Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

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.