finally, if he feels bound in conscience to report the matter to the. Holy See, he may do so in a private letter, being careful to state only objective facts in his minority report. 9) To whom is the report to be sent? Orders, congregations with simple vows, societies living, in common, and secular institutes approved by the Hotel See must send their reports directly to the Sacred Congregation of Religious; address to. Very Rev. Secretary, Congregation of Religious, Pallazzo delle Congregazioni, Piazza S. Callisto, Rome, Italy. All diocesan institutes, independent mon-asteries ~nd houses are to send their report to the local ordinary of their mother house. When he has read it, he will add his comments to the report and then send it on to the Sacre~l Congregation of Reli-gious. If the diocesan congregation, society, or secular institute has houses in other dioceses, the local ordinary of the mother house must send copies of the report to all those local ordinaries as well, and'after receiving their comments, add them to his own before sending the report to the Holy See. 10) In the case of a ponti£cal institute of religious women, who sends the report to the Hol~ See? Is it the local ordinary of the mother house, or the superior general? The decree of the Sacred Congregation of Religious (No. VII) states explicitly that the supe- .riot general is tO send in the report after she has obtained the signa-ture of the local ordinary in conformity with canon 510. 1 1) What is the import of the signature of the local ordinary? Must he read the report?' The local ordinary has no obligation to read the quinquennial report of a pontifical institute. He merely signs it in order to authenticate (subsignare) the signatures of the superior general and her council members. Practical Hints from the New Questionnaire 1) From question 4 for diocesan institutes one draws the con- ¯ clusion that it is the mind of the Holy See that diocesan congrega-tions should apply to the Holy See for the status of a pontifical con-gregation (iuris pontitfcii) when they have developed sufficiently to meet the requirements. 2) Similarly, from question 9 for diocesan congregations it may 22 danttarv, 1951 QUINQUENNIAL REPORT be inferred that they are not to be divided iiato provinces. 3) Religious are not to undertake new works, whether spiritual or temporal, which are beyond the scope of the special end of their. constitutions. Question 5 asks whether this has been done, and by what authority. 4) For the establishment of a new religious house, a written contract should be drawn up in accordance with canon law and with due regard to civil law (question 21). 5) The superior general has the obligation of promulgating decrees and decisions of the general chapter, and of enforcing them (questions 35- 37). 6) The councilors of religious superiors~--gener.al, provincial and local--are to be given due freedom of speech: and the common law as well as the particular law must always be observed in the decisions, appointments, and voting of whatever kind (question 53). 7) Matters in which the common or particular law grants to councilors a deliberative or a consultive vote must be submitted to them for their consideration in common; hence meetings of superiors and their councilors must be held regularly (questions 49-51). 8) Superiors are expected to observe the provisions of .canon law and of the constitutions regarding both the comm6n obligations of religious, and the special obligations of their own office (question 62). 9) It is the desire of the Sacred Congregation of Religious that, where it can be done conveniently, a confessor should be available in the chapel before the reception of Holy Communion (question 85). 10) Superiors are to see to it that religious are allowed a suitable time for preparation for and thanksgiving after Holy Communion (question 85). 11) The administration of the property of a religious institute must be carried on not arbitrarily, but according to the common law and to the constitutions (question 109). 12) When for just reasons the permission of the Holy See is obtained tO engage in business, every semblance bf fraud as well as of avarice is to be diligently avoided, and care must be taken to see that the religious occupied in these business dealings may not suffer spir, itual harm (question 130). '13) The Sacred C~?ngregation of Religious considers it a grave abuse to delay the profession of a novice because the expenses of the postulancy or. novitiate had not been paid (question 164). 23 January, 1951 QUINQUENNIAL REPORT 14) No religious once professed of temporary vows should ever be without vows because of a failure to renew them at the proper time (question 200). 15) The Sacred Congregation of Religious wishes that the use of the telephone and of the radio be regulated by superiors and chap-ters, and that radio programs be censored (questions 214, 215). 16) Religious superiors are to watch over and assist those of their subjects who are pastors (canon 631, §§1-2) and, in case of need, admonish and correct them (question 292). 17) Superiors (a) are strictly obliged to give their subjects ade-quate preparation for their work, whether it be teaching, nursing, or other corporal or spiritual ministry, and (b) they should see to it that their subjects get suitable food and sleep; and (c) that in the exercise of external works the religious life be'fostered, and all moral dangers avoided (questions 301-311). Conclusion We have given a considerable amount of space in the REVIEW to Reports to Rome, both to the new questionnaire for the quinquennial report as well as to the new annual report. At first sight one might conclude that these reports are of interest only to the superiors who have the obligation of making them. But if we examine the ques-tionnaire we shall find "that it contains a very practical and fairly complete statement of the law of the Church regarding religious, with continual references to the canons of the Code of Canon Law which are generally cited,' and with frequent allusions to the decrees, instructions, and jurisprudence of the Holy See. Hence all religious can read the questionnaire with profit. The questionnaire likewise affords a safe norm of action for superiors, consultors, treasurers, and masters of novices since it provides them with a valuable reminder of their duties. Hi~her superiors can find in it direction for govern-ment, and a stimulus to action, since it provides for them matter for the study and examination of their duties and obligations. Finally it provides a safe guide for the visitation of houses inasmuch as it gives the principal points upon which action is to be taken during the visitation. May all religious derive profit from it, and find in it the ideals and standards of the Holy See in their regard, as well as a norm for the solution of many poi.nts which may appear to be obscure or controverted. 24 Unworl:hy h inist:ers ot: !:he Sacramen!:s Clarence McAuliffe, S.3. THE attitude of Catholics towards their priests differs radically from that of Protestants towards their clergymen. The Protestant pastor is expected to possess the social graces. He must keep in good contact with his flock. He should be a good story teller, a hearty hand-shaker, a sinceie sympathizer. He should have a pleasing voice since one of his principal functions is to lead congregational prayers and songs. He must have some preaching ability, but he must be careful on what subjects he exercises it. He is not likely to" be criticized i£ he speaks on government planning or child welfare or home economics even though he forges no link between such subjects and man's salvation. If he deals with reli-gious topics, he must confine himself to a limited number of moral questions or to a few hazy dogmatic generalities. He ought to be an adept organizer, and the more dances, bazaars, dubs, social gatherings he organizes, the more satisfied will his people be. If he is found wanting in too many of these endowments, he is likely to find him-self a pastor with a much diminished congregation, or on pastor besieged by an indignant congregation which will have him ousted from his post. This may not be true of all Protestant denomination~ and parishes, but it certainly holds for many of them. Catholics, too, would like to see their priests gifted with many of the aptitudes demanded of the Protestant clergyman, but they con-sider them as secondary. They expect their priests to be men of God (Protestants also expect good example and a certain righteousness in their spiritual leaders), but even moral deviations do not make the priest unbearable. Catholics realize that the priest, whatever his lack of talent or his delinquen.cies, holds a sacred office. He has been con-secrated eternally to God to do, not his own, but God's work. He may be morose, anti-social. His sermons may have the effect of a mother's lullaby. His singing may be a series of auditory shocks. But the principal work he has to do does not depend on his personal capabilities. He says Mass. He confers the sacraments. 'These are his prime duties. Everything else is secondary. And it is a marvel of God's operation in the faithful that most of them realize that their 25 CLARENCE MCAULIFFE Review for Reiigious prie.sts., can administer-beneficial sacraments and celebrate effiicacious Masses even though they are '.'bad priests." Our people are aware that the !~/Iass and the sacraments have a God-given eff~cacy that can-not be frustrated by unworthy ministers. The subjective spiritual condition of the priest cannot impede the divine effects of those reli-gious rites which were instituted by Christ Himself, because they operate automatically. What Are the Reasons? It might be profitable, however, for us to examine the reasons for this. Why is it that a callous sinner can confer a sacrament which will bestow its spiritual effects on a recipient who is properly dis-posed? Why is is that sacramental ministers who do not have even the Catholic faith, such as apostates, rationalists, heretics, schismatics, Jews, pagans, can nevertheless, confer a sacrament or sacraments without interfering with their power to sanctify those who receive them? The facts are certain. Unl~oly ministers and faithless min-isters can do so. But how do we know that Christ Himself wanted His sacraments to operate independently of the holiness and faith of their ministers? Before answering this question, it might be well to insist that in all cases the minister must place the external rite of the sacrament correctly. He must properly unite what we call the "matter" and the "form" of the sacrament. Take the example of Baptism. The minister must always use true natural water. He must so apply this water to the recipient that it touches the skin and flows. He must at the same time pronounce the prescribed formula of words with his lips. Since baptism can be validly administered by any sane adult whatever, no special power deriving from orders is required in its minister. Essentials for Validity/ In all the sacraments except baptism and matrimony, however, the extraordinary spiritual power bestowed by ordination is essential for validity. No matter how holy a minister may be, therefore, his efforts to produce sacramental graces are in vain unless he administers conectly the basic external elements of a sacrament. Even should this be done, no sacramental graces are communicated unless the min-ister is endowed with the unique spiritual power conferred by ordi-nation. Once so much is assumed, we now ask why 'it is that a def~tive spiritual condition of the minister, such as the state of mot- 26 Januarg, 1951 UNWORTHY MINISTERS tal sin or lack of faith, cannot prevent a sacrament from imparting its graces automatically to a person who is sufficiently disposed to receive it fruitfully. It should be observed that reason alone, independent of God's revelation, could not have decided the correct answer to this ques-tion. God surely could have, had He so willed, made the validity of all th~ sacraments contingent on the faith and holiness of their minister. Had He done so, ministers would have had an additional incentix;e to foster their faith and to preserve the state of grace. Fur-thermore, reason left to itself might argue that a ministbr bereft of faith and holiness could not be an active agent in the administration of sacramentsl since these.by their very nature infuse grace and aug-ment the v.irtue of faith. How can one who does not possess the Holy Spirit confer the" Holy Spirit on another? These and other rational considerations cotild be advanced to prove that ministers of sacraments must have faith and at least the state of grace. But although our faith is always reasonable, we hever learn it by having recourse to reason as its main conduit. The object of faith is God's revelation which is proposed to us proximately by the Church. Hence faced by the present problem, we seek the Church's teaching and tra-ditions. But we shall show later on that, even from the rational side, we can advance excellent reason why God made His sacraments independent of the faith and holiness of their ministers. No Rebaptisms It had been the custom in the Church from her earliest days, just as it is a.t p[esent, not to rebaptize heretics when they were converted to the Catholic church. Such heretics had already 'been baptized in their own sects and so by heretical ministers. But if the rite had been properly administered, the Church simply took for granted that such baptisms were valid even though conferred by ministers who rejected, either culpably or inculpably, part of the true faith. Such converts from heresey were obliged merely t6 make a profession of faith and to go to the sacrament of penance. About 220 A.D., Agrippinus, Bishop of Carthage in Africa, began to inveigh against this custom. He declared that such converts should also be rebaptized because their previous baptism was invalid by the very fact that its minister had not possessed the full Catholic faith. The illustrious St. Cyprian, successor to Agrippinus in the See of Carthage, sanctioned the same opinion and insisted on its observance in the dioceses of Africa. When, however, he consulted 27 CLARENCE MCAULIFFE Review [or Religious (about 254 A.D.) Pope St. Stephen about the ma~ter, he receipted the following reply: "If, therefore, heretics of any sect whatever come to you, add nothing to the traditional practice of granting them absolution." This decision of St. Stephen's, based as it was on the ancient custom, came to prevail despite temporary opposit'ion in Africa and Asia Mi.nor. Thus we find St. Augustine, looking back on the dis-pute a hundred and some odd years later, declaring: "According to o Blessed Cyprian, his predecessor Agrippinus had been the first to "amend" this most wholesome custom (of not rebaptizing heretics) ; rather should we believe that Agrippinus was the first to corrupt, not to correct it." So, too, St. Vincent of Lerins some years later pro-nounces this judgment .on the dispute: "The antiquity (the custom of not rebaptizing heretics) was retained, the novelty was exploded.'~ Finally the Council of Trent expressly defined the matter as an article of faith against the Protestant innovators of the sixteenth century: "If anyone says that baptism which is conferred in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, with the ifitention of doing what the Church does, is not a true baptism, let him be anathema." It should be noted that this definition is concerned directly with baptism alone. Nevertheless .it is certain that heretical ministers, provided they possess the power and place the matter and form cor-rectly with the intention of doing what the Church does, can ~¢alidly confer any sacrament whatever. All the sacraments are la~ien with. the merits of Christ. That is why they confer grace automatically. If, then, heresy in the minister cannot prevent the spontaneous infu-sion of grace by baptism, neither can it prevent this infusion of grace by the other sacraments. So, a true bishop, even a heretic, can val-idly confirm or ordain. Heretical priests, if validly ordained, can say Mass and administer Extreme Unction. The only ex~ception is the sacrament of penance. For this sacrament not only priestly power. but also ecclesiastical jurisdiction is necessary .for validity. If this jurisdiction is wanting, absolution becomes invalid, but it does not become invalid because the minister is a heretic or an apostate. The invalidity proceeds solely from lack of jurisdiction. It is, therefore, universally true that heresy in the minister does not make any sacra-ment invalid. Moreover, although the controversy of the third century was concerned v~ith heretical ministers only, we know for certain from 28 danuary, 1951 UNWORTHY MINISTERS other sources.that ministers who possess no trace whatever of divine faith, such as rationalists, apostates, pagans, can validly administer baptism. Hence the practice of urging even pagan doctors or nurses to baptize infants, when they are in danger of death and no one else is available should be retained and even spread. The Council of Florence declares, though it does not define as of faith, the following: "In case of necessity not only a priest or deacon, but even a layman or laywoman, yes, even a pagan and a heretic is able to baptize, pro-vided he observes the rites of the Church and intends to do what the Church does." Can Sinners Act Validly? But these arguments do not answer the question whether a sinner also can confer a sacrament validly: Lack of faith is often incul-pable. ¯ A sincere Protestant, for example, even though he does not have the true faith in its fullness, may be in the state of grace. No sin attaches to his incorrect belief because he honestly believes it is correct. Hence a minister deprived of the true faith may be free from sin. On the other hand, a minister may retain the Catholic faith and yet be in the state of mortal sin. Thus a priest might be a sinner because he deliberately violated a grave precept and yet the faith of the priest remains intact. Hence it does not follow as a logical con-clusion that since an unbeliever can validly confer a sacrament, there-fore a sinner can do the same. Nevertheless, if we revert to the third century dispute previously outlined, we shall find that from it we can deduce that sinful min-isters cannot impede the efficacy of baptism. Some, at least, of the heretical ministers who had baptized converts who later were admitted into the Church without a second baptismal ceremony, were not only heretical, but were also formally heretical. They knew they were in error and yet they obstinately persisted in their error. To do this is to sin very seriously. Hence some of these ministers were at the same time heretics and sinners. Yet the validity of their baptisms was never questioned on this second score. St. Cyprian was worried about their unbelief, not about the culpability of that unbelief. Therefore the ability of a sinner to administer baptism validly was not even challenged. It is clear, then, that everybody admitted implicitly that sinners could validly baptize. " Should there be some doubt whether any of these heretical min-isters were culpable of their heresy, we should have to prove our point from a slightly different angle. Even though their heresy may 29 CLARENCE MCAULIFFE Reoiew for Religious not have been sinful, this much at least is morally certain: some of those heretical ministers who had performed the baptism of later converts, were guilty of mortal sin of some kind. It would have been a .miracle if none of them during a period of two centuries had been in the state of sin when baptism was administered. Yet the fact remains that when their converts joined the Church, no one even dreamed of investigating the moral state of the heretical ministers who had baptized, them. Everybody, even St. Cyprian and his fol-lowers, realized that the results of such an investigation would have been irrelevant and could have had nothing to do with the validity of the baptisms conferred. Thus even those who denied the validity of baptism when performed by a heretic, implicitly conceded along with the whole Church that the sinfulness of the minister could not affect the sacrament's value. The Council of Trent When heretics such as the Donatists and later on the Waldensians and Albigensians (13th century) and still later the followers of Wycliffe and Huss (15th century)asserted that sinful ministers could not validly confer the sacraments, they were condemned by the Church officially. Finally in the sixteenth century when the leaders of the Protestant Revolt repeated the same falsehood, the Council of Trent proscribed the error as heretical when it declared: "If anyone says tl~at a minister in the state of mortal sin, provided he observes all the essentials which belong to the effecting or conferring of a sac-rament, neither effects or confers the sacrament, let him be anathema." Thus confirmation, extreme unction, confession and the other four sacraments lose none of their power to produce grace in their recipi-ents just because their miniiter happens to be a sinner Sacraments, therefore, truly produce their grace "'ex opere operato,'" not only independently of the merits of the subject, but also independently of the merits of the minister. The latter's deficiency in faith or his moral degradation cannot destroy or even weaken their efficacy. Fittingness of Doctrine Once we know that God has revealed this doctrine, we can find good reasons for His making the essential rites of His Church superior to the weakness of their ministers. In the first place, the minister of a sacrament is in the strictest sense, only a minister. He is not acting in his own name, but in that of Christ. He places rites that were instituted by Christ, not by himself. He places rites that bear within 30 d'anuary, 1951 UNWORTHY MINISTERS themselves the me~its oF Chris't, not his own merits. He is merely an official. Now we all know that officials can act just as efficaciously in performing their official functions regardless of their personal beliefs or delinquencies. A judge may not beIieve in the law he officially upholds, he may be a disgrace to his fellow citizens in his moral conduct, but his decisions do not lose any of their binding force because of them. He acts in the name of the State in rendering judgments, his verdicts are just as binding as those of a judge who believes in the laws and whose private life is blameless. Similarly, the.subjective beliefs and moral vagaries of the minister of sacraments cannot obstruct their grace-producing power as long as the rites are properly placed and conferred. Again, if the sanctifying activity of the sacraments were depend-ent on the faith or holiness of their ministers, the faithful would be beset by endless mental anxiety about their own spiritual welfare. They would wonder if the priest who says Mass is in the state of graceand a true believer. If not, they would get no grace from Holy Communion when he would distribute the Sacrament. Again, a dying sinner wants to confess his sins. His salvation depends on a good confession. But suppose the priest who hears his confession is himself a great sinner and, as a result, his absolution would be invalid? The penit.ent would lose his soul because he did not make an act of perfect .contrition. Anxietq Removed Moreover, the anxiety would be increased by the fact that we cannot know whether a 19erson has faith and is in the state of grace. Faith and holiness are primarily internal qualities. We cannot be certain that the minister of a sacrament has them. Our judgments about the holiness of others are necessarily superficial, since we can-not glimpse the inner workings,of any human soul. As a result of this principIe, we would never know for sure whether any sacrament was fruitful for us, and the entire Church, both clerical and lay, would be in a continual ferment. Such a spiritual condition would hardly be compatible with the reiterated promise of Christ that His followers would enjoy peace of soul. Finally, if the efficacy of the sacraments were contingent on the faith and sanctity of their ministers, certain lines of conduct incom-patible with the teaching of Christ would be almost necessarily engendered. The laity would be suspicious of their priests. They would pry into their private lives. They would be on the watch for 31 danuar~, 1951 UNWORTHY MINISTERS scandalous reports about them. They would misinterpret many of the actions of their priests. They would falsely conclude that a priest was a sinner when he was not. Priests would be reported some-times rightly, oftentimes wrongly, to their bishops. Bitterness, detraction, calumny, suspicion, rash judgments would tear apart the Mystical Body of Christ which on the Word of God Himself should be permeated with that harmony that flourishes between the different organs of a healthy human body. The doctrine, therefore, that the value of the sacraments does not depend on the faith or holiness of their ministers, a doctrine so for-eign to the Protestant mind, is part of our Catholic faith. It is a most consoling doctrine. Ou~ sanctity depends upon ourselves. This is true not only of our meritorious works, but even of that sanctity which results from reception of the sacrameni:s. Sacraments work ex opere operato. They produce their grace independently of the spiritual condition of their ministers. These ministers are expected to keep in the state of grace. They are obliged under pain of mortal sin not to administer a sacrament unless they are in this stale. But if they fail to observe this precept, they harm only themselves. They cannot harm thos~ who receive the sacraments from their hands. The recipient need worry only about himself and his own preparation. If .this preparation is substantially suff~dent, he himself will receive grace ex oiotre optrato and no human being cart prevent this Qod-given' effect. NEW APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTION Pope Plus XII has recefitly issued a new Apostolic Constitution Sponsa Christi. This document regulates the cloister or enclosure of nuns in such a way as to make it 15ossible for the nuns in postwar Europe and elsewhere tosupport themselves since r~any contemplative monasteries have lost all their endowments and are receiving relatively few vocations. The strictly papal cloister of canons 600-604 is limited to that part of the house in which the nuns habitually dwell (cells, dor-mitories, refectory, community room, private garden, and the like) under the title of major papal ~loister, while the rest of tl~e house and grounds within the monas-tic compound where the labors for the support of the community are carried on are called minor papal enclosure. The Apostolic Constitution also treats of Federations of Independent Monasteries and recommends them by pointing out their advantages without, however, making them of obligation. We hope to give our readers more information on this Apostolic Indult and on the subsequent Instruction of the Sacred Congregation ,of Religious. 32 I-low Are Your I::yes? M. Raymond, O.C.S.O. CARYLL HOUSELANDER claims that are like clouds of wind-blown seed," that within them lies the mysterious secret power that seeds have to brit~g forth life.'" I turned from her article to my mail. Three letters, so brief they are more fittingly called "notes," showed me that Caryll had been most conservative. She could have claimed more than seminal pow-ers for words. She could have said that there are occasions when they have all the might we now know lies in certain atoms. I was living one of those occasions. Let me tell you about it. The first letter I lifted told how an Archbishop, in a public address, had infqrmed his audience that the Trappistines in Wrent-ham, Massachusetts, had received more than four hundred applica-tions this past year. "Half of them," he added, "were from dissatis-fied religious.'" That word "dissatisfied" set me thinking. After a little while I wanted to write to the Archbishop and tell him the longer we live in religion, the more dissatisfied we grow. Not with our vocations. No! Not with our rules and constitutions. Indeed no! Not with our work or our fellow-workers. Daily our love for these grows. But we know a gnawing dissatisfaction which is nothing but a loneliness for heaven and a longing for the face of God. I could have given His Excellency example after example not only of middle-aged religious, but of diocesan priests, who have come to me thi~ past year with eyes turned avidly toward Gethsemani. Why? Because of that divin.e restlessness so aptly described by Augustine when he exclaimed: "Our hearts were made for Thee, O God, and they shall never know rest until . . ." Yes, the longer we live, the lonelier we grow for the sight of God and the sharper becomes our dissatisfaction with life on earth. I did not write that letter. For the longer I pondered the matter, the clearer I saw that there is another kind of dissatisfaction in the lives of some religious and I feared the Archbishop might have been referring to that. I know it should never be there. Occasionally I am puzzled beyond the telling to find it deeply ingrainedin indi-viduals, who have greyed in religion. I meditated and mused on this matter for days, not only because of what' the Archbishop had said, 33 M.~RAYMOND Reoieto ~:or Religions but because of two other letters in the same mail. A mother general had written: "The appointments were placed in the mail last evening, and I am glad to know they are accompanied by your prayers." A sister superior had written: "The Annual Thin Letters just came in, so pray . . ." You can see how those two sentences kept me thinking along the lines in which the Archbishop's remark had set my mind. I believe they will have the same effect on all who entered religion before we begin to ~peak and spell the way they print the Ordo, that is, before any woman was known as a ~4"AC, any girl as a ~VAVE, or any boy as just another GI 3oe. For the most part the thoughts conjured up are pleasant. For it is always refreshing to find real religion in religious, .Christ in Christians, and self-forgetfulness in selfish human beings. But as we go on thinking, it will be clear to all that both Mother General and Sister Superior had only one prayer in mind. They wanted me to pray: "'ut videant--that they might see.'" For while anyone who has celebrated a silver jubilee in reli-gion can tell tale after tale of actual heroism brought forth by.the few words these "annual thin letters~" or their equivalents Carr~ , they will also have memories of a few human tragedies brought on-- not by the "letters" mind you, but by the eyes that read them. There's the point: it is the eyes that read them. This fact that not only our happiness here on earth, the proper development of our characters and personalities as religious, and our genuine progress in the spiritual life, but in very truth our ultimate sanctity and consequently our eternity in heaven or hell depends entirely on our vision has been so deeply impressed on me by a series of happenings which began with what I have already narrated, that I feel I would be untrue to God and His grace did I not ask you: "How are youc eyes?" First, there was the nun who had just received her "thin letter" and was starry-eyed. I had to think that I was looking on one who was radiating the same wonder, awe, and joy that must have rippled out from Bernardette after a vision of "the Lady" and from Mar-garet Mary after a session with the Sacred Heart. Her letter told her she was to spend the next few years, and perhaps the rest of her life, in India. She was tremulous with happiness, for she realized she had been specially chosen for a special task, that a high commission had come from the High Command. And while she was not blind to the trials that lay ahead for her as a human, she was wihe enough 34 ¯ Januar~j, 1951 How ARE YOUR EYES ? to focus her gaze on the trust that had been placed in her by the Divine. Her only request was: "Pray that my family see it as I do." Then there was an older nun whose ~yes held a different light, whose tongue told a different tale. She had not been changed. No "thin letter" or its equivalent had come to liberate her, as she said, from her "misery." I spoke to her as earnestly as I could about Divine Providence and the wisdom of God, insisting that He gives us the one environ-ment in which we can best grow. It did not take. I spoke of supe-riors as representatives of Christ, striving with all my might to stir up faith and have her thrill to the truth that in hearing them, we hear Him. She did not respond. I appealed then to what has always appealed most to me, showing how obedience is the touchstone Of our loyalty to God and the grandest tribute of our love. I made very little impression. She lifted eyes that were lusterless and dull, eyes that seemed to hold in their deeper depths some slowly pulsing pain, and said: "Oh, if I could only see it that way!" The contrast struck me forcibly. All too vividly did it make me realize that there is such a thing as .spiritual myopia and very real astigmatism of the inner eye, the eye of the soul. I tried hard to excogitate some corrective for this faulty vision and some sure cure for an eye-ailment so serious that it can ruin a life. Recently, when I was in the hospital for a check-up of my "wild cells," the supervisor of surgery invited me to a tour of her depart-ment. I went. I had heard exceptionally high praise of the arrange-ments in this particular hospital. I soon saw that there was firm foundation for that praise. Sister showed me through sixteen or eighteen splendidly-equipped operating rooms, opened glass cases that held so many skillfully-shaped instruments that I was open-mouthed in marvel at the ingenuity of man and the thqroughness of the sci-ence of surgery. Then she had a nurse show me what a specialist would use in a lobotomy and explain the entire technique. I was speechless in admiration of the daring of these modern doctors. But it was not until Sister had led me into the smallest room on the whole floor that I saw why God had planned this particular visit at this particular time. "This is where they do the eyes," she said, as she opened a case and dazzled me with a display of shining steel scalpels more delicate than any I could have dreamed existed. Then she told me of the "eye-bank," revealing one of the greatest marvels of modern surgery. .35 M. RAYMOND Review for Religious It seems that specialists can take the cornea from the eye of a dead man, stretch it over the blind eye of one who is alive, and have him see. You can readily understand ,why my meditations and musings for the next few days were on the possibilities of some similar sur-gery for the eyes of the soul. If we priests, I thought, who so often have to use what we may well call spiritual scalpels, could only take the cornea from the eye of Calvary's dead Christ and stretch it across the blinded eyes of. Then it burst on me! What I had been dreaming of as a possi-bility, what I had been turning in my mind as a bit of fond fancy and a fetching analogy, I suddenly realized was actual fact. Baptism has done for the eyes of our spirits what these master surgeons are now doing for the bodily eye~ of the blind. Has it not, by subtlest sacramental surgery, inserted us into the Mystical Body of Christ? Has it not made us His members? Of course. But where are the eyes in any body? Are they not in the head? Does it not follow then, that so long as we act as His members, we will see things through His eyes? The musings and meditations of these few days had led me where meditations and musings of the past ten or twelve years have almost invariably led me--to the doctrine of the Mystical Body of, Christ. Think along with me now and see whether this doctrine, properly understood and rightly applied, does not allow us to diag-nose the diseases we have mentioned, isolate the very germs that cause them, ~nd proffer the infallible cure. That sounds hopeful, doesn't it? Almost too hopeful. But let us see. At baptism we were made Christ, but we did not cease to be ourselves. Hence, while the sacrament effected much ex opere opecato, it left almost as much to be accomplished ex opere operantis. For while those waters and words, plus the proper intention on the part of the minister, sufficed to incorporate us into the God-Man; to transform us into Him not only our own 'intention will be required, but along with it what may. well be water--our sweat and tears-- and what most certainly will be works. Limiting ourselves to this matter of vision, can it not be said in all sincerity that in baptism we received a sort of supernatural trans-plant, giving us a second lens, so that now we can look on all things either through the lenses that are human, or the stronger ones that are divine? Is it not true that we Christians, and especially we reli- 36 ~anuaql, 1951 How ARE You~ EYES gious, have double-vision ? that we are able to view things either with the eyes of man or with the eyes of the God-Man? that on every-thing which impinges in any way on our consciousness we can foolishly limit our sight at secondary causes or have it pierce through to see Him who is the First and" the only Uncause'd Cause? Is there, anything in our days or nights, .anything in the entire sweep of our lives, that cannot be looked upon in practically the same way we look upon a consecrated Host? The "species" are there. The "thin letters" of which I spoke came from a definite address, passed through the ordinary channels of the mails, bore the signature of a human being. But to the Christian conscious of his or her Christhood, to the religious fully aware of his or her dignity as His member, to the soul sensitive to reality, these things are but "species," mere accidents: the substance lies beneath. Why is it, then, that we do not always see things this way? Simply because we do not look through the divine lens. The trouble is not in our minds; it is in our wills. Our eyes must be directed. If we set them looking through the cornea we received from the First Adam, we shail see as human beings. That is what happened to Felicit~ Lamennais, once his writings had been condemned by Rome. His friend and fellow-worker, Lacordaire, was wiser. He looked through the cornea given by the Second .Adam, and saw truth. The deathbeds of these two men might well haunt all of us, for they con-- tain the greatest lesson for anyone's life. One used the eyes given him at birth and died a reprobate. The other employed the vision given at rebirth and died as we all want to live and die--in the arms of Mother Church, which are also the arms of Him who is our Head. But I don't have to go to that extreme to show you the practi-cality of looking at things as members of His Body. I can limit my-self to the question of temporal happiness, that quiet of mind and peace of soul we all crage, and prove that this doctrine is the panacea. Oculists will tell you that many a headache comes from using improper lenses. I will tell you that in the spiritual order many a heartache comes from the same cause. If we want happiness every hour of the day, if we want an easy pillow at night, if we want a conscience that will approve us and.our actions at every examen, one thing alone is necessary, to direct the gaze of our minds through the . lenses given us by the God-Man and see always and in everything exactly what He saw, the Will of the Father. Simple, isn't it? But let me tell you it will make life sublime. 37 M. RAYMOND Review for Religious L~t me say that I can safely paraphrase St. Alphonstis Liguori and claim that "what distinguishes perfect from imperfect religious is the' use of the divine lens." Or I can borrow from St. Teresa of Avila and say that you can be assured that the devil has no better device to keep us from the heights than to have us look through the cornea we had when we came from our mother's womb, neglecting the one, gained by being born again of water and the Holy Ghost. What an example Peter Claver gives us of all this. He had de-voted himself to the slaves at Cartagena. Alr'eady he had baptized more than a quarter of a million when word came from his superior: "Stop baptizing." I think most of us would have answered that command the way Peter answered the command of the high priest: "We must obey God rather than man." But Peter Claver stopped baptizing. The saint had been holding public devotions to the pal-pable spiritual profit of the poor benighted slaves. His rector told him to put an end to them. Claver could have looked, as many of us would have looked, and seen the hand of the calumnious and the enviou~ in this mandate. He didn't. He put an, end to the devo-tions immediately. But the campaign of hostility went on. Small-souled criticism won from superiors the injunction that Claver change his whole manner of instructing. Now remember this man had been as effective in his milieu as Xavier had been in the Indies. What would you have done in the circumstances? What would I have done? Claver changed his entire manner of instructing. But still: the opposition was not satisfied. It did not rest until it had obtained from higher authority the complete removal of this man from this glorious work. Claver went to his new assignment with all the cheer with which a newly ordained priest goes to the altar. How could he do it? By using the divine lens, acting as a member of the Mystical Body of Cl~rist and seeing superiors through the eyes of the Head°of that Body and hearing in their voice the voice of God the Father. Now who w~uldn't thrill to hear His voice? Who would not leap to obey His command with a happiness--but I had better stop there, lest what,seems lyrical prove a humiliating expos~ of our own short-sightedness. HOME FOR TUBERCULOUS SISTERS An entire wing of private rooms (twenty-eight) in Sa~,ta Teresita Sanatoriuin is being reserved for tuberculous Sisters. The Sanatorium is cared for by Carmelite Sisters of the Third Order. Address Santa Teresita Sanatorium, 819 S. Buena Vista Road, Duarte, California. 38 Classic on I-ligh'er Prayer Jerome Breunig, S.J. [The book reviewed in this article was not controversial in purpose though the theoretical position of Poulain is now controverted. Thus he holds that mysticism in his' special sense is outside the normal development of the Christian life. The book is reviewed independently of its controversial stand because of its unique value for spiritual direction and for its descriptions of mystical experiences.--ED.] AUGUSTIN POULAIN'S The Graces of Interior Prau. er1 is a ¯ great book. It is unquestionably one of the most important and influential books ever written on the science of prayer. It is not new, but it has been out-of-print for so long that it may be new to many of our readers. Because of this and of its importance for many religious as well as of its special timeliness today, it seems necessary to review at greater length this reprint of the classic work. Poulain's book was first published fifty years ago. Ten years later the first English edition appeared. The present volume from Herder is all the more valuable because it includes an introduction by J. V. Bainvel. This introduction gives a thorough, competent review of the book, adds an occasional needed qualification and clarification, and presents a brief picture of the impact .the book ha~t on mystical studies. As far as the present reviewer knows, Bainvel's introduc-tion, a book in itself, is here appearing for the first time in English. Written primarily for spiritual directors and then for mystics and budding mystics, Poulain's book will also be helpful for anyone interested in God's extraordinary communing with souls." The secondary title of the book is "A Treatise on Mystical The-ology." It is necessary to note from the beginning and to remember that Poulain, unlike most spiritual writers of the present day, uses the term mystical in a very restricted sense. Today there is much evidence of interest in mystical theology and in the supernatural phenomena which are its object bf study. Numerous Manresa and otl~er study clubs are investigating ascetical and mystical problems. .N~ew periodicals devoted to spiritual sub-jedts have appeared in recen~t years. Thomas Merton's books have found a wide reading public~. The number of vocations to the con-templative life has increasedI Another example of and a contribution to the g~owing interest is E. Allison Peers' standard edition of the 1See the "Book Review" section, ~. 52 for details on publisher, price, etc. 39 JEROME BREUNIG Religious works of St. Teresa of.Avila and St. John of the Cross. In fact, books on 'the theory, of mysticism, biographies of mystics, anthologies of such writings,' books of private revelations have multiplied in the past few years. But interest and concern is by no means limited to the academic realm of books. The press has given extensive pub-licity to some of the stigmatics of the present day. Keports of appari-tions have become well known throughout the world. While remaining deeply respectful before God's special dealing with chosen souls and deriving spiritual benefit from them, there is always need for caution and guidance in order not to espouse every claim of super-natural "intervention. Helpfulness of Book In this milieu Poulain's work has a special timeliness. For people who would like to evaluate private revelations, cases of visions, stigmata, etc., this is the book. The book is helpful on the level of practical judgment of publicized supernatural phenomena and on the level of theoretical study of mystical theology. In Graces of Interior Prager the interested priest, religious, or lay Catholic, as well as the non-Catholic, the scientist and the non-scientist can find a rather complete, systematic, and factual study of extraordinary supernatural phenomena. The book should help clarify an outlook, perhaps modify misguided enthusiasm. At any rate, it will foster a more reserved and prudent, point of view. For instance, Poulain showsA that even among the saints there were false visions and even in true visions false human alloy sometimes became mingled with the divine. Those interested in the problems of mystical theology should welcome this volume because it is a good counterbalance to the the-oretical ~pproach that is now being emphasized. Poulain follc;ws the descriptive rather than the speculative school which endeavors, as he described in his pre.face, "to systematize' all facts theologically by connecting them with the study of grace, of man's faculties, of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, etc." R. Garrigou-Lagrange's The Three Ages of the Spiritual Life is a good example of the speculative school. From the Author's Preface Poulain clarifies his purpose at the outset. "I wishec~ as far as possible to give very clear and accurate descriptions as well as v~ry plain rules of conduct." His purpose, then, is descriptive and pre-scriptive. He continues: "If I do not associate myself with the specu-lative school it is not from contempt. It deals .with many high and interesting questions. But the readers I have in view do not desire 4O January, 19~ 1 CLASSIC ON these things.(I am writing especially for those souls who are beginning to receive the mystic gr.aces and who do not know how to find their way in this new world. And I address myself to those also who are drawing near and who have entered into the adjacent states. Now such persons requir.e,something really practical. They wish for exact pictures--I was about to say photographs--in which they can recognize themselves immediately. They also require rules of conduct reduced to a few striking formulae, easy to ~emember and to apply.i~ He fbresees an objection. "Certain theologians would require more than this. They will perhaps see in this little book a mere manual, resembling those treatises on practical medicine which do not lose themselves in high biological theory~ but merely teach us how to make a rapid diagnosis of each disease and lay down the proper treatment. But I confess that I should think myself very happy to have attained such a difficult end." ~. The author's precautions which seem applicable to most works by mystics or on mysticism are the following. They are also in his preface. "The mystic" graces do not h"f t t:he soul out of the or"dmary.~b~¢~t~ conditions of,Christian life, or free it from the necessity of aiming perfection." ~,~Mystical graces are not sanctity but merely powerful~ means of sanctification; they mu,~st be received with humility and co~. responded-to with generosity."~ To pass our time in dreaming of the mystic ways is a dangero~uus error." Finally, "for all spiritualc~a~.~ ~ questions it is necessary to have a director. The more extraordinary)~I/~e~ the ways by which the soul is led the greater, as a rule is the Unlike most writers on the subject of prayer, Poulain's purpose is not primarily inspirational but rather Scientifically descriptive and prescriptive. The object of .the study, of course, of its very nature . has inspirational value. Nor does Poulain exclude this for he ends his preface: "I pray God that this book may accomplish the only end that I bad in view: the good of souls. (May" it awaken within them-~ {an attraction for prayeO'and the need f'o unite themselves with the divine Maste~.). ~May the souls raised to the fruitful joys of the mystic life become more and more numerous in the Church, especially amongst those who have been consecrated to God.:~ Send forth spirit., and Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.'~ Teacher and Scientist Poulain was a teacher and a scientist. As a good teacher he took 4i JEROME BREUNIG Review for Religious pains to be clear. He had been a p~ofessor of mathematics for many years, and the reader suspects that he was adept at the use of the bl_ackboard. In hi.s early years be wrote a book which he playfully called the"Poor Man's Ge,ometry." In this book he used all his inven-tive genius to simplify the theorems for the slowest boy in the class. In Graces ot: Interior Prancer, "with its short phrases, its explana-tions simple sometimes almost to the point of na~vet~, its clear divl-siofis, its many paragraphs, its clever typographical devices" (Bain-vel's description of Poulain's style, page xxxvi), we find the same gracious teacher eager to bring the difficult subject matter within his pupil's wave length. As a scientist in the best modern traditions Poulaln endeavors to support his statements by factual data. He has so arranged the book that after each chapter he gives evidence to support the previous dex~el-opment. The basis for his treatment of interior experience is the writing of the mystics. In many instances he has also drawn from his own experience with mystics of his own time. Poulain himself said: "In thirty years I have come to know thirty-three persons who seem to have real supernatural graces, and nine who have false visions" (p. xxxv). The scientific treatment should commend the book to all. Incidentally, the book should help non-Catholic doc-tors, psychiatrists, and others who wish an introduction to mystical phenomena but would find a purely speculative treatment based on the unseen realities held by faith alone relatively unintelligible. The Table ot: Contents Poulain has divided his treatise into six parts: (1) Preliminary questions which give principal definitions and explain ordinary prayer; (2) General ideas about the mystic unlon;(3) A study of the degrees'separately; (4) Revelations and visions; (5) Trials of contemplatives; and (6) Supplementary questions. Herder's present volume adds to the appendices of' the original work an appendix on the question of acquired and infused contemplation and another on the discernment of spirits. The latter includes the Rules of St. Igna-tius, Counsels of St. Teresa on Temptations, ~ind Illusions and Marks to Discern the Si3irit of God, according to St. Margaret Mary. The author begins his work by making a clear-cut distinction between ordinary prayer and extraordinary or mystical prayer. To clear the ground for the distinction he first points out four degrees of ordinary prayer, namely, vocal, meditative, affective, and simplified prayer; next he notes the progression and describes at some length 42 January, 1951 CLASSIC ON PRAYER affective praye.r and especially the prayer of simplicity. According'to Poulain, the prayer of simplicity, though close to mystical prayer, does not" contain a,ny mystical element. The prayer of simplicity is still the result of human~efforts. All kinds of prayer, of course, require grace. He confines the hse of the word mystic to "supernatural acts or states which our own industry is powerless to produce, even in a low degree, even momentarily" (p. 1). The author then points out four degrees of the mystical union: 1) incomplete union (prayer of quiet) ; 2) full union (prayer of union) ; 3) ecstatic union (ecstasy) : 4) transforming union (spiritual marriage). Always the teacher and scientist, he distinguishes each successive degree by a new discernible fact. In the prayer of quiet the union between God and the soul is incomplete, for the imagination is free and distractions are possible. In the prayer of union the imagination is no longer free, but the action of the senses is not suspended, com-munication with others and withdrawal from prayer are possible. In ecstasy all sensation and voluntary movement are suspended. In turn, spiritual marriage is distinguished as a stable and constant state. "'To explain mysticism in an hour's time" After this general division of the higher supernatural states, the author attempts to describe what constitutes this higher state. He realizes the ground is holy and the task is difficult, but hear the ear-nest. sympathetic teacher: "The ordinary man prefers speed to every-thing else. Details do not usually interest him, but only the main lines . . . He seems to say: Try in an hour to make me understand exactly what mysticism is. This can be done" (p. 64). The fun-damental nature of the mystic union Poulain describes as God's presence felt. He states this in two propositions which he calls theses, The first thesis affirms the fact, the second uses the analogue of sensa-tions to enlarge on the experiential presence. After this he gives ten secondary characteristics of the mystic, union. Because of the special importance, the two theses describing the fundamental nature of the higher state will be given in the author's own words. The first thesis: "The mystic states which have God for their object attract attention at the outset by the impression of recollection and union which they cause us to experience. Hence the name of mystic union. Their real point of difference from the recollection of 43 JEROME BREUNIG Rew'e~v [or Religious ordinary prayer is this: that in the mystic state, God is not satisfied merely to help us to think of Him and to remind us of His presence: He gives us an experimental, intellectual knowledge of this presence. In a word, He makes us feel that we really enter into communication with Him. In the lower degrees, however (prayer of quiet), God only does this in a somewhat obscure manner. The manifestation increases in distinctness as the union becomes of a higher order" (pp. '64-65). In the explan'ation that follows immediately Poulain says: "There is a profound difference between thinking of a person and feeling him near us. And so when we feel that someone is near us, we say that we have an experimental knowledge of his presence. In ordinary prayer we have only an abstract knowledge of God's presence" (Ibid.). This %xperience of God" is obtained through quasi-se.nses in the spiritual order. His second thesis brings this out. "In ~he states inferior to ecstasy we cannot say that God is seen save in exceptional cases. We are not instinctively led to translate our experiences by the word sight. On the other hand, that which constitutes the com-q~ X.mon basis of all the various degrees of the mystic union is that~he. spiritual impression by which God makes known His presence, mam-fests Him in the manner, as it were, of something interior which penetrates the soul; it is a sensation of saturation, of fusion, of im-mersion. For the sake of greater clearness, we can depict what is felt by describing the sensation by the name Of interior touch" (pp.90- 91).) Poulain that mark 2) 3) 4) 6) 7) The Secondarg Characteristics of Mgstic Union gives (p. 114) the following ten secondary characteristics the mystic union: The mystic union does not depend upon our own will; The knowledge of God accompanying it is obscure and confhsed; The mode of communication is partially incomprehensible; The union is produced neither by reasonings, nor by the consideration of creatures, nor by sensible images; It varies incessantly in intensity; It demands less effort than meditation; It is accompanied ~by sentiments of love,' of repose, of .pleasure, and often of suffering; 44 danuar~], 1951 CLASSIC ON PRAYER /) "~_ 8) It inclines the soul o,f, itself and very eflicach3usly, to the~ " 9) It acts upon the body and is a" cted ~ I0) " " It ~mpedes to a greater or less extent the production of cer-tain interior acts; this is what is called the l,igature. In the third part of I~is book, Poulain studies each of the degrees of the mystic union s~parately. His explanation of the Two Nights of the Soul pointed out by St. John of the Cross is enlightening. TheNight of the Senses is a preliminary state, "the borderland of the mystic state," while the Night of the Soul, which precedes the trans-forming union, comprises the three lower states of mystic union u~ader their fiegative aspect. In his treatment of revelations and visions Poulain continues .the descriptive-prescriptive method, especially noting the possibility of false visions and of the false mingling with the true. He also gives rules-of-thumb for directors and for recipients of the heavenly favors. The section on trials.to contemplatives is brief, but brings out ¯ that contemplatives must be cut in the heroic mold of the Crucified. In his final section on supplementary questions of mysticism, the author treats in the same.scientific manner of topics such as the desire for mystic union, quietism, and frequency of the mystic states. Concluding Tribute What Cardinal Steinhuber wrote of the first edition forty-five years ago still stands. "It is with real satisfaction that I have read your Reverence's book on The Graces of Interior Prager. I cannot resist the desire to congratulate you with all my heart upon this fine and useful work. Directors of souls and the masters of the spiritual life will draw from it abundant supplies of enlightenment and the counsels necessary to enable them to solve the many complicated questions that they will encounter. What pleases me is the sim-plicity, the clearness, and the precision of your exposition, and still more, the solidity of the teaching. I can say the same for the care that you have taken to rely upon the old and approved masters who have written on the subject of mysticism. You dispel their obscuri-ties, you reconcile their apparent contradictions, and you .give their language the turn that the spirit of modern times demand." 45 Reprint Series The following groups of articles are now available in 50-page booklets, with paper cover: NUMBER 1: Father Eltard "On Difficulties in Meditation--I"--Vol. VI, p. 5. "On Difficulties in Meditation--II"--Vol. VI, p. 98. "Affective Prayer"--Vol. VII, p. 113. "Contemplation, the Terminus of Mental Prayer"--Vol. p. 225. VII, NUMBER 2: Father Ellis The "Gifts to Religious" series: "The Simple Vow of Poverty,"-~Vol. VI, p. 65. "Common Life and Peculium"~Vol. VII, p. 33. "Personal Versus Community Property"~Vol. VII, p. 79. "Some Practical Cases"~Vol. VII, p. 195. NUMBER 3: Father Kelly "The Particular Friendship"--Vol. V, p. 93. "Remedies for the Particular Friendship"~Vol. V, p. 179. "Emotional Maturity"--Vol. VII, p. 3. "More About Maturity"--Vol. VII, p. 63. "Vocational Counseling"--Vol. VII, p. 145. Prices Please note that we cannot accept orders for less than ten copies of any of these booklets. The following scale of prices applies to each of the booklets: 10 to 49 copies . 30 cents each. 50 or more copies . 25 cents each. Instructions for Orderlncj 1. Order according to the Number printed above: e.g., 10 copies of Number 1 ; 10 copies of Number 2; and so forth. 2. Send payment with order; calculating the price for each order according to the scale of prices printed ,above. 3. Make checks or money orders payable to Review for Religious. 4. Address your order to: The I:dltors, Review for Religious, St. Mary's College, SL Marys, Kansas. 46 The Des :iny of Religious Women William B. Faherty, S.J.1 ACURSORY PERUSAL of Our HolyFather Pius XII's speeches on woman's role in modern life might well lead one to the hasty conclusion that they contained little direction for reli-gious women. He spoke of motherhood as "the sphere of woman." He set down a great challenge for women today--to rebuild family life,--and as the first means towards this objective he wanted them to restore the aura of honor and dignity that should surround a mother's place there. The Religious Sisters, on the other hand, have renounced the pos-sibilities of motherhood in the home to consecrate their lives to Christ's service. Are they therefore on the periphery of the great so-cial reform work to which Pope Plus XII called modern women? The only answer that can justly be given after a careful study of the papal teaching is a round "No." Some readers have drawn too many hasty and unfounded conclusions from the Pope's words. They have not read all his speeches on the general subject. (He has addressed groups of women nine distinct times on various aspects of their lives and work.) They have accorded too much attention to the Pope's more novel and sensational statements, such as his pro-claiming the unmarried lay state a "vocation," and his urging women to vote and seek public office. When the full picture of the Holy Father's teaching is seen, the important place of religious women comes sharply into focus. In his most publicized speech of October 21, 1945, Pope Plus XII did state: "The sphere of woman, her manner of life, her native bent is motherhood. Every woman is made to be a mother . . . For this purpose the Creator organized the whole characteristic makeup of woman." Immediately, however, he clarified the issue that he was speaking of motherhood "not only in the physical sense," but also in the "spiritual and more exalted, but no less real" sense. This was consistent with the general tenor of his teaching. In a speech2 g!ven four years previously, entitled, "Guiding Christ's Little 1Father Faherty of Regis College, Denver, is the author of The Desting of Modern Woman in the Light of Papal Teaching, which is reviewed in this issue. (See page 52). The present article is based on a section of the book. ~Copies of this inspiring address can be obtained at a very low cost from the Nat. Council of Catholic Women, 1312 Massachusetts Ave., N. W., Washington 5,D.C. 47 WILLIAM B. FAHERTY Review for Religious Ones," the Pope had spoken more explicitly on this two-fold motherhood. Addressing the mothers in his audience, the Holy Father remarked: "Our words have been addressed principally to you, Christian mothers. But with you we see around us today a .gathering of nuns, teachers and others engaged in the work of Chris-tian education. They are mothers, too, not by nature or by blood but by the love they bear the young." Then turning directly to this latter group, he continued: "Yes, you too are mothers; you work side by side with Christian mothers in the work of education; for you have a mother's heart, burning with charity . . . You are truly a sisterhood of spiritual mothers whose offspring is the pure flower of youth." Such were the Holy Father's beautiful words on "spiritual motherhood." Praise of the Religious Life Pope Pius XII's remarks on religious life came not as a separate statement but as part of the full teaching on woman's role in the modern world. In his address of October 21, 1945, he discussed all three "vocations" open to young women today: marriage, the un-married lay state, and the life of the' consecrated religious. About the religious life, he stated: "For nigh onto twenty cen-turies, in every generation, thousands and thousands of men and women from among the best in order to follow the counsels of Christ" have left the "world" to devote their lives to His service. "Look at these men and women," he continued, "See them dedicated to prayer and penance, intent on the iiastruction and education of the young and ignorant, leaning over the pillow of the sick and dying, ope~l-hearted for all their miseries and all their weakness, in order to relieve them, ease theml lighten them and sanctify thm." "When one thinks of young girls and women," he concluded, "who willingly renounce matrimony in order to consecrate them-selves to a higher life of contemplation, sacrifice, and charity, there comes at once to the lips the word that explains it: vocation. It is the only word that describe so lofty a sentiment." The Pope finished this passage with ~he explanation that the call of God may come either as an overpowering summons or as a gentle impulse, sd diverse are the modulations of His voice. Addressing the representatives of Italian Youth Organizations in 1943, he spoke at length on the great need 0f vocations in these times, especially in the fields of education, organized charity, and danuar~, 1951 DESTINY OF RELIGIOUS WOMEN foreign missions. After extolling the value of religious life in fos-tering the Church's mission and mentioning the great solicitude of the Church today for the life of consecrated service--a solicitude rarely equalled, he insisted, in the long annals of Christian history-- the Holy Father concluded, "Let her accept it who can, taking Christ's words in "the sense of an invitation and encouragement." As a fitting crown to this speech, he made the memorable statement, "Christian virginity is the triumph of civilization." The Challenge to Modern Woman When the Pope challenged modern woman to work for the restoration of family llfe, he realized that many would very justly wonder why the Church continued to encourage the call to the reli-gious Sisterhoods. Why not lay less emphasis on this vocation for a decade or so? After all, where Catholic family life is strong, reli-gious vocations abound. Anticipating this reasonable objection, the Pope forestalled it by an immediate and thorough answer. "Is the common good of the people and the Church perhaps jeopardized by this (the encourage-ment of the religious vocation) ?" he asked. "On the contrary, these generous souls recognize the union of the two sexes in matrimony as a good of high order. But if they abandon the ordinary way and leave the beaten track, they do not desert it, but rather consecrate themselves to the service of mankind with a complete disregard for themselves and thei~ own interests by an act incomparably broader in its scope, more all-embracing and universal." They have given up the possibility of children of their own, yet they" teach the children of others the way to Christ. They help mothers in the care of their youngsters by establishing day nurseries. They substitute for the mother in conducting orphanages. They care for the sick members of all families. They protect the unity and sanctity of the family, furthermore, in a hidden but very influential way. While those intent on de.stroying the foundations of Christian civilization advise infidelity within the marriage bond and "free love" outside, the Church points with paternal pride to thousands upon thousands who have gone beyond the command of God and have accepted His free call to do something even greater. Because of this sacrifice, hundreds and hun-dreds of married people can ask themselves in the midst of ditficulties: "Can I not live up to the high requirements of my state of life, when 49 WILLIAM B. F!KI~ERTY so many of my fellow human beings live up to the more exacting demands of a higher state?" Renewal of Familg When the Pope suggests means to effect the renewal of the mod-ern family, the great part religious Sisters can play becomes even more evident. The foundation of all work for the restoration of the fam-ily, the Holy Father remarked, is a solid personal spiritual life. The first goal is to be the restoration of the honor and dignity that should be the Mother's in the home. Who are in a more strategic position to build a solid spirituality and proper attitudes toward home life in the mothers of tomorrow than the Religious Sisters who teach them in the schools and colleges today? Nor are Sisters engaged in other apostolic activities on the periphery of this great work. Those who conduct hospitals, retreat houses, and the like, have a part that is perhaps less obvious but equally important in thi~ work of family restoration to which their Holy Father challenges them. Conclusions Certain profitable conclusions for the individual lives of the Sis-ters suggest themselves from the words of Pius XII which have been briefly considered here. If religious Sisters are to look on their'life as a spiritual motherhood, the qualities that mark a true. Christian mother's relationship with her children--the qualities that marked Our Lady's relationship with her Divine Son--will be the aim of the religious Sister. This will counteract any influences which in these days of standardizing agencies and statistical social service might lead an occasional individual toward a depersonalized goal of expertness in nursing, teaching, or other profession. Secondly, the v6cation of most young women to be the mother of a family in the home could receive much more stress in high school and college instruction, equal in quantity even to the attention most Sisters very justly bestow on their own high type of vocation. Above all, the Holy Father's words should be an encouragement and an inspiration in these apocalyptic times which he himself has called "perhaps the greatest religious crisis humanity has gone through since the origin of Christianity." 50 Book Reviews THE MEANING OF FATIMA. By C. C. Marfindale, S.J. Pp. 183. P. J. Kened¥ and Sons, New York, 1950. This is not just another book about Fatima. It gives a brief, dear description of the Blessed Virgin's appearances; but tO that it adds a frank appraisal of the difficulties and inconsistencies in the account of the Fatima happenings, and a sensible, penetrating expla-nation of these problems. Fr. Martindale's treatment is marked by a fine balance. He is objective, almost scientific in his approach; yet sympathetic and sensi-tive to the human dements involved. He is very, discerning in his evaluations of the testimony given by the witnesses, parti.cularly the three children; yet there is never a ting~of debunking. Add to this reverent, straightforward attitude the fact that the author is inti-mately acquainted with Fatima and with the previous writings about the subject, and it is hard not to accept his judgment on the appari-tions. Special attention should be drawn tothe introduction, which is the key to Ft. Martindale's treatment of the Fatima narrative. In a few pages, the author gives a brief but dear explanation of the Cath-olic Church's attitude towards private revelations. His analysis of the psychology of the "visionary" is particularly valuable. This in-troductory section alone would be enough to make the book worth reading, and the remainder of the book fulfills the promise of the troduction.--BERNARD COOKE, S.J. VOCATION TO LOVE. By Dorfhy Dohen. Pp. ;x-k 169. Sheed and Ward, New York, 19S0. $2.50. Aiming at high ideals, the lay apostle is often handicapped by all-too reaIistic obstacIes. Writing from a layman's viewpoint, Miss Doben gives the reader a deep insight into some practical ways of ~etaining spiritual idealism. Religious will find in Vocation to Lo~e a refreshing newness clothing old principles, and may blush at the evident bigb aspirations of "people in the world." After a comparatively long and somewhat disconnected intro-ductory chapter, the author develops ten unified chapters on pene-trating studies of important consequences of tooe. The reader ad-vances through increasingly more interesting and satisfying topics. Outstanding for their simplicity and depth are four chapters on 51 BOOK ANNOUCEMENTS Reoietu for Religious detachment, prayer, loneliness, and f~ustration. The clear and descr.iigtive style throughout is captivating. Religious and laity alike, who ambition great deeds for Christ, should profit from these fifteen-minute excursions into refreshingly modern answers to the old problems f.acing the zealous apostle in making reality approach the ideal.---ROBERT P. NEENAN, S.J. THE GRACES OF INTERIOR PRAYER (Les Graces D'Oralson): A Treatise on Mystical Theology. By A. Poulain, S.J. Translated from the sixth edition by Leonora L. Yorke Smith and corrected to accord with the tenth French edition with an introduction by J. V. Balnvel and an appendix on the discernment of spirits. Pp. cxli q- 665. B. Herder Book Co., St. Louis, Mo., 1950. $6.50. For the review of this book see Father Breunig's article, "Classic on Higher Prayer;" pp. 39-45. BOOK NOTICES Another tribute to. the present Age of Mary is F. J. Sheed's THE MARY BOOK which gives a biography-anthology of the best Marian. literature published by Sheed and Ward during the past quarter- ~ century. The reader will find a vast variety of subject matter plus diversity of presentation by great-name authors--Chesterton, House-lander, Claudel, Von Hildebrand, Martindale, Lund, to name only a few. Those eager to read more exhaustively on the subjects will find the sources of the selections listed in the back of the book. Besides the prose, beautiful poems on Mary, these not limited to the last twenty-five years, enrich the collection. Thirteen illustrations, four of them in color, of famous statues and paintings, contribute the final artistic touch to this little library on things Marian. (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1950. Pp. xii -f- 411. $4.00.) THE DESTINY OF MODE

Issue 10.4 of the Review for Religious, 1951. ; A. M. D.G. ~o Review for Religious JULY 15, 19 51 Our Aged Religious . Sister Mary Jafie Redemptorls÷ Spiri÷uali÷y. . Joseph I~t. Coller~n Recollectio"n Day Ouestions " ° Winfrld Herbsf Elections and Appointments . Joseph F. Gallen Grow÷h through the Eficharls÷ Anselm Lacomara ins÷ruction on Sponsa Christi , List of Psychometric Tests Communications Book Reviews VOLUME X NUMBER 4 Rfi::::VII::::W FOR Ri:::LIGIOUS VOLUME X JULY, 1951 NUMBER Jr CONTENTS SOME PROBLEMS OF OUR AGED RELIGIOUS-~Sister MaryJane, O.P1.69 COMMUNICATIONS ': 173 OUR CONTRIBUTORS . 174 VACATION SCHOOL IN SOCIAL ACTION .1.7.4 REDEMPTORIST. SPIRITUALITY--Joseph M. Colleran, C.SS.R. 175 QUESTIONS FOR MONTHLY RI~CO~LECTION-- Winfri~l.Herbst, S.D.S . 185 ELECTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS--Joseph F. Gallen, S.J. 187 GROWTH IN GRACE THROUGH THE EUCHARIST-- Anselm Lacomara, C. P .200 HERESY OF RACE 204 INSTRUCTION ON 8PONSA CHRISTI . 205 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS-- 19. Sister Digna's List of Psychometric Tests . 213 BOOK REVIEWS~ Religious Life and Spirit: Living the Mass; Jesus.Christ; The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius . 217 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS " 222 FOR YOUR INFORMATION-- Morality and Alcoholism; The Good Confessor; Seventy Years 224 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, July, 1951, Vol. X. No. 4. Published bi-monthly: January, March, May, July, September, and November at the College Press, 606 Harrison Street, Topeka, Kansas, by St. Mary's College, St. Marys, Kansas, with ecclesiastical approba~tion. Entered as second class matter January 15, 1942, at the Post Office, Topeka. Kansas, under the act: of March 3, 1879. Editorial Board: Adam C. Ellis, S.J., G. Augustine Ellard, S.J., Gerald Kelly, S.J. Editorial Secretary: Jerome Breunig, S. J. Copyright, 1951. by Adam C. Ellis, S.J. Permission is hereby granted for quota-tions of reasonable length, provided due credit be given this review and the author. Subscription price: 3 dollars a year; 50 cents a copy. Printed in U. S. A. Before writ;ncj to us, please consult notice on inside back cover. Some Problems ot: Our Aged Religious Sister Mary Jane, O.P. THE problems of old religious are the problems of each and every one, for none of us is getting any younger. The proverbial old-fashioned rocker on the farmhouse porch where Granny could drowse away her honored last years has vanished, but Granny has not and neither has the aged religious. Never before our generation was the old age problem Sb great because there never were so many old folks. "Statistics tell us that today men and women sixty-five and overc~prise seven per cent of our population. Science has graciously presented another twenty years or more. Religious as well as others must plan what they are going to do. Sixty-Fiue is Young One wonderful and bright fact is that there are numerous reli-gious, both men and women, over sixty-five who are still,:bearing a large share of the burden of the community's w6rk. Dodge and Ford proved that old folks can work; they maintained old-age shops whose able personnel included men in their eighties. Long before either of the above thought of this, religious communities were taking it for granted. Sixty-five in a religious community is usually con-sidered young. Rarely does one find a religious who even considers retiring at that age, or at any age for that matter. How often one finds religious teaching school or doing other types of work at the ripe age of seventy-five and eighty. The author knows a religious who still goes out collecting alms for the community at the age of ninety-two. ~ During the past two wars employers in general were del~ighted with the oldsters' low accident and absenteeism rates,, as well as with their strategy in attacking problems. They were proud o'f the pro-duction power of that proportion of their workers. We, too, have every right to be proud of our aged religious. In the United States most old people subsist on some form ot~ organized "handout.," A few may enjoy adequate pensions from private sources,'frorr/civil service retirement allowances, Veteran allot- 169 SISTER MARY JANE Review [or Religious o merits, or old age relief or insurance. For others, an unfinanced senescence is likely to ,be dreaded: Often, it means ending up in a pub-li~ or private "nursing home." Not so our religious brethren; there is not this-fear for a member of a community. A few religious com-munities have a home for their dear ones, some with a'long waiting list. Waiting, yes, waiting for one or more to be called home for the longed-Ior eternal reward, but. waiting, too, to "occupy the places made vacant. What about the ~ged religious who cannot be admitted to these havens for some reason or other? The Housing Problem Where should these aged religious live? No one would deny them the balmy ease of Orlando, if they could have it. The public institution is out of the question. Some communities have done much but others have mad~ slight provision for their aged members either ih the past or at present. '~In many cases existing conditions and facilities are pitifully inadequate. It is undeniable that unless some corrective measures are set in motion, this already serious prob-lem'will become more acute as the average life expectancy climbs higher. Perhaps many more of the aged religious should be living with their communities, but, where this is not feasible, they ought to have a'special home ~where they may be left alone, but where they can obtain help when they need it. We all agree, that individualization in the care of o~r aged religious is preferable to institutionalization. There is hardly an institutional home for the aged which does not mingle the sick with the near-sick. More often than not, the latter need nothing more than custodial care. It is true that the pressure of modern .urban living makes domestic adaptability between age groups difficult and in many cases well nigh impossible. The aged find it difficult to change their habits so late in life. Nevertheless, many religious can and do get along together, particularly where th~ old religious remember the Golden Rule and the younger ones bear in mind that Our Lord said, "What you have done to these, you have done to Me." Some Symptoms o[ Age Old age is a gradual progression toward deterioration. It often shows symptoms of growing self-interest and lack of impressibility. Important events are no 19nger significant to old people as long as they do not touch directly upon their lives. There is usually a gen- 170 Jul~,1951 OUR AGED RELIGIOUS eral reduction in mental effidency, forgetfulness, arid loss of memory for recent events. Other symptoms include the tendency to reminisce and to fabricate, intolerance of change--routine must be observed and must never be disturbed lest irritability and tension rise--a rest-less desire to be up and about, to travel here and there, "frequently getting lost in transit (whether in or out of the monastery or con-vent) ; insomnia, and a tendency to putter aimlessly about the house and gardens. The t.endency to live in the pasi is very strong in some. Others show a total lack o~ interest in everything about them. Some are unsympathetic and indifferent, and the mood may ,change frequently and even without ~any apparent cause. Some ma~. be cooperativd, orderly, and quiet, and give very little trduble, .While others are untidy, meddlesome, 'and rcstless; Very.'often aged people become resistive when they think they a~.e: being coerced by those who are younger. One may even hear such expressions as "That fresh young thing!" Some Solutions The psychology of persuasion may have t'o called iflt.6.play to meet behavior problems that arise. Various stages of senility can effect disposition changes that necessitate parti.cular ~tre.atnlent and care. A great need is companionship. At its best old age is°a lonely existence, to say the least, and must be brightened by cheerful com-panions and a staff with a sense of humor. Everyone, we are told, comes into this life with three strong fundamental drives or needs: (1) the need of security; (2) the need fcr affection; (3) the need to do things for others or to mean some-thing to others. Frustration of these ftlnda~nental needs, even among religious, causes tension which makes the individual uncomfortable. The persistence of this tendency may be the beginning of a. nervous condition. Disability and chronic illness in the ageing and aged religious are increasing. The burden upon the communities, is already very large. It clearly threatens to increase year by year, unless something effective is done now to better conditions. . Nou) is the Time What can be done now with our young and middle-aged to make them strong, able, and competent to contribute to the general welfare and happiness during their declining years instead of being a burden to their fellow religious and themselves. This is a matter of concern 171 SISTER MARY JANE Reoieu~ [or Religious to each and every one of us. The time has come to speak out. It is not enough for y, ounger members to feel the wave of sentimental pity that sometimes sweeps over them today. It is not enough to provide the physical comforts of shelter, food, and clothing for these aged religious. These dear ones must be understood now by their fellow religious. Now,. too, they must learn to understand them-' SelVeS, The author is not bitter, but sometimes has to count to ten or perhaps whisper an "Ave Maria" to hold back angry words provoked by thoughtless acts, looks, and sometimes even just the tone of voice directed at some aged ~eliglous. If only everyone remembered how little they like. to be singled out as special beings! The attittide.of others is often a great handicap. It may be the lack of belief, the misdirected ~sympathg, sometimes the lack of sympathy, or the failure to regiird the aged one as an individual. Abrasions and fractures may heal, but a broken spirit will not. Often the feeling of younger religious towards the aged of their community combines pity and confusion. The pity may express itself in remarks like: "Isn't that sad?': "Too bad, we ought to be thank-ful." "She's old enough to die." "She served her purpose." Is there perhaps "no room" for the old religious? Again, why do some always make the mistake of thinking that all aged religious are deaf? Needless to say, over-hearing such remarks will hardly boost their morale. If this is what we ageing religious must look forward to as our life-span is extended, we may find ourselves agreeing that there are worse things in life than dying young or dying suddenly. Belonging What the aged religious wants more than anything is to be treated like everyone else, to feel that he belongs to the community, that he is stil! wanted. Belonging is the big thing. The penalties of old age are aggravated with rustication, particularly when undesir-ability, is felt. The aged religious should not be ruled out of any social life in the community nor excluded from recreations. Even when they cannot do the things the younger generation does, they like to watch. It makes, them part of what is going on. An occa-sional movie or a short excursion is sometimes most welcome. Ap-propriate occupations and recreations should be provided. Some religious are more efficient at seventy than others at fifty. Old people --religious are no exception--should be kept as active as possible to I72 ' duly, 1951 COMMUNICATIONS' make rise of their skills and preserve their morale. When they are occupied, they are happy. Properly selected bccupational .therapy exercises arthritic hands and encourages the use of affected extremltle~, preventing complete invalidism. Most activities tend to. stimulate normal functions and to counteract the tendency to apathy, brooding, and introspection. Anything that will preserve the self respect and dignity of old age should be appropriated .for the rise of our elderly religious. They should not be permitted to lose their identity in an atmosphere of depressing gloom and finality. Sickness or dependence of any kind is often a. degrading enough experience in itself. Above all, we must not call attention to their infi~rfiities, if they have any, not even with affectionate attention. Sur.~ly, .it is their right and privilege to have their few remaining years happy and free from worry. The aged are here td stay for longer periods th~n ever. The living and working conditions, then, of our dear aged religious should be a considerate concern of every one. And besides, none of us is getting any younger. Communications Reverend Fathers : In the March issue of the REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, I read with consternation ,the letter of,Sister M. Catherine Eileen, S.H.M. Since one might be misled by Sister's optimism (justifiable in her particular case), I think a little more information on the fenestration operatiori is essential.' A.few of Sister's statements also should be clarified. Sister writes: "There is fenestration surgery now to cure the type of deafness known as otosclerosis." However, men who have dis-tinguished themselves in this work say that it is only an amelioration of this disease and a restoration of serviceable hearing in suitable cases and,the~results are not as yet individually predictable. There are some who would disagree with Sister when she sa'ys, "Any otologist can diagnose this most prevalent kind of deafness." They hold that there is no method upon which one can depend with absolute certainty for the diagnosis of otosclerosis and that surgery on one afflicted with pathology wbich simulates but is n6t otoscler-osis will not improve the hearing of the individual. 173 COMMUNICATIONS "Some'time to re~over" may mean a period of years accompanied by a discharging ear. Whether or not the operation is successful, the ear will require care for the remainder of the patient's life, i.e., peri-odic visits to the ear specialist. This perhaps is not too great a price if the hearing is improved but rather a steep one if no improvement has resulted. Sister's" c~se does seem successful and I don't wonder she is so enthusiastic. To those whose hopes might have been raised by Sis-ter's zeal, I should say seek the advice of one who has an enviable reputation in the field of ear surgery. May I quote'one such otol-ogist, "In a suitable case the decision between operation and a hearing aid is a question which should be decided by the individual." Anyone who is further interested may write to the American Hearing Society, Washington 7, D. C., and get a copy of Hearing NewS, March 1948, from which I have taken the information con-tained in this letter. The New York League for the Hard of Hearing did not have any later available data on the subject. --SISTER HELEN LOYOLA, C.S.J. ' OUR CONTRIBUTORS JOSEPH M. COLLERAN, the translator of St. Augustine's Greatness of Soul and The Teacher in the "Ancient Christian Writers" series, is a professor of philosophy at Mount St. Alphonsus Seminary, Esopus, New York. SISTER MARY JANE taught both elementary and high school' for twenty-five years before entering the fidld of nursing. She is now an affiliate at the Brooklyn State Hospital for the mentally ill. ANSELM LACOMARA, a missionary and writer, is from Our Mother of Sorrows Monastery, West Sprihgfield, Massachusetts. WINFRID HERBST, au-thor and retreat master, is on the faculty of the Salvatorian Seminary, St. Nazianz, Wisconsin. JOSEPH F. GALLEN is a professor of canon law at Woodstock Col-lege, Woodstock, Maryland. VACATION SC~HOOL IN SOCIAL ACTION St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, is offering a vacation school in social action for priests and seminarians from August 14-25. There will be lecture courses, combining exposition and opportunity for discussion, on the spiritual foundation of social action and on organizing the parish for social action. The director is the Reverend D. MacCormack. 174 Redemptorist: Spirit:ualit:y Joseph M. Colleran, C.SS.R. WHEN St. Alphonsus de Liguori, in 1732, gathered a groupof ¯ priests and brothers to form the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, he intended primarily to 6rganize a band of missionaries to evangelize the neglected country districts of his native Kingdom of Naples, and later, of other parts of the world, and everywhere to preach redemption and repentance to "the most abandoned souls." That its concentration upon this precise .field of apostolic activity constitutes the sole feature disting.uishing the con-" gregation from other religious institutes is the impression given, upon first reading, by the .explanatory constitutions which the saint added in 1764, and which, in this respect, remain the same today. "Every Religious Institute proposes to itself a two-fold end:the first is its own sanctification, the second the salvation of the people and the good of the Church. The former is general, the latter special, and it is by this that the various. Religious Orders differ from one. another . With regard to the second end, by which we ,are dis-tinguished from all other Orders and Religious InstitUtes within the Church, the Rule enjoins that . . . by preaching l~he Word'of God, we should labor to lead the people to a holy life~, especially those who, being scattered in villages and hamlets, are ,most deprived of spiritual help--and this is our specific end" (Constitutions 1 and 5). From the very beginning, howeverl Alphonsus himself practiced, and inculcated upon his spiritual family, a type'of spirituality that would best fit in with this apostolic purpose and would be a distinc-tive mark of his little congregation. This pattern of ascetical formation became more clear and systematic as time went on, and its principles were more exactly formularized as the saint undertook to publish for his followers and for the universal Church, his popular and practical treatises on ascetical and pastoral theology. St. Alphonsus realized deeply that fruitful apostolic activity and personal sanctity were inextricably connected. The sermon that is most effective is the one' that has been lived before it is preached. The asceticism that is most valuable to an apostle is the one that most readily overflows into works of zeal and charity. For that reason he insisted upon an exact proportion between the active labors of the 175 JOSEPH M. COLLERAN Revieud for Religious ministry and the retired contefnplation of.the monastery. He would have his priests be "Carthusians at home and apostles abroad." It was always his ideal that missionaries spend no more than six months of each year in the actual work of the missions, "lest the active life overbalance the contemplative, to their spiritual loss" (Const. 108). He:would have the Coadjutor Brothers, who are engaged in prayer and domestic work, as well as the Sisters of the co.mpanion institu'te, the "Redemptoristines,", not only consecrate themselves to self-sanctification, but also offer their labors and devo~ tions vicariously for the success of the missions. Thus, the saint's pastoral and ascetical directions are inseparable, and together they indicate the spirit of the institute that would continue his labors and copy his way of living with God. The Facets ot: Love Our Lord tells us that the great commandment, for the apostle to preach and for the religious to practice to perfection, is to Iove the Lord thq God u2ith thai whole heart (Mark 12:30),°and St. Paul likewise makes it plain that all Christians must above all things bare cbaritg, which is the bond of perfection (Col. 3:14). While some masters of the spiritual life propose the practice of the various spe-cific virtues as means toward the acquisition of love--so that morti-fication, for example, arises from penance and leads to love--others, like Saints Bernard, Bonaventure, Francis de Sales, propose love as the beginning, th~ seed out of which the other virtues grow. X~v'ithin this second, so-called "seraphic" school, Alphonsus must be num-bered. 1 Love, he recognized, includes and requires both hope and fear. Against Jansenism, whose rigoristic spirit, despite its condemnation, was still deterring sinners from approaching God with confidence and was influencing confessors to demand signs of perfect love before they would grant absolution and permit Communion, the Saint inveighed vigorously. For his more benign practices, he was accused of laxity.At the same time, be fell prey to charges of severity from writers who, holding on to relics of Quietism, were averse to strenu-ou~ ascetical activity, under the pretext of passive indifference. He insisted that his missionaries r~alistically set before the people, to incite them to conversion and fervor, the reality of hell. And out of :tCf. A. Desurmont, C.SS.R., Oeuores Completes, tome 1, L'Art d'Assurer Son Salut. Paris, Libraire de la Sainte Famille, 1906. Introduc~don, p. 23 f. See also C. Keusch, C.SS.R., Die Aszetik des hi. Alfons Maria v6n Liguori. Pader-born, Bonifacius-Druckerei, 1926. P. 236 f. 176 July, 1951 REDEMPTORIST SPI'RITU~ALITY his own missionary experiences,' he formed judgments that other saints and doctors would probably not have expressed so boldly for instance: "If God had not created be!l, wh6 in. the whole world would love Him? If, with hell existing as it really does, the greater part of men choose rather to be damned than to love Almighty God, who, I repeat, would love Him were there no hell? And therefore the Lord threatens those who will not love Him, with an eternal punishment, so that those who will not love Him out of love may at least love Him by force, being constrained to do so through fear of falling into hell.''-~ The keynote of all his exhortations is'salvation, the individual participation in the merits of Christ's Redemption, and salvation is to be. worked out with fear and trembling (Philipp. 2:12). This fear, or more exactly, this love that involves fear, has a function in every grade of the spiritual life. In sinners, Alphonsus aimed to awaken fear by warning them of the eventual limit to the sins that God would forgive, and the limit .to the graces that God would provide. He tirelessly reminds them of the imminence of death, the terrors of hell, the imperative need of conversion. He warns them solemnly" of the fearful dangers of the "occasions of sin." "In regard t9. those striving for perfection', he also has recourse to the motive of fear, although it is prin.c.i.i0Mly the filial fear of losing God and of losing the special graces that are attached to a higher vocation. He voices the warning that although vocation to the religious state is a free gift that does.not imply a strict obligation, yet because special graces are attached i!o this state, it 'is most difficult to attain salvation if one neglects his vocation. Because perseverance is a grace that can be lost by failure to pray, and by lack of correspondence with grace, there is still reason, even in the state of pe.rfeCtion, to fear. (In his own congregation, he added to the three customary vows, a vow and oath of perseverance.) In re~ard to religious, too, he strikds hard at "tepidity," which he identifies as the habit of deliberate venial sin, and which he considers a state to be avoided" with fear. If the saint seems at times encouraging and at times severe, it is only because he is presenting, one at a time and each in its own clarity, the facets of love: confidence and fear. It is, however, con-fidence that predo.minates: "If we have great reason to fear ever-lasting death on account of our offences against God, wfi have, on 2Ditzine Love, II, in The Way of,Salvation and of Perfection, part III. Brookl~n, Redemptorist Fathers, 1926. P. 311 f. 177 JOSEPH M. COLLERAN Review for Religious the other hand, far greater reason to hope for everlasting life through the merits of Jesus Christ, which are infinitely more able to bring tlon.ab°ut" ,,a°ur salvation, than our sins are to bring about our damna- The Practice o[ Love In complete harmony with the long tradition of saints and theo-logians, but with an insistence and clarity peculiarly hi~s own, Alphonsus points out that the measure and the practical test of love of God is conforroit~. , or better, uniformity, of one's will with the Will of God. "Conformity" ~.involves the acceptance of whatever God intend~ for us or permits to happen to us. "Uniformity" sig-nifies our blending our own will as it were, into the Divine Will, so that we .never desire but wh.'a~"[God desires, and there remains only the Will of God, which becomes our own. "The entire perfection of the love of God," the saint writes, "consists in making our own will one with His most holy will . The more united a person is with the Divine Will, the greater will be his love of God . This is the summit of the perfection to which we must be ever aspiring. This has to be the aim of all our work, all our desires, all our meditations and prayers.''4 For Redempto~rists especia.lly, as Alphonsus conceives their voca-tion, uniformity with the Will of God involves two essential require-me, nts. The first is negative: detachment from all created things. The second, more positive means, is imitation of Christ the Redeemer. Detachment While, of course, the conception of detachment is not new with Alphonsus, he gave it such emphasis and priority that he made it a distinctive characteristic of his ascetical doitrine. "Detachment" signifies the exclusion from the heart of everything that is inordinate and alien to perfection; it invplves the denial to self of anything material that does not serve sanctification; it implies the performance of unpleasant rather than of pleasant actions, and greater charity toward the ungrateful than toward the grateful, as signs and means of more ardent love of God; it even requires the sacrifice of certain 3Tbe Practice of the Love of Jesus Christ, Introd., III, in The Hol~t Eucharist. Brooklyn, Redemptorist Fathers, 1934. P. 285 f. 4Conformit£l with the Will of God, I, in The Way of Salvation and of Perfection, part-III, pp. 353, 358. 178 duly, 1951 REDEMPTORIST SPIRITUALITY virtuous actions when the higher demands of charity or obedience conflict with them.5 So important did he consider this purification of the heart as a preparation for advancement in perfection that in the little treatise, The True Redemptorist, which he wrote for his first members, he confines himself to this one point, and reduces the special requirements of any applicants to _a four-fold detachment: from the comforts of life, from relatives, from self-esteem, and from self-will. ¯ The practice of poverty he kept as strict and uncompromising as an active apostolate would allow; and the peculium and any other method of private control of material things, he excluded rigorously from the very beginning. The "common life" he. ev.e.r.,g.uarded jeal-ously, and he manifests his legal tr.aining in the deta~i'~'and precision of his enumerations of things allowed and forbiddeti." The things provided for common use, the amount of the portions at table, the size, number, and materials of various furnishings for the rooms be determined with exactitude and uniformity. Under the vow of poverty is incIuded the renunciation of a bishopric or any other ecclesiastical dignity or benefice outside, the congregation, unless the Holy Father commands its acceptance. Knowing from experience, sometimes from the bitter experience of defections from his infant institute, that the people of his time and land were often loath to permit their sons to make sacrifice of themselves in r~llgion, he was adamant about detachment from rela-tives. In answer to a request from a sick. subject who wanted to go home for the freshness of his native air, he replied that "home air is always pestilential to the religious spirit." When one who was ill offered to go to his relatives, to save expense to the community, he quickly answered that the congregation would sell ~ts books to take care of the sick. The strictness of the saint's rules and written'com-ments on detachment from seculars is balanced by his efforts to promote in his communities the hospitality and brotherliness of family life. Insistent as be is that individual desires be restricted to needs, he is even more insistent that .t.he community provide for every need to the extent that is possible. Self-esteem and independence of will he opposed as mortal dis-eases. Not only did be insist on individuals giving up all ambition for preferment and distinction, but he would have the'institute itself 5Detachment from Creatures in The Way of Salvation and of Perfection, part II, XLI; also Divine Love, ibid., pp. 317-19. 179 JOSEPH M. CoLLERAN Review for Religious humbly accounted the least of all in the Church. Although the work for which each must be ready is preaching, he deprecated'anyone's: putting himself forward to preach without waiting for designation by superiors. "He only has the spirit of the institute," he wrote, "who enters it with the desire of practicing obedience, and,of sub-mitting peacefully to be put away in some corner without having any employment, happy that the good is done by others, while he himself will only do that which is.directly imposed upon him by obedience, without having asked for it.''~ "Re-living the Redemption The imitation of Christ that he proposed to his members is not only the general one that is obligatory on all, but a concentration upon the formally redemptive phase of Christ's life, the motto of his congregation being Gopiosa Apud Eum Redemptio. This emphasis affects both the active apostol~te and the ascetical development of Redemptorists. " They are to be employed only in those tasks that have to do directly with the salvation of souls, and indeed, so far.as is ordi-narily possible, only in those that Christ and His ApoStles per-formed. Hence the principal field of labor is the conducting of mis-sions, in ~vhich the essential and fundamental truths are preached, with a view to converting souls from sin to the state of grace, from inconstancy to perseverance in virtue, and from ordinary fidelity to Christian perfection. Occupations that are not in harmony with the work of redemption ifi the strictest sense, such as t~aching secular subjects in schools, parochial work, the conducting of orphanages, and the like, were deliberately excluded by Alphonsus, and have tra-ditionally been accepted only rarely and temporarily, as need arose and higher authority commanded. The apostolate of red.emption extends to all classes of people, but preference is strictly to be given to the poor,,, to those who have been abandoned by others, and to those found far from those centers of population where the means of salvation are more readily within reach. The style of preaching set by the saint is affective, rather than argumentative; simple, rather than ornate; apostolic, rather than academic. It was his aim to set OThe True Rederoptorist. This short work, with slight alterations to .adapt it to all religious, and with preliminary chapters on detecting and preserving vocations, was also published by Alphonsus under the title Counsels Concerning a Religious Vocation. This treatise is available in English, in the volume The Great Means of Salvation and of Perfection. Broot').yn. Redemptorist Fathers, 1927. Pp. 381- 417. , The sentence which is here quoted from the Manua[e Presbyterorum C.SS.I~. does not appear in the reprint. 180 Jul~,1951 REDEMPToRIsT SPIRITUALITY up in the garden of the Church, not an exalted fountain that would impressively spray its streams on high, but a rivulet that would seep into the ground to nurture and fructify the lowly and the towering growths alike. Since He who saves is He who sanctifies, the Redeemer is the model of asceticism too. "The end of the Institute of the Most Holy Redeemer is no other than to unite priests to live together, and ear-nestly strive to imitate the virtues and example of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, devoting themselves kpecially to the preaching of the word of God to the poor" (Text of Ruie, Introduction). The Passion is proposed as the customary subject of all evening meditations, and the central act of R~edemption is the.core of all Redemptorist devo-tion. It is likewise the pattern of their personal efforts at self-sacrifice: "the members of our Institute, after the example of the R~deemer, ought to spend their lives in thb endurance of sufferings, and should have a great hatred of a comfortable and luxurious life." (Const. 489). True it is that Alphonsus taught in his writings and inculcated in his religious various devotions in honor of Christ; he was, for example, one of the most ardent proponents of devotion to the Sacred Heart, which, in his time, was "opposed by some writers'and often avoided in practice. But crib and cross and altar are the principal themes of his devotional exhortations, the cross being central, the crib its forerunner, and the altar its keepsake. To devotion toward the Blessed Sacrament he made a tremendous ¯ contribution by his Visits to the Blessed Sacrament, originally in-tended for his own novices but in time spread throughout the world with a popularity that P~re Pourrat compares to that of the Imita-tion of Christ.7 Adoration, thanksgiving, and reparation are the sentiments he would awaken in his followers in regard to the con-tinual presence of the R~deemer among us. He could conceive of no devotion to the Redeemer that did not include devotion to Christ's Persoflal Relic of the redemption. It is true of Alphonsian asceticism, as it is true of practically every modern school, that it is not so liturgically centered as that of St. Benedict. Nevertheless, Alphonsus quite definitely recognized the primacy among devotions that belongs to the Mass. For the laity he wrote The Sacrifice of desus Christ, expounding the doctrine of sacrifice and the meaning of the prayers; for priests he published "a 7Cf. P. Pourrat, La Spiritualit~ Chr~tienne, tora~ 4. Paris, Gabalda, 1947. P. 456. 181 JOSEPH M. COLLERAN Reoiew [or Religious book on The Ceremonies of the Mass, and another, a devotional one, on Preparation and Thanksgiving. The devout and affectionate prayers he composed have as their purpose the extension throughout the. day of the spiritual benefits of the Holy Sacrifice. He also recog-nized the importance of the official prayer of the Church, requiring the Divine Office to be recited in the various communities when the 'missionaries are not engaged in apostolic works. The Mother's Place St. Alphonsus was one of the principal expositors and defenders, in the dogmatic field, of the doctrine of the universal mediation of Mary. As a corollary of this teaching that all graces come through her hands, he taught that some devotion to her is morally necessary for salvation. In asceticism, also, he proclaimed that imitation of the Divine Redeemer involves, a wholehearted and practical devotion to His Mother. In both their personal lives and in their apostolic works, be would have Redemptorists Mary-minded. Preachers are urged to make mention of the intercession of the Blessed Mother in every discourse; every series of sermons or instructions is to include at least one talk devoted to her. From the time of Alphonsus until the definition of the dogma, Redemptorists were required to take an oath that they would defend and teach the truth of the Immaculate Conception; and under this title Mary is the principal patron of the congregation. The saint insists emphatically that Mary is the keeper of vocations; in his congregation the perseverance of every member is committed to the care of the Virgin most faithful. The Practice oF Virtues To facilitate and intensify the practice of virtues, Alphonsus pro-poses the method of concentrating explicitly on one at a time. His original rule was arranged in twelve parts, each of which set forth one virtue. Each "rule" wasit'self rather a short exposition of the relation of the virtue of the R~deemer and an application, rather ex-hortatory and devotional than diregtive and legalistic, to the life of a religious. Each rule is followed.by a "constitution" that gives more detailed and specific directions. In 1749, the Rules and Constitutions were put into a more formal a~d legal structure, but one constitution still directs the special practice of a single virtue each month. In the order of the months of the year these virtues are proposed: faith, l~ope, love of God, charity toward one another, poverty, chastity, obedience, humility, mortification, recollection, prayer, and self- 182 dul~ , 1951 REDEMPTORIST SPIRITUALITY denial with love of the Cross. These virtues, in turn, are to consti-tute the subject-matter of meditations, of particular examens, and of exhortations by superiors during the respective months. Such a division gives ease, simplicity; order, and solidity to the acquisition of virtue, and with all the members of the institute making an effort to concentrate upon one virtue at the same time, each individual is to find in the common activity a strong external support and example. Furthermore, since the different virtues are always considered as phases of the life of the Redeemer and as means of being united with Him, such repeated concentration upon each one serves to impress the mind with the richness of the Divine Model, and to strengthen the will to accept Christ's life as one's own. The Primacy/of Pra{/er The genius for simplicity and practicality that Alpbonsus .pos-sessed shines out pre-eminently in his teachings on prayer. The singular importance he attaches to prayer, he indicates succinctly in the title of one of his most famous works: The Great Means of Sal-vation and of Perfection. Well knovcn is the practical conclusion with which he cut through the learned and endless theological con-troversies on the efficacy of 'grace and predestination: "He .who prays is certainly saved. He who does not pray is certainly lost . Pray, pray, never cease to pray. For if you pray, your salvation will be secure; but if you stop praying, your damnation will be certain.''s No less does he insist that perfection depends upon prayer. He would have religious life a life of prayer, flowering into a continual "con-versation with God," where God speaks to the soul through His vis-ible creations and the impulses of His graces, and the soul responds with acts of love and gratitude. Prayer, for Alphonsus, is nothing less than the breath of super-natural life. Only by praying do we receive efficacious grace to per-form meritorious acts; only by pr~ying do we obtain the help to overcome temptations; only by praying do we acquire the light to know God's Will for us and thestrength to fulfill our vocations; only by praying do we acquire the grace of perseverance; only by praying, indeed, do we acquire the g~ft of praying sufficiently, and of being constant in making our requests. Mental prayer he considers morally necessary as a means to incite the prayer of petition, without which God does not grant the divine 8The Great Means of Salvation and of Perfection. Brooklyn, Redemptorist Fathers, 1927. Part I, ch. 1, p. 49 and Part II, ch. 4, p. 240. 183 ,JOSEPH M. COLLERAN helps, the lack of which, in turn, frustrates all attempts to observe either commandments or counsels. For mental prayer manifests one's spiritual n'eeds, the dangers to his progress, and the measures of improvement to be adopted; and all these stimulate him to prayers of petition. So far as the "meditation" itself is concerned, he reviews and recommends the usual methods that had been developed and proposed by the saints, especially by Theresa and Ignatius. His special and distinctive concern, however, is not with the method of meditation, but with the "affections, petitions, and resolutions" which are to follow upon the considerations as the thread follows the needle, for these constitute the real fabric of mental prayer. In the affections, he would have repeated acts of love, humility, gratitude, confidence, and contrition. Petition should be concerned, above all, with for-giveness of past sins, increase of love, and perseverance until death. Resolutions should be practical, specific, and usually limited to the near future. Petition is the most important of all, and this is the meaning of the saint's striking statement: "To pray is better than to meditate"--that is, petition is of much more .value thanconsidera-tion of trflth. This stress upon acts of the will-rather than on acts of the intel-lect, this priority of affections over considerations, the saint himself illustrates in all his writings and, most notably perhaps, in his familiar Visits to the Blessed Sacrament, where there is frequent and easy transition from description and exposition to fervent iorayer. This procedure facilitates progress from the more common discursive type of mental prayer to habitual recollection and the prayer of simple regard, which prepare the soul for infused contemplation. The school of perfection of~ which Alphonsus is master is thus a simple and practical trainings~ool in uniformity with the Will of (Sod, by imitation of the Redeemer on the cross and closeness to the Redeemer in the tabernacle, by0~etachment from creatures, by prayer of petition, and by tender deybtion to the Virgin Co-Redeemer. There is no favor the saint would ask for his institute but the privi-lege of continuing the effects of Calvary's Cross; for he prayed: "Per-fect Thy work, 0 Lord, and fo~ Tby glory make us all Thine own; so that all the members of this Congregation, even to the day of judgment, may continue to please Thee perfectly, and to gain for Thee a countless number of souls." 184 -Quest:ions t or Mon :hly Recoiled:ion Winfrid Herbst, S.D.S. yOU asked for it. You requested a series of questions for your monthly recollection~uestions that will elicit good resolves urging on to greater perfection in religious observance. And I am glad you realize there is no nobler ideal to strive for than perfect religious observance according to your constitutions. "Make an accounting of thy stewardship" (Luke 16:2). Do this in medita-tive self-examination. Take the following series, not exhaustive by ,any means, but sufficient for your purpose. Place yourself in the presence of Almighty God, before whom, at what hour you know not, you will appear for judgment, and in the presence of your guardian angel. Recall to mind the many graces and benefits bestowed upon you, an unworthy sinner, from the first mo-ment of your existence, and also during the past month. Then humbly consider the following points. 1. What is my service of God like? Do I render tribut~e of Mass and my Office devoutly, in a holy manner, in God:s presence, and without haste? Do I act on the principle that thoughtless haste kills all real devotion? 2. Do I do what is to be done before, at the beginning of, and after my daily meditation? 3. Am I able to look death in the eye without fear? How ashamed would I be to meet Jesus my Judge,now? What am I doing to make myself less ashamed, by living in continual recollec-tion and fraternal charity? 4. Do I try to increase in. personal[ love for Jesus by thinking often of His love for me? Can I, too, exclaim: ".In whatsoever, place Thou shalt be, my Lord and King, either in death or. in life, there ~ill Thy servant be"? (2 Kings 15:21.) o. 5. Whose room is the better, Jesus's (Bethlehem's cave) or mine? What can I do to make mine 19.ok more like His in poverty? 6. Do I recall that Jesus's hidden life says to me, "Family (com-munity) life means charity"? 'Am I trying hard to make others and myself happy in community life by adhering zealously to my prac-tice of increasing acts of charity and considerateness? 185 x,VINFRID HERBST 7. Am I giving to God what He so insistently asks of me: uni-versal, beautiful, fraternal charity and gentle helpfulness, especially in community life? Am I giving it all geneiously, despite the fact that. it is hard? 8. And am I giving Him this other thing for which He asks with similar insistence and which is equally hard: numerous ejacu-lations every day combined with the greatest possible recollection? 9. Have I the habitual disposition rather to suffer anything than commit a deliberate venial sin? Do I occasionally aspire to the third degree of humility, desiring to do and actually doing some hard things just because I want to be more like Jesus and out of love for Him, forgetting the reward? 10. Do I look upon all the rules, even the smallest, as the express will of God in my regard and observe them accordingly, realizing that I can save souls in this manner without even leaving the cloister walls? 11. Do I, for love of Jesus crucified, practice little acts of morti-fication daily, in folding the hands, in kneeling, and in a score of other simple ways? Do I restrain myself at table when I would eat too eagerly? 12. Do I recall that the body of Jesus was placed into a tomb "wherein no man had yet been laid," and do I place His living body into a heart that is new every morning in its purity and fervor, into a heart that is prepared for Him? 13. Do I strive to maintain within myself that spirit of joy and holy gladness without which there can be no real progress in the spiritual life? Do I show it exteriorly, as I ought to? 14. Do I value my vocation as my pearl of great price? 15. Do I try to love God because He is the Supreme Good, of whom the goodness of all creatures is but a faint reflection? It seems to me that it is because of such striving after perfection there are so many beautiful souls in this world. These souls make one resolve not to be outdone in goodness even while they almost fill one with despair of keeping pace with them. PLEASE NOTE CAREFULLY The subscription price of REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS is now: $3.00 per year for Domestic and Canadian subscriptions; $3.35 per year for all foreign subscrip-tions. For further details please see inside back cover. 186 I:lections and Appointments Joseph F. Gallen, S.J. ELECTIONS a.nd appointments to office are not a daily occur- .fence in the religious life but they are of supreme and lasting importance. The observations that follow concern congrega-tions of Sisters and Brothers. The law of the Code of Canon Law and the practice of the Holy See in approving constitutions are almost the same for Brothers as for Sisters., These observations are not a complete canonical commentary but are limited to the more impor- ¯ .rant and, perhaps, more human elements of elections and appoint-ments. It is evident that each institute must follow it~ own consti-tutions, but some of the suggestions given below can be pondered by all congregations. They may not be contained in the constitutions, but they ycill not be contrary to the constitutions. I. The Elective Sgstern Religious chapters in virtue of canon 507, § 1 are obliged to observe the canonical norms for elections prescribed in canons 160- 182. The Code does not determine what religious in an institute are to be the members of a general or provincial chapter, and here we encounter the first difficulty in elections. Several diocesan congrega-tions of Sisters and a few pontifical institutes that retain the govern-mental structure of an independent monastery' of nuns have what is commonly called the direct vote. In other words every Sister of perpetual vows is a member of the elective chapters. The difticulty arises in this matter when the diocesan congregation wishes'to be-come pontifical or when the pontifical institute described above de-cides finally to conform its constitutions, to its actual life by a general revision. The direct vote must be g.iven.up. The Holy See demands the system of delegates for botl4?'the general and the provincial chapters. First of all, this difficulty is q.r should be practical for several congregations in the United States. The new quinquennial report for diocesan congregations is pellucid on the point that it is the will of the Holy See that very many of the diocesan congregations in the United States should become pontifical. The pontifical congregations alluded to above should institute a general revision of their constitu-tions. It does not seem reasonable to maintain that constitutions 187 JOSEPH F. GALLEN Review for Religious devised for the relatively small community of one house of enclosed nuns are suitable for a congregation of several hundred Sisters, scat-tered in various houses and cities, and laboring in the active life. A protest against giving up the direct vote is really futile and unreasonable. If the Holy See has now for more than half a century constantly demanded the system of delegates, what is the utility of wishing to retain the direct vote? The Holy See corrects the pro-posed constitutions and will insert the system of delegates if it is riot in the constitutions. Is it likely that a protes} against such a pro-longed and.constant practice of the Holy See is reasonable? The Holy See, in 1901, published a plan of constitutions, called the Norrnae, on which the constitutions of lay congregations that wished to be approved by the Holy See had to be based. These Normae are still in effect in so far as they have not been modified by the Code of Canon Law or the later practice of the Holy See. The Norrnae demanded the system of delegates and prescribed that the general chapter was to be composed, of the general officials, of all the superiors of houses of at least twelve religious and one delegate elec.ted by each of these houses, and finally of one superior and one non-superior delegate elected by smaller houses, which were to be united into elective groups of at least twelve religious. The constitutions could also make former superiors general members of the chapter. If the institute was divided into provinces, the provincials and two elected delegates from each province supplanted the superiors and delegates from the houses. The provincial chapter was to be composed of the provincial officials and the superiors and delegates from the houses as described above for the general chapter. Further-more, we have published corrections of constitutions which show that the Holy See was demanding the system of delegates at least as far back as 1887.1 Diocesan congregations also .should have the system of delegates. It is an admitted principle that diocesan constitutions should con-form to those of pontifical congregations except in matters that are proper to the latter institutes. The system of delegates is in no sense proper to pontifical congregations. The mind of the Holy See on this point is sufficiently indicated by the plan of constitutions pub-lished in 1940 by the Sacred Congregation of the Propagation of 1Analecta'Ecclesiastica IV (1896), 158, n. 12; VI (1898), 57, n. 1; Battandier, Guide Canonique, 4th edit., 1908, n. 300; Bastien, Directoire Canonique, 1st edit., 1904, n. 431. 188 Jut~, 1951 ELECTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS the Faith for diocesan missionary congregations. This plan pre-scribes the system of deleggtes. Reason itself manifests the necessity of the system of delegates. Some of the institutes that have the direct vote can have a chapter of four hundred religious and even more. This is obviously an inefficient number. The vote for the superior general can go to four ballots. Imagine the labor, difficulty, and weariness merely of counting six-teen hundred votes! Each vote must then be opened, examined, and recorded. Then follow six other elections, each capable of going to three ballots. How can a chapter of affairs be efficiently and expedi-tiously conducted when the assembly numbers several hundred? A pontifical congregation of twelve hundred religious divided into four provinces will have a general chapter, exclusive of former superiors general, of nineteen members. As opposed to this practice of the Holy See, a congregation of three hundred religious with the direct vote will have an elective chapter of approximately two hundred 'religious. The opposition of the direct vote to the practice of the Holy See, to reason, and efficiency is so evident that further argumen-tation would only torture the obvious. The principle of the system of delegates is not proportioiaal representation. A province of a thousand will have the same number of delegates as a province of four hundred. Proportional representa-tion is not necessary, since the purpose of a chapter is the good of the congregation as a whole. The capitulars should divest themselves of the narrowness of merely local interests, prejudices, and ambitions and consider only the interests of the entire congregation or prov-ince. It is of no import that the United States, or the East, or the West should get its turn at the office of superior general. Not only the one important principle but the one principle of the election is that the congregation should get the best possible superior general. A greater appreciation of and fidelity.".to this principle would not only effect better elections but would also' assure a more peaceful sequel to some elections. : The system of delegates brings to a chapter a sufficient and effi-cient number of capitulars, who are from all parts of the congrega- ¯ tion and can thus give the information necessary for a knowledge of the congregation as a whole. However, no elective system is an ade-quate substitute for the study, prayer, and purity of intention re-quired for a proper vote. Capitulars can rush into this most impor-tant matter unprepared, grasp at the first prominent name or most 189 " JOSEPH F, GALLEN Review for Religious striking personality, and give a vote that may be firm but not thoughtful. They should previously have studied all religious known to them who are possibly qualified for the consult one another on those qualified, but they are forbidden to electioneer. Prayer is never useless, but in preparation for an election it is especially necessary. Vital prayer brings a peaceful sleep to pre-judice and passion, and t~hese are the natural enemies of a proper election. The illumination and strength of prayer are required to vote for the one God wants rather than the one I like, to vote 'according to the will of God rather than according to the choice of any group. Prayer will bring purity of intention by which the vote will be given to the one most competent and will exclude self-interest, sectionalism, and nationalism. II. Elect Only When Necessary 1. General Officials. The designation of superiors and officials is a matter of internal government and thus appertains to the institute itself. The superio~ general must be elected by the general chapter, since this chapter is the only superior higher than himself in the insti-tute. The general councillors are also elected by the general chapter. This is the reasonable method of designation rather than appoint-ment by the superior general. No superior should choose his own councillors, since ther~ is danger that he would select only those of the same mind as himself or those who would be pliable to his own will. This would be opposed to the canonical concept of canon 105, 3°, which commands a councillor to give his opinion not only respectfully but also truthfully and sincerely. The purpose of a council is to preclude a government that would otherwise be purely individual. At least occasional dissent and opposition of councillors is inherent in the obligation of superiors of seeking the advice and consent of their council. In almost all congregations of Sisters and Brothers the general. chapter also elects the secretary general and the bursar general, but the Sacred Congregation of Religious in approving constitutions also permits that these two general "officials be appointed by the superior general with consent of his council. In my judgment this is the preferable method. The secretary and bursar as such have no part in government. The secretary is merely what his name implies, a secretary and an archivist. The bursar is a treasurer and a bookkeeper. No attribute of these offices demands an election by the general chap-ter. I think we can go further and maintain the following principle 190 ELECTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS as practical: an elective chapter is a sufficiently compet.ent judge of the broad human qualities required for government but is not a good judge of specialized abilities. Chapters have elected secretaries who ~ould not type and bursars who knew nothing of keeping books. What has been said of the secretary and bursar is much more true of the director of schools, or studies, the inspector general of hospitals, and, above all, of the novice master who are elected by the general chapter in a few congregations. The procurator general in congregations of Brothers is also an official of specialized abilities. 2. Provincial Ogicials. The Code of Canon Law does not de-termine the method of designation of the provincial superior, the provincial councillors, or the provincial secretary and bursar. In theory at least the constitutions may determine whether the designa-tion of these officials is to be by appointment of the superior general with the con~sent of his council or by election in a provincial chapter. However, many things that are left undetermined in the Code are determined by the practice of the Sacred Congregation of Religious in approving constitutions, although that is not completely, true in the present instance. Nevertheless, it is most worthy of note that the Normae described above mention only the appointment of provincial officials by the superior general. It is also significant that the two outstanding authors on the practice of the Sacred Cdngregation for the constitutions of lay congregations, Bastien2 and Battandier,"~ do not even mention the designation of provincial officials by election. Looking through thirty sets of constitutions of pontifical congrega-tions of Sisters and Brothers, I find that twenty-six appoint and only four elect the provincial officials in a provincial chapter. It thus ¯ appears more than evident that appointment is by far the preponder-ating method of designation in the practice of the Holy See. Reason itself commends the method of appointment. If the term of office of the provincial is three years, a provincial chapter is neces-sary every three years. Experience seems to prove that the election year is also a distracted year. This argument is not so fdrc~ful when the term of the elected provincial isosix years, as is sometimes pre-scribed in constitutions. The usual norm also is that the superi6r general or his delegate presides at a provincial chapter in which pro-vincial officials are elected. The territorial extent of congregation~ divided into provinces is usually very extensive. If the superior gen- 9Directoire Canonique, nn. 239, 3; 381; 387-389. 8Guide Canonique, n. 505. 191 JOSEPH F. GALLEN Review for Religious eral believes that he should personally preside at these chapters, he is faced with a burden of travel that can interfere with the duties of general government. It is to be remembered that he is already obliged to make a canonical visitation of his entire institute at least once during his term of office. It is also the ordinary norm of constitu-tions that the superior general with the consent of his council must confirm the election of the provincial officials. These cannot validt~t enter on their offices before they are confirmed. For example, if a religious who is elected provincial superior places any act as provin-cial before being confirmed, that act is null and void (canon 176, § 3). Furthermore, the superior general should, at least outside of an urgent case, assemble his council to secure their vote (canon 105, 2°). The members of a council, at least ordinarily, are to give their opinion in an assembly of the council and not by individual and separate replies to the superior. It is certainly somewhat contradic-tory, as also inconvenient and difficult, that the superior general should ordinarily preside over a provincial chapter and yet ordinarily be present with his council to confirm the election. 3. Is a prooincial chapter necessar~l? A provincial chapter always elects the delegates to the general chapter. It is almost universally true that these delegates are two in number. In some institutes the provincial chapter also decides on the, proposals that are to be sub-mitted to the chapter of affairs in the general chapter, and in a few congregations the provincial chapter may make financial and dis-ciplinary enactments for the province, which, however, are not effective until they are confirmed by the general council. A provincial chapter brings together superiors and delegates from the entire prov-ince. It thus entails the suspension of other works by the members for the duration of the chapter and also the expenditure of a sufficient amount of money for travel. The latter consideration is of no small moment in congregations of ~is~ers and Brothers. It is a safe pre-sumption that such institutes are so poor that economy becomes a basic principle of conduct. It must be admitted that in the practice of the Holy See the pro-vincial chapter is almost the universal means of electing the delegates to the general chapter. However, th~ Holy See has also approved the following method. Those of active voice assemble in each house under the presidency of their local superior. Each vocal writes on the one ballot the names of the two Sisters that she elects as delegates to the general chapter. The local superior encloses these in an 192 dulq, 1951 ELECTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS envelope with her own vote, seals the en,~elope in the presence of the vocals, and immediately forwards it to the provincial superior or superior general. A meeting of the provincial or general council is held after all the envelopes have been received, and at this meeting the votes are counted, examined, and recorded. The two religious with the highest number of votes are the delegates, the next two are the substitutes. It is difficult to see why this simple method is not preferable when the only business of a provincial chapter is to elect the delegates to the general chapter. The two other matters within the competence of the provincial chapter of some congregations can be taken care of in other ways. The disciplinary and financial enactments, which must be confirmed by the general council, can be procured by the exercise of the right of representation to higher superiors, especially at the time of the provincial and general visita-tion. Nothing also forbids an individual religious from suggesting to the provincial superior or either of the two delegates the matters that he believes should be proposed to; the general chapter. 4. Local o~cials. The election of local superiors, councillors, and bursars is blessedly unknown in congregations of Sisters and Brothers. A universal statement is dangerous in such a matter and does not exclude isolated exceptions. III. Reelections and Reappointments 1. Mother General. The legislation of the Code on the duration of office ot: higher superiors is found in canon 505 : "The higher supe-riors shall be temporary, unless the constitutions determine other-wise." Higher superiors in institutes of women are the mother gen-eral, mother provincial, and the superiors of independent monasteries. The Code does not abrogate a prescription of the constitutions in existence before the Codd which ordains~hat the office of the mother general is to be for life. One or two congregations of Sisters have perpetual mothers general. Outside of the preceding case the Code commands that the office of mother general be temporary, but it does not determine the duration of the temlSorary term nor does it forbid the continued and immediate reeiection o'f the same mother general. These principles of the Code a~e very severely limited both by the directives and the practice of the Sacred Congregation of Religious in approving constitutions. It is undeniable that the Sacred Congre-gation is opposed to the continued immediate reelection of the same mother general. The almost universa'l modern practice of the Holy See is to give the mother general a term of six years but to permit an 193 JOSEPH F~ GALLEN immediate reelection only for a second term. A few pontifical con-gregations prescribF a term of twelve years but do not permit imme-diate reelection. The Sacred Congregation manifested in a letter of March 9, 1920, that it is opposed to a reelection of a mother general c~ntrary to such limitations prescribed in constitutions of pontifical congregations and that it is also averse to granting a dispensation. All congregations of Brothers and diocesan congregations of Sisters whose constitutions prescribe the same term of office and contain the same limitations should follow this letter as a directive norm, since it manifests the mind of the Holy See. Some diocesan congregations assign a term of only three years to the mother general. This does not seem to be an efficient norm, at least in large congregations. It takes a mother general a year or more to acqu.ire full mastery of her extensive and detailed office. tions and the distractions of tion. A mother general who gibility. Some constitutions two six-year terms only when The three-year term also makes elec-elections too frequent in a congrega-has been out of office recovers her eli-ordain that she is again eligible after she has been out of office for six years. The matter of the reelection of the mother general has been taken care .of by the Holy See, and the mind of the Holy See at present is that the mother general should have a term of six years but she may be reelected immediately only for a second term. 2. The General Councillors. Ordinarily a congregation of Sis-ters has four general councillors. The first councillor elected is the mother assistant and vicar general. There is nothing in the Code of Canon Law concerning the duration of office or the repeated reelec-tion of the same general councillors. In the practice of the Holy See ¯ their term of office is the same as that of the mother general, but in this same practice it is almost universal that they may be reelected indefinitely. One consequence of this inde.finite elegibility is that in some in-stances and for a long period of time the mother general and the mother assistant have merely rotated in these two offices. Undoubt-edly the reason for this in many cases is that the two were the most competent religious in the congregation for these offices. It is diffi-cult to adcept this as a universal explanation of the fact. Rather fre-quently the impression can be gained that the capitulars did not carefully and thoroughly[ study the possible qualifications of other members of the congregation, and thus chose the effortless path of voting for those whose names were extrinsically prominent. To aid 194 ELECTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS such a study by the capitulars many constitutions prescribe that a list of all religious eligible as general officials is to be posted in a place accessible to the capitulars. This is done in many very large con-gregations. The two in question can be the most competent religious for the office, but we do not have to fall back on conjecture or imagina-tion to see a very talented, competent, and energetic mother general who would-not fit comfortably into the subordinate position of mother assistant. We can readily find a somewhat subdued person-ality who would be a success as mother assistant but who would not necessarily possess the vigor and firmness of will that all supe-riors general must at times exercise. A prolonged period of general government by the same two religious can also deprive a congrega-tion of the quickening influence of new ideas, a new approach, and a new enthusiasm that it may need. The difficulty in this matter could be solved by a more thoughtful, prayerful, and, perhaps, dis-interested choice by the capitulars of the religious most competent for the office. A law to preclude the rotation should be resorted to only if necessary, as can happen in a congregation in which the rota-tion has become ingrained to the detriment of the institute~ Some pontifical and diocesan congregations have enacted laws in this matter by directly forbidding that a retiring mother general be immediately elected mother assistant, and one congregation forbids even postula-tion in this case. The election of a retiring mother genera! as one of the other three general councillors can also create a problem. It is not difficult to imagine that the presence of her predecessor on the council would prevent a mother general from initiating or proposing to her council. a course of action at variance with that of her predecessor. Thus one congregation forbids a mother general to be elected general councillor before a lapse of six years. The continued immediate relection of the same four general councillors is justifiable and commendable when they are the reli-gious most highly qualified for these offices. However, the. repetition here also can be due rather to thoughtlessness than to a studied and prayerful choice. The study of tbe qualification~ for any elective office should go deeper than mere externals. General competence and not mere personality is the rational basis of selection. _An attractive personality is not always.the sign of a competent person. A careful study will also exclude a choice based on first impressions. The price 195 JOSEPH F. GALLEN Re~iew /:or Religious we pay for actions based 6n first impressions is usually delayed, but it is often exorbitant. It is a fact of experience that many people never free their judgment of the influence of externals and first im-pressions. Several congregations bare believed it necessary to place limitations on the repeated immediate reelection of the same four general councillors and thus include the mother assistant. These limitations take various forms: a)an immediate reelection for a second term only: b) reelection for a third term only after the lapse of six years out of office: c) at least at every ordinary general chap-ter two new councillors must be elected; d) a second immediate term only if they receive two-thirds of the votes, but not for a third term before the lapse of six years out of offce. These limitations are practically always applied also to the secretary and bursar general. Since these two officials as such have no part in governme~nt, it is most difficult to see any reason for limiting their tenure of office. 3. The Mother Prooincial. The law of the Code on the dura-tion of the offce of the mother provincial is the-same as that given above for the mother general. As far as is commonly known there are no perpetual provincials. The ordinary practice of the Holy See assigns a three-year term to the provincial and permits reappoint-ment or reelection for an immediate second and, in some instances, even for an immediate third term in the same province. Thus the Holy See has settled any question concerning the repeated reappoint-merit or reelection of the mother provincial. 4. The Provincial Councillors. The provincial councillors are ordinarily either two or four. The Code of Canon Law does not legislate on the term of office of the provincial councillors, and the practice of the Holy See permits their indefinite reappointment or re-election. However, we have here also the possibility of the same diffculties in the mere interchange of the offices of provincial and assistant provincial, in the presence of the former provincial on the provincial council, and in the protracted tenure of office by the same councillors. 5. Local Superiors. Canon. 505 legislates on the duration of office of minor local superiors. The adjective, "minor," is Used to distinguish local superiors from the superiors of independent monas-teries, who are higher superiors according to the Code, for example, the superior of a Visitandine monastery. The Code forbids a minor local superior to be designated for a term of more than three years. At the expiration of this time she may be designated, if the consti- 196 July, 1951 ELECTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS tutions permit, for a second, but not for an immedifite third term in the same house. In brief, the Code permits a local superior only two successive three-year terms in the same house. No furthe~ limitations are added in the general practice of the Holy.See in approving con-stinttions. If the Sister is local superior and also holds an office such as presi-dent of a college or supervisor of a hospital, she must be taken out of the post of local superior at the end of the second term. The six-year tenure can certainly create a difficulty in such a situation. The Code applies the law of canon 505 equally to active and contem-plative institutes. It is therefore reasonable to assert that the Code favors this temporary tenure primarily, if not exclusively, as regards the government of subjects in their religious life. The Code does not deny the principle that greater permanency in the direction of some. external works of religious institutes is desirable. The automatic six-year change of presidents of colleges and supervisors of hospitals can cause wonderment and lessened efficiency. It will not be easy for any institute and very difficult for a great number to find many able presidents and supervisors. The law permits only two remedies. A petition may be made to the Holy See to prolong the tenure as local superior. The difficulty of this solution is the prolongation of the six-year tenure in the government of the religious life of the com-munity, but experience seems to confirm the wisdom of the six-year tenure in this respect. The other solution is to separate the two offices and to have a superior of the community, who alone is bound by the six-year tenure, and a president or supervisor. The usual objection against this solution is that it creates a dualism of authority. The objection may really be founded on the fact that the system is some-thing new, but we cannot hold that change is of its nature evil and that the only good is the good old way. The greater extent and complexity in modern times of some external activity of an institute may demand a departure from the former method of direction. It is certainly nothing unusual in secular.life and in business for a .person to be subject to two authorities. Docility on the part of subjects and a reasonable working Out of the distinction of the two fields of authority by the superior and the president or supervisor can bring success to this system. A serious reason may exist for retaining a particular local supe-rior in office beyond the six-year tenure, for example, the completion of a buildi'ng whose erection was begun under this superior. The 197 JOSEPH F. GALLEN Review/or Religious Holy See will grant the dispensation for a serious reason. It is not in accord with at least the spirit and purpose of the law to make the asking for dispensations a general practice in the congregation. The constitutions of a few congregations emphasize this doctrine by pre-scribing: "Without a real necessity the mother general shall not" ask for a dispensation from a law so salutary for the religious them-selves and for the whole congregation." The limitation of the Code affects the reappointment of a local superior only in the same house. The Code permits indefinite reap-pointment to other houses, and constitutions approved by the Holy See rarely place any limitation on such reappointment. Subjects, however, have been known to grumble at the principle: "Once a superior, always a superior." It is also true that the volume of a grumble quite frequently exceeds that of the idea producing it. Higher superiors and their councils are obliged to secrecy, but evi-dently their justification for the repeated reappointment of the same religious is the dearth of others qualified for the office. This justi-fication must frequently be admitted. However, it is not true in a11 cases of protracted reappointment. We can at times suspect that general and provincial councils have not been at all thorough or per-severing in compiling a list of those qualified for government. Reap-pointment should also not be allowed to become so constant that the reappointment of every superior is expected and its absence is con-sidered a blot on her reputation. On the other hand, religious should remove even from the field of the sub-conscious the principle that a delayed or excluded superiorship bears the same stigma as a delayed or excluded profession, that every priest must have his parish and every Sister her house, that the one source of peace of soul of mature religious life is to be or to have been a superior, and that never to have been a superior is never to have been approved. These are in-sidious thoughts. They can and, perhaps, do cause great loss of peace of soul. It is a very evident but in no way dishonorable fact that all religious are not qualified for government. Few of us are in danger of psychic disorders because we cannot teach Hebrew, but it is most doubtful that the chair of Hebrew exacts the price of pa-tience, humility, charity, self-sacrifice, misunderstanding, and com-pletely unwarranted criticism that must be paid by the one who has the first chair in chapel "and refectory. General and provincial councils should not only prayerfully and perseveringly search for those best/qualified, but in this matter we 198 ! July, 1951 ELECTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS believe it is a prudent and efficient principle that they should gen-erally incline to a new appointment rather than an immediate reap-pointment to another house of a. religious who has completed a six-year tenure as a local superior. A few congregations have legislated in their constitutions on the reappointment of local superiors to other houses. One form of such legislation is: "After bearing the burden and responsibility of supe-rior for six years, it is necessary (essential, very helpful) that the Sister enjoy for at least three (six, one) years the liberty of subjects and the merit of obedience and submission." It can be doubted that a six-year interval is either necessary or expedient. An interval of from one to three years would be sufficient. A second form of the same legislation is: "A third (and fourth) immediate term may be permitted in another house, but at the expiration of three (four) consecutive and full terms of office, a Sister cannot again be appointed local superior before the lapse of at least a.year (three years)." This law inclines against a third or fourth term, since it merely permits such a term. The limitation of this law of four terms with an interval thereafter of at least a year is a generally practical and pru-dent norm. It could well be followed by all congregations as a direc-tive norm. 6. Local Councillors. The Code of Canon Law does not legis- /ate on the tenure of office of local councillors, and the practice of the Holy See permits their indefinite reappointment. In congregations the influence of local councillors is not very great and thus a pro-tracted tenure of office by the same religious is not apt to cause any serious difficulty. However, a change could at times be helpful to give new life to the house, to avoid the monotony of the same old things in the same old way, to soften rigor, to broaden under-standing, to add stability, and even to quicken to activity a govern-ment that has confounded patience with passivity and tolerance with lack of courage. Conclusion The moral of our story has been frequently expressed above. Careful study, sincere prayer, and absolute purity of intenti6n will assure worthy elections and appointments. This extends to the in-dividual religious, who can more readily transgress these norms in the election of the delegates. The legislation that has been enacted in several congregations to secure better elections and appointments manifests that at least these congregations thought there had been 199 "ANSELM LACOMARA Reoieu~ [or Religiou~ a neglect of these norms. Law is a necessity and is born of an abuse. Law also can never be an adequate substitute for human knowledge andintegrity of will. Some things are highly capable of arousing unworthy emotions, and one of these is elections. The best advice to any elector whether of a delegate or of the superior general is first pray, then study, examine the purity of your intention before God, and then vote. Growt:h in Grace Through t:he ,l::ucharls : Anselm Lacomara, C.P. THE life of grace may be compared to a steep hill which has a great treasure await.ing the climber when he reaches the top. Like every such climb, progress in grace meets difficult portions which are apt to slow us down and give us a.little hardship before we finally continue up. At times like this we need a helping hand and an inward drive to propel us forward. In His divine foresight and infinite mercy, Christ has provided us with a help which enables us to take care of every difficulty and overcome every obstaclee. The divine help is none other than Him-self in the Holy Eucharist. He is the help and the helper. We are never alone in walking the road that leads to the heights. Christ's strength and companionship are ours whenever we need them. His company is ever at our disposal when we need a helping hand over the rough spots, ggception of the Blessed Sacrament brings divine help into our lives. Fervent reception of Holy Communion increases our spiritual vitality, for it unites us to the source of all grace. The fruits of this union with Christ are mutual charity and peace. The Holy Eucharist enables us to keep faith with Christ, and with Christ's brothers and sisters through charity. Christ's grace flows through us as the life of the vine flows through the branches out to the tiniest leaf. That it should be thus is clear from the cir- 20O GROWTH THROUGH THE EUCHARIST cumstances in which Christ instituted the Blessed Sacrament and from His prayer on the first Holy T-hursday. Revelation of Love As Christ reclined with the Apostles for His final Passover Feast, the time of prophetic fulfillment had arrived. The sacre~t Jewish ritual was about to be celebrated by its Author and Object. Jesus was at the head of the table. Nearby was John who would not for-get this holy night as long as he lived. Exactly as the Law prescribed, the Master passed the ritual cup, partook of the lamb, consumed the bitter herbs, chanted the Psalms. Suddenly an unexpected hush fell on the group. The Master paused, looked upon His own and silently took bread into His holy and venerable hands. His voice alone broke the reverent silence: "This is my body which is being given for you;',do this in remem-brance of me." In awe and profound humil!ty the rough men received their First Holy Communion. The Master then took the cup, saying: "This is the cup of the New Covenant in my Blood, which shall be shed for you." The Apostles, each with deep emo-tion, partook of Christ's Precious Blood. While He was yet in them by His sacramental presence, Christ revealed the infinite riches of love stored in His Sacred Heart. Hear His words: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled or be afraid . . . I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-dresser. Every branch in me that bears no fruit he will take away; and every branch that bears fruit he will cleanse that it may bear more fruit. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it remain on the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for without me you can do nothing. If you abide in me, 'and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wil1,'and it shall be done to you . . . As the Father has loved me, I also have loved you. Abide in my love . . . This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. These things I command you, that you may love one another." Thus did Christ reveal Himself as our friend and our food, the help and the helper in the life of grace. He has willed to remain with us all days so that we are never alone, so that we never have to 201 ANSELM LACOMARA Review for Religious face life and its burdens by ourselves. He. is with us always to bear us up and to give us strength. The Bread of Life St. Augustine, in one of his sermons on the Passion, put these words in0Christ's mouth: "I am the food of the strong. Have faith and eat me. But thou wilt not change me into thyself; it is thou who wilt be changed into me." And St. Thomas develops the same thought in his commentary on Lombard: "The matter of the Eucharist is a food; the proper effect, then, must be analogous to that of food. He who assimilates corporal food transforms it into him-self; this change repairs the losses of the organism and gives it the necessary increase. But the Eucharistic food, .instead of being trans-formed into the one who takes it, transforms him into itself. It follows that the proper effect of the Sacrament is to transform us so much into Christ that we may say, 'I live, now, not I, but Christ liveth in me.' " Christ is truly the food of the soul in the Blessed Sacrament. Holy Communion is the "Sacred Banquet in which Christ is re-ceived." The source of all life and grace comes to share that same life and grace. In His sermon promising the bread of heaven, Christ said: "I am the bread of life. He that comes to me shall not hunger. I am the living bread which came down frdm heaven . the bread which I shall give is my flesh for the life of the world . . . Unless you eat of the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you . . . My flesh is real food, and my blood is real drink. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood, abides in me and I in him." It is evident that Our Blessed Lord never intended that the Holy Eucharist to be a reward for goodness of life. It is a food without which we cannot live any kind of a spiritual life. Christ certainly indicated His mind on the matter when He stated with so much force: "Unless you eat of the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood you shall not have life in you." ;Faken simply as spoken, this can mean only one thing: just as physical life cannot continue with-out physical food, so also our spiritual life is unable to continue without the spiritual food of Christ's Sacred Body and Blood. Christ wants us to receive Him frequently and fervently that the life of grace within us may flourish and come to full flower. He has left Himself as the food of our souls'that we may abide in Him, and He in us, and all in the Father. Christ comes to us with His divin- 202 dul~,1951 GROWTH THROUGH THE EUCHARIST ity, His merits, and His infinite riches that He may become for the soul its light and its way, it wisdom and its truth, its justice and its strength. In short, He. who is life itself, comes to fill the soul with divine life that we may see things as He sees them and do things as He wants them done. Union with One Another in Christ The effect of sacramental union will make itself felt not only in the life of the individual religious but in the life of the whole reli-gious family. Christ said: "Love one another as I have loved you." When He gave that command, He and His own were united in a bond of love as they had never been united before. They had come together to worship the same God according to the same ritual. They had partaken of the same food, broken the same bread. Above all, they were united to Christ and to one another in Him because all had shared in Christ's Body and Blood. The supernatural vitality of the Eucharist made their souls throb (vith God's own life shared through divine grace. He in them and they in Him and all in the Father--a unity ineffable. This unity among the Apostles and the Master accomplished in the reception of Communion is a sign of the wondrous unity which exists in Christ's Mystical Body. St. Paul (I. Cot., 10:17) wrote: "XVe, being one, all partake of the same bread." Christ is still in the place of honor. The Pope and bishops are in their allotted place; priests, religious, and laity in theirs. All receive the same Lord; all are nourished by the same divine food. The life of Christ flows in a constant stream to all His members. He is still the vine, we the branches. The words of the Last Discourse still hold true: "the glory that Thou hast given Me, I have given to them that they may be one; I in them and Thou in Me; that they may be perfected in unity." ' Solidarity in Christ! This idea so permeated the early Chris-tians that their charity became their mark of identification. "Behold these Christians: how they love one another." They loved one another in Christ. They shared the same bread of life in conscious imitation of the scene which took place in the Cenacle. Their breaking of bread was a liturgical and ritualistic banquet at wlqich each received Communion. They were acutely conscious that the Master had promised peace and love to all who did in like manner. The secret of the intense love, that led them to sell what they had and give to the poor, was their mutua! love for Christ, their mutual 203 ANSELM LACOMARA life and sanctification in Him. Their reception of Communion was the strong bond which held them to one another in charity. Our first brethren knew that Communion was a vivid continuation of the Last Supper. Holy Communion is also our way of being ~nited with Christ as the Apostles and early Christians were. We partake of the same chalice, break the same bread. This cannot fail to produce the effect desired by Our Lord, our growth in grace and charity. When Jesus comes to us in Holy Communion, let us allow Him to work in us so that we may be truly one with Him. If we are one with Him, we will surely be one with our fellow religious,, for our hearts will be attuned to His words: "Love one another as I have loved you." If we are one with Him, His influence will make itself felt in our daily lives. The curt word will die in its utterance. The sharp reply will be softened on our lips. Our judgments will be kind. We will listen to and respect the opinions of others. Our outlook will be that of Christ, who "loving His own, loved them to the end." Christ wants ~to work wonders in our souls. He loves us more than words can say. His Body and Blood are given to us daily. He desires us to join Him in this Sacred Banquet that His spirit and His peace may fill our souls. If we receive Him in the same spirit of fer-vent generosity with which He comes to us, His priestly prayer, "Holy Father, keep in thy name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, even as we are," will have its glorious fulfill-ment in our souls. HERESY OF RACE One can scarcely mention any of the various ways in which Negroes are unjustly treated when he is confronted with the old objections: the-value-of-property-goes- . down-when-the-Negro-moves-in : the-parish-runs-down-if-Negroes-are-not-kept-out ; would-you-want-your-sister-to-marry-a-Negro? : the-black-baby-in-the-seventh-gen-eration; white-students-would-leave-the-school-if-Negroes-were-accepted; hospitals-would- go-bankrupt-if-Negro-patients-were-admitted ; white-patrons-would-boycott-the- hotels-if-Negroes-were-served; and so forth. "All these woulds and ifs," writes Sister Mary Ellen O'Hanlon, O.P., in The Heresy of Race, "and many more, so repeatedly rolled off loose tongues, are false conjectures for which no real or honeit experiences have ever given any proof/' The Heresy of Race. which deals with these old objections and other points regarding the true Christian attitude towards race relations, can be obtained from: Rosary College Book Store, Rosary College, River Forest, Illinois. Single copies, 50 cents. Reduced rates for quantity orders. 204 Ins :rucfion on Sponsa Christi [EDITORS' NOTE: We present here the Instruction of the Sacred Congregation of Religious on the practical application of the Apostolic Constitution, Sponsa Christi. This document was given at Rome under date of November 23, 1950, and pub-lished in Acta Apostolicae Seclis, under date of 3anuary 10, 1951, pp. 37-44.] I. Among the remarkable documents by which our Holy Father, Plus XII, by Divine Providence, Pope, has willed to adorn and crown the Holy Year as with so many precious jewels, assuredly not the least is the Apostolic Constitution, $loor~sa Christi, which deals with the renewal and advancement within God's Church of the holy and venerable institution of nuns. This Sacred Congregation; which as its appointed task, promptly and faithfully assists th~ Holy Father in all things pertaining to the state of perfection, has reverently and joyfully received from him the commission of putting into execu-tion this Constitution, truly remarkable from so. many points of view, and of making its application assured and ea.sy. II. To fulfill this honorable duty, the Sacred Congregation has assembled in this Intruction some practical norms for those points which offer greater difficulty. III. Now, the points in the Apostolic Constitution which offer difficulty and hence require special clarification are:. (I) those which refer to the major or minor cloister of nuns; (2) those which deal with the establishment of federations and the limitation of auton-omy; (3) finally those which have to do with obtaining and co-ordinating productive labor for the monasteries. I. MAJOR AND MINOR CLOISTER FOR NUNS IV. The Apostolic Constitution, Sponsa ~hristi (art. IV), pre-scribes a special cloister for monasteries of all nuns which differs from the episcopal cloister of congregations (c. 604), and which, according to the general ngrm of the law, is papal, as is the cloister of orders of men (c. 597, § 1). In fact, regarding a number of prescriptions dealing with both the entrance of externs into the limits of the cloister and the going out of the nuns from the same, the regu-lations are stricter than those which control the papal cloister of men. V. Hereafter there will be two types of papal cloister for nuns: the one major, which is reserved for monasteries in which solemn vows are taken and a purely contemplative life is led, even though the number of the nuns may have decreased; the other mirror, which 205 INSTRUCTION Reoieu3 for Religious as a rule, is applied to monasteries in which a life is led which is not exclusively contemi~lative, or the nuns take simple vows only. A. Major Papal Cloister VI. Major papa/ cloister is that which is described in the Code (cc. 600, 602) and accurately defined by the Sacred Congregation in its Instruction, Nuper edito, approved by the late Pop~ Pius XI on February 6, 1924. This cloister is fully confirmed in the Constitu-tion, Sponsa Christi, safeguarding the following declarations which the Constitution empowers the Sacred Congregation to make (art. IV, § 2, 1°) 'so that its observance may be prudently adapted to the needs of the times and to local circumstances. VII. Nuns bound by major papal cloister, after their profession, by reason of the profession itself and by the prescription of ecclesi-astical law, contract a grave obligation: 1° of remaining always within the precincts of the monastery which have been put within the definite limits of the cloister, so that they may not leave the cloister ~ven for a moment under any pretext or condition without a special indult of the Holy See, except in those cases only which are provided for in the canons and instructions of the Holy See, or which are envisioned in the constitutions or statutes approved by the Holy See itself. 2° of not admitting to the parts of the monastery subject to the law of cloister any. person whatsoever no matter of what class, con-dition, sex, or age, even for a moment, without a special indult of the Holy See. Certain exceptions, however, of persons and cases are expressly made in the canons and in instructions of the Holy" See, as well as in the constitutions or statutes approved by it. VIII. 1° Indults and dispensations to leave the major cloister after profession (VII, 1°) or to enter it or to admit others (VII, 2°) are reserved exclusively to the Holy See, and can be granted by it alone or in its name and by its delegation. 2° Reasons for obtaining dispensations should be proportionately grave, due consideration being given to the circumstances of cases, times, and places, keeping in mind the practice and style of the Roman Curia. IX. 1° The faculty to dispense may be given ab bomine, either for a definite period of time for all cases occurring during it, or for a certain number of cases. There is nothing; however, to hinder the granting of certain permissions habitually in particular law having 206 duly, 1951 SPONSA CHRISTI legitimate approval, for instance, in the constitutions, in the statutes of federations, and in similar documents.' 2° Whether granted ab homine or by general or particular law, indults and dispensations must determine, according to the instruc-tions of the Holy See affd the practice and style of the Roman Curia. the conditions and precautions .to which the dispensation is subject. X. The penalties against those who violate the laws of cloister remain as stated in toe Code (c. 2342, nn. 1, 3). B. Minor Papal Cloister ~ XI. Minor papal cloister: 1° retains intact the fundamental rules of the cloister of nuns, inasmuch as it differs greatly from the cloister of congregations (c. 604) as well as from that of orders of men (cc. 598-599) ; 2° must safeguard and facilitate for all the observance and care of solemn chastity; 3° it must protect and efficaciously rosier the contemplative life of the monastery; 4° The employments which the Church hag designedly entrusted to these monasteries must be so harmonized with the contemplative life within the confines of the minor papal enclosure that the latter may by all means be preserved while these works are properly and advantageously performed. 5° In monasteries which engage in approyed works, the pre-scription of canon 599, § 1 for the cloister of or'ders of men, which is likewise applied by canon 604, § 2 to the cloister of congregations, is to l~e strictly and faithfully observed, in such a way that a clear and complete separation be ever maintained between buildings or sec-tions thereof set apart for the living quarters of the nuns and for the exercises of the monastic life, and those parts made over to necessary works. XII: Minor papal cloister includes: 1° a grave prohibition against admitting into the parts of the house set aside for the community of nuni and subject to the law of cloister (c. 597) any persons whatsoever who are not members of the community, regardless of class, condition, sex, or age, according to canon 600; 2° another grave prohibition forbidding the nuns after profes-sion to leave the precincts of the monastery, in the same way as nuns subject to major cloister (n. VII-IX). XIII. 1 ° The passage of the nuns from the parts reserved to the 207 INSTRUCTION Revieu~ for Religious community to the other places within the precincts of the monast~ery destined for the works of the apostolate is allowed for this purpose alone, with the permission of the superior, and under proper safe-guards, to those who, according to the norms of the constitutions and the prescriptions of the Holy See, are destined for the exercise, of the apostolate in any way. 2° If by reason of the apostolate, dispensations from the pre-scriptions of n. XII, 2° become necessary, they may be given only to nuns and other religious who are lawfully assigned to the employ-ments, under grave obligation in conscience for superioresses, for or-dinaries, and for superiors regular, to whom the custody of the cloister is entrusted (c. 603). XIV. Admittance of externs to the parts of the monastery de-voted to employments of whatever kind is governed by these norms: 1 o Habitual admittance is allowed to, pupils, boys or girls, ot to other persons in whose favor ministries are performed, and to such women only with whom necessary contact is demanded by reason and on the occasion of such ministries. ' 2° The local ordinary should, by a general or habitual declara-tion, define as such those exceptions which must be made of necessity, for instance, those,ordinarily required by the civil law for the pur-pose of inspections, examinations, or for other reasons. 3° Other exceptions, should such at times seem truly necessary in individual cases, are reserved to the express grant of the ordinary, who is in conscience bound to impose prude.nt precautions. XV. 1° Nuns who unlawfully leave the precincts of the mon-astery fpso facto incur excommunication reserved simply to the Holy See according to canon 2342, 3°, or, by express grant reserved to the local ordinary. 2° Nuns who illicitly leave the parts of the monastery reserved to the community and go to other places within the precincts of the monastery, are to be punished by the superior or by the local ordi-nary, according to the gravity of their fault. 3° Those who illicitl.y enter the parts of the monastery reserved to the community and those who bring them in or allow them to enter, incur excommunication reserved simply to the Holy See. 4° Those who illegitimately enter the parts of the monastery not reserved to the community, as well as those who bring them in or permit fhem to enter, are to be severely punished according to the gravity of their fault by the ordinary of the place in which the mon-astery is located. 208 duly, 1951 SPONSA (~HRISTI XVI. Dispensations from minor papal cloister, except those ad-mitted by law, are, as a rule, reser~red to the Holy See. Faculties more or less broad, as circumstances seem to require, can be granted to ordinaries either ab homine or in the constitutions and statutes. II. FEDERATIONS OF MONASTERIES OF NUNS XVIL Federations of monasteries of nuns, according to the norm of the Constitution, Sponsa Christj" (art. VII, § 2, 2°), are earnestly recomrriended, both to avoid the harmful effects which both more grievously and more readily befall entirely independent monasteries, and which by union can to a great extent be avoided more effectively, as well as to foster both their spiritual and temporal interests. Although, as a rule, federations of monasteries are not imposed (art. VIII, § 2, 2°), nevertheless, the reasons which would recom-mend them in general, could, in particular cases be so strong that, everything considered, they would be deemed necessary by the Sacred Congregation. ~' : XVIII. Federations of mona~'teries are holt to be impeded by the fact that the individual monasteries which intend to form them are subject to superiors regular. Provision will have to be made for this common subjection in the Statutes of the Federati(~n. XIX. When, because of the intention of the .fou~de~ or for any other reason that may occur, there already exists some.kind of begin-ning of a union or federation of monasteries of the same order or institute, anything already done or outlined must be taken into ac-count in the development of the federation itself. XX. A federation of monasteries in no way directly affects the relation, already in existence according to the common or to the par.- ticular law, of the individual monasteries to the local ordinaries or to the superiors regular. Hence, unless an.express and lawful deroga-tion is made to this rule, the powers of ordinaries and superiors is neither increased nor diminished nor changed in any way. XXI. The statutes of a federation may grant certain rights over the federation to ordinaries and to superiors which as a rule do not beloiag to them, leaving intact generally the right over each individual monastery as such. xxII. The general and principal purposes and advantages of unions and federations are the following: 1° the legally recognized facuIty and the canonically sanctioned duty of a mutual fraternal assistance, both in the conservation, de- 209 INSTRUCTION Reoieu~ [or Religious lense, and increase of regular observance, and of domestic economy, as well as in all other th~ngs; 2° the establishment of novitiates common to all or to a group of monasteries for cases in which, either because of a lack of person-nel necessary for the directive offices, or because of other circum-stances moral, economic, local, and the like, a solid and practical spir-itual, disciplinary, technical, and cultural training cannot be given in the individual monasteries; 3° the faculty and the moral obligation, defined by certain norms and accepted by federated monasteries, of asking for and of mutually interchanging nuns who may be necessary for government and training; 4° the possibility of and freedom for a mutual temporary ex-change or ceding of subjects, and also of a permanent assignment, because of health or other moral or material need. XXIII. The characteristic notes of federations which are to be considered essential when taken together are enumerated as follows: 1 o From the source from which they spring and [rom the author-ity from which as such they d.epend and which governs them directly, federations of nuns are of pont[lical right according to the Code (c. 488, 3°). Hence not only their establishment, but also the approval of their statutes, and the enrollment of monasteries in, or their separation from, a federation, belongs to the Holy See exclusively. Provided all the rights over individual monasteries granted by the Code to ordinaries are safeguarded, federations are subject to the Holy See in all those matters in which pontifical institutes of women are directly subject to it, unless a lawful exception has been expressly provided for. The Holy See may commit certain items of its pre-rogatives, either habitually or in single instances, to its immediate assistants or delegates for federations. 2° B~t reason of territory or of extension, federations of monas-teries are to be established preferably along regional lines, for easier government, unless the small number of monasteries or other just or proportionate causes demand otherwise. 3° By reason of the moral persons which constitute them, inas-much as they are collegiate persons (c. i00, § 2), federations are composed of monasteries of the same order and of the same internal observance, though they need not necessarily depend on the same local ordinary or superior regular, nor have the same kind of vows or form of cloister. 210 dulq, 1951 SPONSA CHRISTI 4° Confederations of regional federations can be allowed if need, or great advantage, or the traditions of the order recommend them. 5° From the standpoint ~f the independence of the monasteries, the bond which holds the federated monasteries together should be such that it does not interfere with their autonomy, at least in essen-tials (c. 488, 2°, 8°). Although derogations from autonomy are not to be presumed, they can be granted with the previous consent of each monastery, provided that grave reasons seem to recommend or demand them. XXIV. All ~ederations of monasteries of nuns must have their own statutes subject to the approval of the Holy See before they can be established. The statutes must accurately determine the following: l° the aims which each federation proposes to itself; 2° the manner in which the government of the federation is to be regulated, either with regard to constitutive elements, as for ex-ample, president, visitators, council, and the like; or as to the manner of appointment to these offices; or, finally, the power of this govern-ment and the manner of conducting it; 3° the means which the federation should use that it may be able to carry out its aims pleasantly and vigorousl~; 4° the conditions and means to be used in putting into execu-tion the prescriptions regarding the mutual interchange of persons laid down in art. VII, § 3, 2° of the Constitution, Sponsa Christi: 5° the juridical standing of nuns transferred to another mon-astery, whether in the monastery from which the transfer takes place, or in that to which it is made; 6° The economic help (o be given by each monastery for the common enterprises of the entire federation; 7° The administration of the common novitiate or of other works common to the federation, if there be such. XXV. 1° In order that the Holy See may be able to exercise a direct and efficacious vigilance and authority over federations, each federation can be given a religious assistant, as need or usefulness may suggest. 2° The religious assistant will be appointed by the Sacred Con-gregation according to the statutes, after all interested parties have been heard. 3° In each case his duties will be accurately defined in the decree of appointment. The principal ones are as follows: to take care that the genuine spirit of a profoundly contemplative life as well as the 211 INSTRUCTION spirit proper to the order and institute be securely preserved and in-creased; likewise, to see that a prudent and exact government be established and preserved in 'the federation; to have regard for the solid religious training of the novices and of the religious themselves; to help the council in temporal matters of greater moment. 4° The Holy See will delegate or commit to the assistant such powers as may seem opportune in individual cases. III. MONASTIC LABOR XXVI. 1° Since, by the disposition of Divir~e Providence, the temporal necessities of life are at times so pressing that nuns seem morally compelled to seek and accept labors beyond their accustomed ones, and even perhaps to extend the time given to labor, all should as true religious submit themselves promptly and humbly to the dis-positions of Divine Providence, as the Christian faithful do in like circumstances. 2° They should do this, however, not anxiously or capriciously or arbitrarily, but prudently as far as may seem truly necessary or .suitable, seeking with simple hearts a balance between their under-standing of fidelity to the letter and to tradition, and a filial subjec-tion to the permissive and positive dispositions of Divine Providence. 3° Keeping these directives in mind, let them submit to ecclesias-tical or to religious superiors, as the case may require, whatever ar-rangements seem advisable. XXVII. Ec~iesiastical and religious superiors must: 1° by all means seek and obtain profitable labor for the nuns who need it, and, should the case require it, also employ committees of pious men or women, and, with due caution and prudence, even secular agencies established for such purposes; 2° maintain a careful supervision of the quality and orderly ar-rangement of the work, and require a just price for it; 3° to superintend diligently the coordination of the activities and the labor of individual monasteries so that they may help, sup-ply, and complement one another, and see to it that every vestige of competition is entirely avoided. PLEASE NOTE CAREFULLY The subscription price of REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS ~s now: $3.00 per year for Domestic and Canadian subscriptions; $3.35 per year for all foreign subscrip-tions. For further details please see inside back cover. 212 uesUons and Answers In the March issue of the Review Sister Digna wrote about men÷al and other.tests for candidates aspiring to the religious life. Would you kindly 9ire "Fhe name and address of the publishers of these tests? Sister Digna prepared the detailed description of the following tests which she suggests as helps to'Ocarry out the program outlined in her article. Since we received these lists some tiptoe ago, a number of the prices may have been changed. ~; 1. American Council on Education Psychological Examination for ttigh School Students. This is a time-limit test. Time: 54 min- o" utes. Norms: Comprehensive norms for e~ich annual edition are pub-lished in series V of the American Council on Education Studies for. April of'the school year in which the test is current. Authors: Louis L. Thurstone and Thelma Gwinn,Thurstone, University of Chicago. Publishers: The American Council on Education, 744 ,IacksowPlace, Washington, D.C.; distributed by Science Research Associates, 1700 Prairie Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. Cost: $.07 per test, including test booklet and answer sheet. Additional answer sheets, $.02 each. Manual, scoring keys, and norms, $.25. ~ ,, 2. The Otis Self-Administering Tests of Mental.Abilit.~. These are time-limit tests, consisting of a Higher E~amination designed for grades 9-12 and for college students; and an Inter~edlate t~xamina-tion designed for grades 4-9. Norms: Age and grade norms fur-nished in the manual, as well as charts for .translating raw score to percentile rank, or to Binet Mental Age and I.Q. Author: A. S. Otis. Publisher: World Book Company, Yonkers-on-Hudson, New York. Cost: $1.25 per package of 25 tests, including manual, scoring key, and norms; specimen set, $0.35. Four alternate forms of each test are available. 3. Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale by David Wechsler. An individual examination including eleven tests for use at all ages from adolescence (age 10) up to 70 years. Five tests are verbal: Similari-ties, Comprehension, Information, Arithmetic, and Memory for Numbers. Five are nonverbal performance tests: Object Assembly (profile, Manikin, and Hand in Form I; face, horse, and auto in Form II), Block Design, Picture Completion, Picture Arrangement, and Digit-Symbol Substitution. An alternate test of Vocabulary is QUESTIONS AND .,~NSWERS Re~ieu~ for Religious provided. A feature of the test is that the IQ can be obtained from as few as eight tests without serious loss in reliability. Scores on each test are converted into star~dard scores. The total of these scores is converted into IQ equivalents by means of a table which takes into account the age of adults. The materials appeal to testees at all ages and levels of ability and are well-suited for classification of .both normal and abnormal individuals. Text, "The Measurement of Adult Intelligence," $2.60. Form I. Test Materials, including 25 Record Blanks, $14.00. The text contains the administrative man-ual for Form I, and must be ordered separately. Form II. Test Ma-terials, including 25 Record Blanks and the manual required for ad-ministering this form, $15.50. Manual alone, $2.00. Specify Form I or Form II. Record Blanks, sold only in packages of 25 and 100 copies. Packages of 25--$1.25 each. Personality Tests . 4. The Adjustment Int~entorg by Hugh M. Bell. A diagnostic tool to .aid the counselor and guidance worker in discovering the sources of personal and social maladjustment in students and adults. The separation of adjustment into four types (home, health, social, and emotional) aids in the location of specific adjustment'difficulties. Scoring requires about three minutes. Tentative norms are given for high school students, college students, and adults of both sexes. Adult form also has scoring fbr occupational adjustment. Untimed. Forms: Student and Adult. Specify form desired. Sold only in packages of 25, $1.85, and. packages of 100, $5.75. Manual and keys included. Specimen Set,'~cluding both forms, 35 cents. Regular IBM answer sheets--for use with regular booklet of questions. Same answer sheet used for both Student and Adult forms. Sold only in packages of 50, $1.10, and packages of 500, $7.75. Stencils for both hand~ and machine-scoring; Student form, $1.10 per set, Adult form, $1.30 per set--specify form de-sired. Nontimed. Author: H. M. Bell, Chico, California, State Col-lege. Publisher: Stanford University Press, Stanford University, California. Cost: $1.85 per 25; $1.75 per 100 machine-scorable answer sheets; specimen set, $0.15. 5. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality InuentoW by Starke R. Hathaway and J. Charnley McKinley. A diagnostic test con-structed entirely on the basis of clinical criteria. At present the au-thors have made available nine scales: Hypochondriasis, Depression, Hysteria, Psychopathic Deviate, Masculinity and Feminity, Paranoia, 214 dul~,1951 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS " Psychasthenia, Schizophrenia, and Hypomania. Four other scores are ascertained: the Question score, the Lie score, the Validity score, and the K score (a suppressor variable refining the discrimination of five of the clinical variables)i Untimed. Individual Form Forms: Individual and Group. Spec.ify form desired. Individual Form ("The Card Set"). Box of 550 item cards with three sorting cards marked True, False, or Cannot Say. Sturdy wooden box. $12.50. Manual, containing description (including complete list of questions), the6ry, administration, and norms, with supplement ex-plaining how to use the K score. $1.00, when ordered separately. 75 ccfits each when ordered in lots of 10 or more for class use. Keys. Eleven transparent guides made of map cloth, one for each of the nine scales, one for the F or Validity score, and one for the K score. $7.50 including manual. Recording Sheet for recording the subject's sorting and the profile of his scores. One sheet needed for each case. Sold only in packages of 50. 1-9 packages--$2.50.each. ¯Group Form Group Form ("The t~ooklet Form"). The Group Form has been prepared for use witb~IBM answer sbegts, thus permitting either hand-scoring or machineT~coring. The,authors recommend that the Group Form be used only with person'S~°who are still in school or who have had recent contact with test materials in group form. For clinical cases or small groups, the Individual Form is considered de-sirable. Booklets for Grghp Form are printed on heavy stock and will stand repeated use. 1-24 booklets, 25 cent~;e0db; packages of 25, $5.50 each. Manual. This is the same as for the Individual Form but has a supplement. $1.00 when ordered separately. 75 cents each when ordered in lots of 10 or ran.re for class use. Key:;. Envelope contains manuaI, supp!ementary manual, and 16 hand-scoring stencils, $4.00. Similar envelope with machine-scoring stencils, $4.00. Specify which i~ desired. Answer Sheets. IBM answer sheets which can be either machine- or hand-scored. One copy needed for each testee. For each answer sheet ordered, one Pro-file and Case Summary form is. included. Answer sheets are sold onIy in packages of 50, $3.00 each, and packages of 5~)0,.$23.00 each. Extra Profile and :Case Summary forms, for duplicate reports, $1.60 per package of 50. 6, Minnesota Personality Scale by 3ohn G. Dadey and Walter 3. blanks, $:50 per 25;-scoring keys, $1.10 for one key, $.80 for 2 to 215 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS McNamara. ' Five aspects of personality are measured: Morale, Social Adjustment, Family Relations, Emotionality, Economic Conserva-tism. These are based on a factor analysis of several pers6nality tests. Each item is scored for only one scale and each scale is highly reliable. Norms are based on almost 2000 university students. The questions are in reusable booklets. The answers are marked on IBM answer'sheets which can be either hand- or machine-scored. Grades 11 through college. Time, no li,mit, about 45 min. Forms: Men and Women. Order booklets, answer sheets and scoring stencils separately. Specify form (Men's or Women's) and quantity of each. Booklets. Sold in packages of 25. 1-9 packages--S2.50 each. 10 or more packages--S2.25 ',each. Answer sheets. Sold only in packages of 50, $1.80 each, ~tnd packages of 500, $15.00 each. Same sheet is used for either Men or Women. Manual and hand-scoring stencils must be ordered separately, 50 cents. Specify form desired. Manual and IBM machine-scoring stencils, $1.25 a set. Specify form. desired. Specimen Set, either form, 60 cents. Specify form desired. Men's or Women's. 7. The Perso, nality Inuentor~ by Robert G. Bernreuter. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California. Designed to measure six as-pects of personality at~one administration: Neurotic Tendency, Self-sufficiency, Introversion-Extroversion, Dominance-Submission, So-ciability, Confidence. Norms for both men and women have been established for h.igh school, college, and adult ages. Untimed. Sold 'only in packages of 2.5, $1.85, and packages of 100, $5.75, with manual, norms and set of keys. Individual Report Sheets, sold only in packages of 25, 35 cents. Specimen Set, 35 cents. IBM answer sheets available. Sold only in packages of 50, $1.10 each, and packages of~500, $7.75 each. Machine-scoring keys, $2.60 per set; cannot be used for hand-scoring. 8. Stronfl Vocational Interest Blank, (for Men and Women) Author: E. K. Strong, Jr. Publisher: Stanford University Press, Stanford University, California. Cost: Tests, $2.10 per 25; .report 9 keys, $:72 each for 10 or more keys; machine-scorable answer sheets, $2.72 per 100. The Psychological Corporation, 522 Fifth .Avenue, Neb¢ York, N. Y. 9. Kuder Preference Record. Form A and Form BB. Publisher: Science Research Associates, 1700 Prairie Avenue, Chicago. Cost: Form BB-test booklets which can be used many times, $.48 each; answer pads, $.08 each; profile sheets, $.02 each. '216 RELIGIOUS LIFE AND SPIRIT. ByRev. Ignaz Waffero÷,O.M.I. T~rans-lated by Rev. A. S{mon, O.M.I. Pp. vff~ ~- 408. B.Herder Book Co., S~'. Lou~s, Mo. $6.00. Community exhortations and conferences are an important means to spiritual perfection. Just as by the will of Christ the trde Faith was to be preached and propagated mainly by the living w,ord, so also Christian perfection. Christ¯ Himself set the exa'mple¯ in the Ser-mon on the Mount; the apostles and first bishops taught the more perfect way by word of mouth; virgins, ascetics, andoreligious from ¯ the earliest days were instructed and encouraged to ever greater perfec-tion by exhortations; witness, fc~r example, the monks of the desert. Spiritual conferences soon became traditional ~ in the Church; they went down the centuries, from Cassian to Bernard, to Teresa, to Francis de Sales, to Faber, Marmion, and Leen. ¯ Today canon law prescribes them as a regular spiri'tual exercise for religious and semi-narians (cf. canons 509"and 1367), and the rules of almost all reli-gious communities make provision for them. H~nce, they are not something boring, to be minimized and neglec'ted, .but rather a spir-itual element, to be valued and put to good .use. Their purpose: to enlighten the mind b~'instruction and to sup-ply motives and warmth to the will, leading to virthous action. ' For this spiritual energizing the living word is far more effective than the printed page. Of-course, the. person giving the exhortation should posse.ss certain qualities: he must be a man of prayer, self-abnegation, virtuous life, and prudence: .he must have the requisite knowledge derived from study, prayer and experience; he must make careful preparation and adapt his .conference skillfully t.o his audi-ence~ Orat?ry and rhetoric are of sec6ndary importance; simplicity and sincerity are more efficacious for this work. The listener, too, must come to the conference prepar.ed; hi must have a good intention, a desire to profit spiritually from v~hat he hears; he must not be criti-cal, but humble and receptive, diligently making practical applica-tions, not to his neighbor, or tothe speaker, but to himself. Such in brief is the doctrine of the spiritual masters on the exhortation with which religious are so familiar. 3udged in the light of the above doctrine the present collection of conferences for religious stands up quite well, though 'it is by no 217 BOOK REVIEWS Reoiew for Religious means perfect. The author, Fathe~ Ignaz Watterot, O.M.I., was competent to give these cbnferences to nuns, having been for many years a successful superior and counsellor of religious. He knows the religious life, both theoretically and practically; he has put his mes-sage in a concrete way, well-suited to his hearers. Hence, it is not su_rprising to learn that the book has been often reprinted in the original and can be found in almost every German convent. It merits the enthusiastic reception given it by the reviewers when it first appeared. There are forty conferenc~es on forty different topics, averaging ten to twelve pages in length, each one neatly and logically divided by means of sub-headin'gs. The subject-matter covers the excellence and dignity of the religious state, the duties, difficulties, and means to perfection in the religious state, its weakness and defects, its joys and consolations. Almost every important point of the ordinary life of religious receives due consideration. However, there is a surprising and inexplicabl~ dmission, daily~Holy Mass. The conferences are doctrinal and psychological. Holy Scripture, both Old and New Thstament, is cited profusely. Canon law and selected instructions of the Holy See are utilized. The principal ascetical sources are the works of Augustine, Chrysostom, Bernard," Bonaventure, Thomas Aquinas, Teresa of Avila, Ignatius Loyola, Alphonsus Liguori, and above all thos.e of St. Francis de Sales and. St. Jeanne de Chantal. Among the more recent" writers we find Alban Stolz, Albert W.eiss, and Clara Fey, foundress of the Sisters of the Poor Child J~sus, whose cause, for canonization has been intro-duced. The author is also well acquainted, with feminine psychol-ogy, and his conferences abound with practical, even homely, ex-amples and illustrations. The chief drawbacks of this American edition are two. First, the book has not been brought up to date. It was first published some forty years ago. Pertinent official documents of the Holy

Issue 10.6 of the Review for Religious, 1951. ; A.M.D.G. Review for Religious NOVEMBER 15, 195.1 After Ten Years . The Editors Spirituality of Teresian Carmel . Fr. Thomas, O.C;.D. Peace of C;hrist . Thomas A. O'C;onnor Secular Institutes . Francis N. Korth Way of Simple Love . ,James Lockeff Current Spiritual Writing . . . . Augustine KJaas The Race Problem . ~ . . . Gerald Kelly Questions and Answers Index for 19S I Book ,Reviews VOLUME X NUMBER 6 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS VOLUME X NOVEMBER, 1951 NU~BER 6 CONTENTS AFTER TEN YEARS--'~he Editors . 281 THE SPIRITUALITY OF THE TERESIAN CARMEL-- Father Thomas, O.C.D . 283 THE PEACE OF CHRIST-~Thomas A. O'Connor, S.3 . 289 OUR CONTRIBUTORS . 295 SECULAR INSTITUTES--Francis N. Korth, S.J~ . 296 THE WAY OF SIMPLE L~)VE-~dames Lockett, S.J . 301 CURRENT SPIRITUAL WRITING--Augustine Klaas, S.J.-- International Convention on Religious Life . 303 Reports on Renewal and. Adaptation . 305 Religious and Lay Helpers . 311 Prudence vs Credulity . . .~ ¯ . 313 HOW TO THINK AND ACT ABOUT THE RACE PROBLEM-- Gerald Kelly, S.J . 316 QUESTIONS AND~ ANSWERS--° 27. On Ackn~,w, ledging Gifts . 324 28. Succe~sso.r for Deceased Councilor . 32q 29. Slight°Deferment of First Profession . . . . . . . . 325 30. Can Shperior's Three-Year Term be Shortened? . 326 31. Can ~slstant Novice Master be Councilor? . 326 32. Pa~siontide Covering of Statues . 326 33. Admissioh of Deaf Applicant . 326 34. Must Altar Candles be Blessed? . 327 BOOK REVIEWS-- Officium Divinum Parvum; St. Clare of Assisi; Devotedly Yours 327 ¯ BOOK NOTICES . 329 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS . . 330 TEN-YEAR INDEX-~SECOND CALL . 332 NO MORE REPRINTS . 332 ANNUAL INDEX FOR 1951 . 333 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, November, 1951. Vol. X, No. ~. Published bi-monthly: danuary, March, May, duly, September, and November at the College Press, 606 Harrison Street, Topeka, Kansas, by St. Mary's College, St. Marys, Kansas, with ecclesiastical approbation. Entered as second class matter danuary 15, 1942. at the Post Office, Topeka. Kansas, under the act of March 3, 1879. Editorial Board: Adam C. Ellis, S.d., G. Augustine Ellard, S.d., Gerald Kelly, S.J. Editorial Secretary: derome Breunig, S. d. Copyright, 1951, by Adam C. Ellis, S.d. ~Permission is hereby granted for quota-tions of reasonable length, provided due credit be given this review and the author. Subscription price: 3 dollars a year; 50 cents a copy. Printed in U. S. A. Before writincj to us, please consult notice on inside back cover. At:t:er Ten Years WrlTH this number we complete our first ten years of publica-tion. It seems an appropriate time to give.subscribers some facts about our history and some insight into our future. History Our first number (January, 1942) was already in the press when the war started. This number was mailed to" about 1300 subscribers; the last issue of that year w~s mailed to about 3200. Since that time our subscription list has increased gradually until now it is approxi-mately 8500. We began by publishing a 72-page magazine with large type and heavy paper. War and post-war restrictions on paper, as well as the rising "cost of everything pertaining to the printing business, forced us to cut on the quality oF paper, ~ the size of the type, and the num-ber of' pages. However, our present issue of 56 pages contains as much material as was printed in the first numbers. For more than nine years we held to our origigai price of two dollars per year. Only within this past year did we yield to pressure of rising costs; for, despite all the reductions regarding paper, type, and number of pages, our expense.s were much greater than they were in the early years of publication. Hence, in May, 195:11, we had to raise the subscription price to three dollars per year. We, did this with considerable regret, becaus~ we were conscious of the fact that most of our subscribers are small religious houses whose revenue is seldom more than meager. Our ambition has always been to publish a high-quality ecclesi-astical review, of special value to religious, whether clerical or lay. We have by no means reached the ideal; but we think we ~an say that we have published some valuable articles 'and series of articles. In our Question-and-Answer department, our policy has been to stress points that have some particular bearing on the religious life. We try to follow the same policy regarding bbok reviews. One of our special desires has been to keep a good Communica-tions department in which religious might help one another by dis-cussing some of the pract.ical problems of the religious life. We began this department with an excellent series of communications on spiritual direction. Unfortunately, we have never since been able to 281 THE EDITORS rise tO the standard set by that initial endeavor. Regarding unsolicited manuscripts, we have had only one "abso-lute" in our policy: we never accept poetry. Except for this, we have carefully considered every manuscript submitted to us. The Future In the past our subscription list has grown gradually and with a certain spontaneity, that is, without much special pushing. But there is a limit to suc,h growth, and perhaps we have reached it. We could use the special help of interested subscribers. For instance, there are still large numbers of religious communities that do not subscribe; and it seems that in many cases the sole reason for not subscribing is thai they have never heard of the REVIEW. Perhaps some of our readers would have occasion to g!ve them the information. Also, it seems to us that we should have more subscribers among diocesan priests who are directors and confessors of religious. Would it seem mercenary to suggest that a gift-subscription to the REVIEW would be just as good a Christmas present to such priests as a rabat or a box of cigars ? We must retain our new ~rice ($3.00), and we hope it will not make any substantial difference in the number of subscribers. As for articles, we still" have several in theI series on the spiritual-ity of' different institutes. These include "Salesian Spirituality," "St. Augustine and His Rule," and "Jesuit Spirituality." We have another article on secular institutes, and we shall publish more on that subject as our information grows. Also, we have a commentary. on the address on the states of perfection given by Pope Pius XII to the members of the First Congress of Religious; and we hope to pub-lish soon an English translation of the very importa.nt apostolic let-ter to religious, Uniqenitus Dei Filius, issued by Pius XI, in 1924. We would appreciate receiving good communications on practical problems, as well as suggestions concerning possible communications or articles. We close with a word of thanks to contributors and subscribers, and with a prayer of thanks to God, who has blessed us in many ways. THE EDITORS. 282 The Spirit:ualit:y !:he Teresian Carmel Father Thomas, O.c.D. THE CONCEPT of perfection which is the basis of all that has .| been written on the spirit of Carmel is that the objective of the Carmelite is a state of union in which the soul is transformed by love in God. "The state of this divine union consists in the soul's total transformation, according.to the will, in such a manner that there may be naught in the soul that is contrary to the will of God, but that in all and through all, its movements may be those of the will of God alone." (Ascent of Mt. Carmel, Bk.I, ch. 11, n.2.) This ideal set before his fellow religious by St. John of the Cross is carried over from the ancient spiritual tradition of Carmel as found in the work called the Institution of the First Monks (towards the end of the 12th century, or certainly before the middle of the 13th). The tradition of Carmel is twofold. "Firstly it consists in offering to God a holy heart, freefrom every stain of actual sin; we can reach that by our labor, our efforts with the help of grace; we have reached it when we are perfected in charity . The other end of this life is a purely gratuitous gift of God: it ¢0nsists in tasting, not only after death but even in this mortal life, the power of the divine presence and the sweetness of heavenly glories." (Institutio Primorum Monachorum, ch.2.) These two elements are not separate and unrelated. "By means of purity of heart and perfection of charity one arrives at the second end, that is, experimental knowledge of divine strength and celestial glory. " (Ibid.) . While this experimental knowIedge is a gift of God, it is not for that reason out of our reach or devoid of merit. Both St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Jesus speak of a double union with God. The first consists in perfect conformity of the human will with the will of God, which union of conformity is crowned quite normally with the mystical union in which the soul divestedof self-love is penetrated with the divine life and realizes tha.t God lives or dwells within. (Cf. Ascent, Bk.II, ch.5; Interior Castle, Mans. 6, Ch. Ill, n.3.) If few souls reach this high state, it is not because God wishes that it be the lot of a few, but because He finds few disposed for such union. (Livin~l Flame, A, St. 2, n.23) . 283 FATHER THOMAS Reoiew for Religious Carmel has always been the implacable enemy of mediocrity and half measures. St. Teresa warns the world that God "refuses to force our will, He takes what we give Him but does not give Himself wholly, until He sees that we are giving ourselves wholly to Him." (Wag of perfection, Ch.28, n.12.) And St. John of the Cross gives expression to the same thought by saying, "God communicates Him-self most to that soul that has progressed farthest in love; namely, that has its will in closest conformity with the will of God." (Ascent, Bk. II, Ch. 5, n.4) Total love postulates total sel'f-denial. Souls of the Teresian Carmel are called to a totalitg of looe. Asceticism of Carmel If the ideal of perfection is thus clearly set forth, the development of this ideal is no less evident in the writings of the Order. For the Carmelite, sanctity is to be reached by means of two practices: detach-ment and recollection, or, mortification and prayer. All the precepts of the Primitive Rule may be reduced to these. The central precept of the Rule: "Let each one remain in his celt; or hear it, meditating dag and nigh( on the law of the Lord, and watching in prager, unless otherwise jUStlg occupied, together with the prescribed recitation of the Divine Office and daily assistance at Mass, insure the primacy of prayer; while the precepts of poverty, fasting, abstinence, manual labor, silence, and humility form the background of mortification. Detachment is the negative element in the Carmelite program, ofwhich the Christian world today is perhaps overconscious. Too many spiritual men of our day have taken their impression of Carmel from the nothing, nothing, nothing of St. John of the Cross's map of perfection, forgetting th.at this nothing of detachment is dictated by the ALL of union with God. The saint who said to one of his peni-tents, "'Nothing, nothing, nothing, even to leaving our very skin and all else for Christ," (St. John of the Cross, Ft. Bruno, O.C.D., Ch.16.) was human and practical enough to realize that "unless the soul is enkindled with other and greater yearnings for that which is spiritual, it will be unable to throw off the yoke of nature or enter this night of sense, neither will it have the courage to remain in dark-ness as to all things.". (Ascent, Bk.I, Cb. X[V, n.2.) Austerity of life must be measured according to the strength of love. When love is strong, it will want to give much; when it is perfect, it will want to give all. (St: Teresa, Wag of Perfection, Cb. 32.) St. John of the Cross disavows any intention of trying to create a vacuum in the 284 November, 1951 TERESIAN CARMEL soul. As the soul is emptied of desire for creature satisfactions it is filled with desire for Christ. In fact, the saint recommends the culti-vation of an habitual desire for Christ before all else. "First, let him have an habitual desire to imitate Christ in everything that he does, conforming himself to His life." (Ascent,.Bk.I, Ch. 13, n.2) Father Gabriel finds it necessary to stress the order and discretion of St. John's treatment of this matter of detachment. "We think it. well to emphasize this advice of the Saint, for it shows how mistaken is the accusation which stigmatizes his doctrine as absolute and rigid. The principle of the necessity of complete detachment is absolute, but in its application the individual must take account of human weakness and needs. The man who would banish from his life every allevia-tion" and recreation would soon fall into a physical and moral weari-ness which would be detrimental to the spiritual life itself. Moreover, the pleasures of sense are' not always evil; there are pleasures which are perfectly innocent; but it is a question of not letting ourselves be-come attached to them. Otherwise we shall seek them in order to satisfy our own self-love, instead of using them for the benefit of our spiritual life and for the glory of God."~ (St. John of the Cross, Doctor of Divine Love and Contemplatign, p. 30, note.) Therefore, detachment is never made an end in itself. It is always looked upon as the instrument or means by which souls arrive at union with God in prayer. The most. important point of originality in the Teresian Reform was the intensification of mental prayer. St. Teresa herself introduced the two hours of mental prayer that are part of thd Car-melite day, and St. John of the Cross adopted the practice for the Fathers of the Reform. This interior prayer is the life of the vocal prayer and liturgy" of the Order, and is prolonged during the day in the.practice of the presence of God. Carmel does not view contemplation as an extraordinary grace, a quasi-miraculous favor reserved by God for a few privileged souls. "All who wear this holy habit of Carmel," proclaims St. Teresa, "are called to prayer and contemplation." (Interior Castle, Mans. V., -Ch.I, n.2.) In souls athirst for union with God, contemplation flourishes and becomes an instrument of progress on the way to per-fection and the crown of its perfect fulfillment. It is not to be confused with visions and revelations which Carmel; with St. John of the Cross, sees as extraordinary accompaniments of prayer and not in any way required in order to arrive at union with God. It is 285 FATHER THOMAS Ret~iew for Religious the teaching of the Teresian school of spirituality that contempla-tion is the normal development of the soul and postulates nothing more than the theological virtues and gifts of the Holy Spirit, ele-ments of the supernatural organism of the soul, the activation of which may be called connatural. This is not the place for a defense of the doctrine of acquired contemplation. Suffice it to say that in the Teresian school specula-tion upon contemplation has arisen from" a living contact with mystical facts and is directed immediately to the utility and guidance of contemplative souls. A contemplation which we can obtain by our human manner of working by means of the ordinary light of Faith and the ordinarg aids of grace (Quiroga, Don que tuao, Ch.I, p. 511.) has met with disfavor iri some circles, but a conciliatory spirit will find that the differences of various schools in this regard are little more than variations of terminology. (Cf. Gabriel, op. cir., p. 178, sqq.) Realization of Ideal Carmel's insistence upon prayer is made practical in the culti-vation of a personal love for Christ. Prayer is conceived as a friend-ship, and since the cultivation of friendship follows the laws of habit formation, each meditation is looked upon as a contact with Christ which, upon being repeated, soon results in deep esteem and strong love. This friendship inspired the Reform. "All I cared for then, as I do now, was that, as the enemies of God are so many and His friends so few, these latter might at least be devoted friends of Jesus Christ." (St. Teresa, Way .oF PerFection, Ch.I, n.2.) The Merciful Love of God manifested in the great mystery of the Incar-nation is the spiritual center of Carmel's spirituality. St. John of the Cross' insistence upon having an habitual desire to imitate Christ has been mentioned. This desire inspires a per-sistent search for God. Creatures cannot satisfy, for they are but traces of the divine. (St. John,, Spiritual Canticle, St. VII.) Con-tact with' Christ by way of faith in prayer brings the soul to the object of its search (Ibid. St. XII.), and then through suffering and the cross it penetrates and finds fruition in the "deep mysteries in the wisdom of God which are in Christ." (Ibid. St. XXXVI, n.2.) The progress of the soul through creatures to Christ, and through Christ to union with the Divinity is wonderfully traced by the Mystical Doctor. And we have only to .read his poem beginning, "How well I know the fount that freely flows, although 'tis night!" 286 Nooember, 1951 ¯ TERESIAN CARMEL to realize his tremendous appreciation for the Incarnation, and especially the real presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. It is in the Blessed Sacrament that the Carmelite finds the daily companion-ship that inspires divinefriendship. The tenderness and simplicity of this love shows itself in Carmel's devotion to the Infancy of Our Lord. St. Therese of the Child Jesu~ is a delightful reproduction in our day of all the deep strength of the Spanish Mystics. Witness her oblation to the Merciful Love of God and the power of her thought when describing, it. (Autobiography, Cb. VIII, p. 148.) The ambition of every worthy Carmelite is to be what St. Teresa of Avila termed a deooted friend of Christ. Another practical manifestation of Carmelite spirituality is a tender love for Mary. Carmel' glories in the title of Order of Our Lady, but thisis not a mere empty honor; it is given substance in a Marian life that is marked by three traditional characteristics: imi-tation, intimacy, and consecration. The Order looks upon Mary as "More Mother than Queen" (St. Therese, Autobiographg, Ch. XII.), models' it prayer life upon her simplicity and recollection, and considers every vocation a speciMly established relationship with the Mother of God. Furthermore, far from considering its Marian life as a hindrance to union with God, Carmel's teaching is that intimacy with Mary lends greater unction to the highest mysti?al union. (Cf. Michael of St. Augustine, The Mariform Life and Marian Life in Mar~t and for MaGt, Chs. XIII, XIV.) " Carmel has for seven centuries enjoyed the special protection of Our Lady through the Brown Scapular, and considers this garment a sign of its consecration to Mary. Total dedication of the Order to the Blessed Mother is indicated by its traditional motto: Totus Mari-anus est Carmelus. Apostolate This paper on the Spirituality of Carmel seems to demar~d a final word regarding the apostolate.' After passing from the Orient and the eremitical life of its cradle in Palestine, the Order became mendicant in the West and espoused in its vocation the apostolic life, preserving at all times a leaning towards contemplation and solitude. So completely has the contemplative dominated the active in "Car-mel, that the Order has always looked upon its prayer life as its first apostolate. The life of the Carmelite Nun is founded on the principle that prayer has an apostolic value. St. Teresa placed before her nuns the 287 FATHER THOMAS very militant function of aiding God's priests by their prayer and penance. "I think," she writes, "He prizes one soul which by His mercy, and through our diligence and prayer, we may have gained for Him, more than all the other services we can render Him." (Four~datiorls, Ch. I, n.7.) T.he Church has always considered con-templatives as the apostles of the apostles. Plus XI, writing about the work of the contemplatives, says, "It is easy to understand how they who assiduously fulfill the duty ot~ prayer and penance con-tribute more to the increase of the Church and the' welfare of man-kind than those who labor in the tilling of the Master's field. For unless the former drew down from heaven a shower of divine graces to water the field that is being tilled, the evangelical laborers would indeed reap from their toil a more scanty crop." (A. A. S., Oct. 25, 192.4.) The friends of Christ, therefore, obtain the greatest victories in the conquest of the world for Him. St. Thomas gives the theologi-cal reason for this in these words, ",lust as the man who lives in grace fulfills the will of God, it is fitting (cor~grttttro est). in this relation of friendship that God should fulfill the will of man by saving others.'" (Summa Tl~eol. Ia IIae, q. 114, a.6.) And St. ~lohn of the Cross puts it this way. "A little of this pure love is more fruitful for the Church than all external works." (SloiriutaI Canticle, B. St. 29, n.2.) Since priests of the Order exercise an exterior apostolate also, they must necessarily show the influence of- the ideal of divine intimacy fostered in Carmel. Carmelite priests have the particular mission of helping souls to lead a life of interior union with God. They must find themselves at home with the problems of spiritual direction. This does not mean that the priestly ministry of a Carmelite limits itself to interior souls, since the priest of God owes his generous and zealous efforts to the whol~ Chu}ch, not excluding sinners and infidels. But when St. ,lohn of the Cross converted a sinner, he did not rest content with bringing about a return to the state of grace., He tried to lead this soul to a fervent life. One saint can do more than a thousand mediocre souls, and the great Carmel-ite Salmanticenses call attention to the great joy that is given to the Heart of Christ by leading souls to higher sanctity. (Curstts Theol. Tract. XIX De Caritate, disp. V, n. 93.) 288 The Peace ot: Christ: Thomas A. O'Connor, S.J. WHAT is the peace of Christ? What is this peace which Christ comes to give? Immediately there flashes on the screen of our minds the scene of that first Christmas. "While all things were in quiet silence and the night was in the midst of her course, Thy Almighty Word leaped down from Heaven from Thy Royal Throne" (Wisdom 18: 14). We see the shepherds on the hillside guarding their flocks. "Suddenly the glory of God shone round about them . and an angel said to them, '. behold I bring you good news of great joy which shall be to all the people; for there has been born to you today in the town of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign to you; you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with" the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth among men of good will.' " . With haste we go with the shepherds, and we find Mary and Joseph, and the Infant lying in the manger. "A Child is born to us, and a Son is given to us and the government is upon His shoulder: and His Name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, God the. Mighty, the Father of the World to coine, the Prince of Peace" (Is. 9:6). God is the God of Peace (I Cot. 14:13), and His Son, the Prince of Peace. As He in prospect looked forward from His crib to the days of His earthly life, so we in retrospect look back to His thirty-three years amongst us. He has come, Zachary prophesied, "to guide our-feet in the way of peace" (Luke 1:79). Time and again His sacred lips would speak those most consoling words, "Go in peace." His first greeting to His assembled disciples after His resurrection was "'Peace be to you!" As Peter later testifies (Acts 10:36) "God sent his word to the children of Isgael, preaching peace through Jesus Christ." At the Last Supper, as the shadows of His earthly life were deepening, He revealed to His closest followers the secrets of His Sacred Heart, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not 289 THOMAS A. O'CONNOR Review/or Religious as the world gives, do ! give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid." And at the conclusion of that beautiful dis-course He summed up the purpose He had in mind in the many thoughts He had communicated to them, "These things I have spoken to you that in me you may have peace." What is the peace of Christ? This peace which He comes to give? God is the God of peace because He is Love Itself, and He wishes to make all partakers of His love. "For I know the thoughts that I think towards you," saith the Lord, "thoughts of peace and not of affliction" (Jer. 29:11). St. Paul says, "For God is a God of. peace, not of disorder" (I Cot. 14:33). Again, ". beat peace, and the God. of peace and love be with you" (I Cor. 13:11). "May the Lord of peace himself give you everlasting peace in every .place" (II Thess. 3:16). The peace of Christ can be considered in a three-fold way: 1. Christ is our peace in bringing us peace wi~h God; 2. Christ is our peace in giving us the means to be at peace with our fello;ccman ; 3. Christ is our peace in teaching us how to have peace within our own hearts. Peace, says St. Augustine, is the tranquillity of order. It is.that serenity and quiet calm that is of 'the very nature of perfect order. I. Peace with God Christ is our peace in' restoring the right order between sinful man and his Creator, by reconciling the sinner with his offended God. As our Redeemer, He, "the second Adam, atoned for the original sin of the head of the human race. "When we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son" (Rom. 5:10). He is th'e atoning Victim for our sins. "He is a propitiation for our sins, not for ours only but also for those of the whole world" (I John 2:2). The sinner cannot be at peace because his soul is at war with God. Mortal sin, we remember, is .the worst evil in the world, bu( let us not forget that the second greatest evil in the "world is venial sin. Christ is our peace in taking away our sins and the sins of the world. We are His peacemakers when by our prayers and sacrifices we help in bringing to the sinner the peace of Christ. As we gaze lovingly on the Infant Christ lying in His manger, let us recall the-words of St. Paul to the Colossians (1:15-21): "He is the image of the invisible God, the first born of every creature. 29O November, 1951 THE PEACE OF CHRIST ¯ For in him were created all things in the heavens and on the earth, things visible and things invisible., he is before all creatures, and in him all things subsist. For it has pleased God the Father that in him all his fullness should dwell, and that through, him he should reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in the heavens, making peace through his blood, shed on the cross." II. Peace with Our Fellow Man" Christ is our peace in re-establishing the proper order among men. This second kind of peace Christ left to the world by including men in the Mystical Body of Christ, and this in a two-fold way: First, Christ removed all barriers between nations and made them one. "You the Gentiles, says St. Paul (Eph: 2:12), "were at the time without Christ, excluded as aliens from the community of Israel. but now in Christ Jesus you, who were once 'afar off, have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For He Himself. is our peace, he it is who hath made both one, and has broken down the intervening wall. Therefore you are now no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are., members of the house-hold of God." Hence the peace of Christ does away with all barriers of race or nation or class of society. All have.been made one. "For He is our peace and has broken down the inter:;cening wall." Secondly, Christ is our peace in establishin, g right order among all men, because we have all been called into one.~.body-v-the Body of Christ. "For in one Spirit we are all baptized into one body. Now you are the Body of Christ, member for member" (I Cot. 12:12). "For just as in one body we have many members., so we, the many, are 6ne body in Christ. If it be possible, as far as in you lies, be at peace with all men" (Rom. 12:4). "Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ, that there be no dissention among you, but that you be perfectly united in one mind and in one judgment" (I Cot. 1:10)~. "Put on, there-fore, as God's chosen ones . a heart of mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, patience. Bear with one another and forgive one another ¯ . . but above all have charity, which is the bond of perfection. And may the peace of Christ reign in your hearts; unto that peace indeed you were called in one body" (Col. 3:12-15). III. Peace Within Our Own Hearts The third kind of peace which Christ brings us is peace within our own hearts. He offers to set up there a tranquillity of order over 291 THOMAS A. O'CONNOR Re~iew [or Religious the conflicting emotions and disturbing affections of our heart. This is the peace which He stresses in His discourse at the 'Last Supper. "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you; not as the world giveth to you, do I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled nor let it be afraid." Christ wishes to instil in the Apostles a calmness and courage for their coming trims. He wanted to impart to them some of His own peace of mind and strength of soul with which He was approaching His passion. This same serenity of mind, this unruffled calmness of .soul, this fearlessness in the face of physical suffering were to be needed by many a martyr. His words were for all His heroes who were to suffer and to die for Him down to the end of time. They were for a Mindzenty, for a Stepinac, ~or a Beran, and for the count-less unknown priests and religious languishing in prison today. "If they have persecuted me, they will persecute you also" (John 15: 20). i'These things I have spoken to you that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have affliction. But take courage, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). What is this peace of Christ? "This peace of Christ," says St. Augustine, "is serenity of spirit, tranquillity of soul, simplicity of heart, the bond of love, the consummation of charity." This peace of Christ is like a radiant star in the heavens, flashing to us its bright rays of inspiration and guidance. It is a multipointed star, brilliantly beckoning us to a full possession of the peace of Christ. For in the first place the peace which Christ would set up in our hearts comes from a perfect conformit~l to the u~ill of God. He the '.'Way, the Truth and the Life" has shown us the perfect way. "Thou hast fitted a body to me," He said, "behold I come to do thy will, O God" (Heb. 10:7). "For I bare come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me" (John 6:38). In the agony in the garden He pleaded with His Father to remove the cup of suffering but added: "yet not my will but thine be done" (Luke 22:42). Thus shall you pray: ". thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." (Matt. 6:10). The will of God is the highroad to happiness: His commands the blueprints of peace. "He who does the will of God abides forever" (I John 2: 17). As religious, we possess Christ's peace in our obedience. By obedience we put off our own wills to put on the will of God as declared to us by our superiors., to be possessed and governed by His Divine Providence by means of our superiors. "And if peace and 292 November, 1951 THE PEACE OI:: CHRIST tranquillity of mind is desired," adds St. Ignatius, "he certainly never shall arrive unto it, who has within himself the. cause of his disquiet and trouble, namely, the disagreeing of his own judgment from the law of Obedience." (Epistle on Obedience.) Secondly, Christ's peace comes to us from an unwavering trust in God's Divine Providence. For God's Divine Providence rules every-thing. Everything that takes place, happens not by chance but in accordance with the absolute or permissive will of God; and out of the circumstances of our lives, God draws, if we allow Him, an even greater good. For "not a sparrow will fall to the ground" without our heavenly Father's leave (Mr. 10:29). And "as for you" Christ says, "the very hairs of your head are numbered. Therefore do not be afraid" (Mr. 10:31). Again Our Lord says, "Therefore I .say to you,do not be anxious for your life., nor yet for your body. Your Father knows" what you need. "Seek first the kingdom of God and His justice, and all these things will be given you besides. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow" (Mt. 6:34). It is as if He were saying, live in the present;, love and serve God today; don't worry about the future; leave all that in the hands of your heavenly Father. St. Peter says: "Cast all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you" (5:7). St. Robert Bellarmine in an exhortation on the Providence of God says that this realization of God's Divine Providence will put us at complete rest. For we shall realize that God, knowing everything, is aware of what is both helpful and what is harmful to us. Conscious of God's power and His tender Fatherl~ love, we know that He will arrange everything for our good. With the Psalmist we can confidently say, "Even though I walk in the valley of death, I shall not fear" (Ps. 22). Thirdly, Christ's.peace comes to us from imitating His meekness and humility. "Learn of me," He says, "Who am meek and humble of heart and you shall find rest for your souls" (Mr. 11:29). Rest for our souls: peace, quiet of mind, tranquiIlity of heart. St. Am-brose, commenting on the causes of this lack of peace, compares this restlessness of heart to a fever which tosses us about, denying us all rest, burning within us. "This fever that afflicts us," he says, "is our selfishness; this fever is our lust; this fever is our ambition; this fever is our anger" (Com. on L. ch.4). Christ.promises us, if we imitate Him, pehce, rest for our souls. "Learn of Me who am meek": meekness controls th~ surges of anger, 293 THOMAS A. O'CONNOR Review for Religious bringing a tranquillity of order to our raging emotions. Learn of Me who am humble: humility establishes right order in thinking of ourselves. "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (Prov. 3:34). "If anyone thinks himself to be something, whereas he is nothing, he deceives himself" (Gal. 6:3). "He who humbles himself as this little child, he is the grefitest in the kingdom of heaven" (Mt. 18:4). "Unless you become like little children, you shall n. ot enter the kingdom of heaven." (Ibid.) "I therefore exhort you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all humility and meekness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, careful to preserve the unity of the Spiri't in the bond of peace" (Eph. 4:4). "Do nothing out of con-tentiousness or out of vainglory, but in humility let each one regard the others as his superiors, each one looking not to his own interests but to thdse of others. Have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who though, he was by nature God, did not consider being equal to God a thing to be clung to, but emptied himself, taking the nature of a slave, and being made like unto men" (Phil. 2:3-7). Fourthly, the peace of Christ is increased in our hearts as we become more and more unselfish, more and more Christlike. Un-selfishness cuts at the very tap'root of a thousand anxieties and frus-trations which are the bitter fruits of a life of self-seeking. We must put off our old selves to put on Christ. All selfishness must go. "Charity," says St. Paul, "is not self-seeking" (I Cor: 13:5). "For Christ did not please himself" (Rom. 15:3). Christ sought not himself in anything. "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30) must be our motto until each of us can say with St. Paul (Gal. 2:20), "It is no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me." Christ said, "My peace I give to you." In proportion, then as we are like Christ, in that same proportion we possess His peace. Fifthly, the peace of Christ floods our souls, in proportion as our hearts are filled with the love of. God and our neighbor. Christ said, "I am the vine, you the branches. As the'Father loved me, I also have loved you. Abide in my love" (John 15:10). "Do not love the world," says St. John, "or the things in the world" (I John 2:13). Again in the same Epistle, "He who does not love, does not know God; for God is love" (4:8). "No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us" (4:12). "And this commandment we have from him, that he who 294 November, 195 l THE PEACE OF CHRIST loves God should love his brother also" (4:21). "Jesus said, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul and with thy whole mind.' This is the greatest and the first commandment. And the second is like it, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself' " (Mr. 22:37). As we gaze in loving adoration at the scene in the cave of Beth-lehem, we see primarily and above all a scene of peace. It is the peace of Christ, the peace which the Prince of Peace came to give, the peace which the world cann6t give. We see that peace reflected in the kindly face of the strong, self-possessed, mild-mannered Joseph. XT~re see that peace resplendent in the radiantly pure features of Mary Immaculate. That peace was theirs when at Nazareth they heard the disap- .pointing news that a census was to be taken, that all must register, each in his own town. That peace was theirs during the long hours of that wearisome, four or five day journey to Bethlehem, to the town of David.,That peace was theirs even when they heard the crushingly discouraging "No room" as they unsuccessfully sought for shelter. That peace was still theirs when, abruptly awakened at a midnight hour by a fear-inspiring message, they hurried away to a foreign land to save the life of the Child from those who sought to destroy Him. That peace was theirs because their wills were .al.ways perfectly conformed to the Will of God, Sbedient to His every wish. 'That peace was theirs because they trusted unreservedly in the guidance of God's loving Providence. That peace was theirs because, being truly meek and humble of heart, they had found rest for their souls. That peace was theirs because they were utterly finselfish. That peace was theirs because they loved God with their whole heart and their neighbor for the love of God. "So may the peace ot: God, which surpasses all our thinking, watch over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:7). OUR CONTRIBUTORS ~ FATHER THOMAS, O.C.D., is novice master in the Carmelite novitiate, Brook-line, Massachusetts. THOMAS A. O'CONNOR is president of St. Mary's College, St. Marys, Kansas, and FRANCIS N. KORTH, AUGUSTINE KLAAS, and GERALD KELLY are on the faculty of the same theologate. JAMES LOCKETT is studying philosophy at Springhill College, Mobile, Alabama. 295 Secular Inst:il:ut:es Francis N. Korth, S.J. ON FEBRUARY 2, 1947, Pope Plus XII issued an Apostolic Constitution Provida Mater Ecclesia which crystallized a movement that had been developing in the Church for more than fifty years. By his action the Holy Father gave official recogni-tion to a new juridical state of perfection, namely secular it~stitutes.I In a separate article the juridical nature of these institutes will be considered. For the present let us take a brief look at the history of secular institutes. During the past century it became more and more evident that there were certain types of apostolate which could not be carried on easily by religious because of their distii~ctive garb and cloistered life. For this reason the Daughters of the Heart of Mary, an institute without common life and a di.stinctive habit, was founded in Paris about 1790. It received the decree of praise from Rome on April 29, 1853, and definitive approbation four years later on April 24. It~ constitutions were temporarily approved for ten years on May 30, 1870, with final approbation being given on June 8, 1890 (at which time the institute numbered over two thousand members). An insert in the constitutions mentioned that the institute's vows were neither public nor simply private vows of devotion. A similar organization of men, the Work of Youth, was estab-lished at Marseilles on June 24, 1821, by Father Joseph Allemand. Some of its members lived in their own homes' and engaged in vari-ous occupations in the world. There existed also other groups of a like character, such as the Virgins of Jesus and Mary (founded in 1844), the Daughters of Mount Calvary (1866), and the Sister Servants of Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist (1867). On August 11, 1889, the Sacred .Congregation of Bishops and Regulars in its decree Ecclesia CathoIica stated that societies which did not'conform to the traditional common life and characteristic garb would not be recognized as religious congregations or 9rders, but only as pious sodalities. Such a step was taken because of the 1There are three such recognized states of perfection at present, namely religious in-stitutes, societies of common life, and secular institutes. These constitute a threefold category of the juridical state of perfection to-be-acquired. This latter is not to be confused with the juridical state of perfection acquired, of which the episcopate is the example. 296 November, 1951 SECULAR INSTITUTES increasing number of "unorthodox" institutes. However, even after this decree, approval as religious was granted to the Lady Catechists (Novem~ber 21, .1907) who dress" as laywomen, and to the extern Sisters of the Congregation of the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Venerable Catherine Volpicelli (3uly 5, 1911) who live in the world. Similarly or~ December 1, 1916, the Sisters of Our Lady of Labor received the nihil obstat to canonical establishment. Mean: while, .in 1911 the constitutions of the Sbciety of the Daughters of Saint Francis de Sales were approved, in which it was stated that the Society was not to be considered as a religious congregation. During the first decade and a half of our present century, while the work on the compilation of the Code of Canon Law was in progress, consideration was given to this new type of institute whose members live in the world, but the time was not yet'ripe for an offi-cial pronouncement; hence the Code made no mention of them. These associations, however, were multiplying. They numbered clerics and lay persons, men and women; the lay element was pre-dominant. As the problem became more urgent, a deeper study of the ques- .tion was made. During the International 3uridical'.Co.ngress held in Rome in 1934, a change of policy was indicated "by Cardinal La Puma, at that time Secretary of the Sacred Congregation of Religious. As a result, approval of their constitutions and recognition as true religious was granted to the Work of Youth, of Marseilles (April, 1933) and to the School Missionaries of Saint Catherine of Siena (April, 1934). At that same International Juridical Congress, Father Servus Goyenecbe, C.M.F., made a fervent plea for the devel-opment and recognition of the new type of institute (Acta Congres-sus Iuridici lnternationali's (1934) IV, Rome, 1937, page 315). In accordance with a request of the Holy Father, Plus XI, the Sacred Congregation of the Council was maki.ng a special study of the problem. Under its auspices a meeting was held in 1938 at Saint Gall, Switzgrland, with Father Augustine Gemelli,' O.F.M., pre-siding. At least twenty-five associations, mostly of a lay character, took part. About the same time a detailed examination of the entire question was being made by Father Arcadius Larraona, C.M.F. (now Secretary of the Sacred Congregation of Religious) in conner-ton with the application for papal approval of the constitutions the Sisters of Our Lady of Labor. Both the Holy Office and the Sacred Congregation for Religious 297 FRANCIS N. KORTH were interested in the study of this matter. Favorable progress was reported. A special Commission for a final review was set up. The result of all these protracted labors was the above-mentioned0Consti-tution Provida Mater Ecclesia. What about the present condition of these new institutes? How many have been approved? In what countries? From various sources I have been ableto gather the following details. I believe they are quite reliable, but I cannot vouch for their perfect accuracy. Up to March, 1950, the number of applications received in Rome both for permission to establish diocesan secular institutes as well as for the decree of praise for an institute already established totaled ninety-eight. Three-fourths of the applications came from institutes of women. Of the institutes of men, tWO-fifths were clerical. Dioc-esan secular institutes already established numbered twenty-two. Of ninety-seven applications for the years 1948-1949, the breakdown as to countries was as follows: Austria 4, Belgium 4, Canada 1, Colombia 3, France 12, Germany 9, Holland 2, Hungary 1, Italy 45, Mexico 4, Poland 1, Rumania 1, Spain 8, Switzerland. 1, Uru-guay 1. Definitive pontifical approvhl has been granted to five secular in-stitutes: the Opus Dei (Madrid), the Missionaries of the Kingship of Christ (Milan), the Institute of Qur Lady of Labor (Paris), the Company of Saint Paul (Milan), and the Daughters of the Queen of the Apostles. I shall say a little more about the first four. of these institutes. In the United States a branch of the Opus Dei has been estab-lished in Chicago. Canada has at least two secular institutes: the Society of Missionary Nurses (women), founded at Montreal in 1942 by Monsignor Edgar Larochelle; ,and the Society of Lay Apostles of the Missions (24 McDougall, Ottawa, Ontario). Some other organizations reported as secular institutes include the follow-ing: Carmelites of Our Lady of Life (Avignon, France), Compan-ions of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus (Lugano, Switzerland), the Company of the Child God (Antioquia, Colombia), Disciples of the Lord (Monterrey, Mexico), Dominican Institute of Jesus Cruci-fied (Orleans, France), the Institute of Our Lady of the Way (Vi-enna, Austria), Secular Institute of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Kent, England), the Society of Parish School Teachers (Saho, Uruguay), Teaching and Nursing Society (Lucknow, India). So much for the general picture. Now a word more about those 298 Nouember, 1~ 1 SECULAR INSTITUTES ¯ first four Secular institutes that received pontifical status. 1. Opus De[. The institute was founded in Madrid on October 2, 1928,. by Monsignor dos~ Maria Escriv~i d~ Balaguer. Its full name is Sacerdotal Society of the Holy Cross and'Opus Dei. The Sacerdotal Society is clerical, while the Opus Dei is composed of lay-men. The Opus Dei has two sections, one for men and the other for women (thi~ latter was started in 1930). The two sections are absolutely separated, so that they are really two completely different institutes, each with its own government. The Opus Dei was the first secular institute to obtain papal approval. It received the decree of praise on February 24, 1947, and on dune 16 of the past Holy Year (1950) the decree of final approbation. (To avoid confusion it might be welI to state that according to the current practice of the Sacred Congregation the steps ofapproba-tion are the following: (1) decree of praise of the institute (not merely a quasi or partial decree of praise), (2) approbation of the institute, (3) provisional approval of the constitutions, (4) possible renewal of temporary approval, and (5) final approbation of the in-stitute and of the constitutions. But probably more than one of these steps will be taken at one and the same time. In any case, with the decree of praise the institute becomes papal.) Opus Dei has as its general purpose the sanctification of its mem-bers by the practice of the three evangelical counsels and the observ-ance of its constitutions. One of its specific works is to spread the faith and encourage a life of evangelical p~rfection among all social classes or grades of society, ~nd especially among intellectuals. Members of Opus Dei are not religious, have no community life (for the most part they live in their own homes, though sometimes a number have a house in common), take no public vows, and do not wear a distinctive garb. (These are general characteristics of any secular institute.) The members live and act as other faithful in the world do. They dress as others in their own profession or grade of society. Their numbers include nobles, peasants, lawyers, business-men, doctors, professors, students, politicians, members of parliament, and cabinet officials. The. institute allows its members perfect free-dom in their professional work, financial activities, social or political doctrines, and in similar matters, provided of course that they act in conformity with Catholic faith and morals. Charity plays an im-portant role in the spirit of this institute. The members are to live in the world without being of the world. Hence they carry on the 299 FRANCIS N. KORTH Ret~iew for Religious apostolate also in quarters which are banned to priests and religious. The Spanish Opus Dei was built around a core of university stu-dents. Groups of one hundred were formed. Some lived in their own homes, going daily to their office or professional work. The Spanish Opus Dei has received permission to work in all parts of the world. It spread to Ireland, Italy, Mexico, and South America, and has a branch in Chicago. 2. Missionaries of the Kingship of Christ (Milan). This or-ganization was. founded on November 19, 1919, by a grgup of ¯ twelve young women who were Franciscan tertiaries. Directed by Father Augustine Gemelli, O.F.M.~ the society under the above title spread throughout Italy as if merely a branch of Franciscan tertiaries. In 1945 papal approval as a canonical pious association was received and the statutes were approved for five years. Having developed ac-cording to the pattern required for secular institutes, the new institute received papal approval (decree of praise and a15proval of its new constitutions for three years) on July 12, 1948. That made it the second secular institute so approved. It numbers about two thou-sand. In its ranks can be found doctors, nurses, government emr ployees, and members of the I'talian.Chamber of Deputies. The two principal purposes of the institute are the sanctification of the members through striving after evangelical perfection, and zeal. in starting new apostolic works or promoting established ones. In particular and in conformity with the internal disciplne of the insti-tute and of the other works in which they are engaged, the members should be active in Catholic Action, assist pontifical and diocesan apostolic works under the direction of tl'ieir superiors, and take part in other apostolic works. The Franciscan spirit is the guiding light of the institute. 3. Institute of Our Lady of Labor. This French secular insti-tute was ~he third to receive papal approval. It was founded as the Sisters of Our Lady of Labor in 1904 at Lyons, France, by Miss Rochebillard under the direction of Father Anthony Eymieu, S.J. It had received the nibil obstat to canonical establishment as a religious congregation on December 1, 1916. The actual establishment was made by the Archbishop of Paris, Cardinal Amette, on October 31, 1917. The organization had two sections: one leading a common life in houses of the institute, and the other living in their own homes in the world. The present secular institute has a motherhouse in Paris. 4. Company of Saint Paul. This institute was founded on No- 300 THE WAY OF SIMPLE LOVE vember 17, 1920. Its purpose is the social apostolate. On June 30, 1950, the decree of praise was bestoWed. So much for the numerical data. As to the types of apostolic work in which secular institutes are engaged, there is great variety. Catholic Action, social work, helping pastors, carrying on the apos-tolate in various professions and jobs are some general categories. The constitutions of each institute would have to be consulted for its specific works. A concluding word. To avoid inopportune restrictions on the development of secular institutes, the Sacred Congregation of Reli-gious has refrained from issuing complete and definitive norms for these new institutes. Aside from the essentials, therefore, the matter is still in .the process of settling down and jelling. There are prob-ably a good numbgr of'organizations which are gradually adapting themselves to the broad outlines given for secular institutes in the Provida Mater Ecclesia. The 'N X/'ay of. Simple Love James Lockett, S.J: WE MUST NOT be disturbed at what goes on beyond bur wills outside the inner recess of Our hearts. At times our lower nature will be disturbed by anger, at other times pride, at other tim~s carnal love, at other times sickness, at other times vain-glory, at other times love of our opinion; at times combinations of these at once; and at times the lower nature will be at peace. But we do not have to wait for these respites to love God. Amidst all these things the one who loves God should joyously and peacefully live with God in his heart. These things--they come and go, boil up and die away, but our life need not be one of turmoil. It should be hidden with Christ in God. And it would seem to me that the way to fight all these things is essentially the same, namely, the way of simp.le love. Let them come and go! What difference does it make? We should glory in our infirmities, for when we feel weak, then we should be strongekt of all, because then we may all the more confi-dently and easily place all our strength where it belongs, in Gbd who is our All. By the why "~'f simple lov~ in fighting alltemptations I do not 301 JAMES LOCKETT mean to say that those spiritual writers are completely wrong when they say we should fight temptations against purity by a course oppo-site to that which we use against pride, because the courses of action they advise seem all right in both cases. But I say that they are wrong in saying that they are opposite courses, thus needlessly and harmfully complicating oub lives; really the methods they give are essentially the same" course in either case. Are we tempted to im-purity? Go away from it to the infinite Good. There we shall begin to see the greater value of the true Good and after a while the storm shall pass and the One Good shall draw us away from the other "good." Are we tempted to pride? Go away from it to the infinite Good! There we shall see the truth and the beauty and the wondrousness of humility and how b~r loving our nothingness we possess infinity. And after a while the storm shall pass and the One Good will draw us from the other "good." Are we tempted to love our opinion inordinately, are we tempted to desire not to feel bad? Whatever we are tempted to, we can go away from it to the Truth, to the infinite Good. We must put our life there, hidden with Christ in God. See how simple our life should be! It is the way. of simple love. All these complications do not represent the Spirit of our Master, flowing from the gospel. I do not mean when I say "go away to the infinite Good" that we can feel Him whenever we wish. Rather I mean in simple little peace we must unite our wills to Him, Whd "dwells in our hearts, and in simple little faith look toward Him, and He will do the rest. Perhaps soon He will make the storm stop, per-haps He will let it last a while. It doesn't matter. Storm or no storm, we will be pleasing Him and making Him smile, and we will be protected in His arms. So you see, life should not be complicated but simple. It~ is not our Lord's will that we go through the pilgrimage without the devil and our lower nature acting up. How else could we merit so that we may be eternally near Him and possess Him? But let us, in little simple love, glory in our infirmities and while using what legitimate natural means we can to shu~ the devil's mouth, trustingly go away to Jesus and Mary, living away from all these things in the interior of our hearts, where the inmost will which we can always control lies. Then the devil and our lower nature will never hurt us no matter how hard they tug at our wills, but we will increase in sanctifying grace and in our power against them along the simple road of peace. 302 Current Spiri!:u l Writing Augustine Klaas, S.3. ¯ From La Vie des Communaut~s Retigieuses-- THIS Franciscan pubIication devotes its February 1951 number to a practical summary of the first International Convention of Studies.on the States of Perfection. It was held in Rome, from November 27 to December 7, 1950, and was attended by a large number of eminent priests and religious from all over the world. After Pope Pius XII's introductory letter of approbation and direction, and the last part of Cardinal Micara's opening discourse on the ,exigencies of modern times and how religious institutes are to meet them by reforms and adaptations, VCR gi4es an outline descrip-tion of the various sessions of the convention. The general division of the topics on the .program was threefold: (1) the renewal and adaptation of life and discipline in the various states of perfection; (2) the renewal and adaptation of the states of perfection with reference to the instruction and training of members; (3) the renewal -and adaptation of the states of perfection in their ordinary and extra-ordinary apostolates. As was to be expected, the speakers and ~ctive participants on the program were mainly members of religious insti-tutes, but there were also quit~ a few diocesan priests and some lay-men. No nuns were on the speakers' list. VCR then prints a section ot: the final aIlocution of Cardinal Micara, the closing discourse of Pius XII on the concept of the reli-gious life, and lastly the Apostolic Constitution Sponsa Christi. I confine myself here to expressing the concluding remarks spoken by Most Reverend Arcadius Larraona, C.M.F., secretary for the Sacred Congregation for Religious, and the resolutions of the convention, ¯ formulated by the Capuchin, Father Agatangelo da Langasco, secre-tary of the convention. This information in VCR I supplement from L'Osservatore Romano for December 9 and I 0, 1950. Father Larraona states that one of the objectives of the conven-tion was to neglect no facet of the subject, thus giving the convention a note of universality. This objective was achieved. Certain results he says, have already been attained. The proceedings of the conven- 303 AUGUSTINE KLAAS Reoieto for Reliqious tion, which are to be published later, will give an account of many other good results. Of the greatest value was the' attachment of reli-gious to and union of mind and heart with the Sovereign Pontiff, the highest superior ot? religious, who grants the status of public law to each religious institute (Canon 499, no. I). Also in evidence was the union of thought, affection, and intention of religious with the local bishops in activities of a local naturg; and finally, the under-standing, union, and mutual collaboration of religious with the dioc-esan clergy. The autonomy of every religious family is necessary for its development, its discipline, and its usefulness, but exemption with regard to external things may be interpreted more or less strictly, depending on the nature of the work being done. Catholic Action must be aided and supported, but within the limits of religious discipline. Religious must engage in Catholic Ac-tion according to the general and special directives of the Holy See. Using these directive.s they must also animate their own particular associations. The adaptation proposed by the convention must rest on a solid foundation, namely, on the primacy of doctrinal and ascetical values in the ideal religious life. This primacy has two basi~ pivots: the toows, about, which revolves the whole of religious asceticism; and common life in both its material and formal senses. Also, the internal forum has the primacy over the external. Superiors must understand that confidence in them is not imposed from without but inspired from within. There is another primacy, the primacy of the specific purpose of each religious family, with its consequent fidelity to what is essential and adaptability in what is only accidental, This specific purpose must be re-thought and re-lived according to modern times. The .adaptation of the apostolate necessarily implies co-ordination with the diocesan clergy and with local organizations. The resolutions of the convention, read by Father Agatangelo, are as follows: 1) that an effective c~usade be organized to. preach the 3ubilee now extended to the whole world; 2) that afterwards there be established in Rome a bureau of co-ordination between the diocesan and religious clergy; 3) that a center for the training of spiritual directors and spir-itual masters (such as masters and mistresses of novices, etc.) be set up; 4) that a center of literary studies be founded to train teachers 304 ~Novernber, 1951 CURRENT SPIRITUAL WRITING for the schools of r~ligious; 5) that, for the purpose of, putting into practice the resolutions and adaptations of the convention; there be more frequent and regu-lar contact between religious superiors and the Sacred Congregation for Rel~gious, and that conventions within the various religious fami-lies be encouraged; 6) that, to preserve union and fraternity, there be instituted a liturgical Feast"of all the Holy Founders; 7) that there be a greater exchange among religious of certain elements of particular law, such as administrative experiences, law practices, and the like; 8) that there be published additional volumes of the Collectanea $. C. de Relioiosis and that pontifical documents on the subject of adaptation be collected; 9) that a s~udy institute of prac6cal administration be inaug-urated under the auspices of the Sacred Congregation for Religious; 1.0) that in all humility the Sovereign Pontiff be asked to issue a solemn document condemning the errors which are being spread con-cerning the state of perfection and giving clear and precise directives for the desired adaptations. From SuppHment de La V~ie Spirit~telle-- The S~ppl~ment for February 15, 1951 gives the content of three interesting reports to the Convention of Religious in Rome, men-tioned above. These reports will be reprinted later on inthe Acta of the convention. They contain practical examples and suggestions for the renewal of the state of perfection and its adaptation to mod-ern times. While the authors have in mind primarily the religious of France, perhaps also thos~ of Europe, yet many of their observations have a much wider if not universal application. At any rate, these rep.orts give a good idea of some of the things discussed at this all-" important assembly of religious, convoked under the auspices of the Sacred Congregation for Religious at the bidding of the Pope. I~t should be noted that these are merely samples of many reports made to the convention, and digesting them here we are not necessarily ex-pressing approval of all the suggestions. The first report is by Father A. PlY, O.P., co-editor of La Vie Sloirit~elie, and has for its subject renewal and adaptation with spe-cial reference to government of religious and the observance of the,. 305 AUGUSTINE KLAAS Rev[eto for Religfou~ vows. Before presenting his suggestions f.or adaptation, Father PI4 lays .down three important principles which he thinks should be guides in this delicate matter: 1) The main objective sought is a renewal of "spirit, or rather a re-vivifying of the letter of the law by the spirit. Changes of" consti-tutions and rules are something entirely secondary, and should be confined to points of secondary importance. 2) Old established orders and congregations are not to be replaced by certain new forms of the religious state which have appeared in recent years, or by secular institutes. However, some elements of these new types of religious life can be beneficial, if adopted and ap-plied prudently by the older orders and congregations. 3) Adaptation and renewal refer only to means, not to ends. Mod-ern times and conditions require the use of certain specific means and not of others, which may have been more practical in other times and circumstances no longer obtaining. Suggestions Affecting Gooernment Wth these three general principles in mind, Father PI~ makes five suggestions of adaptation and }enewal affecting government a'nd the laws of religious institutes. 1) Cloister. Contemplatives should retain their cloister essen-tially just as i~ is. On the other hand, institutes that have the active apostolate for their purpose, particularly of women (e. g. teachers, nurses, catechists), would profit greatly by the removal or modifica- ' tion of what is called "semi-cloister," and thus be able to accomplish more efficiently the apostolate for which they. were founded. In this connection may be mentioned the religious habit, which separates the religious from the world. There is no thought of suppressing this distinctive reIigious gar.b, but some habits, especially of nuns, could be simplified, in order to put them more in accord with poverty and with present circumstances, notably in mission countries, and also "better adapted to local conditions and climate. Furthermore, visits with the family are today looked upon with less severity than for-merly, as opportunities of parents to visit their children in religion become more frequent and the parents themselves became a part, as it were, of the religious community of their children. Also visits to parents are more readily granted, so that religious may fulfill their filial duties. These trends seem to be in the right direction. 2) Fraternal Charitg and Common Life. There is a greater de-mand today among religious for fraternal charity and common life, 306 November, 1951 "CURRENT SPIRITUAL WRITING manifested by sharing responsibilities, apostolic work and those unsougl~t-after tasks done for the common good, and more particu-larly by rediscovering the fruits of common fraternal charity in the conventual Mass and Office in choir. 3) Coadjutor Brothers and Sisters. The dearth of vocations to be coadjutors of various kinds has focused attention on the two "classes" of religious. Some congregations have abolished their co-adjutor group outright, while more try to reduce to a minimum the" differences between the two classes, on the points of religious habit,. prayer, training, and even work. 4) Government and Formation ot: Religious. Religious are being trained more and more for positions of responsibility and gov-ernment. In certain places local superiors, summoned to the mother-house, are instructed for a month in the duties of their new office. Masters and mistresses of novices are taking special courses designed to help them solve the problems of their office. Likewise, religious subjects are being educated and formed more and more by means of special classes, conventions, and institutes for religious. Also a fine spirit of collaboration on common projects is being shown by the various religious orders and congregations. 5) Physical and Mental Hygiene. Cleanliness has been im-proved, the means to it better provided for, and pe[mission to use the means is now granted more liberally than in former times. Present-day city life and various social upheavals seem to have serious reper-cussions on nervous balance and stability. More sleep is required and adjustments are being made along this line by religious. The hour of rising and retiring is aIso being set more in accord with modern customs. Contemplatives and the novices of active institutes are being granted occasions for relaxing the nerves. Physical exercise every day, as well as more strenuous games during recreation, are being intro-duced, as also periods of manual work, and entire days of relaxation. Vacations for strenuous workers have been found helpful. To be praised is the heroism of some superiors in refusing to accept new missions, new fields of labor, etc., when their subjects are already overl~urdened and taxed to the limit. Such over-worked .religious cannot do their tasks well and, what is mbre serious, suffer spiritually because ,they cannot do the prayer and spiritual exercises prescribed by their constitutions, thus failing victims of an unwise "activism." Regarding the Wows Father PI~ then takes up the three vows, after first saying a word 307 !~UGUSTINE KLAAS Reaieu~ for Religious about religious discipline. Young people ~oday have a high regard for sincerity. Empty conformity and routine, external action that is not .the spontaneous expression of a deep, personal, religious life,. seem odious to them. Hence, when the material practice of a minor rule becomes a serious breach of its spirit and of charity, generous youth is shocked. Although this desire in the young for "truth". must be purified, still it does have its origin in the Gospels. Hence, some novice-masters are training their charges by showing how each rule and observance is really linked up with the Gospels. This is something very opportune today. Also, it is a sign of a deep under-standing of, the rule that some communities no longer consider it necessarily a sacrilege to suggest a change or modification of their constitutions. Certai'nly wisdom and holiness are required to make such changes but it is not wisdom and holiness to refuse a priori any change whatever. This is more in evidence still when there is ques-tion ¯ of the custom book. Some recent religious congregations" of women, for fear of becoming frozen to their custom book, ,have stipulated in their constitutions that they will have none at all. Many others are seriously revising and adapting their custom books to present circumstances. 1) Vow of Pouertq. The most serious problems of adaptation today concern the vow of poverty. Economic conditions in the world have so changed and developed that poverty itself and the con- ~cept of poverty are not the same any more as they were in former cen-turies. Poverty is essentially a liberation and an imitation of the poor Christ, but it must also conform to poverty as it is really prac-ticed by the poor. H~nce there are trends towards sharing the inse-curity of tl~e poor, towards living in smaller communities and thus avoiding large buildings, which give the impression of wealth, towards doing as the poor of the vicinity do, for example, by sending the sick to the hospital and even to the common wards in the hos-pital. Contemplatives in particular are facing acute financial diffi-ties at present and they are solving them b'y doing work for which they are paid. These problems of poverty are being carefully studied. 2) Vow of Obedience. The reproach is sometimes made that the vow of obedience promotes childishnes and, immaturity, that it does not allow for a proper "development of personality." However that may be, it is true that obedience must be solidly grounded dog-matically, the judgment must be rightly formed, and the virtue of prudence must be exercised. Obedience should be a school of ma- 3O8 November, 1951 CURRENT SPIRITUAL WRITING turity. Obedience is a holocaust, but not less a human act. 3) Vow of Chastity. There is scarcely anything that could be changed here. Considerable !mprovement has been made in giving young religious before their vows the necessary information on this subject, psychological more than anatomical. This instruction is not complete unless there is filso given young religious sonde idea of the Christian beauty of chastity and its exceptional value as a means to perfection. Of Spfritual Means In the second report Father Reginald Omez, O.P., makes some pertinent suggestions on adaptation and renewal in the realm of spir-itual means. 1) Vocal and Mental Prayer. In recent years the faithful have come more and more to understand and appreciate the liturgy. They are gradually centering their devotion on the Mass and Office. Often they actively participate in the Mass. Religious must not obstruct but rather co-operate and join in this return to the great traditional devotion of the past, and hence they should adapt their customs accordingly. Making use of the vernacular: shortening the long vocal prayers, choosing prayers of significance,--these are the things they must do, rather than continue monotonous, endless repetition ° of litanies, Paters, and Aves. ¯ The Office of the Blessed Virgin or the Rosary with its.mysteries is a good substitute for long, vocal prayers whose content belongs perhaps to another age. Mental prayer must always' be emphasized, but it should be given a more doctrinal con-tent. There is a happy return to the Holy Scriptures and the liturgi-cal books for mental prayer. " Su'rely improvements can be made on the questionable practice of reading aloud'the points, of meditation from a book, a relatively recent practice among religious. 2) Examination of Conscience. Today there is some opposi-tion to the examination of conscience among young religious, who consider self-examination something morbid, egocentric, and harm-ful. They dislike certain outmoded formulas Of examination; they detest casuistry and moralizing. They like to follow the inspiration of the moment; they say it is the intention and the charity perme-ating the act that really count and all the rest is of little importance. The examination of conscience must be retained, but the manner of doing it can be brought more up-to-date and improved by making use of the light of modern psychology and customs and by employing the better understanding we have today of modesty, humility, obedi- 309 AUGUSTINE KLAAS for Religious ence, and other virtues. 3) Mortification and Penance. Penance and mortification will always be necessary means for holiness and for the apostolate. They cannot be entirely replaced by the apostolate. However, certain types of corporal penances, seem to be no longer adapted to piesent-day temperaments or living conditions. Physically the young today are capable of great effort and fatigue when urged on by various motives, such as war. It is on the mental and nervous side that the modern tempo of life takes its toll. For this reason, more sleep is needed. Penances, therefore, that would impair mental hygiene or harm the nerves should be avoided. Also, some forms of penance are consid-ered more or less silly by the young today or at least hard to {~nder-stand. For these, others should be substituted that are more in con-formity with the generous spirit of the youth of today: for example, the giving up of certain bourgeois comforts among religious, com-forts which were suitable to another age. Furthermore, young men, used to army life, are sometimes surprised and scandalized by the soft 'comforts and conveniences found in religious houses, things that they had long ago given up. It seems that modern penance sb, ould be in the direction of work for others, manual labor, especially the menial tasks of doing the dishes, etc., where there is little risk of the sort of pride that often goes with spectacular and attention-draWing penances. 4) Retreats. Retreats are very much needed today, as well as days of recollection. .It seems that they should not be overburdened with too many exercises, but that there should be more time for the personal task of reflection and contemplation. 5) Recreation. Recreation must relax the nerves. Religiotis given to a sedentary life must be allowed suitable athletic games to exercise their muscles. Many dit~iculties of health, morality, and sp'irituality arise from the lack of normal physical development. Modern inven-tions, such as movies, radio, and television, can be used prudently for recreation, instruction, and information. Of course, the religious spirit must not suffer from these things; hence, superiors must be vigilant to correct abuses. A Year of Transition The third report is made by Father Daniel Albers, O.M.I., who suggests for all active apostolic orders and congregations a year of transition from the quiet life of the seminary to the busy ministry. This year would be the equivalent of the tertianship of the Society of. 31o November, 195 l CURRENT SPIRITUAL WRITING Jesus and. of similar practices, in some other religious institutes. The objective of such a transition.period of time would be a deepening of the spiritual life and, under experienced direction, a gradual intro-duction to the life of the apostolate. It is applying to religious com-munities what Pope Plus XII has recently suggested for the diocesan priesthood in the Encyclical Menti Nostrae and has himself put into practice by founding' the seminary of St. Eugene in Rome. Another desideratum is that after four or five years of the ministry the young priests be brought together once more to reflect on their spiritual and apostolic life in.order to balance and deepen both. These first years of the active ministry are extremely important ,and often set the pat-tern for the rest of life. From Reoue des Communautds Religieuses-- In the June-August (1949) number of this Belgian magazine for religious there is an opportune article by a superior general of a congregation of women on'the relations that should obtain between religious and the lay women who share their works of charity and education. An insufficient number of vocation's and tile multiplication and expansion of religious works make the present elnploying of layfolk a necessity. These lay helpers are not a necessary evil, nor persons to be merely tolerated, since they can make a real dontribution, sup-plementing the work of the religious themselves. Rather the hiring of lay help is somethng good and in accord with the Holy Father's call to Catholic Action. Religious are giving lay women an oppor-tunity to heed that call. How bring about a close collaboration between religious and lay women employees? First of all the latter must not be too numerous, since the work must retain its exterior and interior character as an institution conducted by rehglous, Lay helpers must also be carefully chosen. They must be competent, something not always indicated by the adademic degrees they may have. Their morals must be above suspicion, their practice of the Catholic religion active. They must have or learn to ,have a sense of responsibility, be supernaturally zealous and self-'sacrificing in their .work, humble, submissive to the regime of the institution, and prudently .a.postoli.c. The religious making the selection, must never, through a mistaken sense of charity, sacrifice the common good to. the particular. 311 AUGUSTINE KLAAS Review ~o~ Religto,,s What are the duties of religious towards the lay helpers who share their work? Lay helpers are not underlings, but ~olleagues. They are not under the Sisters but at their side. Therefore, they should be treated with every regard that religious would wish for themselves--with politeness, friendliness, charity, tact, etc. Reli-gious should see tO it that their associates receive from others the respect, obedience, and good will due them-. Their quarters, dining-room, and the like, should be clean, have at least a minimum of com-fort, and even a little beauty. They should give lay helpers material assistance. The author is not speaking here of obligations in justice--that is taken for granted --but over and above this religious should exercise a spirit of sisterly charity, especially in little things and in the manner in which they deal with them. If they show this charity, their helpers will spon-taneously and generously offer themselves f6r extra work: for ex-ample, as substitutes for religious, impeded from thei~ tasks for one reason or another. ' Religious owe lay helpers intellectual assistance. Teachers meetings, personnel meetings, discussions, etc., must be well organized and directed, so that they may benefit all by practical, definite con-clusion~. Suitable books, magazines, newspapers should be put at the disposal of lay helpers. Their opinions and ideas should be re-spected and humbly adopted if they are good and apropos. There should be no narrow-mindedness amorig religious as t'o whose influ-ence should predominate in the school or hospital. Neither should compete for influence, but both groups should work together in a great spirit of active Cfiristian,charity. Religious owe lay helpers moral and spiritual assistance. This is done mainly by the charitable way they do a service, for instan'ce, give a book, or some information, or a word of encouragement. They should visit a lay helper who is ill and also her sorrowing fam-ily. Much good can be done by a smile, a word here and there, a bit of advice given opportunely. They must never be too busy to give a friendly welcome .to lay helpers, even though it distracts from work and causes them to lo~e the trend of thought for a moment. A cer-tain holy religious used to say to every knock at the door: "The ,Be-loved is never disturbed." Another way to assist lay help morall!y is to furnish them an opportunity for a retreat. Conclusion: there should be union in charity, team-work in humility, joy in sacrifice, and forgetfulness of self. This is the pro-gram of the Master, a sure pledge of success. 312 November, 1951 CURRENT SPIRITUAL WRITING From L'Osservatore Rornano~ In the February 4, 1951 number of L'Osservatore Romano ap-peared an important article entitled "Christians, be more prudent!" Written by Monsignor Alfredo Ottaviani, the Assessor of the Holy Office, it is a plea for greater prudence in judging favorably certain extraordinary religious phenomena seemingly widespread today. It is a message of particular significance for religious, whose guidance in these matters is often sought by the faithfql. No Catholic, he says, denies that miracles are possible and do take place. They have a purpose, have been in the Churdh from-the beginning, and do actually occur today. But they must be strictly authenticated, or they will discredit true miracles. Christ himself warned: "False christs and false prophets" ~¢ill arise who "will show great signs and wonders, so as to lead ast'ray, if possible, even the elect" (Matthew 24:24). Hence, it is the right and duty of the Church to pass judgment on the truth and riature of events and reve-lations which are claimed to be due to a special intervention of God. True children of.the Church will submit to this .judgment. Fifty years ago'the Church had to warn against scientism and positivism, which scoffed at these so-called superstitions of the dark ages. Today, the tendency is in the other direction: people are too credulous and uncritical in their judgmen't of extraordinary hap-penings. They hanker for and run after these things even though they may not at the same time be practising Catholics. Sometimes persons ignorant of the Creed pose as ardent apostles of this sort of religiosity. They even criticize and condemn the ecclesiastical au-thorities for not enthusiastically running along with the crowd. The obedience of Catholics in this matter too often leaves much to be desired. Monsig.nor Ottaviani cites some recent deplorable instances of credulousness in Italy, France, Belgium, Germany, and the U. S. A. (Necedah). These errors and aberrations are not surprising if we remember that religious sentiment has also felt the effects of original sin. There-fore, religious sentiment, to be sound and useful to man, must be guided by reason, nourished by grace, and controlled by the Church. I quote the following important passages from the London Tablet's (February 24, 1951) translation of this document: "The period through which we are passing stands between one of two excesses: open, inhuman irreligion or unbounded, blind re- 313 AUGUSTINE KLAAS Reuieto /: or Religious ligiosity. Persecuted by the supporters of the first and compromised by those who uphold the second, the Church does nothing more than repeat her maternal warning. But her words remain unheard amidst denial on the one hand and exaltation on the other. There is no doubt that the Church does not wish to cast the wonders which God works into the shadow. She merely wants to keep the faithful watchful concerning what comes from God and what does not come from God, and Which can come from His and our adversary. The Church is the enemy of the false miracle. "A good Catholic knows from his catechism that th~ true reli-gion rests in the true Faith, in Revelation, which ended with the death of the last Apostle and has been entrusted to the Church, its interpreter and custodian. Nothing else necessary to our salvation can be revealed to us. There is nothing more for which we must look. We have everything, if we wish to make use of it. Even the most accredited visions can furnish us with new motives for fervor but not with new elements of life or doctrne. True religion abides essentially, apart from in the conscience, in the love of God ~ind the consequent love of our neighbor. And, more than in acts of wor-ship and rite, the love of God consists in doing the will of God, obeying His commandments. This is true religion. "A good Catholic knows that in the saints themselves the nature of sanctity is not composed of the preternatural gifts of visions, prophecies, and wonders, but in the heroic exercise of virtue. That God should in some way authenticate holiness by miracles is one thing, but that holiness consists in performi.ng miracles is another. We must not confound holiness with what can be and is, as a rule, an unmistakable sign of holiness, but not always sufficiently clear so as not to need the necessary supervision of religious authorities. "On this point the teaching of the Church has" never been equivo-cal. The man who turns back to events of dubious interpretation rather than accept the word of God loves the world more than God. Even when the Church authoritatively canonizes a saint, she does not by this act guarantee the preternatural character of all the extra-ordinary facts connected with his life. Still less does she approve all his personal opinions. By the same token she gives even less guaran-tee to all that is written, often with unpardonable levity, by biogra-phers with more imagination than judgment. "We repeat that in order to be religious, it is necessary to be so in proper fashion and as a matter.of duty. In order to be good Cath- 314 November, 1951 CURRENT SPIRITUAL WRITING olics and devout people we must act with all the attention" with which we act when applying ourselves to the most serious things of life. Incredulity 'is just as harmful to the sincere believer as credulity. True, it is not everyone wh6 can form his own opinion on every point. But what are the Bishops and the Pope for? "It is a strange thing: no novice would dare to buid a house by himself, tailor his own clothes, make himself a pair of shoes, or cure himself of a sickness. Yet when it is a question of religious life, people reject all authority, refuse to place any trust in it, even distrust and disobey it (vith impunity.'. "For the last ten ~ears, while the religious authorities have re-mained hesitant, the people have acted hastily and busied themselves with wonders which, to say the least, have not been verified. Speaking honestly, we must admit that such events may be expressions of natural religious enthusiasm. But they'are not Christian events, and they give a frightful pretext to those who are out to discover at all costs the infiltrations and survivals of paganism and superstition in Christianity, especially Catholicism. Just as wrongdoing may in-sinuate itself in our daily lives, so may error insinuate itself into one or the other individual Catholic, a thing which causes no wonder to those who understand what man is. But just as sin must be recog-nized as sin if we would free ourselves from it, so too, in the case of error, we must recognize it as such. Just as the Church has the power to forgive sins, so has it also been commanded by God to redeem us from error. "Let Catholics hear the word of God which the Church, and the Church alone, preserves and repeats whole and incorrupt. Let them not run like sheep without a shepherd after other voices seeking to drown the voice of God when it is true that they oppose the voice of the Church. We have Holy Scripture, we have Tradition, we have the Chief Shepherd and a hundred other shepherds next door to our homes. Why should we offer the spectacle of fatuousness or un-healthy exaltation before those who oppose and despise us? 'Chris-tians, be more prudent,' wrote Dante in his day. 'Do not be like feathers that bend tb any wind.' The great poet urged the very same reasons that we give today: 'You have the Oldand the New Testa-ment, and the Shepherd of the Church to guide you.' Dante's con-clusion, too, is the same as ours: 'This is sufficient for your salva-tion' (Canto V, vv. 73-77)." 315 I-low !:o Think and Ac : about the Race Problem Gerald Kelly, S.J. THE title of this article was suggested by the simultaneous recep-tion of two pamphlets: How to Think about Race, by Louis J. Twomey, S.J.; and Fi:tg Wags to Improue Race Relations, by Frank A. Riley: The word "problem" 'is not in either pamphlet title, but the fact of a problem is very much in both author's minds; they wrote their pamphlets to help solve a problem. Both pamphlets refer explicitl~) to the Negro problem, but their content applies equally to the problem of discrimination against other minorities, such as the Mexicans, the Japanese, the Chinese, and so forth. My remarks will also be directed to the Negro problem, but they too can be applied to the other problems. The Problem In thinking about the race problem, the first thing to do is to recognize that there is a problem. Some people believe--or would like to believe that there is no problem. When you mention the Negro problem to them, they look puzzled, raise their eyebrows a bit, and ask icily, "'Is there a Negro problem?" Others admit the prob-lem, but explain it very simply by saying: "There would be no prob-lem if the Negro would keep his place." (These, incidentally, do not say "Negro.") No unbiassed and even moderately well-informed person can fail to see that we have a race problem--or, to be more specific, a Negro problem. And it consists not in the fact that the Negro will not keep his place but rather in the fact that white people will not let him have his place. The two-volume work, An American Dilemma, by Gunnar Myrdal, is a scholarly, factual proof of the ex.istence of the problem. And hundreds of books, pamphlets, and articles that have appeared within the last decade or two give further evidence, not only of the existence, but of the magnitude of the problem. To see that we have a Negro problem, one has but to consider what ought to be and what is the status of the Negro in the United 1B0th pamphlets are published by The Queen's Work, 3115 South Grand Boule-vard, St. Louis 18, Missouri. 316 THE RACE PROBLEM States. There is always a problem when the is falls below the ought to be. There is a problem in our personal spiri,tual lives when our conduct fails short of our standards; there is a problem in our social order when the income of the working man is not what it should be; and there is a problem in millions of personal lives and in the social order of the nation when an entire race is daily accordei5 a treatment that is contrary to the laws of God and of the nation. What ought to be the status of the Negro? Like other men, he has a human nature and he is destined, through the providence of God, for heaven. This common nature and comm6n destiny should unite men. By reason of their' common nature and common destiny they are one family. This unity is expressed through love in the natural order, and in the supernatural order through charity. And love (charity) expresses itself through kindly thoughts, prayers for one another, words of courtesy, mutual co-operation, helping one another in need, and so forth. This bond of love joins all men; the commandment of love knows no distinction of race. Like other men, the Negro is a human person, a distinct indi-vidual; and by reason of his human personality he is the subject, not only of duties, but of inviolable rights. He has the same right as other men to say "mine," and to have what is his respected .by other men. He has the same right as others to worship God. He has a right to life and liberty as long as he is not proved guilty of crime. He has a right to equality of opportunity to make a decent living, to develop his talents, to marry and provide for his family, to enjoy recreational facilities, to have his share of honor, and so_forth. These rights, conferred by God, are confirmed by the law of the nation when it makes the Negro an American cil~izen. And to these rights, the nation either adds civil rights or guarantees equality of opportunity in ob-tai~ aing civil righti. What is the status of the Negro in the United States? He is segregated--forced to live apart from the white man--and thus the law of union is violated; he is discriminated'against--treated as an inferior--and thus the law of equality is violated. His life is les.~ secure than the white man's; he has less opportunity to obtain the 'necessities and comforts of life. He is more readily arrested and more easily convicted. On one streetcar he finds a sign, "This space re-served for our colored patrons"; on another, where no printed sign is displa~'ed, he finds "unwelcome" written on white faces. While traveling he has difficulty getting proper acco{nmodations and even 317 GERALD KELLY Reoiew for Religious getting food. .He must say "sir" to the white man, but he is called, "Johnny," "Doc," or "uncle." His house is a menace to his physi-cal well-being, and his congested surroundings are a greater menace to his soul's welfare. When he tries to move to another neighbor-hood, he is repelled by violence, thwarted by restrictive covenants, or humiliated by the exodus of prospective white neighbors who flee him as 'they would a contagion: He sees his children denied educa-tional opportunities, his wife and mother denied the courtesies ex-tended to other women. Even in his worship, he must have a "spe-cial" church or a "special" place in the white man's church. These and scores of other insults, humiliations, frustrations, are the daily fare of the American Negro. Not that all the abuses are practised eveiywhere and by everyone; but the general pattern is so common, even in the North, that some.unprejudiced scholars do not hesitate to call it our greatest national scandal. It is not an acci-dental pattern; it is a calculated system of oppression and contempt. Perhaps the scholars just referred to were not conscious of the theological meaning of "scandal," but Catholics should be definitely° conscious of this. Theologically, scandal is an occasion of spiritual harm to the neighbor. Scandal is very seriously involved when white Catholics practice racial segregation and discrimination; because their conduct makes it very difficult for Negro Catholics to preserve the faith and well-nigh impossible to convert Negroes to the faith. There can scarcely be greater scandal than this. From what I have written (which is just a brief repetition of what has been said and written often and more forcefully by others) it should be evident that we have a problem. Despite. the fact that recent years have witnessed a strong trend against discrimination and some improvement in the status of the Negro, his condition is still not what it ought to be. He is still l~he victim of a policy which was described in a report issued by the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith as a "grave derogation to the Christian concept of the individual's inherent dignity.''2 This policy involves contempt, hatred, and scandal. And the responsibility lies not with the Negro victim, but with the white people who either willingly perpetuate the policy or negligently refuse to do what they can to stop it. 2The report is printed in pamphlet form under the title The Catholic Church and Neproes in the United States. It can be obtained from the Catholic Interracial Coun-cil of Chicago, 21 West Superior Street, Chicago 10, Illinois. Five cents for single copies; four cents each for 100 or more: special rates on orders for 1000 or more. 318 Not~ernber, 1951 THE RACE PROBLEM How to think about the Negro problem? I said tl~at the first thing to do is to recognize the problem. A second thing'is suggested by another statement in the ~eport of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith. The report says that the "thought of a wide, general conversion of the Negroes to the Catholic Church is an illusion until and unless the attitude of American Catholics-~clergy and laity--is cornpletelg purified of approval of the segregation pol-icg or of the many deprivations of educational opportunity, of fair employment, and of decent housing that arise as a result of it." The words I have italicized indicate the second step in thinking cor.rectly about the Negro problem: we must disapprove of the segregation pol-icy, which is, in fact, a colossal violation of, justice and charity. Such disapproval, incidentally, is not a counsel of perfection; it is a strict duty, and a serious one. What to Do An evil is not removed merely by recognizing its existence. Something constructive has to be done. "But," an individual will say, "I am so small, and this evil is so great and so widespread.How can I do anything about it?" Actually, there is much that any in-dividual white person of good will can do regarding the Negro prob-lem; and it is my purpose, taking a cue from Mr. Riley's pamphlet, to indicate some of these things here. It may be noted that much that I say seems to have no special pertinence to religious. Yet it does pertain to religious, as well as to other people, and in one sense at least it has a special application ~o religious, because religious by rea-son of their position in the Church have an influence for good or bad that is definitely special. A constructive solution to the Negro problem must work "from the inside out." I mean that it must begin with correct attitudes, with an inner spirit that will be the soul of external action. Vast numbers of people do not have this inner spirit. As Francois Mauriac states forcefully in his Life of Jesus, at the conclusion of the chapter on the Samaritan woman: "He tarried for two days in the midst of the outcast Samaritans, thus giving his followers an example which was to be transmitted in vain to the rest of the world. For if there is a part of the Christian message which men have refused and rejected with invincible Obsti-nacy, it is faith in the equal value of all souls, of all races, before the Father who is in heavem" The indictment is dreadfully true, but it does not make our case 31'9 GERALD KELLY " " Review ?or Religious hopeless. Even the devil of racial hatred must yield to prayer and self-sacrifice., That is why Fifty Ways of Improving Race Relations insists much on the need of prayer, of prayer "that light may shine in the dark areas of white men's minds, that the race heresy may be put down." Any one of us has this power of prayer, and we can use it to beg for ourselves and others a vital appreciation of the truths of reason and faith that are the foundation of racial amity and justice. Many white people, it is said, are. not malicious; tl~ey simply have such an aversion for the Negro that they abhor the very thought of living with him on equal terms. I admit the existence of this psy- ¯ chologicaI problem. Yet it seems to me that it can be and is overrated.: It is not substantially different from the problem of aversion as it is sometimes experienced by one white person towards another, even .by one religious towards another. Morally speaking, the aversion itself is merely a feeling, and as such it is not culpable. Neverthless, since the fostering of this feeling can be the source of great' harm, it must be disciplined like other dangerous emotions, and proper means must be taken to eliminate or to temper it. And here again a first remedy is prayer. It should not be too much for anyone to ask sincerely for the grace to act according to Christian principles, despite'a feeling of antipathy. After all, we do this regularly when we pray for the grace, to preserve.chastity, despite strong contrary feelings. Many students of the rac~ problem say that aversion to the Negro springs from ignorance and that it disappears or.subsides when one gets to know the Negro. Some white people who have lived near Ne-groes for many years might answer this by saying that no one knows the Negro better than they, yet their knowledge has not affected their aversion. I think that one might legitimately question whether such people really know the Negro.' Real knowledge of a person im-plies something more than just being near him. Real knowledge comes in friendship, from getting under the surface into a man's heart and his feelings. The system of segregation and discrimination is itself a block to such knowledge; and it perpetuates a vicious circle by which aversion fosters segregation and segregation fosters aversion. More than twenty years ago Father Francis J. Gilligan wrote in The Morality of the Color Line:s 3This book is out of print. It is a real pioneer study--and a very capable one-~- of race relations in the light of Christian moral principles. Father Gilligan is pro-fessor of moral theology at the St. Paul Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota. He has for many years been Chairman of the Governor's Interracial Commission of Min-nesota, a commission that has done very constructive work in the.matter of race re-lations and that has published some splendid leaflets and booklets. 320 No~ember, 1951 THE RACE PROBLEM "To be forced always to seek a restaurant on th~ rear street, to be placed'always at a table in some alcove, to be compelled always to accept a se~at in the gallery of a .thea.tre, to be denied access to every respectable and standard hotel, to be driven constantly to tax one's ingenuity to secure a reservation in a Pullman, are conditions Which would occasion in every man, and the Negro is no exception, anger and despair. A white person probably can never fully realize the anxiety and hesitancy which the Negro experiences almost daily in trying to satisfy conventional needs." Father Gilligan is undoubtedly correct when he says that prob-ably a white man can never [ull~t appreciate what the Negro experi-ences. Nevertheless, any white man with good will and a good imagination can learn much by using what psychologists call "em-pathy"-- namely, by putting himself in the Negro's place, by trying to feel what the Negro feels in the various frustrating circumstances that make up the pattern of discrimination. "Psychologically, this cultivation of a strong "fellow-feeling" is perhaps the best antidote for aversion, because one powerful emotion tends to neutralize the "other. Also, deep feeling for the Negro stimulates constructive action in his behalf. Some of the greatest strides towards interracial justice have been made by ~¢hite men who had the power of sharing the hurt feelings of the Negro.' .To stimulate this "fellow-feeling," it helps to read a good auto-biography, like Dar~ $~mpl~on~, by Elizabeth Adams. For the same purpose--but to'a lesser ~legree, because the personal element is wanting--it is useful to-get a complete picture of the wrongs "done the Negro by reading An American Dilemma, or at least the con-densation of this work, entitled The Negro in America, by Arnold Rose, one of Myrdal's collaborators. I would not recommend these two works, however, without adding the caution that their other-wise. scientific and morally wholesome tone is marred, by the section that recommends artificial birth-control as a means of solving the problem ot: "Negro overpopulation." (See Myrdal, I, 175-181; Rose, 60-61.) (Before I leave the subject of aversion, I should like to add that the white man has no monopoly on it. The Negro too has an aver-sion for the white man--and understandably so, in view of what he has suffered. But, like the white man, he must be willing to put aside or temper this aversion in order to establish a Christian system of race relations. I am not stressing this here because my main con- 321 GERALD KELLY Reoiew for Reliqious cern is with indicating things that white people can and should do as regards the Negro.) From the inside to the outside--that is, from thoughts and feelings to words and actions. ~ prime rule of speech is to avoid what reasonably offends, other people. On the basis of this rule, a Negro should not be called a "nigger," and a Negro woman should not be referred to as a "negress." Both words are offensive to Negroes, as are many others that need not be mentioned here. The best way for anyone to keep this rule is to abstain entirely from using the words, because if white people use them among themselves when speaking about the Negro, they very readily use them when speaking, to the Negro. Another basic rule of speech is to be extremely careful about repeating unverified and disparaging rumors about the Negro. "Seldom in the history of mankind," wrote Father Gilligan, "has any group been more widely misrepresented, misunderstood, and handicapped by popular rumors than the American colored group." Accepting such unfounded rumors is rash jiadgment; passing them on to others is calumny. As regards both speech and conduct, I should like to stress one. point that is of particular interest to the moral theologian. In our theological treatises on the virtue of charity we make much of what are called the common signs of good will and courtesy. (Cf. "On the Duty of Loving the Neighbor, Especially Enemies," in REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, VII, 299-312.) These are various little gesture~ and words that are due to all fellow-citizens, fellow-workers, neighbors, and so forth, and not merely to one's'special friends. I think it is very important that every individual white person be conscious of this duty when he is dealing with Negroes. If he says "sir" to a white man, he should say "sir" to a Negro; if he tips his hat to a white woman, he should also tip his ha~ to a Negro woman; if he says "good morning" to white neighbors, he should say "good morning" to his Negro neighbors; if he shakes hands with a white person to whom he is introduced, he should shake hands with a Negro under the same circumstances. In themselves these are small things; and any individual with good will can do them. Yet, failure to use them can cause deep hurt and humiliation, whereas their use can cause genuine elation to those who have been constantly denied them. Moreover, they manifest just what is needed to improve race relations:, good will and respect. The foregoing are ways in which any white individual can help to improve race relations, even though others do not co-operate with 322 o November, 1951 THE RACE PROBLEM him. But for any grand-scale reformation of the social order, there must be group action, as our recent Popes have stated so often. Fiftg Ways to Improue Race Relations contains many suggestions for par-ticipation in group action: for example, by be!ping'such organiza-tions as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored, People, the Urban League, various interracial councils; by .voting for good social legislation, by joining with others to urge Congressmen to promote such legisla~tion, by signing petitions to have Negroes admitted to schools that make a policy of excluding them, by joining in protests to owners of stores, restaurants, and hotels, that discrim-inate against Negroes; 'and so forth. By these and various other ways the apparent insignificance of the individual can become a very sig-nificant force in establishing a Christian social order in our race rela-tions. Specigl for Religious In themselves these points, as I mentioned previously, have no special pertinence to us as religious. Ye.t, since they pertain to all persons of good will, they certainly pertain to us, too; and we can and should carry them out in our personal lives. Moreover, they have a verst special pertinence to us because of our position of leader-ship among Catholics; we are expected to teach Catholic doctrine by word and example--and one might say, particularly by example. The best argument against segregated schools is to have our own schools unsegregated; the best way to denounce segregation in wor-ship is to have no color line in our own churches and chapels; and the best way to condemn discrimination in professions is to have our own convents and seminaries wide open to all qualified appli-cants, irrespective of race. And certainly the best--if not the only--" way to inspire youth to practice justice and charity is to be gracious exemplars of these virtues in our own daily lives. The effects, good or bad, of even our smallest public actions are tremendous. The Priest for May, 1951, published an article entitled "Black Priest," which contains the reflections of a Negro convert studying for the priesthood. Two incidents recounted in the article indicate the effects of even our small actions. On one occasion, when the author had returned to his home in the South for the funeral of an aunt, two white women, one of them a nun, came to visit him. 'On another occasion, while he was driving with some of his colored friends, he stopped to visit a monastery, . and the superior insisted °that he bring his friends in and treated them with true monastic hos- 323 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Reoiew for Religious pitality. These courtesies had a profoundly salutary .effect on his friends, helping them to see that the Catholic Church is not "a white man's church." "These incidents," reflects the author, "may seem like little things, but what if that good Sister and other lady had not come to ~ee me? ~Yc~hat if we had been turned away from'the door of the mon-. astery? For one thing, I probably would have kept the promise I made to myself never to go South ~again. But the most serious result would have been that more souls would have been pushed farther and farther away from the Church. Those were two times when I was really proud 9f my fellow Catholics. May God bless them!" Ques ions and Answers --27~ I was the priest-advlser of a girl who entered the convent four months ago. A week after her entrance I sent her a Missal, which she had said she needed. I have not heard from her. Would you please print what my re~ action should be? The reaction might include a little pain,, but it need not include surprise. Gratitude is becoming a rare virtue, even among religious. The nunqber of those who take,time out to acknowledge favors re-ceived seems to be very small. In the present instance, the girl may have failed to acknowledge the Missal because of restrictions on letter-writing in the postulancy. Restrictions are certainly necessary, but they should not be allowed to defeat the greater purpose of giving the young religious a well-balanced training in all the virtues. Superiors should see that the postulants and novices acknowledge gifts and favors or they should make some other provisions for such acknowledgements. All through our religious life much of our support is provided by benefactors. If young religious are not trained to express gratitude for small things they will not be properly grateful to benefactors When they hold positions of authority. m28-- One of our general councilors died recently. Our constitutions do not provide for the succession in place of a deceased councilor. What shall we do?' 324 November, 1951 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Canon 20 tells us to follow the style and practice of the Roman Curia when the law does not provide for a contingency. In this mat-ter of finding a successor for a deceased member of the general coun-cil, we have an indication of the style and practice of the Sacred Con-gregation of Religious in article 271 of the Normae of 1901 which reads as follows: "The councilors of the superior gerieral have a de-cisive vote in matters of greater moment. Such matters are especially the following: . . . 12° the substitution of another Sister until the next general chapter in place of a general councilor who has died, or was deposed, or is perpetually impeded." This article has been written into very many constitutions of lay religious (Brothers and Sisters), both before and after the ~romul-gation of the Code of Canon Law in 1917. Hence it offers a safe norm of action when the constitutions are silent in the matter. Frequently enough an article is added in modern constitutions to the effect that the substitute general councilor thus chosen by a ma-jority vote of the council takes the last place among the c6uncilors, not that of the deceased councilor; that place is taken by the coun-cilor next in order of election in general chapter. The other coun-cilors move up accordingly. ¯ m29-- We would like ÷o know whether, according to canon law,. it could be permitted for a good reasor~ to have the first profession of temporaryvows one year and two, three, or four days after [nvestlture? Canon 571, § 2 states that "the novitiate completed, the novice shall be admitted to profession if he be judged suitable, otherwise he shall be sent away." Commentators on the law, however, are agreed that a few days' deferment of the investiture for a good reason would not be a violation of the law. Such good'reasons would be, among others, the desire to have the investiture for all on the same day; or the desire to have both investiture and profession of vows on the same day; or because the retreat master was unavoidably delayed for two or three days. If the constitutions of a religious institute state that the superior is ap-pointed for a term of three years and that he may be reappointed for a further term in the same housemdoes this imply that the said appointed period of three years b~nds the superiors not to remove him from that posi-tion during the said time, either tooplace him in charge of another house 325 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ,Review [or Religious or to remove him altogether from authorifi/? Canon 505 does not necessarily require that a local superior be appointed for a period of three years, but merely forbids that he be appointed for a lo.nger period. The constitutions will determine the length of time a local superior is to hold office. Usually this is a period of three years, and, under normal circumstances, he should not be removed from that office. The common good, however, may re-quire his transfer to another house before the expiration of three years because his special abilities are needed there. Again, it happens occasionally that a religious is appointed local superior and, because of his incompetency, is a cause of serious harm to the community. Common sense dictates that such a person should be removed from office and not be allowed to complete a three-year term. Is it permissible for a religious appointed assistant to the master of novices to be one of the councilors to the superior in the house where pro-fessed religious llve? The assistant has very little contact with the professed religious since his duties confine him to the work of the novitiate. There are no regulations in the Code of Canon Law as to the persons who are appointed councilors to a local'superior. The con- ,stitutions may restrict this office, but unless they do; any professed member of the community may. be appointed to the local council. During passlontide is it ever permitted to remove the violet coverincj from the statue of the Blessed Virgin for one of her feasts? Or from the statue of St. Joseph when his feast occurs during that time? Or from any other statue at this season? During Passiontide it is not permitted to uncover the statues if the feast of the Titular, or of the Dedication of the Church, or of St. Joseph occur (S.R.C. decree 3396). However, if out of devo-tion to St. Joseph, the statue of the saint is exposed off the altar (extra altare) during the month of March, it may be left uncovered dhring Passiontide (S.R.C. decree 3448 ad 1 I). 33 A week ago a young woman called at the rectory and asked whether I could find some rellcj[ous community that would take her as a candidate, as she feels that she has a vocation. This may seem strange,, but the girl is deaf, a~d I know of no community in the United States that will take her 326 Nooember, 1951 BOOK REVIEWS with this handicap. Hence I'm writing you to see whether you can help me find some order or congregation of women that will take this girl. We await an answer from our readers. 34 Do the candles used at Holy Mass and at Benediction have to be blessed.'/ There is no obligation to bless altar candies (to ~e used at Holy Mass and Benediction) but it is fitting to do so. They may be blessed either on Candlemas Day (February 2) or at any other time. On Candlemas Day the form given in the Missal under that date should be used. At other times the form to be used is that given in the Roman Ritual (VI!I, 3). Book Reviews OFFICIUM DIVINUM PARVUM. German-Latln text. Fulda Conference. Herder-Pusfef, 1951. Pp. 569. Price not given. The press recently carried a not~ to the effect that the bishops of Holland have secured permission to edit a vernacular Office for all Dutch Sisters not ofili~ed by Rule to the recitation of the Divine Office. The notice has special 'relevance to the book here, noticed, inasmuch as the Fulda Conference of Germany secured such permis-sion and has published a shortened breviary for the optional use of all German Sisters not obliged to recite the Divine Office. This O~cium Pacou/o (I was informed) has be~n adopted by some eighty-thousand Sisters in a short time. One can easily see why. This handy edition has a Latin text of the "New" Psalms on the left-side, a German one on the right; the Psalms are in the transla-tion worked out by Romano Guardini. The entire arrangement strikes a good balance between the variety of the Divine Office and the brevity of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin. The bishops' endorsement recommends the book for public Sunday Vespers or Compline.--GERALD ELLARD, S.3". ST. CLARE OF ASSISI. By Nesta de Robeck. Pp. vii q- 242. The Bruce Publishing Company, Milwaukee, 19SI. $3.S0. This is perhaps as authentic a biography of St. Clare as can be written from the meager reliable sources that are available. The Life contains only 139 pages, but it is well written and interesting and 327 BOOK REVIEWS Reuiew for Religious documents are frequently quoted. The first chapter is the history of Assi~i from Before Christ to the thirteenth century. The second covers her childhood and youth up till the time she adopted the way of life of her fellow-townsman, St. Francis. The third shows how she formed her life along the lines of that of Francis and what a deep impress his last years and death made upon Clare and the Poor Ladies who followed her. Chapter four speaks of her personal sanctity and dealings with the pope. Chapter five describes how her influence and holii~ess irradiated out to the numerous new members and houses.of the Second Order ot: St. Francis, who all looked to her as their mother. The final chapter presents her in the full maturity of ber sanctity, her last years, death, and glory. Five Appendi~es make up the last half of the book: the Office of the Passion, the Rule of St. Clare, the Testament of St. Clare, the Cause of Canonization, the Bull of Canonization of the Virgin, St. Clare. There is a three-p~ige bibliography, a two-page index, and eight excellent plates. The sp!rit .of gqntleness and charity in the service of Lady Poverty. was the spirit St. Francis passed on to St. Clare and her Poor Ladies. That spirit lives today in St. Francis' sons and daughters all over the world. Those who have any contact with them catch something of it. So will those who read this book.--C. A. HERBST, S.J. DEVOTEDLY YOURS. By Sister Berfrande. Pp. 400. Newman Press, Westminster, Maryland, 19SI. $3.7S. Sister Bertrande, the author of The Education of Sisters (re-viewed at length by William J. McGucken, S.J., in the first issue of the REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, January, 1942) and director of Maril-lac House of Chicago, the large social center of the Daughters of Charity, may not be the greatest letter-writer in history, but she has left in Devotedly Yours, a very'interesting batch of letters. Intended originally "for Sisters only," her letters tell her com-munity in Chicago about all there is to tell of her extended and cir-cuitous Holy Year Pilgrimage that included the far-flung houses of Charity in France, North Africa, the Holy Land, Italy, England, and Ireland. The letters reveal zest for life, a sense of humor, abil-ity to recount anecdote and describe vividly, and devotedness and gratitude to her religious congregation. The author's wish should be fulfilled. "May these letters influence others as the journey influ-enced me: The Holy Lanai made of me a better Christian, Rome 328 November, 1951 BOOK NOTICES made of me a better Catholic, Paris made of me a better Daughter of Charity."--J. E. BREUNIG, S.J. BOOK NOTICES As a child, Helen Caldwell Day knew the sting of poverty and discrimination in her home in the South. Full of ambition she went North to enter nurses' training. Through realities on duty and trivialities off duty, she learned both the fulness and the emptiness of this life. She became a Catholic. She was married, saw her hus-band arrested and taken to prison, and after months of loneliness became a mother. She learned--what she had not known as a child --that there are white people with whom a Negro can live on terms of equality and genuine friendship. She tells about these and many other things in COLOR, EBONY. (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1951. Pp. viii + 182. $2.25.) THE CONVENT MIRROR, by Very Rev. Frederick T. Hoeger, C.8p.S., is a series of conferences for religious. It is the fruit of thirty years of retreats to priests, Brothers, and Sisters. They were written to help religious love their vocation ever more and more. The author himself notes in the preface that "He is inclined to go to extremes to keep from religious life the least ill-repute." (New York: Frederick PustetCo., 1951. Pp. 246. $3.00.) The fact that Emmanuel Doronzo, O.M.I., would take the trouble to translate the DICTIONARY OF DOGMATIC THEOLOGY is in itself a guarantee that the book is worth while. A generous sampling of the volume's contents confirms this judgment. The book thor-oughly covers dogmatic theology, as well. as providing much matter from associated branches of philosophy and theology. There are a good general bibliography, a concise synthesis of dogma, an outline of the history of dogmatic theology, helpful bibIiographies under in-dividual topics, and a complete index of entries. The present trans-lation, the first in English, is made from the second Italian edition. The authors are Msgrs. Pietro parente, Antonio Piolante, and 8alva-tore Garofalo. The translator has kept faithfully to the original text, but has r~vised the bibliographies in order to make them more useful to English readers. The format leaves nothing to be desired. (Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing'Company, 1951. Pp. xxvi q- 310. $4.50.) 329 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS Reuiew [or Religious In LETTERS TO THE MARTYRS Helen Walker Homan gives dear illustrations of the abundantly verified statement that ours is an age of martyrs. She compares, the lives of early martyrs like Saints Stephen, Agnes, Ignatius, Sebastian, Lawrence, and others with heroes of our "day like Arhhbishop Stepinac, St. Maria Goretti, Car-dinal Mindzenty, and others. The epistolary cast of the book, as a series of letters to martyrs, may seem artificial to some and detract from the inspirational value of the book. (New York: David McKay Co. Inc., 1951. Pp. xii -]- 236. $3.00.) ONE AND HOLY, contains three lectures by Karl Adam to mem-bers of the Una Sancta movement in Germany who are making real efforts to build a bridge between Lutherans and Catholics: "The Roots of the Reformatign," "How Luther Left the Church: the Pos-sibility of Reunion," and "How is Reunion to be Achieved." The author shows how polemic has sharpened the differences and suggests that the basis of reunion may be found in a sympathetic investiga-tion of the conditions that gave rise to Luther. His viewpoint and practical proposals are worth thinking about. Cecily Hastings trans-lated the book. (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1951. Pp.' vii ÷ 130. $2.00.) In view of the Holy Father's recent Encyclical, "Heralds of the Gospel" (June 2, 195 I), touching again and with supreme author-ity on native cultures, native clergy, social prosperity, medical aid, lay missionaries, there is special timeliness in the translating of Father Danielou's books, The Salvation of the Nqtions (1949), and the present volume ADVENT, or the preparation for Christ and his saving message among all the i~amilie

Issue 9.4 of the Review for Religious, 1950. ; ~uesfions Answered, Books I~evi~wed~ -Report~+o~om~ RI::VIi=W FOR Ri::LI IOUS VOLUME IX JULY, 1"950 NUMBER CONTENTS MEMOIR OF ALFRED SCHNEIDER~-Gerald Kelly, S.J . 169 THE "LITTLE" VIRTUES--Stephen Brown, S.J . 176 ADJUSTMENT OF NEGRO CHILDREN TO A MIXED PAROCHIAL SCHOOL--A Sister of the Holy Names 179 OUR cONTRIBUTORS . 184 ATTEND TO READING--Augustine Klaas, S.J . 185 BOOK REVIEWS-- St. Teresa of Jesus; Storm of Glory; Purgatory; Psychiatry and Asceti-cism . 197 BOOK NOTICES . 201 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS . 203 FOR YOUR INFORMATION-- Passionist Ghampion; Company of Mary; Servants of Mary; Little Office; Varia . 205 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS-- 18. How to Fill the Water Cruet . ; . 207 19. The Perplexed Conscience . 207 20. Several Hosts to One Communicant . 208 REPORT TO ROME . 209 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, July, 1950. Vol. IX, No.,4. Published bi-monthly: January, March, May, July, September, a~d November at the College Press, 606 Harrison Street, Topeka, Kansas, by St. Mary's College, St. Marys, Kansas, with ecclesiastical approbation. Entered as second class matter January 15, 1942, at the Post Office, Topeka, Kansas, under the act of March 3, 1879. Editorial Board: Adam C. Ellis, S.J., G. Augustine Ellard, S.J., Gerald Kelly, S.J. Copyright, 1950. by Adam C. Ellis. Permission is hereby granted for quotations of reasonable length, provided due credit be given this review and the author. Subscfiptlon price: 2 dollars a year. Printed in U. S. A. Before wr|t|ng to us, please consult notice on inside back cover. Memoir 6t:. All:red chneider Gerald Kelly, S.3. ~N OUR MARCH number (p. 112) we announced the sudden death of Father Alfred F. Sc, hneider, S.3. Shortly after this announcement a loyal friend of the Review wrote to us: "The notice about Father Alfred Schneider made'me make remembrance of him. Now I understand that note of gentleness and considerateness which I always found in his prompt and courteous replies." This note is typical of what scores of others might have written. During his years as editorial secretary Father Schneider carried on most of our editorial business with subscribers and authors; and the number of those who benefited by h'is prompt and kindly service is very large. These, we feel sure, would like to know more about him than we were able to put into a brief notice. Another reason for the present sketch is the value of Father Schneider to the Review itself.¯ We are not waxing poetic when we say that he brought us hope in our darkest hour. Our charter sub-scribers will remember that we had hardly launched this enterprise when war, with all its problems, was upon us. The war made it difficult to get materials and raised the price of such as were available. The war and the postwar period made such demands on college and seminary personnel that many priests and religious who would have helped us with articles had not the leisure. And this same shortage of personnel made it necessary for the editorial board to handle countless details for which they were not prepared. Despite the fact that we had the generous help of Jesuit scholastics and young priests, our early years were very dark. The difficulties just outlined grew in intensity through the early ¯ years of our publication until the middle of 1944. That was when Father Schneider brought relief. We do not wish to imply that, without him, we should have had to discontinue publication---only God knows that; but we can certainly say that his. help towards th~ continuance of this Review was immeasurable, if not absolutely essential. The following pages are not a "biography" of Father Schneider. For the most part they simply record the present writer's personal impressions gleaned through more than five years of intimate col-laboration with Father Schneider. These memories are supplemented, 169 GERALD KELLY Ret,qeto for Religious however, with data supplied by others and with a few facts obtained " from Father.Schneider's notes. Alfred F. Schneider was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, February 8, 1899. He was one of the oldest of a large family. He attended St. Agnes Grade School, took a two-year commercial course at St. Thomas College, and went to work. After several years of steno-graphic work in various business houses he became secretary to the President of the St. Paul-Minneapolis Street Car Company. During these years he managed to cover a regular high school course by attending night school. His business and stenographic experience was obviously an invaluable asset to REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS. He was an excellent typist, a good bookkeeper, and, of course, he knew shorthand. For myself, I found his shorthand both enviable and exasperating. Often I sat at my desk green-eyed as I watched him make notes with light-ning rapidity. Often, too, was I exasperated when I found on my desk a manuscript, the margin of which was covered with "hen scratches"--the common designation in our office for his shorthand notations. The exasperation, incidentally, did not end with his death. Some books he had been reviewing contained only a few scraps of paper covered with the "hen scratches"; and his retreat notes and personal notes, which I was privileged to examine, were scarcely more revealing. I am told that when he first considered the priesthood his thoughts were directed toward the diocesan clergy; later--for some reason contained perhaps in his shorthand legacy--they centered on the Jesuits. At the age of twenty-four he went to Campion College, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, to review his Latin and other studies. He entered the novitate at Florissant, Missouri, on August 8, 1924. In a Jesuit novitiate (and very likely in other novitiates) a man of twenty-five is considered a sort of patriarch. Regulations to th~ contrary notwithstanding, such men are often christened "Pop." Father Schneider was no exception to this contrary-to-regulations custom; he became Pop Schneider. Moreover, because of his com-paratively venerable age he was transferred to the Juniorate after having completed only one year of novitiate. Among us, these older novices who follow the Juniorate regime during their second year of noviceship are sometimes referred to as "skullcap Juniors." The origin of this expression seems to be that "once upon a time" ~he novices following the Juniorate order wore skullcaps to distinguish 170 July, 1950 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SCHNEIDER them from the ordinary novices, who had no special head covering, and from the full-fledged Juniors, who had taken their vows and were supposed to wear the biretta.' As amatter of fact, though there were several "skullcap Juniors" while I was at Florissant, I never saw a skullcap except on some venerable lay Brother. On the occasion of his first vows, August 15, 1926, the Juniors gave their "skullcap" confrere a grand reception; and his age did not prevent him from responding with as much warmth as would the youngest novice. In a letter to his parents, afte'r having expressed great joy o'~er his religious profession, he added: "I was the only ,lunio~? among the vow men and my fellow- Juniors gave me a specially warm reception. A huge bouquet of snowballs stood on my desk, and a smaller bouquet of other flowers; and then there were letters, and notes of congratulation, with little personal notes, and holy cards, so that when I sat down to read them I felt like a big business man opening his morning's mail. I believe that every Junior in the house had something for me. May God bless them all a thousand times for their kindness.''* His warmth was not confined to his fellow-Jesuits. In this same letter he very beautifully expressed his affection for and gratitude to his parents: "It would, of course, be impossible for me to tell you all that I felt or thought or did on, such a never-to-be-forgotten day as yester-day; but I don't want you to think for a moment that now I am wholly cut off from you. It is true I now belong to the Lord, but my love for the best father and mother in the world is not one whir diminished. The Lord would be ill-pleased with me were I ever to forget the big debt of gratitude that I owe you. It. is only too true that one does not appreciate father and mother.' until one is separated from them; and if I have not always shown you the love, respect, and gratitude that I owe you, I will try now to make up for it by my prayers and true love for you. So, do not think that in giving a son and daughter to Christ [one of his sisters is in the convent] that you are losing. No, Mother and Dad, you are gaining immeasur-ably; and I feel certa,¯ l,n that as the years roll o{n you wdl understand that more and more. 1During my tine at Florissant a "skullcap .lunior" named Peter A. Brooks took his vows. The ,lunlors decorated his desk not only with flowers but with a large sign bearing the words, "Peter Noster." Not so many y~ars later he became "Pater Noster" when he was made Provincial oi~ the Missouri P}ovince. As provincial, he obtained permission for us to start this Reoiet~ and asstste~ us with constant encour-agement during our early years. 171 GERALD KELLY Reoieto tot Religiotts The years did roll on. From 1927 to 1930, Father Schneide~ made his philosophical studies at Mount St. MichaeI's, near Spokane, Washington; from 1930 to 1932, he taught at Campion; and from 1932 to 1936, he made the course of theology at Woodstock Col-lege, Woodstock, Maryland. He was ordained at Woodstock in June, 1935. For the spiritual formation of a Jesuit tbd most important single period is the "Year of Third Probation," commonly called the ter-tianship. During this year, and especially during the long retreat which is made near the beginning of the year, one crystallizes the ideal that has been gradually forming during the preceding years of training. Father Schneider made his tertianship at Cleveland, Ohio, from the beginning, of September, 1936, to the end of June, 1937. For the most part, the spiritual notes made during his long retreat are "hen scratches"--absolutely unrevealing, as far as I am concerned; fortunately, however, the principal items of his ]Election are in long-hand. Among his personal needs he lists the "grace to be an exem-plary priest and Jesuit." That he received this grace and that he co-operated with it admirably would be the unhesitating testimony . of all who lived with him here at St. Mary's. Of very special interest is the fact that be considered human respect and indolence to be the principal obstacles in his pursuit of perfection. This item aptly illustrates the old saying that one never knows the true spiritual stature of a man unless he knows his "old Adam." During all the time I knew him I revered him as a man of principle and industry; and I feel sure that all the others in our office bad similar sentiments. We would not have suspected that he could ever seriously accuse himself of either human respect or indolence. If these vices represented his "old Adam," then in him the "new Adam" seems to have attained a complete victory. Afte'r tertianship Father Schneider was assigned to St. Mary's for two years of private study of canon law. The original plan had been to send him to Rome for a doctorate, but this had to be changed because of the condition of his health. In 1939 he began a series of rapid changes which included two years of teaching at St. Louis University, one year as assistant at the parish of St. Ferdinand's, Florissant, two more years at Campion, then back to St. Mary's in the fall of 1944 as editorial secretary of the Retffew. 'It was his health, not his temperament, that accounted for these many changes. An exceptionally talented man, as well as docile and co-operative, he 172 dulg, 1950 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SCHNEIDER would have been an asset to any college; but he was not strong enough to follow the regular schedule of a high school or college teacher. His assignment to the Reoiew was a b!essing to all concerned. For himself, the flexibility of his schedule allowed him to portion out his work according to his strength. For us, his varied talents made him the ideal secretary. Not only was he efficient at book-keeping, typing, and business details, as I have already mentioned; but his knowledge of theology and canon law, plus a generous endowment of good taste, made him an excellent judge of manu-scripts. Add to these the fact that he was a careful editor and proof-reader, and it is easily seen that his service to us was invaluable. His judgment that a manuscript should be rejected was always sympathetic and was never made without a second reading. But once made, his opinion was very definite; and he was no respecter of persons, not even of editors. (This may be one reason why I was amazed to discover that he had ever considered human respect to be one of his failings!) In my own files are several manuscripts which, in kedping with his suggestions, "await revision before publication." Attached to one of these manuscripts is a neatly typed note bearing this verdict: "The examples given in this article are of relatively rare occurrence in religious life. If you could add some that have more or less daily application, I should think it would enliven the article, especially the first part.---A.F.S., S.J." This is typical of his prac-tical criticisms; he always thought in terms of the readers. Efficiency in handling office details made it possible for him to go out fairly frequently to give retreats, Forty Hours' devotions, and days of recollection. He loved this work and seems to have done it remarkably well. His notes made for retreats, conferences, and ser-mons are filled, of course, with the inevitable "hen scratches"; but there are sufficient longhand and typed notations to indicate that everything was well planned. Moreover, reports were always favor-able. As one Sister superior put it, "He gave us an excellent retreat, one that we shall remember the rest of our lives." To this statement she added, "He reminded me of P~re Ginhac." This last remark referred not only to his solid spirituality, but also to his seriousness. Certainly his appearance was serious. He was tall (well over six feet), gaunt, more than semibald, dark-complexioned-- a perfect replica of the traditional, picture of the ascetic. And he was of serious disposition, too. A man who begins .173 GERALD KELLY Review For Religious each day with the realization that it may be his last is not prone to levity. But as he had the gravity of the saint, he also had the saint's sense of humor. By this Imean a keen and gentlemanly sense of humor. It did not respond to the crude or the unchaiitable, but it reacted instantaneously to the wholesomely amusing. He often com-plained to me that the Review tended to become too heavy, that it needed a lighter touch. He particularly liked the articles of our Fran-ciscan contributors, Father Claude Kean and Father Richard Leo Heppler, because of their cheerytone. In his last act of censorship for the Review he chuckled repeatedly while reading "Eyes Right?" by Father Richard Leo. The next day, scarcely ten minutes before we found him dead on the floor of the office, be was joking with Father Ellis. I have several times referred to the suddenness of his death. In one sense it was very sudden. Father Ellis and I left the office, leaving Father Schneider working at his desk. A few minutes later Father Ellis heard a crash, rushed back to the office, and found Father Schneider stretched out on the floor. Apparently he had left his desk to put something in a filing cabinet and as he turned back toward the desk he was stricken either by a heart attack or by a cerebral hem-orrhage. There was no sign of warning or of struggle; death must have come like the snap of a light bulb. Yet, in another sense, it was not sudden for him. Before he entered the Society a thyroid condi-tion had damaged his heart, and from the early days of his religious life he had known'that he had only a threadlike hold on life. At any moment,the thread might snap. Perhaps it was his coflsciousness of impending death that made him so orderly. His person, his room, his desk, his notes and accounts were always neatly arranged. His record of Mass intentions was kept with perfect clarity right up to the day of his death. During 1948-49 he had much extra work to do, especially in functioning as minister of this large house; and this forced him to get behind in balancing his office books. In the early weeks of 1950, despite very serious headaches, he worked assiduously to bring these accounts up to date. This was accomplished just a week or two before he died. As a boy, Father Schneider had loved sports; in the Society, however, his weakened heart prevented him from taking any active part in athletics. He showed his devotion both to baseball and to his brethren by assuming .the unattractive avocation of umpire. Later, 174 dulg, 1950 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SCHNEIDER even the umpiring had to-cease; but his interest continued. To the day of his death he could give with animation and precision the batting averages, pitching records, and so forth, of various teams and ~ndividuals over a long period of years. Another recreational taste cultivated in his youth was for good music. This, too, remained with him through the years; his occasional opportunities of listening to a broadcast of an opera or a ~symphony were a source of great joy to him. Looking back on the life of a friend, one can usually find many aspects under which to summarize the salient factors. One such gen-eral aspect of Father Schneider's life would be his maturity. He had a definite ideal of priestly and religious holiness and he strove methodically to attain it. He had a tendency to scrupulosity, but, at least in his later years, he was the master, not the slave, of this tendency. For the most part, he solved his own problems; when be needed advice be asked for it and followed it calmly. A man of strong likes and dislikes, as well as of vehement temper, he controlled these emotions in the interests of charity and of his own mental peace. He once told me that he had to be careful to read nothing about Communism in the late evening because such accounts usually made him angry and deprived him of needed ~leep. He adjusted admirably to the inconveniences and frustrations consequent to his illness. He was a good companion at recreation, especially a good listener; he was not the type to leave the little details that make for pleasant and efficient community living to "the other fellow." Another aspect under which I might summarize my impression of Father Schneider's life is suggested by Father Louis Hertling, S.3., in his manual of ascetical theology (Tbeologia Ascetica). In the last part of this book Father Hertling discusses the norms for heroic virtue described by Prosper Lambertini (later Benedict XIV) in his treatise on The Beatit~cation and Canonization of the Servants of God. According to Father Hertling, the pen picture of the saintly religious runs as follows: "He loves his own institute. He observes the rules, even the slightest. He keeps to his dell. He observes both juridical and real poverty. He is &hgent in carrying out his duties ~n rehglon. He ~s modest ~n exterior deportment. H~s separation from the world and worldly things is real. He is reverent towards diocesan priests and members of other religious institutes. He makes the spiritual exer-cises prescribed by rule. He is indefatigable in labor, but modest, and 175 STEPHEN BROWN Revieu~ for Religious without self-seeking.''2 To this list, I might add a few points given by Father Hertling in his sketch of the holy diocesan priest: reverence and earnestness in the things that pertain to divine worship; cultivation of theological knowledge; diligence in preaching and hearing confessions. I cannot say whether Father Schneider practised all these virtues of the priest and religious to a heroic degree; but I feel sure that in his final exam-ination on them be must have bad a very high grade. The "Lit:t:le" Vir!:ues Stephen Brown, S.J. IN SERMONS and various spiritual instructions we are ever hearing repeated those great words, Charity, Mortification, Hu-mility, Faith, Self-sacrifice, Perseverance, and the like. They have become so familiar that we are apt not to PaY attention to them, or, if we do, they awe us with the thought of the lofty vir-tues they stand for. But there are other virtues which the preachers do not so commonly preach about and which yet are worthy of thought. St. Francis de Sales used to call them the "little" virtues. Here is a characteristic passage from one of his letters: "Let us prac-tise certain little virtues proper to our littleness, virtues that are exer-cised rather by going down than going up, and therefore not so hard on our legs--patience, forbearance, service, affability, tolerance of our own imperfection, and.other similar little virtues.". If the great virtues seem too much for us, glorious ideals, no doubt, but so far away and so high above us, we may console our-selves with the thought that we can reach the same end by practising the "little" virtues. We are not called on every day to plank down ten-dollar bills or sign checks for I know not how many dollars. No, we pay our modest dimes or quarters, not disdaining even a copper or two, if more be needed. An hour may come, no doubt, in our lives when God will ask us for our little all. And then, no doubt, He will provide us with grace to make the sacrifice. But meantime we keep on paying our little daily installments. There are people who--if not in theory, certainly in practice-- 2The translation is not literal. 176 Ju!g, 1950 THE "LITTLE" VIRTUES make little of the little virtues. They are ready to be charitable, but in the meantime forget to be merely polite. There are others who have great respect, no doubt, for purity and chastity, but are not overparticular about ordinary modesty. And those are not unknown who practise mortification but on occasion are quite likely to insist on getting the best of what is going. There are even people who extol religion but deprecate piety. Yet it seems to me that a certain saying of Our Lord to the effect that "he that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in that which is greater" (Luke 16:10) has an application here. And again: "W~I1 done, thou good servant, because thou hast been faith-ful in a little, thou shalt have power over ten cities" (Luke 19:17). We might take the great virtues one by one and descant on the little virtues that go to make them up. Humility is a formidable virtue. But we might begin with it by being modest about our own achievements or refrain from making the conversation turn about our merits. That doesn't seem too hard. Abnegation is a hard word, and no doubt a hard thing, but we might start by occasionally letting other people have their way. It is a little virtue without a name, this art of giving in--at all events, I cannot put a name to it. And so we might go on. But lest our thoughts become too scattered let us fix them for a moment on those "little" virtues that are the small change of charity. I have menti6ned politeness. It may be merely the outcome of good breeding--and wherever it comes from how welcome it is! But it may also be a real virtue. To say the least, as one writer puts it, in order to be holy it is not necessary to be boorish. A man may be actually a gentleman as well as a saint. To another little virtue, cordiality, St. Francis de Sales devotes one of his wonderful confer-ences. After explaining what he means by it, he says it ought to be accompanied by two other virtues, one of which may be called affability and the other cheerfulness. "Affability," he goes on, '~is a virtue which spreads a certain agreeableness over all the business and serious communications we have with one another; while cheerful-ness is that which renders us gracious and agreeable in our recrea-tions and less serious intercourse with one another." How much the one and the other might, and no doubt do, help to oil the wheels of life. St. Ignatius LoYola set value on these little virtues, for he objected to wrinkles on the nose. There is another modest little virtue well worthy of considera-tion, and that is considerateness. It is practised by the person who 177 not only remembers your existence but ac(ually avoid~ hurting your feelings or rubbing you the wrong way, as the saying goes. He refrain~ from needless noise (hearken all ye who live overhead!). He remembers the nerves of nervous people; he does not ask embarrassing questions, and abstains from comment where comment might be unkind or inopportune. It is the most unobtrusive of little virtues, and we are often unaware of it in other people. But we are only too well aware of the lack of it when it is absent. Politeness, urbanity, courtesy may be taken as practically synonymous. And then there is obligingness. Who does not like and value the obliging man? But, like all virtues, it must steer a clear course between extremes-~between grumpiness and disobligingnes, on the one hand, and subservience, not to say flunkeyism, on the other. And what of companionableness or sociability? What of helpfulness? What of tactfulness? They are all just aspects of charity-~charity as it works out in daily life. Nevertheless, besides the people who despise the little virtues through a delusion that they are practising the great ones, there are also people sincerely aiming at higher things who are apt to neglect these virtues as merely natural. Well, everything that is natural is not wrong, nor even negligible. God is the ~iuthor of nature as well as of grace. Man pervbrts it or wrests it to purposes of his own. Moreover, these virtues need not be merely natural. Motive or inten-tion can raise them to the supernatural plane. And the minor virtues that center round charity have a peculiar value of their own. They are social virtues: they concern not ourselves alone but those about us. They help to make life happier for both ourselves and them. And I think we may even say that they help to make us Christlike. Is there one of them that the Master did not practise, one of them that He would have thought beneath Him? And, after all, the littleness of these virtues lies not so much in themselves or their results as in the things and circumstances that occasion the practice of them--trifling words, looks, gestures, mere silences. They are virtues of meal time and recreation time, of the breakfast table, the fireside, and the bus. But they have echoes in heaven. [EDITORS' NOTE: This article is the introduction to what we hope will be a series of articles on "The Little Virtues" by Father Brown. For' another of his articles on a similar topic see "Concerning Patience," in REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, "VII, 141.] 178 Adiust:ment: ot: Negro Children t:o a Mixed Parochial School A Sister of the Holy Names ST. JOACHIM'S was not always an interracial school. From its remote beginnings it had served a French national parish. When we first began to enroll the colored the very novelty of each isolated case brought the thrill of pioneering. Five years ago we eased into our present position by accepting Catholic colored children on a larger scale. Naturally others not of the faith sought admission. Some few, at the discretion of the principal, were admitted. Each year since then our colored enrollment has increased until this year seventy-five per cent of our student body is colored. Because we started with Catholic children we did not experience the same difficulties at first that we met later. There was some initial resentment shown by our white pupils but this soon changed to admiration. Now there is a calm and unquestioning acceptance of their biracial school. The very few families who transferred their children to other schools because of the change were no great loss. We Sisters of the Holy Names have several schools for colored children in Florida, as well as five missions in South Africa. But this was our first attempt at interracial education on a large scale. .Hor-rified gasps met our early efforts; but, perhaps to the disappointment of the scandalized, no major issue has yet arisen involving color. Nor, with the grace of God, will any arise. With no established precedent known to us, we have had to feel our way. The results have been happy. Let me begin with some don'ts. Never favor a colored child in the classroom. He wants to be treated like the others, not better. I'll always remember the first colored boy I taught. Everything he said or did seemed amusing, and I had difficulty suppressing my smiles. He soon took advantage of my good nature, occupying the limelight for the remainder of the year. The next year I treated him like the others and we both spent a more profitable year. Similarly, don't even seem to mistreat him. He is likely to assume that you're doing it because of his color. If he deserves punishment and under-stands why you are inflicting it, he will submit without difficulty. But you have lost a friend if he suspectsyou of partiality on the basis 179 SISTER OF THE HOLY NAMES Revtew for Religious of color. Be fair, then, in meting out punishment. If two or more are involved, punish all or excuse all. This may seem obvious. We have a classic incident here which we refer to as the Davis Incident. Mr. Davis, a Negro, is a World War I veteran, a man who married late in life and has a philosophy of life all his own. He is moreover very strict with his children and wants to co-operate with the school in every way. Last year a new white family, the 2osephs., moved into the neighborhood. The children came to our school. Instead of going home one day at dismissal time,, Davis Junior and Joseph Junior chased each other up and down the church steps. Both boys were taken to the school "court" where the Patrol Boys arraign those who disobey school ordinances. The Sister in charge, seeing 2oseph Junior in heart-melting tears, excused him. It was his first offense, and she knew he wouldn't do it again. Davis Junior, on the other hand, was awaiting his punishment like a man. He had been to our school for a full year: therefore he should have known better. Hence, a penance for Davis. That night Mr. Davis held his own court in the convent parlor with the Sisters as accused. He insisted that it was only just either to punish both boys or to excuse both. "But the other boy is new and not familiar with the school customs," we hedged. "All the more reason for punishing both to prevent further breaches," came the relentless reply. After much discussion, Mr. Davis very touchingly ended with, "If you don't punish the white boy (God bless you, Sisters), please don't punish mine." Don't be antagonistic. If you don't like the colored and can't treat them fairly, ask to be changed. Naturally very sensitive, they resent the slightest tendency a teacher may have to dislike them. Per-sonally, I have to think twice beford I list pupils as colored or white. I simply forget the color. They are all little ones to be encouraged, checked or admonished, urged, and taught; but never children of one race or another. Other Sisters tell me they have the same experience. Now for the positive side. Be strict but kind. Strictness will never be resented if they understand that it is for their own good. In most cases their parents are strict (we think sometimes too strict), but the fact remains that their children show a much higher respect for the parents than do the white children we have at present. Of course we must keep in mind that the pupils we teach come, for the most part, from the poorer homes. ¯ There are four large well-equipped public schools within walking distance. In spite of this fact, the parents make great sacrifices to keep their children with u~. dut~,1950 INTERRACIAL SCHOOL ADJUSTMENT As' one earnest mother put it: 'TII work my fingers to the bone before I'I1 be so foolish as to take my boy out of St. Joachim's." Another non-Catholic mother who works nights to pay the fees answered her employer, when be endeavored to persuade her to send her children to'the public school: "As far as I can judge, the Catholic school is giving the better education. The best is none too good for them. If I have to stop eating, they will go to the Catholic school." School standards must be set high and maintained. Nothing mediocre will suffice. Colored parents want for .their children what they have never had: a solid religious education. Though theyhave little.respect for easily-won laurels, they s6metimes expect miracles once their children are in our hands. In this connection a strange (or perhaps not so strange) fact merits attention here. Many chil-dren have come to us from special classes for ungraded pupils in the public schools. (I have five such in my own class.) All, without exception, show a marked improvement. ,We have found that they can learn, in some cases as well as or better than the average pupil. One was an inveterate truant. He has not missed a day of school since he came to us. Is it the personal touch? I don't know. Give plenty of homework. Most parents want to help their children and incidentally learn something themselves. True, a few of them are college graduates. Several more have gone through high school. But the majority have had nothing more than an inter-mittent schooling in the "South." Most home backgrounds are therefore apparently not conducive to scholarship. Yet our colored pupils lead their white classmates in scholastic achievement in every grade. We have found it preferable to enroll new colored students in the lower grades only. They are more amenable, at the age of five or six, to discipline and training than they are when they enter a Cath-olic school for the first time in their early teens. Invariably, non- Catholic pupils accepted for the upper grades are problems. They come with their attitudes fixed and their characters strongly devel-oped along paths that conflict with our teaching aims. Consequently, only Catholic children are accepted into the school for the higher grades; the lower grades are open to all who satisfy the entrance requirements. After two or three year~ with us, these children are more docile to our teaching, their behavior is decidedly improved, and their wholesome outlook on life is reflected in the family" circle. Many parents ask to take religious instructions or are importuned by their children to do so within a year or two. 181 SISTER OF THE HOLY NAMES Reoiew t~or Religious Among the fine qualities which we have had abundant oppor-tunity to admire in our colored people, I'd stress their co-operation, their cleanliness (in spite of their tremendous housing difficulties), their high ideals, and last, but certainly not least, their attraction to and love of things spiritual. Never have we received from our white pupils the co-operation and encouragement which the colored have given. Last fall we needed window shades in our classrooms. Those shades which we could pull down either stayed down or came down altogether. Some windows had none to pull down. The mothers of our colored pupils were invited to discuss the matter. They came, nearly every one, conducted the meeting in.parliamentary style~ spon-sored a very successful party, and really amazed us. We now have new window shades on every window in every classroom. Colored parents follow the behavior and the studies of their chil-dren very closely. They frequently telephone or stop a minute after school hours to find out how Isaiah or Donna is progressing. The bimonthly report is not just another card to sign but a meaningful record which both parents and pupils take seriously. Suppose Wood-row is not behaving properly: a note to his mother sets him right. Should Dorsilla become negligent in her studies, a phone call brings results. Thirty of my forty-five pupils are colored. I find my most care-ful workers among them. Boys especially surprise me by their atten-tion to details, their striving for perfection. They would rather not hand in any paper than one that is poorly written or has a mistake on it. On the whole, I have found them clean and neat physically as well as morally. Of course there are some who are untidy, but they are the exception. The colored have high ideals. Their standards are set for the best in everything; such at least is my experience. That is one reason why our Catholic faith appeals so strongly to them. Some of the parents have made mistakes in their own lives; they are eager to fielp their children avoid the pitfalls into .which they themselves have fallen. They see and appreciate the difference between the behavior of the public-school children and our pupils (speaking again of our own neighborhood). Therefore they make untold sacrifices to insure the best training, the best instruction, the best education for their dar-lings. They are not living aimlessly. They have ambitious futures outlined. The children themselves are imbued with their parents' high ideals. You would perhaps be surprised to hear these poor people express 182 19.50 INTERRACIAL SCHOOL ADdUSTMENT their religious opinions. They are hungry for God. They are seeking not a "revival" religion but one that is solid, secure, and authoritative. One family, whose children were among our first Catholic colored pupils, boasts two altar boys. These boys refused so absolutely to go to a public school that thei~ mother was obliged to send them to St. Benedict the Moor's boarding school in Mil-waukee. There they were baptized and made their first Holy Com-munion. The following year they came to us. The older bo3~, a senior altar boy now, is fidelity personified. He serves the nine o'clock Mass every Sunday, rain, snow, or sunshine. He is an honor student at the Catholic high school he attends. Both boys are fre-quent communicants. And all this, despite the fact that neither mother nor stepfather is Catholic. An aunt who teaches in a special school in New York, also a non-Catholic, made several trips West to assure herself of her nephews' educational progress. Each time she has expressed her admiration and appreciation of Catholic education. Could you but come and see for yourself how nonexistent are the bogeys of interracial education, my explanations would be needless. In class, as well as in church, no distinction is made in seating. Side byside they learn their lessons, say their prayers, play their games. Side by side, too, they bear Mass, receive Holy Communion, and serve at the altar. In instructing the many parents who seek bap-tism, the priests in charge of our parish believe in the "slow but sure" adage. They try the perseverance and constancy of their catechumens before baptism. How fervent these colored converts are. Yes, a very few grow careless with the years: but of course as much can be said of our lifelong Catholics. Many of our newly-converted colored families move to better neighborhoods. Yet, some of the children continue to come to our school, although it means coming halfway across the city by bus or streetcar. Others enroll in the nearest Catholic school; the same school might have refused them entrance a year before. It is our consolation to know that they still receive a Catholic education in their changed circumstances. We plant, others water; but God gives the increase. Our first fully-interracial' graduation took place last year. All these graduates are at present in Catholic high schools. They .are continuing their Catholic education side by side with white students, partaking in all school activities on an equal basis. Now to give some general impressions. Some tendencies must be checked. But they are the tendencies which historians tell us are 183 A SISTER OF THE HOLY NAMES manifested by any minority group. Those who sigh over the diff-culties of our present-day teaching efforts forget the very real diffi-culties they encountered a few years ago with o, tber minorities. Besides, every authority recognizes that the already difficult task of teaching has been made doubly hard by the weakening of family dis-cipline, The undesirable traits which I mention are not monopolized by our colored brethren. Fighting, for instance. Resentment. In-feriority complex. These have to be checked rigorously and sen-sibly. We rarely experience difficulties in this regard between the races. Usually it is the colored who quarrel among themselves (or the white as the case may be). Name-calling is unheard of between white and colored. By taking these youngsters in the lower grades, we are succeeding, with the invaluable aid of parents and priests, in teaching them to live peaceably with one another; to regard all men (even if all men do not so regard them) as friends and brothers: to face their difficulties with courage, confident that with God's help they can succeed here and hereafter. We have iiadustrious pupils and lazy ones, bright ones and dull, quick and slow, polite and thoughtless. But these categories are no respecters of color. Racial tensions develop not in school but in the homes where an older generation, grown fearful, sows the seeds of strife and disunion. With us, the teachings of the Church are fearlessly taught. Non- Catholics are expected to take part in. all religion classes. What a beautiful object lesson a colored altar boy can be as, paten in hand, he serves the priest at the Communion rail. It is with no mere mouthing of fine phrases that we teach the lesson that a compassion-ate Christ taught: His love for all men; that He died for all: that black, brown, yellow, and white, we must love one another as He has loved us. How much better our pupils understand this when they look around and see boys and girls of every shade of brown treated the same as those born white. The. best way to get information on interracial education is to see such a school in action. OUR CONTRIBUTORS GERALD KELLY and AUGUSTINE KL,~AS are members of the faculty at St. Mary's College, St. Marys, Kansas. STEPHEN 2. BROWN is a professor at the National University of Ireland, Dublin. 184 Aid:end !:o Reading Augustine Klaas, S.J. 44ATTEND to reading," St. Paul long ago advised Timothy t~ (I Tim. 4:13). By this admonition bishops--and pre-sumably priests, too, since they should be imitating their bishops--are counseled to peruse the Holy Scriptures for spiritual reading. Religious are given to understand the importance of spiritual reading by some of the Fathers of the Church, for example, by St. Jerome, who in his own peculiar way urges Eustochium, a Roman virgin seeking perfection in the nearby convent at Bethlehem, to "let ~leep steal over you holding a book, and let the sacred page receive your nodding head." So necessary for his monks did St. Benedict consider daily reading of the Holy Scriptures and of other spiritual works that he used to send two of the brethren around to check on them strictly during this exercise, for he considered such reading the living spring whence flowed the streams of prayer. This can be said to be the general tradition of religious communities from the earliest times down to the present. While it it true that the cur-rent canon law regarding religious does not mention it explicitly, spiritual reading is certainly included under the heading ~f the "other practices of piety," which superiors must see that their subjects per-form daily (canon 565). As a matter of fact, the constitutions of almost all religious orders and congregations approyed by the Holy See prescribe specifical!y at least a quarter hour of daily spiritual reading or its equivalent, whether in private or in common. Today the laity are becoming increasingly aware of the need of spiritual reading fo~ advancement in prayer and virtuous living, and they are'making use of it more and more. These readers of spiritual books are usually yearly retreatants, active sodalists, and the militants of Catholic Action, but there are many others also. Even non- Catholics are helping in a surprising way to make certain Catholic spiritual books nation-wide best-sellers. I Spiritual reading is not just any sort of reading. It is not casual reading as of a newspaper, novel, or poem. Neither is it "heavy" reading, as of scientific, historical, or philosophical works. It is not 185 AUGUSTINE KLAAS Review [or Reli~lious reading for esthetic pleasure, literary appreciation, historical infor-marion, scientific acumen, or doctrinal erudition: at least, such is not the primary purpose of this kind of reading. What, then, is it? It is the reading of Holy Scripture, spiritual books, lives of Christ, of the Blessed Virgin, and of the saints, not so much for knowledge or for some other similar purpose as for moral improvement, for progress in the spiritual life. Spiritual reading is directed to the will rather than to the intellect; it aims more at the heart than at the head. It seeks principally to stir up the affections, move the will, and produce virtuous action. Father Alvarez de Paz gives the classi-cal definition: "Spiritual reading is perusing the pages of Holy.Scrip-ture or the books of the holy Doctors, not so much"that we may know, but rather that we may advance in spirit, learn the will of God; and do it." Elsewhere be calls it spiritu~al reading when we seek in spiritual books "not only the knowledge but much more the relish ~and love of spiritual things." In some ways the reading of a spiritual book has distinct advan-tages over listening to a sermon or exhortation, having a conference with a religious superior or spiritual guide, or discussing spiritual matters in private conversation with a friend. Verba votar~t . Spoken words easily come and go. The printed word is far more permanent and tends to produce a more lasting effect, since what is printed can be reread, pondered, prayed over, and thoroughly assimi-lated. Without strain or too much distraction the last drop of goodness can be leisurely distilled from it. Books, too, can be fearless informants of faults and defects, while preachers, superiors, and equal~ will sometimes bestitate to speak out, and indeed at times they may not be able to do so. Also, the preacher or counselor may be lacking in the special knowledge required for one's particular case; he may be mediocre, or even downright incompetent, whereas one can always choose one's spiritual reading, adapted to personal, needs, from the Holy Scriptures or the latest encyclical of the Pope, from the spiritual masters, .such as Augustine, Chrysostom, and Basil; across the crowded centuries to Marmion, Meschler, and Leen. M~reover, a spiritual book is a precious thing in itself. The Psalmist says (11:7): "The utterances of the Lord are holy utter-ances, silver tested by fire." Spiritual reading often contains latent power similar to that so impressively noted by the two disciples on the road to Emmaus: "Was not our heart burning within us whilst he spoke to us on the way, whilst he laid open to us the Scriptures?" (Luke 24:32.) And Christ tells us: "The words that I have spoken 186 dul~,1950 ATTEND TO READING to you are spirit and life" (John 6:64). And St. Paul: "For what-soever things were written aforetime were written for our instruc-tion, that through patience and through the comfort of the Scriptures we may have hope" (Rom. 15:4). According to the Holy Books themselves, the Scriptures are truth, fire, a lamp, a hammer, the sword of the spirit, an infinite treasure for men; they convert souls, give wisdom to little ores, enlighten the mind, and .rejoice the heart. What Holy Scripture here says of itself applies also in great part to ill spiritual books worthy of the name. II Undoubtedly spiritual reading is a powerful force for salvation and perfection. How many, like St. Justin, have ascribed to it their conversion to the true religion? St. Eugenia was converted by reading the Epistles of St. Paul; St. Domna by reading the Acts of the Apostles. St. Augustine attributed his moral conversion to spiritual reading. Already convinced intellectually of the true faith, he was still struggling with his unruly passions and perverse will, trying to break with his sinful past, when one day he heard the voice of a child sing-songing in a nearby house: "Tolle, lege," "Tolle, lege," "Take up and read." He recalled that the great St. Antony had been converted to a life of perfection by the chance hearing of the Gospel text: "Go, sell what thou hast, and give to the poor; and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." So Augustine eagerly took up the New Testament, opened it at random, and read from St. Paul's.epistle to the Romans (13:13-14): "Not in revelry and drunkenness, not in debauchery and wantonness, not in strife and jealousy: But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and as for the flesh, take no thought for its lusts." These words sent streams of light into his mind, warmth to his affections, and strength into his will. Then and there he broke with his sinful past forever. Cen-turies later Ignatius Loyola likewise found in spiritual reading a powerful stimulus to a better life. While recuperating from battle wounds at his ancestral castle he asked for some light reading, some romantic tales, to speed the tedious hours. None could be found ar the moment, so he had to content himself with reading the life of Christ and some saints' biographies. This re.ading, begun with reluc-tance, together with God's grace, initiated a revolutionary change in his whole !ife and started him on the road to sanctity. Augustine and Ignatius are not isolated instances. Countless men and women, of all states of life, have had the course of their moral and spiritual 187 AUGUSTINE KLAAS Review for Religious life changed for the better by reading the Scriptures and other spir-itual books. ¯ Hence it is not surprising that ascetical masters have been lavish in pointing out in detail the various effects produced by earnest spir-itual reading. Here are some of. the. things they say. It shows us our faults as in a mirror, warns of tempt.ations and helps to overcome them, gradually purifies the,,soul from: sin,, and, makes,,the.,,sense of sin ever more and more delicate. It is also a source of nourishment for the soul, since it feeds the soul with salutary truths, which hre its solid and substantial food, and thus plants wisdom. It disposes us for meditation, then enkindles and feeds the fire of prayer and con-templation; indeed, it is truly the "oil for the lamp of prayer." Or, to change the figure with St. Basil: prayers are the sinews of the soul, but the sinews of prayer are spiritual reading. Also, if prayer has gone. badly in the morning, reading can make up for it to a great exterit later in the day. It deepens faith, hope, charity, and all the virtues, stimulates to fervor and devotion, arouses the affections, and strengthens the will. St. Ambrose remarks that just as monks in winter make for the fire, so must we throw off the chill of the world by reading which kindles our love for God. Moreover, r~ading urges to emulation. Did not the youthful Teresa of Avila, on reading the vivid accounts of the early martyrs, immediati.'ly run off to martyr-dom, taking h~r little brother along? Fortunately they did not get very far on their way to Africa but were promptly fetched back home! Little by little spiritual r~ading produces deep interior peace, delight in God, contempt for the world and worldly things; it gives us to taste and experience how sweet is the Lord. It also stirs up apostolic zeal and can be very useful for the apostolate, since it indirectly supplies material for sermons, religion classes, spiritual guidance, and conversation. On the negative side, it prevents wasting precious time on books, magazines, and newspapers of little or no value to religious. In a word, it helps greatly toward making religious spiritually mature. No wonder, then, that so many saintly persons of the past were devoted to spiritual reading. Did not Our Lord Himself read from the Holy Scriptures in the synagogue? St. Augustine says that Our Lady was reading the prophecies of Isaias concerning the future Mes-sias when the angel appeared to her to announce that she was to be the mother of the Redeemer. The servant of Queen Candace was reading Isaias when the Holy Spirit sent the apostle Philip to baptize him. It is significant that the office of reader is a minor order in the 188 July, 1950 ATTEND TO READING Church. How the Iectio dit~ina was treasured in the early Church and by the monastic orders down the years! St. Dominic made great progress in holiness by constantly reading the C'onferer~ces of Cassian, and St. Thomas Aquinas by reading and rereading the Fathers of the Desert and the Fathers of the Church. In this way St. Je~:ome finally broke his inordinate attachment to the pagan classical authors. And didn't St. Teresa cure herself of excessive novel-reading in much the same fashion? We can say without fear of contradiction that the saints universally practiced spiritual reading. I merely note tha~: St. Francis de Sales Used to read himself to sleep at night with z spiritual book, usually Scupoli's Spiritual Combat. He was evidently-following St. 3erome's advice. No wonder the spiritual masters chant the .praises of spiritual'_ reading. Thomas ~ Kempis says that a convent or monastery with-out spiritual books is a kitchen without vegetables, a table without: food, a well without water, a river without fish, a bag without: clothing, a garden without flowers, a purse without money, a vine-. yard without grapes, a tower without guards, a house without fur-. niture; and be adds in all simplicity: "From all these evils and'. injuries to the soul may the good Lord 3esus Christ deliver us, and'. may He be wholly in all now and forever. Amen." Speaking of his: monks, St. Hugh of Lincoln asserts that spiritual books were their arms in time of war, their occupation in times of peace, their support in time of trial, and their remedy in time of sickness. Perhaps Plus X is the most eloquent of modern recommenders of spiritual reading. What he says in his L~tter to Catholic Priestg about its apostolic and personal value can be applied also to religious. "Great progress is made by priests who persevere in this habit of reading; they preach Christ with unction; instead of enervating and distracting the minds and hearts of their hearers, they lead them .to better things, lifting up their souls to heavenly desires. For another reason, very profitable to you, beloved sons, St. 3erome's precept holds good: 'Let spiritual reading be ever in your hands.' Who does not know the very great influence exercised on the mind by a friend who advises freely, who counsels, rebukes, encourages and preserves from'error? 'Blessed is be that findeth a true friend' (Ecclus. 25: 12); 'He that hath found him, hath found a 'treasure' (Ecclus. 6: 14). Now spiritual books may be accounted as true and faithful friends. They remind u~ forcibly of the precepts laid down by authority concerning, true discipline, awaken in us the still small voices of Heaven, reprehend all falling away from resolutions, disturb 189 AUGUSTINE KLAAS Reoieu2 for Religious deceitful calm, expose less worthy affections and self-deception, and reveal the many dangers that lie in the path of the unwary. This they do with such uhobtrusive kindness that they prove themselves to be, not only friends, but the very best of friends. They are beside us whenever we please, ever ready to minister to our secret needs; their voice is never harsh, their counsel never biased, their utteraBces never deceitful or fainthearted." Ill Spiritual reading can be made in private or in common. It is done in common when one person reads and the others listen. Although this way of reading is practised and even prescribed by many religious communities and has certain obvious advantages, yet reading in common is by no means theideal. It is much less effective in procuring the principal purpose of this exercise, namely, virtuous will-action, chiefly because the personal element of the individual religious is not sufficiently taken into consideration. After all, each religious has his own personality, his own spiritual problems, needs. and so forth. What is pertinent for one may not be for another, and at the moment may even be harmful. Spiritual reading in common seems to be a carry-over from the days when books were scarce and perhaps illiteracy not unknown among religious. At any rate, it cannot compare with private spiritual reading, which is being adopted more and more by religious communities, certainly an adaptive move in the right .direction. However, if it must be done in common, the reader should be a capable one, who with suitable preparation tries to read slowly, distinct.Iy, and reflectively. Even where reading in com-mon is practised by rule, other free periods of the day can be profit-ably utilized for private spiritual reading, if only for a half or quar-ter hour. Spiritual reading in private should be done daily, if possible, and at a fixed time, when one is free from duties, and the surroundings are at least relatively quiet. Some find the chapel an excellent place for private spiritual readir~z. The reading should be preceded by a moment ot recollection and a short prayer or aspiration asking for light and grace to benefit by it. The aim should be to read little rather than much--multum rather than malta--and this should be done slowly, leisurely, so that the matter has a chance to sink into the soul like a gentle rain. The reading must be attentive, reflective, ruminative. A wise old laybrother, on the way to spiritual reading, used to say: "Let us chew the cud; unless a sheep chews the cud, it 190 Jul~,1950 ATTEND TO READING will never grow fat." Hence, a pause from time to time, a pause to think, to pray, to meditate, to listen, for St. Augustine says, "When you pray, you speak to God; when you read, God speaks to you." Should we not listen to Him? An old spiritual writer counsels doing what chickens do when they drink water: they take a sip and then look up to. heaven, and keep repeating the process. When we come to something that strikes us, that stirs the affec-tions, we must stay there, read it over and over again, savor it, per-meate it with prayer and aspirations, even make a note of it for future reference. In this way we shall be like the prophet Ezechiel who was told to eat a book, not to swallow it whole; and then like him we ~oo shall find the book "sweet as honey" in the mouth (Ezech. 3:1-3). Such reading will produce fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundred-fold, provided we understand, absorb, penetrate, realize, and apply to ourselves what we read. It will make us put on Christ, put on Our Blessed Lady, put on Paul, put. on David, put on all the saints and holy ones of God. Ascetical writers say: Read, not with a view to finding fault, but with a deep spirit of faith. It is so easy to be hypercritical and unfair, like spiders distilling venom where bees sip only sweet nec-tar. Read with humility. That is what h Kempis says: "If you wish to make progress, read humbly." Do not be frightened by the style, especially of the old masters; it is something quite secondary, if not unimportant, for our purpose. Persevere, too, and do not flit superficially from book to book. A sick man will never be cured if be merely browses about among the medicine bottles. IV What to read? We are not concerned here with the reading of spiritual books taken in an improper or analogous sense, though undoubtedly it has great advantage for the interior life.' Such, for example, is reading the book of nature. The writer recalls once travelling with a Cistercian abbot on a train going through the Swiss Alps. The mere sight of those snow-covered peaks bathed in sun-light seemed to take the contemplative abbot right out of this world, up to the beauty and grandeur of God. Many of the saints read the book of nature assiduously. Who does not recall Ignatius Loyola contemplating the stars; Francis of Assisi, the birds, animals, Brother Sun, find Sister Moon; Joseph of Cupertino striking the flowers with his cane to 'keep their beauty from sending him into an ecstasy; Teresa of Avila devoutly pondering the waters of fountains, brooks, 191 AUGUSTINE KLAAS Review [or Religious and streams; Francesca Cabrini gazing prayerfully on the wide expanse of the ocean? Perhaps religious do not do enough of this sort of reading; perhaps religious, especially nuns, are indoors too much. There is another type of this so-called reading: it is reading the book of the crucifix. Saints, like Thomas Aquinas and Bona-venture, found much wisdom in it. Philip Beniti (Breviary, Aug. 23) called the crucifix outright "my book." Neither are we so much interested in this article in spiritual reading taken in a proper but wide sense of the term. By this is meant perusing theological, philosophical, historical books, or reli-gious novels, plays, and poems, for spiritual reading. No doubt Franz Werfel's The Song o[ Bernadette or-Francis Tbompson's poems can readily be converted into spiritual reading, and surely this ought to be done at least occasionally as a relief and diversion from regular spirittial reading. By applying the method of reading sketched above, almost any book, even a grammar or scienc~ book, can become spiritual reading of sorts, but this is not spiritual reading in.the strict and ordinary sense, nor should it take the place of the daily reading prescribed by rule. A good norm is this: for the reading prescribed by rule, particularly if it is done in common, what is ordinarily meant by a spiritual book should be used, except on rare occasions. But for any extra time devoted to this exercise, over and above what is prescribed, one can be much freer in one's choice of books. (I might suggest, by way of digression, that in making this spir-itual reading in the wide sense, religious might keep in mind what Coleridge says of readers in general. He distinguishes four classes. "The first class of readers may be compared to an hour-glass, their reading being as the sand; it runs in and runs out, and leaves not a vestige behind. A second class resembles a sponge, which imbibe~ everything, and returns it in nearly the same state, only a little dirtier. A third class is like a jelly-bag, which allows all that is pure to pass away, arid retains only the refuse and dregs. The fourth class may be compared to the miner of Golconda, who, casting .aside all that is worthless, preserves only the pure gems." If we adopt the method of reading suggested above, surely we shall be mine-workers of Golconda, gathering gems and nuggets of spiritual wisdom to trad~ for heavenly riches. And at the end of each day's .treasure-harvest, should we not give thanks to God for the graces received while reading?) First on the list of spiritual reading books in the strict, sense is the 192 ATTEND TO READING Bible, the spiritual book par excellet~ce. St. Paul writes: "Every-thing in the Scriptures hasbeen divinely inspired, and has its uses: to instruct us, to expose our errors, to correct our faults, to educate us in holy living" (II Tim. 3:16). Do we appreciate the Old Tes-tament sufficiently, and do we read it? Of course, for the beginner a selection of Old Testament Books is advisable. Wisdom, Proverbs, Ecclesiasticus, Ecclesiastes, Tobias, ,lob, Ruth, Esther, Isaias, Psalms --these books contain a rich mine of gpiritual treasure. Gradually one can take on the other books also. A good point as we read is to link up the Old and New Testaments, to note, for example, the shadows and figures of the Old .Testament and their fulfillment and verification in the New. Religious are much better acquainted with the New Testament, especially the four Gospels, which must be gone over and over again to be really assimilated and loved. But have we read the Acts of the Apostles? Or the magfiificent letters of St. Paul?. Or the minor letters of the New Testament? Monsignor Ronald Knox's translation of the Holy Scriptures, whatever its deficiencies from the scholarly angle, has this great advantage that it is highly intelligible for the average reader. We recommend it, particularly for the books of the Old Testament and for the Epistles of St. Paul. An encouragement to read the Holy Scriptures for spiritual reading is the three hundred days' indulgence attached by Pope Leo XIII to at least a quarter hour of such reading. And Pope Benedict XV admonishes that "none can fail to see what profit and sweet tranquility must result in well-disposed souls from such devout reading of the Bible. Whoever comes to it in piety, faith, and humility, and with a determination to make progrez in it, will assuredly find therein and will eat the 'bread that comes down from heaven' (,lohn 6:50) . Our one desire for all the Church's children is that, being saturated with the Bible, they may arrive at the all-surpassing knowledge of desus Christ." (Encyclical Spiritus Paraclitus.) . The Apostolic Fathers are certain ecclesiastical writers of the end of the first century and the first half of the second. Although they are not divinely inspired as are the writers of Holy Scripture, they nevertheless portray vividly the mind and spirit of the early Chris-tians. Perhaps the best known among them are Clement, Ignatius, and Polycarp. Who has not been stirred by the fervent letters of Bishop Ignatius of Antioch on his way to Rome .and martyrdom? To the Romhn Christians, who may try to prevent him from dying for Christ, he writes to dissuade them from such action: "God's wheat 193 AUGUSTINE K~AA$ Reuiew [or Religious I am, and by the teeth of wild beasts I am to be ground that I may prove Christ's pure bread." Bishop Polycarp, about to be mar-tyred, replies to the proconsuI trying to make him apostatize: "For six and eighty years I have been serving Him, and He has done no wrong to me; how, then, dare I blaspheme my King.who has saved me!" Who has not thrilled to the heroic courage of these words? Another contemporary source of inspiring spiritual reading is the accounts of the early martyrs, such as Tarcisius, Cecilia, Perpetua and Felicity. And then there are the Fathers of the Church: Cyprian, Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, Gregory, Athanasius, Basil, Chrysostom, and many others. Their works on martyrdom, virginity, prayer, the ascetical life, the priestly state, make excellent spiritual reading,' reading that has nourished the prayer of .contemplatives down the ages. Also the Fathers of the Desert, such as Antony the Hermit, and the early monastic founders, as Pachomius and Benedict, furnish reading material for advancement in the spiritual life. Pope Pius XII on several occasions has encouraged the reading of these early writers; especially of the first centuries. Since our troub-lous times are much like those of the first Christians, he points out that we need the virtues they especially" exemplified, and he calls attention to four principal ones: 1) an unshakeable confidence in victory, based on profound faith; 2) a serene and unlimited readi-ness for sacrifice and suffering: 3) Eucharistic fervor and recollection arising from the deep conviction of the social efficacy of Eucharistic thought on all forms of social life; 4) a striving after an ever closer and more enduring unity of spirit and of hierarchy. At present there are two series of English translations of these early writings being published: one by The Newman Press, West-minster, Maryland, the other by Cima Publishing Co., New York. Librarians of religious communities should choose from these collec-tions those volumes more suitable for spiritual reading. Com!ng down the centuries, what a cavalcade of spiritual masters passes in review! Bernard, Aquinas, Catherine of Siena, Bonaven-ture, ~i Kempis, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Rodriguez, Francis de Sales, Lallemant, Alphonsus Liguori, Vincent de Paul, Paul of the Cross, and many more. Among the more recent writers we have Lehodey, Goodier, Faber, Newman, Hedley, Th~r~se of Lisieux, Meschler, Chautard, Marmion, and Leen, not to mention the living. Some years ago REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS printed a list of some hundred authors and their works, which may serve as a basis 194 ATTEND TO READING for a re~ding program of the spiritual masters. (Cf. I, 105; II, 117.) Another rich source of spiritual reading is the life of Christ, of Our Blessed Lady, and of St. ,Joseph. These are timeless books, to be read and reread. Then there are the numerous biographies of the saints, especially of those whom the Church has singled out to be the official patrons of various Catholic works, and of the Blessed, and of other holy persons, particularly of the founders of religious com-munities, so instructive, inspiring, and enticing to imitation. In the last twenty or thirty years hagiography has made real progress towards taking the saints from their fragile pious pedestals and, by putting.their feet on the ground, making them attractively real. | V Of course, amid such a wealth of reading material, one must wisely choose. Here are a few suggestions for religious that must not be followed too rigidly but always adapted to special circumstances: Choose those books that will give you the spirit of your own religious order oi congregation, whether active, contemplative, or mixed. These should be preferred tb all others, especially in the early years of the religious life, and they should be reread often. If your community has few or none, then read the books of an order or congregation which has. your identical rule, or has for its purpose one similar to your own. Other books, depicting and implementing other ways of religious life or other states of life than yours, can be read gradually as the years go on. Choose books suitable to your present position in your religious community. The reading of novices is not going to be the same. as that of older religious. Young religious should be directed in their reading by some one experienced in this matter. However, certain authors are recommended by the Holy See to all young religious: St. Bernard, St. Bonaventure, and Father Alphonsus Rodriguez. The latter's Practice of Perfection and Christian Virtues (3 vols. Loyola Press, Chicago) has the added advantage of furnishing a systematic general survey of almost the whole ascetical field--a valuable help at the beginning of one's religious life. Choose books adapted to the spiritual needs of the soul at the moment. This reading will vary according as one is ill, or in con-solation, or in desolation, or in temptation, or in great trials, or has been appointed superior, or removed from some cherished office or employment, and so forth. It will vary, too, according as one has made great or little progr.e.ss in the spiritual life. 195 AUGUSTINE KLAAS Make it a point to read at least one book in harmony with the liturgical year, for instance, something on the Passion during Lent. I~ is good occasionally to read a general survey of the whole of the spiritual life, such as that found in Tanquerey, Garrigou- Lagr~nge, Saudreau, or Parente. A more o~ less systematic reading of the older authors, especially the spiritual classics, should be done by mature religious, while at the same time not neglecting the better books among the moderns. Here a list of books, graded in the order of importance, is a big help. Many modern spiritual books are superficial and ephemeral, and can readily be passed over in favor of the spiritual masters. Mystical books should be read rarely by the young and then only under direction. Older religious of balanced judgment may read such books with profit, especially those of St. Teresa of Avila. With regard to private revelations and mystical phenomena not yet having received the approval that goes with the person's canonization, on~ should always maintain a prudent reserve. This is the Church's own attitude in these delicate matters. An inordinate attachment to ~eading about revelations and mystical phenomena is a sign of' spir-itual immaturity and can be harmful to one's spiritual life. 'Finally, religious should read regularly one or several magazines devoted to the spiritual and religious life, such as Cross and Crown, Life of the Spirit, REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, Sponsa Regis, or others in foreign languages. These, besides articles suitable for spiritual reading, furnish careful information on spiritual books and pam-phlets, old and new. To conclude with a common objection: "I am too busy; I have no time for extra spiritual reading." Let St. Robert Bellarmine answer it. After asserting that there is always a margin of time left over in the daily schedule tha~ can "be spent on meditation or pious reading, with great fruit for one's soul," the holy Doctor goes on to say: "Seneca in one of his letters takes to task those who claim that time is all too short;and be proves that their complaint is unfounded, because they waste a great deal of time. If only they would use it, they should have plenty of time . Many are short of time because, not content with honest recreation, they squander their existence in dawdling, gadding about, gossiping, visiting, reading about trifles, and doing nothing useful." Perhaps St. Robert has something there! Book/?ev ews ST. TERESA OF JESUS. By Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D. Translated from the Italian by a Benedictine of Stanbrook Abbey. Pp. xll-~ 123. The Newman Press, Westminster, Maryland, 1949. $2.00 In this book Fathe~ Gabriel does for St. Teresa what he did some time ago for St. John of the Cross (see this REVIEW, VI, p. 377) ; that is, in a series of five conferences he introduces us to the works and doctrine of the celebrated mystic whom he regards as the great founder of what he is pleased to call "the Teresian school." He makes an effort to present the principal points of that doctrine in an ordered and systematic synthesis, and to "determine what is her considered opinion on the more central problems of spirituality" (p. xi). The supremely important aim in the spiritual life is not contem- t plation, but cbarRy, and the perfection of it. .Being most magnani-mous herself and having been treated most liberally by God, St. Teresa conceives this perfection to be love brought to the highest possible peak of generosity. Nothing, absolutely nothing, is to be refused to the divine Lover. Whatever He may ask, in deed or sacri-fice or suffering, the soul is glad to render. In particular it is eager to do all that it can in the apostolic spirit and for the salvation of souls. This lofty perfection is possible to all Christians who have sufficient good will. It is the same as that most excellent form of union with God, that "true union" of conformity of will in love, which above all other forms Teresa herself always desired and sought. After considering the goal, perfect love, it was only natural that a Carmelite and especially a sublime mystic like St. Teresa should turn to "the contemplative ideal." Besides infused contemplation, "We must conclude that, evidently, Teresa also is aware of the exist-ence of an active contemplation," described in The Interior Castle, "Mansion VI," 7. "Such a contemplation will habitually be the prayer even of a soul already mystical, at such times as it is not favored by God with more special divine enlightening. In the illu-minative way the active, or acquired, contemplation will easily alter-nate with the infused. The matter is thus understood by the whole Teresian school" (p. 118). Her understanding of mystical contemplation is narrower and richer than that of some modern authors: it "is a state of prayer 197 BOOK REVIEWS Reoiew for Religious wherein the soul is experimentally aware of God's action within it" (p. 24). "Even in the lower degrees of infused contemplation the divine action within renders itself in some way perceptible to the consciousness; the soul feels moved, drawn, and from seeing how that motion which it suffers causes it to occupy itself wholly in lovingly gazing upon God, it judges: 'God is acting in me. I am very close to God' " (p. 82). In St. Teresa's outlook the contemplative ideal is of course most important. It is a great "short cut" to the higher degrees of charity and virtue. One ardently in love with God experiences a certain need of the peculiar intimacy and inspiration which contemplation brings. Hence it is in every way most desirable. However, it is not necessary, even for perfect holiness. "We cannot conclude that all generous souls must attai'n to such forms of contemplation ['prayer of quiet,' 'sleep of the powers,' 'union'], much less that they can be introduced into that way of contemplation which, through the series of infused forms of prayer, leads the soul to the spiritual marriage as it is described by St. Teresa and St. John of the Cross . So we may speak of a way that leads to holiness, even perfect holiness, without passing through mystical prayers, strictly speaking" (pp. 36, 37). "Synthesizing these teachings of its great Mistress, the Teresian School has distinguished a two-fold way of perfection: the common way and the mystical way, that is the way of contemplation. The common way knows nothing of infused forms of prayer of th~ characteristic type described by St. Teresa" (p. 43). As a matter of fact, God is most liberal with His gifts and is wont to grant infused prayer to those who exert themselves suffi-ciently. "If we are to interpret her thought faithfully, we must say that in the highest way of sanctity, followed by thoroughly generous souls, mystical prayer, although not ~ecessary, is yet ordinary. Such, also, is the traditional position taken up by the Teresian mystical school, formulated by the Teresian Congress of Madrid" (p. 37). After dealing with perfection and contemplation in the first two conferences, Father Gabriel devotes the remaining three to the preparation that St. Teresa advises for contemplation, to an account of the "Mansions" of The lnterior Castle, and finally to the place of the sacred humanity of Jesus in the spiritual system of Teresa of Jesus. Father Gabriel's book is a clear, brief, and highly inspiring intro-duction to the doctrine of St. Teresa. Moreover, it presents the understanding and interpretation of it which the leading authority 198 duly, 1950 BOOK REVIEWS now in Carmelite spirituality considers to be the true and just idea of it. Hence this work is a very valuable addition to our spiritual literature.--(3. AUGUSTINE ELLARD, S.J. STORM OF GLORY. By John Beevers. Pp. viii -f- 23 I. Sheed and Ward, New York, 19S0. $3.00. This short life of St. Th~r~se of Lisieux is written with a two-fold purpose: (1) to reveal St. Th~r~se as a person truly measuring up to the heroic love of God and the neighbor required of a saint, and a person altogether unlike the child-like and sweetly sentimental saint she is made to be in many books about her; and (2) to point out that St. Wh~r~se has a very special relation to our modern times. Read in connection with the Autobiography of St. Th~rbse, Storm of Glory/will give one a very complete picture of the saint. It fills in many details of her family life in early years as well as her life as a Carmelite, all of which help very much to understand St. Th~rbse, and in addition it tells a brief running story of her life enlivened with concrete incidents and eye-witness stories which show Th~r~se to have been truly heroic in a grown-up way in her love and service of God. The second aim of the book is developed in Part II. The author calls St. Th~r~se of Lisieux th~ greatest saint of modern times, prin-cipally because she has made sanctity seem not only attractive but truly possible to thi many, many little people of the world, who but for her would have thought of sanctity as too remote and mysterious andimpractical for such as they. This is true because her own life was so very ordinary--ordinary works, no extraordinary penances, and for the most part no extraordinary spiritual experiences, and also because of the Little Way of Spiritual Childhood which she teaches as a sure way to become a saint. Further, to the author, Th~r~se, with her conviction of her own littleness and her love of God in every detail of her life, stands in direct opposition to the modern worldly spirit with its pride in purely natural accomplishments and its bitter hatred as well of fellowmen ~s of God. Over the years I have found each fresh acquaintance with St. Thir~se of Lisieux to be spiritually inspiring. And that is what Storm of Glory offers to its readers--a good measure of spiritual inspiration.--A. REID, S.J. PURGATORY. By Martin A. dugle, A.A. Translated by Malachy G, Car-roll. Pp. 203. The Newman Press, Wesfmlnster, Maryland, 1949. $3.25. There are very few worthwhile books on Purgatory. This is one 199 Book REVIEWS Reuiew for Religious of them, one of the best. Unlike most, it is written primarily from the viewpoint of the living and stresses throughout the consoling aspect of Purgatory. In it, Father Martin 3ugie, a theologian of high repute, presents and explains the Catholic doctrine in simple, clear language, but with theological exactitude and above all with reserve, especially on the delicate subject of private revelations. In fact, his balanced evaluation and prudent use of private revelations are some of the outstanding features of the book. The location of Purgatory, its inhabitants, its kinds of punishment, its time-length, these and many other topics, some not found in other books, come up for care-ful treatment. The author devotes considerable space ~o the w.ays in which we can help these souls, by Masses, indulgences, prayers, and almsgiving. Finally, he tells bow to avoid Purgatory altogether, or at least shorten one's stay there, by using the multitudinous efficacious means placed by the Church at the disposal of Catholics. He might have developed more at length the theologically well-founded though not certain doctrine of the immediate entry into heJaven of those who receive the sacrament of extreme unction betimes a;ad with the proper disposi-tions. The translator has done a fair job, but he should have done more car,eful proof-reading, and he might have added a helpful index. We recommend the book highly to all and trust that it will match in English the seven editions it has already seen in French. It is a rare book, combining two things: exact information and quiet inspiration. --A. KLAAS, S.J. PSYCHIATRY AND ASCETICISM. By Felix D. Duffey, C.S.C. Pp. 132. B. Herder Book Co., S÷. Louis, Missouri. $2.00. This slender volume points out defects in the exercise of the sci-ence of psychiatry as it is practiced today and as it is popularly preached. From a consideration of some of the defects of the science, the author goes on to a treatment of certain ascetical principles and practices which are basic to a complete understanding of difficulties in man's mental life, principles and practices frequently overlooked or denied in psychiatric treatment. Perhaps the finest chapters in the book are the Psychology of Mental Prayer and the Psychology of Mortification. The present reviewer has a practical problem with this volume, however. Though the author repeats several times that he has no quarrel with psychiatry which stays within the confines of its sub- 200 duly,.1950 BOOK NOTICES ject matter, the overall tendency of the book seems to condemn the science as a whole. A Catholic psychiatrist would find little encour-agement in reading Psgcbiatry and Asceticism. There are many reputable Catholic psychia~;rists who are doing splendid work in their chosen field, and it is fervently hoped that their number will increase. It is true that Freud held a philoso.pby not consonant with our rule of faith, but a distinction must be made between the philo-sophy of the founder and the therapeutic processes and clinical obser-vations and conclusions of the science. By stressing some of the ideas this volume does, the ordinary layman would put little faith in psychiatry.mJ. J. CAMPBELL, S.J. [NOTE: The preceding reviews of Purgatory and of Psychiatry and Asceticism are published through the courtesy of Catholic Review Service, St. Mary's College, St. Marys, Kansas.] BOOK NOTICES GOSPEL GE,MS, by Canon Paul Marc, contains twenty-four meditations on as many events recorded in the Gospels. The .book is recommended to anyone seeking an aid in making familiar contem-plations or meditations on the Gospel scenes. The prayerful perusal of its simple and inspiring treatment of these scenes will help the reader to acquire a deeper knowledge of Christ and to achieve a more intimate union with Him. (Frederick Pustet Co., New York and Cincinnati, 1950. Pp. 226. $3.00.) AN INTRODUCTION TO HOLINESS, by Henri Petitot, O.P., is a clear, well-balanced statement of the essentials for holiness. The book has three main parts (The Ascetic Life; The Active Life; and The Unitive Life) and a conclusion on The Mystical Body. In these various sections the author insists on the necessity of self-denial, humility, prayer, zeal, knowledge of Christian doctrine, union with God and neighbor through charity[ There is a good chapter on the value of Christian art for stimulating devotion; and the theme that the holiness of one member has profound effects on the Mystical Body is excellently developed. The treatise is intended for the fer-vent laity and for religious. Even among these, the author says, comparatively few attain to a superior state of holiness. But all would profit by the thoughtful reading of this book. Irritating minor tones are the frequent references to things French and the author's apparently unnecessary insistence on his "Thomistic" posi-tion. The translation from the French was made by Malachy Ger- 201 BOOK NOTICES Reuie~u for Reliqious ard Carroll. (Westminster, Maryland: The Newman Press, 1950. Pp. vii ÷ 176. $2.50.) COME CREATOR SPIRIT, by Rev. A. Biskupek, S.V.D., is a series of considerations centering chiefly around those two magnificent hymns to the Holy Ghost, Veni Creator Spiritus and Veni. Sancte Spiritus. Other chapters deal with the role of the Holy Ghost in the sacraments. The book concludes with comments on the Mass of the Holy Ghost and miscellaneous reflections. The treatment is devotional, simple, full of unction, and directed to the heart. This book might best do service to religious as a well-spring for their meditations~to increase their appreciation of and devotion to the forgotten Paraclete. (Techny, Ill.: Mission Press, 1950. Pp. $3.00.) TAKE THIS SCAPULAR contains the conferences given at the Carmelite Third Order's Second National Conference held in the spring of 1949. In the thirty-four chapters, each by a Carmelite Tertiary or a Tertiary Director, is told the story of Our Lady's Scapular, its origin and history, its use and efficacy in modern life. This book provides valuable source material for study, meditation, and preaching on the Scapular devotion. (Chicago: Carmelite Third Order Press, 1949. Pp. 270. $2.50.) Thomas Merton's latest book, WHAT ARE THESE WOUNDS?, is an interpretation of the contemplative life and mystical experi-ences of St. Lutgarde, a thirteenth-century Yrappistine. It is a com-panion book to his THE WATERS OF SILOE, and THE SEEDS OF CONTEMPLATION, and gives a concrete application of the principles of the contemplative life discussed in these two former books. Although the author is careful to explain that the miraculous is only accidental to the mystical life, it is to be regretted that much of the book is taken up with relating just such experiences. This biography of St. Lutgarde is, however, interesting and pleasant reading, since it does afford an insight into the innermost life of an outstanding con-templative and a lover of the Sacred Heart. (Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Company, 1950. Pp. xiv + 191. $2.50.) Among the many celebrated writings by St. Athanasius probably none was more influential, over a wider area and for a longer period, than his perennial "best seller," THE LIFE (~F ST. ANTHONY. Atha-nasius had known and esteemed th~ great monastic pioneer and pro-duced this Lit:e shortly after the death of Anthony. The account 202 dulv, 1950 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS literally set the style for Christian hagiography. And, what is vastly more important, it exerted enormous influence East and West in spreading the idea of that full-time pursui.t of Christian perfection that is now organized into religious life under rule and vow. After the Gospels, this Life is really Book One in monastic and conventual literature. The present edition is Number' 10 in the Ancient Chris-tian Writers series. The translator and editor is Robert T. Meyer. .Religious scholars will be grateful to him not only for the smooth translation but also for the annotations with which he interprets the text. (Westminster,Md.: The Newman Press, 1950. Pp. 154. $2.50.) Very noticeable in recent literature on religious vocations is the striving to be realistic, to show young men and women, by word pictures and photographs, just how the religious life is lived. WHAT MUST I Do? by Sister Mary Paul Reilly, O.S.B., is an example of how this purpose.may be accomplished by word pictures. She takes one girl and her companions through the postulancy, noviceship, first and final professions: and, by means of their varied experiences, she shows the girl reader just what she might expect in the religious life. (Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Company, 1950. Pp. 96. ¯ $1.60.) THE UNHOLY THREE, by Rev. Henry J. Romanowski, is a very readable treatise on ascetical theology for the laity. The "Unholy Three" are, obviously, the world, the flesh, and the devil. Father R0manowski covers the principal ways in which these enemies attack the soul, as well as the various ways of combatting them. This is his first book. May he publish many more. (Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Company, 1950. Pp. xiii ÷ 160. $2.75.) BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS [For the most part, these notices are purely descriptive, based on a cursory exam-ination of the books listed.] B. HERDER BOOK COMPANY, St. Louis, Missouri. Human Personalit~l. By H. C. E. Zacharias. Pp. viii q- 360. $4.00. Describes the way India and China "by their own unaided efforts caused human personality to emerge out of its stage of collec-tive anonymity," and how Israel was an instrument in the hands of God "who gave to human personality a supernatural sanction and an eternal value, unattainable by merely human endeavors." ,, 203 dul~,1950 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS The Nazarene. By Eugenio Zolli. Translated from thd orig-inal ItaIian by Cyril VolIert, S.3. Pp. 309. $5.00. A volume of exegesis for "Scripture students and others who are confronted with difficulty of explaining obscure passages in the Gospels." Revival of Paganism. By Gustave Combes. Translated by Rev. Augustine Stock, O.S.B. Pp. v + 360. $4.50. "This survey of recent trends, especially those fostered by government, toward the dechristianization of our civilization, focuses attention in particular on Russia, Germany, and France." The Message of Christ. By Adolf Donders. Translated by Rev. Rudolph Kraus. Pp. xi ÷ 477. $6.00. Includes 204 brief suggested sermons, based mostly on the life of Christ, for Sundays and principal feasts of the liturgical year. Should prove useful espe-cially to busy parish priests. THE LITURGICAL PRESS, Collegeville, Minnesota. Tbeoloqg of the Old Testament. By Dr. Paul Heinisch. Eng-lish edition by Rev. William Heidt. Pp. 386. $5.00. Although of special interest to teachers of religion and theology, this book will provide the less specialized reader also with a deeper understanding and fuller apppreciation of Old Testament teaching on the nature and attributes of God, the spirit world, creation, the nature of man, human acts, the Messiah. The treatment is both scholarly and com-prehensive and copiously documented with hundreds of Scriptural references. LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO., 55 Fifth Avenue, New York. St. Anne and the Gouty Rector and Other Plays. By Henri Gh~on ~ Henri Brochet. Pp. xx + 190. $2.50. Contains seven plays and useful production notes for each play. The plays included are: St. Anne and the Gouty Rector, The Sausage-Maker's Interl~de, Parade at Devil's Bridge by Henri Gh~on; Christmas at the Cross-roads, The Gardener Who Was Afraid of Death, The Man Who Died Because He Wore Gloves, St. Felix and His Potatoes by Henri Brocbet. NEWMAN PRESS, Westminster, Maryland. Facing Life, Meditations for Young Men. By Raoul Plus, S.J. Pp. xii + 12I. $1.50. Facing Life, Meditations for Young Women. By Raoul Plus, S.J. Pp. xiv + 158. $1.50. Two small books, reprints. Recommended highly for priests 204 July, 1950 FOR YOUR INFORMATION and religious who want to help young men and women meditate. The Sunday Introits and Graduals. By Reir. E. C. Messenger. Pp. 175. $2.75. The Sunday Collects. Pp. 123. $2.75. The Sunday Epistles. Pp. 182. $2.75. -.-The Sunday G'ospels. Pp. 171. $2.75. These four volumes contain simple explanations of the various parts of the Mass. Helpful for religious who .wish to meditate on these parts of the Mass; for priests who wish to explain the Mass; and for the laity who want a deeper understanding of parts of the Mass. Lioing with God. By Raoul Plus, S.J. Pp. xvi -1- 93. $1.50. Another reprint. Seeks to arouse in the reader a more fruitful realiza-tion of the tremendous significance of union with God through sanc-tifying grace. By Rev. E. C. Messenger. By Rev. E. C. Messenger. By Rev. E. C. Messenger. JOSEPH F. WAGNER, INC., 53 Park Place, New York. In Praise of Our.Lady. By Martin Dempsey. Pp. vi + 225. $2.75. A book of sermons concerning the principal feasts of Our Lady, including a special series for a Novena to Our Lady of Fatima. For Your nrrorma on Passlonist Champion Champion of Church and Pope is an attractive pamphlet sketch of St. Vincent Strambi, the recently canonized Passionist bishop. In his preface to the pamphlet Bishop James H. Griffiths says that "Vincent Strambi is a modern symbol of victory of the suffering Christ and His suffering Church over the force and the fear of the tyrannical state." In the text itself Father Aloysius McDon-ough, C.P., brings out not only the remarkable story of St. Vincent's early life (he was rector of a seminary before being ordained a priest) and of his great courage in the face of Napoleon's tyranny, but also the essential details of Passionist life. The publisher is the Sign Press, Union City, New Jersey. Father McDonough, the author, 205 FOR YOUR INFORMATION. conducts the "Sign-Post" in the Passionis~ magazine, The Sign, and is the author of God's Own Method, a book which offers a "design for living . . . drawn from the lessons taught by the crucified Re-deemer." (See REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, VII, 50-51.) Company o{ Mary A Slave of Jesus in Mary is a pamphlet life of Mother Mary Potter, Foundress of The Little Company of Mary, familiarly known as the "Blue Nuns." The institute began in the latter part of the last century; the foundress died in Rome in 1913; yet the Little Company's hospitals are now circling the globe. The author of this pamphlet is Father Marius McAuliffe, O.F.M. Our readers may obtain it for the asking by writing to The Little Company of Mary Hospital, 95th St. and California Ave., Evergreen Park 42, Ill. Servanfs of Mary Another nursing institute of recent origin is The Sisters, Servants of Mary, a society of trained nurses who care for the sick and infirm in their own homes. It too is fast extending its services to the whole world. Its provincial house for the United States is located at Kan-sas City, Kansas. The foundress, Mother Soledad Torres Acosta, was born in Madrid, Spain, in 1826, and died in the same city 1887. She was beatified on February 5, of this present Holy Year. L~ftle Off;¢e M~I Dail~t Otlice is a 6-p~ge folder on The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin. It contains a brief commentary on the Office and reflections on the psalms and canticles. The author is Ft. Jerome, O.F.M. He found in giving retreats to religious that they do not get lectures on the Little OtSce as often as they would wish; hence, he gave some talks and later abbreviated them into this folder. Copies may be ordered, or sample copies obtained, from Assisi Press, St. Francis, Broad Lane, Cork, Ireland. Price for U.S.A. and Canada: $3.00 for 100; $8.00 for 300; $12.00 for 500. I/arla The Poor Clare Nuns have a new monastery situated on a hill-side overlooking the Santa Clara Valley. The address is: The Immaculate Heart Monastery, Route 2, Box 873, Los Altos, California. "The Boy Saviour, My Model for Life," is the title of a new (Continued on page 224) 206 ( ues {ons and Answers nl8m We have heard, or read somewhere, that the water cruet used at Mass should always be filled to the brim? Is that correct; and, if so, why should this be so? At the Offertory the celebrant is supposed to mix a very slight quantity of .water with the wine in the chalice. The quantity should be relatively slight: that is, slight with reference to the amount of wine that he takes. Yet, even priests who use a comparatively large quantity of wine usually try to limit themselves to only a few drops of water. The cruet should be filled in such a way that the priest can accomplish this without spilling the water. Generally speaking, it is very difficult for the priest to take only a few drops if only the bottom part of the cruet is filled, for in this case the water tends to gush out. For this reason, the stoppers so often used in water cruets are a nuisance. On the other hand, when cruets are filled right to the brim, it is often difficult to pour the water without spilling it. The safest way to fill the water cruet, therefore, seems to be almost to the brim. We might add, however, that cruets differ--and so do priests. Sacristans would do well to ask the priest how he wants the cruets filled. And if there is no opportunity to do this, the sacristan might experiment a bit until he (or she) knows just how much to fill the cruet to allow for the pouring of only a few drops without spilling or gushing. In some places Erlenmeyer flasks are used as cruets because it is so easy to control the flow of liquid from them. ml9m What is meant by a "perplexed" conscience? Is it the same thing as scrupulosity? By a "perplexed" conscience theologians mean a state of mind in which a person thinks he would commit a sin no matter what he does. For instance, suppose a mother thinks she would sin by going to Mass and neglecting a sick child, and would also sin by staying with the child and omitting Mass. She has to do one thing or the other--go to Mass or not go to Mass. Hence, according to her "conscience" she would sin no matter what she would do. Another example is suggested by this problem in Moral Guidance (p. 309), by Edwin F. Healy, S.J.: "What should a surgeon do in an 207 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS emergency case where in his opinion he will probably be doing wrong if he operates and probably be doing wrong if he does not operate? He must do one or the other at once." The "perplexed" conscience does not necessarily indicate scrupu-losity. Even one who normally has no difficulty making decisions for himself might occasionally face a situation so puzzling ~that it seems to involve sin no matter what he does. However, a scrupulous person is certainly more apt to experience this difficulty than are those who are not scrupulous. Since we have mentioned the "perplexed" conscience, it may be well to add here the correct principles of conduct in such an emergency. Theologians give three rules to cover the various possi-bilities : 1) Get advice, if this is possible, and thus do away with the perplexity. --For instance, the mother mentioned above might ask the priest or some prudent friend what she should do. 2) If advice or some similar help is unavailable, do what seems to be the less evil. --For instan6e, the s.urgeon mentioned in Father He.aly's problem has to act in an emergency and may have no oppor-tunity to consult persons or books. In that case he should try to estimate whether operating or not operating would be the less of the two apparent evils and then act accordingly. 3) If one cannot decide which would be the less evil, he may follow either course of action without sin. ---The reason for this last rule is that a person who judges that he will sin equally by acting and by not acting no longer has the freedom necessary for actually committing a sin. The ability to sin presupposes the ability to choose between two things, one of which is sinful, the other not sinful. 2O Is it true that the Holy See has condemned the practice of cjivincj several small Hosts to one communicant.'/ A decree of Pope Innocent XI condemned the practice of giving several small Hosts to one communicant. The reason for this prohibition was that the practice, as existing at the time of the con-demnation, was based on a spirit of false devotion. When there is no question of fostering a false devotion, a priest may give several Hosts to the same communicant: for example, when there is need of emptying a ciborium. 208 Reporl: I:o Rome I We c:ntinue hcre the publishing of the List oI Questions to be answered in the quinquennial report by pontifical institutes. For full explanation see our dan-uary, 1950, number, page 52. We encourage all to read these questions thought-fully, as they furnish an excellen~ survey of the Church's law concerning religious. The eighty-six questions published in our 3anuary, March, and May numbers contain the first three articles of Chapter I, "The Institute and Its Government." The questions are published exactly as they appear in the official English trans-lation. Questions marked with an asterisk (*) concern only institutes of men; those marked with a cross (t) refer only to institutes of women.--ED.] ARTICLE IV Concernin9 the financ;al 9overnmenf of the Institute § 1. - CONCERNING THE ACQUISITION AND LOSS OF PROPERTY Concerning the acquisition and registration of propert~ 87. a) What if any immovable property or precious movable property was acquired by the Institute, Provinces and houses; what was the value of these acquisitions. b) Was the aforesaid property acquired by gift or other gratui-tous title, or by purchase, and ~n this latter case was it with the funds of the Institute, Province or house, or with borrowed money. 88. Has the Institute, the Province and each house an inventory of its movable property, especially of that which is classed as precious (by reason of workmanship, history or material) (c. 1522 2°) and of its immovable property. 89. When must these invehtories be revised, and are they in fact revised. 90. In cases where works which are not the property of the house, such as clerical or religious residence-halls, hospitals, churches, etc., are entrusted to the religious houses, are these properties kept clearly distinct from those which belong to the religious house itself. 91. By what method or in~ whose name before the civil law is the religious property registered; and can this registration be regarded as safe in civil law. 92. What forms of registration have been adopted as the more s~cure in various localities. 93. If societies have been established for this purpose, was every-thing done in accordance with the civil law and is everything actually being kept in good order. 94. As regards the aforesaid societies: 209 REPORT TO ROME Review for Religious a) Were all persons to whom the administration or manage-ment of property is entrusted, chosen with due care, after making all the previous investigations which were necessary or useful. b) Were the members of the Institute itself given the preference over outsiders for oflqces of administration, whenever this could pru-dently be done without loss. c) What safeguards were used against dangers arising from abuses of administration. d) Is a constant vigilance conscientiously exercised according to law, through the checking of accounts and through ordinary and other extraordinary and timely inspections of safety deposits and other properties. Concerning expenses 95. Were extraordinary expenses paid from ordinary or extra-ordinary income proper, or on the contrary with borrowed funds. Concerning contributions 96. Did the individual houses and other units subject to the Provinces contribute toward meeting the expenses of the Provinces. 97. Did the Provinces and equivalent units and the houses which are immediately under the Supe.rior General contribute to the com-mon necessities of the Institute. 98. By what authority (Chapter, Council, General or Provincial Superior), on what principles and in what proportion are the contri-butions'to the general and provincial funds determined. 99. Were these contributions paid willingly or more or less under pressure. I00. Are the Provinces and houses allowed to retain whatever is prudently foreseen to be necessary or very appropriate for their own life and growth, in view of the good of souls and the welfare of the Institute. Concerning the alienation and diminution of property 101. What capital property, whether immovable, or stable (i. e. consisting of capital funds) or precious, was alienated, and by what authority, 102. In the alienation of property, were the provisions of law (cc. 534, 1531), especially regarding the previous appraisal by experts, and the norms of the Constitutions, observed. 103. Did the Institute, Provinces and houses consume any stable or founded property or capital funds; for what reasons and by what 210 July, 19~O authority. 104. Are the general, making serious efforts to red 105. What properties o suffered loss; and what wer! REPORT TO ROME rovincial and local Superiors and Bursars over this property. the Institute, Provinces and houses have the reasons. gilance of Superiors and their Councils ~d 'Bursars (c. 516 §§ 2, 3, 4) according Constitutions: ute. 'ovinces and other similar units. muses and works. 111. Does the Superior §3). 112. Do the Councils exercise vigilance in regard also as Bursars (c. 516 § 1 Concerning 113. How many times cils must the Bursars and o their administration. 114. Was a clear and in any case act also as Bursar (c. 516 ~ave their part in the administration and lit, even when the Superiors are acting how do they do this. rhe rendering of accounts a year and to what Superiors and Coun-her Administrators render an account of :omplete rendering of account demanded 21"1 under the direction and vi (cc. 516 § 2, 532 § I), 110. Are there designat to the common law and thl a) For the entire Insti~ b) For the different P: c) For the individual Concernirig debts and obligations 106. a) What debts w~re contracted, and by whom. b) What debts are ac~ua!ly outstanding. 107. In contracting debts and obligations, were the following faithfully observed : a) The provisions of c. 534. b) The precautions mI e.ntioned in c. 536 § 5. c) The norms of the Constitutions regarding permissions, the consent of the Council, etc. | 108. Was the interest ~n debts and obligations faithfully paid, and is diligent care taken t,oward the gradual payment of a debt or the amortization of the capital~ (c. 536 § 5). § 2. - CONCERNING THE[CONSERVATION AND ADMINISTRATION ~F PROPERTY 109. Is the administra~tion of property conducted, not arbi-trarily, but according to the common law and the Constitutions, REPORT TO ROME Reoiet~ for Religious of all and each of the Bursars and Administrators during the five-year period. 115. Were there presented together with the accounts the docu-ments showing the .expenditures and receipts. 116. Was there regularly an inspection and checking of the safe. 117. Are the necessary directions given to the Bursars and Administrators; if so how is this done, and what sanctions are imposed in case of necessity. 118. Have Superiors, Bursars or Administrators, or any other religious, any money or property which they can freely use without giving a regular account of it, even though it belong to the Institute, Province or house. Concerning the intpestment of money and changes of inuestment 119. Did Superiors, Councils and Administrators lawfully, safely and profitably invest (c. 533) the money which was to be invested according to law and the will of benefactors, observing the rules of law and the Constitutions. 120. Did Superiors, Bursars and Administrators make temporary investments of surplus funds which were not required for ordinary expenses, so that they should not lie idle but might draw a reasonable interest. Concerning the consert~ation of property 121. Are money, securities, contracts, precious articles carefully conserved, observing exactly the common norms and the provisions of the Constitutions. 122. On what terms, if ever: a) Were money or precious articles received from outsiders on deposit. b) Or conversely were such deposits made with outsiders by Superiors, Bursars, Administrators or private religious. 123. Do Superiors, Bursars, Administrators conscientiously strive that all the properly of the Institute, Province and house be religiously conserved and providently administered (c. 532 § 1). Concerning foundations, pious causes, etc. 124. What legacies and pious foundations were accepted. 125. In accepting pious foundations and legacies, were the rules of law (c. 1544, ss.) and of the Constitutions observed. 126. Was the money of foundations and pious causes, according to law and with the consent of the local Ordinary when that was 212 July, 19519 REPORT TO ROME required, invested (cc. 533 §§ 1, 2, 1547) and separately and faith-fully administered (cc. 535 § 3, 2°, 1546, 1549). 127. Were the obligations attached to foundations faithfully and conscientiously fulfilled (cc. 1514, 1549 § 2). 128. Did Visitors demand documentary proof of their fulfilment and an account of the administration of the property. Concerning business and trade, etc. 129. Did any religious, Superiors or subjects, personally or through others, engage in illicit business, that is, business not per-mitted to religious, in violation of cc. 142, 592. 130. In cases where for just reasons the permission of the Holy See. was obtained for engaging in business (give the date and Proto-col number), was every semblance, not alone of fraud but also of avarice, diligently avoided. 131. What precautions were taken that religious who are occu-pied in business dealings may not suffer spiritual harm. 132. Whether Superiors and Councils were attentively watchful that, according to c. 1539 § 2, in the administrative exchange of securities payable to bearer, all appearance of commerce or trading be avoided. Concerning actions or affairs which int)oloe tfnancial responsibility 133. How did Superiors exercise vigilance over the actions and dealings of their subjects from which there might arise according to law a financial responsibility on the part of the Institute or of the Province or house (c. 536 § 2) or of the individual religious (c. 536 §3). 134. Did Superiors clearly and effectively, according as the cir-cumstances required, take prompt action to clear the Institute, Prov-ince and house of all responsibility for actions and dealings done by individual religious without observing the norms of the common or particular law. 135. Do Superiors see to it that, in all matters which concern finances, or in those generally which could give occasion to litigation in the canonical or civil courts, everything be done exactly according to law, on the basis of previous written contracts and with the guar-antee of perfectly valid signed agreements, etc. (e, 1529). 136. Have any law suits or losses resulted from failure to observe the prescribed formalities of civil law according to n. 135. 213 REPORT TO ROME Review for Religious 137. !-!ave Superiors and Bursars diligently seen to it that extern workmen and all persons who work for the Institute, Province or house receive at the agreed time a just and fair compensation accord-ing to law (c. 1524), and that the provisions of law regarding the contract of hire and other matters be faithfully observed. 138. What provision is made for the spiritual welfare of those who work in the house, especially if they also reside there. CHAPTER II CONCERNING THE RELIGIOUS AND THE RELIGIOUS LIFE AND DISCIPLINE Concerning the diversity of classes ~ The vows of each class 139. What are the different classes, if any, among the members of the Institute; does harmony exist among the different classes and is f~aternaI charity observed among them. 140. Besides the persons who belong to the Institute or Society as members, by religious profession or lawful incorporation, are there others who are dedicated or given to it, or the like, without being members. 141. Is provision made in fairness and charity for the spiritual life of these persons and also for their material security. 142. Are there any legitimately approved,statutes for them. ARTICLE I Concerning ÷he admission, formation and profession or incorporation of members Concerning the postulantsbip in the wide sense (Apostolic Schools) 143. Are there in the Institute any aspirantships or postu.lant-ships in the wide sense: apostolic schools, etc. 144. For how long a time does the instruction and education in these places last. 145. In these apostolic schools and similar houses and in the residence-halls, are the students of tender age habitually kept separate from the older ones. Concerning the postulantship in the canonical or strict sense 146. Are the postulantships pro.perly conducted according to law in the houses of noviceship (c. 540 § 1), or in houses where perfect religious observance exists (c. 540). 147. Was the time assigned by the common law (c. 539) or by 214 Julg, 1950 " REPORT TO ROME the Constitutions for the postulantship abbreviated or prolonged; if so, for how long a time and by what authority. Concerning the admission of aspirants 148. What means are used to arouse and attract vocations. 149. Are there also advertisements inserted in public bulletins and papers. If so, in what bulletins or papers did they appear. 150. Taking into account the different circumstances of various localities, what causes are regarded as having an influence on the increase or diminution of vocations. 151. Wha~t are the obstacles which aspirants most frequendy have to overcome in order to follow their vocation. Concerning documents, testimonials and informations 152. Were the documents required by the common law (c. 544) and by the Constitutions demanded before admission in the case of each aspirant. 153. At least before entrance into the novitiate, were the fol-lowing testimonial letters demanded and obtained: a*) The common testimonial letters which are to be given by the local Ordinaries and are.prescribed for all (c. 544 § 2). b) The special testimonial letters which are to be given under oath by the Rector or Major Superior for those who have been in a Seminary or a residence-hall which is equivalent to an ecclesiastical one, or in a postulantship or novitiate of a religious Institute (c. 544 §3). c) Likewise the testimonial letters which are required in the case of clerics and professed religious (c. 544 §§ 4, 5). 154. Besides the documents and testimonials which are specially prescribed by law or by the Constitutions, were further informa-l~ ions, which it seemed necessary or useful to know in order to judge with certainty of the vocation and fitness of the aspirants, diligently sought (c. 544 § 6). Concerning impediments and admissfon 155. From what impediments or defects, if any, which are imposed by the common or particular law, was a dispensation granted; how often and by what authority was this done. 156. Were the admissions of aspirants always done by the com-petent Superiors, observing the rules of law (c. 543). Concerning the nouiceship~The house 157. Was every novitiate house erected or transferred after 215 ~EPORT TO ~OME Review [or Religious obtaining in advance the permission of the Holy See (c. 554 §§ 1, 2). 158. Does perfect religious observance flourish in the novitiate houses. 159. Did Superiors'assign to them or permit to remain in them religious who are hot exemplary in their zeal for religious observance (c. 55¢ § 3). Concerning the beginning of the novicesbip 160. Did all fulfill the prescribed days of spiritual exercises before entering the noyiceship (c. 541)~ 161. Were the rite and the rules prescribed for admission to the noviceship faithfully observed (c. 553). Concerning board and expenses for the postulantsfiip and nouicesbip 162. Is the right of the Institute to demand payment for the expenses of the religious habit and board during the postulantship and noviceship, given in the Constitutions or customarily recognized by express agreement. 163. Who determines the amount to be paid. 164. Was there any instance of the grave abuse of dela.ying the profession because the expenses of the postulantship or noviceshlp had not been paid. Concerning the giscipline of the novicesbip 165. Did all the novices and each of them from the beginning of the noviceship have a complete copy of the Constitutions. 166. Are the novices, according to law and the Constitutions, kept separate from the professed, and is any undue communication between them tolerated (c. 564 §§ 1, 2). 167. Did all and each of the novices before their profession per-form the canonical year of noviceship complete and continuous, without counting the first day, in a house of noviceship lawfully erected, under the care and direction of a Master (cc. 555 § 1, 556, 557). 168. Was the noviceship extended or shortened beyond the limits fixed by law (c. 571 § 2) and the Constitutions; if so, for how long a time and by what authority was this done. Concerning the government of the noviceship 169. Was there always in every novitiate a Master of novices 216 dul~l, 1950 REPORT TO ROME duly appointed or elected (c. 560). 170. Have the novice Master and his Socius all the qualifications and all the requisites prescribed by the common law (c. 559 §§ 1, 2) and the Constitutions, or did dispensations have to be asked for and obtained. 171. Are the Master and Socius free from all offices and minis-tries in or out of the house, which might interfere with their care and government of the novices (c. 559 § 3). 172. Do the Masters of novices, according to law (c. 561) and the Constitutions, under the vigilance and direction of Superiors and Visitors, have full possession of their proper authority and use it for the government and training of the novices. 173. Do all the Masters fulfill their office properly (c. 562) and remain constantly in the novitiate house. 174. Do the Master of novices and his Socius abstain from hearing sacramental confessions unless the penitents of their own accord ask them to do so according to c. 891. Concerning the spiritual training of the nooices 175. Were the novices, under the guidance of the Master, during the first or canonical year of the noviceship, engaged exclusively according to law (c. 565 §§ 1, 2) in exercises of piety and other exercises proper to novices; or on the contrary were they assigned to hearing confessions, preaching and external works or ministries; or " did they apply themselves expressly to the study of literature, sci-ence or humanities (c. 565 § 3) beyond the limited measure in which this has been approved by the Sacred Congregation. 176. During the second year of noviceship or during .the time which is over and above the canonical year, were the norms which were given in the Instruction of the Sacred Congregation of Religious (2 Nov. 1921 ) observed : a) Regarding the manner of exercising the external ministries of the Institute (nn. I, II). b) Regarding the conditions under which alone the novices may be sent outside the novitiate house (III). c) Regarding the two months' preparation for the profession (IV). Concerning the documents to be drawn up before the profession 177. Did all the novices, according to c. 569 § I, before the first 217 REPORT TO ROME Review [or Religious profession of simple vows, freely cede the administration and ~itber cede or dispose of the use and usufruct of their property. 178. In case the aforesaid cession and disposition was not duly made before the profession, or in case new property was acquired thereafter, was it made or completed after the profession (c. 569 § 2). 179. Were any changes of the aforesaid cession and disposition after the profession, made always in accordance with ¢. 580 § 3. 180. a) Did the novices of the Congregation, before their first profession of temporary vows, freely make a will in due form, valid according to the civil law, regarding their present or future property (c. 569 § 3). b) Did they afterward render this will valid according to the civil law (c. 569 § 3). 181. Were any changes which may have been made in this will after profession, made according to c. 583 2°. 182. Are the aforesaid documents a), b) faithfully kept in the Archives. Concerning admission to profession and the act of profession 183. Do the General Superior and General Council carefully and constantly keep a severe watchfulness as regards admissions; have they issued any special norms in this matter. 184. Does there seem to be in any Province too great facility regarding admissions, and have the prescribed norms and sound cri-teria been faitbfhlly observed. 185. Has the first profession, after eight full days of spiritual exercises, always been made validly and licitly according to law and the Constitutions (cc. 572, 573, 575) in the novitiate house itself (c. 574 § 1). 186. Was the prescribed rite observed in making the profession, and was the document attesting it duly drawn up (c. 576). Concerning the canonical examination 187L Did the Major Superioresses, or others acting in their name, two months before admission to the noviceship, to the first temporary profession and to perpetual profession, give timely notice to the local Ordinary (c. 552 § 1), so that he or his Delegate mlght gratuitously conduct the canonical examination regarding the free and conscious will of the postulant or candidate (c. 552 § 2). 188t. Was the prescribed examination always made. 218 July, 1950 REPORT TO ROME Concerning the dowry--The obligation and delivery of the dou)rg 1891". According to the Constitutions, is the dowry obligatory in the Congregation, or is it left entirely or partly optional (c. 547 §3). 1901". Was the delivery of the dowry made according to law (c. 547 § 2) and the Constitutions. Concerning the investment, conseroation, administration and return of the dou)rg 1911". Were the dowries, immediately after the first profession, always invested by the Major Superioress, with the deliberative vote of her Council and the consent of the Ordinary of the place where the capital of the dowries is kept (c. 549). 1921". Were the dowries spent or encumbered in any way b~fore the death of the religious concerned; if so, by what authority was this done. Were the dowries so spent or encumbered, even though it were done after obtaining lawful permission, afterward restored or cleared of the encumbrance; what is their condition at the present time (c. 549). 1931. Where and how are the dowries administered. Are the rules of law faithfully observed regarding their administration (cc. 550, 535 § 2). 1941. Is all property which is brought in as dowry, even though it be in excess of the sum required for a dowry in the Constitutions, or even though there be in the Congregation no obligation to bring in a dowry, accepted, invested, administered, etc. with the observance of the norms which govern dowries. 195t. In case of the departure of a professed religious, for what-ever cause it occurred, and in case of transfer, were the dowry and likewise the persona.l belongings which the novice brought with her at her entrance, in the condition in which they were when she left, restored to the religious departing or transferring, without the income which had already accrued (cc. 551, 570 § 2). 1961". Is this done also with property freely contributed for increasing the dowry even beyond the sum required by the Consti-tutions. 1971". In case of the departure of a professed religious who had been received without a dowry or with an insufficient one, if she was unable to provide for herself out of her own property, did the Insti-tute out of charity, according to law (c. 643 § 2), give her Whatever 219 REPORT TO ROME Reoieu; [or Religious was needed that she might safely and decently return home and be decently supp.orted for'a time. Concerning the profession and the renewal of profession 198. What if any dispensations were necessary for the pro-nouncement of the vows. 199. How many and what sanations were afterward necessary. 200. Were the temporary vows which are prescribed by law and by the Constitutions (c. 574 § 1), when the time for which they were taken had elapsed (c. 577 § 1), always renewed according to law (c. 577 § 2), so that no one ever remained without vows. 201. How often was the temporary profession extended beyond the six-year period allowed by law, and by what authority was this done (c. 574 § 2). 202. Conversely, how of