Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 8—THE BULLETIN, August 23, 1958
“AlfE, SUE, AVEIaRIA”
MARY, MOTHER OF KATIOHS
(Continued from Page One)
awaiting our consecration, and
no sooner were they consecrated
than from them Mary’s Son,
under the species of bread, was
on His way to the many who
progressively came to the Grotto
as the morning’s sun rose high
er in the Heavens. It was all so
thrilling, so captivating and so
comforting.
The evening of the second
day of our stay in Lourdes our
party, under an illuminated
banner reading SAVANNAH,
formed in the Procession of
Lights. Again thousands upon
thousands, and this time car
rying lighted candles and chant-
fug the praises of Our Lady,
made the circuitous route
around the vast expanse of the
area fronting the Basilica. If
words fail to describe the
Lourdes of the Immaculate
Conception, and they do, the
imagination is baffled in con
juring up an adequate picture
of this Procession of Lights. To
experience the Procession is to
register a memory that time
will never dim; a memory that
will invigorate Faith again and
again amid the vicissitudes that
life inevitably brings. As those
myriad lights were held aloft,
expressing an interior illumina
tion of conviction, we realized
the better that the only light
which can illumine men’s minds
in the way of peace is the Light
of the World, Jesus Christ, the
Son of Mary, the Son of God.
Thunderous, yet symphonic,
was the “Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria”
as it rang out in hymnody from
the thousands of many nations,
whose lighted candles better
than words spoke eloquently of
Our Lady and her tremendous
power of intercession with God.
Here were the nations of the
world; here, too, then were the
many languages of those na
tions, and yet there were no
barriers of language or customs.
All with as one voice and one
sentiment found union and un
derstanding. Their “Ave, Ave,
Ave Maria” demonstrated so
consolingly that Mary is the Mo
ther of Nations and that through
her nations can find that peace
which marital strife can never
achieve and which her Son
alone can give.
With the “Ave, Ave, Ave
Maria” still riinging in our ears
and its melody re-echoing in our
hearts, we made our way to La
Cachot on a side street of
Lourdes and somewhat far re
moved from the Esplande of the
Domaine. La Cochot, the home
of Bernadette at the time of the
visitations of Our Lady, was and
still is reminiscent of the Stable
cave of Bethlehem. Once a
wretched cell of a former prison,
it had served Francis Sourbirous
and his family as a home. From
here Bernadette, the child, had
gone to gather firewood against
the dampness and uninviting
place that served as home.
Again the imagination was
challenged but not by grandeur
or beauty or loveliness, and yet
out of La Cachot had come
Bernadette, the favored child of
Our Lady, to whom Mary had
confided a message which has
transformed an obscure village
into a mecca for pilgrims the
world over. It is not surprising
then that the altar has supplant
ed the brazier for which Berna
dette gather firewood that me
morable day one hundred years
ago. It is not surprising that
from the wretched cell of yes
terday there now pours forth
the fire of Christ’s love for
stricken humanity. As we said
Mass on the tiny altar that
graces this otherwise ugly room,
we could not help but think of
Bethlehem and its poverty; of
Bethlehem and the Light that
came forth from its stable-cave.
It has been well said that the
visitor to Lourdes today “finds
himself in the presence of a
threefold phenomenon of both
the visible and invisible order.
On the material level there is
the fame of an unimportant town
which aroused the curiosity of
believer and unbeliever. No one
has to ask what Lourdes is;
mention of this name immedi
ately calls to mind the pilgrim
ages, the beautiful landscape
and the thousands of sick who
year after year visit the shrine
seeking relief and liberation
from terrible diseases and pain.
Thus Lourdes is famous for a
second reason: it requires the
imagination of a Dante to de
scribe adequately the human
suffering reflected on the faces
of those thousands who pray
and hope. The throng in slow
procession moves toward the
grotto and to the spring of heal
ing water is perhaps one of the
most deeply affecting sights in
the world. But the spiritual
fame of Lourdes is its greatest
claim to glory. And this glory is
again threefold because Lourdes
enfolds three miracles; the mir
acle of the apparition of the
most Blessed Virgin, the miracle
of the sanctity of Bernadette
■Soubirous who conveyed to the
world the message of the Queen
of Heaven, and finally the never
ceasing miracles, material and
spiritual, which have taken
place in Lourdes ever since the
first apparition of the beauti
ful Lady at the grotto called
Massabielle.”
Leaving Lourdes, we did not
leave with a memory but rather
with a Way of Life, something
that consumed our whole being
and so saturated our souls that
to think is to think of Lourdes.
We were not too long gone when
we landed in Barcelona, Spain.
Barcelona proved interesting
but our thought was on Rome,
and so Rome will become the
next chapter in our series.
Weekly Calendar
Of Feast Days
(N. C. W. C. NEWS SERVICE)
SUNDAY, August 24 — St.
Bartholomew, Apostle. He
carried the Gospel through the
most barbarous countries of the
East, penetrating into the re
moter Indies. He was martyred
in Armenia.
MONDAY, August 25 — St.
Louis IX of France, King. He
led two crusades against the
infidels and was noted for his
great zeal for the Faith. He died
in Tunis in 1270 while leading
his army on his second crusade.
TUESDAY, August 26 — St.
Zephyrinus, Pope and Martyr.
He succeeded Pope Victor I in
199 and reigned until 217.
WEDNESDAY, August 27—St.
Joseph Calasanctius, Confessor.
He was born in Aragon in 1556.
He studied for the priesthood in
Rome and was ordained in 1583.
He founded the Order of Clerks
Regular of the Pious Schools,
known as the Piarists, dedicated
to care of children of the poor.
In his old age he was unjustly
accused, brought before the
Holy Office, and removed from
control of the community.
Eventually he was restored and
his patience earned for him the
title of a “second Job.” He was
canonized in 1767.
THURSDAY, August 28 — St.
Augustine of Hippo, Bishop-
Confessor-Doctor. He was born
November 13, 354, in Tagaste,
North Africa. Despite early
training by his mother, St.
Monica, he spent his youth in
vice. He became a rhetoric pro
fessor and taught at Tagaste,
Carthage, Rome and Milan. He
was baptized at the age of 32
by St. Ambrose, the same year
that his mother died. He lived
a short monastic life near
Tagaste and in 391 was ordained
at Hippo. Three years later he
became Coadjutor Bishop of
Hippo. Noted for his writings,
he is famous for his “Confes
sions” and the “City of God,”
and also for his defense of the
Church against heresises and
schisms. He died August 28,
430.
FRIDAY, August 29 — Be
heading of St. John the Bap
tist, This feast commemorates
the courage of St. John for
publicly censoring Herod Anti-
pas who took to himself
Herodias, the wife of the King’s
brother, Philip. The saint was
beheaded at the request of
Salome, a dancer who was the
daughter of Herodias.
SATURDAY, August 30 — St.
Rose of Lima, Virgin. She was
born of Spanish parents in 1586
in Lima, Peru, and her child
hood was patterned after that
of St. Catherine of Siena. She
lived as a Dominican tertiary
in her home and, like her model,
was favored with extraordinary
mystical gifts. She died in 1617.
She is the first American-born
person to have been canonized.
She was raised to sainthood in
1671.
Priest-Editor To
Preach On Labor Day
FORT WAYNE, Ind., (NC) —
Father Raymond T. Bosler, ed
itor of the Indiana Catholic
and Record, newspaper of the
Indianapolis archdiocese, will
deliver the sermon at the sec
ond annual Labor Day observ
ance in the Cathedral of the
Immaculate Conception here.
Patriotic Service Can Help World
Pope Tells Soldiers At Lourdes
LOURDES, (Radio, NC)—His
Holiness Pope Pius XII said in
a message to 40,000 army officers
and men of a dozen nations that
their patriotic service can be
“a source of good, for the whole
world, not a source of rivalries
and divisions.”
The Pope’s message was read
at the closing Mass of the Inter
national Military Pilgrimage of
the Marian shrine here by His
Eminence Maurice Cardinal Fel-
tin, Archbishop of Paris and
Military Vicar of the French
Armed Forces. The Solemn Mass
was offered in the open air on
the great esplanade fronting the
old Lourdes basilica by Msgr.
Giuseppe Ferretto, Assessor of
the Sacred Consistorial Congre
gation, who came here as the
Pope’s personal representative.
In his message, Pope Pius
expressed the hope that the
magnificent spectacle here
would give birth to a spirit of
Christian brotherhood among
the military personnel of the
various countries.
“Is it not an indication that in
spite of the accumulation of
obstacles, the cause of peace is
making progress in the hearts of
men?” the Pontiff asked.
“Love your respective coun
tries and serve them, for it is
your duty,” he continued. “But
if your hearts are peaceful, this
legitimate service will become
a source of good for the whole
world, not a source of rivalries
and divisions.”
The military pilgrimage
brought together army person
nel from throughout western
Europe and from the United
States and Canada. The Ameri
can contingent of some 3,000
officers and men was led by
Msgr. (Maj. Gen.) Patrick J.
Ryan, U. S. Army Chief of
Chaplains.
In addition to Cardinal Feltin,
who presided over the pilgri
mage and whose French army
pilgrims were in a majority,
were delegations of German
soldiers led by His Eminence
Joseph Cardinal Wendel, Arch
bishop of Munich and Freising
and Military Vicar of Germany’s
Armed Forces, and Archbishop
Bernard J. Alfrink of Utrecht,
his opposite number in the
Netherlands.
They, together with 20 other
prelates and 30 generals, were
among those assisting at the
closing Mass.
Among the pilgrims were
France’s sole living marshal and
highest ranking soldier, Marshal
Alphonse Pierre Juin, and the
widows of Marshals Leclerc de
Iiauteclocque and de Lattre de
Tassigny.
Premier Charles de Gaulle
sent a personal message to Bish
op Pierre-Marie Theas of Tarbes
and Lourdes expressing his joy
in being in the thought at least
with all the military pilgrims
at Lourdes. Gen. de Gaulle’s
government was represented by
his Minister for War Veterans,
Edmond Michelet.
Marshal Juin accompanied
Cardinal Feltin through the
throng of servicemen, passing
before hundreds of wounded,
sick and infirm soldiers lining
the esplanade on stretchers or
in little carriages.
At the Communion of the
closing Mass, 200 military chap
lains distributed Holy Com
munion to the pilgrims, among
the Veterans Affairs Minister
Michelet, Marshal Juin and all
the generals present.
Following the Mass, Marshal
Juin presented the cross of
Chevalier of the Legion of
Honor to Msgr. Ryan.
Among the highlights of the
servicemen’s three-day stay here
was the torchlight procession
after dark. The flags of the
various nations participating in
cluding France, the U. S.,
Canada, Great Britain, Ger
many, Spain, Portugal, Bel
gium, the Netherlands and
Luxembourg — were individual
ly massed, and all were re
ceived with the unanimous
chant: Christus vincit; Christus
regnat.
In the course of the pilgri
mage, the prayers in French by
the French Army chaplain
general were responded to
simultaneously in all of the
languages represented.
During one service, when
Cardinal Feltin was presiding,
news was received that a French
soldier whose parents were here
on pilgrimage had just died in
combat. The Cardinal, informing
the military pilgrims of the
news, asked them to pray for
the soldier. All 40,00 of them
thereupon joined as in one voice
in prayer for the response of the
soul of the comrade.
WINNERS OF LARGE FAMILY PILGRIMAGE
One of the largest living Catholic families is the family of Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Desmarais pic
tured with their 20 children, of Trois-Rivieres. The photographer found them among the recent
pilgrimage groups to the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary at Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Province of
Quebec, Canada. They were the winners of the Large Family Day program there.—(NC Photos).
Shrimp Supper
At Pt. Wentworth
September 5th
PORT WENTWORTH — Our
Lady of Lourdes Parish, Port
Wentworth, will hold its annual
shrimp supper on Firady eve
ning, September 5th at the Sa
vannah Sugar Refinery.
Chairman for this years
supper is Mr. Byron Stephens
of Port Wentworth. Supper will
be served from 6 P. M. to 9
P. M. A program of entertain
ment is under the direction of
Mr. Lyman Marks.
MOTHER
VIRGILIUS
TRANSFERRED
AUGUSTA — Mother Mary
Virgilius Superior at Immacu
late Conception convent, Augus
ta, has been transferred to Sav
annah.
Mother has been appointed
principal of St. Pius X High
School. A native of Ireland, Mo
ther came to Augusta from New
York City.
Also being tranferred to Sav
annah is Sister Mary Mereci.
Sister has been assigned to the
faculty of St. Benedicts School.
ENGLISH SEMINARY LINKED
TO REFORMATION MARTYRS
MARKS 150TH ANNIVERSARY
By John A. Greaves
(N.C.W.C. News Service)
DURHAM, England, — St.
Cuthbert’s College, at Ushaw,
England’s great northern semi
nary linked with 150 martyr
priests of the Reformation, cel
ebrated with international ac
claim the 150th anniversary of
its foundation.
Ushaw priests from Britain
and overseas and some 40,000
laity gathered for the main cer
emony on the vast grounds of
the college a few miles from
Durham which has produced
five cardinals, more than 30
bishops and over 2,000 priests.
Ushaw was set up to succeed
Douai ,the English seminary op
ened in France at the Reforma
tion and which before its clos
ure during the French Revolu
tion had sent a steady stream
of heroic missionary priests
back to maintain the Faith un
derground in this country.
The historian Lingard helped
to found Ushaw after escaping
from Douai in 1808. He is now
buried in the college seminary.
One of its students who did not
become a priest was Francis
Thompson, the poet.
In 1808 a group of 13 boys
and a couple of priests left their
overcrowded temporary home
on an English farm, tramped
nine miles across the country
side and came to the first build
ings at Ushaw to start the sem
inary which has since spread
Catholicism throughout north
ern England.
For the main sesquicentennial
observance, many buses and
nearly 3,000 private cars
brought 12 bishops, 300 priests,
heads of religious orders, pres
idents of other seminaries and
nearly 40,000 laity to a Solemn
Pontifical Mass of thanksgiving.
It was offered at a 45-foot-high
sunlit altar in the grounds by
Archbishop Gerald P. O’Hara,
Bishop of Savannah and Apos
tolic Delegate to Great Britain,
wearing the college’s treasured
gold vestments. The 300 sem
inarians formed the choir.
Archbishop John C. Heenan of
Liverpool preached. The newly
appointed Ordinary of the local
Diocese of Hexham and Newcas
tle, Bishop James Cunningham,
read a long message of congrat
ulations sent on behalf of His
Holiness Pope Pius XII, by
Msgr. Angelo Dell’Acqua, Vat
ican Substitute Secretary of
State.
“Seldom does it happen that a
colleg where students are train
ed for the priesthood is so dis
tinguished and so deserving of
honour and esteem,” the papal
message said. “To the history of
the Church in England, Ushaw
unites and links the pages of its
own annals, ennobled as they
are by the blood of martyrs and
made illustrious both by its rep
utation for learning and the arts
and by the virtue of its bishops
and rulers. In it has flourished
for so many generations the
twofold exercise of sincere cha
rity toward the Church and the
glorious English nation. That
charity has stood undaunted
amid adversity, and no trials
have weakened its tenacious
dedication to the noblest of
causes.
“Ushaw has held aloft for all
to see the torch of faith kindled
long ago by St. Augustine and
the Venerable Bede. This is an
inheritance beyond price which
you in turn must hand on to
future generations of your coun
trymen.”
Archbishop Heenan recalled
that no less than 450 priests
were ordained at Douai and
sent in disguise to preserve the
Faith in Britain in the Eliza
bethan persecution. Most were
hunted down and destroyed but
today only about a dozen are
remembered by name by the
English people. The Jesuits, the
Franciscans and the Benedic
tines also had their martyrs in
those 44 years but is was main
ly thanks to the “seminary
priests” from Douai that the
spark of Catholicism was kept
alight, the prelate said.
Archbishop O’Hara gave the
papal blessing at the end of the
long ceremony.
The Aopstolic Delegate was
not the only American present.
Msgr. George Scott, of San Ped
ro, California, travelled 6,000
miles to be present at his old
college's celebrations. His fa-
tehr, Joseph Scott, eminent law
yer, also a former Ushaw man,
was to have given an address
during the celebrations but died
four months ago at the age of
90. Msgr. Scott read his father’s
speech instead. It was entitled
“The Spirit of Ushaw.”
Archbishop William Godfrey,
Charges Against
(Continued from Page One)
recalled, Mr. Sztachelski com
plained that the Polish Bishops
are intolerant for insisting that
parents give their children re
ligious instructions, and accused
the Bishops of failing to co
operate in the building of social
ism in Poland.
L’Osservatore answered:
“The intolerance which is de
nounced today is the position
that the episcopate and the
Catholics of Poland have always
maintained . . . Evidently there
is something new in all this, but
it is not with the Catholic
Church.”
Savannah Services
For H. W. Berry
SAVANNAH — Funeral serv
ices for Plerbert W. Berry were
held August 9th at the Cathe
dral of St. John the Baptist.
one of the four of Westminster’s
seven Archbishops to be trained
at Ushaw, recalled the progress
of Catholicism in Britain in the
past 150 years when he preached
at the closing High Mass of the
three-day celebrations.
The Archbishop said he felt
entitled to think of glorious
achievements yet to come.
“Multitudes now faced with
the bewildering variety of doc
trinal teaching and the hesi
tant and unsure moral guidance
that is found outside the Catho
lic Church, are hungering for
the truth,” he said. “We are con
fident that many will find it and
we may safely foresee in in
creasing numbers. It is not with
curiosity that we look to the
future but with prayerful hope.”
PRIESTS OF THE DIOCESE
Rt. Rev. Msgr. Thomas I.
Sheehan, native of Savannah,
has recently transferred to the
Diocese of Savannah from the
Diocese of Atlanta. Monsignor
w-as appointed pastor of St. Jos
eph’s, Macon, in June when the
parish was transferred from the
Jesuit Fathers to Secular priests
of the Diocese.
Monsignor Sheehan was or
dained in the Cathedral of St.
John the Baptist, Savannah, on
May 29, 1930. He served at the
Cathedral until September of
that year when he was assign
ed as an assistant at St. Tere
sa’s Church in Albany and to
serve on the southwest Georgia
missions.
In July of 1935 he was named
as Manager of St. Joseph’s Home
in Washington. He served in
this capacity for one year when
in July of 1936, he was named
as the first resident pastor of
St. Augustine’s Church in
Tho.masville.
Father Sheehan returned to
Savannah in January of 1940
as the first pastor of Our Lady
of Lourdes Church, Port Went
worth. In February of 1945, he
was named as the pastor of St.
Thomas More Church in Decat
ur.
It was during his administra-
MSGR. SHEEHAN
torship of this parish in Decatur
that all the buildings were
erected, and a short time ago
Monsignor Sheehan announced
to the people of this parish that
the entire debt on the parish had
been paid.
For outstanding work as a
priest on the missions and as an
administrator of a large parish,
His Holiness, Pope Pius XII,
elevated Father Sheehan to the
rank of Domestic Prelate with
the title of Right Rev. Monsig
nor, last year.
MSGR. FINNEGAN CHIEF
OF AIR FORCE CHAPLAINS
WASHINGTON — Monsignor
(Brig. Gen.) Terence P. Finne
gan, Deputy Chief of Air Force
Chaplains since 1953, has been
nominated by President Eisen
hower to the grade of Major
General to serve as Chief of
Chaplains of the U. S. Air Force,
effective August 15.
A priest of the Norwick, Con
necticut diocese, Msgr. Finnegan
studied at St. Thomas’ Semi
nary, Hartford, Conn., and St.
Mary’s Seminary, Baltimore, Md.
Ordained in Hartford on May
30, 1930, he has been in military
service since 1937, except for
45 days of inactive duty.
During World War II Msgr.
Finnegan was awarded the
Bronze Star for meritorious
service on Guadalcanal. In 1950,
while serving with the Far
East Air Force, he received the
Legion of Merit for mertorious
conduct in Japan and Korea.
He was awarded an Oak Leaf
Cluster to the Legion of Merit
for services in the same theatre
during 1951-52. He transferred
from the Army to the Air Force
in July, 1949.
Msgr. Finnegan is a member
of the NCCS Chaplains Com
mittee on Religious Program.
Pontiff Encourages Workers
To Face The Tasks Of Their
World With Christian Spirit *
(N.C.W.C. News Service)
LOURDES, France,—His Hol
iness Pope Pius XII encouraged
workers gathered in an inter
national pilgrimage here to use
the lessons they have learned at
Lourdes to face the tasks of the
working world with a Christian
spirit.
The personal message of the
Pontiff to the 20,000 workers
was read during the Solemn
Mass that opened the ceremon
ies of the pilgrimage on the
morning of the feast of the As
sumption.
In attendance at the Mass,
which was televised throughout
Europe on Eurovision, were His
Eminence Pierre Cardinal Ger-
lieir, Archbishop of Lyons, and
about 50 bishops of France and
other nations.
The Pope reviewed the pro
gress that has been made in so
cial justice since the time of the
Lourdes apparitions 100 years,
ago, and encouraged the assem
bled workers to press on in a
fraternal and Christian spirit.
“At Lourdes,” he said, “you
must thank God (for all that has
been accomplished) and, while
thinking of the tasks of the fu
ture, you must .be prepared to
face them like Christians.
“Take back from your pil
grimage the great lesson of bro
therhood that you have learned
from the sight of so many men
from every kind of social condi
tion gathered like children
around the same mother.
“Truly what possibilities
could be offered today,” he de
clared, “by a loyal and sincere
collaboration among Catholics
who, in their working life,
would habitually put into mu
tual relation their different but
complementary prof es sional
tasks.”
The Pope recalled that a cen
tury of effort and perseverance
had made Christ better known
and better loved in the working
world “as the only Saviour, the
true hope of those who suffer
and are burdened.”
He said that it was to the cre
dit of many good and militant
Catholics in the past and of
many deeply Christian families
that certain interests have not
been able to drive a wedge be
tween the Church and the work
er.
“During this feast of the As
sumption,” he continued, “the
eyes of Christians are turned
toward the Imamculate Mother
of God, forever virgin, assumed
body and soul into heaven.
“And you, putting aside for
an instant the cares of your
work and of earning your daily
bread, raise your eyes to heaven
and with the Apostle repeat
these words of faith: ‘We also
believed, wherefore we also
speak. For we know that he who
raised up Jesus will raise up
also with Jesus . . . for our
present light affliction, which is
for the moment, prepares us for
an eternal weight of glory that
is beyond all measure’ (2 Cor.
4, 13; 14, 17).
“Beloved sons and daughters
of the working class,” the Pon
tiff warned, “there have been
those who wanted to conceal
from your sight this supreme
aim of your life as Christians. It
has been claimed falsely that
this was but a vain illusion that
took your mind off the immedi
ate objectives of action.
“And we say to you: look to .
Mary,” he counseled. “Contem
plate her in the glory she re
ceives from her Divine Son and
whose heavenly splendor she
was pleased to reveal to the
privileged girl of Massabielle.
“Follow the path she points
out to you. Win your brother
over to your home. You will be
stronger for it, to build a more
just and more fraternal world as
you legitimately desire.
“Have faith,” the Pope added.
“You have with you the truth
guaranteed by God Himself. For
teacher and model you have
Him who, giving His life, gained
the world. You have a social
doctrine which, the more you
know it, the more you will ap
preciate it.
“Apostles of the Holy Church
in the world of labor, you will
triumph over evil through God!”
Tip to motorists: Passing on
hills and curves is a grave mis
take.