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THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN'S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
FORMER GEORGIA MINISTER TELLS WHY HL
JOINED SOCIETY OF JESUS
By F. X. FARMER, S.J.
This is the second of a series of articles on the conversion of Rev. Mr. F. X. Farmer, a former
Methodist missionary in China, a native of Georgia, and now a student for the priesthood in the Jesuit
Novitiate at Hastings, England, as told by Mr. Farmer himself in The Missionary, the editor of which has
granted The Bulletin permission to reproduce it.
The account was sent to Bishop Keiley, of Savannah, by its author. It tells of the early life of Mr.
Farmer, who was born in Conyers, Ga., October 14, 1877. Even as a child he was very religious, due in
large part to the influence of his mother, who is still living, an earnest, devout Christian, and still a
member of the Methodist Church.
The future Methodist and Jesuit missionary early decided on a life of service to God. He grad
uated from Emory University with the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy in 1898 while Dr. Candler,
now Methodist Bishop of Atlanta, was president. His father, who was moderately wealthy, wished him
to enter one of the professions, and he did include lectures on architectural drawing in his college course.
The following installment tells of his final decision regarding his life’s work.
Now, the grace of God so illuminated my mind and
filled my heart with love for Christ Our Lord, that I
began to see that I could never consent to give myself
to a secular profession. I had been redeemed, and
at what price! Nothing less than the Blood of the
Son of God had been poured out for my ransom.
After such love on His part, how could I ever be
content not to give him soul, body, and all my time,
my whole life? I also read the Holy Scriptures with
avidity, and prayer became the delight and consola
tion of my life. Christ became the companion of my
inner life, and each day after the duties of school
were over, I would seek a time and place of quiet
for prayer and meditation on Divine things. So real
was He to me and so great my joy to be thus able
to talk to Him, I arose sometimes at night to com
mune with Him.
The pastor at that time of the Methodist Church
in Covington was the Rev. J. A. Timmerman, a true
and dear friend. He, knowing how profoundly I had
been moved during the recent revival, took a deep
interest in my spiritual welfare and did what he could
to foster in me an intense spiritual life. He had a
splendid library, consisting of many choice religious
books, and these I devoured. The perusal of such
a book as Baxter’s “Saint’s Rest” lifted me so above
this world that I longed to depart and be with those
blessed ones who behold Christ face to face and enjoy
eternal bliss.
1 had become fully awake to the truth that this
present life is transient and but a preparation for
eternity, and that the man who neglects the salvation
of his soul is mad. As time went on, more and
more did I feel that I could never enter a secular call
ing, howsoever good it might be. For God in His
great goodness had caused me to taste the joy of
Heavenly things “and the powers of the World to
Come,” and consequently nothing of earth could ever
again satisfy me. Christ had become the center of all
my being—His interests were mine, His Kingdom
mine, and He my Glorious King.
About this time a friend gave me a little book
called “Kept for the Master’s Use,” which treated of
personal consecration to the Lord of all the powers
of body and mind, in order that He might use them
for His Glory and the salvation of souls. 1 was so
determined to be all His, that I wrote out a form of
consecration by which I gave myself irrevocably to
Him. As I now look back over the intervening years,
I thank God that I have never retracted it for a mo
ment; and if there has been another deeper and more
(Continued on Page 13.)
WAR RECORD OF GEORGIA
CATHOLICS.
Washington, D. C.— Catholics of Georgia
gave to the American forces during the world
war 18 per cent more men than their quota
according to population. This fact is revealed
in a careful tabulation which D. J. Ryan, Direc
tor of the Historical Records Department of the
National Catholic Welfare Council has just made
of the statistics gathered from twenty of the
twenty-three parishes of the State. Complete
records, it is expected, will improve the showing.
Official figures from the War Department
credit Georgia with having furnished a total of
102,786 men to the various branches of the
military and naval service. Of this number, ac
cording to the information received by the His
torical Records Department, 853 were Cath
olics. The federal census of 1910 gave Georgia
a population of 2,609,121. The population of
the State in 1920 was officially reported as
2,894,683. Adding to the figures for 1910
eight-tenths of the difference between the pop
ulation for that yjear and the total for 1 920
would indicate a population of 2,757,571 for
1918. The Catholic population in 1 9 1 8, as com
piled for the official Catholic Directory, pre
pared in the autumn of 1918 and published
early in 1919, was 19,400.
Had the Catholics furnished but 723 men to
the service, they would have contributed their
just proportion, according to these figures. In
stead, they gave a total of 855 men, and the
returns thus far are admittedly incomplete.
Forty-three of these Catholic soldiers lost their
lives in the conflict.
In addition to cont:ibuting to the ranks of
the army and the navy the Catholics of Georgia
were generous in their financial support of the
government and the different welfare and civic
organizations which had a part in serving the
men in uniform.
It is recorded by the Historical Records De
partment, which is making an exhaustive com
pilation and an analysis of the official reports,
that the Catholics represented about one-third
of the total armed forces of the United States,
and that approximately 20 per cent of the men
who died in the service were of the Catholic
faith. (N. C. W. C. News Service.)