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•Z-riAjrli 1 - J-xlr. CoLLi-lli,, nr. JOSEPH BRE1G Khrushchev’s The U. S. and the other west ern powers are wisely insisting that if any kind of “summit” conference is held, there must be adequate safeguards against its being turned into a mere Soviet propa ganda exer cise, plus an attempt to by pass the Unit ed Nations, to weaken the west’s arma ments without weaken ing Russia’s, and to cast into the discard the rights of smaller na tions -— in particular those in eastern Europe. Thus Khrushchev apparently has been balked in a transparent plan to lure the free world into a blind alley, while surrounding the Kremlin with a spurious air of respectability, and siren-sing ing the west into a vodka-drink ing mood of forgetting the past — including the butchery of Hungary. WHAT KHRUSHCHEV obvi ously has been striving to bring about is a universal pretense that the Soviet government is a government like other gov ernments, as if the Red Army were not holding sovereign na tions in slavery, and as if the USSR and the other iron cur tain countries were not filled with concentration camps in which millions exist on a level lower than the beasts of the jungle. The Kremlin’s announcement that the Soviet Union was aban doning tests of nuclear weapons — but would resume testing unless other nations followed suit — fooled nobody but those who desperately desire to be fooled. President Eisenhower was accurate in calling the ma neuver a gimmick. The Soviets had only recently completed a long series of tests, needed time to prepare for the next series, and knew the U. S. and Britain were on the eve of scheduled testings. THE WESTERN POWERS rightly replied by reminding the Kremlin that the U. S. has been trying for 10 years to get Russia to agree to an honest disarma ment program under UN super vision, with foolproof guaran tees against secret war prepara tions and surprise aggression, Question Box By David Q. Lipiak Q: Since in receiving the Blessed Eucharist, one receives the principal source of all grace, our Lord Jesus Christ, how is it that a person who goes to Communion daily, even week ly, is not necessarily a saint? Isn't it true that the sacraments produce grace infallibly as long as they are received worthily? A. The Blessed Eucharist is spiritual food meant to main- fain the life of the soul and to unite it more and more closely with Christ. Every barrier to the life of grace or to spiritual union with Christ, then, necessarily constitutes an obstacle to the re ception or to the full friut of the Eucharist. FOR THE WORTHY RECEP TION of Holy Communion, it is absolutely requisite that one be in the state of grace and have the right intention. The state of grace is necessary because, as nourishment is given only to the living, so the Bread of Life can only be given those who are spiritually alive — not dead, as a result of mortal sin. The prop er intention is imperative lest the act of communicating itself be blameworthy. A right inten tion, according to the classic definition of Pope Pius X, is found in him “who approaches the holy table . . . not out of routine, or vainglory, or human respect, but from the purpose of pleasing God, of being more closely united with Him by cha rity, and of seeking this Divine remedy for his weaknesses and defects.” «*; ALTHOUGH THE SOUL is always fed with grace by the worthy reception of the Euchar ist, the fruits of the Blessed Sacrament actually experienced by the communicant will in crease proportionately with the soul’s union with Christ (com munion means “union”). "The Eucharist is fhe Sacrameni of union," writes Abbot Marmion, (Continued on Page Five) SI- RANGE BUT T R 0 ittle-Known Focfs for Catho!i< it By M. J. MURRAY Copyright, 1938, N.C.W C. News ServU* VALENCIA, SPAIN, has astanishtng vOa^ of celebrating St Joseph’s fewtday. "FALLAS' Curious figures often satirical- caricatures - arc constructed and. paraded, through the Streets. ORIGIN WAS MEDIEVAL* WOODWORKING APPRENTICES CELEBRATING winter's eno and their.. Patrons. Feast. m. Wfolm Oim L&ny or t CONSOLATION P/CTUFF IN TUR/ti, ITALY, is belieYed to ie ]5 ooY^L OLO - SHARING OUR TREASURE Collision in Super Market Nets Seven Converts By REV. JOHN A. O'BRIEN, Ph. D. fTTni rtf Noite Dame j < Big Failure and that the west still stands ready to negotiate such an agreement the moment the Sov iets will stop doubletalking and get down to the business of establishing durable peace. Perhaps it is too much to hope that Khrushchev can bring him self to face the international facts today. But the facts stand ■— the free world has heard the Russians crying wolf (or lamb) entirely too often; we can no longer be deluded by hypocrit ical smiles; we are strong enough to defend ourselves; we want true peace based on justice for everybody and human rights for all humanity, and we are not going to sell out the cap tive peoples in any crooked deal with communism. WE ARE AWARE, TOO, that everywhere behind the iron cur tain the communist despotism stands on shifting sands. It is not we, but the Marxist bureau crats, who are in deep trouble. The free world grows ever stronger and more calmly unit ed, while behind the iron cur tain, the foundations of Mos cow’s empire of oppression are eroded, hiddenly but hugely, by populations restless for libera tion. Militarily, the world is in a standoff. Khrushchev finds his nuclear-missile blackmail fall ing on deaf ears. Something as tonishing has happened. The people in the free world are not afraid of Russian threats. They have arrived at an unspoken collective decision that they prefer death — even the death of civilization — to imprison ment in the kind of hell which they have seen communism cre ating. IT HAS DAWNED UPON THE WEST, too, that Russians are no more eager to be blown into atoms, or to die slowly of radiation poisoning, than any other people. They have no more stomach for starting war of total extermination than we have. Perhaps they have less stomach for it. They would be dying for the brutal tyranny they detest; we at least would have the satisfaction of sacri ficing ourselves for something worthy of a man. Khrushchev can have his sum mit conference any time he is willing to talk sense. Until then, the free world is not interested. • THIS IS THE time of year when young people are given all kinds of advice about chos- ing their lifetime work. “Suc cess” is a word that will figure prominently in commencement addresses. How often do we hear the word “satisfaction” or “hap piness” or “contribution” in these talks? Young graduates are urged, to be successful. Alma maters want their graduates to enter the lucrative fields. They want someday to figure in be quests or be endowed with new buildings and properties. Not that this wrong. Yet so much emphasis is put on success in the worldly connotation of pres tige and riches. Success means different things to different peo ple. But as John C. Cort says in his current “Today” article: “Success has seduced more Christian souls than any other pagan goddess you can men tion.” • SPURRED on by the worldly connotation of success, the majority of the young peo ple will move toward the lucra tive fields. The areas which de mand dedication and sacrifice but which offer satisfaction will attract fewer numbers. Some of these fields are teaching, med icine, nursing, social work, re search, the arts and of course particularly, the religious life. It is perhaps the most important choice of a person’s life when he decides on his job. It is through his work, he will be sanctified. We recall the prayer from the Mass of the feast of St. Joseph the Workman: “O God, the Creator of all things, you have imposed on all men the obliga tion of work. May the example and prayer of Blessed Joseph help us to accomplish the tasks you have commanded us to per form so that we may attain the reward you have promised.” • THERE COMES a time in most of our lives when we are laced with, the choice of a job Theology For The Layman By F. J. Sheed “Where was God before the universe was created,” asks the street-corner heckler. His ques tion breaks up nicely into two— Where was God when there wasn’t any where? Where was God when there wasn’t any when? Briefly the answer is that the words where and when have no application to God at all. But if we are as brief as that, no one will see the answer. “Where” means “in what place” which means “in what location in space.” But God is a spirit, and a spirit does not occupy space, only bodies need space. Yet we do say that God is everywhere. How can He be everywhere if He is not in space at all? Follow closely. Everywhere means where everywhere is. The phrase God is everywhere means that God is in every thing. Clearly a spiritual being is not in a material being as water is in a cup. We must look for a different meaning for the word “in” A spiritual being is said to be where it operates, in the things that receive the effect of its power. My soul for instance is in every part of my body, not by being spread out so that every bodily part has a little bit of soul to itself, but because the soul’s life-giving energies pour into every part of the body. Everything whatso ever receives the energy of God, bringing it into existence and keeping it there; that is the sense in which God is omnipre sent, is everywhere, in every thing. It is no convenience for God of course. He does not need things. But they need Him, desperately. We can now look at the second part of our heckler’s question — “before the universe was created.” Just as “where*' is a word of space — and God (Continued on Page 5) which offers security and mon ey on one hand and only sat isfaction on the other. I doubt if I would be happy in a well- paid job which did not ask anything human or personal from me. I could not go through the motions of a job for even the highest salary if it did not call for some use of the heart and soul. It seemed important to me that this human element be in the job of my choice. I had to feel as if I were contributing something important. Thus the ■well-paid jobs on fashion maga zines and public relations were passed by and I never was sor ry. Of course even now I would like to write the great American novel or a good play. Yet per haps I am one of the people whom success would seduce. I do not want to be satisfied with monetary reward or prestige. In the field of Catholic journalism, I found little monetary gain. I did receive unlimited soul- satisfactions: such as a letter from a shut-in reader who gleaned extra joy in looking for the column in the newspaper each week or writing about heroic missionaries and painting their glorious stories which might otherwise never be known and that now hundreds of subscribers will thrill before. Both Catholic journalism and teaching carry a tremendous sat isfaction for me. They also hold an awesome responsibility. C. P. A. MEMBERS TOTAL 543 RICHMOND, Va., (NC) — Membership in the Catholic Press Association has hit an all- time high. The total member ship is 543, with the active mem bership at 306, the first time it has passed 300, Floyd Ander son, secretary, told the editors and publishers gathered in Rick- mond. Rev. John A. O'Brien, Ph. D. {The University of Notre Dame) Did you ever hear of a col lision in a super market result ing in the winning of seven con verts and the reclaiming of eight fallen a ways? Probably not. Yet that is the rich harvest which stemmed from the collision of two carts one Saturday morning in Albers Super Market in Cin cinnati. “I was push ing my cart,” related Mrs. Teel a Seissiger ol St. George’s parish, “through the aisle, gawking at the attrac tive display of foods, when sud denly there was a bang! My cart had crashed head on into another, pushed by a man. ‘“Pardon me,’ I exclaimed, ‘I wasn’t looking where I was going.’ “‘No,’ said the man, ‘it is I who am to blame, gazing at all that fruit instead of watching my path through this crowded aisle. Glad it was only carts and not speeding Cadillacs, or there would have been some casual ties.’ “Say, what’s going on here?” asked an attractive woman who now joined us. “This was the way I met Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Murphy a Negro couple. After a bit of friendly chatting, Mrs. Murphy said, ‘You look like a woman who wouldn’t mind my asking a question. I’ve noticed a num ber of women wearing a charm like the one you’re wearing on your necklace. I’ve been curious to know what it is.’ “I explained that it was the Miraculous Medal worn in honor of the Blessed Virgin. This necessitated a few words of explanation in regard to the honor which Catholics pay to our Lady. I asked if they be longed to any Church and, on finding that they didn’t, I in quired why. “‘Because no one ever asked us,’ replied Mrs. Murphy. “ I told them that they were always welcome at a Catholic church and mentioned briefly how much it has to offer. I volunteered to see that, if they were interested, they would get a good course of instruction. Mrs. Murphy said they would be glad to attend such a course when the weather got cooler. “So I asked for their tele phone number and gave them mine. Then and there we be came good friends. We kept in touch with one another over the telephone. I went to the chan cery office to find out where I might send them later on for instructions. “The chancellor suggested the Deminican Sisters at the Mother of God parish. I called on the Sisters and Sisters Charles Bor- romeo went to see them. My husband and I also visited them. After Sister finished instructing them, they were baptized by Fa ther Richard F. Redman, with my-husband and myself acting as their sponsors. “We gave each a rosary, and every night they knelt down and recited it together. They became daily communicants and couldn’t understand why more Catholics did not receive daily. So enthusiastic were they over their new-found faith that they sought to share it with others. “While Tom Murphy was in the Veterans’ Hospital, he was instrumental in getting eight patients to return to the sacra ments. He and his wife also helped to lead five converts into the church. When Tom died, Fa ther Cornelius Grein., O. F. M., chaplain at the hospital, called him a ‘saint’. “When I think of all that those two converts accomplished in seven years, I feel they put us ‘cradle’ Catholics to shame.” The incident shows how any contact, even the most casual, can be used for a divine purpose if we have the necessary zeal. The all-important step was taken when Mrs. Seissiger took the Murphy’s telephone number and followed through by arranging for their systematic instruction. What a far-reaching chain re action she thereby started, and what a precious harvest! Father O’Brien will he grate ful to readers who know of any one who has won two or more converts if they will send the names and addresses of such per sons to him at Notre Dame Uni versity. Notre Dame. Indiana. More than 3,000 members of the National Catholic Music Educators Association attended the 11th annual convention in Pittsburgh, May ll-to-15. Shown warming up before an instrumental department demonstration are, left to right: Sister Mary Victorine, O.S.B., of Crookston, Minn.; Sister Mary Carlissa, S.S.N.D., Pittsburgh, and Sister Mary Paul, O.P., Akron, O. (NC Photos) w'.:v— . Jottings ... ■ (By BARBARA C. JENCKS) A Singable 'Star Spangled Banner' BACKDROP rp tt ri 1 rl h How many of us, at one time or another, have not stood sheepishly mute when called upon to join in the singing of the national anthem? Not many, it would be safe to say. For the plain fact is that most of us do not know the words and could not sing them if we did. That being the situation, it should come to us as welcome news that Congress is consider ing legislation to make the na tional anthem “singable.” Nearly everyone recognizes the tune — even when it issues forth from a scratchy recording before a baseball game — but not one in a hundred of us can get through more than the first verse. School children are taught to sing the hymn but, as they grow older, they forget it. A dozen Frenchmen singing the Marseillaise would make more sound than 500 Americans at tempting to sing “The Star Spangled Banner.” Its range of tone is so wide that only trained singers can run the gamut from the low to the high notes. Although it has long been ac cepted as the national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner’s of ficial status dates only from 1931 when it was designated the national hymn by Act of Con- By JOHN C. O’BRIEN gross. In that law, however, Congress neglected to state which of the 271 copyrighted versions or which of the many keys in which the song is writ ten was to be official. As a re sult the national anthem is sung or played in any arrangement that happens to strike the fancy of the singer or the leader of a band. CHECKERED CAREER This oversight was brought forcefully to the attention of some members of Congress when they learned that, during the visit of Queen Elizabeth a few months back, the Protocol Division of the State Depart ment instructed all service bands which might have oc casion to play the British na tional anthem in the Queen’s hearing as to the precise key and tempo in which it was to be played. There was only one way to play “God Save the Queen,” but “The Star Span gled Banner” could be played in a dozen different ways. Considering its checkered career since the words were penned by Francis Scott Key (who, incidentally, was no mu sician) while watching the bom bardment of Ft. McHenry in 1814, it is a wonder that the anthem as we now hear it bears any resemblance to the original. The first man to publish it, Samuel Sands, introduced 43 changes, and, as the years pass ed, other changes were made both in the text and in the tune which was borrowed in the first place from an old British drink ing song. Various attempts have been made by music arrangers to bring the song within the range of the average voice, but these have been rejected because they substantially altered the tradi tional lyrics or the tempo. Re cently, however, Paul Taubman, a distinguished composer, has tried his hand at making the anthem singable. It is his ver sion, favorably commented upon, which the pending legis lation would make official. Taubman succeeded in tak ing the road blocks out of the anthem by a few minor altera tions. He lowered by two tones 13 notes accompanying the phrase beginning, “And the rockets red glare,” and by two tones five notes accompanying the phrase “O’er the land of the Free.” It is at these points that most Americans attempting to sing the anthem fall mute and let the band carry on. Few of us fail to thrill to the tune of the national anthem, particularly when played by a military band. If in uniform we carry our hand to our caps or if in civilian dress place our hats over our hearts. But we feel uncomfortable when asked to sing it. Let us hope, therefore, that Congress authorizes a sing able version; it would give us an incentive for learning the words from beginning to end. Two Steps To Happiness This We Believe (By FATHER LEO TRESE) Disappointments, worry and fears: in everyday living these are our three most common en emies. They are enemies whom we easily can disarm, if we have acquired from Christ the skill to do so —if- we have acquired from C h r is t the strength and the wisdom which make us master of our own en vironment. It is from prayer and the sacra ments that we gain the strength we need. The wisdom will be achieved by “putting on the mind of Christ,” as St. Paul ex presses it. If we can see the world as Jesus sees it, and view our own particular problems as He would view them, our vic tories will be frequent and our defeats will be few. There are two steps which we can take, two steps which will help us to become Christ-like in our outlook on life and in our approach to life’s problems. The first step is to remove the ob stacles to Christlike thinking. This means to remove the faults which color our thinking and our judgments. Each of us is a complex of faults, but we do not all have the same faults to the same degree. In one person pride may predominate, in an other selfishness, in another envy or any one of a dozen oth er basic character defects. If we wish to discover our own dominant fault, we can at bedtime if for several nights in a row we look back through the day just finished. We can ask ourselves, with merciless hones ty, “How would Jesus have liv ed this day differently if He had been in my shoes?” After a few evenings of this self-examina tion, a pattern of behavior should begin to emerge. We should be able to detect a par ticular virtue in which we are especially'lacking. Once we have discerned our principal fault, we are ready to go to work on it. From now on, each evening we look back through the day to see where our fault has got the best of us, to see where we have failed in the practice of the virtue we are trying to acquire. We then look ahead to tomorrow and we place imaginary check marks opposite the persons and the events that will put the most strain on the virtue in which we are weakest. We make a definite plan for tomorrow, trying to foresee and to prepare for the points of stress. After a few weeks of this (or a few months if need be) we shall find that we have conquered our most enslaving fault. Our sec ond biggest fault then will have moved to the head of the list, so next we go to work on that. In tkis fashion, fault by fault, we strip away the successive lay ers of self. This practice of at tacking our faults individually instead of facing the hopeless task of rooting them all out at once, is a spiritual device hal lowed and proven by centuries of usage. It is called “the par ticular examination of con science” (“particular examen” for short), and has contributed to the formation of thousands oi saints. Hand in hand with the elimi* nation of handicapping faults, should go the positive effort to develop a Christianlikeness in our thinking and in our respons es to life’s problems. This second step is accomplished through meditative spiritual reading. Did it ever occur to you how seldom we give God a chance to speak to us, a chance to guide us? Ordinarily we are so im mersed in activity and distrac tions that God’s voice has a hard time getting through. Our an swers to this difficulty will be to choose a good spiritual book (meaty but not dull) and to read each day a few paragraphs or a few pages. If there is no Catho lic library or bookstore accessi ble to us, our pastor or confes sor will gladly help us to choose a suitable book; perhaps even may lend us one. The idea will be to read slow ly, with a sharp eye for any thought that seems to strike a responsive chord within our selves. When that happens, it will be God attempting to speak to us. It is the time to pause and to examine the thought closely, to fit it to ourselves, to drive it home. We need not worry as to how much or how little we read. It is the thinking we do about what we read that counts, thinking which God will inspire if we let Him. We are not reading in order to instruct ourselves or to enter tain ourselves. We are reading in order to get God’s slant on things, in order to develop in ourselves the mind of Christ. This practice is called “medita tion” or mental prayer. Like the- particular examen, it is an an cient ascetical exercise which; can lead to a holiness beyond all expectation. Obviously, both our particular examen and our meditation should be prefaced with a prayer for God’s assist ance, and ended with a prayer of thanks for the lights that have been given. If we will adopt and perse vere daily in these twin prac tices of the particular examen and meditation, we shall gain a new understanding of ourselves, of our duties, of our relation ships with others. We shall pro gressively weaken the threat of life’s disappointments, worries and fears. We shall discover the truth of our Redeemer’s words, “My yoke is sweet and My bur den light.” To Observe 60ih Anniversary WOODFIELD, Ohio (NC) — Msgr. Joseph G. Mehler of St. Sylvester’s church here will of fer a Mass on June 4 in observ ance of his 60th anniversary as a priest. A native of Sharon, Pa., he has served at St. Sylvester’s since 1929. He received his high er education at St. Joseph’s Monastery, Baltimore, and St. Michaels’ Monastery, Union City, N. J., both institutions of the Passionists. He was ordain ed on June 4, 1898. t Ittllrtitt 416 8TH ST., AUGUSTA, GA. Published fortnightly by the Catholic Laymen’s Association of Georgia, Inc., with the Approbation of the Most Reverend Arch bishop-Bishop of Savannah, the Most Reverend Bishop of Atlanta, and the Right Reverend Abbot Ordinary of Belmont. Entered as second class matter at the Post Office, Monroe, Georgia, and accepted for mailing at special rate of postage provided by paragraph (e) of section 34.40, Postal Laws and Regulations. REV. FRANCIS J. DONOHUE REV. R. DONALD KIERNAN Editor Savannah Edition Editor Atlanta Edition JOHN MARKWALTER Managing Editor Vol. 38 Saturday, May 31, 1958 No. 26 ASSOCIATION OFFICERS FOR 1957-1958 GEORGE GINGELL, Columbus President E. M. HEAGARTY, Waycross Honorary Vice-President MRS. DAN HARRIS, Macon Vice-President TOM GRIFFIN, Atlanta ,. Vice-President NICK CAMERIO, Macon Secretary JOHN T. BUCKLEY, Augusta - Treasurer ALVIN M. McAULIFFE, Augusta Auditor JOHN MARKWALTER, Augusta Executive Secretary MISS CECILE FERRY, Augusta Financial Secretary