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PAGE 4—THE BULLETIN, September 6, 1958 JOSEPH BREIG The Uses Of Sex When will the modern world recover from its sickness over sex? The immediate occasion for the question is a disagreement that broke out recently in New York between Catholics on the one hand, and ^ many Protes tants and Jews on the other. The debate was touched off when the gWH, commission e r of hospitals re fused to allow a physician to prescribe and fit a contraceptive device to a patient in a city- owned hospital. JEWISH AND Protestant lead ers and organizations advocated reversal of both the decision and the policy. They alleged that Catholics were trying to impose their moral code on others. Surely the truth is that if Catholics are not free to defend a moral position, then it is they who find somebody else’s con victions forced upon them. City-owned hospitals are tax- supported. Catholics pay taxes. They object to use of public money for a purpose condemn ed as grossly immoral. They do not wish to be made to con tribute, against their consciences and wills, to such a purpose. That much, it seems to me, ought to be easy for anybody t* understand. BUT THE MATTER goes much deeper. I am afraid that many of our fellow-citizens do not realize how revolting arti ficial birth-prevention is to Catholics. We detest even talk ing about it, and wish other Americans would stop making it necessary to do so. Contraceptives debase the hus band-wife relationship, which ought to be morally and spirit ually elevating, to a level lower than the bestial. We did not create ourselves. We were made by God in His image and likeness. He gave us our faculties for His service, the service of fellowmen, and our perfection in holiness. Speech, for instance, is given for such uses as adoration, thanksgiving, petition; for com municating truth, comforting the afflicted, instructing the un learned, evoking soul-healing laughter. WILL ANYONE except a de generate deny that a human being degrades himself and in sults his Creator when he uses his tongue for blasphemy, for obscenity, for malicious gossip and character-assassination, for defrauding the trusting, for se ducing the innocent, for false hood? To speak so is to cheat God. It is to pervert a gift He gave for love of us. The power of eating and drinking, for another example, is given so that we will nourish our bodies. In our day of die tetic science, we understand this very well. NO ONE NEEDS be told how vile was the practice of the pa gan Romans, who invented the vomitorium for hoggish indul gence, seizing upon the pleasure of eating while frustrating its God-given purpose. Sex, too, is given to us for noble uses. And contraceptives are to sex what lies and malice are to the tongue, what the vomitorium was to nourishment. To deny this is to blind oneself to truth. Marriage is given to men and women so that in sacred love they may joyously serve God, uplift each other in divine grace, and in deepest union confer the noble offices of father and moth er. AS HUSBAND AND WIFE, and as parents, a man and wom an learn together the profound meanings of love both human and divine. And with God they co-create new immortal beings destined for eternity with God. If Catholics did not love their fellowmen, they could shrug off the public promotion of filth such as contraception. They could, say: “Let people wallow. Let them destroy their happi ness and the image of God in each other.” But Catholics cannot be indif ferent about the happiness and holiness of any one—nor about the survival of decent society, which cannot stand save on the foundation of good marriages. Least of all can Catholics be careless about God’s rights. Theology For The Layman Ci O Li bang e but tru .ittfe-Kn own Fact* for By M. J. MURRAY Catholic* CopyiljM. MM, W C W.C. E (By F. J. Sheed) The truths God has revealed to us of His innermost life are not easy for us to take hold of and make our own. They do not yield much of their meaning at a first glance. I can only urge readres to go back over the last articles in this series, reading them slowly. Re member that we are making this study not to discover whether there are three Persons in God (for He has revealed that there are); still less to verify it (for no effort of our mind could make it any surer than God's own word); but simply to get more light on it and from it. It is hardly my place to urge students to pray for understand ing. I can only state the plain fact that without prayer there will be precious little under standing. Our minds cannot take God’s inner life by storm; we shall see as much as He gives us light to see. But while we are talking of prayer, it should be noted that there is special light to be got from the Church’s prayers, if we try to bring our new know ledge of the doctrines into say ing them. The Preface of the Blessed Trinity in the Mass, for instance, is a blaze of meaning; so are the Creeds and some of the great hymns, especially the Veni Sancte Spiritus and the Veni Creator. No book on doc trine will teach you as much as the Missal — provided you bring some knowledge with you. That is why this series exists. With what has gone before re-read and meditated, we can go on to the completion of a first rough sketch of the doc trine of the Blessed Trinity. We have already glanced at the odd idea that, if God has a Son, the Son must be younger. (Continued on Page Five) Question SHARING OUR TREASURE Box Navy Lieutenant Wins Sweetheart By REV. JOHN A. O'BRIEN, Ph. D. (By David Q. Liptak) - -- rr (University of Noire Dame) Q. Maybe I haven't looked in the right books, but I can't seem to find any detailed reference to the correct name, history and significance of the long black garment worn by priests in and around the church and the rec tory. I know that it's called a "cassock." But why? Is the red robe worn by bishops also a cas sock? Does the pope wear a cas sock? A. The long, black coat-like garment worn by priests in and around church and the rectory is the ordinary clerical garb prescribed by the Church. In this country it is called the “cas sock,” from the French casaque, i. e., “long coat.” Another Eng lish term for it is “soutane,” taken directly from the French soutane, which itself is derived from the Italian sottana (“be neath”), so-called because the cassock is worn beneath a man tle or a surplice or the vest ments of the liturgy. In Latin the cassock is technically known as the vestis talaris (“vestment extending to the ankles”). In ancient times -it was also called the pellicia (from the Latin pel- lis, i.e., “skin or hide”) because it was frequently made of ani mal hides and lined with fur for protection against the cold. REMOTELY, the origins of the cassock can be traced to the everyday garment worn by almost everyone of Romano- Grecian culture during the first five centuries. When, toward the close of the sixth century, the laity (with the exception of sol diers and government and court officials) began to wear a short er tunic, the cassock-like gar ment was retained by the Church as the distinctive garb of clerics. The proximate origins Of the modern cassock date from the eleventh century. TWO FORMS of the cassock are commonly worn by the priests of our country today. One form, known generally as the Roman cassock, can be described as a simple black sleeved robe, falling from the collar to the feet, without a waistline, and (Continued on Page Six) Mixed courtship can be either the occasion of losing a member or winning one. It depends very largely upon the depth of faith and strength of character of the Catholic. If he believes pro foundly in his religion, esteems it as his most precious treasure and is deter mined never to jeopardize either his faith or that of his children, he will usually succeed in sharing it with his sweet heart. That this is so is illustrated by the experience of Lieutenant Frank E. Henrich, formerly of Lennox, S. D. and now of Our Lady, Help of Christians parish, Chicago. “I was a lieutenant in the navy,” began Frank, “when I met Barbara Hawkins, a senior student nurse at South Carolina Medical College, at Charleston. Barbara is a lovely girl and it was not long before my admira tion for her was blossoming into love. She comes from Bartow 7 , a small town in Florida. “But as there are few Cath olics there, Barbara had virtual ly no occasion to learn anything about the Catholic Faith. I be gan to explain some of the teachings of our religion to her and told her what great joy and happiness it was to receive our Lord in Holy Communion. “As my love for her grew 7 , I wanted desperately to share with her my greatest source of happiness. I brought her to Sun day Mass, briefing her on its meaning, and giving her my prayerhook. It meant a lot for us to pray together and to assist at the Holy Sacrifice. That’s where your love takes on a new dimension, for God comes into it. “Then I took Barbara to Our Lady of Mercy Church, Charles ton, where Father John J. Mur ray, C.S.Sp., instructed her and answ'ered all her questions in a kind and friendly way. While Barbara was under instruction, one of her classmates, Joyce Munn, told her that she had long admired the Catholic religion and would like to know more about it. “So Barbara arranged for her to meet Father Murray, and soon Joyce was going with Bar bara to the instructions. When ever possible Barbara brought Joyce to Sunday Mass, so she would see the Faith in action and sense the deep reverence of the worshipers. That proved most helpful. “After Barbara finished in-, structions, she was baptized and received by Father Murray. When Barbara made her first Holy Communion, our cup of . joy was overflowing. How rich ly God had rewarded my hum-, blc efforts to share my treasure. “Joyce completed her instruc tions about a month later, and when she was baptized, Bar bara served as her godmother. When Joyce received Holy Com munion the next morning, Bar bara was kneeling at her side. Both were radiantly happy, and so was I in seeing that through God’s grace I had started a chain reaction, leading three into the fold. Barbara and Joyce were confirmed by Bishop Russell who has done so much to spread the Faith in South Carolina. “Ida Myers and Marlene Par- kenson, other classmates of Bar bara, also became interested. Barbara arranged with Father Murray for their instruction. Marlene has already become a Catholic, and we hope before long Ida too will enter the fold. “Barbara and I were married by Father Murray at Bartow at a Nuptial Mass, attended by sev eral hundred people, mostly non-Catholics. We hope God will enable Barbara and me to share our precious treasure with many others, for that is one of the greatest joys a Catholic can ever experience.” j GRANADA, SPAIN, Ms one of THE WRLV's LARGEST TROGLODYTE POPULATIONS. THE UNDERGROUND CAVES WHERE TNiy DWELL COVER A SQUARE MILE S* INCLUDE STORES, mvsRNS, schools &• churches . PANAMA CATHEDRAL Are over-laid, with. Mother-of-pearl. •o many strange legends, Visions <S~ miracles are associated I iNitii \ST CHRISTINA (IISO - 1224). she is known. ASTONISHING* fC Jottings... (By BARBARA C. JENCKS) CARDINAL NEWMAN'S CAUSE • THE INTRODUCTION of the cause of Cardinal Newman is of special interest to me. Most of all because the late Monsig nor Cornelius J. Holland was such a devotee of Newman and was impatient for such a day when the scholarly churchman would be fully recognized for his magnificent contributions. Monsignor Holland and Cardi nal Newman were much alike in their gentlemanliness, their scholarship, their sensitiveness, their method of communication. Monsignor Holland’s extensive Newman library is now at Our Lady of Providence Seminary. On one of my last visits with Monsignor Holland before his death, he committed to my care his writings and observations on his priestly and scholarly idol. I have his manuscript with me and hope someday to assem ble his notes for publication. There are other reasons, too, for my interest in Newman. He was a convert and in his writings on his attitudes and feelings I meet myself often. Too, I attended the University College in Dub lin which he founded. I attend ed that college' of which he based his “Idea of a University” in the centennial year of its es tablishment and I attended Mass those privileged days in New man chapel there. At present I am taking a course in Newman and studying more closely some of his writings which as a new convert and as one unschooled in logic and Church history were once too rich for me. Would that Monsignor Holland were living today to rejoice in the news of the Cardinal’s cause introduction and would that I could talk over my classes with him and the joys of special Newman . messages. But then certainly the good Monsignor is well aware of all that transpires froiri a far better vantage point than we are. • IN MY NEWMAN readings, I am constantly amazed at his timeliness. He would be at the forefront today in the crusade for more active Catholic scholar ship. He should indeed be the patron of the Monsignor Ellis- Father Cavanaugh crusade. His was the same cry. Again in a period in which self-styled reli gion, humanism, the no-grace and “I am sufficient to myself” philosophy prevails, Newman’s writings, Newman’s life in the pursuit of Truth, the one True Church is stinging rebuke. One writer says in such perfect sum mary: “If I had to invent a cate gory, I would say Newman was a prophet, a prophet to his own age and still more to our own. He felt called to save the mod ern age from its own wisdom and win it to the foolishness of the Cross.” Too often Newman is presented as the pompous scholar, an Anglican in Roman . clothing. At first, his writings scared me away. I then read “Lead Kindly Light” instead of the “Apologia” which I am now enjoying. Where Newman, the brilliant scholar, fails to appeal; Newman, the personality, the patient victim, will win. • UNLIKE NEWMAN I never met with the adversities and misunderstandings and jealous ies which he did when entering the Church. Every endeavor he undertook ended in failure. He was attacked constantly from within and without. Sometimes I recoil while reading my Morn ing Offering which says: “What do you send today, My Lord? Humiliations, contradictions, physical sufferings, bad news which I do not expect; an aching heart, failure? Shall I see my self misjudged, wrongly suspect ed, despised. All that You wish, 0 my God; I accept it all in ad vance . . .” Newman met with all these adversities and he met them head on. He writes of himself: “O how forlorn and dreary has been my course since 1 became a Catholic! Here has been the contrast ... as a Prot estant, I felt my religion dreary, but not my life—but as a Cath olic, my life dreary, not my re ligion. Since I made the great sacrifice to which God called me, He has rewarded me in ten thousand ways, O how many! but He has marked my course with unintermittent mortifica tions.” Nearly every project he attempted was a failure: the Irish university; his writings were met with suspicion; his Oratory at Oxford; his editor ship of the "Rambler.” Yet New man said: “One thousand diffi culties do not justify one doubt.” Ignorance ceases to be bliss to those seeking information. j Key members of the staff at St. Paul’s Hospital, Dallas, whose duties prevent them from remaining in one place dur ing most of their duty hours have been issued a Motorola Handie Talkie a transistorized low-powered radio receiver with built-in speaker and antennas. This innovation in page systems replaces the noise of the old public address system. In the photo, SisJLer Blanche (at mike) pages Sister Alphon- sine over her Handie Talkie as Sister Alberta (center) listens in. (NC Photos J Pensions For Former Presidents THE BACKDROP Conferees of the Senate and the House have agreed upon a bill to provide former Presi dents of the United States with a pension for life and it now seems likely the bill will be passed. Former Presidents will be entitled to receive a pen sion of $25,000 a year, free mailing privi leges, free of fice space and $50,000 a year for clerical help. At present the only former Presidents who could claim such retirement privileges are Herbert Hoover, a millionaire, and Harry S. Tru man. Two widows of former Presidents are still living—Mrs. Woodrow Wilson and Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt. For them, as for the widow of any present or future past president, the bill provides a pension of $10,000 a year. On first consideration, many taxpayers may wonder why Congress felt that a President, who may serve as short a period as four years, should receive re tirement pay for the rest of his life. The general expression seems to be that American Presidents, in recent years at least, have left the Presidency with ample private means to keep the wolf from the door. FEW WEALTHY It is true, of course, that Presidents who have served By JOHN C. O’BRIEN since the turn of the century have not experienced financial difficulties in their retirement, although few have been men of great wealth. But it must be remembered that, while the rate of the individual income was low, a President was able to save and invest a large part of his salary. Now, although the salary of the President is the highest it has ever been, most of what he receives goes back to Uncle Sam in the form of taxes. Woodrow Wilson was a man of modest means, but his second wife was a woman of wealth. Warren G. Harding, who died in office, was a moderately wealthy newspaper publisher. Calvin Coolidge practiced New England thrift throughout his life and saved a large percent age of his White House pay. After he retired he was paid handsomely for writing a syn dicated column for newspapers. Herbert Hoover had amassed a fortune before he ran for Presi dent. Franklin D. Roosevelt, while not in Hoover’s income bracket, left a large estate. But Presi dent Harry S. Truman has said that he would not have been able to live in retirement in the manner a former President is expected to live had he not in herited property in his home state of Missouri. President Eis enhower, who lived for most of his life on the meager pay of an Army officer, had the good luck to write a best seller and re ceive special tax treatment on the proceeds. Otherwise, he probably would have had only a modest nestegg on which to live after leaving olfice. RETIREMENT EXPENSIVE Some of our Presidents in the early years of the Republic left the White House virtually des titute of means. Jefferson neg lected his private affairs and only the generosity of a. wealthy widow enabled him to pay his bills after he retired to Monti- cello. To buy the books he loved so much he sold off much of his land. Finally to satisfy his cred itors he sold his library to Con gress and this collection became the foundation of the present Library of Congress. General Grant was hounded by creditors when he left the White House. Despite the pain ful ravages of cancer he strug gled to dictate two volumes of memoirs. Proceeds from the sale of this work, which was popu lar, enabled him to die free of debt and assured that his fam ily would have enough to live on. Particularly in these days, for mer Presidents find it impossi ble to spend their declining years in a vine-covered cottage. They continue to be public fig ures, subject to demands that entail heavy expenditures. For mer President Truman has said that it takes three clerks mere ly to handle the mail that pours into Independence day after day. If only for the reason that as surance of a life pension would make it possible for a poor man to serve in the Presidency, the proposed retirement pay bill would seem to be justified. Put It In Mary’s Hands This We Believe (By FATHER LEO TRESE) It is seven years and four months since I began writing my weekly column. That means a total of 381 columns, or about 381,000 words. Even a very talk ative woman would have diffi culty speaking that many words without repeating her self. You will not be sur prised then when I con fess that I am beginning t o feel “talked out,” beginning to feel that I have said everything I have to say. Consequently I am going to declare a morator ium on writing for others, and devote my spare moments to the task of replenishing my own mind with some serious reading' and reflecting. It is time that I shut up and let others talk for a while. This will be my last column, at least for the present and for the foreseeable future. It any thing that I have written seems to you to be worth reading, I might mention that most of what I have said during this past year is now available in book form. The book is pulv lished by Fides Publishers of Chicago, and its title is MORE THAN MANY SPARROWS. (“Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings? And yet not one of them is forgotten before God. . . Therefore do not be afraid, you are of more value than many sparrows” — Luke 12:6-7). As I sign off, I do want to thank all of you, my unseen friends. Each week has brought its quota of encouraging letters. In addition to those who have written, I feel sure that I have had a share in the prayers of many generous readers whose names I shall not know until eternity. I hope that you may continue to give me that men tion in your prayers, as I most certainly shall continue to re member, in my own prayers and Masses, all who have read my printed words. In saying farewell, I have been trying to decide what final message of advice, support or admonition I might offer. 1 hardly could do better than to confide my reader-friends to Mary’s care — to her who is the beloved distributor of her Son’s treasury of grace. In our perplexities, our wor ries, our needs we cannot do anything smarter than to con fide ourselves and our cause to God’s mother and ours. We hear this often said in sermons and we read it often in pious books. Yet in spite of the repetition (or possibly because of it) many of us do not have the lively reali zation that we ought, of Mary’s power to help us, of Mary’s eagerness to help us. Her Son has placed His own infinite power at Mary’s disposal. Her eagerness to use that power on behalf stems Mary’s conscious ness of the value of each of us to Jesus. She stood at the foot of the cross and saw the price that He paid for us. She counted that price being paid, drop by drop, as it soaked into the ground at her feet. There are many good Cath olics who practice a kind of conventional devotion to Mary. They say their daily rosary from a sense of duty. With equal dutifulness they join with the Church in the celebration of Mary’s feasts. But they do not feel the sense of personal close ness to Mary that Jesus would have us all to feel. They do not have a sense of the reality of Mary’s personal interest in each of us. They do not advert to Mary’s yearning, as all mothers do yearn, to be needed by her children and to be called upon for the help that she can give. There are many good Cath olics who never have challenged Mary’s power and love. There are many Catholics who never have said, “Mother, here is a petition that means a lot to me. I place my cause in your hands. I know without the shadow of a doubt that you will hear me and help me. You take over new. I’ll not worry a moment more.” In our day and age we are so sophisticated, so wise with the wisdom of the world. It is hard for us to capture the childlike attitude of dependence-with-con- fidence that Jesus wants us to exhabit towards His mother. He has tried so persistently to get His point across: at Lourdes, at Fatima and in a hundred other places and times. Unremittingly Jesus tries to get us to share His own enthusiasm for His mother. Yet many of us con tinue to pay lip service to Mary without a really vivid conviction of her nearness to us, of her hungry love for us. It is a near ness and hunger that never was matched even by our own mother during our tenderest childhood days. As I say goodby to you my readers, I cannot do more for you than to wish and pray for 3 7 ou this lively trust in Mary, this personal warmth towards Mary. I like her best under her title of “Mother of Sorrows,” but really it matters little by what title we address her. What ever mantle-of-the-moment she may wear, it is the fact that she is our God-given mother that matters — our loving, powerful, eager, listening and arms-open mother. All the verbose "counsel that I have offered in this column during the past seven years counts as nothing, compared with this: PUT IT IN MARY’S HANDS! LIFE'S LIKE THAT The average man spends nine- tenths of his time trying to eran enough money to enable him to enjoy the other tenth. Too many people are influ enced by everything but facts. The world takes you at your worth it’s up to you to estab lish it. lulktut 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. Subscription price $3.00 per year. Second class mail privileges authorized at Monroe, Georgia. Send notice of change of address to P. O. Box 320, Monroe, Georgia. REV. FRANCIS J. DONOHUE REV. R. DONALD KIERNAN Editor Savannah Edition Editor Atlanta Edition JOHN MARKWALTER Managing Editor Vol. 39 Saturday, September 6, 1958 No. 7 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