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IN PARADISUM
Two deaths in two weeks have served to remind the
world of the tyranny and evil of International Communism.
It is said that the wish is father to the thought. And
perhaps because we wish it were so, we are tempted to think,
when we hear the quips and laughter of its emmisaries, that
Communism is evolving from brutality to humanitarianism.
The death of Cardinal Mindzenty’s mother two weeks
ago and the death of Cardinal Stepinac last week should
quickly dispel such illusions. Both Mrs. Pehm (Cardinal
Mindzenty’s mother) and Cardinal Stepinac were victims
of the cruelty and cynicism of Communism.
The aged mother of the Primate of Hungary spent the
last decade of her life in sorrow, going from jail to jail to
visit a son unjustly condemned by Communist masters. As
a witness at his “trial” she saw her son broken physically
and mentally. As a Hungarian citizen she saw her country’s
Communist invaders slaughter the men who sought to free
a true pastor of souls, whose only crime was that he re
fused to betray his sheep, and she spent the last days of her
life begging, “Please, may I speak to my son?”
Cardinal Stepinac, symbol of the refusal of the Church
in Yuogoslavia to become a tool of Tito’s Communism
breathed his last, imprisoned in the home where he was
born, under arrest because he dared to say, with St. Peter,
“We ought to obey God rather than men.”
Death is an eloquent preacher, and these deaths cry out
to us the words of Our Lord, “Be not deceived, you cannot
serve God and mammon.”
For those who espouse the terrible cause of Communism
we pray, “Father, forgive them. They know not what they
do.”
For two who truly bore the cross with Christ we pray,
“May the angels take them into Paradise; may the martyrs
come to welcome them on their way and lead them into
the holy city, Jerusalem, where tears and sorrows shall be
no more.”
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CIVICS LESSON
A proposal to extend low interest loans to privte, non
profit schools was defeated in the United States Senate,
February 4th. The Senate vote was 49 to 37 against a pro
posal of Sen. Wayne Morse (D. Ore.) to lend these schools
up to $150 million over a two-year period for school con
struction.
Then, after defeating this measure for a loan, NOT A
GRANT, the Senate adopted 54 to 35, a measure to GRANT
$1.8 BILLION for Public School construction and Public
School teachers’ salaries over a two-year period. This bill,
of course, must be passed by the house and signed by the
President before it can become law.
Sole opposition on the floor to Sen. Morse’s proposed
LENDING bill came from Sen. Everett M. Dirksen (R. 111.)
who charged that the low interest rate would cost the Fed
eral government too much money. The issue of Church and
State relations was not raised, although the American Jew
ish Congress and the Unitarian Fellowship for Social Jus
tice had made known their opposition to the proposed
Private School loans.
Sen. Dirksen charged that the loans would be made at
two and seven-eighth percent interest, and that the Govern
ment would have to spend four and seven-eighth percent
to get the money, thus losing two percent.
But when one considers that, according to Sen. Morse,
Private Schools save U. S. taxpayers more than ONE BIL
LION dollars PER YEAR, it is difficult to believe that a
LOAN of $150 MILLION, to be PAID BACK, with interest,
was defeated for economic reasons.
JOSEPH BREIG
HAIL THE NEW ACE
SHARING OUR TREASURE
Mary's Intercession Leads
To Conversion
By REV. JOHN A. O'BRIEN, Ph. D.
rrrrrrrrr ^(University of Notre Dame) r , , , , , ,
Sometimes, as I read or hear
the contraception propaganda
that is all around us nowadays,
a strange feeling comes over me
that the anti-birth advocates
must have awakened just this
minute from
about a cen
tury of Rip
Van Winkle
snoozing, and
have not yet
been told
about the
things that
happened
while they were sleeping.
After all, the year I960, more
than any other period in his
tory, is precisely the time when
it seems most dinosaurish and
antediluvian for anybody to go
into a great fret about whether
there might come to be so many
human beings that we won’t
be able to feed them.
I say this not merely because
the American people are spend
ing billions of dollars annually
to pay farmers for not farming,
and for storing the enormous
food surpluses that pile up in
warehouses anyhow — although
surely this fact alone ought to
make us suspect that there is
something very foolish about
the “population explosion” up
roar.
BUT I AM LOOKING at
much wider horizons. What has
been achieved in America
through scientific agriculture
and substitution of machinery
for hand labor will certainly be
accomplished soon in dozens of
other lands. I should think it
highly likely that in a decade or
two most of mankind will have
far more than enough to eat.
Even when that has been
said, only the surface of the
future has been scratched. Man
kind is emerging into a new
age of breathtaking marvels in
production, transportation, com
munication, technology, re
search and development.
A sheer embarrassment of
riches is what we probably will
be facing before long; and our
problem will be to persuade hu
man beings not to become ma
terialistic pleasure-seekers —
rather than where to find food
with which to keep them alive.
UNLESS YOUR MEMORY is
shorter than mine — and of
that I would accuse nobody —
you can recall that only a de
cade or two ago one of the
popular subjects of discussion
was whether there were any
new frontiers for coming gene
rations to explore.
Today, the question to be de
cided by any young person is,
which of a bewildering variety
of frontiers should he or she
select?
Human knowledge has multi
plied to the point where no
body can hope to know much
about many things. Everybody
must specialize. . Projects must
be carried out not by individu
als but by teams and big orga
nizations; and only electronic
computers ’can wrestle success
fully with the immensity and
complexity of the data assembl
ed.
WE ARE SNOWED UNDER
in frontiers — if I may use so
scrambled a figure of speech.
Merely by looking upward, one
can see space filled with them.
Even right here on earth,
there are almost countless fron
tiers — geographical, scientific,
medical, technological, phsy-
chological, philosophical and
the like.
This is not to deny that there
are special problems in places
like India. But the right solu
tion is to hasten, by national
and international effort, the de
velopment of such nations —
not to teach the people contra
ception.
FAR FROM HAVING too
many of us on our planet, we
are likely to find soon enough
that there are not going to be
enough of us to do the great
things that are crying out to
be done.
The reality about the 1960’s, I
think, is this: we are moving
toward a breakthrough into a
dizzingly magnificent era of
progress and development
through world cooperation.
Slowing this breakthrough
for the moment is musty, stone-
age godless Marxist reaction-
arism, and some other follies al
most as anarchronistic. Once
the iron curtain falls, as I am
convinced it must, I think ev--
erybody will be laughing at this
period of nervous nellie fears
about “overpopulation.”
Have you ever explained to
non-Catholic friends why we
honor the Blessed Virgin? Many
think we adore Our Lady as a
sort of goddess, and this miscon
ception keeps them from look
ing further
into the Faith.
A friendly ex
planation will
frequent ly
convert this
doctrine from
an obstacle
into a stepping
stone to the
Faith. This is inustrafecl by the
experience of Matthew S.
Holmes of Northport, Long
Island.
“I was blessed,” related Mr.
Holmes, “with a devout and
saintly mother, the daughter of
a Methodist minister. My earli
est recollection is saying my
prayers at her knee. I attended
Church and Sunday School reg
ularly. We had a considerable
amount of Bible study because
the Bible was our sole rule of
faith and conduct. We would
testify at class meetings how
God’s grace helped us in trials
and temptations.
“Gradually, however, I lost
interest and when I went to
New York I discontinued at
tendance at religious services,
except when I went as a pro
fessional singer. Then one eve
ning I met a lovely girl, Cath
erine Nichols, and it was love
at first sight. Then I discovered
she was a Catholic who esteem
ed her religion as her greatest
treasure. We were married by
a priest, but I was determined
not to be hoodwinked into ador
ing Mary.
“Our children were reared as
Catholics and I could not help
but notice the powerful influ
ence of the Faith upon them and
my wife. They lived it daily,
ardently and joyfully, and I be
gan to get a deeper insight into
the peace and happiness it af
fords. I began to attend Mass
with them occasionally but
tried not to give the impression
that I was going to become a
Catholic.
“Finally I learned that Cath
olics adore God alone, but honor
and venerate the Blessed Vir
gin who as the mother of Our
Lord, played such an important
part in our redemption. Christ
reverenced and loved her and at
her intercession worked His
first public miracle. Dying on
the Cross He placed her in the
loving care of His beloved disci
ple John. Why had we Protes
tants not followed Christ’s ex
ample? Why had we neglected
her almost completely rarely
even mentioning her name?
“The more I studied the mat
ter, the more the Catholic posi
tion appealed to me as the only
normal, natural and reasonable
one. Instead of a roadblock this
doctrine became a stepping
stone to the Faith. Early on the
morning of the feast of the Im
maculate Conception I stole out
to six o’clock Mass. I guess Our
Lady spied me and asked her
divine Son to give me the grace
of Faith.
“When returning from Mass
the following Sunday, I re
marked about the large number
of Catholics living in our neigh
borhood. ‘Yes, dad,’ said our
nine-year-old son John, ‘why
don’t you make one more?’ His
desore was reflected in his
Theology
For The
Layman
mother’s eyes as we exchanged
glances, and his remark and her
look reached deep into my heart
, and stirred me to action.
“I entered an Inquiry Class
conducted by Father Devery,
C.S.P., at Old St. Mary’s Church
on Wabash Avenue in Chicago.
In a friendly manner he ex
plained the Church’s teachings
and pointed out the four marks,
unity, sanctity, Catholicity and
apostolicity, which stamp her
as the one true Church.
“All doubt had vanished; my
faith was complete. I was bap
tized and, together with my
family, received our Blessed
Lord in Holy Communion. My
joy was unbounded. Thanks to
Our Lady’s intercession and the
prayers and example of my wife
and children I had come home
at last!”
Father O’Brien will be grate
ful to readers who kno wof 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.
Weekly Calendar
Of Feast Days
(N.C.W.C. NEWS SERVICE)
SUNDAY, February 21 — St.
Severian, Bishop-Martyr. He
was Bishop of Scythopolis
(Bethsan) in Galilee and upon
his return from the Council
of Chalcedon, about 452, was
murdered by Eutychian heretics
with the connivance of the Em
press Eudoxia.
MONDAY, F ebruary 22-
Feast of St. Peter’s Chair at
Antioch, which commemorates
the taking up of St. Peter of his
Episcopal office in the city of
Antioch.
TUESDAY, February 23—St.
Peter Damian, Bishop-Confessor-
Doctor. He was born in 1007
at Ravenna, youngest in a large
family and was left an orphan
in charge of an older brother,
who ill-treated him. Another
brother, Damian, archpriest of
Ravenna, took charge of the boy
and paid for his schooling. He
joined the Benedictines at Fon-
tavellana and became a model
monk. He was chosen Abbot
and influenced several Saints at
the school — SS. Dominic
Loricatus, John of Lodi and
Ralph of Gubbio, among them.
In 1057 he was made Cardinal-
Bishop of Ostia and served sev
eral Popes in important posts,
as legate to Germany, France
and Lombardy, and as papal
representative at several coun
cils and synods. He wrote ex
tensively, his theological works, .
poetry and Latin verse being
rated among the best of the
Middle Ages. He died at Faenze
in 1072 and was declared a Doc
tor of the Church in 1828.
WEDNESDAY, February 24
Vigil of St. Matthias, Apostole.
Mass of the season.
THURSDAY, February 25—St.
Matthias, Apostle. He lived in
the first century and is said to
have been one of the first disci
ples of Our Lord. He was chos
en by lot by the other Apostles
to take the place of Judas
Iscariot, who betrayed Our
Lord. St. Matthias is said to
have preached in Judea and
Ethiopia, and to have been
martyred in Colchis.
FRIDAY, February 26—SS.
By F. J. Sheed
Column 49
MYSTICAL BODY (1)
We have taken a first look
at the Church Our Lord estab
lished. We have seen that in it
and through it we have access
to the Truth and the Life and
the Union with Himself in
which our re
demption con
sists. What
Truth and Life
mean has been
explained fair
ly fully, al
though the
ways in which
they reach us
have still to be examiiied. But
what of Union?
. From what has been said
thus far, we see it as a Union of
love and obedience. And as such
it is wonderful beyond man’s
dreams. But that is only the
fringe. The fullness - of the
Union that Christ planned for
us — union with Himself and
through Him with God — is far
closer and deeper. We must try
to understand it, for it is the
central reality of the Church
and the central reality of our
selves,.
Take as a starting point the
question Our Lord, from the
right hand of His Father in
heaven, put to Saul on. the road
to Damascus. (Read Acts IX.
1-8.) Saul had been persecuting
the Christians in Jerusalem
fiercely (for he never did any
thing by halves, either as Saul
the Pharisee or Paul' the Apos
tle). He was on his .way to
Damascus to seize Christians
there too when he was. stricken
blind and heard a voice saying:
“Saul, Saul, why are you perse
cuting Me?” Not My Church
you observe, but Me.
Our Lord is asserting an
identity between His Church
and Himself. Is it a real identity
— that is, does He mean the
words to be taken at their full
value., Or is it merely a rhetori
cal device, a way of saying that
the Church is His special prop
erty, so that if anyone perse
cutes it; it is as though he perse
cuted Him? It would have been
an ,odd,rqonient,.for„rhe.1 ) aric: ..for
Saul it was the moment of
truth. He knew the identity to
(Continued on Page 5)
By David Q. Lipiak
Q. As it stands, is this state
ment correct: "The Catholic
Church is opposed to birth con
trol in any shape or form?"
A. It is not precise to state
that the Church is opposed to
birth control as such. What the
Church condemns as immoral
is birth prevention by recourse
to means contrary to the natur-
' a! hr divine positive laws (i.e.,
contraception, direct steriliza
tion, direct abortion, and the
like.)
Q. Then whai about the ac
curacy of this statement: "The
Church condemns planned par
enthood?"
A. Planned parenthood, in
the usual modern sense, signi
fies family limitation through
recourse to immoral forms of
birth prevention, especially con
traception. In this sense, it is
condemned by the Church.
If, however, planned parent
hood is taken to mean family
limitation in full accordance
with moral laws (through per
iodic continence or the rhythm
system, for instance), it is not
condemned.
Q. Doesn't the above answer
contradict the Church's law that
married couples are bound to
(Continued on Page 5)
Victorinus, Victor, Nicephorus,
Claudianus, Dioscorus, Serapion
and Papias, Martyrs. In the
third century in Egypt under
the Emperor Numerian, they
were tortured. Victorinus and
Victor were beheaded for con
fessing the Faith. Nicephorus
was laid on a heated gridiron,
placed over the fire, then hack
ed with a knife. Claudinus and
Dioscorus were burned at the
stake; Serapion and Papias
were slain with the sword. They
died in 283.
SATURDAY, February 27—
St. Nestor, Bishop-Martyr. He
was Bishop of Magydos in
Pamphylia and was crucified at
Perge in the persecution under
Decius, about 251.
Equal Pay Supporters nopemi
THE BACKDROP
The fight to end discrimina
tion against women in the field
of business and industry will
be resumed in this Congress,
perhaps with more than ordi
nary vigor, because this is a
political year.
Over the
years women
have won their
battle for po
litical equality
with men but
they still have
a long way to
go to attain
equality in the economic sphere.
EQUAL WORK BUT . . .
Women now have, and have
had for some time, the right to
vote and hold public office.
There is scarcely a political
office, aside from the Presidency
and Vice-Presidency, that wom
en have not held. There have
have been women Governors,
Mayors, County' Treasurers and
County Sheriffs. Women sit on
the bench at all levels except
the United States Suoreme
Court. One woman now serves
in the United States Senate, and
nearly a score in the House of
Representatives.
In the fields of entertainment
and sports, women have long
held their own with men. But
in business and industry women
are still being discriminated
against because of their sex. A
few women have risen to top
rank positions in Banks and
business, but the majority
working side by side with men
in offices, stores and factories,
receive a lower wage than men
for the same kind of work.
Even women whose tasks are
identical with those performed
by men, as a rule, receive less
pay. At a recent conference of
By JOHN C. O’BRIEN
women employed in the elec
trical industry, scores of in
stances were cited where em
ployees maintain one wage scale
for women and another for men
on the same assembly line.
An employee in a tool- plant
testified at the conference that
women had been hired to ope
rate an entire assembly line
formerly manned by men be
cause the employers found they
could pay the women lower
wages.
Other women workers sighted
instances of discrimination
against women in the hiring of
labor. One firm which recently
introduced electric computers,
highly comDlex machines, re
fused to hire women to operate
them although many of its wom
en employees had had long ex
perience operating other equal
ly complicated business ma
chines.
The Department of Labor has
noted that, despite the discrimi
nation against women in ever
increasing numbers, through
choice or necessity, they are
competing with men for jobs in
business and industry. As the
size of the work force of women
has increased so has the amount
of pressure brought to bear
upon Congress and State legis
latures to enact equal pay laws.
UNION LAG
In their battle for equal pay,
the women have received little
help from labor unions. The
unions have been reluctant
when negotiating wage agree
ments with employers to de
mand equal pay for women.
Even in the few instances when
the unions have gone to bat for
equality of pay as between the
sexes, they have encountered
stubborn resistance on the part
of the employers who seem to
feel that women are not entitl
ed to a man’s pay no matter
how efficiently they perform
their tasks.
Other women workers and
union officials recognize that it
will take national legislation to
wipe out the pay discrimination.
Some 14 states have adopted
equal pay laws, but in most in
stances these statutes have no
teeth. Either they provide no
penality for violation, or the
penalty is too mild to deter em
ployers from disregarding the
law.
An assortment of equal pay
bills have been introduced in
this session of Congress. Differ
ing in minor respects, they all
would preclude discrimination
on the basis of sex in payment
for work requiring comparable
skills. Some of the bills pro
vide a stiff penalty if an em
ployer discharges or discrimi
nates against a worker for filing
a complaint under the proposed
law.
In their efforts to end wage
discrimination against their sex,
women workers have the full
support of the Eisenhower ad
ministration. Secretary of Labor,
James P. Mitchell, speaking
with the approval of the Presi
dent, has called for enactment
of an equal pay bill.
None of the equal pay bills
introduced in the last session
ever reached the floor of either
House. But supporters of the
anti-discrimination legislation
are more hopeful this year,
bearing in mind the fact that
politicians are well aware of
the power of women at the pol
ling booth.
In one archdiocese the Arch
bishop used to stroll around for
his afternoon constitutional. One
day as he walked leisurely
through the neighborhood, he
saw a small boy run up the
steps of a house and stretch to
reach the doorbell.
The Archbishop saw that the
boy couldn’t quite reach the
bell, so he stepped up onto the
veranda and rang it himself.
“Thanks,” the boy shouted.
“Now run like heck.”
This is one reason why arch
bishops receive grace to carry
out their duties. The ordinary
burdens are enough to carry,
but explaining who rang the
doorbell requires extra strength.
For that matter, the lady of
the house will need grace to put
up with all those kids ringing
her doorbell and running. And
Junior will need grace to sur^-
vive the licking he’ll get when
he’s caught.
In fact, we need grace for
every good action we perform.
Can’t do without it. And since
Americans habitually like to
know what they’re getting, it
would be wise to think about
grace sometimes.
I must admit that we Cath
olics are experts in using con
fusing terms. If someone says
to you, “May God increase grace
in your soul,’ ’he’s talking about
sanctifying grace. If you say to
Sister, “May God give you the
grace to survive your 60 stu
dents,” you mean actual grace.
We’re more familiar with
sanctifying grace because we
talk about the “state of grace”
so often. Someone in this state
has sanctifying grace in his soul,
and he’ll keep it until it is
driven out by mortal sin. This
grace is that little share of
God’s own life which makes us
His adopted children and heirs
of heaven.
Actual grace is another kind
of grace. The name is confusing
because we usually think of ac
tual as meaning “real.” But to
us it means act-by-act. Actual
grace is a passing help God
gives us to do good and over
come temptation. After the ac
tion is finished, the grace is
gone. It comes to us act-by-act,
in other words.
We ought to change all our
THIMK signs to “Thimk about
actual grace.” We live in an age
that causes us to overlook its
importance. This is the era of
the do-it-yourself gadgets, of
self-made man and of the mas-
ter-of-my destiny mentality.
Even poor old Satan has a hard
time getting credit for stirring
up any trouble these days. We
want all the credit for our-
fl | Fitter WhurloB’*
1' View
from die Heetorj
ACT-BY-ACT GRACE
selves.
Twentieth-century Americans
didn’t cook up this excessive de
pendence on self. Many cen
turies ago, a fellow named
Pelagius started it. He decided
that we’re perfect because
Adam’s sin really didn’t harm
us. We don’t need God’s grace.
It’s up to us, said Mr. Pelag'ious,
to roll up our toga-sleeves make
something of ourselves.
This idea was carried on
through the ages to our pio
neers. We’re used to the old
American spirit of unlimited
freedom, unbounded opportuni
ty and “you too can be a suc
cess.” These ideas are not all
wrong, of course. It’s just that
they ignore our weakened hu
man nature and our need for
God’s help.
It’s possible to be a social or
business success without much
help from our Creator. But not
a spiritual success. And isn’t
that the only real success? With
out actual grace, we can’t re
sist temptation or do things
which will get us to heaven.
Not that we can lounge in our
easy chair, light up a cigarette
and call for a drink — and ex
pect actual grace to take over
the work of getting us to heav
en. We do have free wills. We
have to cooperate with the
graces the Lord sends us. But
just remember that it is really
the grace which makes us capa
ble of doing the good works.
It might be mentioned that
grace doesn’t work on our feel
ings. The emotions, as you
well know, are more indepen
dent than five-year-olds. They
feel just the way they want to
feel. God can be pouring grace
into our soul by the gallon and
we still might not be aware of
the heavenly influence.
Grace works on our soul’s
faculties: mind and will. Actual
grace helps our minds to under
stand what’s right and our will
to do it. The fact that this has
nothing to do with making us
feel delighted is one reason
virtue has never been too pop
ular.
We get actual grace by pray
er and performing good deeds.
But the chief sources of grace
are the sacraments. Each sacra
ment gives us an increase of
sanctifying grace — God’s life—
in our souls. Each one also con
fers on us the right to actual
graces when we need them.
Penance, you might say, gives
us a ticket to be presented for
actual grace when temptations
strike. On the day of marriage,
husband and wife get their tic
ket for the graces they’ll need
to be holy and happy in that
state of life. A priest presents
his Holy Orders tickets for the
actual graces he needs to be a
good priest.
Archbishops, too, receive the
highest degree of Holy Orders
by their consecration and with
it the right to the actual graces
for being good shepherds of
souls. And even, I suppose, the
right to the grace to “run like
heck” before the door opens.
GUIDEPOST
Family tradition is a fine
thing only when used to set a
course in life — not as an an
chor.
»
EASILY CONVINCED
Money may not grow on
trees, but the man who buys
lumber today could easily be
lieve in the myth.
Hallrtitt
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. 40 Saturday, February 20, 1960 No. 19
ASSOCIATION OFFICERS
GEORGE GINGELL, Columbus : 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