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THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN'S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
THE SANCTITY OF THE PRIEST OF GOD
(By a Catholic Mother.)
Of all things existing in the world today outside of
Christ in the Blessed Sacrament the most real thing
in an unreal world the most wonderful to me is the
Catholic priesthood. Like an oasis in the desert, like
a lighthouse on the ocean, there shines before our
eyes the beauty, the sanctity, the purity, the nobility
of the priests of God.
To them do we bring our innocent babes to be
washed in the cleansing waters of Baptism. To them
do we bring our little ones at the age of reason to
be purified from their sins in the Sacrament of Pen
ance, confident from the knowledge of past experi
ence ourselves, that they will guide their footsteps in
the paths of virtue from childhood even to old age.
From them do we derive strength in the storm of
temptations which beset the human race, consolation
in the heavy sorrows which must come to all. At the
hour of death our agony is lessened and hope of
Heaven brought near by the presence of the holy
priest of God, who blesses our last sigh.
And through the Mass of our priests do we re
ceive that Bread of Christ without which our souls
would die. Daily if we so desire, and strange to say
many do not desire, we may receive from the con
secrated hands of the priest Our Lord Jesus Christ
Himself, who longingly longs to give Himself to our
souls to be our strength.
Do we sustain them by our prayers? In gratitude
to God and to them do we and our children pray
every day that they may receive more grace, more
strength, in their heavy responsibilities? They are
not immune from temptations, and we owe them sup
plications to God. For us they have given up all
AMERICA S NEW CARDINAL.
Most Reverend D. J. Dougherty, D.D., Archbishop
of Philadelphia, who was elevated to the Cardinalate
by His Holiness, Pope Benedict XV., at Rome, Monday,
March 7th, has returned to America. Cardinal-elect
Dougherty is the fifth American-resident Cardinal,
ranking with their Eminences Archbishops McCloskey
and Farley of New York, Gibbons of Baltimore, and
O’Connell, of Boston.
There was universal rejoicing in Philadelphia when
word came from the Vatican that Archbishop Dough
erty was to be nominated to be a Prince of the
Church. The jubilation was not confined to creed
or class, and the manner in which the secular press
handled the announcement, both editorially and in
the news columns, indicates the high esteem in which
the Archbishop is held by Americans in general.
His Grace especially endeared himself to Philadel
phians by the heroic work performed under his direc
tion during the dark days of the influenza epidemic
in 1918. It was only when the Archbishop sus
pended the rigorous rules of convent and seminary
to permit gentle nuns and willing students to nurse
the sick, console the dying, comfort the bereaved,
human ties of affection to consecrate themselves to
God and the salvation of souls.
Let us encourage them by our love of God and
holiness of life, by our help in their good works, by
the frequent reception of those saving Sacraments
without which our souls become starved and with
ered, destitute of all good fruits.
What a high honor God bestows upon the parents
of a priest 1 What greater blessing could Our Lord
give to the beautiful Sacrament of Matrimony, which,
through His Church, He has endowed with so much
holiness for those who enter upon it rightly in the
love and fear of the Lord.
Shall we mothers and fathers not long and desire
for that grace to come to our families? Why should
we not, like the parents of many great saints, offer
up our children to Him; especially our first born
sons? He will not accept the offering, unless He so
desires, but the offering will bring graces to us.
We understand that a priest is called and chosen by
God, and influence should never be brought to bear.
But we should train our children in reverence for
the priesthood.
We should encourage virtue at every step of life,
make the love of God and Church attractive to our
little ones.
Above all we should remember our boys’ virtue is
as carefully to be watched and tended as our girls’.
If we expect virtuous young men, we mothers mu3t
make our little boys watchful over their own souls.
Here lies the mother’s responsibility, her greatest
care.
Let us remember that a holy priest is the greatest
work of God.
minister to the orphan and bury the dead that the
scourge subsided.
Cardinal Dougherty was born August 16, 1865, in
Ashland, Schuylkill County, Philadelphia. His par
ents are both dead, his mother passing away last
June at the age of 90. After attending the public
schools, he passed the examination to enter the Sem
inary of St. Charles Borromeo at Overbrook, Pa., at
the age of fourteen. The authorities there deeming
him too young to enter, he spent the next two years
with the Jesuit Fathers at St. Mary’s College, Mon
treal, Canada. He then entered Overbrook.
Although the youngest in his class he immediately
took first place and held it until three years later,
when he was sent by the late Archbishop Ryan to
the American College at Rome. Here he remained
five years, graduating in 1890 with the degree of
Doctor of Divinity.
Returning home after his ordination by Cardinal
Parocchi, he became professor of dogmatic theology
at his Alma Mater, Overbrook. Thirteen years later,
in 1903, he was consecrated Bishop of Nueva Segovia,
P. I. After five years he was transferred to the See
of Jaro, P. I. His work in the Philippines was of
such a high order that he was again transferred in