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?ags 4—the bullju'-un, Apr” h, iscc
JOSEPH BREIG
WHAT TONGUE THE MASS?
I studied Latin in school— vernacular might tend toward
and promptly forgot it.
As an altar boy, I memorized
the responses to the prayers of
the priest at Mass.
The sound of Latin, as a re
sult is famil
iar to me. But
the sense isn’t.
There fore I
find the pres
ent dialog
Mass unsatis
factory.
If it is un
satisfactory to
me, it must be
even more unsatisfactory to
many others.
Perhaps this is a temporary
condition. Maybe we’ll grow ac-
cumtomed to giving the Latin
responses, praying the Pater
Noster together, and so on.
POSSIBLY, through the years,
we might even come to under
stand Latin, in some measure.
I cannot see, however, how
Latin can ever be like English
for English-speaking Catholics.
I cannot imagine “Pater
Noster” ever having the heighth
and depth and breadth of mean
ing for us that “Our Father”
has.
I suspect, therefore, that what
is called the vernacular move
ment is going to prove gradually
irresistible.
I wish the folks in the move
ment would say “native tongue”
or “language of the people” in
stead of vernacular.” The word
“vernacular” sounds even more
foreign than Latin.
But be that as it may, those
urging the vernacular seem to
be on the right track.
I HAVE HEARD scores of ar
guments for, and against, the
substitution of native tongues
for Latin in some parts of the
Mass.
There are weighty considera
tions on both sides, and ob
viously Rome is weighing them
with great care.
But already the Holy See has
granted permission for the lan
guages of various peoples, in
part at least, in the administra
tion of sacraments.
My guess is that the use of
native tongues will increase.
Among arguments in favor of
sticking to Latin are these:
There is fear that use of the
the forming of national church
es, and damage the universal
unity of Catholics.
People, it is said, can be at
Mass in any country, and it is
the same age-old Latin Mass.
Estrangement from Latin
might involve some estrange
ment from Rome.
Latin helps folks to under
stand 2,000 years of civilization,
and is a precise instrument for
expressing theological thought.
But I find the arguments for
more use of the vernacular
more convincing.
These arguments are marshall
ed periodically in a paper call
ed “Amen,” published by the
Vernacular Society, P. O. Box
1791, Chicago 90. The president
is Father John P. O’Brien of
Newport, Wash.
In the current issue, in a
piece reprinted from “Christian
Family,” Father William Patala
offers a suggested compromise
to meet both “the need of ver
nacular and the need of Latin.”
His propsoal is that the priest
say or sing the Mass in Latin,
while choir and congregation
sing in the native tongue at
both high and low Masses.
I DON'T THINK this solves
the: problem. Priest and people,
in my view, ought to pray the
Mass together; and on week
days no choir is present.
But a solution satisfactory all
around surely is possible. I am
confident that it will come in
time.
“Amen’s” arguments for the
vernacular are so numerous
that I do not have space for
them, but they are persuasive.
One point made is that Latin is
a great obstacle to many who
might be attracted to the Cath
olic Church.
No less a person than Car
dinal Montini, archbishop of
Milan, is quoted in a pastoral
letter that “to participate fin
the Mass) one must understand.”
And “Amen” quotes, as the
origin of its own name, a pas
sage from First Corinthians 14-
16:
"How can one who holds the
place of the layman say the
Amen to thy thanksgiving, since
he does not know what thou art
saying?"
Theology
For The
Layman
(By F. J. Sheed)
Column 54
The Teaching of Truth
On a hillside in Galilee, be
tween the Resurrection and the
Ascension, Our Lord had told
the apostles to teach all nations.
They were to teach all that He
had taught them, all doctrines,
all laws. And
He, had prom
ised to be
with them all
days till time
should end.
Thus the apos
tles, protected
by Christ Him
self in their
utterance of His teaching, were
to have successors, like wise
protected. That was Christ’s
plan that men should have
truth here upon earth.
It seems strange that a large
section of Christians think the
apostles fulfilled their commis
sion by writing the New Testa
ment, leaving behind them no
successors, or any need for suc
cessors, with the authority Our
Lord had given themselves. It
seems strange for one reason,
that it would mean only four
of the apostles had obeyed their
Master—Matthew writing a gos
pel, John a gospel and three
brief letters, Peter two letters
and Jude one. Not a written
word from Thomas, for instance,
so ready with his tongue.
It would seem strange for an
other reason—that the Church
Christ founded would have
been a teaching Church only for
a half century or so, in all the
centuries since merely the cus
todian of a library, handing out
the seventy or more books of
the Old Testament and the New
to members, confining her an
swering of questions to quoting
a passage from one or other of
the books. This we certainly not
the method of the apostles.
They taught, and they taught
with authority. New circum
stances arose, and with total
confidence they applied the
teachings to them. When ' the
(Continued on Page 5)
Jottings...
(By BARBARA C, JENCKS)
Question
Box
(By David Q. Liptak)
Q. How can the ecumenical
movement ever gain momentum
unless all Christians agree upon
a single vocabulary? Why don't
you do a column some time on
the way key Christian words
are commonly misused and
twisted in meaning—words like
morality, conscience and
heresy?
A. A right vocabulary is, in
a sense, a universal ethical im
perative. Unless terms are used
properly, effective dialogue is
impossible. And dialogue is a
principal means to ecumenic-
ism,
"MORALITY" is a term in
point. Though loosely used in
modern vocabulary, it does not
signify convention, or public
decency or whatever any parti
cular theologian (or more often
non-theologian) wants it to
mean. Nor is the meaning of
morality determined by civil
legislation.
CORRECTLY, morality refers
to the relationship of a human
act to a rule based on man’s
nature considered in its entirety.
Actions which are consonant
with human nature and the pur
poses for which human nature
was created are morally good
actions. (Examples: worshipping
God, saving human life, telling
the truth, etc.) Actions which
disagree with the above norm
are morally bad or immoral ac
tions. (Examples: blasphemy,
the deliberate taking of inno
cent human life, telling of a
falsehood, etc.)
THE ULTIMATE objective
norm of morality is the eternal
law of God, whereas the proxi
mate objective standard is hu
man reason. In other words, an
analysis of man’s very nature
provides man with the norm of
morality. “This norm is within
the capacity of human reason,”
writes one theologian. “This
does not mean that every indi
vidual by his own intellectual
efforts can discover all the rules
of morality . . . But every hu
man being endowed with the
use of intelligence is able to
realize that certain actions are
in accordance with human na
ture while other actions are at
(Continued on Page; 5) ,jt
"Let us pray. Almighty and
everlasting God, be present in
these mysteries of thy great
love, be pleased to act in these
thy sacraments. Send forth the
spirit of adoption to re-create
a new race of those whom the
font of baptism will bear to
Thee."
• DURING the final days of
Lent, I had the privilege of at
tending the Baptism and first
Holy Communion of a nineteen-
■; year-old girl who works in our
faculty dining room. “Rusty”
. has been impressed by the ex
maple and the charity of a group
of students here called “staff
girls.” They wait on tables and
work their way through college
on a five-year plan. “Rusty”
worked with them and wonder
ed at their charity and their
dedication. They are an unusual
group of girls. They know the
value of education for they must
work for it. They know the val
ue of faith, too. Although they
must rise earlier than most stu
dents anyway, they also rise
even earlier to attend a special
Mass offered for them each
morning. “Rusty” knew that the
secret of their great spirit and
charity was their faith. She has
been taking instructions in her
parish church since fall and the
last day of Passion Week with
three priest-teachers and a large
group of staff workers and two
of us faculty members looking
on, “Rusty” became a Catholic.
Taking part in this ceremony
was about the best preparation
I could have for the solemnities
of Holy Week. I wonder if any
one can read the Baptism cere
mony and not go down on her
knees in thanksgiving for the
gift of faith as well as contrition
for the sins which have stained
that original innocence.
• "RECEIVE this white robe
and carry it unstained to the
judgment seat of Our Lord
Jesus Christ, so that you may
have everlasting life . . . Receive
this lighted candle, and keep
your Baptism above reproach.
Keep the commandments of
Cod, so that when the Lord
comes to His marriage feast you
may meet Him in the halls of
heaven with all His saints, and
may live with Him forever.” It
would be good if we could read
this ceremony often even as we
do at the Holy Saturday vigil.
There is nothing that has hap
pened to us since birth that is
more important than our bap
tism, its mark does not end with
death but only begins. It is an
eternal mark which distinguish
es our soul as heir to the king
dom ;of heaven. My mind went
back to the day I stood before
the baptismal font as “Rusty”
‘did. The late Monsignor Holland
and Father Joseph Bracq were
beside me. Does anyone fully
grasp the power and glory of
this sacrament at the moment it
is administered? Or does it ful
ly dawn upon us as we watch
another years later or renew our
vows at the close of a mission or
on Holy Saturday? The wonder
and privilege of this gift of
gifts is still bursting with glory
before me. Each year of faith, it
unfolds more and more. Per
haps, I could not have stood to
see it in its full power then. Most
do not for they are only weeks
old.
• THE NEWSPAPERS are
filled with scandal, politics,
world tensions but a child has
the waters of salvation poured
on her head for the first time.
Others renew the wonder that is
theirs. This gift no man can take
from us, nor war can win; in
poverty, it makes us rich; and
in sickness, it makes us strong.
What in heaven or on earth
could be greater a gift?
The next day, I knelt beside
Rusty at the Mass at which she
was to receive her first Holy
Communion. Again, there is not
only the joy for the first re
ception of Christ into a soul but
the spiritual renewal and re
consecration of those who assist
and receive with her. There is
joy and there is sadness. There
is joy that the privilege of the
Holy Eucharist is yours and
there is sorrow that the initial
innocence with which you first
(Continued on Page 5)
SHARING OUR TREASURE
FAMILY WINS TWO CONVERTS
By REV. JOHN A. O'BRIEN, Ph. D.
- . n ^ (University of Notre Dame)
Isn’t there some person with
whom you would like to share
your holy Faith? If so, invite
him to Mass and other services,
tell him how much your religion
means to you, give him some
Catholic literature, set him a
good example, enlist the help
of other members of your fam
ily, pray for him and with him,
and bring him to a priest for
instruction. This is the combina
tion which, with God’s grace,
will lead him safely into the
fold of Christ.
This is illustrated by the ex
periences of the R. H. Gentner
family of Lebanon, Oregon.
“Our eldest daughter Rose
Mary,” related Mrs. Gentener,
“had a boy friend, Melbourne
Stanser, who often visited us,
especially on Sundays. We have
holy pictures in our home and
say prayers before and after
our meals. On our reading table
are the Catholic Sentinel, Our
Sunday Visitor and Catholic Di
gest.
“Melbourne was impressed by
the religious atmosphere of our
home, and asked Rose Mary
many questions about the Cath
olic Faith. She answered those
she could and got the answers
to the others from Father Pius
Baur. Though Mel’s family at
tended the Assembly of God
Church, none of the children
were baptized, as the mother
felt each should choose his own
religion when he grew up.
“As his interst deepened, Rose
Mary invited him to go to Mass
with us. He was. so favorably
impressed by the beauty, of the
services and the reverence of
the worshipers that he asked
if he might go regularly with
us. Each Sunday thereafter his
car was parked in our; yard. ,
when we set out for seven
o’clock Mass.”
“And on Fridays,” broke in
Rose Mary, “when we were out
on dates, Mel would abstain
from meat. He said he wanted
to join with Catholics in this
little act of sacrifice. He was
ready, I felt, for systematic in
struction so I took him to St.
Edward’s rectory. Father Baur
carried on from there. A few
months later he was baptized
and made his first Holy Com
munion.
“Radiantly happy, he couldn’t
thank almightly God sufficient
ly for the grace of faith and our
family for the heln we had giv
en him. When he left to join the
armed forces, he said he had
something now to hold on to,
something to guide him aright,
and something to live for.”
“That experience,” resumed
Mrs. Gentner, “showed us how
we could be similiarly helpful
later on, when Fred Massey be
gan to call on our youngest
daughter, Theresa Anne. The
first Sunday, on which he call
ed, there were evening May de
votions at our church. We asked
Fred if he had ever been in a
Catholic church and when he
said ‘No,’ we invited him.
“There was a beautiful pro
cession with the children who
had just made their first Holy
Communion carrying flowers,
which they placed at the foot
of the statue of Our Lady. Then
a little girl placed a crown upon
her head. I begged our Blessed
Mother to guide Fred safely
into the fold of her divine Son,
and she did.
“I had Fred read “Sharing
Our Treasure,” in the Catholic
Sentinel. They sparked him into
action. He took instructions
from Father Baur. and when he
made his first Holy Communion
our family of five received with
him. We joined him in thanking
Our Lady and her divine Son
for the wonderful gift of faith.”
Father O’Brien will he grate
ful to readers who know of any
one who has won two or more
converts if they will send the
names and addresses of such per
sons to him at Notre Dame Uni
versity Notre Dame, Indiana.
MANY CATHOLIC GROUPS IN GERMANY — The vigor
of Catholic life in Germany is evident in this photo taken in the
Berlyn Olympic Stadium during the 19958 Katholikentag. Hun
dreds of thousands of the laity, representing the many Catholic
organizations throughout Germany are gathered around the
huge outdoor altar for their demonstration of faith.—(NC Photos).
RED INROADS IN LATIN AMERICA I
THE BACKDROP
Signs of spreading communist
influence in Latin America are
being studied by the State De
partment with increasing con
cern for the security of the
Western Hemisphere.
Communist
influence . in
the Castro
government in
Cuba seems to
be growing
week by week.
Hand in hand
with increas
ingly violent
attacks upon
the United States, Castro has
been concluding trade agree
ments with the Soviet Union
and satellite Poland. These open
the doors for an extension of
Soviet influence in the sugar
republic through the activities
of technical missions and su
pervisors.
CUBA MERELY A BASE
In the nearby Dominican Re
public, the once impregnable
dictatorship of Generalissimo
Rafael L. Trujillo appears to be
threatened. Trujillo himself has
warned that the Reds are on the
march. And in an effort to allay
unrest in his own country he
has promised free elections in
1962. Already, in Trujillo’s opin
ion, the West has suffered a
rout at the hands of the com
munists in the Caribbean.
Communist parties are active
alsewhere in South America,
particularly in Brazil which has
the largest group of organized
Reds.
Despite the Soviet Union’s
By JOHN C. O’BRIEN
current intertst in Cuba, State
Department officials believe that
Soviet communists regard Cuba
merely as a convenient base for
pressing political offensives in
other Latin American nations,
particularly in Brazil which has
a large depressed population.
In a speech oh March 22, 1959,
Allen W. Dulles, head of the
Central Intelligence Agency, re
ported that Moscow had instruc
ted Latin American communists
to line up with national ele
ments, to seek control of local
institutions and to minimize
their ties with the Soviet Union.
That, precisely, is what has
happened in Cuba. The Cuban
Communist party is numerically
small. It gave no aid to Castro
when he was trying to unseat
the dictator Fulgencio Batista.
But once Batista had fled and
Castro had marched into Ha
vana, the communists quickly
swarmed in after him and
wormed their way into positions
of power in the revolutionary
government.
The long-range objective of
Soviet communism in Latin
America is to encourage nation
alist elements, speed up socio
economic revolutions and in
flame already existant resent
ments against the United States
,—the Colossus of the North.
CONTROL THROUGH AID
So far the Soviet Union has
avoided direct intervention of
any kind in Latin America, rea
lizing that action of that kind
would bring it into direct con
flict with the United States. In
the main, the Reds are trying to
gain economic and political con
trol south of the Rio Grande
River through trade promotion
and financial and technical as
sistance.
The recent trade agreement
with Cuba, under which the
Soviet Union will buy 5,000,000
tons of sugar over a five-year
period, paying for it mostly with
oil, pig iron, rolled steel and
other products, is part of the
trade infiltration pattern.
Since starting its economic of
fensive in 1953, the Soviet Un
ion has made some headway.
Significant trade exchanges
have been established with Ar
gentina, Brazil, Cuba and Uru
guay. Throughout South Ameri
ca Red radio propaganda has
been on the increase. Russia
and Red China and the satellites
have been building contacts
through exchange of persons,
exhibits, literature, art and mo
tion pictures.
What can the United States do
to checkmate communism in the
southern part of this hemi
sphere? Communist efforts are
directed at the extremist ele
ments in the Latin American
countries, which are the best
organized politically. They will
succeed unless the United States
accellerates its program of help
ing the political moderates car
ry out needed economic and so
cial reforms.
In the words of a recent vis
itor to the capital, President Al
berto Lleras Camargo, of Col
ombo, “Neither you nor we can
run the risk of discovering,
when we agree to do something,
that it is too late or too little.”
Viewl
I from Hi©
Bedory
By The Rev. Robert H. Wharton
NEW PRECEPT
He had been bitten by a dog,
but didn’t give it much thought
until he noticed that the wound
was taking a remarkably long
time to heal. Finally he consult
ed a doctor, who took one look
at the wound and ordered the
dog be brought in.
Just as the doctor suspected,
the dog had rabies. Since it was
too late to give the patient a se
rum, the doctor felt he had to
prepare him for the worst.
The poor man sat down at the
doctor’s desk and began to write.
The physician tried to comfort
him.
“Perhaps it won’t be so bad,”
he said. “You needn’t make out
your will right now.”
“I’m not making out my will,”
replied the man. “I’m just writ
ing out a list of people I’m going
to bite.”
It would seem that there is
something lacking in this gen
tleman’s attitude toward his
neighbor. People just don’t go
around biting people, rabies or
no rabies.
On second thought, maybe we
do go around biting people too
often. Not literally, of course.
I mean we bite their heads off,
to ; their faces or behind their
backs, through uncharitableness.
It’s surprising, when you
think of it, that the Savior’s
commandment of love hasn’t
sunk in a little more after al
most 2,000 years. Especially
since Christ was not merely ad
vising. He was commanding.
“Thou shalt love thy neigh
bor as thyself” is the second
half of the great commandment,
upon which the whole law de
pends. The love of God and love
of neighbor are inseparable;
that’s why the Lord Himself
called it only one command
ment of charity.
The great Apostle Paul, writ
ing to the citizens of Corinth,
was almost carried away by his
subject when he described the
glories of charity. He said we
just have to have it. We could
know all things and speak as
angels and have enough faith
to remove mountains, we could
contribute all our goods to feed
the poor, we could deliver our
bodies to the burned — yet all
these things would profit us no
thing if we did not have charity.
Sure, we usually love God and
our neighbor. Usually. But this
is not quite enough, if we are to
take seriously the solemn words
of Christ.
In a practical way, we are
commanded to love first our
parents, children, brothers and
sisters. And mothers-in-law. A
scientist has calculated that hu
man blood is six times thicker
than water. It’s good to have
some scientific evidence for the
truth of our old proverb, be
cause it’s not always easy to love
the ones we have to live with 4
St. John gave this advice: “Let
us not love in word, neither with
the tongue, but in deed and in
truth.” Most of us are pretty
good lovers in word and with
the tongue, but we get rather
wobbly when it comes to deeds.
Actions are shouting much
louder than words when an un
ruly teenager makes things dif
ficult for his parents to get his
own way, when aged parents are
shoved aside and forgotten,
when Annie is an orphan be
cause mother wants to work and
both dad and mom want a heavy
social life. And especially when
mom sits home every night won
dering where dad is spending his
time every evening.
After our relatives are taken
care of, our neighbors should
come in for their share of love.
That includes the grumpy next
door neighbor who hates your
kids, the far-too-common driver
whose horn is overworked and
whose temper is out of control,
and the girls at the next desk
who clip their nails while you’re
trying to concentrate.
Next on our list of recipients
of our love must be all human
beings without distinction of
racd, nationality, religion, sex,
age, occupation, or riches.
Very few persons would ad
mit that they hate any of the
above classes. But it is a sad fact
of life that even Christians are
often deficient in this group-
love.
All around us there are those
who like Negroes “as long as
they keep in their places,” who
hate all Germans or Irishmen or
Italians. Many Catholics seem to
think that all Protestants have
two heads — apiece. And many
Protestants undoubtedly figure
that Catholics are just waiting to
get in power to take away their
liberties.
There are the fellows who
hate women, the old folks who
think that teenagers are a
strange race indeed. Some per
sons distrust doctors, others say
lawyers are no good, and there
are even those who (oh, the hor
ror of it!) dislike priests. Many
rich persons look down on the
poor, and many poor persons
hate the rich.
We could compile quite a list
of excuses usually advanced for
failures to love our relatives,
and particularly these different
classes. But no matter how you
slice the meat, it’s still baloney
(or should it be bologna?)
Christ called the precept of
charity toward our neighbor a
new commandment: “A new
commandment I give you, that
you love one another: that as I
have loved you, you also love
one another.” He called it new
because before His coming peo
ple did not understand the pre
cept of love in the same sense
that He was giving it.
It may be that, after thou
sands of years, the command
ment is still new.
REFUGEE STAMPS—Com
memorating the World Refu
gee Year of 1959-60 are these
new stamps released by the
Vatican Post Office. — (NC
Photos)
Sty* Uullrlttt
416 8TH ST., AUGUSTA, GA.
Published fortnightly by the Catholic Laymen’s Association of
Georgia, Inc., with the Approbation of the Most Reverend
Bishop of Savannah; and the Most Reverend Bishop of Atlanta.
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 MARK WALTER
Managing Editor
Vo- 40 Saturday, April 30, 1960 No. 24
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